After the test, we got to the Evankhell mothership. all the remaining regulars gathered here. "they look weird and creepy." I said, still placed on top of Raks shoulder

"And strong too. But we don't have to worry. We have the most powerful leader." Khun teases. "Yeah!" Bam agrees.

Rak pulls his hand away from Khun and Bam. "I'm not your teammate!"

~

We sat down at one of the chairs provided and looked around.

"I finally got you!" Someone screams. "I will kill you! Look what you did to my arm!" A red-haired guy pulls a black-haired guys' collar. "How are you going to make up for this huh?!" his arm was dismembered. oddly enough, not bleeding but hey, who am I to judge

"He's not going to last long in the tower is he," I asked Khun. He shakes his head to the side with a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe attach a stick to your arm?" The black-haired guy suggested.

"How dare you!"

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Bam asked Khun. "No. It'll resolve on its own."

"Have i not told you to not fight during break or did I not make myself clear?"

"See." Khun glances at the man speaking.

"You wanna fight?!" The red-haired man shouts. "Hey wait, I.. I think that's a ranker!"

"That's right. My name is Lero Ro. The administrator for the test on this floor." the red-haired dude gasped a little before backing off. "i forgive you, for the ranker!" he turns his head to the black-haired guy, "but remember I'm going to be the one to kill you!"

"hmm~ you are a feisty crowd huh~?" he hummed. "wow, he's good! he didn't say much but he stopped the fight!" Bam commented after the crowd died down. "of course. he's a ranker and a test administrator." Khun's grin grew wide

"ha, yeah! and who would mess with rankers anyways! that's pure stupidity." I said, feeling my subconsciousness stabbing my back, knowing very well that what I did. long, long ago. "a ranker..?" Bam mutters, "by the way, what's a ranker?" we looked at him baffled. "what? you don't even know what a ranker is?"

I cracked a small smile towards him before explaining, "rankers are people who reached the top of the tower. at the tower, rankers are evaluated every season and given a ranking. that's why they're called rankers!" Bam eyes lit up with a twinkle.

"to..to the top of the tower?!"

"only one or two out of thousands of regulars get to be rankers. quite frankly, they are 'monsters.' they have crazy powers." Khun proceeded for me.

Bam seemed to have zoned out for quite a bit. presumably taking it all in.

"mic test- regulars over here! please focus!" a loud voice resonated through the room after a loud screech was heard. we all looked towards a stage. there, stood a man. yellow hair, tall, and the ranker we saw earlier. 'Lero Ro was his name if I'm not mistaken.' "I will explain the next round."

"Before that, to give you some brief information about myself, I'm your test administrator, ranker Lero Ro," he says with a smile. I feel like I can respect him, with boundaries of course. never trust a man you just met. even if they're rankers, is what mom used to say. "nice to meet chu~"

forget what I said about respect and boundaries.

'chu? who in the wide world would say that..?'

"now~ I guess you've had enough rest! let's go on to the next test!" he announced with wide arms open as if to invite us all in. "but before that, there will be a little pre-test!"

that doesn't seem to bad.

"FYI! those who do not pass the pre-test cannot take the next test!"

to hell with that?!

panicked muttering spread across the room. "another elimination test!" "what is he testing?"

he, the ranker Lero Ro, took notice to the sudden silent panicked state, "don't worry!" he mused, "it's a really simple pre-test! relax~"

Lero Ro's eyes turned dark, pulling his arm up, hand-stretched in front. "well, now~ let the pre-test begin~" he mutters a few more words before spreading his arms out, bright light emitting from his palms.

I covered my eyes from the bright light with one arm, while the other holds down my (f/c) scarf. i felt the wind tugging on my face, pulling my hair back with a strong force.

but my body was strong enough to hold its ground.

I couldn't see through the light, but i could hear people screaming behind me, their voices getting farther and farther away.

"I threw you a veil of shinsu. I instantly compacted the shinsu to make a veil and then threw it to push you," he explained. a trick i should learn.

i opened my eyes, squinting a bit just so my eyes can adjust to the light surrounding the room.

ah shit. this feels weird.

my body, stuck between getting through the barrier of shinsu, while the other half still inside.

how uncomfortable.

"as you well know, shinsu is everywhere in the tower, and it plays an important role because it allows us to breathe and provides water." provides water?

I tugged on my left arm, finally through the barrier. next, my leg.

"however, shinsu sometimes can be a powerful weapon depending on its use."

I pulled my leg hard, and it went through. I was fully out of the barrier and no one noticed. a part of me wants them to see me through, but the second part of me would be embarrassed about getting half of my body stuck in a stupid shinsu forcefield.

"highly concentrated shinsu is so strong that it can break an arm. so all the contestants in the tower use shinsu to fight. however, there are people who show adverse reactions to shinsu."

as I tried to continue walking, keyword, tried, i tripped on my own foot due to self embarrassment and the inability to walk on hind legs. "stupid useless walking crap." I muttered, picking myself up and brushing the dirt from my knees.

I hope no one saw that, playing on repeat in my head.

"in other words, those who can't deal well with the shinsu are not appropriate candidates to be in the tower." thank my cousins for always hitting me with shinsu balls as they like to call them. My mind sidetracked to the memories of the boys hitting me with shinsu until I had recently smashed their arm with a hammer. I sat down, resting my back up against the stage.

"The people who can pass through this veil at least don't have adverse reactions to shinsu. the teams that pass through the veil pass, and those who don't, fail."

"wait!" a guy with black glasses called, catching the attention of the ranker, "did you say, team!?"

"what if only one of your teammates can't pass through the veil!?"

the rankers smirk grew, "isn't it obvious? that team fails."

tough shit

"that's absurd! it doesn't make sense!"

people started following in. screaming in a panic.

"Hey. do you know what's the most important thing to go up the tower?"

everyone hushed down, "it's luck."

so basically, it's just like every other test and exam you get in school?

"the luck to have a strong body. the luck to be smart. the luck to be rich. the luck to escape from death. the luck to save a teammate. the only reason you have come so far is that you were lucky."

just like when i was lucky enough to be holding a hammer when my cousins started to beat me up!

"and now you say it's absurd to test luck? stop your jibbering and just take the test, you regulars."

it's as if he was saying peasants. but instead, regulars.

-

"um.. sorry. Mr. Lero Ro..." a small timid voice called out, "um... I... I don't know why, but i didn't have a problem..." everyone snapped their necks towards Bam.

"to take the test, I should go out and come in again.. right..?" he scratches his head, messing up his already messy locks.

Lero Ro stares at him, enough to make Bam nervous. But let's be honest here, everything makes Bam nervous.

"haha..haha.. um.. I-It's"

no response

"I-I'm sorry! I-I'll go back out! it's a test after all!" he nervously runs back to the blue barrier. "No, Mr. Bam. you're in." Bam stopped and turned around. "I think I made a mistake, but it is also part of your luck. you passed Mr. Bam."

"What!?"

"damn that stupid luck thing!"

"he's got all the luck huh!?"

more yelling was heard through the barrier.

"s-so that means I'm in too?" I raised my hand halfway, stuttering, since I'm not used to speaking so loud, mainly to get attention of someone.

another silenced followed. My hand lowered itself slowly. "um...?"

"Booo!" someone from the crowd shouts. "yes, you are." Lero Ro said through the loud disapproving noises.

~

Bam releases a sigh of relief.

"hey." I smacked Bams back which he replied with a yelp of pain. "oh, oof. sorry. too hard?" he nods.

"hey, there kiddos." Lero Ro walks down from the stage towards us. "hey there daddo." I replied with a smile. he chuckled and sat down next to us. "you guys look bored. how about we play a game?"

I perked up at his suggestion. Bam had the same reaction. "what kind of 'game'?" Bam asked. "make it a simple game. I'm too tired to think right now." I received a chuckle from both boys.

"let's guess which regular will be the first to pass through the shinsu. if you get it right, I will answer any question you ask. In return, if I'm right, you'll have to answer what I ask as well. what do you say?" his proposal sounds nice. "sure."

~

Lero Ro looks around, "I'll choose that gre-" "OH! OH! lizard looking woman! I choose her!" I pointed towards the girl with a lizard tail, who somehow looks oddly familiar. Lero Ro looks at me with a dead paned face. "o-oh.. sorry." he shook his head and laughs. "it's fine, I was going to choose her too."

he turns his attention towards Bam, "what about you?" Bam hummed, "I'll go with the lizard girl too."

as he says that, the green lizard girl pushed her way through the barrier easily. "Well would ya look at that. girl instinct will never fail." I commented with a grin on my face. "it seems like a tie, but since I'm a ranker, I'll answer both your questions. "ah really!?"

Bam went first. "did you see a girl with light blond hair and freckles pass by here?"

"light blonde hair... freckles.." he repeated, deep in thoughts. "I don't think I saw her in any of the tests I was in charge of."

Bam sighs, "I see.."

"she might be taking the test somewhere else. I will try to ask the other administrators about her." he gives Bam a little smile. "how about you Miss (y/n)?" he turned his head towards me. "let's see.. oh! have you seen.. um.. (m/n) Daeyang. a-anywhere in this tower." his eyes squinted at me suspiciously. I looked away. "quite a weird question to ask. why would you need to meet someone from the Daeyang family? let alone the former queen." I nervously laughed, looking away from his gaze.

"I- my dad was a friend of hers. I-It's personal. haha.." he raises an eyebrow but sighs and answers anyways. "unfortunately no. we haven't seen or heard anything about her for these past few years. some say she has already passed away, or killed by a Jigu." I nodded sadly, clenching my fist around the soft, warm texture of my scarf.

"anything else you would like to ask, Bam?"