At noon on Wednesday, Beckland's old William pawn shop was bustling with people.

At the moment, this small shop in Midtown can almost be described as glowing.

The old threshold has been swept clean, and the glass is almost reflective, facing the best time of the year.

The word "pawn" on the plaque shines in the sun.

This is all because today is the 'Awakening Day' festival of the Kingdom of Rune.

There are still five hours left before the festival.

The streets and alleys are filled with people who come to shop.

From time to time, you can see some poor people who are not brightly dressed.

Even the sailors who smoked dry tobacco at the docks left the docks where they depended for their livelihoods and went to the bustling Beckland Center to visit shops that were too expensive for their income.

The importance of the festival cannot be overstated.

At the same time, from time to time, there were gentlemen in suits and leather shoes sitting on the high carriages on the streets, driving proudly down the avenues, earning the envy of the way.

In the brief glance of the pedestrians, the decoration on the gentleman's face can be clearly seen:

Monocles made of crystal.

This doesn't seem to be an uncommon accessory.

After a casual glance, Old William quickly withdrew his gaze in surprise, and continued to look at the customer in front of him with a smile:

"What do you think of this Russell's top hat? The traditional spire, with its attractive black silk material, is sure to make you stand out from the crowd at the festival. ”

He carefully displayed the plain pointed top hat in his hand, as if it were worth a thousand gold.

The weird thing is, it does have a lot of value.

The shabby man in front of him smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Old William, be realistic, I can't afford such an expensive hat." Look at its beautiful material, it must be worth more than ten pounds! ”

"I'm just an ordinary school worker, where can I afford to consume this kind of thing."

Old William shook his head and whispered in an extremely seductive tone: "You can't just look at what is in front of you. ”

"You think, it's the festival in the afternoon, wear this hat, your appearance score will definitely rise, and when the time comes, if you're lucky, becoming a professor is just around the corner!"

"You have to know how to invest."

He pointed at it in the classic tone of a liar.

Generally speaking, the price of this plain hat is worth three or four pence at most, and even if the craftsmanship of this hat is unusually good, it is not worth a sule, and daring to sell it for a dozen pounds is a profiteer among profiteers.

Sell a few more of the ones that can be used as street lamps for capitalists.

However, neither of them felt that there was anything wrong with this.

After going through a few tuggings again, the customer seemed to be lowered, and finally, he gritted his teeth and bought the top hat with tears.

He doesn't even get two pounds a week!

Old William watched contentedly as the man who had spent all his savings to buy a hat walked away.

"Gain again?"

Hank, who was five big and three thick, walked out of the back door and asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes, another guy who thinks he can reach the sky in one step, may the crow wish him good luck." Old William turned around in a pleasant tone.

But looking at the pawn shop that was empty except for Hank, he immediately pulled down his face again, and became angry.

"What about the boy at Dryster? When he's so busy, he's lazy on it?! ”

"I didn't pay him two pounds a week to make it easy for him!"

"This despicable outlander, a wage thief!"

In a rage, he was about to go past Hank and go upstairs to knock on someone's door.

Hank shamelessly dissuaded him on the spot, and smiled to persuade him not to be angry: "Don't worry, I'll call him down immediately, he may be dizzy from looking at the crafts"

During the conversation, Old William, who was facing the back of the store, suddenly stared at him, and he had already captured the person he was looking for: "You! What to do there? ”

His gaze was fixed on the staircase, motionless.

Looking in the direction of old William's eyes, at the end of the gloomy stairwell, there stood a thin and pale young man, who was poking his brain outside.

Hearing the voice, he looked over in confusion.

"Me?"

Yager pointed to himself suspiciously.

"That's right, who else!" Old William was conspicuously a little more angry, and his face was slightly red, "Are you dreaming there?" It's time for you to solicit guests. ”

"How can a boss of mine give you a top shift!"

His expression made the words even more real.

It's a fact.

Yager judged this, so he didn't refuse, and walked over a few steps that seemed to be very well-behaved.

"Sorry, boss. I just accidentally fell and hit my head, and my memory is a little unclear. ”

He explained calmly.

Seeing that his expression was very honest, and there seemed to be a little dust on his forehead, Old William snorted coldly, did not continue to accuse, and gave up the counter.

But I still can't help but think about it:

"You'd better remember how to do it, or be careful about your salary!"

"Also, some people don't think that they are good and want to over-prepare for the festival."

"It's such a good thing to get to heaven in one step."

"Even if it's been a long time, you can't completely forget the days before you woke up, right? It's true that it doesn't change much, but in the end, how much you have left for yourself is different. ”

"Don't pay a price you can't afford."

At the end, Old William's voice was low, and his tone was extremely serious, staring straight at him pointedly.

On the other side, Yager pretended to be teachable.

But I couldn't help frowning.

After William Sr. dragged Hank away, he stood in front of the counter, looking through the pawn shop's account records, and always felt discordant.

What is the 'Awakening' and Festival?

Even if he didn't have a memory, he still felt that this thing didn't really deserve to exist.

But what is more important is the intuitive price change brought about by the festival.

Clothing sales are up 100% this month, with black robes and black peaked hats topping the list.

It's weird.

No matter how popular it is, it won't be like this!

Moreover, this popular fashion is inexplicably very popular

Yager made this summary in bewilderment.

However, because there were so many people in the store, he didn't have much opportunity to answer this kind of doubt for the time being, so he could only start working obediently as an ordinary appraiser in a pawn shop.

The hours passed quickly.

As the sun gradually sinks in the west, it dyes the perennial smog of Beckland, and at the end of the day, the colors finally become a little more positive.

The squares in Midtown Beckland, on the other hand, are uncharacteristically crowded and crowded.

Countless men and women crowded the small square, all in anticipation, their eyes more fanatical than the cult festival of Baiam, rushing forward.

Old William led the two to the edge of the square.

Yager couldn't help but lean to the right, dodging the strong man who came up from behind, wanting to rely on close contact to reduce the distance from the center.

"I mean, these people are crazy too."

He ducked behind Hank next to him, causing the strong men to hurt each other.

Yager's remark was ambiguous, without any useful information, and clearly with a cliché.

He urgently needed to figure out what the was doing.

Sure enough, Hank smiled heartily and explained:

"It's normal, not everybody thinks life is good right now. Since there is a chance to climb up, there are always people who are unwilling to let go. ”

"What's more, there's no big risk."

Yager's brows furrowed, feeling that the situation was even more bizarre: "Risk? How to climb up? ”

"Huh?"

Hank was stunned for a moment, as if he wondered why someone didn't know this kind of universal common sense, and his eyes became sharp for a moment.

Skepticism and scrutiny that did not fit his style appeared in the blue eyes.

Weird!

Discord!

Yager maintained an indifferent expression, but felt an unusual change, and his muscles quietly tensed.

But after a few seconds, Hank was back to normal on his own.

He smiled again: "Oh, you're a foreigner, it may not be the same there. ”

There seemed to be a slight difference in the lines of his muscles.

"The festival, which is the celebration of the 'Awakening Day', has evolved over the years into a new class selection exam, and if passed, the candidate can change his or her existing job and start a new life."

"Rune's criteria are quite flexible, there are a lot of other factors, but there is one criterion that is certain—"

"As long as your percentage is up."

He said with a smile, the twinkle in his eyes was very different from the look of Hank in his memory.

Yager narrowed his eyes.

The other party said a lot, but in fact, only the results of the festival were revealed.

He still didn't know what the standard of the festival was.

But the puzzle is finally going to be solved on its own.

Amid the cheers of countless fanatical people, several men in black robes and pointed hats walked up to the stage at six o'clock in a very official manner.

They put a weird crystal ball in the middle.

The strangest thing is that, although their postures are different, their overall appearance is very similar, and even the decoration is similar.

Both have sparkling monocles in front of their eyes.

One of them stood at the forefront, smiling strangely very similar to Hank's, but more harmonious, and said aloud:

"The festival begins now."

"The first gentleman, please."

The crowd surged, letting out bursts of cheers, constantly pushing and shoving to squeeze to the front.

A man at the front rushed forward excitedly, wearing a crooked peaked top hat that looked like a clumsy imitation of several officials.

He couldn't wait to put his hand on the crystal ball—

"Amun concentration, 10%."

The tester next to him calmly reported the number.

The man let out a roar of remorse to the extreme, and was almost dragged down by the rest of the group.

The wrinkles on his face were all huddled together, his voice was hoarse, and he kept yelling things like 'just dress up again,' but he was kicked off the test table mercilessly.

The tester's unwavering voice continued:

"Next."

The flow of people is getting more and more excited.

But in the frenzy, Yager was already stunned.

Yes?

He blinked, and blinked.

There was nothing wrong with the sight in front of him, and he was not mistaken.

But the absence of the problem is the biggest problem.

After appearing here, Yager, who has always been able to analyze calmly and calmly handle the situation, felt shocked, panicked, and lost his soul for the first time-

What is Amun Concentration?!!!

Why does it sound so good!!

He doesn't understand! He can't understand this world!

He froze in place, shocked.

On the side, Hank has returned to normal and began to explain the situation normally and heartily:

"That's what you see. You may be too small at sea to have such an electoral system. ”

"In fact, Rune often calls all-Mongolian referendums."

"If you want me to say, this is probably the best place for the new policy. Officials are honest and willing to listen to the opinions of ordinary people, and life has been much better. ”

"Even the price to pay is not small."

Hank lowered his voice and emphasized: "You see, those who are in high positions have reached 90%, and some people are even 100%. ”

"In this way, it is not a good thing to go up."

Yager nodded in a trance.

Seems to make some sense?

Bah! What makes sense!

What kind of new species is Amon? Everyone has it, when they are android chips!!

What the hell is this place!!

For the first time in his life, he felt like he was really dreaming.

Hank continues: "On the day of the awakening, the Venerable Time Worm became the greatest true god in this world, and we are all his followers. ”

"His canon is one: justice, and justice."

"Under the light of Amun, all Mon are equal, and we will only distinguish salaries according to their ability, and no longer according to the destiny that we were born with. The higher the position, the more risk you need to take. ”

"Equivalent exchange."

"I think it's good. Oh, by the way, Dressster, it's your turn. ”

After saying this remark, which was full of absurdity from beginning to end, Hank pointed to the name called on the table and pushed Yager onto the stage first.

Yager stood abruptly, his brain still recovering from the violent conflict.

He had 'want to escape' written on his face with a capital letter.

In full view of everyone, he mechanically pressed his hand to the crystal ball.

“……”

There was a pause in the glow of the setting sun for a moment, and the next second, a sudden pin drop could be heard in the square!

The crystal ball is peaceful.

The tester in front of him looked at the orb that had not moved for a few seconds, then chuckled, raised his eyes to stare at Yager, and spat out a value that had never been seen today:

"Amun concentration, 0."

Yager's eyes widened slightly.

He saw that the world had changed.

From the top of the table, and further out, to the end of the line of sight, there was a crowd of people who had come to the festival, and a second earlier, they were still stomping forward in a frenzy.

But now, there is only a dead silence.

Everyone stayed where they were, everyone stood like zombies, turning their heads to look at the center.

Looking far away, he could almost see that the black dot-like figures on the edge of the palace high above all suddenly turned their heads to look in his direction.

All of them smiled similarly eeriely.

A thousand faces, a thousand ages, the same smile.

Everyone suddenly took out a monocle from their pockets, looked at the young man in the center, and laughed in unison:

"Hello, visitor."

。。。

Someday in the future.

On the soft bed, Auger sat up in a dying, and suddenly got up and gasped, his eyes wide with shock and shock that did not fade.

He froze in place for a few seconds.

It turned out to be a dream.

It turned out to be a dream!

Yager: "......"

Damn it.

Amun's thing must not be the master of mysteries.

Break off! Right! No! Yes!

Take a leave of absence, I'm going to school today, I guess I don't have time to update......

(End of chapter)