Tracking Down the Elusive Candidate

The club agreed to test out the elusive girl who went by BlackFlower. She was the only real female player to apply for the club. In fact, she was even Platinum V! But, that was in Duel.

Meanwhile, in the MOBA mode, she was still in the qualifier. So, what was her actual skill level? The club will have to test her thoroughly.

According to the application, the girl's name was Nia and she was in class 1-B. On the following day, Kai went to 1-B during lunch break.

"Why are you tagging along?" Kai asked.

"Just think of me as your advisor," Vincent said. "I'm just here to make sure you don't scare anybody off."

"Huh? Why would I?"

"Let's just say you can be pretty direct sometimes. Too direct, in fact," Vincent smiled meaningfully. "Remember the guys you chased away last year when the club was recruiting? Poor fellows. All they did was ask you a couple of questions."

"That's 'cause their questions were dumb," Kai crossed her arms. "How can somebody play Mancers seriously and not know where to find their player ID? Them clowns. No wonder none of them passed."

"Whew, ruthless," Vincent whistled. "You see? That's why you need somebody who is all smiles and sunshine to tag along. That'll make you look less intimidating. You can think of me as your standup partner. Together, we're the Two Senior Mancers!"

"Whatever," Kai shrugged. "Just make sure you don't get in the way. I don't want to hear any of your usual nonsense. You know these things rub people the wrong way."

"Understood. I shall seal away my powers as the Arbiter of Talents and close my Information Blackhole until the right moment arrives!"

"There won't be such a moment."

Eventually, they reached class 1-B. Alas, they had no idea how Nia looked because Yuel was the only one who ever saw this elusive girl. So, they had to ask around.

"Hm? Nia? Was there somebody like that in our class?"

"Oh, isn't that the black-haired girl? Sorry, don't know much about her."

"Hmm, I don't see her. Maybe she went to the cafeteria."

Their first attempt ended in failure. Apparently, Nia wasn't in the classroom. Kai and Vincent arrived here as soon as launch break began, yet they still somehow missed their target. What an elusive girl this Nia was.

"Why didn't she fill in her phone number?" Kai sighed and put away the application form. They only knew Nia's name and classroom, nothing else. The phone number field was left blank so the only way to contact this phantom girl was by catching her in person.

"So, we do a stakeout?" Vincent asked.

"What else can we do?" Kai took out a sandwich and began eating in front of the classroom.

"Somebody sure came prepared," Vincent commented.

"I figured that may happen. What, you didn't bring your food?"

"Nope," Vincent scratched his head. "But, it's quite alright! I shall sacrifice my lunch break for the sake of summoning the ever-elusive BlackFlower! Only by starving myself for half an hour while everybody else feasts on their lunches, I can summon the dark energy required for manifesting BlackFlower!"

"If you're that hungry, just go bring it."

"Nay! I shall overcome this ordeal given to me by the ancient gods!"

"Whatever you say," Kai shrugged and took another bite off her sandwich.

[Grrr.] Vincent squinted his eyes. As hard as he tried, he couldn't unglue his eyes from Kai's sandwich. However, he'll bear through this torture! By making a sacrifice to the evil gods, he shall summon for the blackest flower of them all! He'll be able to see the phantom girl which only the chosen ones could lay their eyes on!

Fifteen minutes later, Vincent was still suffering. They questioned every girl who passed by the classroom but none of them was their target.

GROOOOOWL. Vincent rubbed his aching stomach.

[Kukuku, as expected from my Perfect Clockwork Body.] Vincent forced a smile. His body knew exactly when to alert him about lunchtime being overdue. He was like a natural walking clock! But, he won't be able to bear this much longer...

"Wouldn't it be funny if she's not at school today?" Vincent said.

"It's weird," Kai crossed her arms. "We can't even confirm whether she's supposed to be here today. It's like nobody knows her."

"Maybe she's actually a ghost."

"T-There's no way. Ghosts can't fill in a registration form."

"One should never underestimate the power of ghosts! Say, if she belongs to the Portelgiest family, she could manipulate the objects around her. So, she could've have moved a pen to scribble on the paper."

"Sure, sure," Kai rolled her eyes. "Damn, if only we knew how she looks like."

"Welp, there's one person who claims he saw her," Vincent took out his phone. "Let's call Yuel to help us out here."

"Good idea."

[Kukuku. I finally got you, K! You have fallen for my elaborate plan!] Vincent snickered. [With Yuel here, we'll pinpoint our target right away and wrap this mission up before lunch break ends! That way, I'll have enough time to enjoy my lunch! All according to keikaku.]

Yuel arrived a few minutes later.

"Can you tell if she's in here?" Kai asked.

"Use your Mystic Eyes of Phantom Perception to unmask this ghost for us!"

"Let's see," Yuel peered into the classroom.

Frankly, his memory of the girl was a little hazy. He only saw her twice and it always in a hurry. However, he did remember a couple of key details, such as her messy black hair. So, he concentrated on finding a girl with long spaghetti hair.

At first glance, there was nobody like that in the classroom. But, this girl was always needlessly difficult to spot for some reason. So, Yuel walked around the classroom and carefully examined every nook and cranny.

Eventually, he found it. Tucked away at the corner of the room, hidden behind waves of students, there was a table. Behind it, the familiar sight of a long and messy black hair.

"There she is!" Yuel almost broke into a run. It felt like the girl might vanish at any moment if he doesn't hurry. The seniors followed right behind him.

"Oh, she really got messy black hair," Kai tilted her head. "Can't believe we missed her."

"Indeed, what a mystery," Vincent frowned. "To think that a mere human could possibly escape the pull of my Information Blackhole. Nay, impossible! This is further proof this girl is no human! She's a ghost!"

"Pipe down already," Kai stepped in front of the group. This was her chance to make a good first impression the girl; she couldn't let Vincent's nonsense ruin this important moment.

"......." The girl didn't budge. Even though Kai was standing right in front of the table, Nia didn't even raise her head. She was completely absorbed in her smartphone. Her fingers danced on the touchscreen at blinding speed.

"Oh, we found Shining Finger!" Vincent whispered a tad too loudly in Yuel's direction. A few students threw funny looks at them.

[I don't know this guy.] Yuel averted his eyes and maintained a poker face.

"Excuse me?" Kai called out.

"......"

"Hey."

"......."

"Nia?"

"Hm?" The spaghetti hair finally moved. Nia unglued her eyes from her phone and slowly raised her head. "Eh?" She looked at the three pairs of eyes locked down on her. "Eh? Me?"

"Yeah, you," Kai said. "I wanna talk about your application to the Classmancers club."

"Eh? Ah, that's, um..." Nia froze like a statue. "So, you got that..."

"Yeah, we did," Kai nodded. "We checked your profile and you look promising, so we'd like to-"

"You looked into my profile!?" Nia jumped. "Oh, no! I knew I shouldn't have written that! I better change my password and everything." She returned to her phone and began tapping at lightning speed.

"Huh?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "Nobody can get your password just by looking at your profile."

"You never know. The internet is a scary place. Hackers everywhere."

"I don't think that's how it works..."

[It sure as hell doesn't.] Yuel made a face. [How did she even arrive at that conclusion? That explains why her account had increased privacy settings.]

"Anyway, about the club," Kai tried to wheel the conversation back on topic.

"Yes?" Nia glanced at Kai while keeping her fingers on the touchscreen.

"We consider recruiting you but we'd like to see how you play first. Can you drop by at the club after school?"

"Hmm. Ok." Nia gave a weak answer.

"You know where the clubroom is, right?"

"Is that basement place your clubroom?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, it is."

"So, a basement clubroom? Weird."

"Tell me about it," Kai sighed deeply. "But, don't worry. The place is alright. You'll get used to it."

"But, I'm not a member yet."

"Oh, right," Kai smiled awkwardly. "Anyway, make sure to come."

"How?" Nia examined the trio. "How did you find me?"

"Huh?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "You left your name and class when you registered."

"I know, but..." Nia fell silent for a moment. "Nevermind."

"Speaking of which, you forgot to fill in your phone number."

"I didn't forget," Nia claimed.

"Then, why is it blank?"

"Because I didn't fill it."

"What, on purpose?"

"On purpose," Nia nodded. "If you give your number to an organization, you'll start getting spam messages."

"Huh, 'organization', you say..." Kai forced an awkward smile.

"And," Nia continued. "People might hack your phone."

[Again, that's not how these things work.] Yuel sighed. [This girl is... peculiar, to say the least.]

"Anyway," Kai returned to the topic. "Do you mind giving me your phone number? It'll make things so much easier for both of us."

"Only if you give me your phone number too," Nia said with suspecting eyes. It's as if they were about to exchange war prisoners.

"Sure," Kai exchanged phone numbers with Nia. "Alright, see you after school."

The trio left on that note.

"Interesting girl," Vincent said.

"'Interesting' is definitely one way to describe her," Yuel nodded. [Though, I'd personally go with "peculiar".]

"There's one thing I still don't get, though," Vincent crossed his arms. "How come Kai and I didn't spot her earlier?"

"Well, the classroom was quite packed," Kai said. "Besides, she was literally tucked away at the very corner there."

"True, but Yuel gave us a rather accurate description of her," Vincent insisted. "He said 'a girl with long and messy black hair' and, indeed, we found a girl with long and messy black hair. She should've stuck out like a sore thumb. Yet, we couldn't find her until Yuel came here."

"Well," Kai shrugged. "I guess we don't have a future as detectives."

"No kidding."

"So, you decided how we'll test her?" Yuel asked. Naturally, he already had some ideas in mind but he decided to let the captain have her say first.

"Let's start with 1v1 matches," Kai said. "That's where Nia should be most comfortable"

"I'm fine with that," Yuel said. "But, we'll have to eventually test her in 5v5 as well."

"Yeah but let's go one step at a time, okay? First, a 1v1."

"I see somebody is being really cautious," Vincent smiled meaningfully. "Afraid of scaring away the shiny Pokemon?"

"Something like that," Kai said. "As for Nia's opponent, I'll do it."

"Not sure I agree with that," Yuel objected. "I have a feeling you might go too easy on her to make her look better, even if unintentionally."

"For sure," Vincent tuned in. "Kai always goes easy on female players. She is the Softhearted Amazon!"

"Who's softhearted?" Kai shot him a look. "But, alright, fair enough. I might end up going a little too easy on her by accident. So, who do you suggest instead?"

"Anybody would do," Yuel said. "Personally, I'd like to see how well she fares against Lars."

"Whoa!" Vincent exclaimed. "Throwing her to the lion's den right off the bat!? She'll be slaughtered by the Beast of the Apocalypse!"

"Yeah, that's definitely not happening," Kai waved her hand. "How about you play her?"

"Honestly, I'm not well-versed in 1v1," Yuel admitted. "I read a few Duel guides yesterday to catch up to the current meta but I don't have enough experience to properly test somebody on it."

"Then," Kai turned to Vincent. "How about you do it?"

"Little ol' me?" Vincent pointed at himself. "Can't say I'm exactly a pro in Duel. I'm only Gold II."

"That's higher than me," Yuel said.

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"Wait, you know my Duel rank?" Yuel raised an eyebrow.

"Hmhmhm," Vincent smirked. "Of course I do! Never underestimate the knowledge of my Information Blackhole! It absorbs all and everything!"

"So, what rank am I?"

"Gold IV."

"Correct..." Yuel felt like he was stalked. [This guy likes keeping tabs on everybody, huh.]

"Anyway," Kai cut in. "You're almost the same rank as Nia so it'll do."

"Welp," Vincent shrugged. "I suppose I shall do it then. The Arbiter of Talents shall pass judgment on this fresh meat!"

After school, the clubmates gathered in the clubroom. Per usual, Ben was the only one missing.

"She's late," Kai tapped her foot. Maybe Kai wasn't persuasive enough when she talked to Nia? Thinking back on it, Kai was extremely straight to the point and didn't do anything to make the club sound more appealing. Maybe she should've tried hype it up some more, the way Vincent does with everything. [This is SO not my thing, though.]

"What are we waiting for?" Yuel asked.

"For the star of the show, obviously," Vincent said.

"Yeah, we can't start without Nia," Kai nodded.

"But, she's already here," Yuel pointed toward the door.

"Huh?" Kai raised an eyebrow. "No she isn't... wha!?"

Nia was indeed there, with her smartphone in hand and her fingers busy. She was standing behind the wall so only half her frame was visible but it was clearly possible to see her. Yet, somehow, both Kai and Vincent failed to spot her until Yuel pointed at her.

"Unbelievable!" Vincent staggered backward dramatically. "She's really here! The ever-elusive phantom girl!"

"She's been standing there for a while now," Yuel pointed out. "I was busy settings things up so I thought one of you would call her over. But, you never did."

"Really?" Lars wiped his eyes. "I didn't notice either, dude."

"I think I literally passed by her and didn't see her," Luke testified. "Maybe she's really a ghost?"

"Hey, that's rude" Kai was quick to defend.

"It's ok," Nia mumbled as she entered the room. "I'm used to it."

"Huh? Used?" Kai asked.

"Everybody says I got weak presence," Nia put down her phone and stared at Yuel. "But, you saw me. How?"

"Well," Yuel started. "I'd like to think that seeing a person who literally stands in front of you is kinda basic."

"Nay, nay, nay!" Vincent exclaimed. "Clearly, it's because he's the successor of the Mystic Eyes of Phantom Perception! It allows him to see that which can't be perceived with the naked eye!"

[How many different "Mystic Eyes" can one person even have?] Yuel rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Kai turned to Nia. "You're here, so let's start. You're good at Duel, right?"

"Yeah, I can Duel," Nia nodded.

"Alright, so let's start with that. You'll play Duel against one of us so we can gauge your skill."

As agreed, Vincent will be Nia's opponent. He was one of the most neutral testers here and he seemed to know Duel a little better than Yuel. On top of that, it should be easier for Yuel to analyze Nia from outside the match rather than doing so during the heat of battle.

"As the Arbiter of Talents," Vincent stretched his arms dramatically. "I shall be the one to pass judgment on you today!"

"Um, ok..." Nia backed away a little.

"Pipe it down," Kai smacked Vincent's shoulder. "You're scaring her."

"Haha, my bad," Vincent flashed a smile toward Nia. "Don't worry, it won't be anything difficult. Just play a normal 1v1 against me and show me what you got."

"Hm," Nia nodded weakly in response.

"Do you prefer to play on tablet or PC?" Vincent asked as he pointed toward the two PCs in the room.

"Hm..." Nia stared at the two PCs for a moment, then glanced at everybody else in the room and then examined the rest of the room. "Tablet."

"Oh, really?" Vincent echoed the question Yuel his mind. "Alrighty then, I'll play on tablet too to keep it fair."

"Wait," Yuel cut in. "PC is the platform we'll be playing on at tournaments so it's best to test her on it. I don't see a reason to not do it. We got exactly two PCs to spare." He gave Nia a long questioning look.

"Um, but..." Nia averted her eyes.

"Give her a break," Kai said. "I also like playing on tablet more because I like controllers, so there you have it. If she can play well on tablet, I'm sure that experience will translate to PC as well; no need to worry. "

"Fine," Yuel wasn't entirely convinced but he let it slide. Kai was extremely protective of Nia so he didn't feel like starting a fight. As far as he could tell, there wasn't a single good reason to not play on PC during the exam so it was alarming. It'll be bad if turned out Nia was skilled with a controller but struggled with a keyboard.

"Alrighty," Vincent said. "And so, it begins! The fateful match! Information Blackhole vs. Black Flower!"

"Would you drop that shit already?" Kai jabbed. "You're just making everybody uncomfortable."

"Oh," Vincent realized that Nia has already backed away all the way to exit. "My bad, my bad. It's just a friendly test match, that's all. Really."

"....." Nia still had some suspicion in her stare but she slowly returned to the clubroom with cautious steps.

"Set up your tablet wherever you want," Kai said.

"Hm," Kai nodded and walked further into the room. In fact, she walked so far she literally reached the corner of the basement. It was half a room away from everybody else, a tiny isolated spot suited from hiding.

"Not sure I'd recommend that spot," Vincent said. "The wifi down here is rather whimsical so it might not reach over there at all."

"We just have to keep the door wide open," Kai moved the metallic door. "Do you get any reception over there?"

"I think it's okay," Nia nodded weakly.

"Yeah, it seems fine," Yuel confirmed by looking over Nia's shoulder.

"E-Eh!?" Nia jumped. "Ah, um..."

"What?"

"Um, why are you here?"

"What do you mean? I need to see how you play," Yuel answered plainly.

"Um, but..." Nia shifted her eyes from side to side. Her entire body stiffened like a statue.

"You can watch from over there," Kai dragged Yuel away. "It's a 1v1, so you can pretty much tell everything she does from Vincent's screen."

"I suppose. But, it's easier to watch everything from her perspective."

"Just give her some space, will you?" Kai lowered her tone. "She looks nervous enough."

"Fine," Yuel obediently retreated. He will be able to watch the replay later anyway, so it wasn't neccessary for him to breathe down on Nia's neck while she was already nervous about the exam.

[We're such nice examiners.] Yuel smiled wryly as he recalled his experience with StormBlitz's entrance exam. Back then, Aron pressured Yuel by asking to justify every single move Yuel made. It was already stressful enough to play alongside seniors and Aron applied further pressure on top of that with all his difficult questions. Ugh.

[Maybe it's really better if I maintain some distance.] Yuel concluded. He could see himself asking Nia all sorts of questions and distracting her. The girl already looked so pale like she could faint at any moment. She definitely didn't need any more pressure on her.

Once Nia and Vincent took their seats, the entrance exam was about to begin. What kind of show will this Platinum rank duelist put on?