After school, Dennis, Daisy, and the others met Steve in the operator room located inside the gym. A beautiful blonde woman with her hair in a bun, wearing a military uniform, sat next to him holding a tablet-like device. Steve leaned forward, eyeing the six young people gathered before him.
"Everyone, meet Ms. Vanessa. She's a representative from the Hunter Guild who came specifically to record your awakenings and register them in the guild database," Steve said.
"Hi, my name is Vanessa. According to my records, Gary and Olivia's awakenings have already been recorded and registered in the database. For Dennis, Daisy, Jason, and Kimberly—not yet. So today, I'm in charge of checking and registering the four of you," Vanessa said, glancing at her tablet.
"Yes, ma'am," Dennis, Daisy, Jason, and Kimberly replied.
"Alright, I'll explain the process."
Vanessa explained the procedure, which turned out to be quite simple. The four of them would be asked to place their hands on the tablet to detect their race, class, and abilities. After that, Vanessa would take blood samples as DNA records and for their blood bank archives for further multi-faceted research. Vanessa pulled four ampoules from her bag and set them on the table, followed by a syringe with a tube used to fill the lab ampoules lined up in a rack.
Once the explanation was finished, Vanessa began drawing blood from Dennis, Daisy, Jason, and Kimberly. After labeling the samples and storing them in her bag, she placed the tablet on the table. Then, Dennis, Daisy, Jason, and Kimberly pressed their palms onto the tablet. Each time a hand touched the screen, a laser light moved from top to bottom as if scanning their hands, ending with a "beep" to signal the scan was complete. Afterward, the results appeared on the tablet, split into four screens.
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Name : Dennis Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : Barbarian
Power : 7500
Health : 7000 / 7000.
Stamina : 4000 / 4000.
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Name : Daisy Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : Samurai.
Power : 3500
Health : 1500 / 1500.
Stamina : 1200 / 1200.
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Name : Jason Chen.
Race : High Human.
Class : Sharpshooter.
Power : 4000
Health : 2500 / 2500.
Stamina : 1000 / 1000.
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Name : Kimberly Chen.
Race : High Human.
Class : Assault Infantry.
Power : 4500
Health : 1850 / 1850.
Stamina : 2000 / 2000.
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The four of them watched Vanessa, who was looking at her tablet with an incredibly serious expression, while Gary and Olivia also seemed a bit tense waiting for the results. Meanwhile, Steve leaned over to peer at Vanessa's tablet from beside her. Then Vanessa and Steve glanced at Dennis. After that, they looked back at the tablet and started whispering to each other, inaudible to Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, who were all waiting patiently despite being visibly curious.
Daisy grabbed Dennis's hand and squeezed it. Both were so tense their hearts were pounding hard, hoping that what they were hiding—Daisy's six "cheat" personalities and Dennis's talent manager—had not been detected by the tablet that just scanned them. Silently, they both prayed and watched Steve and Vanessa, who were still whispering in front of them.
Finally, after they finished talking, Vanessa and Steve looked back at the six young people.
"Alright, I'm going to process this data. Take a look at your ability scans and profiles first," Vanessa said as she placed the tablet on the table.
Dennis and Daisy immediately checked the tablet, and both felt an instant wave of relief. The results detected by the tablet matched the data from Dennis's "Analyze" skill, which had failed to detect Daisy's secret personalities or the fact that Dennis could level up and possessed a talent manager.
"Thank God, honey," Daisy whispered.
"Yeah, we're safe," Dennis whispered back.
The two of them leaned back, relaxing, but Dennis felt someone staring at him intensely. He looked up to see Steve and Vanessa staring right at him, along with Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, who all had slight smiles on their faces.
"Um... is something wrong?" Dennis asked, confused.
"Your power is way above average. Look at this," Vanessa answered.
She tapped the screen to show Dennis's status graphs. It turned out the potential detected by the tablet after his awakening was only 30 percent; the remaining 70 percent was hidden. Vanessa said that once the DNA results were in, she wanted Dennis to come to the Hunter Guild for a more thorough examination. The color drained from Dennis's face; he looked stunned, like he'd just finished watching a real-life horror movie. Daisy turned to Dennis with a worried expression and squeezed his hand.
"Is... is that necessary, ma'am?" Dennis asked slowly.
"Hmm... of course. You want to rank up and make a name for yourself, right? For now, your status is Rank F, but if we detect everything using the equipment at the Guild, you could be Rank A or maybe even S," Vanessa said.
"I... I see. What if I'm satisfied with Rank F, ma'am?" Dennis asked.
"Dude, what are you even saying?" Gary scolded.
"Yeah, why would you want to be Rank F? You can still grow so much further," Olivia added.
"You're amazing, dude. You could be a top-tier hunter in this city," Jason chimed in.
"Wouldn't it be a waste to turn that down? Daisy, try to talk some sense into your husband," Kimberly said.
"We'll talk about it later, honey," Daisy said, playing along, even though she understood exactly what Dennis was getting at.
"Don't worry, all of you can still grow. But usually, a hunter develops through two awakenings. Gary, Olivia, Jason, Kimberly, and Daisy will only release their full power during their second awakening because your first one only tapped 50 percent of your abilities. But Dennis—he's only using 30 percent of his total, so there's a strong chance he could go through three awakenings to reach his full power. That's why I want to examine him further at headquarters," Vanessa explained.
Dennis turned to look at Daisy, who also looked anxious, gripping his hand so tightly their palms were sweating.
"If that's the case, how many times has she awakened to have six cheat personalities inside her... or maybe not... besides, what even is an awakening? I don't understand it at all. All I know is that I level up and I'm a player... while the rest are NPCs," Dennis muttered to himself. Then Dennis looked at Vanessa.
"Is there anyone else like me, ma'am?" Dennis asked.
"Hmm... there is one person, but they're currently in Onyx City, which is very far from here," Vanessa answered.
"I see. But... it's not mandatory to be examined again, right?" Dennis asked, checking with a glimmer of hope.
Vanessa looked at Dennis seriously but smiled. Then Steve whispered something into Vanessa's ear and she nodded along. After that, Vanessa looked back at Dennis.
"It's entirely up to you. But you should think it over carefully, because your decision will determine your future. Do you understand?" Vanessa said.
"I understand, ma'am. Thank you so much," Dennis said, feeling a slight sense of relief.
After that, the six of them were asked to take out their school IDs to be documented and registered as the school's core team with the Hunter Guild. Steve explained that once they were all registered as a team, a coronation ceremony would be held at the school. The previous core team—now officially a hunter team and graduating because they were seniors—would formally hand over their positions and responsibilities to them.
"So, who is your leader? Please discuss it and let me know since I will be your supervisor," Steve commanded.
Immediately, Gary, Olivia, Jason, Kimberly, and even Daisy turned to look at Dennis. He was startled and looked at his friends one by one. They were clearly ready to nominate him as leader because his strength was above average. Before anyone could make a move,
"I'm not doing it. You do it, bro," Dennis said to Gary before anyone else could speak.
"Damn, I haven't even said anything yet and you're already throwing it at me. You're pathetic," Gary replied, annoyed and shocked at the same time.
"I agree too," Daisy said, raising her hand, clearly supporting Dennis handing the leadership to Gary.
"Yeah... you really are the best fit, man," Jason said, patting Gary's shoulder.
"What is this? Why are you all dumping this on me?" Gary asked, irritated.
"I agree as well, honey. You should be the leader," Olivia added.
"Same here, I agree. Jason and I won't complain at all; we're of one mind," Kimberly added.
"Alright, so it's settled then. Could you please note that down, Ms. Vanessa?" Steve asked.
"Very well, I'll record it," Vanessa answered, having been typing seriously on her tablet this whole time.
Since it was decided, Gary couldn't complain anymore. He just looked at Dennis, Daisy, Jason, and Kimberly with a fuming expression, but when he saw Olivia's face looking fierce—as if saying, "don't cause an unnecessary scene," despite her smile—Gary finally gave in.
He turned back and leaned against the sofa with his arms folded. Meanwhile, Dennis looked at Daisy with a gaze that said, "you're safe, honey," and Daisy looked back with a gaze that said, "thank you, honey, but we need to talk at home about you," because even though she was relieved, Daisy still seemed a little anxious.