Black Online-Chapter 97: Final Evaluation
Crunch! Crunch!
The soft snow got stepped on and left behind a trail of footprints. A group of players was heading deeper into the forest.
"...Why did the guild master tell us to come here?"
Machary asked.
"...You’ll find out soon."
"...It’s the last evaluation."
The Fourth-Liners told him, and a couple of them turned around and saw Fang Raon following behind them a slight distance away.
Unlike Machary, Fang Raon never tried to befriend them during the week and only focused on his own training.
It only worsened their impression of the guy because they really didn’t think Fang Raon would be a good leader with that kind of mentality.
It was important to be good friends with the party members in order to work well together.
After walking for a while, they finally arrived at some closed-off cave on the side of a mountain.
It was closed off with signs saying, "Warning: Do not enter."
"...You watched that Hard Football match last night?"
"...Nah, it was way too late for me. I am not like you, who can survive with four hours of sleep. I need my beauty sleep!"
A couple of players talked among themselves while they were waiting for someone, and after a while, two figures emerged from the depths of the forest.
They were Della and Miranda.
"You all are already here. That is good."
Della said with a smile.
"...Guild master."
Everyone greeted her.
She then saw Machary and Fang Raon. They seemed confused about why they were here.
"This is the last evaluation. Both of you will lead the team of Fourth-Liners into the cave and prove your worth as team leader.
"There will be monsters inside the cave, and even a Mini Boss. It will be timed, so clear the cave as quickly as possible, and we will also take note of your performance.
"This is the most important part of the evaluation, so make sure to give it your all and show us what you’re made of."
Della said with a smile.
With a serious gaze, Machary nodded and patted the shoulders of the Fourth-Liners, saying, "Let’s do it," and they gave him words of encouragement.
Meanwhile, Fang Raon just stood with his arms crossed and looked to be thinking about something.
’Why will she time it? Why does speed matter? Isn’t it better to just take it safe and carefully to avoid any mistakes?’
Fang Raon wondered with a frown.
He looked at Della and didn’t think that she was the type of person that would be happy with rushing things.
’If we’re trying to clear the cave as quickly as possible, we will make mistakes, and those mistakes can be quite costly.
’They probably want to see if we’re foolish enough to put our team member’s lives at risk for something as stupid as a good time.
’I should take my time and not rush it. I know what kind of person Machary is, and he will definitely attempt to have a good time.’
Fang Raon rubbed his chin.
He had a couple of ideas regarding the raid, and since this was a competition between him and Machary, he didn’t have to act nice.
"Who wants to go first?"
Della asked with a smile. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
In that moment, Fang Raon immediately raised his arm before Machary had a chance to.
It made Machary look over to him with squinted eyes, and he knew that he was planning something, and thus he also raised his arm.
"I also want to go first."
Machary said.
"...This means that we must roll dice to decide."
Della said with a smile and brought out two dice from her inventory and rolled them in her palm.
The two young men walked over to her. They exchanged gazes. It was a heated exchange of gazes.
"Whoever rolls the highest number will go first."
Della said with a smile.
They nodded while the Fourth-Liners watched from the sidelines.
In that moment, Machary took the dice, crouched on the ground, and hardened the snow by punching it several times.
It turned into solid snow ground, and with that done, he rolled the dice across the hardened snow ground.
The dice came to a stop.
[4]
[5]
"Nine!"
Della said.
With a sigh of relief, Machary picked up the dice and handed them over to Fang Raon with a half-grin on his face.
’A nine is a really good score. There is a very small chance that he’ll get better than that. When we rolled dice after each raid, he never got more than nine.’
Machary thought to himself.
He was very confident that he would get to go first.
Fang Raon looked at the dice, then at the hardened snow ground, and with a flick of his wrist, he rolled them across the ground.
[5]
[5]
"Ooooooooooh!"
The Fourth-Liners exclaimed loudly, and Machary’s face changed colors, as this kind of luck by Fang Raon was just ridiculous.
"It looks like I will be going first."
Fang Raon said with a smile.
"...The time will start once you’ve entered the cave. You have time to talk to the members of your party now."
Della said with a smile and went to talk with Miranda about something regarding the test.
"Hello."
In that moment, Fang Raon approached the Fourth-Liners and looked them straight into the eye, and they greeted him back with just nods.
"My name is Fang Raon, and I am Warrior. I want to know every one of your names and Class Pathway."
He said.
"...I am Rae, and I am Helper."
A girl with short-cut black hair said.
"...Niall, and Warrior."
A young man said.
"...Ocon, and I am a fully defense-oriented tank. I do not attack at all, which is why I don’t even carry an offensive weapon."
A yellow-haired young man said.
’Interesting...’
Fang Raon thought when looking at him.
"I am Ira, and I am Ranger."
A young woman said.
"Luke and Mage."
"Joanne, Ranger."
"Nico, Mage."
"Sam and Helper."
The Fourth-Liners finished introducing each other, and they saw that Fang Raon was already thinking about something.
’With me included, we have 2 Warriors, one Tank, two Rangers, two Mages, and two Helpers. It would help me to know each other’s skills as well, but I doubt I can memorize all of them in such a short time.
’It is better to keep this simple.’
Fang Raon thought.
"Are you ready? If you are, you can begin whenever you want, Fang Raon, and since we’ll be taking notes, I will follow with Miranda while Machary here will stay outside."
Della said.
