The tension in Class S-1 was palpable following my little "negotiation" with Instructor Gideon. The students sat in their seats with perfect posture, afraid to breathe too loudly, while Gideon paced the front of the room with a newfound, subdued demeanor.
"Right," Gideon grunted, refusing to make eye contact with me. "Enough talk. We are moving to the Simulation Hall. Today's lesson is Dungeon Breach Management."
He tapped a holographic console, and a massive list of names appeared in the air.
"Dungeons are rarely cleared alone," Gideon explained, his voice lacking its usual roar. "You will be assigned into three-man squads based on the System's calculation of your 'Combat Compatibility.' The objective is simple: Clear the simulated Goblin Fortress. Time limit: One hour."
I leaned back, bored. Compatibility? The System would likely pair me with high-tier nobles to balance the stats.
"Team 1," Gideon announced. "Lucas Vayne."
He paused, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face as he read the next names.
"Seraphina Frost... and Kaelen."
The room went dead silent.
I raised an eyebrow. The System had a sense of humor. The Villain, the Hero, and the Ex-Fiancée. It was the unholy trinity of awkwardness.
Seraphina stood up, her face pale. She looked from me to Kaelen, horror dawning in her blue eyes. Kaelen, on the other hand, clenched his fists. He shot up from his seat, his expression shifting from shock to fierce determination.
This is my chance, his eyes screamed. I'll prove I'm a better leader than him.
"Move out!" Gideon barked.
Ten minutes later, we stood inside the simulation—a dense, digital forest surrounding a crude stone fortress teeming with green-skinned monsters.
"Okay, listen up," Kaelen said immediately, stepping into the center of the group. He summoned a basic iron sword, trying to project authority. "I've studied goblin tactics. Seraphina, you take the rear and use ice magic to crowd-control the archers. Lucas... you stay in the middle. Your mana is high, but you have no combat experience. Just support us and don't draw aggro."
Seraphina hesitated, her staff glowing with frost mana. She looked at me, waiting for my reaction.
I looked at Kaelen like he was a toddler explaining quantum physics.
"Cute plan," I said dryly.
I turned my back on them and began walking straight toward the fortress gate.
"Hey!" Kaelen shouted, jogging to catch up. "Where are you going? We need to stick together! That's a Fortress-class map! If we split up, we'll be overrun!"
"You're playing soldier, Kaelen," I said without stopping. "I'm here to clear the map. Try not to die."
"You arrogant—!"
SCREECH!
A horn blew from the fortress walls. The gates burst open, and a wave of twenty Elite Hobgoblins charged out, armed with rusted scimitars and jagged spears.
"Contact!" Seraphina yelled, instinctively launching an [Ice Spike]. It impaled the lead goblin, but the rest surged forward, screaming for blood.
Kaelen gritted his teeth, forced to engage. "Fine! Seraphina, cover me!"
He charged into the fray, his sword flashing. To his credit, he fought well. He parried, dodged, and struck with the desperate tenacity of a protagonist. But there were too many of them. He was quickly surrounded, forced back-to-back with Seraphina as the green tide closed in.
"There's too many!" Seraphina shouted, her mana shield cracking under the blows of a massive Hobgoblin Captain. "Lucas! Help us!"
I was standing twenty meters away, watching the chaotic melee with my hands in my pockets.
"Help you?" I asked. "And deny the Hero his training arc? That seems rude."
Kaelen deflected a spear that nearly took his head off. "Vayne! Stop joking! We're going to fail the assessment!"
"Fail?" I scoffed. "Speak for yourself."
I raised my right hand. I didn't channel a fireball. I didn't summon a weapon. I simply snapped my fingers.
"Arise."
The shadow stretching out from my boots exploded.
It didn't spread like smoke; it erupted like a geyser of violet darkness. The temperature in the digital forest plummeted to freezing.
From the abyss of my shadow, a sleek, armored hand reached out and planted itself on the earth.
Nero pulled himself into reality.
The Shadow Knight stood six feet tall, wreathed in violet flames that licked at his midnight-blue armor. He drew a greatsword made of pure shadow, the blade pulsing with the hunger of the grave.
The goblins stopped screaming. They froze, their primitive AI instincts recognizing a predator far higher on the food chain.
"Clear the trash," I ordered.
Nero moved.
He was a blur of violet light. He dashed into the center of the goblin horde, moving faster than Kaelen's eyes could follow.
Slash.
Three goblins were bisected instantly, their digital bodies dissolving into pixels before they hit the ground.
Crush.
Nero grabbed a Hobgoblin Captain by the face and slammed him into the dirt with enough force to create a crater. The monster didn't get back up.
It wasn't a battle. It was an extermination.
Kaelen and Seraphina stood frozen, their weapons lowered, watching in stunned silence as my summon dismantled the entire first wave in under thirty seconds.
"What... is that?" Seraphina whispered, her eyes wide with terror. "That's not normal summoning magic. That feels like... death."
Kaelen stared at Nero, his sword trembling in his hand. He looked at the goblin he had been struggling against for five minutes—now a pile of pixels at Nero's feet.
"Move," I said, walking past them toward the open gate. Nero fell into step behind me, a silent, terrifying guardian. "The boss is waiting."
We reached the Throne Room in record time. The Goblin Warlord, a mini-boss the size of a truck, roared and raised its club.
"I've got this!" Kaelen yelled, desperate to contribute something. He lunged forward, his sword glowing with a [Power Strike]. "If I can just hit the weak point—"
Thwack.
A spike of solid shadow erupted from the floor, impaling the Warlord through the chest before Kaelen could even get within striking range.
The Warlord gasped, looked down at the violet spike, and dissolved.
Kaelen swung his sword at empty air. He stood there, panting, his "finishing move" wasted on nothing.
I walked past him, collecting the loot drop—a rare mana crystal—from the floor.
"Too slow," I murmured.
[System Notification: Dungeon Cleared!] [Time: 08:42 (New Academy Record)]
A holographic scoreboard materialized in the air above us, displaying the contribution metrics for everyone to see.
[ MVP: Lucas Vayne ] [Damage Dealt: 92%] [Role: Carry]
[ Seraphina Frost ] [Damage Dealt: 6%] [Role: Support]
[ Kaelen ] [Damage Dealt: 2%] [Role: Tank / Meat Shield]
Kaelen stared at the "2%" next to his name. His face turned a deep, humiliated shade of red. He had tried to lead. He had tried to be the hero. And in the end, he was statistically insignificant.
As the silence stretched, a satisfying chime rang in my mind.
[ System Notification: Team Humiliation Complete ]
[ Face-Slap Multiplier x3 (Witnessed by Partners) ]
[ Reward: +800 Destiny Points ]
[ Kaelen's Confidence: -30% ]
I dismissed Nero, the shadow knight melting back into the floor.
"Good warmup," I said, checking my watch. "Next time, try to keep up. I hate carrying dead weight."
As I walked toward the exit portal, I felt Seraphina's gaze burning into my back. It felt different this time—heavier, more intense. I glanced at her through the [Eyes of Truth].
[Target: Seraphina Frost]
[Affection: +25 → +45 (Fear/Obsession/Awakening Desire)]
[Thought: "He didn't even break a sweat… I chose the wrong side."]
I suppressed a smirk. The Ice Queen was beginning to realize that the sun didn't revolve around the Hero. It revolved around the one who held the leash.