At this moment, not only were countless players in Test Room No. 3 watching intently.
Sterl's battle footage was also captured by cameras and broadcasted to various bases participating in this pioneer assessment.
In the God Mountain Empire, within Base 5677, situated in the municipal center, a conversation was unfolding.
"Commander Miste, look, this young man seems very confident, as if he's sure of himself," said a young man dressed in black leather respectfully to the figure sitting in the main seat.
The room was filled with players, their eyes glued to a large screen broadcasting the event.
The screen displayed thousands of surveillance videos, covering the testing conditions in twelve bases for this pioneer player assessment.
What was shocking was the aura of the players around; anyone with a detection skill would realize these were all professionals above level 20!
Base 5677, identified by its four-digit code, was a mid-level base among Earth's human forces and the superior to Sterl's Base 71392.
"He looks young and confident? Good."
"Sterl from Base 71392... just became a player this year? With only a D-grade talent level?"
"Did he come across some opportunity, or was there a mistake in recording his talent level?" The person known as Commander Miste was a solemn-faced man dressed in a white robe.
"Forget it, switch his surveillance to my screen," Miste commanded.
"Yes," his subordinate responded.
Soon, another surveillance feed appeared before the commander, adding to the over one hundred and twenty screens he was already monitoring, showcasing relatively young players facing elite monsters.
However, Miste's attention wasn't on Sterl's feed. After checking the data, he realized that this young man from Base 71392 seemed too ordinary.
Even taking the time to watch his surveillance video felt like a potential waste, as Sterl might indeed be overconfident and unable to overcome the challenge.
"Base 71394's Judy has awakened a B-grade mental talent, [Wind Mastery]."
"Base 71388's Verden, C-grade talent, and has triggered a hidden quest with high potential."
"Base 71044's Norville, C-grade talent, became a player last year, participated in a boss hunt, and survived successfully."
"Base 71055..."
Commander Miste pondered. These were the genius players that emerged from the various bases under the jurisdiction of Base 5677 in this and last year's batches, and they were his primary subjects of interest.
...
Meanwhile, back in the testing room,
Sterl was oblivious to the attention he had garnered.
He had already planned his explanation if he won against the elite monster. He would claim it was due to his [Attribute Enhancement] talent, which was of a very high tier, but not fully revealed during the initial testing.
The awakening devices in the base were developed by Earth's humans themselves, not originating from the "Transcendence" game system. Instances of misrecording talent levels had occurred multiple times, according to records.
With such an explanation, Sterl believed no one could fault him.
He was deep in thought, but the genetically modified werewolf opposite him wasn't about to wait idly by; instead, it launched a ferocious attack.
"Aoooooo!!"
With a low growl, the werewolf charged forward, becoming a blur of motion!
In less than half a second, Sterl could see the monster's fierce canine teeth and smell its foul stench.
Yet, to others, what might be an unbelievably fast attack was meaningless against Sterl.
He directly activated [Descent of the Gods]!
A faint golden light enveloped Sterl, increasing all his attributes by 50 points, in addition to doubling his base attributes. Given he was level 9 and hadn't allocated his points yet, all his attributes reached seventy points!
Now, his attributes were nearly three times those of the elite monster.
With such a terrifying gap, Sterl had an overwhelming advantage even without using any skills. The werewolf's charge was met with Sterl slightly sidestepping, dodging at an extreme angle.
Then, he threw a punch, swift as lightning and with the force of a thousand pounds,
hitting the target's skull squarely!
The werewolf screamed as its head was pulverized into a mist of blood!!
Instant kill!
The monster's torso continued its forward momentum, neck spraying blood, before its body, following inertia, collapsed on one side of the arena.
And with that, the battle was over.
A voice soon echoed in the air. "Congratulations to Tester No. 110 for completing the test!" "Congratulations…"
...
This scene left everyone present dumbfounded.
No one had processed what had happened.
"Wait, what just happened?"
"Did that young man win??"
"Did he just one-shot it, are you kidding me??"
"Is there a bug in the virtual imaging system?"
"An elite monster got one-shot, could it be that this young man is a professional?"
The audience was in an uproar. It's not that the players present weren't prepared for Sterl to win, but who could have imagined that a player, evidently a newcomer, facing an elite monster that even players near level 20 struggled with...
Would achieve a one-shot victory?
Is this world crazy, or are they mentally deranged?
And it wasn't just the people on the scene who were stunned.
At this moment, in Base 5677, Commander Miste, watching one of the hundreds of screens before him display the message "Assessment Successful," was also bewildered.
Just a second ago, he had glanced at the screen, where the surveillance showed the genius players from various bases; most hadn't started their battles, and the few who did were just beginning. How could one suddenly show a successful assessment??
Upon checking, Miste was even more astonished to find that the player who had passed the assessment wasn't any of the "geniuses" he had been focusing on.
The ones he had noted down, Judy with a B-grade talent, Verden with a C-grade talent...
On the screens, they either hadn't started or were in the midst of a fierce battle with monsters.
"Then, who exactly passed the assessment?"
After asking the players present, everyone was just as clueless.
On the screen, a thousand people were taking the assessment at the same time, and Sterl finished his battle in less than two seconds. Unfortunately, no one happened to witness the moment he instantly killed the genetically modified werewolf.
Then, after their initial confusion, the players immediately opted to pull up the system data, and the truth was revealed.
"Is this the Sterl from Base 73192?? According to the replay, he took down that elite monster in one move!!"
"What? An instant kill? You must be joking."
"Could it be a glitch in the virtual imaging system?"
Despite being from a mid-level base, the players and Commander Mister reacted just like those in Sterl's testing room, unable to believe their eyes and suspecting a bug in the system.
It was only after repeatedly watching the video that they confirmed... it couldn't be a BUG!
The speed and the force of the werewolf's attacks, perceivable through the video, clearly demonstrated the strength of a level ten elite!The battle ended so quickly solely because the player named Sterl... was too strong!
"Damn!!"
Mister couldn't help but curse, and he even lost interest in watching the assessments of other players.
"You guys keep watching; I must report this new player's performance to the authorities at Base 131 in the Val Administrative Region."
"I never expected we'd catch such a big fish during this exploration mission."
"If this Sterl... Brother Sterl, is deemed qualified by the higher-ups to join the Spark Project, becoming an important talent reserve for our human race on Earth..."
"Our base's funding for the next ten years would be secured!"
Mister spoke with extreme excitement.
The so-called Spark Project is a plan by the human race on Earth to better cultivate players with top-tier talents.
Players who join can enjoy various rare resources collected by the human race, including class change items, skills, books, rare titles, pets, and equipment.
They also gain access to important information, such as the initiation of certain hidden quests and strategies to increase favorability with important NPCs...
Of course, these resources are not free. Players who join the project must complete additional tasks and assessments. However, for many people, such high-level resources are out of reach.
It's no exaggeration to say that players who join the Spark Project are bound to soar to great heights!