People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

The hope is more than just slim; if nothing unexpected happens, this interview will just be another HR student reciting a memorized version of Teacher Joyce's teaching.

As Joyce was lost in thought, her communicator suddenly vibrated. Her college advisor had sent her a caring text message.

"Joyce? Did you have trouble with your interview?"

Sometimes, an adult's breakdown can happen in an instant. Joyce could endure repeated cold rejections, but when her mentor's sudden concern caught her off guard, she suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

As one of the top students in the school, Joyce's situation was always a concern for her tutor.

Before Joyce could reply, another message popped up from the tutor:

"If you encounter difficulties, you can try your luck at 3 Sunset Boulevard. Magnus Bank and the Shelag government have reached an agreement to hold a job fair there. Conditions in Shelag are tough, but correspondingly, they are very lenient with job seekers."

The mentor paused, then uttered words that suddenly ignited a glimmer of hope in Joyce's heart:

“Their recruitment process did not impose any restrictions on people infected with Oripathy.”

“If Colombia doesn’t accept you, you can try going abroad and bringing your talents and abilities to Shelag.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Confidence of a Feathered Serpent

"The government is actually holding job fairs for recruitment? That's really something new."

At the bar counter, a woman dressed in loose-fitting clothes with the white lab coat typical of scientific researchers, and then draped in a thick black heat-insulating coat, her attire described as bizarre, was swirling a glass of "Mist of Minos" that she had personally mixed. While sipping it, she watched the advertisement playing on the television with great interest.

"When did the Colombian government fall to such a state?"

Standing on the other side of the bar, a man whose entire body seemed to be made of metal wiped the glasses. Hearing this, he looked up and glanced at the screen that had been muted.

"It wasn't Colombia after all."

He seemed to lose interest instantly and lowered his head again.

But the oddly dressed Liberian woman didn't lose interest because of her boss's dullness. She licked her lips and asked curiously:

"The Tin Man, how long has the Sherag government existed?"

"Never heard of it." Tin Man put down the cleaned wine glass, then took out a box of cigars from under the counter, lit one, and took a deep drag.

No smoke was emitted.

It's hard to imagine how he managed to filter the harmful gases in the smoke. Maybe the gears and parts inside his body are already charred and blackened by nicotine.

While Holhaya was internally criticizing her boss with utter disrespect, she still asked aloud:

"And what about Shelag? How long is its history?"

Women seem to have a particular interest in history and length.

This time, the Tin Man remained silent for a moment before giving his answer:

"In the history of..."

This is a very vague answer, historically speaking. It is far from sufficient to explain the specific beginnings of Shelag's history, but it is enough to answer Horheimer's question.

Because of her lineage, the legendary peak of the feathered serpent clan was only a little later than "in all of history".

Holhaia's interest was completely piqued. Her emerald-green eyes flashed with an aggressive light as she asked, as if speaking to herself:

"Could they have witnessed the lives of my ancestors? Would they know the secrets of our bloodline? Are there others like me?"

"A new power has just been born in an ancient country. Their long, repetitive, and unoriginal history is about to be transformed at this moment. Wow, the thought of having the opportunity to witness such a thing is truly fascinating."

The tin man glanced at her, his steel eyes, glowing with an inextinguishable red light, seemed to convey a mocking emotion.

He answered uncharacteristically:

"Then you can give it a try."

"Give it a try?" Holhaya sat up straight.

She is one of the top agents of the Melander Foundation, an organization deeply intertwined with the birth and development of Colombia, whose tentacles reach across the country. In the past, whenever she expressed any longing for something, her superior, the Tin Man, would always rudely warn her to abandon those regrettable ideas.

For example, curiosity about the equally rare elf lady, Muelseth. For example, curiosity about Nasti, the Sarkaz banshee rumored to possess unimaginable magical talent. For example, curiosity about Colombia's perpetually correct, healthy, and victorious president.

These curiosities were all rudely rejected and suppressed by the Tin Man.

Why this particular time, did the Tin Man say, "If you're interested, you can give it a try?"

As if afraid that Horhaya hadn't understood, the tin man even added:

"That's right, give it a try. There aren't any missions that require you lately, so if you're interested in Sherag, you can definitely go for an interview. Hehe, with your abilities, passing this kind of interview, which has almost no threshold, should be a sure thing, right?"

They even resorted to clumsy reverse psychology?

Holhaya was even more surprised. Why did the Tin Man look like he couldn't wait for me to deliver it?

"why?"

She finally couldn't help but ask. But to her surprise, the tin man showed no intention of answering her.

"I've heard of a type of animal that loves to ask 'why.' Do you know what they are?"

He said, "It's a pig-like beast."

Holhaya's lips twitched slightly, a hint of disdain in her eyes for her boss, who was so serious about setting up a trap that even a primary school student wouldn't fall for.

After a moment, she nodded:

"Okay, now that you've approved it, I'm really going to give it a try."

"Mm." The tin man nodded.

Holhaya jumped off the booth, turned and took two steps toward the bar entrance, then turned back and said:

"I really went?"

"Okay." Tin Man took another puff of his cigar; the pipe was visibly shorter now.

Holhaya took a few more steps forward, reaching the bar entrance, and turned back again, saying:

"I'm leaving. Don't you have anything to say to me?"

The tin man thought for a moment and nodded.

Holhaia turned around, just as she was about to hear the Tin Man regret letting her out of the cage, when she was blasted out of the bar entrance by sixteen characters that looked like wooden pillars striking a bell.

"Be careful on the road. As for expenses, they will not be reimbursed."

Staring blankly at the automatic roller shutter door that was about to descend, Holhaya's expression gradually changed from puzzled to arrogant.

OK OK.

Whether the Tin Man's statement that "she can do as she pleases" is true or false, at least for now, she has indeed temporarily escaped the Tin Man's surveillance and gained the right to act freely.

Sherag, a country on the Terra with a history as long as that of the Great Yan, is undoubtedly an excellent choice for Horhaia, whose mission is to study the secrets of the Feathered Serpent Clan's ancestral return and whose interest lies in studying the history of the various countries on the land.

Especially now that there is another opportunity to enter legitimately without being harassed or questioned—the entry inspection in Yan Country has left her with a huge shadow, and she never wants to experience that tragedy of having all her carefully hidden secrets exposed again.

Horhaya was already excited!

A simple interview was no problem for her at all. How difficult could it be compared to applying for permanent residency as a scholar in Yan Country?

After rubbing her legs, which were trembling slightly with excitement, and suppressing the charming "smile" on her face, Holhaia turned around, wagging her large but agile tail, and walked towards her rented room.

Choose the position you're interviewing for: the Prime Minister's Secretary, which offers the best opportunity to interact with high-ranking officials.

Since it's an interview, you naturally need to dress up nicely, adopt a winning attitude, and crush those college students.

This is also the confidence of being a feathered serpent.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Master, what do you do for a living?

Is this what a real job fair is like?

Looking at the crowds coming and going in the small space, Vina couldn't help but sigh.

For her, watching so many people argue so fiercely over a limited number of spots was a very novel experience.

Isn't it enough to just ask for a job?

Years of homelessness on the streets of Lentinham exposed her to the true state of Victorian society at its lowest levels. Beneath the facade of peace and prosperity lay countless gang battles and conflicts. Under such social rules, as long as one possessed good fighting skills and was willing to fight, at least getting enough to eat wasn't a difficult task.

Aslan was never lacking in courage.

This meant that although she was living a life of hardship, it wasn't too bad.

However, despite having experienced life at both the highest and lowest levels, Vina still only has a superficial understanding of the lives of ordinary people.

Hearing her surprised exclamation, Ernst shook his head:

"That's nothing. I've seen something far more terrifying."

"There's something even more terrifying?" Even Hinterlea, who had work experience, turned her head and showed an interested expression.

Ernst nodded: "That's a competition where hundreds of thousands of people in a city compete for a dozen or even just one or two positions. It's a true battle of thousands crossing a single-plank bridge."

"How could this happen? What country would have this happen to?" Lola asked in disbelief.

After graduation, she received offers from some Columbia companies. Snow engineering is a niche subject, and not many people have the patience and talent to pursue a doctorate in this field; it is a highly specialized field.

Although she ultimately returned to Sherag and worked alongside Ernst, she still had some understanding of the job market due to her internship experience.

At least in places like Columbia, it's almost impossible for tens of thousands of people to compete for one or two offers.

Putting aside other factors, the population of a mobile city is only around several hundred thousand to a million. If hundreds of thousands of people were to look for a job, wouldn't the entire social order collapse?

But Ernst merely glanced at her, smiled slightly, and offered no explanation.

If you haven't actually lived in that kind of world, who could imagine that a city could accommodate hundreds of millions of people, and even if hundreds of thousands of them were striving to pass the civil service exam, arrogant capitalists could still tell workers, "If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will. We lack everything, but we don't lack people!"

Ernst's mind flashed back to the day he found out he had passed the civil service exam. Even though the world he lived in was different now, his excitement was still palpable.

Hmm, why not find an opportunity to write about that world as science fiction? Maybe it'll become a hit?

The idea suddenly flashed through Ernst's mind and quickly spread like wildfire.

It seems like a really good idea, and we might even be able to make a profit?

Ernst has read quite a few books. If he were to present the history of Earth in the form of science fiction, it could be considered a kind of nostalgia that no one can understand.

Moreover, once this framework is built, if it really proves profitable, he might even be able to set up a publishing house and bring over all the world classics from his previous life!

Indeed, all writing under heaven is plagiarism. In a world with different physical rules and advanced technology, liberal arts students still have the magical way of plagiarism to succeed!

Thinking of the huge amounts of Lungmen Dollars and Gold Vouchers that might come his way, Ernst couldn't help but smile with satisfaction at the prospect of borrowing from the future.

"What is the boss laughing at?" Hinterlea asked Lola in a low voice.

Lola shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either: "The boss does this sometimes, maybe he's thinking of something happy?"

“Don’t we need to do something?” Vina said. “It feels a bit boring to just sit here like this.”

She was somewhat eager to try it out herself and talk to those college students in suits and ties with their resumes.

However, Magnus Bank had already taken care of the entire recruitment process. The headhunting firm they commissioned sent professional HR personnel, and behind the small square table at the end of each stream of people was a makeshift interview room.

They would be responsible for screening out college students who did not meet the basic requirements, then submitting the remaining qualified resumes to the company for a second background check, and finally presenting them to Ernst and others.

In other words, Ernst and his team only need to be responsible for the final three interviews and the official hiring stamp, which greatly reduces the workload of their small team and is more in line with the recruitment process. However, to some extent, this approach also has some minor drawbacks.

Because Ernst didn't actually provide any standards at all.

The headhunting firm found this to be the most frustrating case they'd ever handled. Public recruitment for civil servants was already outrageous enough, but offering preferential rates for large volumes was unheard of. If it weren't for the exorbitant offer from Magnus Bank, the headhunting firm would have even suspected they were supplying talent to some overseas fraud ring.

Of course, since the amount given is sufficient, it doesn't matter. Scam? What scam? This is a new form of wealth balancing method developed in the new era and under the new circumstances to adapt to new business models!

Vina clearly knew that it was a major taboo for an outsider to instruct an expert, so although she was eager to try, she didn't dare to actually step forward until Ernst gave his approval.

But Ernst didn't care. He was busy figuring out whether to start his first book in the "Earth" series with the creation of the world by Pangu or with the birth of Jesus.

Ernst nodded in agreement at Vina's request:

"You can go around and look around. If you see someone you think is suitable, you can just take their resume. It won't hurt."

He had a rather carefree attitude, as if he were a barbarian.