Pardon me?
What kind of sociopath designs an orientation like this?!
The dream of a "normal life" shattered into a million jagged pieces. This wasn't a school, it was an execution chamber.
But as the command echoed, the violence wasn't what she expected.
There was no screaming, no clashing of steel, and no desperate scramble for the exits.
Instead, there was only the sound of a thousand strings being cut simultaneously.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
One by one, the sea of students collapsed.
Bodies slumped over pews; heads hit the stone floor with sickening thuds. Within seconds, the vibrant crowd of "youngsters" was a carpet of unconscious forms.
"Don't worry, nobody is dead," Blue whispered. "This is the Academy's tradition. On the first day, they cull the weak to harvest the elite. Someone in that crowd just unleashed a mental purge."
The scene triggered a dormant memory, her first days as a contract operative.
They had been forged into heartless tools through blood and desperation, forced to kill until only the most broken remained.
"Nobody is dead?" Lithia turned her gaze toward the hovering sprite. "Then who did this? Who has that kind of reach?"
In the center of the mass of fallen bodies, a single figure rose.
He stood effortlessly, his posture relaxed despite the carnage surrounding him.
On the stage, the High Sage didn't look horrified, he looked like a man who had just found a diamond in a coal mine. A sharp, predatory smirk pulled at his lips.
"It seems we have a truly gifted guest this year," the Sage rumbled, his voice dripping with dark anticipation. "Tell me, boy. What is your name?"
The youth looked up, his eyes vacant yet piercing. "Donovan."
The fragmented spoilers from her brother's late-night rants suddenly mixed into a single, terrifying truth.
She was looking at the protagonist. The "Strongest Assassin" himself.
And according to the story, everyone standing on this stage was eventually going to be a target.
╔════════════════════╗
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
New Entry: Protagonist
Encountered Target Name: Donovan
Danger Level: UNMEASURABLE
╚════════════════════╝
"Welcome to the West Trinity Academy."
***
In the aftermath of the ceremony, the name Donovan was the only thing anyone could breathe.
The school was cursed with the stench of an edgy webnovel, the "Black-Haired, Black-Eyed" prodigy walking through the halls while a sea of whispers parted before him.
He was the current undisputed King of the First Years, a walking bullseye for every power-hungry student in the academy.
Meanwhile, Cordelia had her own problems.
She stood at the threshold of her assigned classroom.
This was the Espionage Branch: Section F. The dumping ground. The "Trash Heap."
The academy had so little faith in this class that they'd assigned a "useless" professor like her to lead it.
The walls were a mosaic of vulgar vandalism and magical graffiti, and not a single student looked up when she entered.
With her doll-like face, she looked more like a lost student than a lethal operative.
Great luck, she thought, a headache throbbing behind her eyes.
Assigned to the worst section in the entire school.
The students began to snicker, the kind of low, condescending laugh meant to test a new teacher's breaking point.
Cordelia didn't flinch. Instead, she felt the familiar prickle of a presence moving into her blind spot.
"I know you're behind me. Stop whatever you're doing," she snapped, her voice cutting through the laughter like a piano wire.
She spun around, her gaze locking onto the space where a student was hovering. The room went dead silent.
[SYSTEM WARNING: CHARACTER INCONSISTENCY]
"Oh god! You weren't supposed to notice that!" Blue shrieked. "You're Cordelia! You have zero Espionage background! You're supposed to be oblivious!"
Was this character really so pathetic that she couldn't sense a basic ambush? Cordelia wondered, her assassin instincts flaring.
This isn't even high-level stealth, it's a middle-school prank.
She looked up, meeting the eyes of a tall, tanned blonde guy with a predatory grin. He leaned in, his shadow looming over her.
"Or what, Prof?" he challenged, his voice dripping with arrogance. "You gonna put me in detention?"
Lithia felt a vein throb in her temple.
God, I hate kids.