Time for plan B

Ren meticulously searched the whole city, hoping to find any potential followers. His plan had been simple—very simple, in fact.

He would help those in need, and they would pray in return.

He searched tirelessly for five days straight but failed to find even a single person who really needed help.

First, he searched for the easiest targets: beggars. Yes, beggars! He had thought they would be the easiest targets to trick being followers. But there were none. Not even a single person was begging, which was really weird.

Second, he looked for poor people who were struggling to make ends meet, but there were none. Every person in the city had a job. Even children earned money, which was really weird.

Third, he looked for victims of criminals or abusers, or other people who were being harassed by bad people. But there were none, which was… really weird.

Even though Ren sometimes acted like an idiot, he was not one. He knew that in society, it is inevitable for some people to be poor, some to be victims of others' greed, and some to be abused. So, when Ren found none, he thought it was really weird.

He thought there must be a third party interfering. And he was right. There really was a third party involved—the city lord himself.

The lord of Portia City was a man of formidable caliber. power, position, influence, fame just name it, he had it all. He was a Rank 4 Awakened after all.

In this world, Awakened were ranked from 1 to 9, with Rank 9 being the weakest and Rank 1 the strongest.

A Rank 4 was considered one of the strongest. They were less human and more like gods from myths.

Powerhouses capable of decimating a mountain in seconds— They were calamities capable of utter destruction.

Yet such a person was the humble lord of a small, peaceful city. Does that even make sense.

Ren had yet to reach Rank 9, so just the thought of facing such a being made him shudder.

Five years ago, the lord, Norman Jupiter, had established a club called the "City Welfare Club." To improve the city. Which he had gloriously succeeded in.

Next day: at 9 am.

In front of the two-floor building of the city's Well Fare club stood a man that had been missing for months.

The man had short brown hair and black eyes. He had a short scar on the right side of his upper lip.

The man was staring at the club's house, which looked no different from other two-floor houses in the city, but had a big nameplate attached to it.

The man with the scar and brown hair stared at the nameplate for a while, a small smirk appeared on his face as he casually walked inside the house.

After going inside the clubhouse, he looked around and found a girl sitting on a chair behind a table in the corner of the room. He approached her and asked in a weird voice, which startled the receptionist,

"Excuse me, where can I meet the leader of this club?"

The receptionist was a woman in her thirties with black hair, blue eyes, and a slender body. Even at a glance, one could tell she was very experienced at her job. She quickly regained her composure and replied in a calm tone.

"Club leader? You mean the lord? He isn't here"

The man with a scar gave a knowing smile, which seemed to say, "Just as I expected." But of course, he couldn't say it aloud. He proceeded with his next question.

"Then who manages the club in his absence?"

The receptionist had also expected this question. She replied calmly,

"The vice leader does."

The man had expected this answer. He asked again, "Then, where can I meet the vice leader?"

The receptionist had expected this question. "Why do you want to meet the vice leader?"

The man had expected this question. "It is related to a quest given to me by my system. It is very important for me to meet the vice leader."

The receptionist gave him a strange look for a while, but eventually sighed.

"Okay, but can I see your citizenship ID first?"

The man had expected this question. He calmly took out his identification citizenship card from his pocket and handed it to her.

The receptionist moved her blue eyes carefully across the card, checking each letter if it's genuine. After what felt like an eternity staring at the card, she finally stopped.

"Okay, follow me. I will take you to the Vice Leader."

The man was overjoyed but hid his joy behind a neutral expression and silently nodded.

She gracefully got up from her seat and walked towards a big door made of some strange metals. The man followed after her.

The door creaked open after she placed her hand on the strange symbols engraved on the door.

The woman casually stepped inside as if used to this kind of thing, but the man behind her was very surprised and a little shocked even.

Inside, the door was a large, empty room, not even a single furniture was present there, but there was something far more interesting and valuable.

Magic circles… Yes, magic circles. There were eight of them engraved on the floor. They all looked exactly the same.