「 Phase Two: Repel Fierce Beasts has concluded. All remaining candidates will be teleported out in ten seconds. 」
The notification caught everyone off guard.
"It's OVER? Just like that? This feels like the ending got cut short!"
"Actually, think about it. The final beast was a Six-Star Storm Sparrow. That was probably the hardest boss the City Lord's Mansion programmed into Phase Two."
"Sure, but that makes Luke the weird one. He cleared the whole thing. Every round. Every boss. Nothing even came close."
The exam was finished, but the buzz around Luke hadn't died down. If anything, it had intensified.
"Last year's top scorer in Ashenvale only built a Four-Star card. Same level as Marcus and Hailey."
"And this year, Luke just casually obliterated a Six-Star Storm Sparrow."
"He basically speedran the entire unified exam. When the college entrance exam comes around, how far can this guy actually go?"
"I looked it up. In last year's exam for the Eastern Region, every student who built a Six-Star card placed in the top twenty at minimum. And Luke's Card Spirit still looked like she had plenty left in the tank, so..."
"Top ten. He could genuinely push for top ten in the Eastern Region."
The country was divided into four major regions: East, South, West, and North. The college entrance exam ran simultaneously across all four, but rankings were calculated separately by region for historical reasons.
Top ten in any single region was the kind of achievement that most students couldn't even fantasize about without feeling embarrassed. And here were hundreds of eliminated examinees casually discussing it as a realistic possibility.
"Look! Luke's coming out!"
The teleportation flash deposited Luke back in the Westbridge Academy plaza, and the entire courtyard went dead silent.
Every head turned. Every eye locked on.
"Uh." Luke recalled Mana to her card just before the transport, and now found himself standing alone in the middle of several hundred people who were all staring at him like he'd grown a second head. The plaza was so quiet he could hear his own breathing.
The female students were the worst. Even from across the courtyard, Luke could see the glint in their eyes. The kind of look that suggested they were calculating the fastest route to close the distance between them and him.
He swallowed.
"Luke! Where's your Card Spirit? Can we see her?"
"Forget that. Luke, I've actually been interested in you for a while now. Want to hang out sometime?"
"Yo, GOAT! Can I please, please get a look at your card? Just for a second?"
The crowd converged. Voices overlapped. Personal space ceased to exist as a concept.
From the fragments of conversation bombarding him from all sides, Luke pieced together what had happened. The Phase Two livestream. Mana's performance. The fact that he'd essentially soloed the entire exam and delivered Westbridge its first-ever citywide #1 ranking, humiliating Crestfall and Ironvale in the process.
No wonder they were acting like this. He'd accidentally made himself a folk hero.
As for that one girl who'd straight-up asked him out in front of everyone? Luke let it slide right past. When you had a Card Spirit like Mana waiting inside your card, mere mortals couldn't compete.
"Alright, alright. Luke just finished the exam, give the man some room to breathe." Mr. Tanner materialized out of nowhere with the practiced timing of a teacher who'd spent years intercepting students before situations escalated.
Finished the exam? Activated? The only one who fought was Mana. The crowd had thoughts, but the instinctive deference to a teacher's authority held. Slowly, reluctantly, people started to back off.
Though plenty of them were already scheming. If ever there was a time to latch onto a rising star, this was it.
"Thanks, Mr. Tanner." Luke straightened his shirt, which had been pulled askew by the mob. "You're a lifesaver."
"Can't help it. You went and made yourself the biggest story in the city." Tanner's tone was teasing, but his eyes were sharp. He waited until the crowd had thinned enough for privacy, then dropped his voice. "While we've got a second. Your card. What's its actual level?"
Level was the most direct measure of a card's strength. Tanner had his suspicions, but he wanted confirmation from the source.
Of course you do, you sneaky bastard. You rescue me just to interrogate me.
Luke rolled his eyes, but Tanner had just pulled him out of a human stampede. Fair trade.
"Six-Star."
"Knew it." Tanner had been bracing for it, but hearing the number spoken aloud still hit like a physical blow. His heart rate spiked, held for a second, then settled.
He recovered quickly. There was more to deal with today.
"Come on. Vice Principal Graves asked me to bring you to her office."
The walk across campus was an experience.
The deeper they went into Westbridge's grounds, the more attention Luke attracted. Teachers paused mid-conversation to watch him pass. Underclassmen pointed and whispered. A few of the bolder sophomore girls actually waved.
"Popular, huh?" Tanner nudged Luke with his elbow. "How's it feel?"
"Pretty great, actually." Luke glanced at him sideways. "You ever experienced anything like this, Mr. T?"
The question hit Tanner like a brick to the sternum. If he'd been this popular back in the day, would he still be single now?
Why the hell did I ask that? What kind of self-inflicted wound...
Tanner shut his mouth and walked faster. Luke grinned and let the silence do its work.
They reached Vice Principal Graves's office without further incident.
"There you are." Graves looked up as they entered, and the faintest trace of warmth cracked through her usual glacial expression. "Congratulations, Luke."
"Your performance in the unified exam was exceptional. You didn't just beat Crestfall and Ironvale. You left them in the dust. The entire school owes you for that."
Coming from the woman the student body had nicknamed "Mistress Annihilator," that was practically a love confession.
"Thanks, Vice Principal." Luke kept his response measured. After a campus-length gauntlet of identical compliments, he'd built up a tolerance.
Graves noticed. The composure impressed her more than the exam results had.
"Principal Harlow is still at the City Lord's Mansion," she continued, shifting to business. "The reward from the City Lord's office will need to wait until he returns."
She paused, and her hand moved toward something on her desk.
"However..."
For every 500 Powerstones extra chapter.