So, Not Off Means On?

Wu Wang and Xiezhi passed through the blue passage, appearing in a large hall bathed in light blue light. The end of the passage clearly had some kind of teleportation effect.

Not far away was a lounge chair. On it was a man with a trendy hairstyle, dressed like a celebrity stylist. He lay with his legs crossed, humming a strange tune that sounded like a traditional opera melody.

"This is the registration area for Appraisers," the man said without opening his eyes. "If you've come to the wrong place, you can go back by pushing open the red door on your left."

He didn't even lift his head, continuing to hum his opera tune. He hadn't seen a single newcomer register as an Appraiser in this hall for a year. His daily duties consisted of sleeping, playing on his phone, and not much else.

He had even forgotten it was his shift one day, leaving the place unguarded for a whole twenty-four hours. No one had noticed. The work here was just that leisurely.

At most, players would occasionally wander in by mistake without asking the front desk first. He was already very practiced in giving that dismissive speech.

"I'm here to register as an Appraiser. Could you please tell me what the procedure is?"

Hearing this, the man, Teacher Tony, was stunned for a moment. A gleam flashed in his eyes.

The lounge chair vanished in an instant, and he appeared directly in front of Xiezhi, his voice filled with excitement.

"Well, if it isn't little brother Xie! You learned an Appraisal Skill? Looks like there's hope for you to be transferred back to the capital! Congratulations, congratulations!"

Xiezhi pursed his lips in resignation. He reluctantly pointed to the person beside him, an Ultraman Zero currently striking a laser-beam pose.

"He's the one registering..."

Xiezhi knew this person. He was an Appraiser from the Tarot Society.

"Oh, what a pity." Teacher Tony turned his attention to Wu Wang. "This, uh... Comrade Ultraman? Please follow me to the appraisal room."

He turned and walked towards a room to the side. At the same time, he opened his friends list and sent messages to two other Appraisers from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau and the Tower of Order.

The players working in various positions at the 【Hall of Justice】 were all people sent by the Three Great Organizations. They supervised and competed with each other, preventing any instances of favoritism. After all, people from rival organizations wouldn't just let you have your way.

Because of this, a newly registered Appraiser had to be tested under the witness of three veteran Appraisers.

The moment he walked into the appraisal room, Wu Wang saw three chest-high pillars of light.

Before a few minutes had passed, a man and a woman appeared at the door, their eyes full of curiosity. They wanted to see what the new Appraiser was like. The man's eyes, in particular, were filled with excitement. He was the Appraiser from the Abnormal Affairs Bureau.

After learning that this person was brought by Xiezhi, he had already assumed the newcomer would join them.

"Don't get too excited. It's not certain who will win him over yet," the woman from the Tower of Order said, rolling her eyes. "What if he's more satisfied with the conditions we offer?"

The two walked in, bickering. But the moment they saw Ultraman Zero, they both fell silent.

What the hell is this thing?

"Stop staring. It's him. Let's begin," Teacher Tony said with a shrug.

He then solemnly announced the test's content to Wu Wang.

"Player, please listen carefully. You need to appraise these three sealed pillars, identifying their 【Sealing Status】 and 【Method of Removal】. There is no time limit."

"If your Appraisal Skill consumes a large amount of spiritual power, please bring your own replenishment potions."

"Upon success, the official item test will begin."

After speaking, the three Appraisers each walked behind a pillar of light and swiped a few times on its surface. The next second, all three pillars of light dimmed simultaneously.

"You may officially begin."

Teacher Tony also looked with some curiosity at this strangely dressed player. Currently, the known Appraisal Skills in the Spirit Calamity Game were divided into two types. One required touching the sealed object, while the other involved initiating some kind of ritual or formation.

Both methods had their pros and cons, but both were accompanied by a large consumption of spiritual energy. Therefore, achieving a faster appraisal with less consumption could indirectly reflect the strength of one's Appraisal Skill.

The current record for the fastest appraisal here was set by an Appraiser from the Tarot Society. It took him only thirty seconds to appraise all the pillars, and the total spiritual energy consumed was a mere 150 points. This was considered a powerful skill that wouldn't hinder a player's combat ability.

"Starting from the left, the first one is 【Cognitive Impairment】. It only needs four people to know what its true form is to be unsealed. Oh, adding me makes exactly four, so it's already unsealed."

"The second one is 【Contamination】. It needs to be dealt with using some kind of Purification item, preferably 【Fine Quality】 or higher."

"The third one... Hmm? The third one isn't sealed. Buddy, did you make a mistake?"

Wu Wang had blurted out the answers the moment Teacher Tony finished speaking.

Everyone was instantly stunned.

Especially Teacher Tony himself. He was the one who had operated the third pillar. He had deliberately not placed a seal on it to confuse Wu Wang.

When an ordinary Appraiser found nothing on a pillar that was supposed to be sealed, their first thought would be that they had failed the appraisal. They would waste more time and energy repeatedly trying. What he was testing was an Appraiser's confidence.

But this guy had seen through the trap at a glance.

Something seemed off... Wait. At a glance! Did he even use his Appraisal Skill?

"Hold on, brother. Wait a second," Teacher Tony said sternly. "When did you start the Appraisal Ritual? I forgot to mention, the ritual must be set up on-site after the test begins. You can't prepare it in advance."

Since the other party hadn't touched the pillars, he must have used an Appraisal Ritual. This kind of thing had happened before, and preparing the ritual in advance would greatly affect their judgment. Who knew how long it took to prepare?

If it was the kind of skill where a ritual took several days to prepare but could only be used a few times, the Three Great Organizations would classify such an Appraiser as a low-tier Apprentice. Those long-preparation rituals also had a very low appraisal ceiling and couldn't accurately appraise most seals on 【Fine Quality】 items or above.

"Huh? What Appraisal Ritual?" Wu Wang asked, a little confused. "I just saw it!"

With Appraisers being so pitifully rare, not many people on the Spirit Calamity App bothered to share knowledge about them. In fact, 95% of players were unaware that there were only two known types of Appraisal Skills. It wasn't common knowledge at all, and Wu Wang certainly didn't know.

"See? You mean, you don't need to touch it, and you don't need to use any kind of ritual?"

At this, the brains of the three Appraisers present simultaneously crashed.

An unheard-of appraisal method?

Could this be the first appearance of a third type of appraisal in the history of Spirit Calamity?

Holy shit! For real?

Although they were so shocked they could hardly contain themselves, they still had to continue with the procedure to determine if this kid was lying.

Teacher Tony cleared his throat. "Then let's smoothly proceed to the next step. Please stand in the center of the light pillars to draw the three items you need to appraise."

This draw was a random selection from the sealed items stockpiled in the 【Hall of Justice】. To this day, no one knew the random conditions, which fundamentally eliminated any possibility of cheating. Even these three Appraisers couldn't determine what items Wu Wang would draw. The only certainty was that a Legendary-grade appraisal item would not appear. That would be asking too much.

As Wu Wang took a step forward, a platform rose up in front of him. About five seconds later, a strange packet of tea leaves appeared.

A strange look flashed in Wu Wang's eyes, and he subconsciously blurted out, "Holy shit? 【Pink Flower Tea】?"

It seemed Black-hearted Penguin had already gotten rid of this thing. He just didn't know why there was a seal on it. It must have been obtained by a player who brought it to the 【Hall of Justice】 for appraisal. Now that he had drawn it, Wu Wang thought he was seeing a ghost.

The effects of this tea were too embarrassing to mention. He felt it was bad luck just to have an affinity with this kind of thing and despised Black-hearted Penguin's hobby of collecting strange items.

However, his words were explosive to the other Appraisers.

Knowing an appraisal item's name basically meant the appraisal was complete. In the eyes of other players, that packet of tea leaves would have appeared as a few question marks, with even the item name being unknowable.

"For real? I couldn't even see what the hell that thing was, and he's already appraised it?"

"It seems to be an appraisal item that just arrived this morning. I haven't seen it either."

"Holy shit! So, not off means it's on? Goddammit, how are we supposed to compete if he's using cheats?"

Now, they felt that his earlier claim of "just seeing it" didn't seem like a lie. But wasn't this too heaven-defying? It completely subverted all previous appraisal methods! Their old standards for judgment could no longer be applied.

Just what level of Appraisal Skill was this?