Hide and Seek

"Regulars participating in this joint position test! Congratulations to all of you!" Lero ro yelled out to all the regulars that were gathered in the hall.

One month had elapsed since the classes started for the positions; between which everyone mastered their respective skills and opted to make full usage of their respective advantages that their positions provided them with.

Winston in particular was the best in the fisherman position, no surprise in that, just behind Endorsi and Anaak who managed to not get disqualified from the test all their injuries considered. Everyone's relationship had also progressed to some point, not appearing as distant as before. In particular, everyone that had their name on the friend list that was given to the Scouts had come especially close.

Winston focused on Lero ro who was explaining what the test to be conducted would be.

"This joint test is for 30 of you, excluding the ones that have already passed." He said, pointing to the sofas that were erected at the end of the hall atop an elevated platform.

On the sofas, three familiar figures sat.

"Buahahahaha! Do your best turtles!"

"Ye all ought to give it your all! You might not pass! Hehahahahaha!"

Zarhan and Rak sat on the sofa laughing to their heart's content. Their arms were slung over each other's shoulders, well, at least Rak's arm was.

Zarhan's was too short to go over Rak's body.

Both of them appeared extremely cheerful as they laughed out aloud at the regulars present, mocking them for not being able to pass the tests beforehand.

Looking at them, Winston felt a hint of annoyance but brushed it off. He wasn't in the spear bearer position anyways, so he had no reason to feel pressured by the fact that there was only room for one more passing regular for the spear bearers.

Winston looked at the last person seated atop the sofas, Ghost, the behemoth like beast that towered a full three heads over even Rak.

Winston narrowed his eyes a bit but then focused again on the test administrator.

"Of the 30 regulars present, there will be two teams of 15. The regulars should take the test in the team assigned to them." Lero ro continued. "Teams have all been assigned based on the previous test results.

There is an equal number of positions on both teams except for one more spear bearer and scout on team A and one more Light Bearer and Fisherman on team B, so the teams are completely balanced." He said.

"You will be graded throughout the test and said grades will have the most say in the final assessment so be at your best performance." He continued. "For your information, the grading will be done both individually and as a team, by your position teachers and by the test director respectively." He pointed to the right, where a large desk with 6 seats was kept.

On each seat was seated one of the position teachers as well as the test director Hansung Yu in the last seat. However, curiously, one of the seats of the position teachers was empty.

"As for how the test will be conducted, what will be told by the test director Hansung Yu." Lero ro pointed towards the man who took a sip from his coffee bowl.

Hansung Yu smiled.

"I will be telling you about your test, it will be called "Hide and Seek"." He smiled mysteriously.

Hearing his words murmers went across the group of regulars.

Hide and Seek? Winston's mind materialized images of a game that he seen kids play all the time. A game that he himself had never had the opportunity to play. Winston's eyes turned melancholic for a moment, almost imperceptible, before reverting back to normal.

"Yes, it is like the game that you all might've played at some point. But it's not a team competition." He chuckled. "Each team will play with a seeker that we've designated to catch a hider that the team designates." Hansung pointed to the window on the left, "If you look outside from here, you will find a large circular structure floating. That is the stage for the test." He said.

Every regular, Winston included moved closer to the window to get a better look at the stage for the test.

It was a large circular ship, divided up into three main areas. The center circle was the smallest, lying at the lowest level in the entire structure. It was labelled as the 'safe zone'. From the safe zone, extended two sets of stairs that led to a larger circle concentric with the safe zone. It lied one level above the safe zone and had a small effigy of a humanoid figure standing within it; the effigy was marked 'the seeker.'

This zone itself was divided into two concentric spheres, one higher than the other and connected with a flight of stairs. Beyond this zone was a deep chasm that separated it from the final circle. All that connected it with the main body was a narrow bridge and a small flight of stairs some distance diagonally under it.

"The rules are simple." Hansung Yu said as everyone looked on at the structure.

"Choose someone to be 'It' among the fisherman. If the one who is it gets out of the safety zone and reaches the exit without getting tagged by the seeker, the team wins. I will give you all three hours. Also, the game is over if the 'it' is caught by the seeker." Hansung smiled and pulled out a red badge with an unusual symbol on it from his robes.

"The person who is chosen to be 'it' is required to put this badge on. If the seeker touches the badge, the sensor will be triggered and the game will end."

Then, his eyes suddenly underwent a thoughtful expression, intently gazing at the regulars.

"Of course the Seeker will also be wearing such a badge." He smiled. "If the one that is the seeker gets tagged by anyone, then the game will end right there and the fisherman on the team will get a price of 2000 points, enough to circumvent the results of the previous tests." Hansung said.

To his side, Winston immediately felt Endorsi's mood lighten up. Her eyes held a predatory gleam as they almost shone with greed.

Winston imperceptibly shook his head.

"Um." Shibisu raised his hand from the other team.

"Test director Yu, who is the seeker?" He asked.

At that moment, a frivolous voice boomed out in the hall.

"Hahaha! That's my student! It's great that you asked such a nice question!" The door to the far entrance of the hall opened up revealing a dark skinned individual in a white lab coat and black pants. He had bright red hair that almost shone in the brightly lit hall and his face held a wide smile from ear to ear.

His eyes held a rambunctious vigor that seemed to almost materialize around him and the sound of his laughter suddenly filled the hall.

At that moment, Winston noticed how every position teacher, Lero ro in particular facepalmed with a sour expression.

...Well that's not good.

It could be accurately judged that Winston was not looking forward to the test anymore.

Fighting against a ranker? What makes them think we can do that...? Winston contemplated.

"What the hell? That's a ranker!"

"We can't snatch the badge from him?! This is rigged!"

"He's the Scout teacher! A ranker!"

And the reactions of the regulars spoke for themselves. Quant, the Scout ranker laughed aloud harder upon hearing the reactions of the various people in the room.

"Hahahahahaha! Don't worry! I'll make sure to go easy on you!" He yelled.

Every regular in the room, at that exact moment had the same thought.

Like hell you will!

Seeing all of their distressed faces, Hansung Yu chuckled.

"Do not worry too much. We are well aware of the gap between you and rankers." He continued. "To make sure the test is fair, Quant is only limited to a single Baang with ten Myun and 10 Soo, so no body strengthening and no extra support from shinsu.

"Furthermore, he would not go all out against regulars. That would be simply overkill." Hansung shook his head and shrugged. Winston looked at him judgementally for a second at the mention of 'overkill' but there was little he could do. The test had already been decided and it was plenty clear that they were going to fight the ranker.

With that, they were separated as per the teams. 15 people were in each team with the teams being named A and B.

While they were escorted through the hall, Winston could clearly hear the laughter of Zarhan and Rak in the background at all times. It was to the point he began to feel a tab bit annoyed.

Damn crocodile and pea brain! He cursed in his heart. Then he shook his head and smiled with a light chuckle.

Team A included Anaak, Khun, Laure, Shibisu and Amon among their own group. The rest were filled by people Winston didn't know the names of, except for the red haired girl who only had one eye because of the crown game, Hwaryun.

While team B was the team Winston was in, which comprised of Endorsi, Paracule, Hatz, Bam and Hoh.

There was also the strange girl Bam was chasing who was named 'Michelle Light', a pseudonym by Bam's own opinion as her 'real' name was 'Rachel'.

Winston looked at the boy from the corner of his eyes with a thoughtful expression.

Within the month he had spent on the floor of tests, the Boy had made plenty clear his apparent lack of knowledge about about almost anything in the tower, along with his more than questionable living conditions prior to entering the tower, saying how he only had the one girl to talk to.

Aren't all irregulars supposed to be busted even at the floor of tests? I wouldn't even compare him to a Jahad princess. Winston mused, scratching his chin.

At this point, he had all but concluded the fact that Bam was an irregular. He wouldn't be deserving of having a brain if he couldn't even piece that together.

First things first, he learned flow control within a day, without any prior knowledge of shinsu control! As per the norms of the tower, even the prodigies among the wave controller learn shinsu flow control to make baangs within 1 year! It made Winston remember his own feat of creating a baang on his first try during the crown game.

Even if his monstrously frightening ability to learn shinsu flow control within a day, as per Laure's words, was ignored, there was the matter of where he lived before entering the tower.

If anything, it sounded awfully like the darkened caves that he was in for some time before he eventually went through the gate to the tower.

All of that combined, made Winston conclude him as the target for being an irregular.

However, since he's an irregular... Winston's eyes travelled to the figure of Michelle Light, or better yet, Rachel.

Since Bam tells about how he only had her in the dark place... that also makes her an irregular. The situation almost made Winston's head shake. It was three irregulars in the same testing spot! As per his knowledge, even a single irregular brought such chaos to the tower that the states before and after their entry couldn't be compared!

Heh. How will three irregulars shake the tower?

Winston chuckled.

~~~

A/N: Throw some stones.

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