"Speak up, what did you suddenly drag me out here for... If it's not something serious, you're dead!" Gu Han looked helplessly at Song Hama, who was excited as if he had sniffed some original-flavored panties, his eyes completely red.
"Gu Han! Dear Gu Han!! I succeeded!" Song Hama pounced into Gu Han's arms, burying his face in Gu Han's imitation wool sweater, swaying back and forth... rubbing and rubbing and rubbing.
"So, what exactly is it?" Gu Han grabbed Song Hama by the collar, lifting him to arm's length, and asked in confusion, "What did you succeed in?"
"Sword Bearer! I've become a Sword Bearer!" Song Hama's voice started to tremble with excitement.
"I know you became a Sword Bearer, you became one a month ago, and now I am one too... Everyone who enters the game is a Sword Bearer, what's so exciting about it..." Gu Han was quite puzzled by Song Hama's current excitement.
"It's not a game, Gu Han, it's not a game..." Song Hama shouted, trying to break free from Gu Han's grip.
"Not a game...?!" Gu Han was momentarily stunned, his hand that was holding Song Hama's collar loosened involuntarily, causing Song Hama to fall to the ground, eating a mouthful of dirt.
"It's in reality! In reality! Gu Han, I just went to the fully automatic coin-operated sword element tester to check my sword element value. Brother, I now have 205 quarks of sword element. I am now qualified to undergo the sword inscription ceremony. As long as I have good luck, I can become a Sword Bearer..." Song Hama rushed to Gu Han's building the moment he received the news, wanting to share his joy with Gu Han.
"Is that so... That is indeed a big deal!" Gu Han came to his senses, forcing a smile, and patted Song Hama's shoulder. "Congratulations, brother. I'll treat you to a natural pork feast at Starbucks tonight, you can order whatever you want."
"That's what you said, let me see, I want to eat stir-fried pork, pig's head meat, and I also want to eat..." Song Hama suddenly stopped fantasizing about the food, having noticed that his brother seemed off.
"Gu Han, why don't you seem very happy? Are you jealous of me..." Song Hama said, slapping his head hard. He finally realized where he had gone wrong. "Brother, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to share with you, I forgot about your situation. I'm a jerk, I'm a scumbag, I don't know what I'm doing."
"It's not your fault, toad!" Gu Han sighed. "As your brother, I am genuinely happy to see you become a true Sword Bearer. It's my fault for letting my own issues affect my mood."
To be honest, Gu Han was indeed happy for Song Hama to become a Sword Bearer, but thinking about his own pitiful 9 quarks of innate sword element and the 9000 quarks of sword element he needed to accumulate in the game over at least five years to barely reach 100 quarks in reality, how could Gu Han be happy?
Especially when his ordinary friend Song Hama, who was just like him, suddenly came over excitedly to tell him that he had become a Sword Bearer, how many people could truly understand the sorrow he felt?
"Ding, you have a new short message, please check it!"
This new message was not for Gu Han, but for Song Hama. After listening to the message sent directly to his ear, his expression changed, and he said to Gu Han, "Gu Han, I have some urgent matters to deal with. You go back first, I'll come find you later to go to Starbucks."
"Cut the crap, what urgent matters do you have? You came to find me specially and then leave in a hurry. What are you hiding from me? Stinky toad, don't forget what we said when we became sworn brothers." Gu Han pressed Song Hama's shoulder, using so much force that Song Hama found it difficult to move even a step.
"This..."
"Speak!"
"This is what you asked me to say!" Song Hama first threw the blame on Gu Han. "It's a message from the Sword Bearer Service Center. After I broke through 200 quarks of sword element, I made an appointment for a physical examination at the service center. The message says I need to get there within an hour for a comprehensive physical examination. If I pass, I can directly undergo the sword inscription ceremony."
"That's good news!" Gu Han tried to smile. "Why hide it?"
"It's just that I was afraid you couldn't handle the shock and then... you might..." Song Hama muttered softly.
"How could I? How could I not handle such news!" Gu Han's hand on Song Hama's shoulder tightened, and Song Hama's face instantly showed a smile that was even uglier than crying. Song Hama suddenly felt that his head must have been bitten by a dog to come and find Gu Han, this pervert.
"I say, your real intention in coming to find me was to have me accompany you to this examination and ceremony, right!" Gu Han still smiled brightly.
"No! Absolutely not! How could I dare to trouble Lord Gu Han, I'll go myself, I'll go myself..." Song Hama's expression was more fake than a lie.
"Don't be so formal. Accompanying a good friend through one of the most important moments in life is a sworn brother's duty. Let's go to the subway station. I remember the service center is quite far from here."
"Okay... hehe... as long as you're happy." What else could Song Hama say? He just had to accept his fate.
โโโ
The Sword Bearer Service Center is located in the very core of the super base city of Yuzhang, protected not only by the massive dimensional shield that encircles the entire base city but also by a second, even stronger dimensional shield in the core area. This makes it the safest place in the entire base city.
The core area is directly managed by the Yuzhang City Council, housing the city's management system, all matters related to Sword Bearers, and the most valuable Sword Pavilion and Sword Garden.
In addition, all families of Sword Bearers live in the core area, enjoying a safer living environment and special allowances and care from the Council, a benefit exclusive to Sword Bearers.
Due to the additional layer of a stronger dimensional shield, the outer shield of the base city has been breached countless times during large-scale invasions, but the core area's shield has rarely been breached. Gu Han had often imagined that if his parents had been able to live in the core area, they would have survived the great invasion.
Unfortunately, this was all just imagination. Gu Han's family had not produced a Sword Bearer for hundreds of years, so they had no chance of obtaining a residence in the core area.
The Sword Bearer Service Center is the second-largest building in the core area, with the only larger one being the Yuzhang City Council, the highest authority of human power.
In terms of architecture, the Sword Bearer Service Center is modeled after a certain People's Hall from a thousand years ago, only magnified by about ten times. It houses over a dozen key departments, including the Sword Bearer Testing Center, Sword Bearer Assessment Center, Sword Bearer Trading Center, Sword Bearer Adjustment Center, Sword Bearer Training Center, Sword Bearer Task Center, Sword Bearer Management Center, Sword Bearer Medical Center, and the Sword Pavilion and Sword Garden. Tens of thousands of Sword Bearers visit the service center daily.
Song Hama first needed to go to the Sword Bearer Testing Center to confirm that his sword element had exceeded 200 quarks. Then, he would proceed to the Sword Bearer Assessment Center for an assessment to ensure he had comprehensive and foundational knowledge of being a Sword Bearer. After passing, he would get a chance to enter the Sword Pavilion to find an unawakened sword maiden for the sword inscription ceremony, followed by synchronization.
Song Hama was already quite familiar with the entire process, as this was not his first visit to the Sword Bearer Service Center. He had been there twice before.
As mentioned earlier, the minimum sword element requirement for synchronization is 100 quarks. When Song Hama was 13, his innate sword element value had already grown to 100 quarks. Unfortunately, he attempted to synchronize with a powerful ancient sword maiden, resulting in a failure and losing his first chance to become a Sword Bearer.
Some might wonder, aren't there many ancient sword maidens? If one fails, just try another, and keep testing until it works. Why would one failure mean a complete loss of opportunity? That doesn't make sense and is not conducive to discovering more Sword Bearers.
To explain, before synchronization, a Sword Bearer's body must undergo a sword inscription ceremony, which increases the chances of successful synchronization with a sword maiden by hundreds of times.
This is a necessary step before synchronization, otherwise, the natural success rate of synchronization, which is less than 0.1%, would mean it would take an incredibly long time to produce a Sword Bearer with their own sword maiden. However, the sword inscription ceremony is expensive and time-consuming, and hundreds of people who meet the standard try to synchronize with sword maidens every day.
Therefore, if everyone tried to synchronize with every unawakened sword maiden, the resources consumed would be unsustainable for the entire Council.
After scientific discussion, the Council decided that every person who reaches 100 quarks of sword element would have one free opportunity to undergo the sword inscription ceremony. After that, for every additional 50 quarks, they would get another free opportunity. If they still fail after reaching 500 quarks, the Council would no longer provide free sword inscription ceremonies.
Of course, if you have enough wealth, you can pay 100,000 RMB per attempt, and there is no cheating. You can test all the sword maidens in the Sword Pavilion until you find one that can synchronize with your bloodline.
Incidentally, it is estimated that 95% of people who exceed 100 quarks of sword element cannot successfully synchronize with any existing sword maiden. Otherwise, out of billions of humans, there wouldn't be just a few hundred thousand Sword Bearers.