Friday felt less like a day and more like a personal attack.

I was face-down on my desk, half-asleep, half-dead, and fully convinced that if I moved even an inch, my soul would simply exit my body out of protest.

The past few days had been nothing short of torture.

Mornings were spent pretending to be a functioning student—listening to lectures, avoiding eye contact with walking disasters like Ravian and company.

While nights were apparently reserved for my suffering, courtesy of Gawain, who had taken it upon himself to turn me into a "capable individual."

’Disgusting.’

Who even authorized personal growth?

"Your evaluations are finally done," Instructor Dmitri announced, his voice cutting through my peaceful descent into unconsciousness. "Your permanent groupings will now be posted, including your rankings."

I did not move.

I did not care.

I was one blink away from entering a coma.

"Also," he added, "let me praise the student who got a perfect mark in his evaluation—Gawain Delacroix."

I snapped upright so fast even my soul lagged behind.

"That’s MY—" I stopped myself. "That’s—yes! Exactly as expected!"

I clapped proudly like a mother at her child’s first school recital.

"You see?" I beamed, turning to Gawain like I had personally trained him. "Cheering you was the best decision I’ve ever made!"

Gawain didn’t even glanced at me, he looked like he wanted to disown me.

Meanwhile, the rest of the class applauded respectfully while I applauded like I was the one who received the praise.

"Now," Dmitri continued, and something about his tone made my instincts kick in, "while you were being evaluated, you should already be aware that your every move was recorded by Lumina Drones."

He looked at me directly.

I slowly stopped clapping. I didn’t know we were also being recorded. "...Fuck," I whispered under my breath.

"There are five things not to do during a Rogue Hunt," he went on.

I sank back into my seat.

Lower.

Lower.

If I could merge with the floor, I would.

"First," he said, raising a finger, "be aware of your surroundings. Rogues are literally roaming around. This was an evaluation test not an outdoor exercise. I’m impressed some of you didn’t get mauled to death by your carefree attitude."

A few students glanced at me, then quickly looked away, their eyes avoiding mine.

I stared at the desk.

The desk stared back.

We all knew that he was pertaining to me.

"Second—help when someone is in need. I understand it was an individual evaluation, but if you don’t want to help..." he paused, looking straight at me again, "...then don’t cheer for another team while they’re fighting for their lives."

"...But they were doing great, especially since Gawain was there," I murmured.

"Or worse," he continued, ignoring me completely, "do not interrupt someone mid-combat just to "encourage" or "distract" them."

I pressed my face into the table. "...In my defense, he was taking too long."

Suddenly, flashes of the scene replayed in my mind

Cheering.

Popcorn.

Encouragement.

Threats.

Regret.

My stomach twisted. Maybe I shouldn’t have cheered so loudly.

"Third—hide if you’re tired. Do not crawl in the open like you’re offering yourself as a sacrifice."

I groaned softly. "I was conserving energy..."

"Fourth—learn how to fight. Charging head-on without knowing how to summon your weapon makes you a liability."

"For the record," I murmured, immediately sitting up straighter like a defendant in court, "my useless aide pushed me when I was clearly not ready—!"

I turned and glared at Gawain Delacroix with all the betrayal I could physically express in my current half-dead state.

Gawain didn’t even flinch. "It worked anyway," he muttered.

"Fifth—take every test seriously as if your life depends on it."

"Well I wanted to," I muttered under my breath, crossing my arms, "if my teammates actually took me seriously..."

Silence followed.

I slowly lifted my head and looked around.

Only to regret immediately.

Everyone was staring at me with different reactions. Others looked amused, some traumatized, while others glared at me.

Oh.... Those were the people from the evaluation. The ones I cheered at, mocked, threatened, and emotionally damaged.

They were all looking at me like I was some kind of walking disaster.

One of them blinked at me, another narrowed their eyes, and someone in the back actually pointed at me.

"That’s her..."

"She’s got the balls to confront Sebastian."

"Only a lunatic recognizes one of their kind..."

"Isn’t she the one who joined and shamelessly ate our popcorn—?"

"The crazy one?!"

"I told you she threatened us!"

"I still hear her voice in my dreams..."

I dropped my head back onto the desk. Maybe if I stayed still, they would forget about me.

"Miss Frostine," Dmitri suddenly called. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

I froze. ’Maybe if I didn’t respond—’

"Stand up."

I slowly stood up. "...Yes sir?"

He looked at me with the kind of expression teachers reserve for lessons. "The five rules I just mentioned?"

"...Yes?"

"You managed to break all of them.... Efficiently."

The class finally erupted. Some laughed, some coughed to hide it, while some didn’t even bother hiding it.

"I’ll do better next time sir," I said trying to hide my embarassment.

"You better be."

I sat back down immediately. "...I’m transferring schools."

"You won’t."

"I’ll fake my records."

"I’ll expose you."

"I’ll disappear."

"I’ll find you."

I glared at Gawain. "...Why are you like this?"

He didn’t even spare me a glance. "Because you are like that."

"...Next time," I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "I promise to behave."

"That would probably happen in a thousand years," he replied without hesitation.

"Shush!" I hissed, resisting the urge to strangle him with my own sleeves.

"Now look in front," Dmitri said, tapping his OmniSync. "These are your individual rankings and permanent groupings. Rankings will change weekly based on sparring, written, and performance tests."

I sat up straight while looking for name, and when I did, my stability left my body.

————————————

Individual Master Class Rankings (5 Classes combined)

Rank #500 Blanca Frostine (-30 points)

————————————

I blinked.

Once.

Twice.

"...Negative?" I whispered.

’It wasn’t zero, nor low, but it was below existence negative.’

I turned slowly to Gawain. "...Is that even legal?"

"It’s impressive."

"That’s not the reaction I need right now."

"I didn’t say it was good."

I pressed a hand to my chest. "I didn’t just fail... I upgraded failure."

All eyes were on me once again.

"Minus thirty?!"

"Is that even possible?"

"She broke the system!"

"Well at least she’s the first one to have a score like that..."

I straightened slightly. "...At least I’m unique."

"You are," Gawain nodded. "As a warning sign."

I sank back down then—against my better judgment—I looked at the group list.

————————————

Group 3

Alpere, Diana

Frostine, Blanca

Grimm, Sebastian

Rupera, Stephano

Vegara, Julienne

————————————

"No."

I leaned forward, looked again hoping, praying, and manifesting that I was just hallucinating.

"No," I repeated, louder this time.

Because right there, printed clearly for the universe to mock me, Sebastian and Stephano are together with me in one group.

I sat there, back straight, hands politely folded on my desk like I wasn’t internally planning my own funeral.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

’Pretend you’re not a disgrace to academic society.’

"Miss Frostine," Dmitri’s voice cut in.

"Y-Yes sir?" I straightened even more, as if posture alone could restore my dignity.

"You look dissatisfied."

"...No," I lied immediately. "I look... motivated."

Gawain coughed loudly.

Dmitri stared at me for a moment longer before continuing. "I must say, I’m impressed."

’Is he being sarcastic?’

"You’re the first ever student to achieve an evaluation score like this."

’At least I tried.’

"Keep it up and you’ll repeat another year."

A few students laughed.

I smiled because what else could I do?

Cry?

Never.

I still have my dignity.

"I’ll make sure I won’t, sir," I said, voice calm, composed, and completely different from the screaming happening inside my soul.

This will be the last time.

Absolutely the last time.

Unless—

I slowly turned my head across the room.

Stephano was already looking at me like I personally caused his suffering and I could already feel a very familiar presence nearby.

"Minus thirty," a voice said, amused.

I didn’t even need to turn my head to know who it was.

I closed my eyes briefly. ’Peace was never an option.’

"...Okay maybe not the last time," I muttered under my breath as I placed my chin on my hand and stared blankly at the board again.

Rank #300.

-30 points.

So basically I’ll soon be the legendary failure icon.

"...Do you think there’s a reward for being first in something?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," Gawain nodded seriously. "Public humiliation."

I sighed. "...Fine. I’ll fix this."

"Oh?"

I straightened again, determination slowly replacing embarrassment. "I’ll climb that ranking."

"From negative thirty?"

"Yes."

"With effort?"

"...Let’s not get unrealistic."

Gawain looked at me.

"...I’ll try," I corrected.

Somewhere in the classroom, whispers were still circulating.

"The minus girl..."

"She’s in Group 3..."

"With Sebastian and Stephano?!"

"Oh she’s doomed."

I closed my eyes and smiled faintly. "...They have no idea," I murmured.

Gawain raised a brow. "About what?"

I opened my eyes, staring ahead with dangerous calm. "That I can be much worse than them."

He blinked then sighed. "...I believe that."