"I refuse!"
Mike's reply appeared on the Voice Transmission Channel. He was only permitted to reply one message and could no longer say anything in the channel after that.
In the World Channel.
"R-Refused… He refused..."
"F*ck!"
"Are you serious?!"
"Pros will always be pros. So many major factions have invited him and him alone, yet, he rejected them all so decisively! He didn't even ask for the conditions."
"Is this what it means to be a pro?"
"Why don't you invite me instead? I want to join!"
"Are you even worthy enough?"
...
In the Voice Transmission Channel, everyone from the Heavenly King's Palace and the other factions had not expected Mike to reject their invitations.
[You don't understand the concept of the Heavenly King's Palace. The Heavenly King's Palace is the most powerful faction in the entire Miracle! If you join us, you'll be thousands of times stronger than you are now. Without us, your lifetime achievements will only make you dozens of times stronger at most.]
[As for the other people who join the Heavenly King's Palace, no matter how weak they are compared to you now, they will reach existences that you could only dream to reach in the future!]
[Furthermore, rejecting the Heavenly King's Palace is considered an offense against us. Think carefully!]
[The same goes for the Sea King's Palace.]
[The same goes for the Fire King's Palace.]
[You must join at least one faction. Otherwise, you will offend all the factions that have invited you!]
How could a simple rejection cause such a huge reaction?
There had to be a reason.
[Hidden Information: The palaces think that their dignity should not be offended, and it's not because they value you. Joining them might expose your secret and cause danger to you, and they will not hesitate to hurt you. The humans that join them are treated like dogs in their eyes.]
Who would want to join them?
Luckily, Mike could see the hidden information. Otherwise, something terrible might have happened.
"Stop babbling, I refuse," Mike replied.
[Human, you will pay the price for today's rejection.]
[Mike, it will be hard for you to develop in the future! No major cities will welcome you! You won't be able to advance one bit!]
Unable to advance one bit?
Who cares?
It was better than joining these factions just to be treated as their lackeys. Developing himself in the wild would be better than that.
In the World Channel.
"Big Bro Mike is really tough."
"Unfortunately, no matter how strong Mike is, he is still just a human. Moreover, he was only famous in the early days, not now. How could he even begin to compete with these powerful factions?"
"He can't even enter the cities, so he won't be able to develop himself."
"Mike is finished."
"Perhaps after a period of time, all of us will be stronger than Mike."
"Such a pity that one moment of arrogance will ruin your entire future."
"If I were Mike, I would definitely agree. He doesn't seem to be very smart."
"He has his specialties. He's good at fighting monsters and researching, but he's definitely not good at interacting with others. In other words, he's not tactful."
"He's not even allowed to enter the cities. Mike is so pitiful."
"I guess his Raw Meat will soon be worthless now that the newer version of the game is out."
"At least the Raw Meat is still a treasure now."
...
Mike closed the chat interface.
He didn't care about the outside world; he was just focused on developing himself and his own business.
What was wrong with offending all the factions and being restricted from entering the main cities? It didn't matter.
[Hidden Information: The doppelganger has not been discovered by any factions or individuals. It can freely enter and leave the main cities without any restrictions.]
Mike raised his eyebrows.
So, his doppelganger had such an advantage?
"Interesting."
A smile appeared on Mike's lips.
"Telling me that I'm banned from the main cities just makes me want to enter it even more now. I'll send my doppelganger inside!"
"I can use him to join with those factions and take them down from within."
"It's dangerous if I were to go in personally. It doesn't matter if my doppelganger dies. I'll just create another one."
The closest place to this place was a city called Ledda City.
It didn't have the same high status as Heavenly King City or Sea King City, but it was also an important city. Many players entered Ledda City, and in fact, most players would eventually enter cities just like this one.
After all, only a few players would be able to stay at places like Heavenly King City, as it was a high-level venue. It was not a place where current players could mingle around.
Inside Ledda City.
Every player who entered the main city would be reminded to go to the Profession Alliance to upgrade their class medal.
"Upgrade Class Medal? What's that?"
The players were lined up one after another. They were allowed to freely upgrade or change their Class, but it could only be done once.
"My main body is a Mage, so my doppelganger will be... a Necromancer."
Mike went to line up too. He was more interested in this summoner-type class.
There was a long line for Necromancers. Someone was explaining the levels of the class medals to the players, and the players finally understood.
"So, there are different levels divided among each medal! Most of us have Beginner or Intermediate medals."
"According to their analysis, the reason why Mike is so strong was probably that he took an Advanced medal or even a Supreme medal!"
"What? Is this really the reason why Mike is so strong?"
"What about us?"
"We can upgrade the medal to Supreme for free in the Profession Alliance. In the future, if the conditions were met, we can even upgrade to the legendary Bronze-Tier."
"D*mn! And directly surpass Mike?"
"Isn't it expensive to keep entering the city though?"
"Mike actually refused such a good opportunity?"
"Haha, I knew It. In the future, every one of us will turn out stronger than Mike!"
"When Mike finds out about this, he will definitely regret this, all the way to his death!"
"He got lucky and obtained an Advanced-Tier Class Medal and thinks that he's a cut above us. Just wait, he'll be below us soon enough. Haha!"
"He definitely will! I reckon in the future, he won't have the chance to enter the city even if he begged."
"He even turned down the invitations of those powerful factions like the Heavenly King's Palace. He was probably just trying to act cool in that moment."
...
They didn't know that Mike was actually right beside them.
He just had a different appearance. Even though his name was still 'Mike', there were too many people named Mike. Everyone mainly recognizes each other by their appearance and identity number.
Soon, it was Mike's turn. Mike's doppelganger didn't have a Class Medal. Now, he was going over to receive one.
"Your original Class Medal level is..." The person from the Profession Alliance checked Mike.
He was suddenly stunned, and he raised his head in disbelief.
"You didn't pick a Class?" The person said in surprise.
"No," Mike admitted.
He hadn't picked a Class, but he already reached Level 20!
"Wait a moment." The person who checked him hurriedly contacted his superior.
"Maybe he was boosted by someone. Aren't there many parties that were grinding levels?" The superior replied, "However, you can test his potential."
They didn't think that Mike had good potential, but they still tested him anyway. They brought Mike to the place where they test the player's potentials and told him to stand in a fixed position.
"He must have been carried to reach the level he is now."
"Even if he had potential, it wouldn't be a lot."
"Don't get your hopes up."
A light soon appeared around Mike, and the color of the light was changing.
From white, it slowly turned green.
"Bronze-Tier? He does have some potential, but that should be all."
Then, it turned Silver.
Everyone's expressions changed.
Silver-Tier was considered rare.
This was not potential that came from being carried, but innate potential! If the potential in the innate state was already so high, after nurturing it together with outside help, one could become a pretty strong character.
But soon, it turned to Gold.
Everyone's expression changed.
"How is this possible?!"