“KNOCK!” “KNOCK!”

"Aimee, why should we be knocking on Elbert’s shop door? This is a first. It feels strange,"

The teacher who had been conversing with Archie earlier at the school, rapped on the front door of Archie’s father’s shop.

“Dad! Trust me on this,”

Aimee responded, standing beside the teacher with a look of discomfort on her face.

The door of Troy’s Family Noodles swung open, revealing Archie’s father behind it. Dressed in a white chef hat and chef robe, he greeted Aimee and the teacher with a warm smile and a nod.

“Come inside.”

Aimee took in the sight of five tables scattered around the room, each encircled by chairs. A cash counter was positioned at the front, and a small entrance at the back led to the kitchen.

Despite it being 10 AM, there were no customers in sight, only Archie’s father pacing around the restaurant, nervously wiping down the tables.

The trio settled down at a table. Archie's father offered them beverages, but they politely declined.

“What is the special occasion that brings both father and daughter here?” Archie quipped, but his tone was more mocking than jovial.

“Elbert, we're here for your son,” Aimee’s father replied, his gaze scanning the room.

“Grayson, Archie left quite a while ago,” Archie’s father, Elbert, said, looking perplexed.

Aimee and Grayson were taken aback by this and Grayson stammered,

“Did he tell you where he was going?”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about the ROT test,”

Elbert responded calmly, seemingly prepared for Grayson and Aimee's anxious reactions regarding Archie.

Grayson mulled over this for a few moments before asking,

“How much money did you give him?”

“Money!” Elbert was taken aback by Grayson's question, and Grayson clarified,

“There's a 500-echoes fee for the ROT trials. How much did you hand him?”

(Note: 1 dollar is equivalent to 1 echo, so 500 echoes is equivalent to 500 dollars.)

“He didn’t ask for any money, then how did he get it?”

Elbert was puzzled, but suddenly both Elbert and Grayson turned their gaze towards Aimee.

Aimee attempted to avert her gaze but quickly succumbed to the pressure and admitted,

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Archie sold his skateboard and his PC,” Aimee mumbled, her gaze fixed on the floor, a sense of disappointment in her voice.

Elbert slammed his fist on the table in anger, but quickly composed himself.

“Elbert, take a deep breath. I'll handle Archie. He must have headed to his school,”

Grayson reassured Elbert, who was doing a good job of hiding it, but a few tears had welled up in his eyes.

Grayson took Aimee’s hand firmly and they made their exit from Elbert’s shop.

They embarked on their journey to the school, the silence between them heavy.

After a while, they reached a sprawling three-story building. Two buses were parked in front, ready to depart.

Grayson and Aimee scanned the buses for Archie, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As other students and teachers urged them to board so they could depart, Aimee and Grayson, left with no other option, took their seats, their minds filled with worry and uncertainty about whether Archie had come to school or fled from home.

Despite Archie's tendency to keep to himself, Aimee and Grayson held onto the hope that he would never abandon his father, no matter the circumstances.

After a grueling two-day journey,

They finally arrived at the ROT test center where the students' tests were being conducted.

Aimee disembarked from the bus to see a sea of students her age, all gathered to take the test from her entire district.

Grayson went to verify the list to see if Archie had made it.

At this moment, not just Aimee’s school, but the entire country was conducting the ROT test simultaneously.

The ROT test takes place annually at the ROT center located in each district. With 200 countries, each with hundreds of districts, millions of students are taking the ROT test right now, but only a third of these students will be graded Ethereal.

Aimee’s eyes darted around the crowd, searching for Archie. She asked her friends if they had seen him.

“He still studies here! I thought he dropped out mid-year.”

“Average Archie! I have no clue.”

“I don’t care about that loner. Who does he think he is, the hero of his own story?”

No one seemed to know where Archie had gone. After some waiting, all the schools arrived at the center.

“Attention, everyone,” a commanding female voice echoed from the front.

For the first time since Aimee arrived, she looked up to see a massive ten-story building towering over them, casting long shadows. The building was unremarkable, covered entirely in white paint. It lacked windows and resembled a toy house.

“Silence, everyone!” The same voice reverberated, silencing the crowd.

Aimee couldn’t see upfront. She was standing at the very back among her schoolmates. She could only hear the female voice through the mic, she believed.

Suddenly, an image appeared on the white wall. It was an image of a woman holding a mic in her right hand. She had long blue hair, was clad in a black leather jumpsuit, and was holding a staff in her other hand, with a gun holstered at her waist. She moved around the ground with an air of authority.

The shadows cast by the building allowed them to see the image clearly, as if it was pre-arranged.

“Listen carefully to what I have to say. If you fail to understand, I will gladly repeat it for you, but…” She paused and grinned at the students,

“You'll have to pay 10,000 echoes for me to repeat it.”

Her statement made everyone listen attentively. She began to speak, anticipation filling the silence that enveloped the area.

“My name is Justina, my rank is A99, and I will be your examiner for this test.

You're already aware of the test, but it's protocol to understand what you're getting into.”

Justina snapped her fingers, and a table materialized on the screen above her.

It displayed,

[Graded Ethereal]

[SS

S

A

B]

[Non-Graded Ethereal]

[C

D

E

F]

“This test will determine whether you're losers or winners.”