Chapter 929

The initial interview process was conducted in front of a panel of four wizards: three men and one woman. All four of them were old.

Anton wondered why that was. Most wizards who had reached a certain level of power should have the ability to make themselves look young. The only mages who usually allowed themselves to look old were men who wanted to maintain the appearance of a dignified older gentleman.

All the powerful female wizards Anton had seen had chosen to make themselves look young.

According to one of the books he had read in the ship’s library, however, wizards who were nearing the end of their lives would somehow begin to show their true age on their faces.

He didn’t know whether that was the case with the four interviewers, but there was one thing Anton knew for certain: he detested panel interviews.

Anton remembered when he had still been Anthony Saunders on Earth. He had experienced panel interviews during his job search, and in his opinion, they were a sure way to pit applicants against one another. They often resulted in applicants being embarrassed when they failed to answer the interviewers’ questions intelligently, mostly because of nervousness.

He knew that Traveler’s Haven was large enough to have the resources to conduct one-on-one interviews, even if only during the initial phase.

Anton saw that the interviewers were questioning five people at a time. When the questioning began, he was a little startled to discover that most of the questions were similar to those asked by panel interviewers at companies on Earth.

The questions initially consisted of common background and introductory questions, such as:

“Tell us about yourself and some of your relevant experiences.”

“Why do you want to become a member of Traveler’s Haven instead of joining another organization?”

After those questions, the four wizards began asking behavioral and conflict-resolution questions, followed by situational and problem-solving questions.

Anton remembered a time back on Earth when he had applied for a position as a customer service representative. His first interview had felt like torture, and the questions had been almost exactly the same as those the wizards were asking.

The first time he had applied for a customer service position, he had failed.

Because of that, he had done some research and performed better during his next interview, eventually landing a job as a customer service representative.

The problem was that the job had been soul-crushing, and he had lasted only a couple of months before returning to his old job as a cashier at a convenience store.

Because of that experience, Anton thought he had performed well during the interview. He could even see approval on the four wizards’ faces whenever it was his turn to answer their questions.

Of the five people in his group, Anton was the only one who could answer the interviewers’ questions coherently.

He couldn’t fault the others. Most of them were young people who simply didn’t have the experience he did.

No wonder the failure rate was so high.

The people Traveler’s Haven was looking for were probably the most educated individuals, who were usually wealthy or members of the nobility.

After the questioning ended, Anton was surprised to discover that, aside from himself, a second young man had also passed.

Anton remembered how that boy had answered the questions. The boy had been so nervous that many of his answers had barely made any sense.

That meant the interviewers were looking for something more than simply answering their questions correctly, or at the very least, coherently.

After leaving the interview room, Anton and the other young man were met by another member of Traveler’s Haven. He informed them that they had passed and instructed them to return the next day for the final interview.

The man explained that the final interview would be conducted one-on-one and would last for several hours. The person conducting the interview would be a powerful wizard whose purpose was to delve into their personalities and determine whether they were compatible with the organization.

Once he returned home, Anton felt mentally exhausted.

He had thought he was done with the sort of things he had experienced back on Earth. Still, for the sake of learning the skills that would allow him to travel to different dimensions, he would persist until he succeeded in becoming a member of Traveler’s Haven.

He briefly wondered whether he had chosen the right magic organization.

He remembered that, in the middle of his voyage from Ormunda to Izmorta, he had intended to join another magic organization because it was one of the first organizations he had heard about.

However, after learning about Traveler’s Haven’s core objective, he had decided that it was the right organization for him.

He had even forgotten the names of the other organizations.

Since it was still early in the day, Anton considered roaming around the city, but he hesitated.

There was a chance that he might become involved in something he shouldn’t, which could prevent him from attending the final interview the next day.

He had already experienced something similar with the kidnapping incident a few days earlier.

Anton knew that the kidnapping situation had been partially his fault because he had actively involved himself in it.

In the end, he decided to remain in his cottage.

He didn’t need to go outside to look for food since he had plenty stored in his inventory.

He tried to spend his time watching shows, but he couldn’t concentrate. He was too excited about the interview the next day.

His goal was finally within reach, and he could feel it.

Anton eventually decided to enter the non-ladder multiplayer section of his Diablo II system to study the mana structure of the Town Portal.

He had avoided doing so because the first time he had tried to examine it, the complexity of the spell structure had overwhelmed him.

It was the most complicated mana structure he had ever encountered. He had concluded that he could only begin to properly understand it after gaining enough experience, which he expected would take years or perhaps even decades.

This time, his goal was much simpler.

He only wanted to observe the structure without attempting to understand it.

Inside the non-ladder multiplayer section of his Diablo II system, Anton saw that two games were currently in progress.

He knew that one of them was his father assisting Sonya in leveling up her Paladin character, while the other was being played by Paul and Eric.

He didn’t join either game.

Instead, he created one of his own.

Anton immediately began studying the mana structure of the Town Portal that was currently active in the Rogue Encampment.

He wrote several notes while observing the structure, recording everything he could understand from his observations.

After a few hours, however, he stopped.

He was tired and needed to get enough rest for the final interview the next day.

Anton arrived at Traveler’s Haven an hour before his scheduled meeting.

He entered through a different door because the entrance being used by the applicants was still crowded with thousands of people.

The application process would continue for several more months.

When he entered the waiting room, he realized that he was probably the last person to arrive.

Around seven young people were waiting inside.

Of the two thousand applicants who had undergone the rebirth process the previous day, only seven had passed both the examinations and the initial interview.

No one was talking.

Everyone was focused on themselves, and they all looked nervous.

Anton had to admit that he was nervous as well.

After a few more minutes, seven wizards from the organization arrived and called the applicants one by one.

Each applicant would be interviewed individually by one of the wizards.

The wizard who approached Anton was an old man.

Anton could feel the old wizard’s immense power, which meant that the man was probably above the Supreme Rank.

Anton followed him to what appeared to be an office.

The office was surprisingly messy.

The old wizard simply picked up the papers scattered across one of the two chairs, placed them somewhere else, and gestured for Anton to sit.