Yagami crawled out from the wreckage, clutching his throbbing throat with a face etched in pure terror.
Just moments ago, Asuna had sheathed her blade and used the tip of the scabbard to thrust him back. Had she not, even with a blunt edge, his throat would have been shredded given how incredibly thin a rapier's point remains.
Watching from the sidelines, Ichika's pupils contracted as she snapped into a defensive stance. She had gravely underestimated this senior; they weren't even playing the same game.
Technically, Asuna's physical stats sat at a 27. In her prime, she had reached a 39, but she had grown lazy this year, neglecting her training. Her days were consumed by gaming—who had time for drills?
And yet, a genius remains a genius. For someone like Asuna, reclaiming her peak condition would only take a week or two of focused effort. This was the chasm between the ordinary and the gifted. Even with a stat of 27, she could suppress Yagami, whose physical rating hit 40.
Sensing the tide had turned, Ichika's eyes flickered with a predatory glint as she slunk behind Asuna. While everyone's attention was anchored to the main confrontation, she lunged, driving her karambit toward Asuna's exposed back.
Asuna, having just downed Yagami, felt the instinctive prickle of danger. She spun on her heel, kept her sword sheathed, and used the length of the weapon to jab Ichika squarely in the gut, sending her reeling.
Ichika skipped across the floor, coughing up bile as she tumbled. Even then, Asuna was showing mercy; if she had drawn the steel, the combined momentum of Ichika's lunge and her own counter-thrust would have likely impaled the girl's abdomen.
Asuna's gaze turned icy. "Attacking from behind is hardly something to be proud of, Underclassman."
It took Ichika a moment to recover, wheezing from the floor. "Well, you're just too good. How else am I supposed to win?"
Gritting her teeth, Ichika scrambled up to coordinate with Yagami. At this stage, martial ethics were out the window. Even Yagami conveniently forgot his prideful talk of a one-on-one duel, opting for a silent, frantic pincer attack.
Faced with a dual assault, Asuna stopped pulling her punches. Holding back against two opponents of this caliber was a death wish.
The battle reignited with a fury. Despite being outnumbered, Asuna didn't just hold her ground—she dominated. In her serious state, her strikes were relentless.
Before long, Ichika and Yagami were sent flying out of the castle. In the chaos, two crystals tumbled from their pockets—literal "loot drops" hitting the floor.
Asuna sheathed her rapier and scooped them up. They were identical to her own. This meant that by the end of the exam, her side would net at least 400 class points.
Asuna's eyes sparkled. (Wait, that means next month my personal allowance increases by 40,000! I can top-up my gems and buy that new skin. Perfect!)
Looking at the two she had just thrashed, her gaze turned oddly affectionate as a new scheme took root.
"Oh, wait!" Asuna tapped a fist against her palm, lost in thought. "If I send Hashimoto and Katsuragi to occupy their castles now, isn't that another 200 points?"
"That's 60,000 points in my pocket next month! I can buy so many more games!"
Eager to secure her "walking wallets," she turned to take the two leaders hostage. But by the time she looked up, they had already vanished into the treeline.
"Eh?! Where'd they go?! My money—I mean, my hostages! Where are they?!!!"
Asuna panicked, searching every nook and cranny, even checking the toilets in a desperate bid not to lose her prize.
Determined, she decided to hunt them to the ends of the earth. She barked orders to Katsuragi and Hashimoto to seize the abandoned castles while she handled the runners herself.
Hashimoto and Katsuragi exchanged a look before dropping to one knee, apologizing for being "useless" to their King.
Asuna waved them off airily. "Stand up, it's not your fault. Their strength was beyond your pay grade. Together, those two could probably wipe out our entire class."
They didn't disagree. Without Asuna, they would have been finished.
The two set off to fulfill her orders, while Asuna vanished into the woods, hunting her prey—mostly to ensure they couldn't return and ruin her grand financial plan.
Technically, Asuna shouldn't have been hurting for cash. Class B received nearly 100,000 private points a month, and Ryunosuke had appointed her Vice President of the Student Council with a matching salary. In truth, she had begged for the job...
With nearly 200,000 points a month, she should have been set—if not for her pathological gacha spending.
In this boarding school, there were no parents to monitor her. Even her physical stats had slipped from 39 to 27 due to a year of sloth. Yet, she still suppressed Yagami (40) and Ichika (32).
This was the terrifying reality of talent. The White Room was a crucible where graduates emerged with no fear of death because they faced it every day. The training killed those who couldn't keep up; the success rate was abysmal.
The fifth generation only had two survivors. Even in Ayanokouji's year, he stood alone. The third-ranked, Yuki, was confined to a mental institution. The second-ranked, Eiichiro, was sacrificed just to let Ayanokouji escape that concrete prison.
But in truth, Ayanokouji had never truly escaped his father's prison... the one built inside his own heart.
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