Shin opened his eyes and stared in disbelief at the rank of his skill.
"FFF rank?" His mouth opened and closed, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Before he could process it, a flood of memories surged into his mind—memories of the skill—followed by a sharp, blinding pain.
It all happened so fast that he didn't even have time to groan.
'My skill is called Gluttony?' His heart raced.
Gluttony was a skill that allowed him to absorb the life essence of living beings and make it his own.
'Is this really an FFF-rank skill? Then why is it so terrifying?' He swallowed hard, shaken to the core.
While he was still frozen in thought, others began to notice the glowing letters above Shin's head—three letters that no one had ever seen before.
"FFF rank? What the hell is that? Does such a rank even exist?"
"That's impossible. Didn't Goddess Quinella say the ranks only go from F to S?"
"Then what happened to Shin? Why does he have a rank that shouldn't exist?"
Shock and confusion rippled through the crowd. Some were excited, others amused.
But many remained indifferent. Most of them had never even spoken to Shin—let alone cared about him.
Still, even they couldn't ignore how bizarre and unbelievable the sight was.
"Hahaha!" Johan, Daniel, and Kael burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Damn, Boss! Shin's really unlucky!" Daniel wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. "I thought he'd get rank F, but nope—he got FFF instead!"
"Yeah, it's hilarious!" Kael clutched his stomach, aching from too much laughing. "Not just on Earth—even in this world, he's still cursed with bad luck! That's insane!"
Johan didn't say a word, but his laughter was the loudest of them all.
Truthfully, he had been anxious that Shin might awaken a skill ranked higher than his. Fortunately, that didn't happen—he could finally breathe easy.
'FFF rank? How's that even possible?' Shion muttered under her breath, frowning.
She wanted to approach Shin and ask him directly but stopped herself.
'FFF rank, huh? What rotten luck,' Axel whispered, letting out a soft sigh.
He didn't know Shin well and didn't particularly care about him. Still, there was a faint trace of pity—even if only a little.
Quinella remained silent, unsure what to say. Her golden eyes stayed fixed on Shin, as if trying to understand what had just happened to him.
But she saw nothing special or unusual. From what she could tell, Shin simply wasn't gifted.
'What a worthless failure,' she muttered coldly, shaking her head slightly.
With an indifferent expression, she ordered, "Go back to your place."
Shin snapped out of his daze and met her cold gaze—a look that sent a chill down his spine.
'It feels like she despises me,' he muttered silently.
Without saying another word, he turned and walked back to his place.
His classmates watched with mocking eyes, snickering and whispering behind his back.
But Shin paid them no mind. His attention was now fully on the skill he had just awakened—he wanted to examine it more closely.
"Alright!" Quinella's voice rang out sharply. Her gaze swept over the room before she continued, "As you've seen, each of you has awakened a skill. But there's something important you need to understand: the skill you awaken now will fuse with your soul and become a permanent part of you."
"Of course, you'll be able to learn other skills once you enter the world of Solira—but that's a different matter. For now, do you understand?"
"Understood!" they responded in unison.
"Good." Quinella gave a satisfied nod, but her expression quickly turned serious. "That said, there's something I need to tell you."
The moment she spoke those words, the atmosphere in the room shifted. A heavy silence fell, and unease began creeping into everyone's hearts.
"There is a divine law that cannot be broken," Quinella explained. "Only ten people are allowed to enter the world of Solira."
Upon hearing that, everyone's eyes widened in shock and fear.
"Ten people? Shit! This has to be a joke!"
"F***! This is seriously bad!"
"There are forty of us! That means only 25% can go! What happens to the rest?"
Panic spread through the room. Several students screamed in hysteria, overwhelmed by fear and confusion. It was a natural reaction—they had all assumed they would be sent together to the world of Solira.
But that hope had just been shattered. Now, only restlessness and anxiety remained.
"I want to go back! I want to go home!" One of the girls cried out hysterically, her sobs soon echoed by several others.
Seeing this, Axel quickly stepped forward to calm everyone down.
"Everyone, I understand you're all shocked—but please, try to stay calm. We need to hear Goddess Quinella's explanation first so we can truly understand what's going on. So please, just settle down for a moment."
His words quickly soothed the panic. The girls began to feel a bit safer, and the boys started to recognize the truth in what he said.
Axel let out a quiet sigh of relief, then turned toward Quinella and said respectfully, "Please continue your explanation, Goddess Quinella."
Quinella appreciated his help. With a gentle smile on her lips, she looked around at everyone.
"I understand your concerns, but please don't be afraid," she said gently. "Those who aren't chosen to enter the world of Solira will be temporarily stationed in the Heavenly Palace. Once your friends complete their mission to eliminate the Voids, you'll be returned and reunited with them. How does that sound? Isn't that good news?"
Everyone exchanged glances, a visible sense of relief in their eyes.
"Phew! So that's it. I really thought the ones who failed would die."
"Yeah, I completely misunderstood Goddess Quinella. I'm glad I didn't do anything reckless—it would've been so embarrassing."
Smiles and laughter returned to their faces, and the heavy tension lifted at last.
But two people didn't share in the relief—Shion and Shin.
Their eyes narrowed as they stared intently at Quinella, suspicion flickering in their gaze.
'This is... strange,' they muttered at the same time.
Clap!
A sharp clap rang out, snapping everyone's attention back to Quinella.
"To decide who the ten chosen ones are, the method is simple," she said with a playful tone. "We'll hold a special trial... a survival trial."