Panic spread like wildfire.
Students screamed, their voices breaking with fear as they tried to make sense of what was happening.
"We don't want to participate in this game! Take us home!"
"Yes! We refuse to play your deadly game!"
Their cries were met with silence. No response, no sympathy. Instead, another message flashed before us.
[Please say "Status" to view your current stats and skills.]
Someone to my left reacted immediately. "Status?" he muttered. His eyes widened as a translucent screen appeared in front of him.
Then, all around me, the same words echoed.
"Status."
I followed suit. "Status."
A screen materialized before me.
[Levi Smith's Status]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Human]
[Blessing: None]
[Talent: None]
[Strength: 24]
[Agility: 23]
[Stamina: 21]
[Mana Constitution: 79]
[Skills: Swordsmanship (Passive) Lv.1, Godly Constitution (Passive) Lv.1, Cold Heart (Passive) Lv.1]
[Swordsmanship] – You have talent in swordsmanship, making you better than most at it.
[Godly Constitution] – Your body can adapt to most situations and regenerates much faster when injured.
[Cold Heart] – You struggle to form strong emotional attachments and find it difficult to open up to others.
I stared at my Status, analyzing the numbers. Were they good? I had no way of knowing.
The skills seemed useful, though the last one caught my attention. Cold Heart? I wasn't sure why I had it, but it made sense. People had always called me distant. Even now, in the middle of this chaos, I felt nothing.
As for Swordsmanship and Godly Constitution, those were expected. I had trained in swordsmanship when I was younger, and I'd always had better endurance than most people. The system must have factored in my past abilities when assigning skills.
"What are you guys' stats?" someone asked.
"I have 5 Strength, 8 Agility, and 3 Stamina."
"Uh… I've got 8 Strength, 9 Agility, and 10 Stamina."
I listened carefully, making mental notes as more students compared numbers.
"Wow! 10 Stamina? I think you're the only one in the class with stats that high," Serena, the school's queen bee, said as she turned to Jake.
Jake, her boyfriend.
He was the typical golden boy—captain of the football team, good-looking, admired by everyone. The kind of guy others wanted to be. But even he knew the truth. He was second to one person.
Me.
Despite being the best in every subject, I never had many friends. People thought I was a freak. My personality didn't help—I was blunt, sometimes rude, and I never bothered to sugarcoat my words.
So, I wasn't surprised when I felt their eyes shift toward me. They were whispering, pointing discreetly, waiting for me to reveal my stats.
I had already noticed something important.
None of them had passive skills, or at least, they hadn't mentioned them. More importantly, none of them had brought up Mana Constitution.
That meant I was the only one who had it.
Mana.
A word found in countless fantasy stories. But if it existed here, that meant magic was real. The question was… how do I use it?
"Levi probably has the best stats," someone whispered.
"Yeah… he always does."
They spoke quietly, careful not to let Jake or Serena overhear. I knew why. The two of them hated me. I was the one person they couldn't outshine, and that drove them insane.
Serena laughed, her voice filled with amusement. "You really think Levi has better stats than my beautiful boyfriend?" She scoffed. "Stop dreaming. Jake's the only one here with a stat in the double digits."
I kept my expression neutral. If they found out my real stats, it would only cause problems.
People like Jake and Serena were predictable. If they knew I was stronger, they would try to turn everyone against me—just like they always did at school. They would spread rumors, manipulate, do whatever it took to make sure I was isolated.
And in a kill-or-be-killed situation, that wasn't something I could risk.
So, when the inevitable question came, I sighed and answered as naturally as possible.
I lied.
"Yeah… she's right. I only have 7 Strength, 9 Stamina, and 8 Agility."
Serena's face lit up with satisfaction. "See? What did I tell you? Jake is way better than this loser!"
I said nothing. It was exactly what I wanted her to believe.
[Time Remaining Until the First Placement Game: 45 Minutes.]
I ignored Serena's voice and walked away.
The space around us was vast, endless. I had no interest in staying. I already knew what was coming. Serena would twist the story, paint me as the villain, and manipulate everyone into siding with her and Jake.
It was how she operated. It was why I had no friends. People were too easily swayed.
[Tip for Your Placement Game: A lot of eyes will be on you. Make sure to show everyone what you're made of. Performing well in this game will significantly increase your chances of obtaining a Talent and a Blessing.]
Eyes… Was the system referring to gods? The people from the Universal World? Or something else?
I had no way of knowing. The system wouldn't answer questions. It ignored everything.
"Levi, wait for me!"
I frowned.
I hadn't expected anyone to follow.
Turning, I immediately recognized the face.
Ruby.
She was the only person who never turned against me, no matter what Serena and Jake did. For some reason, she always believed me—trusted my words over theirs.
I never understood why. I had asked her before, multiple times, but she never gave a straight answer.
"It's not like you to do the things she says," was all she ever told me.
She always spoke like she had known me for years. Like she knew me.
She truly was strange.
Still, as she caught up, I noticed something unusual.
A small smirk played on her lips.
She leaned in close, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You lied just now, didn't you?"
I looked into Ruby's brown eyes, frowning slightly.
She seemed confident—too confident. There was something in her gaze, a strange glint, as if she knew something I didn't. It was hard to explain, but for some reason, she was certain that I had just lied.
Now that we were far enough from the others, I decided to reply.
"And what makes you say that? Why would I even lie? It doesn't make sense."
She giggled. "Because I know you better than anyone, and this is exactly something you would do. You didn't want Serena to start annoying you just because you had better stats than her boyfriend. So, you lied."
I sighed.
Ruby really was annoying.
Ever since I met her a year ago, she had never stopped following me around, constantly trying to be my friend. At first, it was one-sided—maybe it still was.
"Whatever. Just go back to the others. I want to test a few things before the match begins. It's in everyone's best interest if I perform at my best. Don't you think?"
She nodded immediately. "Yes, you're right. You're the key to this whole thing. Make sure to perform well in this first match. From the looks of it, it's going to determine our future."
I shook my head as she walked away.
Her words… they sounded off. It was like she knew more than she let on.
It was always like that with her.
And it was annoying.
With forty minutes left until the match, I continued walking through the massive white space. After a few minutes, I could no longer see anyone in the distance. That meant they couldn't see me either.
Good.
It was time to figure out what this fourth stat of mine really meant.
Mana Constitution.
It had to be important—after all, it was my highest stat. But what exactly did it do? How did I use it? The others didn't even have it in their status screens, which meant it wasn't something everyone had access to.
My physical stats were already far beyond my classmates. But this… this was something different.
I needed to capitalize on it.
Maybe after this match, the others would start learning about it too.
That's why, with the time I had left, I focused entirely on testing it.
***
Serena's POV
I clicked my tongue as I watched that annoying bastard walk away.
Does he think he's better than us? Why was he acting so high and mighty when he didn't even have the best stats?
I smirked to myself. That's right. My boyfriend is finally better than you, Levi. Enjoy your last moment on top.
This was the perfect opportunity.
I turned to the others, making sure my voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Look at him, abandoning us. That's always how he is—acting like he's above everyone else."
Jake, ever the perfect boyfriend, placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, babe. If he ever tries something, I'll protect you."
I smiled sweetly, though I rolled my eyes when no one was looking.
"Thank you, baby! You're the best!"
It was important to keep my image flawless. It had always worked before.
That is… until Levi showed up and ruined everything.
That bastard had been a thorn in my side ever since he transferred to our school. I had to make sure he didn't become a problem here, too.
This world was filled with unknowns, but one thing was clear—power would decide everything. If I didn't deal with him now, he would become too dangerous.
I raised my voice again. "Can you believe this? Why would our second-strongest player just leave us without a word? This is a life-and-death situation! We need to make sure we win against whatever we're about to face."
Murmurs spread through the group. People were nodding, agreeing with me.
I continued.
"If he abandoned us, why don't we abandon him inside the match? He clearly thinks he can handle things alone, so let's leave him to it. No matter what happens, don't help him. Let him survive on his own."
Some people laughed. Others hesitated, unsure.
I smiled inwardly. This was going exactly as planned.
"Well," I added, lowering my voice slightly, "do what you want. But if you decide to help him, I'll consider you a traitor."
I cast a quick glance at Ruby.
She was the only person in this group who genuinely liked Levi. A transfer student, always following him around, always defending him.
It was disgusting.
"Am I clear?" I asked.
"Yes!" the group responded in unison.
Perfect.
No matter what that bastard tried, he would fail.
This time, I would make sure he didn't walk away unscathed.
Levi Smith, you won't survive this match.
Twenty minutes passed.
I had made very little progress.
But I had discovered something.
Particles of different colors floated in the air—red, blue, white, black. They were everywhere.
For some reason, the blue ones were the easiest for me to see.
I reached out to touch one. The moment my fingers made contact, it dissolved into water, lightly dampening my skin.
Water.
It didn't take long to realize what was happening.
These are mana particles.
If that was the case, then I needed to find a way to harness them, to collect them inside me, to store them for later use.
I focused entirely on them.
Then, a notification appeared.
[Ding!]
[You have received guidance from an anonymous Watcher.]
[Tip from Anonymous: You need to create a mana core to store the mana particles. To do so, you must enter a meditative state and…]
The tip continued.
I listened carefully.
Every single word was important.
It was like receiving years of knowledge in just five minutes.
I took a deep breath.
Then, I sat down and followed every step exactly as I had been told.
It was time to unlock my true potential.