Chapter 21: Chapter 21. Last day of the break
Seeing Isaac pick up the Green April, Khun quickly reacted and shouted out, "Pocket Timer Mode! Start!"
In the arena, Anak let out a low growl as she slowly straightened herself.
'She can still stand up? Well, I'm glad,' Isaac thought as she looked at her from a distance.
Her skin was scorched and bleeding, but it seemed that Anak was more or less unharmed.
Gritting her teeth, she slowly stood up and looked at Isaac.
Seeing this, Isaac sprung from the spot and began to run to make distance from her.
"Damn it!" Anak cursed out and sprung from her spot, beginning to chase after Isaac.
She pushed her body to the limit, she tried jumping, tried kicking off the walls for acceleration and used her powerful tail to help with all of this just to have a chance of catching up…
"Stop right there!"
"I'll catch you!"
"Are you going to keep running away until the time limit?!"
"Fight me!!!"
Anak was desperate and never gave up.
But it was all useless.
She had no chance of catching Isaac.
In this manner, a full minute eventually passed and Khun announced the result of the match.
After hearing this, Anak dropped to the ground and dropped her head in defeat, her knees spread out.
Isaac turned to look at her and felt a little pity when he saw this.
He admired Anak's spirit and combat instincts, but at the same time he also felt that a defeat and setback is what Anak needed to curb some of her arrogance.
After coming slightly closer, Isaac said, "You lost... So I'll be taking the Green April. See you later."
Anak raised her head and asked while glaring, "Who are you?"
Isaac analysed her expression and said, "I'm not related to the Jahad family, I can tell you that much."
Anak looked at him in surprise. 'Hm? He's not related to Jahad? But he chose to mention it, so does he know about me? He still didn't try to kill me, but just waited out the time limit… Was it out of pity?'
Anak thought of this and frowned. She hated being pitied.
Isaac looked for a moment longer at Anak who glared at him hatefully, then turned around and began leaving with the Green April and Clarent in his hands.
…
Test Supervisor's office.
"~Hohohoho…" Yu Han Sung chuckled as he secretly observed the result of the match between Anak Jahad and Isaac.
'A fake Jahad Princess with an Ignition Weapon was completely surpassed by him when using just bare hands. Wonderful!'
Although that girl doesn't yet know how to use Shinsoo, the Irregular hardly had to use any either. And unlike the others who have always lived inside the Tower, his body should have only just started being nurtured by Shinsoo.
Yu Han Sung smiled when thinking this, being satisfied with what he saw and the display of Isaac's strength. That was on top of what he had already seen the Irregular do while practicing in a training room.
In particular, what made Isaac special, apart from his Shinsoo control talent and instincts, was his monstrous speed when he didn't even use Shinsoo. It was the speed of his physical body alone which almost made him seem as if he lived in a different reality where time flew faster for him - that was the main reason why the Anak girl was completely overwhelmed during this match, rendering her powerful weapon useless.
What Yu Han Sung also focused on was that Isaac could have beaten up that arrogant and rude lizard girl or could have even killed her to get rid of a threat, but he spared her and chose to end the match through the rules of the game.
He knew compassion, kindness and mercy.
This made him easier to manipulate.
If they could show that Irregular the ugly side of the Jahad Empire and the Ten Families as he begins to climb the Tower, magnifying every flaw, he might naturally begin to view them as the evil of this Tower.
But at the same time, he didn't have the weak mind of never hurting anyone.
He could be their sword.
Yu Han Sung liked to see that.
'... But a Regular is not enough to push him. With that speed and the ability to kill a White Steel Eel, his strength is already at least at the peak of an E-ranked Regular from the floors 20-30. To test his limits, I should really orchestrate a test with a Ranker.'
…
"Ahahah! I knew you'd win, Yellow Turtle! That lizard is just a snack for my prey! Hahaha!" Rak laughed loudly while patting Isaac's back with force; a normal turtle would have tumbled from this, but Rak instead felt as if he was patting a firm brick wall that wouldn't budge.
"Haha." Isaac lightly chuckled as he was walking out from the arena with Isaac and Rak who joined in.
Khun plainly smiled and also said, "Congratulations, Isaac. Being able to beat a Princess of Jahad with an Ignition Weapon is a big achievement."
[Yeah-yeah, but that green weapon turned out to be a huge disappointment. I had no chance to do anything…] Mordred mumbled from within Clarent.
Isaac looked at Khun and said, "By the way, Khun, I thought about something."
"Yes?"
"I think we should stock up on food today when it's still before the next test. What if we get thrown into the wilderness or something?"
The reason Isaac said this was because he remembered that when the next test begins they will need to pay for food using test points; in that case, it would always be good to stack up on some food when they can receive free meals and can buy more food with money.
Khun heard this and was confused. "What? No, the next test is not like that…"
"Blue Turtle, do you know about the next test?" Rak asked him.
Khun faintly smiled and proudly said, "Well, I'm someone from a Great Family and it isn't much of a secret to us. The next test should be the Positioning Test."
"The Positioning Test? What's that?"
"Well, it's just my guess. Because of the Crown Game and because the break is so long, I feel that we will directly jump into the Positioning Test after this. I'm not sure of the details, but each of us will be assigned to one of the main positions. The test will last around a month and there will be a final group test at the end."
…
Test Supervisor's office. Later during the same day.
Lero Ro said, "Test Director Yu, I finished assigning a position to all of my examinees. The only thing left is deciding who should receive the Best Seed. The second test was supervised by you, Director, so I need your help with that."
Yu Han Sung gently smiled. "Okay. Mr. Lero Ro, can I take a look at what you did?"
"Yes, of course."
After receiving the file from Lero Ro, Yu Han Sung browsed through the data on his miniaturized Lighthouse, then said, "You assigned the Regular Isaac Ainsworth to the Fisherman position?"
"Yes, of course… That Regular showed all the qualities to be an excellent Fisherman."
"That's true… But I would like you to change it," said Yu Han Sung.
"Test Director?" Lero Ro was surprised when he heard this.
Yu Han Sung plainly smiled and started a video clip on the screen of his Lighthouse. "Mr. Lero Ro, please take a look at this."
Lero Ro began to watch the clip. After taking a glance at it, his expression filled with surprise and confusion. "This is Mr. Isaac, he is… Is that two Baangs? How is that possible? Is he using some kind of item?"
Yu Han Sung gently smiled and said, "No. He is not using any items. As a fresh Regular on the Second Floor of the Tower… He can already control two Baangs of Shinsoo. He had also already discovered a quality to his Shinsoo. Isn't this level of talent simply amazing?"
Lero Ro froze as he looked at him. Amazing? It was way more than just amazing!
Just having discovered a Shinsoo Quality as a newbie or being able to directly control a single Baang of Shinsoo effectively to fight was a talent.
Being able to use two at this point and also add a quality to their Shinsoo, as someone who had yet to begin serious Shinsoo practice inside the Tower, could only be described as a once in a lifetime monstrous prodigy!
At least, Lero Ro had never heard of someone who could do that.
Yu Han Sung chuckled when he saw this reaction. "I think you can understand now. I would like you to assign Mr. Isaac to the Wave Controller position. Placing him anywhere else would be a waste of his talent."
Lero Ro hesitated for a while, before agreeing. "As you wish, Test Supervisor."
"Good! I have no other complaints." Yu Han Sung clasped his hands. He said, "Now, let's get done with the Best Seed!"
"Yes. Firstly… For the first test, I want to promote the Regular Khun Aguero Agnes..." Lero Ro displayed Khun's personal file and information on the screen of his Lighthouse, together with several attached clips, then continued, "While the other Regulars were fighting, Mr. Khun was collecting allies from the beginning. He ended up with a strong team and also recruited a secondary team of allies that ended up helping him during a future test."
"Ah, yes. He managed to smuggle a team of Regulars under your nose. He's a quite crafty Regular."
"…" Lero Ro's face turned slightly red when he heard this. That was true. Mr. Khun had smuggled the team of Regulars in his bag and as a Ranker and a Test Administrator at that time he hadn't noticed it.
Yu Han Sung chuckled. "Haha. I have no complaints. Mr. Khun did very well."
"Yes… Then for the Crown Game, which was decided to be treated as the third test. I would like to promote the Regular Isaac Ainsworth. Among all Regulars he had the highest contributions for his team and had shown outstanding combat strength."
"No complaints!"
Lero Ro looked at Yu Han Sung, secretly a little surprised. He thought Yu Han Sung might make trouble for the Regular in question, but he didn't.
Yu Han Sung plainly smiled and instead continued, "In the second test the Regular who performed the best was again Mr. Isaac. But he already received the Best Seed from the Crown Game, that's why I want it to be granted to the Regular Shibisu Leesoo. He's the second best performer in my test and I believe he deserves the Best Seed."
"... I understand."
"Then that should be all, yes?" Yu Han Sung gently smiled, looking at Lero Ro.
"Yes, thank you Test Director Yu… There is only one question I want to ask."
"Yes?"
"It's about the Regular Michelle Light. She's going to be in my class, that's why I'm a little curious. She was granted the Best Seed title instead of the Regular named Endorsi who I heard from Quant had killed the largest number of Regulars by far... Why was that?"
"Haha. Mr. Lero Ro… As a girl with ordinary strength she managed to survive that massacre and created a team with two exceptionally powerful individuals. Is that not something outstanding?"
"…"
Yu Han Sung continued, "On the other hand, the other two Regulars are the ones who had only caused us trouble, aren't they? If we rewarded them here, it would only make them feel that they can continue misbehaving. It just wouldn't be right."
After hearing all this, Lero Ro was silent. He understood this logic, but still felt that something was odd about Michelle Light.
Yu Han Sung smiled. "Well, if that's all, you can leave. You can contact me if you need further help."
"Yes, Test Supervisor." Lero Ro stood up. "Thank you for your help."
"No problem! Continue the good work!" Yu Han Sung said with a bright smile.
After Lero Ro left the office, Yu Han Sung chuckled to himself. 'Indeed. Mr. Lero Ro is a little troublesome…'
In truth, the reason why he granted Michelle Light the Best Seed was simple - it was just to throw her a bone.
She was their pawn and it would be good to make her feel that she's being supported from behind and what she does has meaning. This way she'd continue doing what they want.
As for assigning Isaac to the Wave Controller position, Yu Han Sung also had other reasons apart from what he told Lero Ro.
…
Even though Khun told them the details of the next test, Isaac still insisted on stacking up on food supplies.
Khun wasn't enthusiastic about it, but apparently money was no object for him, so they still purchased some bananas, sodas, chips and multivitamins which Isaac had all put into his A-grade Pocket's inventory space.
Following that, Isaac muddled over what he should do for the rest of the day.
For him, normal combat training was useless because it was impossible to raise his combat strength in a short time. He already had Mordred's fighting experience and his strength was also already way above the required level to pass the tests.
That's why he instead visited the public library for the Regulars with Khun and borrowed a few books about the basics related to the Tower.
Isaac then spent the last day of the break reading up on various subjects related to the Tower's rules, Shinsoo, Shinsoo Manipulation, Positions and so on, while also doing some Shinsoo practice at the side.
***
Next day.
In the morning, after the three-day break ended, all Regulars were called to a meeting room by Lero Ro through a voice announcement to learn the details of the next test.
"Long time no see, Regulars!" Lero Ro greeted the gathered Regulars with an amicable smile. "Did you have enough rest? I know it wasn't long, but I hope you spent that time well."
"..."
Looking at the expressionless faces of most Regulars, Lero Ro smiled excitedly and added, "You all look very driven! Thanks to the break, I guess."
The Regulars stayed silent.
At a glance, everyone wanted to know what the next test was as soon as possible. There was no way they would be relaxed in this situation.
"Very well. I hope you guys all do your best on the test that begins today! Well, I will explain to you the test that will begin now. The test you're taking this time is…" Lero Reo made a dramatic pause, before saying: "The Positioning Test!"