Nia's 1v1 test match against Vi came to an end. Surprisingly, she gaihe upper hand and woire thing.

  "Welp, she sure got me," Vi smiled wryly. "She's rather impressive for a freshman."

  "All I saw was you making a lot of mistakes," Yuel said.

  "I'd like to cim otherwise but I'm disappointed with myself as well," Vi admitted. "It's unfathomable for me to make such mistakes. That girl, BckFlower, definitely has some sort of power!"

  "Of course she does."

  "And, it's such a fearsome power that even my Information Bckhole 't dis its true nature! Even after aire match, her specialty remains shrouded in darkness!"

  "So, even the great 'Arbiter of Talents' 't figure it out, huh."

  "Indeed! Such bsphemy!" Vi filed his arms dramatically. "To think that I, the Arbiter of Talents, would fail to prehend the talent of another pyer. Unheard of! We must be living in the wrong timeline!"

  He's sure making a big deal out of it. Yuel thought. In a way, this indeed a peculiar occasion.

  Normally, the moment Vi saw something he sidered impressive, he attached a silly o it and hyped it up through the roof. Yet, in Nia's case, he cimed he couldn’t quite "figure it out". It almost made it sound like Vi really analyzed all these abilities he ed a name for. Almost.

  Still, there were definitely some odd circumstances surrounding Nia’s performance. She didn't only take Vi by surprise but, apparently, her pys were also ued for everybody else watg the game. Even Lars and Kai, the best duelists here, attested that Nia’s pys came out of left field for them.

  Perhaps Kai sugar-coated things to make Nia look more skillful, but Lars had no reason to make things up. He said Nia's pys caught him by surprise so it robably the case. Though, it'd still be iing to see what’d happen in practice. Because frankly, right now, none of this sounds particurly ving.

  "So," Kai started. "Sinia won, we all agree she passed, right? Right."

  "She only won because Vi has been messing up left and right," Yuel argued. "Nia does know how to py, I'll give her that. But, it's hard to judge whether she's really skilled enough to pete against the Gold pyers lied to the club."

  "Even a win isn't good enough for you, huh." Kai gave him a look.

  "I’m just saying we shouldn't rush to clusions. It's unclear how much of that victory was Nia's skill and how much of it was Vi ing around."

  "Hey, hey, hey," Vi objected. "I ying with every I had. I even tapped into the dark witchcraft of hell to receive demonic powerups so I could vanquish my oppo!"

  "You mean that demonic skin you were wearing?”

  “Indeed! It’s an artifact from the depths of hell itself! Only the most qualified of pyers don it!”

  “Well, seems like being a total amateur is good enough to qualify."

  "Gaaaaaaaah!" Vi staggered backward as if he received a heavy blow. "Seriously, though. Even I don't really prehend what just transpired there. How did I mess up so badly? Was it me? Or, was it Nia's elusive special ability? Does she possess some mysterious ability that even nullify my Information Balckhole!? These questions will keep me up at night if I don't get to the bottom of it right away. "

  "Wait,” Kai frowned. “You also want to test Nia again?"

  "Indeed! We must get to the bottom of this case and expose the truth! But, don't get me wrong. I believe she has already pyed well enough to pass. However! As the Arbiter of Talents, my hunger for the truth hasn't been satisfied! I demand to know more! I see for myself exactly how she fools her oppos into itting such terrible mispys."

  "So, you want to py her again?" Kai asked.

  "If possible, I rather observe the unfoldis from the side. That'll increase my efficy as the Arbiter of Talents by 50%!"

  "Then, who gonna py her?" Kai looked at everybody.

  "I suggest Lars," Yuel jumped the opportunity.

  "That'll be too harsh," Kai objected. "Even if she's good, fighting Lars will make her look bad. He’s a Challenger rank pyer."

  “Actually, he’s only Diamond in Duel,” Yuel correct.

  “Hey, I’m almost there!” Lars excimed. “Diamond I, yo! Just gotta win a few more matches and I’m Challenger no problem. Here, gimme 5 minutes and I’mma bee Challenger!”

  “I know, I know,” Yuel said. “Anyway, I still suggest Lars. If Nia pys poorly and 't get anything going against Lars, we'll simply clude her skill level in Duel is somewhere between Vi’s and Lars’s."

  "Sounds like you just want to bully her," Kai gave him a look.

  "Don't worry, dude," Lars fshed his teeth. "I ain't gonna go full hardode. But, don't expect me to lose on purpose either."

  "I don't know about this," Kai crossed her arms. Her fears were uandable. She has already faced Lars before so she knew what manner of monster he was in bat. Even in MOBA mode, Yuel and Lars have won many Ranked matches simply from Lars terrorizing his ne oppos aroying their fighting spirits.

  heless, Yuel really wao see how this duel will py out. If Nia make Lars it the same mistakes Vi made, that'll imply she had amazing potential. In such a case, Yuel would approve of her on the spot.

  "I admit," Vi said. "I'm also curious about how this fight will py out. The elusive BckFlower vs. the uable Gunz! Who will reign supreme!?"

  "Fine, whatever," Kai sighed i. "Let's have them py." She checked around the room. "Huh? Where did Nia go?"

  Nia was o be found. She should've been sitting on the chair at the er of the room, yet the chair was empty.

  "Vanished!" Vi excimed. "The phantom didate disappeared without a trace! It’s a locked-room mystery!"

  "Except, the door is open," Yuel pointed out.

  "ht! Nice dedu, detective Chessmaster. From that, we clude the culprit escaped through the unlocked door!"

  "Not really," Yuel walked around the table to the opposite side of where everybody was standing. There, he founded a bck hairball.

  "Eavesdropping on the examiners is bad taste, you know,” Yuel said.

  "G-Gufu!" Nia jumped and drew away. "I-I wasn't eavesdropping. That's a rude accusation."

  "Sure. Then, what were you doing down there?"

  "Just taking a rest."

  "A rest? On the floor behind our table?"

  "That's how I like it. My favorite pastime"

  "Okay then," Yuel rolled his eyes.

  "B-Besides!" Nia poi him. "How? How did you find me?"

  "How did I 'find you'? Then, you admit you were hiding?"

  "G-Gufu!" Nia took an invisible hit.

  "I actually wooo," Luke said. "How the heck did ya find her so fast? I didn't see anybody and I was the closest."

  "Indeed," Vi nodded. "Even my all-abs Information Bckhole couldn't tell Nia's position. It's like she escaped into the fifth dimension to dodge me!"

  What's even the fifth dimension? Yuel made a face. Anyway, this eculiar. Yet again, there was this uling feeling. For some reason, only Yuel could spot Nia right away.

  Admittedly, even he didn't notice when Nia snuck away from her chair and crept all the way over here. Her footsteps must have been light a feather. It was like she entered real-life Stealth mode. Real-life Rogue firmed.

  Still, once Yuel started looking around, it didn't take him long to spot that bck spaghetti hair. But, he was the only oo find her so quickly. For the others, it was as if Nia vanished into thin air or escaped into the "fifth dimension", whatever that meant.

  I probably just had the best angle for spotting her. It's not like anybody went out of their way to search for her too hard. I was just in the best position to see her, that's all.

  "I guess she was just in my field of view," Yuel shrugged.

  "Impossible," Nia argued but immediately regretted speaking up. "Ah, I mean. Umm. Nevermind."

  "Anyway," Kai wheeled the versation ba topiia, we'd like you to duel one more time. Is that alright?"

  "Ok," Nia nodded dimly auro her chair without asking anything else. She probably heard all the details while spying on them so she knew what’s up.

  "Also," Yuel added. " you please piething other than Rogue for the match?"

  "Ok," Nia nodded dimly without showing much emotion. It was difficult to tell whether this request bothered her or not.

  Nia's Rogue py was det but Yuel had to make sure it wasn't the only css she pyed. Rogue was a solid css in Duel but a meme in the MOBA so it'll be more reassuring if Nia knows how to py a more useful css.

  "So," Lars leaped onto the chair in front of the PC. "What do ya guys wao pick? Trickshunslinger?"

  "That's going overboard," Kai objected. "Are y to bully her?"

  "But, dude looks kinda strong and all. She eve Vince."

  "It will be a sughter," Viheatrically stretched his arms toward the ceiling. "Shall you pick thee stro csses, thee shall crush her spirit and make her rethink all her life choices."

  "Exactly," Kai nodded. "Even good pyers get disced after fighting your Shooter and Slinger."

  "I agree," Yuel said. "o go overboard for an exam. Just piethi like Pirate."

  "Okey-dokey," Lars locked in Pirate. "Jeez, didn't know my Shooter and Slinger scare dudes so much, haha."

  Meanwhile, Nia returo her personal er at the far end of the room and curled up on the chair.

  Ok, nue. Nia scrolled away from her favorite pick. Then, maybe Ninja? Hmm, I need something good. Shadow Walker? Eh, it's such a hit-or-miss...

  Nia titled from side to side on the chair while scrolling through the roster of assassins. Based on what she heard, her new oppo was going to be a much bigger fish. She was about to fight a high-level petitive pyer! A pro-caliber duelist! Scary.

  heless, she had to do it. This was a rare opportunity to properly join a club. The people here liked bullying a little but they didn't seem like bad people. Maybe she'll even be able to make some friends here for a ge!

  I have to ace it. She ched her troller. No matter how strong her oppo will be, she had to give them a hard time. She'll stealthily sneak up behind them and strike them down like a ninja! Nin nin.

  In the heat of the moment, Nia nded on Ninja and locked in. This css had some issues in Duel but it had stealth so that made it top tier for Nia. Her stealth worked on the previous examiner so it'll surely work on the new guy as well. After all, that pro duelist couldn't spot Nia behind the table just a few seds ago. He’ll never find her!

  In faobody there saw her; she hid like a pro. If they held Olympics for hide-and-seek, Nia will surely be a runner up. Ba kindergarten, nobody could find her when pying hide-and-seek. At some point, everybody just gave up and had to hold the L. Though, sometimes, the other kids kinda fot about her a, leaving her behind in her hideout...

  A-Anyway, her new oppo couldn't find her just now so this wasn't an impossible fight. Oher hand, that uy in the group...

  How did he find me? Nia grumped. She hid so perfectly behind that table ahe mean-looking boy saw through her camoufge. How dare he. ime, I'll hide so well he'll not find me in a million years!

  With that irrelevant resolve, Nia headed into her sed exam.