"Why is it so hard finding a job?" Ye Han sat inside a coffee shop sipping the free water they offer.
It has been 3 hours since he explored the city for any job vacancies and he hasn't found any openings yet. Distraught, he decided to rest inside the coffee shop and gather his bearings.
"Is this because of my tracksuit? No! Suzuka-chan has told me, I should never give up. But if this trend continues on, earning extra cash would prove to be hard."
The shop is currently empty except for him and some staff. But the cashier seemed to be drilling hole on him using her eyes. The bastard only went inside to get a free cup of water and he is acting like he was drinking some of the actual products.
"If that guy stays for another minute I'll personally dip his head in boiling water."
Ye Han sipped some of the water and put on a pondering expression. His face resembled those coffee connoisseurs judging a type of coffee.
"This taste… watery."
*slam*
The cashier slammed her head on the cash register, which then issued a beep. Some of the employees wisely decided to go inside the employee's lounge.
"I need to step up my game. Maybe that arcade just outside may have some vacancies."
When Ye Han finally reached the door, the cashier sighed in relief. The annoying guy is finally going away. But before she could sigh completely, Ye Han decided to do one last and crucial thing.
"Umm, can I please ask for sugar packets?" He said.
*inhale*
*exhale*
'Slow and steady. Don't punch him. Keep your cool.'
Slowly chanting the mantra inside her head, she gave Ye Han one of the most twisted smiles he had seen. Reaching out under the counter, she grabbed a handful of those packets. But her grip was so tight that some packet was obviously torn a little. She then handed all of it to him with her hands shaking in rage.
"One packet should have been enough, but gee thanks I appreciate that. Here's a tip."
He then handed her some cheap gum and placed it on her hands.
"Don't spend it all in one place." He then winked.
"…"
The cashier froze. Her mouth opened wide that it could fit a lemon. The employees came out to the sight of the cashier's jaw hanging open. Whatever that weirdo did, they don't want to find out.
***
"Arcade Casino. This sounds familiar, where have I heard of this place before?"
He stepped inside a massive building. Currently, a lot of people are gathered and are filed into lines and looks like are registering for something.
Not bothering about the purpose of those lines, he proceeded to explore the place and find an information desk of some kind. In his quest, he stumbled upon various kinds of people. Some were dressed normally, others wore silly masks, there others who wore weird clothing that he sees on games. 'Cosplay was it called?'
He finally found what he was looking for. Unfortunately, the receptionist seemed unenthusiastic. But Ye Han has read some tips beforehand, so he greeted the guy in the most cheerful way possible.
"Good Morning! I'm here for-"
"You're one of those guys huh. Well, the line starts there." He said pointing at the ridiculous line he ignored earlier.
"I'm lining up there?!"
"Yeah. Got any problems, well you are welcome to get out."
"No problems!"
"Skedaddle away. I'm busy here."
He hurriedly went to the most back portion of the line and wait as it slowly eats away his soul.
'There sure are a lot of applicants here. But some of them are dressed weirdly. I guess the outfit won't matter. Other's are even more weirdly dressed than I am. Thank you Suzuka-chan.'
With nothing else to do, he decided to look around and observe some of the "applicants." He found some students from his school, even the Inquisition is here. He watched them with interest as the 5 of them lined up in a religious manner.
And after 30 minutes of waiting, he is finally in front and readied himself for the preliminary objectives.
"Type your username in here." The receptionist presented him with a keyboard alongside a monitor.
'What is a username?'
"Excuse me, sir. Username?" He asked with an obvious amount of uncertainty.
"Your name! Anything you want to write there."
"Oh, my name. That's easy."
He proceeded to write his full name with utmost confidence. Confidence defines a man. 'Maybe this receptionist is the hidden evaluator that would prove to be relevant later.'
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing there?! Are you seriously going to write your full name?"
"Uhhh, why not?"
"This is a competition and you are seriously going to write your name?" He asked in incredulity. 'And who in their right mind would use their real name as a username?'
Realization dawn on Ye Han. Everything now made sense. The sheer amount of people lining, the competitive look they all have and the overall environment of the place. 'There's no way this company would hire a lot of these people. So in order to choose a competent employee they must settle it with a tournament. And the champion shall claim his rightful place. I haven't heard or even read of this method but this sure is one of a kind. My future would truly be secure with this company. And I knew this receptionist is a hidden helper, more of a mountain sage type.'
"Thank you for the guidance, great teacher."
"Yeah, no problem." He shrugged. 'Great teacher? Weird guy.'
'I need a good alias. I don't want my enemies to know my identity.'
He tried typing, "The vanquisher of evil, protector of the planet." But the monitor registered an error.
"Great teacher, I have encountered a problem. It won't write any more letters."
'That's weird. How on earth could this guy's username be longer than it should?' "The username cannot be more than 25 characters. Here, let me take a look."
He took a peek at the screen and immediately regretted it. It made him clench his butt so hard. He felt like he ate a whole lemon, due to the cringe. Looking at the words "The vanquisher of evil" sent shivers down his spine. 'How could someone use this as a username? He even looks proud of it!'
"Change your username."
"What?"
"Change it."
"But-"
"No buts. Change it."
The forcefully made change the most horrendous username he ever heard. He did not care if this customer has his feelings hurt or file a report against him. He won't let this person compete with that username.
'A direct order from the great teacher!'
"As you wish, great teacher." Ye Han bowed.
"Good."
Thankfully, there are no people lining up behind. The ones who were there before reluctantly moved towards other desk realizing that the bloke in front of them would take a long time.
"Hurry up. The registration's about to end. You have 5 minutes left."
After a couple of considerations, he finally typed a username that somehow impressed the receptionist.
[KingofGreed]
When he hit enter, the system registered an error.
[Username is already taken.]
"That's sad it's already taken. Pick another one, something unique. 2 minutes left."
"What?! Wait, I got this."
But while he was deep in thought he did not notice the random taps he was doing with the keyboard. Due to it, random letters were inputted to the system.
'If he hits enter with whatever he's writing I'd slam my head on the desk.'
"Aha! I've got it." He slammed the desk. But unknowingly, the part he just slammed was actually the enter button.
*head slamming the desk*
"Eh? What happened? Why can't I type anymore?"
"You already inputted something." Said the distraught receptionist.
"But." He then realized that the tapping on the desk was actually pressing the keyboard. "…oh."
"Ah whatever, all that matter is it's unique. Welcome to the tournament, [dingaloo]."
He grabbed a card and gave it to the vacant-eyed Ye Han.