CHAPTER 23: REGISTRATION FOR THE RECRUITMENT TOURNAMENT.

Entering the originally familiar Border town, Morales felt the evidence again that he really transmigrated into a real game world.

Though the creators of Space World broke dozens of records with the game’s unveiling, it was still technically just a game.

There was no way that a virtual game could compare to real life, the difference can never be completely closed despite the huge advancements in technology.

Though he still controlled himself to walk normally like the other people moving about, his eyes kept gawking at the layout and design of the town.

From the little that he could see from where he was, he felt that he was in a fictional world. Dozens of houses were orderly built across the town, they rambled beautifully across to form something like a prized painting.

The people of the town all had bright expressions on their faces. At some moments, he subconsciously winked at some ladies who smiled shyly at him back before scurrying away.

This town was every earthling young man’s dream. What a world!

His expression suddenly soured. “I wish I had my phone; I would definitely rock the whole I*******m world with such a splendid pic. What a pity”. He sighed.

He felt sad, but this did not impede his movements. After ending his little visual tour, he finally left the main road where people were trooping across to a fairly deserted alley at the side.

From his memory, this was where the rats of the town mostly gathered.

He was not wrong. It did not take him long, only a little over a minute before he caught sight of the first rat. The young man was dressed in rag clothes, with a plate at his side.

From the little that Morales saw, this man was a blind beggar.

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An ability has been used on you: Spiritual eye.

+10% Perception of surroundings. Ability to form a spiritual eye that can see without the need of your physical eye.

Duration: 5 minutes.

Cooldown: 20 minutes.

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He was startled on seeing this notification, prompting him to eye the beggar suspiciously. He shrugged before dropping 2 Beiger dollars on the wide plate, he finally laid down his request.

“I want information on how to enter the regional Pugilist dojo”.

The beggar did not react at first, but seeing that Morales was not leaving, he finally replied. He didn’t even turn his head. “Dollars not enough”.

“…”

Morales almost lost his footing; he was left completely speechless. He felt a muscle on his face twitch, but he still didn’t know what to reply with.

“What the hell man? I thought you were blind! Act the part!” Though these were his thoughts, he didn’t argue. He added another 2 Beiger dollars to the plate.

“Not enough”. He didn’t even finish before the beggar lashed out again.

Morales felt an urge to unleash a punch at the beggar immediately, but he held back his impulse in the end. Just like that, the beggar kept swindling him until 10 Beiger dollars were on the plate.

After this, the beggar finally moved, adjusting himself to sit at a more comfortable angle.

“A recruitment tournament is ongoing. Check the central square, you’ll see an advertisement poster there”. After saying this, the beggar’s hand expertly slid the 10 dollars into his pocket, before he adjusted to his miser posture again.

“Tell me more, that’s not enough”. Morales was not satisfied.

“Not enough dollars”.

“What the f*ck!” Morales was enraged this time as he roughly grabbed and shook the beggar’s arms. “Who do you think you’re swindling?”

Wu! Wu!! Wu…!!!

Instead of answering, the beggar shamelessly started wailing like someone being tormented as the attention of everyone around suddenly came to them.

Morales quickly grew stiff on noticing the unpleasant glares that were directed at him. He smiled awkwardly, patted the beggar’s hand before standing up to leave. 

“Such a weird man. Even if he does not have any money to give a beggar, why would he bully him?”

As he walked away, Morales vaguely heard a lady whispering this to a man beside her, making his face burn more. He softly cursed and increased his pace.

As soon as he left the slightly deserted alley, he took a turn straight in the direction of the center square. It took him another 5 minutes before he got there, but he was completely stunned on getting there.

There was an extremely big advertisement poster attached to the notice board in the center square. Even if he was half-blind, there was no way that he could miss such a conspicuous poster.

Yeah, the poster was advertising exactly the same thing that the beggar told him. Though this was the case, he could not help but feel cheated.

How dare the beggar collect 10 Beiger dollars for such cheap information that was even advertised so conspicuously on the center square. He wanted to cry, but tears refused to come down.

In the end, knowing too much was what caused this.

Originally, on coming to a new city, the center square notice board was the best place to visit for information, but these were for only the most common news.

Never did he think that information about the Pugilist dojo recruitment would be treated so common, he felt his face burn again for the second time. Today was not his day.

“Which damn player uploaded that rats are the best information vendors?” 10 Beiger dollars was not much, but it still made him gnash his teeth in frustration.

Not only him, but a lot of young men and women also gathered under the huge poster as they discussed excitedly.

“The recruitment will end today; I can’t wait to see the list of the Pugilists that applied for it”. A young girl said excitedly.

“I heard that the codpiece master also applied, I can’t wait to see him in action. I’m so hyped up for the admission battle”. A boy quickly chimed in.

Morales tried his best to ignore the blabbering kids. He already got all the information that he needed to be recruited into the Pugilist dojo from the poster, getting there was the priority now.

According to the poster, the recruitment would end in 3 hours, so he had to rush.

He quickly turned and bolted away from the center square, going directly to the pathway where transport taxis lined in wait for passengers.

Getting to the nearest one that his eyes deduced to be a little cooler in its outlook, he quickly opened the door and entered inside.

“8 Beiger dollars”. The taxi driver simply said.

Morales retrieved some dollars from his storage ring and paid.

His choice seemed to be correct. The veteran taxi driver jerked the taxi car forward as its powerful engines roared, pushing it swiftly across the road. It overtook other taxis at a fast rate.

Feeling the wind blowing at his chest through the opened glass, Morales heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed his body. Nothing was sweeter than getting into a fast new taxi car, it was much better than entering a battered rickety one.

The journey that was supposed to take 20 minutes got reduced to about 14 minutes due to the car’s speed and its veteran driver’s handling.

Getting out of the taxi, Morales threw an additional 2 dollars at the driver who smiled at him in gratitude.

As soon as the taxi driver drove away, he finally turned to face the Pugilist dojo building. He was used to this sight already in the game, but it never got old to him, and this one was even better than in the game.

As it was the lowest type of Pugilist dojo, the one in the Border town was not too big, but it still had its share of magnificence.

The building stood as high as 5 stories tall, spreading its shadow of dominance to the other nearby buildings. It was the 2nd biggest building in the town, only below Lord Marvin’s mansion.

Dozens of people moved around under the building, discussing excitedly.

The most notable fact among the people here was that they all had buff muscles, even the ladies. This was a den and shelter of Pugilists; Pugilists thrive in any town that had a dojo.

Morales could feel the harmonious atmosphere in the air, this was possible only because almost everyone here had the same motive for coming.

He curled his lips into a faint smile before taking the step into the building.

Inside the building was much more crowded as registration officials worked hard to record the last batch of Pugilists that were about to register for the recruitment tournament the next day.

It took another agonizing hour of wait, but Morales finally squeezed his way to the front of the row where he stood with other Pugilists.

­“Your name?” The official asked.

“Zero”. Morales replied smoothly. There was no way that he would give his real name, that was just asking to be busted.

The registration official quickly burst with speed, rapidly typing into the computer. 20 seconds later, he finally spoke again.

“Zero, join the F9 team”.

“Yes”. Morales answered respectfully before moving to the side. Though his outward expression was calm, he felt a little disgruntled inwardly on the team that he was assigned to.

Why the hell would they put him in an F9 team? F9 represented failure, maybe this was a sign that his road ahead was bleak and crooked. What a life!

He sighed before going to the section of the hall that was isolated to his teammates. For the recruitment tournament tomorrow, the 4 people before him would be his comrades.

There were 3 girls and only one boy.

None of them greeted him when he sat down, so he found no necessity to greet them also. This didn’t stop him from secretly checking how strong they were though.

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Main Class: Pugilist

           Level: 18

           STR 20, END 8, INT 3

           Health Points: 350

           …

           Main Class: Pugilist

           Level: 19

           STR 18, END 10, INT 4

           Health Points: 380

           …

           Main Class: Pugilist

           Level: 15

           STR 14, END 9, INT 2

           Health Points: 360

           …

           Main Class: Pugilist

           Level: 22

           STR 25, END 11, INT 5

           Health Points: 440

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           “Tsk, I have some fairly competent teammates”. Morales clicked his tongue.