Landlord World - Start with SSS talent

"Master, I'm trying to help you," Malrik sighed.

"Ah! Sorry, it's just… your plan is a bit too… hm… explosive, so it's hard for me to accept it right away," Noan said with an awkward smile.

"But can you guarantee no one will detect you?"

"Master, don't worry," Malrik replied with a grin. "When I first arrived here, I sensed that the academy has a rather large cemetery. If I hide among the spirits, no one will be able to find me."

Noan frowned, still feeling uneasy. "What if an S-rank Hero appears?"

"Master, even if an S-rank Hero or someone with an S-rank detection talent shows up, they still won't be able to detect me," Malrik said confidently.

Noan naturally trusted Malrik. After all, Malrik was a rather strange existence, so it wasn't surprising that he possessed some extraordinary abilities.

"Good!" Noan nodded and said, "Go. Be careful, understand?"

"Yes, Master. Kekeke…" Malrik replied. Then he stepped back, transformed into a stream of black smoke, and vanished.

Fortunately, no one was watching where Noan stood, so no one saw them.

After confirming Malrik had left, Noan calmly walked toward the line of people waiting.

A short while later, it was his turn to be checked.

The staff member took his ID card, glanced at it briefly, then handed it back and said, "Head over there."

Noan followed the man's pointing finger and saw a group gathered in the distance.

He walked over, and another staff member saw him approaching and said, "Stand here and wait a moment."

Noan obeyed and stood with a group of other students.

"Tsk!" In frustration, one student suddenly clicked his tongue and said, "Is that idiot serious? The Government and the Empire put a bounty on his head, and he's still hiding. Because of him, we're all stuck here for checks."

Hearing that, Noan turned to look at the speaker.

It wasn't just that young man—another person also voiced their annoyance.

"Exactly. In all of human history, no one's ever made it past the 8th floor of the Trial Tower, and now someone just blew through the 10th."

Others began chiming in at that moment.

"And that person is just a rank F Lord, no less. Is this a joke? A rank F Lord cleared the 10th floor of the Trial Tower? Was there a glitch in the system?"

"No, the system has been running without a single error for countless years. That means we can be certain—he really is a rank F Lord."

"Damn it! Even terrifying SS-rank existences haven't gotten past the 8th floor—how could a rank F Lord possibly do it?"

"You guys probably haven't been inside that Tower yet, so you don't understand how it works."

"Heh?! What do you mean?"

"Ah! You really don't know? The trials inside the Tower have nothing to do with a Lord's rank or level."

"Huh?! What the hell?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"It seems none of you have ever entered the Trial Tower before, right? The challenge there doesn't involve fighting some kind of terrifying monster. You have to battle yourself—and the Hero you brought with you."

"What?! Explain that in more detail."

"I'm a level-3 Lord, currently gathering enough resources to advance to level 4, so I've done much research on this."

"Yeah, I've heard the same thing. On the first floor, you must fight a mirror version of yourself and your Hero. On the second floor, the number of copies increases. By the third floor, the copies multiply, and their rank and level rise as well…"

"What the hell?! So that means every Lord is on equal footing when they enter the Trial Tower?"

"Exactly. It doesn't matter what your rank is or how high your level might be—once inside the Tower, your opponent is your own copy."

"That's amazing. That also means the only way to win inside the Trial Tower is through willpower and strategy—you can't rely on rank or level to overpower your enemy."

"You're right. An S-rank Lord will face an S-rank copy. A rank F Lord will face a rank F copy. The opportunity is the same for everyone."

"Seems like I finally understand why no one has ever gotten past the 8th floor of the Trial Tower," one person said. "By that point, the number of copies and their level must be terrifying."

"Of course. That's exactly why the Government and the Empire are going all out to find a rank F Lord who managed to clear the 10th floor."

"For an average Lord, clearing the first three floors is already enough to be called a genius. Anyone who gets past the fourth floor is considered a super-genius and would immediately be sought out and cultivated by the Empire or Government."

"And now, someone cleared the 10th floor—something even the previous Emperor couldn't achieve—so it's no surprise that both the Empire and the Federal Government are desperately searching for this person."

"Damn it! If I were that guy, I'd have shown up already. A reward of 1,000 A-rank Energy Crystals? I wouldn't even dare dream of that, even in my dreams."

"Hahaha… I still want to find him even if I'm not the one. A bounty of 1,000 B-rank crystals for whoever identifies him? Damn, if I knew who he was, I'd turn him in without hesitation."

"Yeah, yeah, easier said than done. You really think someone capable of clearing the 10th floor of the Trial Tower is just going to let you catch them that easily?"

"Hahahaha… True, but I'll find more people if I can't do it alone. I don't believe that with ten or even a hundred of us, we still wouldn't be able to catch that bastard."

Listening to the chatter around him, Noan felt a wave of weariness wash over him.

Thankfully, he had used the system's function to conceal his identity beforehand. Otherwise, the trouble crashing down on him now would've been like a tidal wave.

Noan waited for quite a while, and once all the students had been screened, the rank F and E Lords were escorted elsewhere.

Around two hundred people, including Noan, were taken to a large hall.

Noan recognized the place—it was used to evaluate a Lord's potential. He had been here once before.

After they entered, a group of staff in white cloaks stepped forward and surrounded everyone.

Their overwhelming presence, along with the Heroes they had summoned, sent a chill through the crowd.

It was as if the message was clear: anyone who dared make a strange move would be killed on the spot.

At that moment, Noan became even more certain—the Empire and the Government were not looking for him with good intentions.

BAM!

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed through the hall, startling everyone.

"Damn it! That nearly scared me to death!"

"What the hell was that?!"

"Don't tell me this place is under attack!"

"No, look up! A magic formation's been activated!"

Everyone looked toward the ceiling, where a massive magic circle now hovered, enveloping the entire grand hall below.

It glowed with a strange purple light, continuously spinning like the gears of some colossal machine.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

And not just one—other smaller magic circles began to appear, interlocking with one another like precisely engineered gears crafted by master machinists.

They started turning…

One gear spun, dragging the others along with it.

As the magic circles rotated, they emitted a blinding light that forced everyone to shield their eyes.

[Ding! Your information is currently being scanned. Please wait a moment.]

"What?!"

Noan's eyes widened in shock as the notification appeared before him.

Others began shouting, too:

"What the hell is this?! Why is my information being scanned?"

"Hey! This is a violation of my privacy and data protection rights!"

"Yeah! I'm going to sue you for illegal invasion of personal information!"

"Let me go! My father is a judge—he'll…"

"Silence!"

At that moment, a staff member in a white cloak shouted harshly. He swept his gaze across the crowd with clear contempt and sneered,

"Trash like you—so what if we look at your information?"

"You're nothing but rank F and E Lords. Tossed out on the streets, you'd be no more than useless sewer rats."

"If you stay quiet, I'll let you leave once this ends. But if you keep making noise, I'll charge you with defying the Royal Guards."

"You… you people…"

The crowd immediately fell silent. No one dared speak another word.

The Royal Guards were all Lords who had reached level 5 or higher. None of them were below rank D.

To these freshly graduated academy students—most of whom were only rank F and E—Royal Guards were terrifying monsters, completely out of reach.

"Damn it!" one young man suddenly yelled out. "Do you even know who I am? My father is a judge! If you dare—"

Whoosh!

The young man's voice abruptly vanished.

He suddenly realized the world around him was spinning. A moment later… he realized he was flying.

But then he saw something familiar—his own body.

Why could he see his own body…?

Wait—his body had no head. Could it be…?

When the young man understood what had happened, it was already too late.

His head had landed on the floor.