Soon after, Kai looked towards the screen to get a good look at the content.
[Adventurer Rank: Low-Tier (No. 5000+)]
[Mana Level: 0.]
Staring at the information, the huge gasps and shocked looks on the people's faces began to make more sense.
After all, it was unheard of for anyone to have 0 Mana. Not on Summoner Guild Online. Even the weakest villager NPC had at least a mana pool of 10. To have zero was biologically and magically impossible.
'Figured. The game doesn't register me as an actual player. The mirror won't work on me because I don't have a human soul or a player chip to scan.'
His gaze narrowed a bit at the lingering possibility of his real body being dead, but he pushed it aside for the practical explanation.
"Hahaha! Zero mana? That's insane. What are you? Some kind of failure freak?"
The laughter erupted from a group of experienced players nearby.
They were all wearing matching white uniforms with gold trimmings, which meant they were all from the same Clan, likely a mid-tier guild looking to scout new talent to bolster their ranks.
Instead of talent, they found a joke.
"Speak! Are you going to stay quiet? How is it possible for you to have literally no mana whatsoever? Did you spawn in as a rock?"
About five of them had their eyes fixed on Kai, some of them unable to control their laughter, slapping their knees as if it were the funniest thing they had seen all week.
Kai ignored them all.
"Can I get my Adventurer's ID card now?" he asked calmly.
The receptionist, still shocked by the sad result she had witnessed moments prior, snapped out of her daze.
She looked at him with pity, nodded her head at his request, and moved quickly back towards the counter to process the paperwork.
Seeing her walk away, Kai moved his hand away from the mirror.
His stats immediately flashed off the screen, returning the glass to its dormant state, before he too walked away from the humiliation zone.
The laughter of the adventurers grew heavier as they came to the conclusion that Kai was scared, and as such, he could not say a word back to them.
In fact, not once did Kai look their way.
After walking past Lyra, who was visibly trembling, her knuckles white as she held down the urge to massacre the humans laughing at her Master, he placed one hand on the counter, waiting for his card to arrive.
'I hope I was able to make a good example for Lyra not to always act anytime humans attack like this. Sigh, bullies really make me cringe a lot.
Then again, it was the perfect opportunity for me to blend in. I have no mana and was ranked 5000 in the entire guild, probably the last number on the list.'
In this world, perception was currency.
Depending on how high your rank is in a particular guild, your value as a top adventurer increases. Anytime another guild wants to loan or transfer a player, they look at the rank first.
Those who were Top 100 in the guild, called the "High Mid-Tier," were usually valued to be nothing less than 400,000 Cens or higher in transfer fees.
Kai sighed internally.
'Seeing my rank, I definitely have no value. I am worthless in the eyes of the system.'
Bam!
The receptionist walked back towards the counter and gently placed the green glowing card on the surface.
"Here is your Adventurer's ID, sir."
Kai looked at the card.
[Name: Kai Grayhart]
[Class: Summoner (Rare)]
[Level: 23]
[Rank: F]
[Completed Quests: 0]
'Oh, interesting indeed. F-Rank. The bottom of the barrel.'
Kai grabbed the card from the counter, slipped it into his pocket, and then looked at the receptionist directly in the eyes.
"Thank you for your service. I'll be sure to repay you one day," he said with a somewhat genuine smile on his face.
Ever since he walked into the building, he had only ever maintained a cold, stoic look on his handsome face.
So, seeing him suddenly smile, even if just a little, made the receptionist blush even harder than she did earlier.
"P-please, do your best!" she stammered.
Once he had grabbed the card, Kai ignored the failed attempts of the Clan members trying to mock him further and walked out of the building, with Lyra following right behind him like a silent wraith.
....
That very same day, the sun had begun to set, painting the sky in hues of orange and purple.
Kai and his summon, Lyra, had walked towards the far end of the city, right where the major huge forest was located.
The Whispering Forest.
Yes, they were in search of the special quest rewarding roughly 800,000 Cens.
For the most part, in every map of Summoner Guild Online, the special quest was usually located at the far left end of the city's perimeter.
While Kai wasn't 100% sure which exact location the special quest would spawn in this specific update, he still decided to trust his beta-tester instincts.
'Now we wait.'
He uttered the words to himself before sitting on a small rock and scanning through his system interface.
The special quest only activates at a certain time. If he were to enter the forest then and there, all he would be doing was walking into a place filled with dangerous monsters.
There would be no special reward to give.
But if he could wait 20 minutes for the internal server timer to tick over, then he would be able to participate in the quest as the entire forest shifted phases. New monsters would spawn, the terrain would alter slightly, and the Boss would appear.
Lyra remained standing at the side, watching as her Master was casually tapping the air like he always did.
"My Lord, am I permitted to ask you a question?" she began, clearly having something heavy on her mind.
"You may ask." Kai didn't move his gaze away from the screen.
"I, Lyra, the Abyssal Empress, am aware of how great and powerful you, the Shadow of Victim, are. I refuse to believe you would have just 0 Mana. I have a feeling the humans tampered with the results to mock you. Please, allow me to end their lives. Especially the ones who laughed."
A nervous look played on Kai's face.
'She's serious too.'
If he were to accidentally say yes in that moment, he knew for a fact Lyra would storm back into the guild, slaughter the White Uniform Clan, and probably burn the building down for good measure.
Keeping his gaze on the screen, he replied to her calmly.
"That machine was made for the sole purpose of registering and reading Adventurers, humans, and standard races. I am a Boss, the Leader of a Dungeon. The machine does not acknowledge me because I am above its comprehension."
Hearing his response, Lyra's eyes widened a bit.
She had not considered that possibility. To her, the machine was an insult. But hearing Kai explain it, the machine was simply unworthy.
"Please forgive my ignorance. I should have thought it through."
"No, it's fine. Anyone in your shoes would have thought the same thing."
'At least that should reduce your desire to end a human life so badly.'
He sighed, relieved he had diffused the bomb.
'Now then... about this notification that kept flashing on my way here.'
Kai focused his eyes on the stream of red text that had been scrolling in the corner of his vision for the last ten minutes.
[Your Summon: Carlotta has used 3,000 EXP.]
[Your Summon: Carlotta has used 900 EXP.]
[Your Summon: Carlotta has used 5,000 EXP.]
[Your Summon...]
'What the hell is she doing?!!!!'