n

n

n

"Are you guys headed down as well?

"

nExiting her room, Emma caught sight of two girls quietly walking down the corridor.

nBecause the lighting was good, the features of the two girls became more apparent. Both of them had flawless white skin that was devoid of any imperfections. Their hair, which were black and brown respectively, gently cascaded on their back, stopping right before their waist.

nOn the left, Amanda wore tight black pants along with a white turtle neck sweater that covered part of her neck. Melissa on the other hand wore a simple brown cardigan, a plain white shirt, and some jeans.

nAs they walked, Amanda's cold demeanor contrasted perfectly with Melissa's arrogant and overbearing one creating this picture-like scene. It was like seeing a pair of phoenixes.

nJogging to catch up to them, Emma brushed her hair to the side and stopped right when she was about an arm's length away from them.

nPouting slightly, Emma sourly looked at Amanda and Melissa before saying

n

"Hey come on, why didn't you guys stop and waited for me?

"

nLooking at Emma from the corner of her eyes, Melissa responded

n

"Would it have made a difference?

"

nTurning her head towards Melissa, Emma looked at her sharply before saying

n

"What...no, but it's still common courtesy to wait for your friend

"

n

"...sure, whatever makes you feel better

"

n

"Ugh, seriously what am I gonna do with you.

"

nShaking her head at Melissa's lackluster response, Emma looked at Amanda who remained quiet the whole time.

n

"...

"

nAvoiding Emma's eyes, Amanda looked around the corridor. It was apparent that she didn't want to talk.

nRolling her eyes, Emma facepalmed.

n

"What am I gonna do with you guys...

"

nThough they had known each other for about two months, the distance between them didn't shrink at all during the time they had spent together.

nNo matter how much she tried to socialize and interact with them, they would always keep her at arm's length away.

nThis was especially so for Amanda, who was always curt and polite, treating everyone as if they were a stranger.

nIn the end, Emma was left totally helpless when interacting with these two.

nLetting out a sigh, Emma thought for a bit before saying

n

"...say, don't you guys find Jin a bit weird these days?

"

nAs soon as the word 'Jin' escaped from Emma's mouth, Melissa's face darkened

n

"Don't even mention the name of that guy...

"

nHalfway through her sentence, Melissa held her stomach and continued

n

"...crap, I'm already starting to lose my appetite thinking about him

"

n

"No, seriously. He feels a bit off these days...

"

nThough Emma knew that Melissa was constantly tormented by Jin on a daily basis, she also knew that if there was someone who would notice his strange behavior it was her.

nThat was simply because he would always try to talk to her whenever he had free time.

nIt had gotten to the point that Melissa purposely decided to return back to the dorm at a later hour than usual.

nThis was so that she could avoid him...

nBefore Melissa could answer, Amanda who had been quiet the whole time responded

n

"He has become a lot quieter than he was before

"

nTurning her head to Amanda, Emma nodded and said

n

"You also think so as well..

"

nHearing the conversation between Emma and Amanda, Melissa thought for a bit before saying.

n

"Maybe you're right, I did notice him pestering me less than before...but whatever happened to him, I am all in for it

"

nDespite Jin being obvious with his advances, Melissa had more than once shut him down completely.

nShe simply did not care about having any romantic interactions, as the only thing on her mind was her research.

nShe was very close to breaking through into a particular theorem that had plagued her for a couple of years. It had almost become an obsession for her...

nTherefore...for Melissa, who was in this critical juncture of proving her theorem, Jin's constant pestering had caused her nothing but headaches.

nIf someone were to ask her who was the most annoying person in the academy, for her, Jin was undoubtedly number 1.

n

"He's pestering you less? Hmm...someth-

"

nHalfway through her sentence, Emma was stopped by Melissa who couldn't help but say

n

"Let's not talk about him anymore. It's spoiling my appetite

"

nWithout waiting for Emma to respond, Melissa picked up her pace and headed towards the first floor where the banquet was held.

nTurning her head to the side and seeing Amanda also being uninterested in the topic, Emma lightly sighed and said

n

"...okay

"

n...

nAfter calming down a bit, I decided to head downstairs where the banquet was held.

nIn the end, hunger got the best of me.

nAs I was heading downstairs, I soon noticed the figure of a student walking ahead of me. Squinting my eyes to get a better look at who it was, I was surprised by my discovery.

nRank 5 'Han yu fei'

nAlso known as Frank Han, and the leader of class A-23.

nFrom the back, I could see his short black hair that was permed in a way that looked like he had a mop on his head. His body was on the relatively skinnier side, and he wore round glasses.

nThough he didn't look particularly strong, his presence alone screamed 'danger' to me. It felt as if I was staring at a crouching tiger waiting to lunge at me at any moment.

n...I guess he wasn't ranked fifth for no reason. Apart from knowing that he was ranked fifth, I actually didn't know that much else about him.

nI didn't develop his character much, but from what I remember, he was an easy-going guy with no ulterior motives.

nMost surprisingly was the fact that he didn't care about other people's ranking, as most of the people he hung out with were lower ranked than him. Some even by a margin that was as large as mine.

nHe was of Chinese descent, and his martial arts were on another level. He was probably the only person in the academy that did not use any weapons when fighting.

nHe only fought with his body.

nHe was what was known as a 'full body martial artist', someone who fought with every part of his body.

nHe comes from the Han clan, one of the three main ancient Chinese clans that resided in Ashton city. The three ancient Chinese clans were Wang, Shan, and Han clan respectively.

nThe martial manual he practices was actually a five-star martial manual, and it was passed to him by the patriarch of the clan.

nDespite his strength, in my novel he didn't get that much character development. He only showed up on rare occasions, and those times were when he was either in the academy or when Kevin needed his help.

nLooking back at it now, such a strong character should've definitely had more time in the story.

n...well, no use in regretting what was already done.

nFollowing Frank, I quickly headed towards where the banquet was being held.

nSoon I could hear the sound of a lot of people laughing and chatting. The closer I got, the louder the sounds became.

nTurning left, I soon found myself inside an enormous hall.

nLooking up, three enormous chandeliers brightly lit the hall. Massive pillars made out of marble supported the structure of the room, and next to them, tables filled with food could be seen all over the place.

nWaiters dressed in black outfits wandered around the place as they served different drinks.

nDespite it not being eight o'clock, the hall was already filled to the brim with students.

nLooking around, I soon spotted the area where my class was.

nMaking my way there, I took a drink from the waiter and slowly savored it.

n

"...ah dammit, I forgot that alcohol doesn't affect me anymore

"

nAfter tasting the drink and realizing that it had no effect on me, I slightly cursed and downed the whole thing in one go.

nWhat was the point of alcohol if you couldn't get drunk from it?

nShaking my head, I soon arrived at the area where my group was designated to.

nLooking left and right, I quickly spotted Donald and my other group members and headed to where they were.

n

"Eyoo

"

nLightly waving, I stood next to them.

nLooking at me who had just come, Donald gave me a side glance and then proceeded to ignore me.

nRolling my eyes at him, stared at the front

n

"It seems like everyone has arrived

"

nFive minutes after my arrival, Donna showed up.

nImmediately, all of the boy's attention was drawn towards her. Wearing a one-piece black dress with fine silver patterns, Donna looked stunning. Her dress, which was moderately tight, further emphasized her well-developed outline. Moreover, her violet necklace that perfectly matched the color of her eyes, made Donna look ever more mesmerizing.

nNext to me, I could hear the hurried breathing of some of the male students as they looked at her with heart in their eyes.

nClosing my eyes, I calmed my heart down.

nUsually, I would've been like any of the other male students here, but today...today, I had too much on my mind. I just couldn't bring myself to admire her beauty.

nNot bothered by everyone's stares, Donna's violet eyes paused on everyone. Looking around and seeing that everyone was here she continued

n

"There are two reasons as to why I've gathered all of you here. One is to obviously eat some food and satiate our hunger and regain some of the energy that we have burnt during our visit

"

nLooking to her right, Donna pointed in the direction of where the food was

n

"Sadly, since we are the last class, we can only wait for the others to eat first...but before that

"

nPausing slightly, Donna's mood became a bit more serious as she deeply looked at a few individuals.

n

"The second reason...it's because we will soon give you all an individual assignment

"

nInstantly murmurs could be heard from everyone as they wondered what task they would be given.

nJudging from how she said the word 'individual' it seems like this task could only be completed without anyone else's aid

n

"I will soon give you the task which you have been assigned. Each of you has been given three days time to complete the task...and failing to complete the task means automatic credit deduction from your end of year report

"

nAs she was speaking, Donna could see some of the students shaking in nervousness. Shaking her head lightly she added

n

"Don't worry, the difficulty of your tasks has been assigned according to your abilities. After a lot of consideration, we managed to assign you guys tasks that are well within the reported data of your strength...Therefore, you guys should be relatively safe

"

n-Clap!

nClapping her hand to get the attention of some of the students that had stopped listening and were trying to find out what their task was, Donna smiled and said

n

"Alright, I think I've said enough. I will soon send you your tasks on your phone. Please enjoy the food and make sure you don't fail the missions.

"

n-Ding!

nRight on cue, a message appeared on my phone. Just as I was about to open it and see what my task was, Donna spoke once again

n

"Ah..I forgot to add. We won't aid you in your task, so if you guys die, you die. We won't be helping you

"

nInstantly, the room became tense. Some students started shaking in nervousness as they carefully looked at their phones to see what their task was.

n

"Well, sorry to have dampened the mood for you all, but I felt that I needed to warn you beforehand so that you don't get complacent thinking that we will save your asses even if you were to fail the mission

"

nFinished with what she wanted to say, Donna quickly left and joined the other instructors who had similarly shared the news with the other students.

nTurning on my phone, I looked at the notification that had popped up on my screen

nStudent rank 1750, Ren Dover - Mission target, Karl zar. Head of a minor drug organization that had infiltrated Hollberg for the past decade. Target location at xxxxxx road. Target behavioral pattern....

nTaking a deep breath, I looked at the ceiling of the hall.

n....I guess I'll have to prepare myself.

n