Black Online-Chapter 101: Who Will Be The Team Leader?

The sky turned dark over on the 15th floor.

The stars, the round-shaped moon, and the aurora borealis started to light up the night sky. It was a scene straight from a fairy tale.

Currently, outside of Della Rose’s office, the Fourth-Liners were gathered alongside Machary and Fang Raon.

"...Haah."

Machary let out a long sigh.

He was feeling quite nervous.

They were here for the final evaluation because Della Rose made her decision on who will become the team leader of the Fourth Line.

Before that decision, they were going to ask every Fourth-Liner who they’d want as their leader.

After that, Machary and Fang Raon had to present their own case about why they should be chosen over the other.

’I am confident enough that these guys would prefer me over Fang Raon. It is the reason why I befriended them in the first place so that they could vouch for me.

’I didn’t do the best during that raid test, but it shouldn’t matter that much, as they should understand without the timer I would’ve done much better.’

Machary thought to himself.

In that moment, the door opened.

Miranda was standing at the doorstep, looking at the people outside, and then her gaze landed on Niall.

"Niall. You’re first."

With a nod, Niall followed her inside, but he could feel Machary’s intense gaze following him, as if he were saying, "You better vouch for me!" and the door closed behind him.

He stood before the desk, and alongside Miranda, there was Della, Waylen, and Rickard.

Miranda went to whisper something to Della while Waylen and Rickard were enjoying the view outside.

"...I understand."

Della said to her, and then she turned to Niall with a smile on her face and started with.

"First of all, Niall, I want you to be completely honest. We will ask you a couple of questions, and all we ask is for some honesty. Is that understood?"

"Yes, guild master."

Niall said with a serious look on his face.

"Who’d you prefer to be team leader?"

Della asked.

"...I’d prefer a strong team leader. And from what I’ve seen, Machary is the stronger one, and he is someone you can rely on."

Niall said with honesty.

"However?"

Waylen said.

He felt like there was a "however" somewhere there.

"However, I think Fang Raon has greater potential. He is very smart, but that only gets you so far, but I’ve seen how hard he trains, and I think he will become a very great fighter in the future."

Niall said.

With a smile, Della nodded in agreement.

"So, for now, you’d prefer Machary to be the team leader and give Fang Raon time to grow into a future team leader?"

Rickard asked.

"...Yes."

Niall nodded.

"You may go."

Della said.

Niall nodded and left the room, and others wrote down Niall’s words in their very own notebooks.

"Bring another one in."

Della said.

Miranda went to the door, opened it, and looked around the outside until her gaze landed on the cute short-haired girl.

"Rae, come in, please."

Rae skipped into the room, stopped by the desk, and put her arms behind her back—standing like a soldier.

"Rae, we will ask you a couple of questions, and we want absolute honesty from you regarding the answers. Can you do that?"

Della asked.

"Yes, guild master!"

Rae said.

"...Who’d you want to be the team leader?"

Della asked.

"I’ve thought for the last couple of days that when I look at Machary, I am thinking, ’Wow, he is exactly what a team leader should be,’ but I’ve changed my mind.

"I think he is far too irresponsible and doesn’t have the maturity of the team leader yet. He is far too egotistical and competitive, which can put a team in danger.

"Fang Raon, on the other hand, is much more level-headed and empathetic!"

Rae said.

"Thank you, Rae. You may go."

Della said with a smile and looked at the others, who noted her words down, and saw Rickard disagreeing with Rae’s words.

"You don’t agree with her, Rickard?"

She asked curiously.

"Hehe, it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s just that when I look at Machary and Fang Raon side-by-side, there is only one of them that’ll give me the confidence of a leader.

"And that is Machary."

Rickard said.

"...I am quite opposite to you in that regard. I find Fang Raon to be the one who exudes leadership qualities."

Della said.

Rickard raised an eyebrow at Della’s response and nodded, but he didn’t agree with that at all.

When he first joined Rose Records, he was the team leader of the Fourth-Liners, and it was quite hard.

All Fourth-Liners had hopes and dreams of getting promoted to Third Line, to Second Line, and eventually to First Line.

It was hard to get so many egos to listen to him, and the only way he was able to achieve that was with strength.

The team leader of the Fourth-Liners has to be the strongest one to make them listen!

’I honestly don’t think Fang Raon can make Machary listen to a word he says. Meanwhile, Fang Raon would listen to Machary.

’I don’t think Fang Raon is a leader type. He is a follower.’

Rickard thought to himself.

In that moment, another member of the Fourth Line entered the office, and this time around it was Ocon, the Tank.

"..."

Ocon looked straight at Rickard, nodded with a look of respect, and then turned to Della and also nodded.

Rickard was the Main Tank of the Rose Records, which was why Ocon was very respectful to him, as he believed he could learn a lot from him.

"Who’d you want to be the team leader, and please, be honest."

Della asked.

"I’ve been thinking... If we one day encounter a hostile player party who wants to kill us, I would much rather be following Machary into the battle."

Ocon said with a conflicted look.

He kept remembering what happened in the raid earlier today, and while it was super easy with Fang Raon, he still didn’t think he could rely on him against harder opponents.

"...Thank you."

Della nodded and waved him off, and then another member walked in the room, and they asked yet again the same question.