Everything went dark for rlin.
Then, with a chanical hiss, the simulation capsule released him.
'Finally, it's over.'
He pulled off the headgear, blinking as the pod door slid open. The mont he stepped out, a wave of muffled shouting hit his ears from above. It was distant, almost distorted—like soone had shoved an entire crowd into a pillow and told them to scream.
Weird. Unpleasant. Would not recomnd.
As rlin glanced around, he saw that all the other students were stepping out of their pods at the sa ti, faces ranging from exhausted to utterly devastated.
"Congratulations on your placents, everyone."
A familiar voice rang out, instantly drawing all eyes toward the front of the room.
Vivienne strode in, slow and deliberate, her heels clicking against the floor. She clapped her hands together, a bright smile on her face.
"You all deserve an applause."
No one moved. They just stared, waiting for the inevitable but that usually followed those words….which didn't co surprisingly.
Vivienne's gaze swept over the crowd, assessing. Her smile didn't waver.
And then—just for a second—her eyes locked onto rlin.
And her smile grew.
rlin's stomach dropped.
'Am I hallucinating?'
He shook his head. Nope. That was definitely happening. And he definitely did not like it.
"Now," Vivienne continued, "I'd like the winner to step forward."
A beat of silence. Then, as if by so tragic cosmic joke—
Every single person turned to look at him.
'Fhuuu… seriously?'
rlin sighed, dragging his feet forward. A few students mumbled in his direction, so even managing forced smiles.
"Congrats, man!"
"Great job, rlin!"
Very convincing. If you ignored the fact that their expressions were screaming I want to strangle you in your sleep.
He didn't even need to try and read them. It was all there—jealousy, resentnt, frustration. One kid looked like he was about to pass out.
Then there was Nathan.
Their eyes t for a fraction of a second. Nathan stood straight, shoulders squared, his face unreadable. But his eyes—those empty, hollow eyes—told rlin everything.
'This is the first quest he lost I'm pretty sure, he's probably gonna be sulking for a while.'
rlin wasn't surprised. But Nathan's whole loss wasn't his problem.
He walked past Nathan without a word, and Nathan didn't turn to follow him.
As soon as he reached Vivienne, she rested a hand on his shoulder, her grip light but firm.
"Nicely done, rlin," she said, voice as smooth as ever. Then, turning to the rest of the students, she added, "The rest of you may now leave."
It was as if she had cut a leash. The students practically ran for the exit, talking amongst themselves, relieved that they were free.
rlin shook his head. He almost envied them. Almost.
Because now? He was getting dragged along to whatever was waiting for him upstairs.
—
"You did well," Vivienne said as they ascended the stairs. "Not that it was unexpected."
rlin stayed silent. Complints from her made him nervous.
The academy guard at the entrance nodded as they passed. Vivienne led him up further, toward a massive set of double doors.
"Reinhardt was so excited he nearly started dancing," she added, a small smirk playing at her lips.
rlin faltered.
'Wait.'
Reinhardt. Dancing.
His brain tried not to process that image—tried to not imagine Reinhardt, the massive, gruff instructor, doing so sort of ridiculous jig.
He failed.
His smile twitched. His soul suffered.
"Now then," Vivienne said, stopping in front of the doors. "Ti to introduce you to the audience. They've been waiting."
rlin blinked. "Wait, what—"
Vivienne winked, then pushed the doors open.
The roar of the crowd hit him like a spell to the face.
The arena was massive, filled with spectators who imdiately erupted into cheers. The noise was deafening.
"RLIN! RLIN! RLIN!"
"YOU DID IT, RLIN!!"
"SIGN MY FOREHEAD!!"
'Is this for real?'
rlin's face twitched as he followed Vivienne onto the stage, feeling completely out of place.
At the center stood a microphone. A single, ominous microphone.
Vivienne stepped up to it, clearing her throat.
The crowd imdiately fell silent. It was almost unnatural, like soone had flipped a switch.
"Ladies and gentlen," Vivienne's voice rang out, clear and authoritative. "Students of the academy, and those watching from ho—"
'Ah. Right. The broadcast.'
rlin resisted the urge to groan. This was so much worse.
Vivienne continued, "The first-year Battle Royale has officially concluded. And our champion—" She turned to him, clapping. "rlin Everhart."
The crowd went wild. Cheers, whistles, applause.
rlin stared blankly.
'Yeah. This is going to be a long day.'
rlin stood there, absolutely done with everything, while the crowd lost their collective minds.
They were chanting his na, screaming like he'd just saved the kingdom from a dragon instead of… well, playing a glorified school ga.
Vivienne, ever the composed orchestrator of this madness, continued clapping, her gaze flickering toward him with amusent. The microphone in front of him felt like a loaded weapon.
No.
'No, no, no.'
Surely, they weren't expecting him to speak, right?
Vivienne turned to him expectantly.
'Oh, for the love of—'
rlin swallowed down the sheer pain of existing in this mont, then took a step toward the mic.
The entire arena hushed. Thousands of eyes locked onto him, waiting.
He exhaled.
"…Thanks everyone."
A pause.
Then the arena erupted.
"WOOOOOOO!!"
"HE'S SO COOL!!!"
"ICONIC!!"
"I'M GOING TO NA MY FIRST BORN AFTER YOU!!"
"I WANT HIM TO PUNCH IN THE FACE!!"
rlin nearly choked.
'What the hell is wrong with these people?!'
Vivienne smirked beside him, eyes twinkling with mirth as she whispered.
"Short and to the point. Very you."
"I don't want to be here," rlin muttered under his breath so that the microphone wouldn't catch it up.
Vivienne just pretended not to hear that. Instead, she turned back to the crowd.
"With this victory, rlin Everhart has secured an advantage in his academic ranking, proving himself among the best of his peers."
'Wait. What?'
rlin blinked, his head snapping toward her.
'What 'advantage'?'
Vivienne ignored his look, continuing, "Of course, such talent is expected of a student of our Academy! We look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next!"
rlin's stomach dropped.
No.
'No, no, no, no, no.'
She did not just casually set expectations for him in front of a massive crowd of students, instructors, and—worst of all—huge important families..
rlin resisted the urge to rub his temples. Great. It was just amazing…
The target on his back had just quadrupled in size…due to him being a deviant as well…
He let out a slow breath through his nose.
'She really enjoys making my life harder, doesn't she?'
Vivienne smiled. "Now let's let our champion rest!"
She nodded signaling for rlin to leave.
'Finally..'
He bowed slightly then started walking towards the door as he heard Vivienne continue.
"Now then," Vivienne said smoothly, "With that, we conclude the opening tournant for this year's first-years. Thank you all for joining us."
The crowd gave one last deafening cheer before the announcer signaled the end of the event.
rlin barely managed to hold back a sigh of relief as he walked through the double door.
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