I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 236: The Scapegoat

Rancid Davidson stood across from them, savage-looking with raw power radiating from his posture.

Victor could feel the tension flare between them.

The boy swallowed and then stated; "Yes, it was I who sabotaged Victor Revenant!"

Hushed voices broke out within the room.

"Did you hear that?"

"What more is required if the culprit already confessed?"

The voices of two Instructors rang out as they considered the matter taken care of.

"No, this isn’t the person. Derek is responsible!" Victor jumped up in disagreement.

"Look kid, the culprit is already taken care of, what more do you want?" Another instructor who was clearly starting to get annoyed, voiced out.

"True justice... Not some lackey trying to take the fall," Victor stated with a strong tone.

The instructor was about to reply when Selene butted in.

"See, one of them confessed before that Derek was responsible. If he could just be brought in, he can tell you guys what he told me."

The instructors weren’t necessarily buying it but the Vice Chancellor wanted to pursue every possible angle and make sure the wrong person wasn’t being punished for such a serious crime so she finally spoke up.

Vice Chancellor Lysandra placed her hand on a communication panel. "Summon Derek and his associates. We’ll hear directly."

Minutes later, Derek strode in, backed by his gang with a prideful demeanor as always.

Derek’s voiced in a low and mocking tone. "Are we still doing this? Why don’t you ask the Secretary of Discipline instead?"

Selene took a step forward. "You...you bastard."

"You—tell them what you told me," she hissed while pointing fiercely at the one she had tied up to the boulder days ago.

He trembled and paused as if wrestling inner demons, then squeaked the words.

"Rancid...is...the culprit."

Selene’s hand shot out as if to grab him, but an instructor intercepted her.

She swallowed back her anger.

"What?" she rasped. "He’s lying!"

Victor drew a bated breath as his eyes narrowed sharply on the boy.

But the boy’s eyes were dead serious. He trembled as he spoke. "Rancid...was the one. He...claimed responsibility. Derek had nothing to do—just Rancid."

Rancid’s eyes flickered with shame. He stepped forward and spoke.

"That’s correct. I’m responsible. I did it." His gaze shifted to Victor. "I wanted you to miss the opening and get disqualified. It was my plan."

Selene spread her arms wide as despair blossomed on her face. "What? The dude swore it was Derek. I know he did. Someone flipped his words."

Victor forced himself to speak calmly, though every nerve in him screamed fury. "They switched things around. This must have been carefully orchestrated to stop Derek from avoiding the blame."

Victor’s voice rose calmly while staring at Derek: "You know what you did."

"Liars," Derek spat. "You must be out of your head."

The mage-goon boy cried out while pointing shakily at Rancid. "Rancid did it!"

Selene lunged forward again, but the instructor blocked her.

Derek stepped closer to Victor with his eyes hidden in calm contempt. "Look, dude. If Rancid confessed—why chase this further? Keep your head in the game. You won your weapon fair and square."

Victor’s eyes narrowed. He looked at Selene, then back at Derek. "You manipulated that him, didn’t you? That dude looks too dumb to be capable of something of this magnitude. Besides, he doesn’t have issues with me... You do."

Vice chancellor Lysandra cleared her throat. "We have testimony, a confession, and no evidence of coercion. Rancid Davidson is, by academy law, guilty. He will be expelled and sanctioned under Article 47."

Derek laughed quietly, then turned to Victor. "Don’t take it personally."

Victor’s aura suddenly burst forth, causing motes of Qi to drift out like a tidal wave.

Derek’s voice caught slightly. "What the—"

Victor stepped forward with an icy look. "You think you can get away with this. You think you’ve manipulated the system."

He looked at the Vice Chancellor. "If you don’t do the right thing—if you let him slide—you’ll be enabling someone who tried to kill a fellow student. Don’t blame me later for taking matters into my own hands—" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Victor’s aura flared higher. Power pressed outward, and the office trembled. Papers fluttered. Air cracked. Even the instructors took half-steps backward.

Derek’s bravado cracked as he felt an insane pressure mounting his shoulders. His knees trembled as he buckled slightly while struggling against this invisible tenacity in the air.

’Is this the power of one who defeated an S ranked?’ Sweat broke out of Derek’s forehead as he realised that Victor was no longer someone he could afford to mess with.

Victor kept his gaze locked on the Vice Chancellor. "Expel Derek. Immediately. Or I will."

The Vice Chancellor’s voice was measured, but her eyes were grim. "I cannot override academy policy without incontrovertible proof. A confession from Rancid—against academy guidelines—stands. Derek is acquitted of charges."

She pressed a tab on her panel. "Derek and associates are cleared. Rancid to be removed at dawn tomorrow."

With a wave of her hand, she discharged the pressure in the air, returning the surroundings to tranquility.

Victor also rescinded his aura, not wanting to destroy the entire room due to his temper.

’Whew... Safe... Almost forgot that the instructors won’t just sit back and let Victor do as he please.’

Derek smirked and walked away with his gang following behind him.

Selene’s eyes turned into slits as silent fury filled her heart.

Victor fingers knitted into a trembling balled fist as he watched Derek leave.

Vice Chancellor Lysandra looked at Victor with both pity and resolve. "I understand your frustration. But policy is policy. If you gather proof and witnesses and bring it to me. I promise you, I will act."

Victor let out a slow breath. His aura faded, the tremors subsided.

He turned to Selene. "Let’s go!"

She nodded in fierce agreement.

Later that evening, Victor sat in the darkness of his dorm, staring at the ceiling. Rage churned deep in his gut. He clenched his fists until his knuckles white.

He thought about how helpless he was in that room and how his life would have been in grave danger if he didn’t possess the Dragon Breathing Arts... And now the person responsible for that was walking around freely?

This also reminded him of how he randomly got attacked by a mana defense officer back in New Avalon City. No punishment was meted.

It was apparent that Awakened humans considered themselves higher beings that could do whatever they pleased without consequences and this seemed to have stemmed from the very root...

An error that should have been taken care of while they were still in the academy undergoing growth.

Now Victor was undoubtedly sure that someone like Derek would turn out to be a nuisance to people without any strength to defend themselves should he be allowed to graduate this academy and become a fully fledged mana defense officer.

These sort of people ought to be nipped from the bud before they grew up to be menaces that disregarded law and morality to satisfy their own maniacal urges.

Victor’s fury still simmered beneath his skin. His fingers drummed restlessly on his desk as flashes of Derek’s smug face taunted his memory.

Expelled? No. The real culprit had walked away untouched. Protected.

"Fine," his eyes narrowed as he muttered with a low tone. "I’ll take matters into my own hands."

Without wasting another second, Victor slipped beneath the sheets of his dorm bed, and put the gaming helmet down over his head.

[ Logging Into Ascendant Realms... ]

The world around him dimmed into a blur of noise and vibration and then darkness swallowed him whole.

Moments later, he opened his eyes in Ascendant Realms.

The surge of qi returned to him like a drug as the vibration of lightning thundered in the air.

He found himself standing in the exact spot he last logged out... perched on the edge of a craggy floating ridge, with the endless midnight sky above and the violet storm cloud rumbling ominously overhead.

Purplish lightning cracked.

Victor vanished from his position and reappeared thirty feet to the right with one activation of shadow blink.

*BOOM.*

An immense charge of pressure slammed into the earth where he had been standing a heartbeat before.

Debris from the purple lightning strike scattered everywhere causing shimmering dust to cascade down the ridge like a glowing waterfall.

"Phew," Victor exhaled while brushing dust off his shoulder. "That was close."

His eyes scanned the horizon, but there were no signs of movement... no players, no creatures. Just the ever-raging purple lightning above, the floating river curling ominously to his side, and the cold, unnatural pull of gravity skewed sideways under his feet.

He flicked open his system interface and pulled up the party and friend list.

Thankfully, everyone was online.

He tapped open the chat and sent a quick message:

> Fang Chen: "Status update. Where are you? Any news on Xuan Qing or the others?"

A few seconds passed. Then:

> Aeri Fan: "Still no sign of the three that went ahead. Remember we split up after fighting that beast. After you Logged out, I also logged out once to deal with some stuff IRL. Came back and they weren’t responding to messages anymore."

> Brin: "We tried pinging their location, but they stopped replying halfway through. Description made no sense."

The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)𝒆bnov(𝒆)l