[The knowledge assessment will commence in an hour]
As the notifications ended, Alab headed directly to his bedroom. He had to restore his energy and take a rest.
The bleak room now brimmed with hues as decorations filled the room. A soft mattress lay on the wooden bed dressed up with a black cover and blanket.
The black pillowcase enticed onlookers to succumb to sleep whilst the black curtains adorned the windowpanes, shielding the inside from the chaotic air.
A black mantle layered the sides of the wooden cabinet, filling the room with a black hue.
It might appear depressing to others but Alab found solace in the interior. It seemed that Anastasia figured out Alab's favorite color and decorated the room accordingly.
With a little light entering the dark room, Alab sat on the soft mattress, resting his back in its soothing sensation. In no time, Alab let himself succumb to sleep.
Still, his vigilance remained running with his eyes closed.
An hour after knocks on the wooden door rippled, waking up the vigilant Alab. The soft voice of Anastasia resounded.
"Alab, are you awake? The test will now commence. Will you join us?", Anastasia muttered behind the closed door.
Alab didn't respond as he took a deep breath. Pulling his body out of his relaxed state, Alab walked toward the door and then opened it.
Anastasia greeted him with a relieved smile with a background displaying Han Seo Yeon and Girth sitting on their respective chairs, their eyes indifferent to Alab.
Anastasia tugged Alab to the center, excitement overpowering her, taking a new wooden chair out of her inventory, only then did she let go of Alab.
Alab felt his arms get numb from Anastasia's eager hold, stretching his arms feebly, he glanced at the two others who remained attentive to him. Sparks seemed to materialize as his eyes met the glaring eyes of Girth.
The dreary mood ceased with the mediation of Anastasia.
"I am so happy that we are all gathered here. It's probably our first time joining forces, right?", Anastasia exclaimed.
The chirping of crows echoed as silence filled the room. Apparently, no one responded to Anastasia. The tension was still on.
"Yes, it is indeed the first time...", Han Seo Yeon didn't let Anastasia lose face from shame.
"And hopefully the last time keke", Girth riled
"This will certainly not be the last time. I am looking forward to working with you all in the future assessment!", Anastasia added.
Disrupting the sour mood, the system notification came just right on time.
[The knowledge assessment will now commence]
[You may access your forms through your system. The system wishes you luck!]
"forms, huh, it's my first time hearing it, keke"
Eventually, the four accessed their system, and below their status window was the
Their thoughts run through their status, selecting the
[Instructions: This examination will test the participants' acquired knowledge of the world within their 7 days of preparation. The exam will be conducted in 3 hours timeframe. After the given timeframe, the exam will no longer be accessible and unanswered questions will automatically be marked as incorrect. The participants may cooperate with their team members.
Question No. 1:
- What is the lowest rank?]
The first question befitted its numbering. It was rather easy. They directly typed "E" and then hastily scrolled through the second question.
[Question No.2:
- How many worlds have participated in this batch?]
"How many?! Arggh, I can't remember eke", Girth got irritated as he couldn't remember the answer.
Disrupting his fidgety hands, Alab's voice echoed.
"There are 1,000 participants with 5 participants each world. Do the math", he vaguely stated.
Girth could only "tsk" before he proceeded.
The first half of the questions were labeled easy. They were concepts stated by the dean and by the professor, Silver, and could be answered by browsing through one's memories.
However, the questions beyond that fit the theme of the online exam which was testing their self-acquired knowledge.
[Question No. 51:
- What is the HP and MP multiplier of the dungeon guardian?]
"Arghhh, WHAT IS THE ANSWER?! ke", Girth turned his head to Alab, hesitant as he swallowed his pride.
"1,000", this time, it was Han Seo Yeon's voice.
"arggh", Girth couldn't accept that he was being assisted by the people he dislikes.
[Question No. 56:
- What do you call the heart of the dungeon?]
"Wha--"
"Dungeon Core", Anastasia muttered.
[Question No. 76:
- What does the green mana imply?]
At the 76th question, the group encountered a wall, hampering their commendable momentum.
"What is the answer, Anastasia? Alab?", Han Seo Yeon asked the two, even disregarding Girth who was impatient for an answer.
However, Anastasia was also clueless about the answer.
"I don't know either", Anastasia shook her head and then glanced toward Alab.
In the previous questions, Alab had shown a rather wide knowledge. There were questions that they could only stay idle and wait for Girth to ask Alab which would then be answered by the latter with confidence.
This made them view Alab in another light.
With this, they believed that Alab would stun them one more time. But, in pure contrast to their expectations, Alab was in the dark about the answer.
"I remember seeing Luke emitting a green vapor when he announced the initial ranking. That could be his mana. But I don't know what that implies", Alab stated without sparing a glance toward the expecting eyes of the group.
Lowering his head, Han Seo Yeon mumbled.
"I remember that as well. But, as far as our mana is concerned, we are not emitting any colors of our mana yet. Maybe that can be unlocked through some means", he muttered.
"I guess we should leave this item blank", Anastasia voiced out, throwing off her reluctance to miss even a single point.
They then proceeded with the next questions.
[Question No. 87:
- What is the strongest species in this batch?]
Once again, they were met with a block. They had already drained their mental energy and analyzing was getting difficult for them.
They could barely guess the answers for questions 77-86 but in the 86th question, they once more initiated a discussion.
"It's the draconian, right? KEKE", gradually, Girth was thrilled to finally contribute an answer.
"I agree with Girth", Anastasia threw fire to Girth's dimming-out ego
Pointing his finger to his chin, Han Seo Yeon pondered.
"It could be draconian or maybe those women riding on winged horses? I could feel a dangerous aura from them", Han Seo Yeon muttered.
"If it's the aura, then maybe those creatures with eyes on their wings or maybe the demons?", Anastasia added.
They didn't have that much time left and Girth hastened them for an answer.
"We only have 30 minutes remaining, keke", Girth shrieked
Han Seo Yeon could only glance at him before he turned his head toward Alab who was sweating profusely. Anastasia and Girth saw his state as well, furrowing their brows as they didn't expect such a state from Alab.
He might not be fidgety nor expressed vivid emotions but it was clear that Alab was currently frightened.
'By what?', Anastasia couldn't guess.
Realizing the curious gazes on him, Alab raised his head, wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead shortly. Then, he muttered.
"It is draconian. They are the strongest species", Alab muttered, recollecting his composure as he shifted his gaze to his status window.
He might have said that but Alab knew that draconian was not the strongest. He had seen them frequently but he didn't feel much danger emitting from them.
So far, there was only a single species that made him sweat with just a gaze.
'That species covered with starry clouds, they must be the strongest', Alab pondered as he recalled the scene from the [Fiery Lion Dungeon] and how that species one-shotted the dungeon guardian with gigantic HP.
Brushing his thoughts off, he proceeded to the next question. The other three could only dismiss what they had witnessed and scroll through question 88.
Knitting of brows along with precarious remarks filled the room as they browsed through the following questions. The ticking of the hourglass displayed on the upper right corner of their screen urged them to a prompt answer.
At last, they reached the end of the screen.
[Question No. 100:
- Can skills be upgraded?]
Alab had been uncertain about this matter. His SSS-grade skill [Conversion] allowed him to upgrade skills by converting items. But, what if there were other means to upgrade skills, or what if skills could inherently be upgraded?
Alab couldn't verify his speculations before and now, an opportunity had presented itself. Alab couldn't let it go.
"Ehh? Isn't it too easy? Of course, No! KEKE", Girth voiced out.
Anastasia and Han Seo Yeon nodded their heads as they typed NO on their respective screens.
Similar to them, Alab typed NO. His eyes wandered to the upper corner of the screen where the hourglass displayed the remaining time.
[30 seconds]
*sigh*
The three rested their backs on their chairs as they breathed for air. They were tensed for 3 hours and they could finally relax as they dawdle for the online examination to end.
Unlike them, Alab was restless as he scrolled upwards, going for the items he answered uncertainly. The moment he scrolled back to the 76th item, Alab hurriedly scoured through his answers, and then, deleted them.
He carried on withdrawing his answers till the 99th item and only then did he take a deep breath.
With this, he had 75 certain answers and 1 that he was skeptical about. This way, Alab only had to wait for the result to verify his daring speculation.
*sigh*
[The knowledge assessment has ended. All unanswered questions will automatically be marked as incorrect]
[The scores will be announced in a while]
[The participants shall proceed to the north edge of the hill for the conducting of the dungeon expedition]