It started as a normal day.
Except nothing had been normal since the Duo incident.
We stood on the training field, a wide expanse of cracked earth and scorching sun. It was like the school decided to recreate a desert just for fun.
I could feel the heat crawling across my back. I had a standard training sword clipped to my hip, and two pistols holstered to my sides. They were technically modified replicas of weapons from earth mixed with mana bullets from this world - meant for training, but they still packed a sting.
Somewhere near the front of the class, Professor Verris was talking.
Now, you know how most teachers have that one trait that makes them bearable? Not Verris. She had two. One: she was an S-rank battle professor. Two: she looked like a goddess. Unfortunately, only the second one made the guys in class actually pay attention.
I, however, was struggling to stay awake. I hadn't slept a wink last night.
Apparently, today was test day.
A combat test.
At the start of the year.
Who gives a test this early? Was this Hero Academy or a punishment simulator?
Thankfully, it wasn't for grades.
...Hopefully.
The test was simple. We'd be teleported into a randomized simulation field with our assigned Duo partner. Our goal? Survive, hunt simulated monsters, and gather points.
Easy, right?
Wrong.
Because guess who was the competition?
Kaleb. Keesha. Rydell. Alice. The usual group of future protagonists. You know, the kind of people the story follows.
Guess who wasn't on that side.
It was me.
And the fox.
Candice Midas, the sugar-coated grenade of our class. Beautiful, cunning, and terrifyingly high-functioning.
She shot me a glare from across the field. The kind that said, "If you mess this up, I will bury you in your sleep."
I gave her a lazy thumbs up.
She looked like she wanted to vomit.
The rules were standard: every team would be dropped in a randomized spot. Each enemy or monster would grant points. PvP wasn't discouraged, but it wasn't encouraged either.
The team with the most points at the end would get perks.
What perks?
Oh, only the kind that made school life worth living:
Free weekday clearance to leave the academy.
Sponsorship recommendations.
Permission to skip certain classes.
And get this—you could be made a Professor's Assistant.
Which meant you could teach a class.
Hard pass on that one. But the rest? Tempting.
The blue light flickered across the field as the teleportation sequence started. One by one, teams vanished.
Candice and I stood beside each other as the ground beneath our feet dissolved into particles.
I didn't look at her.
She didn't look at me.
But I knew we were both thinking the same thing:
Let's just not get killed.
The light surged.
The game had begun.
It was time to hunt.