God of Technology: Creating the Internet in Another World-Chapter 467: As Many as Possible?

"As many as possible?"

The clan elders looked puzzled, not quite understanding what their patriarch meant by that.

"Yes, as many as possible. Everyone in the family who’s the right age should interview. As long as they pass, they all go. The more the better."

The Clarkson family patriarch nodded firmly. "I hope more of our family members can get in."

The others were clearly taken aback for a moment.

But they quickly caught on. Roster Academy wasn’t somewhere you could just waltz into.

Pretty much every family on the continent with any foresight would be sending their kids there.

The competition would be fierce, obviously.

Even if they sent everyone, the number who’d actually make it through would be pretty small.

"You’re right. We should send as many people as we can. Hopefully they’ll learn something useful for our family."

Compared to massive powers like the Gray Fort Empire, small fish like the Clarkson family didn’t need to worry about too much.

Family members existed because of the family. Whatever happened to them, they represented the family.

If they wanted to stay in Roster territory, that was fine too. They’d still be part of the family.

As long as they learned something and brought positive effects to the family, that was what mattered most.

Rather than worrying about whether they’d come back, the Clarksons were more concerned about another question: "Which schools should we focus on?"

The Magic Equipment Academy, School of Magic, School of Business, and School of Theology all seemed pretty meaningful for their family.

Figuring this out took quite a bit of time.

While they were hashing it out, people both online and offline were wrestling with the same question.

Compared to churches, empires, kingdoms, and noble families, the ones who really wanted this opportunity were ordinary citizens, the working class, and some farmers who had Magic Net access.

As the Magic Net became more widespread, more and more regular folks got to see a much bigger world through it, and they understood their current situation better.

The founding of Roster Academy gave them a huge opportunity.

Especially since just passing an online interview meant they could travel to Roster Academy for a second formal interview for free, which gave them a lot of confidence.

In this atmosphere, Roster Academy’s interviews officially began.

On just the first day, over 100,000 people signed up.

Even Viscount Roster, who’d prepared for this, was shocked.

"Good thing I didn’t promise to give definite results during the online interviews." Viscount Roster breathed a sigh of relief.

His initial plan had been to make decisions on the spot during online interviews about who could move to the next round.

But then he’d worried there might be too many people, plus he couldn’t guarantee every interviewer would maintain a consistent mindset throughout, so he decided that the first online interviews would just gather basic information and provide general feedback. After the interviews ended, they’d consider everything comprehensively before deciding who actually passed the first round.

Without a doubt, this was the right call.

Otherwise, the first day might’ve been game over. What about all the promising candidates who came later?

While Viscount Roster was reflecting on this, the interviewers gathered for a meal, and they all looked pretty rough.

"Man, how’s it going for you guys? I don’t know why, but I keep running into weirdos."

"Same here. What kind of weirdos did you get? I met someone today who couldn’t even read, but wanted to get into the Magic Equipment Academy. I asked if he’d ever worked with Magic Conductors—you know, sometimes you run into people who can’t read anything but can operate equipment. Guess what happened?"

"What?" The others were all ears now.

"This guy was a beastman. He asked if getting blown up by a magic bomb counted. I still can’t wrap my head around that logic."

"Pfft—" Several people couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the idea of being blown up by a magic bomb.

But right then, another person sighed. "Actually, yours wasn’t that bad. At least he’d really encountered one. I had a guy who’s already 40 years old wanting to enter the School of Magic and become a combat magician."

"I asked if he had magical talent, if he could sense magic power. And he told me he liked Viscount Roster, he believed in Roster Academy’s teaching quality, and they’d definitely make him a famous magician."

"I told him not to talk about irrelevant stuff and asked if he could sense magic power, if he’d ever dealt with anything like that before."

"Then he emphasized again that he believed in our Roster Academy’s teaching ability... This went on for five rounds. I didn’t know what else to say, so I just hung up. I think there’s something wrong with how his brain works."

There really was no limit to how weird people could get, only weirder and weirder.

As the interviewers talked it out, their attitudes gradually leveled out, and they started the next round of interviews.

Before the online interviews even finished, the big shots who’d been invited to experience the ultra-high-speed rail transit system all gathered in Roster territory.

"What brings you all here? Some business deal? Or do you want to check out Roster Territory Group Company and Roster Academy?"

Viscount Roster invited them to a banquet hall and asked, playing dumb even though he knew why they were there.

"Lord Roster, no need to play coy. We’re here for one reason: we want to know exactly what you’re planning to do with the ultra-high-speed rail transit system."

"Yeah, are you setting up a separate company to build a rail transit system covering the whole continent, or do you want to bring everyone in like the Golden Merchant Guild and then plan things out? Give us a straight answer."

"And what about the stations? Are you planning to keep control of the stations within the transit system, or are you willing to work with some lords?"

These questions cut right to the heart of things.

They’d obviously been thinking hard about this for the past few days.

They had a clear understanding of the economic benefits, transportation capacity, and station value that the ultra-high-speed rail transit system would bring.

Seeing they’d laid it all out so clearly, Viscount Roster didn’t beat around the bush. "I’m planning to split it into two parts."

"The ultra-high-speed rail transit system—meaning the tracks and stations—will be run by a Rail Transit General Company. They’ll handle building the tracks and stations, plus managing train operations in the future."

"As for the ultra-high-speed rail trains themselves, they’ll be produced by the Southern Development Corporation. The Rail Transit General Company will purchase from Southern Development Corporation."

They had no objections to this arrangement. What they wanted was the rail transit and future transportation capacity. Who owned the trains?

That was negotiable.

"What we really want to know from you is the plan for building the tracks, building the stations, and future operations."