Mya relaxed against the soft hotel bed with a satisfied sigh after finally finishing her shower. Warm steam still lingered in the room while the faint scent of shampoo drifted through the air. The past week had honestly been one of the happiest periods of her life. Ever since arriving in the Netherlands, she had spent nearly every day wandering through the nearby towns surrounding the Crimson Forest while searching for rumors regarding the Sonneberg family and their mysterious guild. Some stories were obviously exaggerated nonsense spread by excited adventurers and online influencers, but others carried enough consistency to make even Mya feel nervous. Every local seemed to have some strange story regarding the forest. Some spoke about hooded figures silently appearing between the trees before vanishing like ghosts. Others claimed the family could track someone across the entire forest after seeing only a single footprint. One old shopkeeper even swore that the Sonnebergs could shoot arrows so accurately they could split falling leaves midair from over a hundred meters away.
Still, despite all the strange rumors, Mya had greatly enjoyed herself during the week. More than anything, she had fallen in love with the food. Since humanity returned from the Trial, the world's cooking culture had exploded in popularity. With energy costs no longer being a major concern thanks to nuclear fusion technologies and improved agricultural methods, growing food has become easier and cheaper almost everywhere on Earth. Restaurants were opening faster than governments could regulate them, and people who had spent months surviving on nutrient bars during the Trial now indulged in food with almost religious devotion. Entire city streets had transformed into endless chains of cafés, bakeries, and restaurants offering cuisine from every culture imaginable. Humanity had rediscovered flavor, and the public had collectively decided to celebrate that fact with alarming enthusiasm. Mya herself had spent far too many wooden coins trying foods she had only ever seen online before.
As she lazily thought back on the delicious meals she had eaten over the past few days, a sharp notification sound suddenly rang out from her phone.
Mya froze.
Then she practically launched herself across the bed to grab it.
Her heart pounded wildly as she unlocked the screen. Maybe it was finally the results.
And it was.
The moment she saw the message, her entire body stiffened.
Dear Candidate,
You have successfully passed the trial conducted by our guild and have qualified as one of the candidates eligible to receive a System Contract.
We expect you to appear at the Crimson Forest tomorrow between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM to discuss the obligations and benefits associated with joining our faction.
Please review your test results below.
Mya's blue eyes widened in excitement.
"I passed…"
For several seconds she simply stared blankly at the message before letting out a muffled squeal and collapsing backward onto the bed while clutching her phone tightly against her chest. She had done it. Somehow, despite all her fears and doubts, she had actually passed.
The momentary burst of happiness quickly turned into curiosity as she immediately opened the attached results. Ever since taking the test, she had desperately wanted to know what exactly the family had been evaluating. Compared to the boring recruitment systems used by most factions, the Sonneberg trial felt unbelievably different. It was mysterious. Ancient. Almost fantasy-like. That uniqueness alone had caused the guild to explode in popularity online.
A single influencer had filmed herself entering and exiting the forest while dramatically describing the trial afterward, and the video had instantly gone viral across the internet. Billions of people watched it within days. Unlike the dull modern hiring processes still used by most factions—which mainly involved AI-generated resumes full of exaggerated achievements and fake skill ratings—the Sonnebergs had created something that genuinely captured humanity's imagination. Other factions were already scrambling to study their methods in hopes of modernizing—or perhaps regressing—their own recruitment systems.
Before Mya could properly read her own results, another notification suddenly appeared on her screen.
Silver Lucy has uploaded a new video.
Mya immediately blinked in surprise before quickly clicking it. Her own results could wait a few more minutes. Right now, she wanted to see how other people reacted to the trial results.
She quickly opened her laptop and clicked play.
A cheerful voice instantly filled the room.
"Hello everyone! Silver Lucy here, back again to show you the results of the trial I took for admission into the Crimson Sun Guild!"
Lucy appeared on screen with her usual bright smile and energetic expression, though there were dark circles beneath her eyes suggesting she had barely slept from excitement.
"So," Lucy continued dramatically, "I spent the last week doing some investigating about that forest and the family behind it, and let me tell you—those people are absolutely insane."
Mya laughed softly while sitting cross-legged on the bed.
"Apparently," Lucy said while gesturing wildly, "the family has used that same trial path for hundreds of years to test the development of their own children!"
She paused dramatically.
"And do you know when those children start taking the test?"
Lucy leaned closer toward the camera.
"FOUR YEARS OLD!"
Mya nearly choked laughing.
"And what's worse," Lucy continued indignantly, "the people from the family actually had the nerve to tell me this was the easiest version of the test they had ever conducted!"
Despite her exaggerated outrage, Lucy's eyes sparkled with excitement. She clearly found the entire thing fascinating.
The reason Lucy possessed so much information was surprisingly simple. During her week investigating the forest, she had apparently encountered one of the Sonneberg family members while shopping in town. Whether intentionally or accidentally, that family member had revealed far more than expected.
"But enough about that," Lucy declared while switching her screen to the guild app. "Let's see if I passed!"
The screen displayed the same message Mya had received moments earlier.
Congratulations, Candidate. You have passed the trial.
Lucy immediately cheered excitedly before calming herself enough to continue.
"Yes! Okay, okay, let's look at the actual results."
Her expression gradually shifted from excitement to confusion as the results opened.
"…Huh?"
Mya leaned forward curiously.
Dear Candidate, these are your test results:
Reaction Speed: 7/10
Spatial Awareness: 8/10
Core Stability: 5/10
Handling Under High Pressure: 7/10
Attention to Detail: 4/10
Note: These scores are based on comparison with a four-year-old child from our family, with the child representing a perfect score of ten. Please do not become arrogant.
Based on these results, we recommend you become a Sharp Shooter within our guild.
Silence filled the video for several seconds.
Lucy stared blankly at the screen.
"…That is a lot to unpack."
Mya burst out laughing.
"By the way," Lucy continued carefully, "does anyone actually believe the part about the four-year-old child? Because honestly, that sounds ridiculous. I think they're just trying to scare us."
Unfortunately for Lucy, it was entirely true.
What she did not understand was that she had genuinely lost to a child in several categories. Granted, the child did not need to sprint through the course under a time limit like the adult applicants did, but the comparison itself remained brutally honest.
Still, Lucy recovered surprisingly quickly.
"Overall, though, I'm actually really happy with these results," she admitted honestly. "What surprised me most is that they aren't testing our current abilities—they're testing our potential."
That immediately caught Mya's attention.
"They probably believe skills can be trained later," Lucy continued thoughtfully. "But talent itself is much harder to create. So they're searching for people with the right instincts first."
Mya slowly nodded to herself.
That honestly made sense.
"Anyway," Lucy said while stretching tiredly, "that's all for today. I need to sleep because tomorrow I'll finally discuss the actual contract with the guild."
She smiled brightly toward the camera.
"Goodnight everyone!"
The video ended shortly afterward.
Mya quietly closed her laptop before staring once more at her own unopened results.