Prepare for the test

This feeling of being protected felt a little strange to Nora, but in truth, he didn't dislike it.

To him, Alice was far more than just an ordinary acquaintance. No matter what she did, he always felt pleased.

The security guard glanced at her E-rank Hero Certificate, then nodded before heading inside to open the door.

The massive iron doors slowly slid open on both sides after he pressed the switch.

He then turned to the two of them, gesturing with his hand in a welcoming motion and said:

"Please proceed inside. Just keep going straight, and you'll reach the main hall."

Even though he knew Alice was undoubtedly familiar with the way, he still had to follow protocol.

"Thank you!"

The two of them responded in unison before Nora followed behind Alice, stepping into the main hall.

As they reached the entrance, the automatic doors opened. The architecture inside left Nora feeling overwhelmed.

It wasn't overly luxurious, but it looked incredibly sturdy—so much so that even if terrorists tried to bomb this place, it probably wouldn't even shake.

Seeing his astonished expression, Alice chuckled and said:

"Hehe, pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, this place really is something else. As expected of the headquarters of humanity's strongest."

She nodded in agreement, then said:

"Let's head straight to the service counter."

Before he could respond, she had already grabbed his hand and dashed forward at full speed.

She was so fast that Nora felt like a bag being carried through the air.

Did his arm dislocate from the force? Of course not—Alice was experienced enough to control her speed and strength, keeping it within the limits of what Nora could endure.

As they neared the service counter, she abruptly came to a halt—but Nora wasn't so lucky.

His body, propelled by inertia, continued flying straight ahead until—

BANG!

His head slammed hard into the desk, leaving him dazed.

"Where am I? Who am I?"

Nora clutched his head, his face blank with confusion as he mumbled to himself.

At first glance, one might have thought he had hit his head so hard that he actually lost his memory.

Seeing the situation unfold, Alice became completely flustered. She hadn't expected that a simple playful act would turn him into an idiot.

With a face full of panic, she grabbed him by the neck and shook him violently.

As she shook him, she anxiously said:

"Are you okay? Don't go dumb on me! I'm sorry, okay?"

But at that moment, Nora's expression turned increasingly grim—because he… couldn't breathe!

He struggled frantically, slapping her hands repeatedly.

Realizing something was wrong, Alice quickly let go and awkwardly apologized:

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

Nora stood up, dusting himself off—though, in reality, the Hero Association was spotless, so there wasn't a speck of dust on him.

He looked at her helplessly, rubbing his forehead as he said:

"I was just messing with you a little, but I almost ended up dead for real. And worse… I almost got strangled to death by you!"

Alice scratched her head awkwardly, but then her eyes lit up as she glared at him with a hint of blame:

"Wasn't that because I was worried about you? Besides, you were the one who tricked me first!"

As she spoke, tears began to well up in her eyes. She looked as if she was about to cry at any moment, making Nora panic.

He quickly waved his hands, his face filled with guilt as he said:

"I'm sorry, it's my fault, alright?"

The moment he admitted fault, her tears instantly vanished, replaced by a beaming smile:

"Haha, I forgive you!"

Meanwhile, Nora cursed silently in his heart:

"Damn it, I nearly got choked to death, yet somehow I'm the one in the wrong? Sure, I did mess with her first, but logically, this should at least be a draw!"

At that moment, the receptionist—who had been holding back this whole time—finally lost his patience and cursed:

"If you two have business here, get on with it! This isn't a place for public displays of affection. I'm not interested in watching!"

"We're not in that kind of relationship!"

The two of them shouted in unison at the receptionist.

However, instead of backing down, the receptionist let out a mocking sneer, his expression full of disdain.

"Listen to yourselves. Even a dog wouldn't believe that nonsense, let alone a person. If you have business here, state it quickly. If not, kindly leave."

Despite his blunt words, his professionalism remained intact. If they were here for official matters, he would still handle things seriously.

Nora and Alice were momentarily speechless, but they quickly regained their composure.

Alice took out her certification and said,

"This guy now has the strength of an F-rank hero, so he's here to register. Get him tested and issue his certification quickly."

Seeing her hero certificate and hearing her words, the receptionist was visibly surprised.

After all, the emergence of a new hero was incredibly rare. As mentioned before, the probability was roughly one in hundreds of thousands.

But adding another hero to humanity's ranks was always good news. With a cheerful expression, the receptionist said:

"Alright, alright. Give me a moment, and I'll arrange a test for him immediately. Please follow me. You can come along too since you're an E-rank hero."

"Got it. Thanks."

The two of them responded before quickly following behind the receptionist.

The receptionist was, in fact, just an ordinary human. The Hero Association didn't have the manpower to assign actual heroes to non-superpower-related positions like this.

.....

After walking for a while, they arrived at a massive iron door. The receptionist took out a key and unlocked it.

Inside was a modestly sized room, with a weightlifting station in the center.

At a glance, the barbell on the rack weighed around 500kg.

The receptionist turned to Nora and said:

"I'll need your fingerprint. If you have identification, that would be ideal, but if not, it's fine too."

"Sorry, I left my ID at home." Nora replied straightforwardly.

The receptionist didn't seem to mind. As long as a person was a legal citizen, their identity could be verified through fingerprints.

He reassured:

"Just the fingerprint will do. This isn't a main entrance, and since you're about to become a hero, minor issues like this aren't a big deal."

Nora nodded before pressing his fingerprint onto a scanning panel.