‘I worked too hard just to be in 2nd place!’

Beatrice still had her arms stretched as she looked at the javelin that landed 210 meters away. Although it quickly lost its momentum once the wind that surrounded it was gone, it still pierced the ground enough for it to be firmly stuck.

The whispers of the students started to reach Beatrice’s ears as she steadily calmed herself down, a satisfied smile slightly painting her face.

“Good work, fish!”, Mr. Jacobs approached her with a thumbs up, “I don’t think anyone can top that this year. Looks like I am the boss again this year!”, Mr. Jacobs then laughed as he beckoned the next student to move to the designated box.

“That was awesome, Bea!”, Harvey clapped his hand as soon as Beatrice returned to the stands.

“Thanks”, Beatrice fixed her glasses as she nodded towards Harvey. She then looked at Van from afar, who was also looking in her direction, clapping his hands.

And as expected, the students who came after Beatrice could not beat her record. The only one that came close was also an Enhancer-type System Holder at 196m. It was the red-haired boy from Mr. Lang’s class.

‘Finally, 1st place!’, Beatrice let out a sigh of relief as she rolled her fist.

Harvey, while shouting, “Omega Planet Destroying Fist!”, scored the lowest at 16m. Perhaps it was probably not the best time for him to discover that punching a javelin by its tail was not a good idea. Now he was beside Van, getting treatment from Healer Agnes during the break.

“Kakaka! Did you see that?”, Harvey laughed, “I swear if I didn’t slip, it would have gone through the wall!”

“I… I see”, Van could only slide away as Harvey tried to tap his shoulders.

‘But you didn’t slip though’, was the collective thought of all the people who heard him.

“Don’t move too much!”

“S…sorry”, Harvey instantly quieted down as he got a scolding from healer Agnes.

“What made you think doing that is a good idea?”, Beatrice, who was focusing on recovering her mana, couldn’t help but look at Harvey with raised eyebrows.

“Because it looked cool”, Harvey said without any trace of hesitation on his face, “A man should always do everything in style”

“It put you in the last place though”, Beatrice shook her head as she sighed.

“Pft”, Harvey snorted as he heard Beatrice’s words, “Who cares about the rankings when you have style. But…”, he said as he flexed his muscles and stood on the bleachers.

Healer Agnes could only groan in frustration as she followed him up as she still was not done in healing his hand.

“Using my Supreme Fists…”, Harvey then said as he passionately raised his fist in the air, “…I will show you how I will redeem myself by dominating the next game!”

Harvey’s eyes were full of fire as he gripped his fist tight. However…

“You can’t participate in the next game”, healer Agnes said as she released a slight chuckle through her nose, “I am still not done in healing your hand”.

The damage on Harvey’s hand was nothing to scoff at. The tail of the javelin slid on the back of his hand, tearing skin and flesh apart. It honestly made healer Agnes bewildered as to why Harvey does not even flinch or show any signs of pain on his face from this wound.

“…”

Harvey could only quietly awkwardly sit back down when he heard healer Agnes’ words.

“…Do your best to redeem me, you two”, Harvey looked at Beatrice and Van with a heavy but fleeting gaze, he then slowly let his body fall onto the bleachers, “I leave it… to you guys”, he said softly as he closed his eyes, letting out one final breath.

“You’re not dying!”, Beatrice could not help but pinch Harvey’s leg.

“Ow ow ow!”, Harvey quickly got up, acting as if Beatrice’s pinch was much more painful than the pain on his hand.

Van could only furrow his eyebrows as he watched the two, ‘Are people in the city all like this?’, he thought.

“Break time’s over, fishes!”

“Let’s go, Van!”

Beatrice quickly ran to the field as she heard Mr. Jacobs’ call.

‘I won’t lose to you this time!’, she howled in her mind as she glanced back towards Van, her eyes full of spirit.

Seeing Beatrice’s competitive eyes, Van could only sigh as he stood up from the bleachers. But before he could go far, Harvey’s words pierced his ears.

“Don’t hold back”, Harvey said, his previous playful tone all but gone, “It would only help her strive more if she knows where she stands”

Van was slightly surprised by Harvey’s sudden change of temperament. But even so, Van did not turn his head back to look at him, he just nodded before continuing to walk to where the other students were gathered. It would seem that he wasn’t the only one who noticed the look of obsession in Beatrice’s eyes.

Van sighed as he stood beside Beatrice. ‘Having friends… too complicated’, he thought, ‘But, it somewhat… feels nice’. Van was completely unfamiliar with what he was feeling right and did not realize it– but he was slightly smiling as he looked to the ground.

“Now that all of you are here, let us explain the rules of the game”, Mr. Lang said as he walked back a dozen meters away from the students, “No attacking the groin, and don’t fight with the intention of killing your opponent, remember, this is only a game. But even with that said, you do not have to worry about hurting your opponent, any grievous wounds you receive can be healed, even if it is a lost limb”

Mr. Lang then raised his hand in the air. And as soon as he did so, the surrounding field where he stood started to quake violently. It then raised up, quickly forming a large circular platform made of earth.

“You win by knocking your opponent out, making them submit, or when we say you have won. Also, you lose automatically if you fall off this platform”, Mr. Lang said before stepping off the platform, “With that said… Let’s start the game. You, up the stage”, he then pointed to one of his students to come up to the platform.

Although the student was a bit surprised from being called first, he quickly collected himself as he jumped on the stage.

“Hmmm…”, Mr. Jacobs placed his hand on his chiseled chin as he scanned his students, but after a while, his eyes settled on Van.

“Since you didn’t have a chance to show off earlier, you go first, speedy fish”, he beckoned for Van to come up to the side, “Do your best and humiliate Lang’s students again, Kakaka!”

“O…okay”, Van could only nod, slightly fumbling as he climbed up on the stage.

Almost all the students and the guild representatives that were watching on the side could not help but turn quiet as they saw who was fighting for Mr. Jacobs’ class first.

Bellick quickly retrieved his recording ball once again and ordered it to focus on Van. They all waited in anticipation as to what kind of skill this small boy will show them again.

Van’s opponent, however, could only grit his teeth when he realized who he was fighting. But after a few seconds, he let out a deep breath. If he managed to defeat this skinny boy in front of him, then the guild representatives would surely be looking at him. This was a good chance, he thought.

“My name is Ceddrick, I have an Evolution-type System”, he said as he saluted towards Van.

“…Van, Enhancer-type System, I… I think”, Van slightly bowed towards Ceddrick, with one of his hands hidden behind his back. He was slightly nervous as he looked at all the people that were watching him.

“Alright, fishes!”, Mr. Jacobs clapped his hand, “The one who will win here will advance to the last round, do your worst!”.

Mr. Jacobs then slammed his hand in the air, signaling the start of the match, “Fight!”

Ceddrick’s body slowly started to change as soon as the fight commenced. He growled as a pair of horns started to protrude from his forehead, his legs slowly bulking up.

However, while this was happening, Van was already running towards him.

“!?”

Ceddrick’s vision then quickly turned dark as… Van suddenly threw a patch of dirt straight to his eyes. He then felt his body fall off the stage as Van slammed his whole body towards him.

“…”

“W… winner, Van!”, Mr. Jacobs’ robust voice stuttered for the first time as he announced the winner of the match.

“D… disrespectful!”

“What was that!?”

“The guy hasn’t even finished transforming yet!”

“Have you no honor!?”

“That’s cheating!”

“Did he even use his System!?”

The students started complaining and throwing jeers towards Van as soon as the match ended.

Van, however, just dusted off the dirt on his hands with a satisfied expression on his face, as if he wasn’t even hearing the remarks of the other students.

You have to understand, life was different in the slums.