Chapter Eight

Ren stood at the entrance of the academy, the towering gates a familiar sight that now felt strangely foreign. He took a deep breath, bracing himself for what awaited inside. Months of grueling training had changed him, but he knew that the people here might not see past his old self.

As he walked through the gates, whispers started to ripple through the crowd. He could feel their eyes on him, the weight of their judgment pressing down.

"Look who's back," a voice sneered from a group of students huddled near the main building. Ren recognized them—his old classmates.

"Can't believe he actually came back," one of them muttered, loud enough for Ren to hear.

"He probably thinks he's some kind of big shot now," another added with a taunting laugh.

Ren's heart sank, but he kept his expression neutral. He couldn't afford to show any weakness.

"Heard he got a perfect score on the Den-Sai test," a girl named Yuki said, her voice dripping with skepticism. "Must've been pure luck. There's no way someone like him could pull that off."

Ren clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms to make them ooze with blood.

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‘This is why I didn’t want to come here, I’ll show these bastards’

***

Ren had asked Mrs.Wang before going to the academy as to what he was to do there.

"Mrs. Wang, what exactly am I supposed to be doing at the academy?" he had asked, uncertainty shading his tone.

Mrs. Wang had given him a knowing smile. "You are to participate in a VR simulation of sorts. It's a highly advanced technology that we have stolen from the humans, consider it a progress check, for you."

“A progress check?”

“I mean, it would be quite disappointing if you didn’t improve much from when you were at the academy, would it not?”

“Ah, I see, it’s the same thing as the Den-Sai test, I am going to be expelled if I don’t perform well today, right?”

Ren had asked this with a bitter tone in his voice, just when he felt comfortable with his new life, he might be kicked out again.

Mrs.Wang didn’t say anything, she just stared at Ren, confirming his suspicion.

***

Directions:

1. You will each be dropped into a remote terrain which will be randomly generated by the computer.

2. Your goal for today is to survive 1 hour

3. There are extra points awarded for those who manage to complete certain hidden tasks

4. This will count as a pass as long as you manage to survive for 1 hour, you can earn one extra point with each kill.

5. Best of luck!

6. The last ten will automatically fail this class

Ren loved this, the one thing he wanted most was to kill the bastards who used to be his classmates. Now what better opportunity was there to kill them in the virtual world?

[Processing student information....]

[Fingerprint scan...check]

[Genetic data test...check]

[User information loaded]

[Student, do you wish to enter the VR world? Y/N]

[Yes]

The last thing Ren heard was gears grinding before everything went dark.