Outer Gods invade, stuff them all into your equipment inventory.

"If Sean marries me, he might have a chance to become a strongman."

"But now, he's out!"

"This Sean may have a little talent, but he has lost the opportunity to get help from me, and his future is ruined."

"Being a C-rank hero is probably the limit he can reach. Perhaps he'll never have the chance to leave Settlement Thirteen in his entire life?"

Ye Wanqing gently ran her fingertips across the smooth surface of the communicator, completely erasing the last number that represented an unstable factor.

This group of "minor characters" who are destined to never reach a higher stage are not worth her further attention.

In that instant, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of superiority—

These are all pitiful people.

They all once had the hope of leaving Gathering Place No. 13 and venturing into a wider world.

She lost this opportunity simply because she stopped investing in them.

"So... how far you can go doesn't really have much to do with your talent, but rather with my choices."

"A bunch of pathetic bastards."

She gently raised her hand to cover the cold smile on her lips.

The Gaia Federation is incredibly large, with vast distances between each adjacent settlement.

In addition, the areas between settlements are wild regions inhabited by a large number of monsters.

Even a B-rank hero cannot guarantee safety when traveling on land.

The complex terrain, the large number of high-level monsters, and the potential unknown dangers make the cost and risk of traveling on land prohibitively high.

Therefore, the movement of people and the exchange of goods between settlements were all carried out using airships.

Although there are also monster species in the sky, they are significantly fewer than the number of monsters on the ground.

As long as a safe passage is found in the air and timely evasive maneuvers are taken, the safety of the airship can be greatly guaranteed.

If one or two more powerful individuals were sent to oversee the situation, it would be foolproof.

"However... not just anyone can get the chance to board the airship."

Ye Wanqing looked down with a mocking gaze at the direction where the Thirteenth Gathering Site was gradually disappearing from sight.

People like Sean, who are commoners with no background or connections, would probably never have the chance to set foot on such a high-class mode of transportation in their lifetime.

Goodbye, Sean.

No, it should be "never to see each other again."

........................

Why do I feel so cold all over?

"Is someone thinking about me?"

Sean glanced at the sky, feeling somewhat bewildered.

Since becoming a hero, his physical abilities have been superb, a feeling he has never experienced before.

"Could it be... someone is talking about me?"

The thought flashed through his mind, and he found it amusing.

He felt cold when people gossiped about him; this was a superstition that had been passed down on Earth in his previous life.

This concept has never existed in the world he lives in now.

He is standing in front of the library right now.

The Thirteenth Gathering Library is for all residents of the gathering.

Even if you're not a hero, you can come to the library to read.

However, the number and range of books available to ordinary residents are very limited.

Most of them are just general knowledge books that do not involve monsters.

Only by becoming a hero can one unlock the bookshelves in the corresponding area and gain the right to read.

Sean had visited the library before, but he always read in the public reading room on the first floor.

This time he went straight to the second floor.

The library has five floors, with the first floor being open to the general public.

From the second floor onwards, the books here are for brave warriors.

On the first floor of the library, a large number of librarians work.

To borrow books, simply find the librarian and tell them the type or content of the book you wish to borrow.

All that's left is to wait for the librarian to retrieve the books that meet the requirements and deliver them to you.

However, starting from the second floor, the library no longer has the position of librarian.

Books on all bookshelves are divided into sections and managed according to different access permissions.

Heroes who meet the required permissions can use their hero badges to touch the transparent boxes on the bookshelf where the corresponding books are placed.

Activated by swiping a card, the ingenious internal mechanical structure will then push out the selected book for the adventurer to read.

All borrowing records are automatically registered via badge.

"I can only borrow books from the F-level and E-level bookshelves right now."

Both of these areas are on the second floor.

"There are two bookshelves in the F-level area and more than ten bookshelves in the E-level area, each with more than a thousand books."

"Wow, so many books!"

As an E-rank hero, Sean enjoys the perk of reading ten books for free every day.

If you want to read more, you'll need to spend points.

"It's not unlimited free reading... What's the point of only being able to read 10 books a day?"

Sean was unaware of this rule before, and was inevitably stunned when he saw it.

According to his original plan, he needed to consult information about spatial attribute monsters, some skill training methods, some basic spell models, and even various monster illustrations, which was quite a lot.

Even with the books that can be read using points paid out of pocket, the total number of books one can read in a day is no more than 20.

"It seems necessary to carefully select the best option."

He was somewhat helpless and had no choice but to change his strategy.

Fortunately, each transparent protective box for holding books has a small nameplate attached to the outside.

The nameplate is marked with brief text indicating the book's title, author, main content, and general category.

While not as useful as flipping through a book directly, it's sufficient for initial screening to determine whether a book is useful to you.

"It's just a matter of spending more time on the screening process."

Sean composed himself and glanced at the rows of towering bookshelves and the densely packed boxes of books on them.

"This is quite a lot of work!"

There aren't many heroes appearing in the second-floor library right now.

There was no one in the E-level area, but there were three or four young adventurers searching for books in the F-level area.

"Compared to F-rank heroes, E-rank heroes are treated much better."

E-rank heroes can read ten books for free every day, which is enough for most people.

However, even an F-rank hero has to pay for each book they read, and the price is quite high.

"The Hero Association really doesn't treat F-rank heroes as heroes at all!"

This in itself is a form of screening.

By setting up various inconveniences and restricting resource acquisition, this almost harsh treatment method drives the weaker F-rank heroes out of the hero race.

"After all, the resources that the Hero Association can provide are limited, and there are too many F-rank heroes."

The association must prioritize resources for higher-ranking warriors with greater potential.

Grade F, being the largest in number and with the highest attrition rate, naturally became the target of "optimization".