After General Nathan's shocking revelation, chaos rippled through the entire hall. Students swarmed the higher-levels like moths to flame, desperate to secure their spot beside strength. Vorden, Erin, and Vicky were the center of attention—each of them held the power level of a five or six. Even Vorden, despite the hatred he had drawn over the past weeks, found himself surrounded by eager students.
Meanwhile, Quinn, Peter, Layla, and a few others remained apart from the commotion.
"Hey, Quinn," Peter muttered, watching the frenzy. "Looks like Vorden's gonna be snatched up by another group. He's too strong not to be. And honestly… you've got a chance too. You're already a level two—some group is bound to want you."
Quinn paused at that, letting Peter's words settle. A small, grim smile tugged at his lips.
"…What if don't we make our own team instead?"
Peter blinked, eyebrows shooting up. "Really? Thats gret idea"
"But we'll need three more people."
"Two more," Quinn corrected with a smirk.
Peter tilted his head. "You already have someone in mind?"
"Yeah. Who else but Vorden?"
Peter nearly choked. "What? How can you be so sure?"
"Because, Peter," Quinn said firmly, "Vorden has protected us time and again. Do you really think he'd abandon us now?"
Unbeknownst to them, someone had been listening. Layla stood a few steps away, quietly eavesdropping. She had seen Quinn throw himself in front of second-years to shield Vorden, and the sight had impressed her deeply. If he was willing to risk himself against stronger enemies for a friend, then surely he would fight just as hard for his team.
Truthfully, Layla's interest in Quinn had sparked on the very first day, when he'd gone toe-to-toe with Vicky, a level six. Since then, his growth had been remarkable. And beyond admiration.
There was a another reason too and that was loneliness. She hadn't connected much with her roommates, that included Erin and Cia, and being a level two herself,it was harder to find true friends.
After a moment's hesitation, she stepped forward.
"Hey… do you mind if I join your group?" Layla asked, her voice steady. "By the way, I'm Layla."
Quinn was caught off guard for a moment, then smiled warmly. "Sure, why not? I'm Quinn, and this is Peter. Welcome to the team."
Just as the three exchanged words, a familiar voice called out from behind.
"Hey, Quinn—don't tell me you're forming a team without me."
Quinn turned to see Vorden. A grin spread across his face. "Took you long enough."
The two clasped hands in a friendly shake.
"And this is Layla," Quinn added. "She's with us too."
Vorden gave her a polite smile. "Good to have you."
"So, that makes four. Who's going to be our fifth?" Vorden asked.
Before they could decide, an unexpected figure approached and that was Erin.
"I want to make a team with you," she said bluntly, her gaze fixed on Vorden.
The room fell silent. Both Quinn's group and the rest of the class stared in shock. Erin—cold, distant Erin—had turned down every offer so far, showing no interest in anyone. Yet here she was, asking to team up.
"I'm sorry," Vorden replied without hesitation. "But I've already decided to be with these guys."
His refusal sent another ripple through the class. Most had seen Vorden fight against the second-years; no one would deny his strength rivaled Erin's. If the two had joined forces, they could have easily built the strongest team in the entire year.
Erin's eyes narrowed as she glanced at Quinn, Peter, and Layla. "Who are they?" she asked flatly, as though their names didn't matter.
****
After training together for a while, the group had gained a clearer sense of each other's abilities. Quinn, as planned, only revealed his supposed earth ability, keeping the truth carefully hidden. Once the session ended, they all dispersed to their dorms.
Quinn, however, slipped away toward the VR pod section as he usually did. After paying the fee, he climbed into a pod and entered the blank white space.
To warm up, he selected level one opponents as always—this time choosing to practice with the water ability. But when the fight began, something was wrong. None of his usual crimson "red attacks" appeared.
Unbeknownst to him, dozens of players across the server had set up alerts for whenever The Punisher—his username—came online. When they tuned in and noticed his red attacks were gone, the chat exploded.
"So he was a hacker after all."
"Knew it. He can't use the red skills anymore."
"Surprised the game hasn't banned him yet."
Slowly, one by one, players began to unfollow him. Quinn remained oblivious, focused solely on his match. Despite the lack of his signature ability, he managed to win.
Feeling warmed up, Quinn changed the difficulty to level two. As the next match loaded, something unexpected happened—his system pinged with a message. For the first time since his encounter with Logan, he'd received a direct quest.
[Quest: Defeat the opponent to gain 25 EXP.]
Quinn's eyes widened. Until now, he had only speculated about how the system's leveling mechanics worked. But this? This was a breakthrough. A jackpot.
His opponent materialized—a level two wind user.
With all his accumulated practice, Quinn's reflexes had sharpened, and his control over borrowed abilities had improved. Still, his capacity remained limited; the amount of water he could manipulate was small compared to what higher-level users commanded.
The battle was tense, but through sheer grit and growing instinct, Quinn secured the win. The game announced his victory, followed immediately by the system's confirmation:
[Quest Complete: +25/100 EXP.]
A rush of satisfaction hit him. Finally, visible progress. After grinding through several more matches, Quinn's system dinged again—he had reached Level 2.
With it came rewards:
[You have received the following:]
Skill Unlocked: Inspect (Lv.1)
+1 Free Stat Point
Excited, Quinn logged out, climbed out of the pod, and dragged his tired body back to his dorm. But curiosity gnawed at him.
Lying on his bed, he focused on the new skill. Inspect… inspection? So it lets me examine things?
He turned to Peter, who was nearby, and silently activated the skill. A translucent screen appeared before his eyes:
[Peter Chuck]
Race: Human
Ability: Earth
Blood Type: A+
????
????
Quinn frowned at the blank sections. Likely a limitation of the skill being only level one. Still, even this basic information was incredibly useful—knowing an opponent's ability in advance could turn the tide of a fight.
The only detail that felt strange was the blood type. What would I ever do with that? he wondered.
Then, almost unwillingly, his mind wandered to darker thoughts—to his vampiric nature. The idea clicked uncomfortably into place. Blood type… drinking blood…
He grimaced, shuddering at the thought. Disgusting. How could anyone ever do something like that?
Yet, deep down, he couldn't deny that some part of it made sense.