The administrator was looking forward to seeing what choice James would make.
Most of the Earthlings it had come across had chosen to play it safe and tackle the first trial on easy mode. As a result, they earned only 25 trial points, which was hardly enough to afford an F-rank class. With 25 trial points, a player can only unlock one of the lowest ranked classes and they can't even unlock skills or spells related to their weak ass class.
Most of these people met their end in the second trial, where things get progressively harder.
So unless one was armed to the teeth like James, their only choice was to tackle the first trial on harder difficulties.
That's not to say there were no exceptions.
It had come across three crazy humans who dared to tackle the first trial on the hardest difficulties.
One was beaten to death.
The other fought like a crazed beast. He destroyed all the puppets but was so severely injured in the process it looked like he would die at any moment. He didn't die as he traded the reward for completing the first trial on the hardest difficulty to obtain a D-ranked class, Healer, which came with two passive skills and one active skill. The active skill was 'Heal.' He cast 'Heal' on himself again and again and saved his life.
The last one was a man who appeared in the white room in his birthday suit, holding a flamethrower. He relied on it to effortlessly take down the puppets.
Luck was part of a player's blessing.
Appearing in the first trial while armed with a flamethrower from the Boring Company was his luck.
The administrator didn't find fault with him and allowed him to go ahead.
These were the few Earthlings who had managed to impress the Administrator. It hoped that James wouldn't disappoint.
It was bound to not be dissapointed today as James said, "I want to tackle the first trial on the hardest difficulty possible!"
James came to this decision after careful consideration.
While an ordinary individual would not survive if they dared to tackle the first trial at the hardest difficulty level, James was anything but ordinary. Due to years of being athletic, he was almost one and a half time stronger than an average individual. On top of that, he was armed to the teeth. If anyone could tackle the first trial's hardest difficulties, it was him.
"I don't know where your confidence comes from, but but it's refreshing to see such audacity," the administrator stated. "I hope you have enough strength to survive up the bold choice you're made. It will be pitiful to see the source of my new amusement die so soon."
The administrator didn't know a thing about modern weapons. So it didn't know that the rifle slung over James's shoulder as well as the guns strapped to his thigh were deadly weapons extremely efficient killing people. It only recognized the daggers safely tucked in the sheaths of his vest with their hilts sticking out and thought James wouldn't be able to get too far with them, especially against four puppets.
He might be beaten to death like that fool before him.
However, his life and death didn't have anything to do with it.
The administrator clapped four times.
Each time it clapped, a portal opened up.
In total, four portals opened, and from each portal, a puppet stepped out.
They stood as tall as James and had glowing blue lines running across their wooden bodies.
These lines represented the mana circuit that fueled their existence. If their mana circuit was destroyed, they would cease to function. However, it was hard to destroy their mana circuit as it was sturdiest part of their built.
Whoosh!
With the aim to break him like a doll, the four puppets rushed toward him immediately.
James reached for the AK-47 rifle slung over his shoulder.
Swiftly, he aimed at the speed-type puppet and the strength-type puppet with his rifle.
Although all the puppets looked the same, It was easy to determine who the strength and speed types puppets were. They were faster than the vitality-type and stamina-type puppet, so they could only be the puppets at the forefront of the group charging at him.
After aiming at them, he pulled the trigger.
Ratatata!
Bullets shot out of the AK-47 and cut through the air, hurtling towards the puppets at a speed that even the administrator, who was watching the battle from the sideline, found ridiculous.
The strength and speed-type puppets were two times stronger and faster than an average human. The strength-type puppet could scale a ten-meter tall wall with a simple jump, while the reaction speed of the speed-type puppet was only approximately 1.5 times slower than the reflexes of cats, who can dodge sudden movements and react to threats within milliseconds.
They were definitely strong, but their strength didn't exceed naturally attainable levels. They couldn't dodge being shot from a close range.
There was a gap of only a few meters between them and James when he sprayed them with bullets. If the gap had been larger, perhaps they stood a chance at dodging them with their stats, but at this close range, they definitely didn't stand a chance at avoiding the bullets.
The bullets pierced through them, drilling finger-sized holes in their bodies and mana circuits.
The puppets shared the same weaknesses. If their mana circuits were significantly damaged, they would stop functioning.
With holes being drilled into their mana circuits, there was no way the strength and speed-type puppets could remain functioning, much less try to take James down with them.
Thud! Thud!
Two resounding thuds sounded as the strength and speed type puppets collapsed to the ground like broken dolls simultaneously. James have successfully defeated two of the four puppets that were in his way to emerging victorious in the Combat Puppet Trial!
'Only two more to go and I will pass the first trial. Using my limited ammunition on them will be a waste. Let's engage them in close combat.'
James slung the rifle over his shoulder and pulled out his daggers to face the remaining two puppets.