He remembered the tree chasing him very vividly. The steps it took. The way it swung its branches at him like a crazy ax murderer… The way he was about to turn into a true crime podcast victim.

He remembered the rhythmic stomps as it came closer and he could feel it down his back. The shiv~ers.

And then it picked him up.

—By the time the tiger found him, he was being chomped on like a chocolate bar.

And worst of all, he could hear the 'snickers'.

"Huff."

Steven woke up with a gasp.

'What a nightmare!'

He looked out of the window.

'Mm..' the fresh air! The trees…

Morning sunlight poured in, painting everything it touched with golden hues. The rays sparkled and danced, caressing his cabinets warmingly. The leaves of the trees shimmered, every blade of grass seemed to stand tall, ready for the big day.

Students were gathered outside.

Chattering away.

Nothing would go wrong, right?

- 'The light almost seemed unreal, as if the world had been washed in a painter's vibrant palette, strangling a nightmare in orange and blue.'

Nothing would go wrong.

La0DNG • • •

I0aDlN— | •

• • •

- - -

- 'Ding!'

[Mission: 'Make a name for yourself in the 'Battle of the Freshies' tournament!']

[Task 1: 'Win a fight' 0/1]

[Description: 'Take the first steps to becoming a cultivation master by beating up your classmates.']

[Hidden Objective(s): ???]

[Reward: $5]

[Penalty for failure: No wifi for 1 week.]

Wait, no Wifi for a week? That seemed like a cruel and unusual punishment.

[Revising Penalty Based On User's feedback • • • ]

The translucent pop-up flickered, as the text began to slightly shift around: [Penalty (revised): Budget cut on current food allowance.]

"Wait, what?" Steven blanked.

"We don't have class today." Mayo pointed out, as they ate their breakfast.

That was because the 'Battle of the Freshies' was the one week where classes weren't scheduled like normal. Instead, most of the activities for the day took place in this gigantic stadium.

Outside the stadium, the different divisions gathered in preparation for the big week. Since the freshmen duels interrupted the scheduling of normal classes, it was important that each division made their mark known. And what better way than eye-catching stands?

The front of the stadium was lined with stands, each more awe-inspiring than the last:

The Martial Division's stand was like a shrine straight out of a kung fu movie, draped in red and gold. Over at the Weapons Division, it was like stepping into the coolest armor ever, every weapon gleaming with a 'try me' vibe.

And the Mage Division?

They were rocking a fortune-teller's tent theme, complete with crystal balls and voo-doo dolls…. heck, why did one look familiar?

Steven saw the mech division stand out of the corner of his eye, which looked sleek and futuristic, with gadgets he didn't even know how to describe. This year, the MECH DIV. had clearly gone all out. He saw MECH DIVISION TEACHER 1 waving at him.

"Thank you for your email and your design proposal! They were absolutely brilliant!" MECH DIVISION TEACHER 1 shook his hand.

Steven didn't recall anything about a design.

"They were?" I mean, thank you!" Steven said, confused.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Beside him, Thanh had the most annoyed look on his face, which changed when MECH DIVISION TEACHER 1 looked at him.

"Yeah, ca-nn-ot wait to see what you do man." Thanh smiled at him, his eyes bunched up, like he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Steven gripped Thanh's hand and squeezed.

"Think I just saw a rat."

He pointed to a little mechanical rat running behind Thanh.

"Pffft," Nearby, Alejandro let out a light laugh.

* * *

When Steven's group entered the stadium, they realized the insides were more like an arena.

Could it really be described as an arena, though? Imagine entering a choppy, modern mansion mixed with a grand Greek colosseum. The arena was like that, but also a fast-fashion runway show. Walls morphed like a living creature, floors shifted like the tides, and rows stretched and contracted to take shaky breaths.

Luckily for them…

The school mascot was an egg with Qilin's antlers (and a dragon's tail). It greeted them with some floating, holographic info-cards on how the tournament worked:

"Hi, I'm Xi-xi, your friendly mascot," its voice rang out. "Welcome to the freshman tournament? First time?"

A holographic choice box appeared near their hands, presenting them with a "Yes/No" prompt.

As the trio clicked yes, Xi-xi gave them a short run-down of the 'Battle of the Freshies', also known as the 'Freshie Duels.' The gist of the tournament was simple enough – rack up points by fighting, and earn your way to the next stage. There were individual battles, but also three-person skirmishes. And currently, they were in the main arena, which was shown to them on this blinking holographic map.

Next to the seats, they found Ms. Happi, waving her hands, telling them to sit down. Apparently, students weren't allowed to sit just anywhere. (That would be anarchy.)

The students sat down, as a voice began to boom over the main stage.

"Welcome to our annual 'Freshmen Duel!' I'm your host, Mr. Bruyant!" The man boomed into the microphone. Steven looked up and saw a man standing on top of a blimp. His small figure was just nestled there – against all the wind, the pigeons…

"The other host is Mr. Agacant," As if afraid someone would hear, he looked around, and then said, "He's a rude one, I can tell you that."

The arena laughed with good cheer.

"He's not here right now?" Mr. Bruyant jumped down from the blimp, letting his body plummet into the main stage. "That's because he's laaaaaate!"

"I guess that means that I get to decide the arena decorations this year." Mr. Bruyant flicked his wrist, and the arena began to shuffle itself anew. Blue banners with glorious golden embroidery dropped down from the side. When it was all over, the stage had become this classical-style arena: beautiful, classy, and pristine.

"No, no, oh nah, you didn't." A voice roared.

A man – who had flown in by holding a carnivorous pigeon's leg – dropped down from the sky. The pigeon quickly flapped away, leaving behind the man, who looked oddly like Mr. Bruyant.

"This design? So old fashioned. So nasty."

He snapped his fingers, and the colosseum began to change to a futuristic one – one that looked like something out of a videogame, think 'Super Thrash Bros.'

"Much better." The man, presumed to be Mr. Agacant smiled.

"Better?" Mr. Bruyant roared.

They began flicking and snapping, each of them trying to vy for control. The arena began to dance crazier than before, juddering and shaking until—

"—ENOUGH!" A voice cut through.

The two of them looked at the source of the voice.

"Sorry, vice principal." The two sheepishly apologized.

Steven tried to find the source of the voice, too, but he couldn't. He wasn't sure if he could see them from here. Meanwhile, two hosts stopped playing around and began a short run-down of the rules, a short, boring history of school – y'know, things that were really meant to add to school-spirit and plump up a school's ego.

"Wait, isn't that…" Thanh pointed ahead.

"Who?" Steven leaned forward, curious.

"You don't know who they are?" Thanh scoffed, but he decided to explain. "That's Regina Vansworth, heiress of a Middle Eastern oil empire and a Dutch petroleum corporation. I've heard that the combined net worth of her family lineage is immea-sur-able!"

Regina sat there with a cool, sleek body-con dress, and a fur coat. It looked awfully extravagant, but not suitable for any practical fight. Besides her, stood other impressive-looking students, each of them with their own 'boss-music' soundtrack.

"I thought you hated rich people." Steven dryly said.

Thanh blushed, "Shut up. I said I hate people who have no talent. But who doesn't know the heirs to those families?"

He went through the group one-by-one.

"...and that's Vetsyak of the Sins Family."

Steven's lips felt a bit dry. Dang it. Don't laugh, Steven… don't.

"So…?"

"Dude, he's one of the most popular kids at school. Did you know that he has a Me-tube channel with over a million subscribers?"

"And why should I care?"

"Look, that jacket of his," Thanh pointed. "I heard it was custom made by Qucci."

Steven looked at the jacket as Thanh sighed. It was this branded Qucci jacket that would have made anyone look like a model.

"Bet your jacket doesn't have a brand," Thanh taunted. "Probably a knock-off."

This jacket of his?

Steven looked down at his slightly-black, emerald green jacket.

"Yeah, it was a gift."

* * *

Granny Laohu was picking the mountain's rocks when she noticed something was wrong.

The Qilin had a knack for these types of things. After all, its kind had been betrayed countless times before. But despite their ability to detect lies, that skill had never saved any of her people. And it would not save her.

"Why did we help that boy?" The tiger mulled on top of the floating island, flicking little pebbles down.

She looked up, her tail swishing.

"You know his family."

"I… do." Granny Laohu sighed.

"You know, I always trust your judgment." The tiger said.

Granny Laohu smiled. It had known it since it was just a little cub. Now, it had all grown up, into a handsome young lad.

She let out another sigh. The only thing Qilin was good for was passing judgment. But some days, she didn't feel that was true either.

"I trust Zero." Granny Laohu said. "That is enough."

The peaceful forest seemed to agree.

"It's peaceful today," Granny Laohu murmured, but the stillness didn't comfort her.

"Isn't that a good thing?" The tiger muttered. "Normally we have to get the trees to behave or worse. And don't get me started on the bunnies."

It shivered.

"No, something's wrong, it's too quiet." Granny Laohu said.

It was mid-day. By now, there would be a couple of fox spirits bickering about whatever, or the shan-gui's inviting Granny Laohu to a game of mahjong… but nothing.

It was like everything had fallen asleep.

No, it couldn't be… she extended her divine sense out. Suddenly, the world she perceived seemed to lose its color, like it had been switched to grayscale-mode. She could see further than she could see before, in a 3D panoramic view. Still, silence. Everything appeared to be asleep. But something was walking through the forest, someone…

As if noticing her glance, it smiled, and rushed out from under the first, arriving so fast at Granny Laohu's face that if she had blinked, she would have missed it.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The man smirked.

"You…"

"I thought we lost the boy, but it looks like we didn't have to worry about that. Turns out, we've found something even better…"