Getting a hold of himself, Sam stood up with a faint smile on his face. "I'm fine," he said, wiping a smear of blood from his arm.
"Want to tag along with us?" the boss asked.
'Success!' Sam had been waiting for this exact invitation. It was the entire reason he had intervened in the first place, but he knew he couldn't afford to show his eagerness.
"Let me think about it," he replied coolly.
The boss nodded. "Take your time."
The burly men quickly processed the mutated leopard's carcass. Once they were finished, the boss simply touched the massive beast, and it vanished into thin air.
'A storage ring.' Sam's eyes sparkled. From his inherited memories, he knew this was an incredible spatial item capable of accommodating massive amounts of cargo regardless of size. Unsurprisingly, it was another high-end product manufactured by BlueBlack.
'I need to get involved with that company somehow.' The thought enticed him, opening up a myriad of technological possibilities he couldn't wait to explore.
'Control your thoughts. Focus on getting out of here alive first.' Sam calmed his racing heart, climbed down from the tree, and retrieved his baggage from his hiding spot.
"I'll come with you!" he called out.
The boss gave him a faint, appreciative smile. "Thanks again for helping out back there."
"No problem. Glad I could lend a hand."
…
Sitting in the backseat of their rugged off-road vehicle, Sam calmly watched the harsh wilderness roll by, finally able to relax.
"I'm Alok," the boss said, glancing back at him from the front seat. "And you are?"
"Sam."
"Take this." Alok handed him a thick wad of paper.
'Money.' In this world, just like in his previous one, money was the foundational steppingstone to a secure life. With a faint smile, he accepted the cash without any feigned humility.
"Thank you," Sam said.
"It's nothing. You earned it," Alok replied. "So, where is your destination?"
"The Alahar district."
"Oh? I'm a local there."
"Really?" Sam's eyes widened. It was a massive coincidence but having found a reliable ride straight out of this hellhole and back to civilization was more than he could have ever asked for.
"I live in Chandi," Alok added with a faint smile.
Sam's jaw practically dropped. The coincidence was almost unbelievable. "I'm a student at RMS there."
"We have a long way to go. Why don't we exchange contact info?" Alok suggested.
Sam didn't see any downside, so he smoothly exchanged numbers with the older man. The rest of their journey passed quickly, filled with easy and heartfelt conversation.
…
After parting ways with the hunters, Sam caught a local transport and hurried straight to his residence: the Gyan Bharti Government Hostel.
The moment he stepped through the entrance, a middle-aged man marched toward him, immediately bombarding him with a barrage of questions.
"Sam! Do you have any idea what you just missed?"
Sam simply lowered his head. He knew exactly what he had missed: the matriculation exams and his guaranteed entry into the prestigious Runic Association Intermediate College.
But since he still lacked the full context of his predecessor's memories, he couldn't exactly explain himself or complain.
The man's harsh voice reverberated through the quiet hall. "Answer me! Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry, sir," Sam replied, keeping his voice muffled and submissive.
The middle-aged man clenched his teeth in annoyance, clearly frustrated but relieved the boy was safe. "Fine. Go to your room and reflect on your actions."
Sam darted away immediately, bolting down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him.
"These kids!" the middle-aged man sighed, rubbing his temples. "I can't just let that boy ruin his own life."
…
Bang! Sam slammed his dorm room door shut and firmly locked it. Throwing himself onto the narrow bed, he stared blankly up at the ceiling.
"What should I do now?"
'Sigh! I need to make a solid plan.' A flash of anger crossed his eyes—mostly directed at the previous owner of his body. 'How could he be so dumb to get lured out there?'
Shaking off the useless frustration, he forced his mind to focus on his immediate future.
'I only have one option left: the supplementary examinations. Passing those will be enough to get me admitted into this district's standard intermediate college.
The original owner's dream of attending the elite Runic Association Intermediate College is dead in the water. Better to just leave it as a dream.'
He let out a heavy huff of breath. Releasing the pent-up stress of the past few days, he sat up and unzipped his baggage. He pulled out the wad of cash Alok had given him.
'This is enough seed money to establish a business in the VR network.' This thought wasn't just a spontaneous fantasy; it was the start of a well-thought-out survival plan.
First, he had his mysterious special ability: Merge. He theorized he could use this ability to combine basic raw materials into higher-quality items and sell them on the VR market. It was a fast, simple, and effective method to generate income without drawing unwanted attention to himself in the real world.
Second, since he had missed the main exams, he now had ample free time to thoroughly test this idea and successfully implement it before the supplementary exams began.
Third, there was the issue of college life itself. This bothered him deeply. In his past life, he knew the staggering difference in resources between a world-renowned institution and a merely "good" local college. People often cynically claimed that college was a waste of time, but they failed to mention that a top-tier environment forces you to bring out your best while mercilessly exposing you to the harsh realities of how the world truly operates.
If the gap in resources was that large in his previous world, the difference in this magical, monster-filled reality would be as vast as the gulf between heaven and earth. He couldn't afford to compromise on his education.
His ultimate goal remained unchanged: to dominate his intermediate college rankings and eventually force his way into the Runic Association College.
It was a long road ahead. He still had to ace the supplementary exams, survive intermediate college, and pass the final entrance exams before he could even dream of those elite four years.
Idly flipping through the cash notes, his thoughts drifted to the structural rules of this society.
'Right now, I'm on roughly the same footing as any other tenth-grade student in the world,' he mused. 'The real divergence begins in intermediate college.
Up until the matriculation exams, every student shared the exact same goal: building a physical foundation and mastering basic weaponry.
The government schools provided all the required materials, meaning there was very little difference in combat power between commoners, the wealthy, or orphans like me. But failing to enter a government-sanctioned intermediate college would effectively doom your entire life.'
Intermediate college was where true runic warriors were forged. There, a student's physical foundation was rapidly strengthened by officially synchronizing their bodies with rune energy.
But the most crucial aspect—the thing that created an insurmountable gap between the elites and the weak—was the rank upgrade from F-Rank to E-Rank.
F-Rank humans had a hard maximum limit of 10 points in every physical and spiritual attribute category. E-Rank humans, however, shattered that mortal ceiling; their attributes could grow anywhere from 11 to a staggering 100 points.
Crossing that threshold was necessary to develop a solid mastery over rune energy, which would play a vital role in surviving the elite four-year colleges.
'So, my immediate path is set,' Sam concluded, a determined fire burning in his azure eyes.
'Take the supplementary exams, get into an intermediate college, use the Merge ability to earn a crazy amount of money, and relentlessly invest every single cent back into my own power.'