Chapter 1 A Black Cloaked Man

A man cloaked in black quickly walked into the towering Starstreak Trading Firm on a main street in the trade center district.

The Starstreak Trading Firm was bustling, with many players coming and going. Players wearing various cloaks were a common sight, so he didn't attract much attention.

If they had looked closely, they would have noticed that the two long swords on the middle-aged man’s back were exquisitely crafted. One emitted a faint black flame halo, and the other radiated a cyan flowing light. It was clear that they were not ordinary items. Moreover, the man's equipment had a distinct style, obviously a set, and of high quality.

This man was none other than Shi Feng disguised as his alt, Hei Yan.

Shi Feng had spent the better part of the day forging a total of 600 Basic Mana Armor Plates, 400 physical defense plates and 200 magic defense plates.

He had a stockpile of copper ore, bronze ore, and Basic Recovery (Mana) Potions needed to make the Basic Mana Armor Plates.

The Philosopher's Stone could directly refine ore from stone, so Shi Feng didn't need to buy it. Only the Basic Recovery (Mana) Potions cost some money, but compared to the effect of the Basic Mana Armor Plates, it was nothing.

Even the most troublesome success rate of crafting was easily overcome by Shi Feng.

First, Shi Feng was already an Advanced Forging Apprentice, so the success rate of crafting the Basic Mana Armor Plates was 20%. With the addition of the *Forging Book* and other auxiliary tools, the success rate of crafting Basic Mana Armor Plates was nearly 66%. Even if he failed, the cost was only 70 Copper Coins.

For the now wealthy Shi Feng, he didn't need to worry about it at all.

Walking up to the third floor of the Starstreak Trading Firm, Shi Feng found a long line in the corridor. Most of these people were NPCs, and a small portion were players.

"Hey, don't you know there's an order?"

"You impolite madman, how dare you disobey the rules set by Lady Anna!"

"Brother, you're too bold. Aren't you afraid that Goddess Anna will kick you out?"

Whether they were NPCs or players, everyone in line cast angry glances at Shi Feng. It wasn't that they particularly disliked Shi Feng, whom they had just met, but they had put in a lot of effort to wait to see Lady Anna for a long time. If Shi Feng's impoliteness caused Anna to kick them all out in a fit of anger, it would be a tragedy.

"What are you all lining up here for?" Shi Feng asked curiously.

Shi Feng glanced at the number of people in the corridor, roughly estimating that there were more than two hundred people. This was not a small number. Seeing that these people referred to Anna as "Lady" and "Goddess," with faces full of admiration and respect, Shi Feng broke out in a cold sweat.

"You dare to come here without even knowing this?" Everyone rolled their eyes at Shi Feng, as if they were looking at a newbie, with expressions full of disdain.

"The Starstreak Trading Firm is currently recruiting a large number of Forgers and Alchemists. If you are selected by Starstreak to become a Forger or Alchemist here, you will have a private workshop with an unlimited supply of materials. If you perform well, you can even get a private laboratory with a large supply of materials for your research. In other words, as long as you become a Starstreak Forger or Alchemist, you can easily obtain both money and fame."

Speaking of this, everyone sighed with emotion, very envious of those who had become Starstreak Forgers and Alchemists. But seeing a female player walking out of the office with a disappointed expression, everyone's expressions also fell a little.

Because Starstreak's reputation was getting bigger and bigger, and more and more popular, the difficulty of the assessment was also increasing, not as easy as it was when it first started recruiting.

"How many have been eliminated in a row?"

"It seems to be the seventh. It's really getting harder and harder. There used to be one out of every four or five people, but now there's only one out of every seven or eight. I wonder what the odds will be when it's my turn?"

The people at the back of the line also began to feel anxious.

"Anna is really strict." Shi Feng couldn't help but smile wryly.

Although there was nothing wrong with this selection mechanism, players and NPCs were different, especially those who were timid and introverted. It was a bit too extreme to directly reject them with a single test.

In particular, the female player who had just walked out of the office was Shuang Keke, whom Shi Feng had been wanting to win over. In his previous life, Shuang Keke was known as one of the ten great Forging Masters of the Star-Moon Kingdom, a genius Forger.

He didn't expect that Shuang Keke had just left the Assassin's Alliance and was directly eliminated after coming to Starstreak.

Fortunately, he came here. Otherwise, he would have cried with Silent Blade in the future…

"Alas, I failed again. Where should I go next?" At this time, the pure and lovely Shuang Keke looked melancholy. Before, she had been kicked out of the Assassin's Alliance because her crafting success rate was too low. Now that she had been eliminated by Starstreak, she didn't know where to go. "Am I really not suitable for learning forging? Should I go adventure and fight with other players? But I'm a klutz and can't fight like others."

"Hello, are you here to apply for a job at the Starstreak Trading Firm?" Shi Feng stopped Shuang Keke and asked.

"Yes." Shuang Keke glanced at Shi Feng. At this time, she was not in the mood to pay attention to an outsider, so she nodded.

"Are you interested in taking another test?" Shi Feng asked with a smile.

Shuang Keke was shocked and stared at Shi Feng, thinking that Shi Feng was a member of Starstreak, but when she saw that Shi Feng's clothes didn't have the Starstreak Trading Firm's emblem, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Hahaha, who do you think you are? The president of Starstreak? You can let the eliminated people test again. If you want to act cool, you have to see clearly where you are. At least put on a Starstreak emblem." A tall and charming female Priest cast a contemptuous look at Shi Feng and sneered.

Shi Feng was not angry and used Observe on the tall female Priest.

Melancholy Smile, Priest, Level 10.

After seeing this name, Shi Feng couldn't help but be stunned. The tall female Priest, Melancholy Smile, was a future Forging Master of the Star-Moon Kingdom, although not as famous as Shuang Keke.

He never expected that the Starstreak Trading Firm would be so attractive, attracting two well-known Forging Masters of the future.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is…"

Just as Shi Feng was about to introduce himself, he saw Anna walking out of the office, calling the next wave of people for interviews. As a result, she saw Shi Feng and quickly walked towards Shi Feng nervously.

The others looked at Shi Feng with a schadenfreude attitude and mocking gazes.

This time, he's really embarrassing himself.

He dared to pretend to be an internal member of Starstreak Trading Firm. Now that he's been caught in the act, he'll probably be kicked out immediately and never want to enter the third floor again.

"Your Highness, I am very sorry. I didn't expect these people to disturb Your Highness. I will let them leave here immediately." Anna glared at Shuang Keke and Melancholy Smile, and quickly apologized to Shi Feng.