He tapped a small pad, and the screen shifted again.
"As you all know, a few of you stand above the rest. S-Rank students—those with potential power equal to, or possibly beyond, the Kaiju themselves."
He gestured toward the front row.
"Like Airi Tsukino. Confirmed S-Rank."
All heads already turned towards her.
She didn't react. Her eyes stayed on the screen, calm and focused.
From his seat near the back, Kai Draven leaned back in his chair,surprised yet calm,eyes half-lidded.
Airi Tsukino. S-Rank. That checks out.
Then, almost like a wave, his thoughts drifted back to earlier that evening.
The leaderboard had gone up after sunset.
The courtyard had been full of students rushing over to see who ranked where. But Kai had just stood there, hands in his pockets, quietly reading the names.
1Kai Draven
2Airi Tsukino
3Renji Takahara
4Rika Amagiri
5Kaito Shiranui
She wasn't supposed to be a surprise, he thought. But somehow… she still is.
Even ranked just below him, Airi felt like the one person no one could predict.
Back in the lecture hall, Professor Durnas cleared his throat.
"Of course, the leaderboard only showed five top names…"
Kai sat up straighter.
"What wasn't mentioned… is that there is a sixth S-Rank student."
Silence fell instantly.
Even Airi turned her head now, her expression finally showing something close to surprise.
"The academy has confirmed their rank," the professor continued. "But their name is not yet revealed. Their abilities are still developing… possibly unstable. For now, they remain classified."
The room shifted. Eyes darted across the hall.
Kai's gaze narrowed.
One of us?
A secret S-Rank.
Even more powerful than some who had already proven themselves.
And nobody knew who it was.
Professor Durnas let the silence sit for a moment longer, then clapped his hands once.
"That's all you need to know about the sixth S-Rank—for now."
The murmurs slowly died down. His voice cut clean through the tension in the room.
"Eyes front. Let's get back to what matters."
The screen behind him shifted again—this time showing a massive, horned Kaiju towering over a city in flames.
"Let's talk Kaiju classifications."
He stepped to the side, tapping the board. A new chart appeared, displaying five distinct Kaiju classes—each with a unique color and icon.
"Kaiju are sorted based on danger level and behavior. The academy uses five main classifications."
He pointed to the first image: a lean, four-legged creature with razor claws and glowing red eyes.
Class 1: Ravagers
Focus: Speed and raw destruction
Traits: Fast, reckless, aggressive
Threat Level: City-wide
"Ravagers are living wrecking balls. They don't plan—they just rush in and destroy everything in sight."
The screen changed to a bulky, tank-like beast with stone plating.
Class 2: Burrowers
Focus: Underground infiltration
Traits: Heavily armored, unpredictable
Threat Level: Subterranean collapse
"Burrowers come from below. You won't see them coming, but when they hit, the ground gives out—literally."
Next was a long, twisting creature floating in a storm, its body surrounded by lightning and snow.
Class 3: Tempests
Focus: Environmental control
Traits: Manipulate weather, flood terrain, freeze zones
Threat Level: Regional
"Tempests don't just fight. They bring natural disasters with them—lightning storms, blizzards, tsunamis. And they don't stop."
Then came a pale, shifting creature with too many eyes and a face that didn't stay the same.
Class 4: Phantoms
Focus: Illusion and mind disruption
Traits: Elusive, confusing, dangerous to untrained minds
Threat Level: Mental instability
"Phantoms twist what you see—and sometimes what you believe. Some soldiers go in fine and come out never speaking again."
Finally, the lights dimmed slightly as the last image appeared: a blackened titan wrapped in void-like flames, its eyes glowing violet.
Class 5: Omega
Focus: All attributes combined
Traits: Gigantic, unpredictable, unstoppable
Threat Level: Continental
"Omegas are the worst-case scenario. They don't appear often—but when they do, everything changes. Cities fall. Nations break. Sometimes, even we retreat."
The class was dead silent now.
Professor Durnas crossed his arms, looking across the room.
"You're not here to survive Kaiju."
"You're here to be the ones who end them."
His gaze lingered on Kai, then briefly on Airi, and then slowly scanned the rest of the class.
"Some of you will lead missions. Some will be sent alone. But if you freeze up when it counts—don't expect to come back."
The room stayed still for a few more seconds.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, Professor Durnas turned off the display.
"That's enough theory for today."
Some students relaxed slightly, expecting the lecture to be over. But then he tapped the screen again—and a new image appeared.
A map.
It showed a large simulation zone outside the academy dome, marked with warning signs and terrain indicators: forests, ruined buildings, deep craters.
"You're going to put all of this into practice," he said. "Your first Kaiju-response simulation starts tomorrow morning."
A few students straightened up. Others exchanged nervous glances.
"Each team will enter a simulated Kaiju incursion zone. You'll be given limited intel and expected to adapt on the fly. The targets inside won't be real—but the pressure will be."
He paused, letting that settle in.
"This exercise will test how well you move, think, and work under stress. I don't care how flashy your powers are if you freeze when things get hard."
Then his gaze flicked back to the top students again.
"Especially you S-Ranks. We'll see if you can lead—or if you just look good on paper."
Kai didn't react outwardly, but he could feel the challenge behind those words.
Airi remained calm, expression unreadable.
Professor Durnas crossed his arms one last time.
"Details will be sent to your room terminals tonight. Dismissed."
As students began packing their things and leaving the lecture hall, Kai stayed in his seat a moment longer.
A simulation.
Kaiju scenarios.
And a sixth S-Rank hiding among them.
His eyes drifted toward the front of the room, where Airi had just stood up and calmly walked out.
This school's full of monsters, he thought.
And I'm not just talking about the Kaiju.