“I’m sure you’re excited to see your scores, but don’t become too enamored with them,” the goddess’s words dragged everyone’s attention, bringing them back to reality. “Everyone here is already exceptional, but you should remember that those numbers only represent your potential across multiple timelines—not your potential in your current timeline,” she concluded, and everyone seemed to nod in understanding.

  If a person had a 70% chance of succeeding in any goal they set their mind to, then throwing 20 of such individuals at your problems would guarantee a possible fix.

  However, such an excessive force was also a reflection of how severe the problem might actually be. Lin’s thoughts wandered, turning away from the man who was apparently measured to be his ‘equal,’ glancing back toward the goddess.

  “What happens if we refuse?” he asked casually, a question most of them had never even considered as their faces flashed with curiosity. Would she simply let us go back? They all seemed to wonder, but the answer wasn’t what they expected.

  “I won’t force you, but you should know that as of right now, you will be stuck here until you complete the trials. As you’ve seen, death is not possible in the tower,” she explained, sending chills down their spines as they looked at her with worried gazes.

  So she doesn’t have the power to force her orders onto us after we return, Lin thought to himself, taking in the news with all its minute details.

  “Don’t be discouraged. No one has ever failed to complete the trials. However, for some, it might take a few weeks or months, and only when everyone passes will you be allowed to return,” she explained, their faces changing to ones of confusion. There was no doubt, from how a few of them were dressed, that they would need to go to work or school, making the prospect of staying there for a few months very unsettling.

  “That’s a bit long. Will we make it back in time to help them?” the golden-haired student asked, his worries surprisingly unrelated to anything about school.

  Lin turned to look at him, finally glancing at the number above his head: 711/1000. It was a bit lower than he had imagined since the boy seemed to have an air of genius about him. Not only that, but he was also the youngest of them all, which should’ve set him apart from everyone else who seemed to be in their 20s.

  “They’ll be fine. There’s no concept of time in the tower, so the perception of it will always be manipulated in line with fate. Outside of this place, time moves slow enough to be considered frozen, so it doesn’t matter how long you spend here—you will pass on at the right time,” she explained. Although their confusion still lingered, they at least grasped the concept. Seeing this, Lin decided to cut in.

  “And what about the rest of us? Do we have to wait for months for the others to finish?” he asked calmly. Although the question was valid, the subtext was very clear to everyone in the room—he believed he would finish first and later be forced to wait for the others.

  However, some of them noted that he had said "us" instead of referring to himself only.

  “As I said, there is no concept of time in this place. When an individual is resting or has nothing to do, their perception of time will move quicker than those tackling the trials. You might observe a person walk into a trial and walk out the next second, but to them, they might have spent a few hours or even days in the trial,” she explained, and they once again nodded reluctantly.

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  As if confirming his suspicions, Lin began to nitpick her words, trying to go beyond the surface-level information she was trying to feed them.

  “You make it sound like we might be separated for some of the trials?” he asked, and the goddess, still expressionless, simply nodded.

  “That’s right. Some may require you to work in groups, and others alone,” she explained, and everyone’s faces showed slight discomfort.

  If the trials ahead were anything like what they had just experienced, it was clear that they might need to rely on Lin again. However, after seeing everyone’s Hero Selection 1000 scores, the group dynamics were slowly starting to shift, with everyone’s perspectives of each other gradually changing.

  “Don’t make those faces. You might feel overwhelmed because of that boy’s performance, but trust me, in time, you too will all reach his level. This has nothing to do with talent, but rather, conditioning,” she said, focusing on Lin, who, at that moment, glared at her with cold eyes.

  “What did you say?” he asked in a threatening tone, but the goddess ignored him, continuing to address the group as if she hadn’t even heard him.

  “In the future, such a level of thinking is a natural part of combat. You will meet people more cunning than you can ever imagine, but you should always remember that most of them reached that level through experience, not talent,” she explained, though everyone still seemed skeptical of her words.

  “Is that really possible?” the feminine-looking man muttered, and the goddess nodded again.

  “It is,” she said, her expression calm, and though they remained doubtful, they couldn’t help but believe her words.

  What she said wasn’t entirely wrong. People naturally adapted through experience, and such growth had nothing to do with talent. As long as someone possessed the minimum innate talent to enter a particular field, the more experience they gained, the easier it became.

  For someone to show adaptability in something, they would need to combine past experiences with a constant evaluation of the present problem – how quickly they could do this in real time was what set them apart from Lin in the so-called trial.

  “What’s wrong, Lin? Is there something wrong with what I said?” the goddess finally turned to Lin, who was silently glaring at her. He didn’t respond, continuing to stare.

  However, a short distance away from him, the blue-haired man, still carrying the woman, raised a brow, as if suddenly recalling something.

  “Mmh, that’s interesting. Did you really consider those people your parents?” she continued, her voice cold, sending chills down their spines. Lin’s heart skipped a beat, his emotions threatening to run rampant as he muttered,

  “Do you want to die?” he said in an even colder tone, the tension in the room rising as everyone held their breath. They already knew the existence before them was someone they could never hope to touch, which only made Lin’s behavior even more confusing and unsettling.

  “How pitiful,” the goddess finally said, as if done with him. She stared him straight in the eyes, and Lin met her gaze without even flinching. “Remember that the world will never return to how it was, so choose carefully. You can simply continue to be Lin, your parents’ son, or Lin, your own self,” she said, her words surprisingly sweet, but Lin’s expression didn’t change.

  There were two types of people Lin hated with all his heart, and the woman standing in front of him was the embodiment of one of them:

  She thinks she understands me.

  Lin thought to himself, continuing to look at her, as if daring her to read his mind and speak against him. However, the goddess didn’t entertain him, moving away and glancing at the rest of the group as if regarding him as an afterthought.

  The others showed slight discomfort at the goddess’s underlying cruelty, but as with all beings beyond human comprehension, they understood that their own concept of morality couldn’t apply to her.

  “Since we’re on the topic of power, this is a good time to demonstrate what I mean,” her words suddenly cut through the tension, drawing everyone’s attention as anticipation sparked in their eyes.