Class Awakening: Working Hard Can Evolve My Classes

In the northwest of the Underground, a hooded figure walked into a building. When the figure entered, they removed their cover, revealing a young face. His hair was a dark shade of yellow, blending in with the gloomy atmosphere of the building.

The young man’s face was likewise as gloomy, but there was undeniable wariness in his eyes. If Zeke were to see this man, he would recognize him instantly. It was none other than Franz.

"Ren! It’s me, Franz!"

Franz shouted, his voice echoing in the building. But then his expression changed, a hand silently appearing on his neck. He sensed a ghostly presence emerge from his back, caressing his throat calmly.

"Hey. Why are you shouting? Do you wanna die?"

An irritated voice came from the ghostly presence.

"I-It’s you, Ren, right?!"

Franz cleared his throat, lowering his voice. The hand caressing his throat paused, then landed on his shoulder, patting him quietly. A moment later, a short man with black hair stepped out of the shadows.

"What do you want, leech?"

Ren walked over to Franz’s front, looking at him with irritation. Franz attempted to control his anger, but he wasn’t great at controlling his facial expressions, so Ren quickly noticed and let out a chuckle.

"Useless trash."

"You..."

Franz clenched his hand tightly, but knowing his purpose for coming here, he composed himself. He took a deep breath and met Ren’s eyes directly.

"You want to get closer to Gene, right?"

Ren paused.

"You should know about what happened in the first month, right?" Franz pressed further, seeing that he caught Ren’s attention. He smiled slightly. "Gene targeted a student of 1-D, our class representative that time... Andrei Nurvech."

Hearing that, Ren’s eyes suddenly lost interest.

"Get out."

Woosh!

Franz was startled, but before he could continue, he suddenly found himself high in the air.

His eyes turned blank, looking below him. Ren was a few inches shorter than him, yet right now, he was being held up like a toy—while the short man’s eyes were staring at him like he was utter trash.

"Tch. Give me a reason right now why I shouldn’t kill you."

Franz couldn’t help but freeze. He was starting to think going here was a bad idea from the start. Ren was serious about his threat. After all, Ren had killed people before... he even made a name for himself as the Blue Dagger of the King Ward before he came to the academy.

Ren was also fully capable of killing him, as much as Franz hated to admit that. After all, he ranked in the Top 10 of the first-year leaderboard.

"L-let..." Franz felt the hold getting tighter. His eyes briefly turned red, and his hand shone softly. Ren glanced at it but didn’t move, merely tightening his hold even further.

Woosh!

Franz’s hand swept against Ren, but the latter dodged it with ease. But Franz’s target was his pocket, taking out a special kind of gun. He pointed it towards Ren, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.

If he had known that Ren would be this aggressive, he would’ve gone to the others instead, but...

It was precisely because Ren was this aggressive that Franz felt like he made the right choice.

"That’s a Deathgazor!"

Ren’s eyes widened slightly, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes. Deathgazors were guns that could pierce through even Tier III Monsters. As far as Ren knew, they could only be found on the Surface.

"So the rumors were indeed true, you have an uncle in one of the five dark associations...!"

Ren’s expression changed, turning solemn.

The five dark associations were the forces that controlled Ash City’s Underground. In the absence of the Ash City Lord, they were the ones who protected and managed the Underground. They divided the Underground into five domains, each representing their personal territory.

Where Ren lived, the dark association that ruled was called Kingsmaker, remnants of fallen wealthy families who valued ability and talent above all else.

The relationships between each association appeared smooth on the outside, but only those who were involved knew how fragile it is.

Knowing this, Ren’s eyes quietly lost interest, letting Franz go.

"Tch. Just get out of here, and I’ll forget about this."

Franz sucked in a deep breath, holding his throat calmly. He raised his head and looked at Ren, showing a slight smile. "What? You’re scared?"

Ren narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Keep provoking me, and I’ll kill you for sure."

Franz’s heart skipped a beat, his smile turning ugly. "Me provoking you? You were the one—"

"Get to the point," Ren clicked his tongue. "What do you want?"

’This person...’

Franz took a deep breath, composing himself. He looked at Ren and spoke. "I want to make a deal with you. I heard from someone close to Gene that he’s planning to target Andrei again."

Ren raised a brow. "Why?"

"I don’t know..." Franz shook his head. "I don’t even know why Gene is targeting Andrei. He’s already a third-year student and part of the top 10 students in the entire academy. But I guess that they know each other outside the academy, a relationship that’s bad enough to develop a grudge between them."

Ren was silent, simply looking at Franz.

"Listen, I heard you want connections, right?" Franz continued. "I’m simply offering you an opportunity to get on Gene’s good side. My associate said that Gene can’t afford to personally take action against Andrei right now since the situation between third years is tense."

Ren was still silent, but then he suddenly smiled.

"You’re from Greedy Wolf, aren’t you?"

Franz wasn’t surprised, smiling slightly. "So do you want to?"

"Forget Gene," Ren shook his head, causing Franz’s heart to drop. But then his gaze turned to the Deathgazor. "The Greedy Wolf has connections to the Surface, right? Give me some X-IV and a Deathgazor."

Franz looked at Ren like he was a piece of shit.

Ren smirked. "So? I’ll deal with Andrei for you, or whoever you want. This must be about your status as a class representative, right? Want me to do something about it in the class exam? No problem."

Franz gritted his teeth, but then he sighed.

"... I agree. But you have to beat him so much that he won’t ever think of being arrogant again."

Ren looked at the dagger in his hand.

"That’s not a problem, but why are you so hung up on Andrei?"

Franz’s expression changed subtly, clicking his tongue. "That’s none of your business."

Ren hummed a tune, looking more and more curious.

"A deal has been made." Franz changed the topic, looking at Ren calmly. "Don’t tell anyone about our meeting. If you do your part, I’ll give you what you want."

"Yeah." Ren nodded slightly. He looked at his hand. "One, two, three..."

Franz stared at him. "... What are you counting for?"

"The longer you stay here," Ren answered without raising his head. "The longer I’ll beat you up. If you’re not out of my face by ten seconds, I’ll do my best~☆."

Hearing his threat, Franz felt a chill crawl on him. His expression changed. He quickly turned around and dashed out of the exit, running away with his hood on.

’Damn Ren, damn Andrei...!’

’Zeke Crimson... just you wait. Without Andrei protecting you, I’d like to see if you can keep that indifferent act...!’