Chapter 22. Positioning Test

"The Positioning… Test? Which means…?" Shibisu muttered.

Lero Ro said, "Yeah. I think a lot of you have noticed this already. As you well know, fighting in the Tower is usually done in teams. A 'position' is the role that you'll play during these battles. There are a lot of different positions, but basically there is…"

"The Fisherman, who disarms the enemy by using the reel or engages it directly with a needle. They are always at the heart of battle and can also carry out individual activities."

"There's the Spear Bearer, who uses spears to target enemies from the back line or to finish off what the Fisherman started."

"Next is the Light Bearer, who lights up the dark Tower, collects data and sends it to the Scout."

"Then there's the Scout, who observes the enemies' movements at the very forefront using the observer and supports the Fishermen."

"And lastly is the Wave Controller, controlling Shinsoo to assist in battle or to overpower the opponent. They are known to dominate the battlefield."

"Of course, there are more positions beyond these five, such as the Guide or the Defender, but it doesn't have much to do with you."

Lero Ro summoned an orange Lighthouse and then continued, "Beginning now you will be assigned to one of these five positions. And you will be trained in that position for a month, and only the Regulars with the highest results get the right to take the next test."

"For your reference, you've been assigned to your positions based on the tests so far. Keep in mind that the number of those who pass will differ by position."

Isaac pondered inwardly, 'Will I be a Fisherman?... Or would they make me a Wave Controller because I'm an Irregular or something?'

"Now look." Lero Ro instantly enlarged the orange Lighthouse thousands of times, turning it into a giant cinema screen. He continued, "This table shows your position according to the results of the previous tests."

Isaac looked at the screen.

<Fisherman (4)>

Anak Jahad

Endorsi

Hong Chunhwa

Dede Kancho

Deod

Leo Cloaker

(...)

_____

<Spear Bearer (4)>

Akryung

Rak Wraithraiser

Alexay Amigochaz

Hyun Seoung

(…)

_____

<Light Bearer (2)>

Best Seed - Khun Aguero Agnes

Best Seed - Michelle Light

Leon 3

Chungchung

Levin

(...)

_____

<Scout (3)>

Best Seed - Shibisu Leesoo

Hatsu

Narae Seonwoo

Palgyeon

(...)

_____

<Wave Controller (2)>

Best Seed - Isaac Ainsworth

Phonsekal Laure

Hwa Ryun

Ho

Gray

Rozeal

…

[Hey, Master, you're a… Wave Controller?]

'Y-yeah. That's a bit unexpected…' Isaac replied.

'I'm a Light Bearer and Isaac is a Wave Controller? That's odd. I would have sworn Isaac would be a Fisherman,' Khun thought.

Anak and Endorsi thought, 'I'm in the same position as that annoying one.'

Laure thought, 'So I'm with that guy…'

'So I'm a Spear Bearer…' Rak squinted his eyes. 'Darn it, that annoying turtle was right!'

"Sir!" At that time, a teenager with spiky hair called Dede raised his voice. "What's the 'Best seed' written beside the names?"

"Best seed? People with the title 'Best seed' are the ones who did well in the previous test," Lero Ro explained as he touched the cube. "One person was chosen for each test and they got bonus points in the final positioning."

"W-what?! You didn't tell us about that before!!!" Dede shouted out.

"I don't understand why he got that!" Serena shouted while pointing at Shibisu.

"Yeah… Why me?" Shibisu himself was flabbergasted. Did he bribe the Test Administrator?

"You were chosen, don't ask!" Khun said.

Seeing these reactions, Lero Ro laughed dryly. "Haha, the 'Best seed' tag is given fairly and after a thorough evaluation. I've got a lot to do, so stop asking silly questions, okay?"

As Lero Ro's tone turned low at the end of his sentence, the complaining Regulars shut their mouths.

"Ah… Ok."

"Ok…"

"Well, that's it for today. The position teachers will explain the detailed schedule for the test later. So please follow the robot guide and go to where your position teachers are."

"..."

"Oh! And in the case of Wave Controllers…" Lero Ro said. "The teacher has a problem, so he will arrive a bit late. He says he'll start the class within three days."

'Within three days…? Then the assassin from the Jahad empire is on his way. But then what should I do during that time…' Isaac thought, disappointed that he'd have to wait for the classes to start.

Lero Ro compressed his orange Light House and said, "Ok, everyone, go to your teachers."

As everyone started standing up to leave, and as Lero Ro also began leaving, Isaac spoke up, "Mr. Lero Ro, I have a question."

Stopping in his steps, Lero Ro turned back.

When this happened, the other Regulars also stopped and looked at Isaac; after all, he was the most infamous among all of the Regulars here.

"Yes?"

"The Wave Controller teacher is not here yet. Is it possible for me to attend another class until my class begins?" Isaac asked.

Lero Ro raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Isaac, you seem to be quite eager to begin classes."

"… Of course," Isaac slowly replied.

Lero Ro smiled at him and said, "In that case, why not temporarily participate in the Light Bearer class that I'm in charge of?"

'The Light Bearer class?...' Isaac raised his eyebrows. Ideally he hoped to join the Fisherman Class for a bit instead.

As Isaac began pondering over Lero Ro's words, Hwa Ryun looked at him expressionlessly. 'Is he going to join one of the other classes for now? I didn't see that coming… I could also join to learn more about him, but I guess it would be unnatural and suspicious. I can simply watch him through the cameras.'

Normally a Regular in their position would stay in their room and practice their Shinsoo Control until the class starts in order to get a better score, not waste their time on random things.

As for her, Isaac was a very unpredictable and difficult to deal with person. To avoid further mistakes, she had to observe and understand him well.

"Mr. Isaac, how about that?" Lero Ro asked again.

"That's… fine."

Isaac could see that Lero Ro was quite enthusiastic about making him join the Light Bearer class, and Khun was the same, so he felt he didn't want to disappoint them.

"Very well! Light Bearers, you can come with me!"

Isaac joined Khun and followed Lero Ro through the floating ship's corridor to attend the Light Bearer class. He had nothing better to do and thought it could be an interesting experience.

…

Inside the classroom.

Lero Ro stood in front of over ten Regulars that sat at their desks.

Isaac sat next to Khun in the back row, and a row in front of them sat Rachel, this time without concealing her head with a hood.

Apart from Isaac, no other Wave Controllers join the class.

What they were introduced to first in class was the theory of what was the role of the Light Bearer and what advantages he brings to a team.

Most of the Regulars were quite enthusiastic about learning, at least at first, and among them only Khun looked bored.

Isaac wasn't interested in being a support with his strength, but he still found it useful and interesting to learn more about Light Bearers.

At first glance, Lero Ro was a pretty good teacher and lecturer. He explained things simply which showed that he knew what he was talking about.

After the introductory lecture to the Light Bearer, Lero Ro then told the Regulars that they need to make a contract with a Floor Guardian in order for them to be able to use Shinsoo, which was the first thing they needed to do to proceed.

Making a contract with a Guardian is crucial for Regulars because without it they wouldn't be able to use Shinsoo apart from manipulating small amounts.

Lero Ro continued his explanation: "You will need to make a contract with a Floor Guardian on each floor of the Tower. The only Regulars who don't need to do that are those who are descendants of one of the Ten Great Family leaders because they automatically have a contract at birth. Mr. Khun, you have already contacted this Floor's Administrator, right?"

"Yes, of course," said Khun.

"And what about you, Mr. Isaac?"

Hearing this question, Isaac hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes, same here."

[Huh, when did you?... Ah, I get it. It's a lie.]

Lero Ro looked for him for a while, then said, "Alright. As for those who haven't, I'll show you how to form a contract with the Administrator."

Following that, Lero Ro taught the other Regulars how to make a Shinsoo Contract.

It was a very simple procedure.

During that time Isaac did nothing and only listened, pretending that he had already made a contract.

As an Irregular, he seemed to not need a contract to use Shinsoo. He had already shown the ability to use Shinsoo in great quantities, so yes, he felt it would be more reasonable if he lied.

After everyone made a contract, Lero Ro told everyone that they would hold a quick hands-on lesson with a Lighthouse.

'Because I only have Mr. Isaac here for two days, let's speed up the course a bit to find out more about him,' Lero Ro thought.

The Regulars were led to a spacious room with rows of colorful semi-transparent cubes laid down on shelves. The cubes had various colors: gray, orange, yellow, red and blue.

"Each of you, choose a Lighthouse. The color doesn't matter, they're all of the same grade."

[Master, choose the red one!]

After each Regular chose a Lighthouse, Lero Ro continued his lesson, "The first thing you'll need to learn is how to expand a Lighthouse in size using Shinsoo, so you can use it as a datacenter and your control room. It's the default ability of a Lighthouse as an item, so it isn't hard to do."

After everyone activated and entered their Lighthouse, this time still on the ground, Lero Ro's voice resounded in everyone's ears: {You're in the Lighthouse at the moment. The Lighthouse is the center of the whole battle. This is where all the information is gathered and all the orders start here.}

{The different cubes inside the Lighthouse help you to control the data more efficiently. Your Lighthouse is connected to the Network of the Administration Office, so you can search a lot of data about the Tower.}

{Now, I'll teach you about the various cubes.}

{This is the Main Cube…}

{To input data you can use the *keyboard* that's at your hip level. It's the default method, but it's inefficient to use during combat. During high stress situations it's better to use voice commands, shortcuts and Shinsoo…}

{This is the Voice Cube which you'll use to set up communication channels with your team members…}

The lesson continued and eventually the Regulars were taught how to connect to the 'Network' and input information to find search results.

'The Network is basically the Internet, and a Lighthouse is like a supercomputer,' Isaac thought to himself, feeling that things were quite simple so far.

When the lesson finally ended, the Regulars left their lighthouses.

Lero Ro said, "By the way, Mr. Khun, Mr. Isaac. Have you two used a Lighthouse before? You seem quite skilled at it."

"Well, yeah," Khun replied.

"I see. What about you, Mr. Isaac?" Lero Ro asked.

Hesitating for a moment as people all turned toward him, Isaac smiled and said, "Ah, well... A bit."

The truth is that all Isaac did so far was follow his experience with a PC and his 'instinct' to interact with the various cubes.

Being familiar with a PC and the Internet, it was quite intuitive from him to pick things up. In addition, Lero Ro made things very simple with his clear instructions as if he was teaching people how to use a computer for the first time.

[Master, you lie as naturally as you breathe.]

…

After the Light Bearer class was over, Isaac and Khun began to walk directly to the cafeteria.

"Sigh, it was so boring… What was that? A computer class for old people?" Khun said casually as he stretched his arms on the way.

"Haha." Isaac laughed. It indeed felt like that, but the supercomputer that he was dealing with was quite different from a PC, so he didn't mind the simplicity of the class.

Khun looked at him and said, "But it's surprising that you weren't chosen to be a Fisherman, but a Wave Controller."

"Yeah, it's surprising," Isaac replied in a light tone. He had suspicions related to that, but the fact remained that he was now in the Wave Controller class; he had to accept that.

"Um, excuse me."

Just as the two walked, there was a person that approached them.

Isaac looked over and saw that it was a girl in a cloak. She had an ordinary appearance, sand-colored blonde hair and freckles.

"You are… Michelle Light…" Khun said and a complicated expression appeared on his face.

"Oh!… You can call me Rachel… Mr. Khun, Mr. Isaac, can I talk with you for a moment?"