Test

"G-g-g-g-god of d-d-d-d-dea--"

[The God of Death is asking you not to stutter.]

Gasp.

An exaggerated gasp came out of Vince's mouth. He was flabbergasted and didn't know what to say.

He gulped before voicing out the question lingering in his mind.

"Um, a-are you the, God that, I s-served?"

[The God of Death nods his head at your question.]

Gasp.

Another gasp escape of his mouth. 'I'm a priest of the God of Death?'

A look of understanding soon spread to his face. 'That must be the reason why my skills are like that.'

Actually, although the priest are usually for support, they still have atleast one offensive and defensive skill. But Vince who didn't know this and only thought that priest are for support since majority of a priest's skills are for giving buffs and healing, thought that the culprit for his weird skills is the God of Death (which is half-true).

Vince have a polite smile on his face as he bowed to the black hologram screen in front of him. His siblings would have looked at him as if he had gone crazy if they're awake.

"Thank you, Sir God of Death for choosing me as your priest. I'll use your power for the good," he said with a polite tone. But he soon sat up and asked with a shock expression on his face.

"Or am I supposed to use it for bad?" he looked like he's about to cry.

[The God of Death shook his head while saying 'No'.]

"Oh! Thank goodness," a smile broke out. He's very innocent and easy to read.

[The God of Death is telling you to rest.]

Vince nodded his head with a determined look on his face.

"I understand. I'll rest now and do my best tomorrow!"

He said those words before laying down beside his siblings. He prayed to the God of Death before closing his eyes. That's why he didn't manage to read the last message from the God of Death.

[The God of Death sighed tiredly.]

•••

'I'm so nervous.'

Vince gulped in nervousness. He was currently in front of the Player's Association building. It's one of their branches, and a small one at that.

Earlier in the morning, he asked for permission from his God about not registering himself as a priest but a warrior instead. He already tried enhancing his stats and it really worked, although for only an hour.

The God told him that it was enough to become a warrior but asked him to become a healer instead. The God said that he should still perform his duties as a priest. Vince agreed easily.

The God of Death also told him that his starting stats were actually above average which made him happy. The reason for this good starting stats was probably Vince's numerous works that needed him to lift heavy things.

He composed himself and took a deep breath.

"Huuu."

Slap-!

He slapped his cheeks with both of his hands to pull himself together, turning his cheeks had red. Vince decided to not care about the people in his surroundings, murmuring about him.

"You can do it."

He finally took a step forward to the entrance of the building while gripping the strap of his bag tightly.

He's still nervous but he knew that he needed to do this if he wanted to enter dungeons.

Vince looked around the lobby. It was spacious, clean and luxurious to his eyes. But then, he stopped himself from admiring and walked to the front desk where the receptionist are.

"Good morning sir. How may I help you?" the woman with a kind smile asked.

"I want to register myself and get a player license," he responded rather timidly.

"Oh, I see. Then could you fill up this form?" the receptionist handed him a tablet which he immediately took.

He filled up the forms. The forms asked about personal informations like names, age, address, class and skills. He put 'Healer' to class and put 'Healing' to skills. After that, he handed it back to the woman who accepted it with a smile.

She typed on her computer before looking at him.

"Please wait to the lounge area. An attendant will soon come and guide you to the testing room."

He nodded and immediately left, walking to the lounge area. He sat to one of the couch and his body immediately relaxed at the soft and comfortable couch.

He waited while looking around the surroundings. There are some people like him who's waiting and once in a while, an attendant will come and guide them to the testing room.

"Hello, my name is Jen. Are you perhaps Vince Stade?"

He turned his gaze to the woman who asked him. She's wearing the association's uniform with the association's badge on her chest area.

"Ah, yes. It's me," he nodded his head. The woman smile before speaking.

"Then please follow me. I'll guide you to the testing room."

Vince stood up and obediently followed behind her. The testing room is where you can show your skills. It's also different for every class.

He was very nervous and keep breathing heavily. His chest went up and down as his heart is beating fast.

Thump- Thump-

The attendant seemed to notice it and try to calm him down.

"Sir Vince, you could relax. The test would fit your corresponding class. We just need you to show the skills that you wrote down."

"Oh, I see."

'That's what making me nervous!' Vince was actually nervous because he's faking his class. He's a rare type of person who's kind and easily affected by guilt and conscience. Vince also rarely lie and this must be the first time he'll do something like this.

'Will they notice? Am I going to get arrested after this? Oh my god. Mother, help.'

He's aware about how unique his skills are. Usually, a priest would only have simple names like 'Divine Punishment' and 'Healing'. They would also have something like 'Divine Wall' or'Divine Blessing'.

But his skills are all well-named and even have high rank. He's even starting to doubt if he deserve it.

They entered the elevator and Jen pressed the number eight. She glanced at the man behind her who's very pale. He looks like he wanted to cry.

This made Jen shook her head. 'This man won't last.' She thought.

Ding!

The elevator door opened and the woman stepped out first. Behind her is the still pale Vince.

They walked to the designated room. The testing room is called Illusion Room. Just as the name suggested, it shows illusion depending on a player's class.

"Please leave your baggages before entering the room."

Vince who was on a dazed, realized that they were already outside the testing room.

"Huh? Uh, yes!" he took off his bag and was looking around on where to put it.

"You can give it to me, sir."

"Uh, here. Thanks," he bow in 90-degrees to her.

The woman only smiled and put the bag in her inventory, every player have one from their system.

After that she guided him to the room behind them. The rooms are actually made by the Chairman of the Player's Association herself.

There are two rooms inside. The one have a long desk near the glass wall partition. That's the evaluation room. While the other one is the Illusion room. Every testing room have something like this so the attendant could assess the player's skills.

They will then report it to the higher-ups if the player is skilled. This will also be the first time where players can get Hero points. It's the basis for determining a player's ranking.

"Player Vincent, you could use your skills however you want. The room were reinforced so please rest assured. Well, since you're a healer I don't really think you would need to attack."

Jen talked about other things which Vince just nodded his head as a respond.

"Then please enter the Illusion room. I'll start after you settle inside."

"O-okay..." Vince took a deep breath before opening the metallic door to the Illusion Room.

It was a metallic door so player's could use skills however they want. 'I'm a healer so the test will be about healing. Calm down, Vince.'

He said those words to himself before looking around. The room is pure white color, like a white void. He also realized that he couldn't see Jen from here.

[Are you ready?]

He flinched when Jen's voice rang loudly inside the room.

"Y-yes! I'm ready," he shouted with determination.

'I just need to show my healing skill and everything would be alright.'

[The God of Death wishes you good luck.]

"Hm?" he stopped himself from saying thank you and pretend he didn't see anything. He can't do anything that would make him suspicious.

[Then, I'll start the test in 3, 2, 1. Start.]

The white room immediately change.

Gasp.

"What in the world..." Vince observed his surroundings.

There are destroyed buildings everywhere, and he could see people who's shivering in fear. They looked extremely pitiful.

This triggered Vince's trauma. His shock face turned stoic devoid of any emotion, however, one could see his pupils shooking greatly.

His hand trembled and was about to clenched it when a hand held his.

"...!" Vince flinched, startled from the sudden touch.

Whoosh-

His head turned in a flash making a sound. He looked down to his hand and saw a little girl holding his hand.

"Hic..."

Her dirty face was full of tears. He bit his lips and furrowed his brows in worry. Vince used the hem of his shirt to wiped the tears and dirt away from her face, before crouching down in front of her.

"Do you need anything?" he asked softly. The young girl remind her of Elaine.

"Mama..." she said in a soft voice.

"What happened to her? Where is she?"

"Heal... healing."

"Ah."

This statement reminded Vince that he was currently inside a test and this is just an illusion.

"What's your name? I'm Vince, can you lead meto your mother? Brother will heal her for you."

"R-really?" the girl looked hopeful.

"Yes! That's right. So where is she?"

The girl moved quickly and guided him to the back.

"H-here. Ah, I'm Keith!"

He followed behind her and after walking for a long time, he saw an unconscious woman who's bleeding on her stomach. Her clothes were torn apart and her face is extremely pale. There's also a huge and long cut on her stomach to her chest as if someone slashed her.

The disgusting fishy scent of blood along with the rotten smell hit Vince's nostrils. Vince didn't even changed his expression, maintaining a calm demeanor. But inside, he was panicking and greatly worried for the woman.

He's also worried if he could heal her but he can't show it since it will only made Keith sadder. Although he knew that this is nothing but an illusion, Vince still thought of their feelings.

"Mama..." Keith held her mother's hand worriedly.

"Keith, can you step aside for a minute? Big bro will heal your mom."

Keith seemed reluctant but still step aside. Vince crouched down and held the woman's hand. He took a deep breath before activating her skill.

[Activating player's skill <Healing>]

A black hue escaped from his hand as he felt a stream of energy leave his body.

The woman was soon eveloped by black smoke making the little girl panicked.

"W-what's happening? M-mama ks--"

"She's fine. I'm healing her."

Jen who's watching it from the evaluation room were greatly surprised.

"Black?" she was puzzled. She'd been working as a player for five years now but she'd never seen such color coming from a healer before.

The color represents the healer's attribute since healer use their own energy unlike mages who use mana, and priests who use divine energy.

And healers mostly bear a light color since their energy is suppose to be pure. The lighter the color, the powerful ones' healing ability is.

So the black color confused Jen, after all, it's not like his healing ability is weak. It's actually powerful as the woman's wound quickly started to heal. The player's skill should be around rank B or A.

The woman's face quickly regained it's color and the rotten smell disappeared. The wound was healed easily.

Keith's mother soon slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom!" Keith ran towards her with a big smile on her face seeing how she regained her consciousness.

"Keith?" the woman weakly asked.

"Yes? I'm here! Keith is here," she held her hand while looking checking her mother's condition.

The woman looked at her body that is now healed without any scar. However, her clothes were full of blood and torn, proof that she had a wound before that is now magically healed.

"What happened?"

"Huh? Ah! There's a really kind big bro earlier that healed you! He healed you instantly. His name is Vince. Big brother Vince—" she turned her head to find Vince but she can't find him anywhere.

But then soon the mother spoke.

"So the healer from the association came and healed me?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes that's right! The person who healed you is really kind," Keith excitedly spoke.

"What's his name?"

"Neo! It's Big bro Neo!"

The test is over.

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