I walked toward the projections with confidence radiating from every step.
But in reality, terror gnawed at my insides like a starving beast.
What if I wasn’t selected? Even after dominating this entire fucking tournant? It made absolutely no sense. How could I not secure even a spot in the top hundred after reaching the semifinals?
If that small, horrible possibility turned out to be true, then everything would be over.
My dreams. My fantasies of entering the academy. Fighting arrogant bullies who looked down on others. The romance. The action. The face-slapping monts where I humiliate those who deserve it. And of course my kinks.
Everything could vanish.
All I wanted was to live as a side character, minding my own business until soone poked . Then I would transform into the badass villain when tis demanded it. And occasionally play the hero role.
But only to save hot won, of course.
Not the world. Never the world. That was too much responsibility.
In short, I wanted every single fantasy trope handed to on a silver platter.
But what if none of that happened?
No. There was no "what if." I was confident this was simply a mistake. Celestine probably couldn’t read properly or missed sothing obvious.
I ignored her worried expression and turned to face the projection directly.
My eyes started scanning from the very top.
Rank one. Sophien de Muray. One hundred thirty-eight points.
That must be the girl who defeated Freya.
Rank two. Freya herself. One hundred twelve points.
I continued my search downward. Rank three. Rank four.
Then rank five caught my attention. Beatrice del Astrea. Eighty-nine points. My dear cousin had made it into the top five despite everything.
From rank five to twenty, my soul gradually departed from my body.
I wasn’t in the top ten.
Then things got worse.
Thalia’s na appeared on the list.
Thalia. The sa girl I was objectively better than in every asurable aspect. The sa girl I had personally given lessons to, helping her unlock potential that would have earned points for her performance.
And she made the list while I didn’t?
Before I could process this injustice, a screen flickered into my vision.
DING!
════════════════════│
│ ⚠️ QUEST FAILED ⚠️
════════════════════│
│ Rank Top 10 in The Ascension
Double Duel
───────────────────
│ Rewards Lost:
│ ► 1300 EXP
│ ► QUOR Purchase Discount
│ Coupon (50% off)
════════════════════│
The notification faded as quickly as it appeared.
I didn’t know how to react. My chest felt hollow. But my eyes continued scanning the remaining ranks, though hope had long abandoned .
From twenty to one hundred, ti seed to slow to a crawl. Each na that wasn’t mine felt like another nail in my coffin.
Finally, I read the na of the hundredth candidate.
It felt like the entire world was mocking .
Where did I go wrong? What the hell just happened?
I walked back toward Alia and the others. They took one look at my defeated expression and imdiately understood the situation.
When I reached them, words failed . I didn’t know what to say or what to do next.
Alia spoke first, her voice surprisingly gentle. "It’s fine, Eren. Not getting into the academy isn’t the end of the world. Besides, you know you fought like a true champion. We all know it. Even the people who witnessed those matches would know how amazing you were."
Celestine chid in with forced optimism. "She’s right! You don’t have to be upset! And besides, isn’t this actually good? You get one more chance to win the finals!"
Her eyes sparkled with sudden inspiration.
"Oh! It’s even better this way! I’ll participate in the next tournant, and then we can enroll in the academy together! Sa class and everything!"
Freya added her piece, though her tone carried no mockery for once. "She’s right. Well, only for the starting part. You can still work harder. Analyze where you went wrong and improve."
Anger flared in my chest. "Where did I go wrong?"
Freya t my gaze steadily. "You lost because of your own foolishness. You treated every battle like so sort of entertainnt rather than a serious evaluation."
I didn’t process her reasoning. My mind latched onto sothing else entirely.
"How the hell is that weak Thalia on the list and not ?"
Freya replied without hesitation. "She deserved to be there. As I explained before, the fights weren’t ant to asure strength alone. Points were calculated based on the character of the candidate."
She continued thodically.
"For Thalia, she would probably rank in the top five if she hadn’t attempted to attack opponents directly like you did. Apart from it, She showcased various abilities that the judges would have definitely noticed. She adapted to situations remarkably quickly."
Freya’s voice carried sothing almost like respect.
"Her entire journey demonstrated growth from weakness to strength both from power to ntality. Even her teamwork with you improved exponentially throughout the tournant. There would be many other factors contributing to her placent."
Then her tone sharpened.
"But you? You mocked your opponents constantly. Took every fight casually. Threatened and scared people. Attempted to injure them. Lost your temper on the arena floor."
I cut her off defensively. "Isn’t that what the powerful do?"
She ignored my interruption while Celestine quietly slipped away, seemingly desperate to do sothing helpful.
Freya pressed on relentlessly. "Ignoring your opponent’s summon and attacking the opponent directly or indirectly cost Thalia her top five position. She dropped to twentieth because of that."
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"But you did it multiple tis. Rember after that boy surrendered? You made him into a chair. Then made the entire audience watch that poor boy’s humiliation. You didn’t stop there either. You were always there mocking your opponents with your axe while your summons did the actual fighting."
I hissed back at her. "In a real fight, opponents won’t follow rules! If you’re within their range, they won’t think, ’Oh, his summon is still alive, I need to defeat it first.’ Those who made these rules are absolute pussies!"
But then sothing struck my mind.
"Speaking of Thalia, now that she won’t be joining the academy, what happens to her spot?"
Freya gestured vaguely. "There’s a waiting list on one of the projections."
That’s when Celestine’s voice rang out across the square.
But this ti, she was waving with absolute excitent bursting from every fiber of her being.
"Eren! I found your na! Look! It’s at the very top with one hundred sixty-nine points!"
Happiness surged through instantly.
Then confusion crashed in like a tidal wave.
One hundred sixty-nine? But the highest score was only one hundred thirty-eight. Did they give a special position because I was truly extraordinary?
I walked toward the projection. No, I ran.
My eyes imdiately scanned the content, searching desperately for confirmation.
First, I noticed the list’s title.
Standby Candidates.
Wait. What was going on?
Then I found my na. One hundred sixty-nine points.
But with a minus sign leading it.
My heart stopped functioning.
I looked at the na below mine. So candidate with forty-five points.
Plus forty-five.
I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. My brain refused to process this information.
Then a system interface materialized before my eyes.
DING!
═══════════════════│
│ ✦ QUEST CLEARED ✦
═══════════════════│
│ Enroll In Grand Ascendant
Academy
──────────────────
│ Rewards:
│ ► 1000 EXP
│ ► Gacha Spin (Legendary)
═══════════════════│
Below the notification, a colorful wheel appeared. It displayed segnts ranging from E-rank summons all the way to SSS-rank items, with discounts and equipnt scattered between them.
A button pulsed invitingly.
SPIN.
My mind was already thoroughly destroyed by the ss and mystery surrounding my situation.
So I pressed the button, thinking sothing good might finally happen to salvage this disaster of a day.
The mont I pressed it, I realized my mistake.
Today was not my day.
I desperately jabbed at the cancel button.
LOCKED.
The wheel had already begun spinning. E-rank summons blurred past. Then C-rank. Then A-rank. SSS-rank flickered by. Discounts. Equipnt. Items.
The wheel started slowing down.
It crept through the item section. E-rank. B-rank. A-rank. S-rank. SS-rank.
SSS-rank.
It was going to stop.
The wheel crawled to a halt right between SSS-rank item and one hundred system gold.
I prayed with every fiber of my being. Please register as SSS-rank item. Not this asly amount of gold. Anything but that.
Then the system glowed brilliantly, as if I had just won the cosmic lottery.
════════════════════ │
│ ★ CONGRATULATIONS HOST! ★
════════════════════ │
│ You have acquired:
│ EX-RANK ITEM
─────────────────────
│ From your very first Legendary
Gacha Spin!
─────────────────────
│ Win Probability: 0.0001%
════════════════════ │
I stared in absolute shock.
There, between the two visible rewards, existed the tiniest black sliver I had completely missed.
A hidden segnt.
And I had landed directly on it.
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