BXBX NOVEL Chapter 88 Sparring With The Freedom Fighter [1]
Chim-
The door of the lift closed with a melodic chime.
[Please choose your destination]
"Top floor."
The top floor was where Susan lived. I was going there to train.
This was because there was a possibility of X tapping my room.
X was what I was calling the 1st Outsider. The one who I met an hour ago.
Y was for the 2nd Outsider, and Z was for me.
X was obsessed with the storyline and many of my plans were going to affect the storyline in some way.
The possibility of us going against each other in the future wasn\'t zero.
I have to keep my cards hidden.
"I hope my guess about X is true. Then I won\'t have to worry about fighting them."
I also couldn\'t go all out for training in the Public training center. Thus, I was going to Susan\'s room to train.
I laughed at my own joke.
Reincarnation and Transmigration still made sense.
But Regression? It didn\'t.
[Permission Denied]
A hologram was displayed by the lift\'s AI.
[Cadet Nathan Hunt does not have an appointment with Cadet Susan Warner]
Chim-
The door opened back at my floor. It was telling me to get off.
I got off the lift and sent a message to Susan.
[You: Hi, Nathan here ^-^]
[You: Can you permit me to come to your floor?]
This was the first time I was texting her. I had asked for her contact a few days ago.
Ting-
Her reply came in a few seconds.
[Freedom_Fighter: Is this regarding that matter?]
[You: Nah, I just want to use your personal training room.]
[Freedom_Fighter: Then no]
My fingers stiffened.
Fortunately, I knew the way to change her answer.
[You: I was kidding. Yes, I want to talk about that matter.]
[Freedom_Fighter: Wait for a second. I will give the permission.]
The corner of my lips twitched.
"She won\'t affiliate with me if it doesn\'t involve her goals?"
I sighed at her straightforward thinking.
"Well, this works for me, too."
A relationship where we only targeted our own motives. This was better for me as well.
Ting-
[Freedom_Fighter: It says the permission will be given in about fifteen minutes. Can\'t you come by the stairs? You won\'t need permission with Stairs, only with lifts.]
[You: Climb 100 floors?]
[You: I\'ll wait 15 minutes]
Our dorm, I_am_fledgeling, had 10 floors when looked from the outside. When in truth, because of space expansion magic, it was over 100 floors.
My knees were too weak for that!
I waiting for permission to come up when I decided to check on what Leon was doing.
I was planning to gauge my combat abilities with the help of the last page. So I had the black diary with me.
Flip-
========
Leon was still depressed because of his exams.
Shaaa-
He turned the shower knob and started washi-
========
"Nope, nope, nope. I\'m not making this mistake again."
Why is he always in the shower?
Thinking like this, I emptied half of my ether into the diary.
There was no way I will read that again.
While new lines began appearing, I sent a message to Leon.
It seems he was depressed because of exams. I decided to cheer him up.
Finally, the book was updated and showed me future content.
=======
CLACK-
Leon closed the door behind himself and left the shower.
Bathing helped him calm his mind a little.
As he was getting dressed, his device rang.
Ting- Ting-
[Huntress: We are going on a mission this week.]
[Seer: It\'s your debut mission. Looking forward to working with you!]
Leon smiled a little when his device rang again.
[Huntress: Sie, pass me a glass of coke]
[Seer: Ehhh? Don\'t wanna. Pick it yourself]
[Huntress: It\'s near you]
[Seer: It\'s literally within your arm\'s reach!]
[Huntress: This is an order from your superior. Pass the coke Colonel Seer.]
[Seer: Fine! Take this!]
[Seer: Bully!]
[Seer: Don\'t be like her, Yato!]
Yato was the codename given to Leon.
[Hunteress: Colonel Seer, are you indirectly bamouthing your superior? Should I take disciplinary action?]
[Seer: Youu...I\'m leaving!]
[Seer: BYE!]
[Seer: Bully!]
[Huntress: Bring one bottle of soju when you return]
"Pffft"
Leon couldn\'t hold in his laughter after reading the group chat.
When he was first told about the Goliath Unit, he regarded them as a powerful secret group with equally secretive and aloof members.
But as they say, Reality is stranger than fiction.
The current chats were between Huntress, the Vice-captain of the unit, and Seer, a member who was closer to his age.
Leon had joined the Goliath Unit after careful consideration last month.
He was laughing when he saw he had a message from Nathan.
[Nathan: Don\'t worry too much about the exams. You won\'t fail…]
[Nathan: Until the results are out.]
Leon blinked once, then twice. Finally, he took another two seconds to understand Nathan\'s text.
"Damn you, Nathan! I am an idiot for believing that you were comforting me!"
Ting-
[Nathan: I second that notion]
[Nathan: You are an idiot.]
"Y-You"
==========
"Is this what they call mental therapy? I suddenly feel a lot less stressed."
Ignoring the sweat dripping from my forehead, I grinned and closed the diary.
I had sent him a message on a timer after seeing him call himself an idiot. Then, I again supplied Ether with the diary.
Thanks to that I got to understand a new feature of the diary.
After resupplying the ether, the book didn\'t continue. Rather, the content was changed, showing the future with my new actions.
While I was laughing at Leon, my device rang.
[Freedom_Fighter: The permission is given]
Chim-
"To the top floor."
[Access granted.]
I got on the lift and went to the highest floor of the building.
*
"You are telling me this is the same room I saw from outside?"
I stupidly stared at Susan.
The tour I went on a few minutes ago opened my eyes to my poverty.
From outside, her room looked the size of a normal apartment.
From inside?
Her room contains a spa, a tennis court, a swimming pool, 5 floors, a living room bigger than my dorm room, a kitchen with fully supported AI, and every bedroom has a king-sized bed!
\'I want a room like this, too.\'
(Didn\'t someone say before that they were satisfied with their room?)
\'Those must be the words of someone compromising with their poverty.\'
I was staring at the \'dorm room\' when Susan spoke to me.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to ask why you came to my room that day."
During the exam-prep time, I was too engrossed in my studies. I had even forgotten about eating and sleeping while studying.
I missed asking Susan why she came to my room that day.
"….That\'s it?"
"Yeah"
Susan took a deep breath to calm(?) herself down.
She then spoke in a low voice.
"I wanted to ask if I passed your test."
Test?
Ah, she means the deal about clearing a Stage-0 Dungeon. Doesn\'t she?
Objectively speaking, her performance was remarkable. I doubt any peak Iota-rank awakener could have tanked the Golem as she did.
So if someone asked, she passed?
Yes. If she failed, then I don\'t think anyone will have a passing grade.
\'Though, it\'s not like I can say she passed.\'
If I said she passed. The next step will be introducing her to the organization.
There\'s no way I can do that when there\'s no organization.
\'Let\'s bullshit my way through."
That always works.
I rested my chin on my right fist and \'calmly\' looked at her.
"What do you think?"
I spoke in the most arrogant tone possible.
"You have the guts to ask if you passed after what happened."
"…."
"You merely acted like a tank and did nothing else. If I didn\'t intervene, do you think you could have won?"
"…"
To show my disappointment, I even shook my head.
"I faked getting hit to give you a chance to prove yourself. That was your chance to defeat the boss while I was watching from the backseat."
"..."
"And what did you do? You healed me? Did you think I was truly injured?"
Susan shook.
(Learn a little humbleness, will you? If she didn\'t use the Elixir, you would have died right after doing the memory recap.)
\'I know.\'
Susan\'s expression was getting worse thinking of her \'failure\'.
I decided to give her a breather after seeing that. It was true that she saved my life back then.
"If you make such mistakes again, there won\'t be a next time."
"N-next time?"
I nodded.
"Congratulations, Miss Susan. Witnessing your battle prowess Round Table has decided to put you into the Assessment"
"Assessment?"
"Every year, all potential recruits are put under a senior member to see if they are worthy of being recruited. This is the Assessment."
"Yes"
"The trainees are to follow every order of the trainer. After the Assessment ends, the trainer\'s words will decide if we officially recruit the trainee."
"A trainer? Can I go under a trainer while studying at Ward?"
She asked nervously.
Seeing that, I let out a smile.
"Luckily for you, there is already a senior member that has infiltrated Ward."
I stood up and walked towards her.
After standing within half an arm\'s distance of her, I let out my hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you, trainee Susan. I will be acting as your trainer for this Assessment."