The day of placement tests was about ten times busier than it had been during the second year entrance exam. Because unlike then, guild scouts were allowed inside campus to spectate these. The students were able to show off their specialties, which they'd been training all break, and the guilds were raring to snipe or sponsor any talents that caught their eyes.

The atmosphere in the Tank was tense. Guild representatives were milling about, carefully avoiding contact with each other, jostling for the best seats by the windows. But all of that silent politicking was useless the moment the Cain Guild rep walked inside.

They were the #1 guild in the country, unquestionably. They had the most hunters, the most civilian employees, and the fastest gate clearing rate.

The vice master, Choi Rena, had come to watch the placement exams. In recent years, all the guilds had become desperate for new recruits. The rate of gates appearing had gone up, so the demand for hunters was higher than ever.

The people in the Tank parted before her and her assistant like fish around a shark. The only ones who didn't move were two men who were already seated near the windows.

One, a red-haired man with a delinquent kind of look, glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled playfully.

“Oh?” he greeted, “It’s Rena. I thought the guild master might show up for once, but he sent you again.”

She wrinkled her nose at him.

“Shut it, Leo,” she replied.

Leo—Kang Leo, one of the co-vice masters of the Rebel Guild—just chuckled, unperturbed. Rebel was the second most powerful guild in the country, and had more influence abroad than Cain. Leo had actually come to Korea from America after being scouted by them.

The other person who didn't move was a stiff, immaculately-dressed middle-aged man with glasses. He glanced over once Rena took the empty seat between them.

He nodded quietly. He was the head secretary of the Seoul Shield Guild, a guild that specialized in protecting the city. Although they didn't hold a lot of power in comparison to Rebel or Cain, they were respected for how well they fulfilled their role. Rena bowed politely back and looked towards the glass.

“Any kids you've got your eye on?” she asked.

Leo snorted.

“And I’d tell you because…?”

“Because you don't know how to shut up.”

“Wow… Your jokes never get any funnier.”

He shrugged.

“What’s there to even say? We saw the kids take the placement exams last year. It’ll just be more of the same.”

He picked at his fingernails, not paying much attention.

“Sunghyun and Yuna are going to do well no question,” he said. “I mean, the top 25 are all going to be fine.”

Rena received a tablet from her assistant.

“Who knows?” she replied. “They’re going against C-rank monsters for the advanced tests this year. Even if they're only simulations, most kids won’t be able to take one alone. Some in the top 25 might even fail.”

“If they fail, that’s on them.”

She nodded in agreement.

“There’s no excuse for unpreparedness among hunters,” she said.

She looked through the information on the monsters that they’d see today. It varied depending on the test, each selected so that it was the worst match-up against the weapon that was being used.

“I think up to rank 50 might be able to manage,” she remarked, “if they’re specialized and their skills are compatible with the monster.”

“But our guilds have no need for a specialist that’s barely in the top 50,” Leo replied, smiling dryly.

It was the harsh reality of the industry. Passing by luck wasn't good enough. No one wanted a hunter that just barely made it. He heaved a dramatic sigh and leaned back in his chair.

“You're suddenly making me feel sorry for the kids,” he remarked.

Rena scoffed.

“The kids don't need your pity.”

“Ohhh, wow, I’m so moooved.”

She ignored him and continued scrolling through the information her assistant had handed her.

She stopped as she spotted a couple vaguely familiar names.

“Oh, it’s the new kids,” Leo remarked.

She glared at him. He had been snooping brazenly from over her shoulder.

“The boss wanted me to look out for them,” he said. “Apparently there’re some interesting incoming second years. That one’s good with guns.”

“Guns?”

She looked at Kitae’s ID picture, intrigued. Hardly any hunters past rank D used them.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Probably has a skill related to them,” Leo surmised. “His score was pretty close to the top 25, I heard.”

“Top 25 is incredible for a newcomer,” she replied. “Did he go to an academy before transferring?”

“Why are you asking me? Do I look like a knowledge bank?”

She snorted and scrolled through the information. There were no school records at all leading up to his entrance exam—he had only received a basic education at his orphanage and awakened within the last year.

He’d definitely be one to look out for in the future if his growth rate was this fast. But as she scrolled down to Lim Suho’s profile, her finger froze on the screen and her eyes flew open.

“A higher score than Shin Yuna…?” she muttered in shock.

He didn't have any academic records either. Leo glanced over at her and smirked.

“What, you didn't hear?” he said. “Why are you even the Cain Guild rep if you don't know anything about the students?”

“Shut it,” she replied. “I just got out of a gate this morning.”

“‘There’s no excuse for unpreparedness among hunters,’ she says…”

“I said shut it.”

“Whatever, it’s not like you missed much,” Leo continued, shrugging. “There’s no information on that kid anyway. Just popped out of the countryside’s earthly vagina one day. The Hunter Bureau paid for his exam fees, but that’s it. None of my ears at the Bureau have heard anything else about him.”

“He’s not some secret trainee they've been nurturing?”

“Those guys are ass at keeping secrets.”

Rena stared at his photo for a second, then glanced towards the windows.

Below, the students were already milling about, getting settled into the stadium’s seats. All the placement tests would be held here today, in varying parts of the huge arena floor. It wasn't hard to find him in the crowd of children.

“Woah…” Leo mumbled from beside her, also looking down. “He’s with Sunghyun?”

The two of them were sitting side by side, near the front row of the stadium. Usually Sunghyun was only ever seen with Yuna—not because they liked each other, but because #1 and #2 inevitably ended up seated that way when it was required. But when he’d been given a choice, he’d gone with the only incoming student that might actually have a chance at dethroning him.

Leo smiled, his eyes curving up in amusement like a cat’s.

“This might be fun?”

⊕

People were very obviously giving the two of them a wide berth. Even the cadets who had thought about getting close to Sunghyun, trying to suck up to him while they could, gave up and found other places to go. Because the mixture of the valedictorian and the huge countryside enigma was not something anyone wanted to poke with a stick until someone else did it first.

In a way, Sunghyun had planned for this. He genuinely wanted to be friends with Suho, but he also knew that going around together would make less students try to stick to him. One year of trying to be nice to those people was enough.

Suho was intently watching the stadium employees set up a series of small stages on the floor. It was all new to him.

“Excited?” Sunghyun asked, glancing over.

“…No,” Suho responded.

“But it’s interesting, right?”

Suho nodded.

“Are they weaker than a real monster?” he asked.

“They say they’re not,” Sunghyun replied, “but they’re holograms, so you won’t actually get hurt. You’ll just get marked as having such and such injuries.”

“But they will hit you.”

“Yeah, you’ll feel it.”

Plenty of students had made the mistake last year of assuming the simulations would feel weak since they weren't real. Then gotten smacked out of the ring.

Fascinating. Suho wondered if the monster would have the right cuts of meat if he sliced it open. Probably not.

“Is this seat taken?”

Suho looked towards the voice. For a split second, out of the corner of his eye, he registered Sunghyun wrinkling his nose in annoyance. He had gotten the idea that Sunghyun didn't like hanging out with the other kids—he wasn't blind. But once he looked over to see who it was, his face relaxed.

Only one person had had the guts to talk to them.

It was Kim Kitae.

Kitae stared at them, expression calm and unreadable.

“It’s not taken,” Suho replied.

Kitae sat down beside Suho. He wasn't particularly short, but his frame was dwarfed by both of them. It made an already weird combination look even weirder.

“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” he said. “I’m Kim Kitae.”

“Ah, hello. I’m Lim Suho.”

“I’m Lee Sunghyun.”

They exchanged stiff greetings. Suho could feel people watching their every move. This was probably what Sunghyun had been dealing with for a year already—all that scrutiny and judgement. People who wondered if they should make a move like Kitae, but never did. And some probably decided their failure was Sunghyun’s fault.

Suho reeled in the annoyance he was starting to feel. “Don't blame children for acting like children,” was what Jun would always say.

“What exams did you sign up for?” Kitae asked, glancing towards Suho.

“Um, spearmanship and—”

“Ah, ah, testing.”

The sound of someone speaking into a mic interrupted their conversation. Standing on one of the stages that had been set up was a man dressed like a personal trainer, presumably one of the instructors.

“It’s working? Ok, great. Then, kids, don’t panic—it’s not starting yet.”

Noises of relief came from around the stadium. Suho didn't know why. They were going to have to take it eventually, that's why they were here.

“So we’re done setting up the machines,” he explained. “To reiterate so there are no misunderstandings—these monsters are simulations, but they can touch you! So please watch out for your safety, and if you believe you’re in danger or wish to forfeit your exam at any point, either shout or press the deactivation switch we’ll hand you.”

He held up a tiny remote with a single button on it and waved it around for everyone to see.

“Of course, if you still have any questions, the referee at your station can help you out. And as I’m sure you all know, if you signed up for multiple placement exams, they are held consecutively! You only get 5-minute breaks until the next monster is summoned, so please beware of exhaustion.”

He flashed a wide smile.

“Let’s not get hurt, okay?”

There were mumbles and cheers of agreement from around the stadium.

“Then, the instructions will be repeated by the refs once you come up here, so don’t worry and do your best. And unlike the final exam…”

His smile turned more into a smirk.

“The top ranked students will be going first this time,” he said. “Incoming second years, you will be going after the continuing first years finish.”

Suho nodded. If it was by rank, then it made sense that the unranked kids would go last.

He glanced over at Sunghyun, who was smiling softly. Confident, as if he already knew the result of his exam. Everyone basically did.

“That means you’re going first,” Kitae said, already also looking over.

“Mhm.”

He pushed himself up from his seat, already accustomed to the eyes that he knew were following his every movement from afar.

“I’m going to go warm up,” he said.

“Good luck,” Suho replied.

“Thank you.”

Sunghyun smiled, no doubt in his result.

“I’ll be back soon.”