The next day arrived. The day of Team Gray’s selection test.

Inside the guest dorm, Cael combed his long silver hair.

He wore black pants and a dark gray shirt. After a few moments, he tied his hair back, making it look like a small ponytail.

Cael stared at his reflection. His eyes fell on his right wrist.

Recalling yesterday, Cael sighed in relief.

When he had learned that Junior could regress, he was startled. After all, this was a variable beyond his control.

Fortunately, Junior was not that smart. It had been relatively easy to subdue him.

And now, that variable was his subordinate.

Cael turned his head and looked at Edwin, who was feeling nervous about the upcoming trials.

Cael did not say anything to calm him down. Instead, he chuckled and said,

"Let’s get going."

Outside the room, they met their teammates, Aria and Brania.

Since these trials took place in a virtual world, they were not worried about getting injured.

They were slightly worried about the optional objective in the first trial, fighting a [Gold] rank dummy.

But only slightly. After learning that Cael could suppress an opponent’s rank, they sighed in relief.

Nonetheless, they did not know how long Cael could maintain that skill. They decided to strike with all their might.

On their way, all four of them were silent.

Hundreds of people, ranging from ages sixteen to twenty, came and went from one of the Academy’s buildings.

Team Gray entered the building and waited patiently for their turn.

Soon enough, Team Gray was called.

"Let’s do our best."

Cael said to his teammates before they all entered the virtual pods.

...

Cael opened his eyes and found himself in a white room.

Edwin, Aria, and Brania also opened their eyes as they looked around. Then a virtual interface appeared before them.

"Team Gray. This is Trial 1. You can choose this trial in two types. One in waves. All at once. There is also an optional [Gold] dummy to gain bonus points."

After reading the options, Cael chose all at once, including the [Gold] rank dummy.

Soon, virtual beings began to materialize before them.

Twenty [Iron] rank dummies.

Ten [Bronze] rank dummies.

Three [Silver] rank dummies.

One [Gold] rank dummy.

A total of thirty-four dummies.

Seeing the numbers, Edwin muttered,

"Aren’t we being a bit reckless?"

After all, Edwin, Aria, and Brania were only [Silver] rankers. Even if they stopped the [Silver] dummies, Cael himself would have to fight the remaining dummies alone.

Cael only smiled and did not reply.

A countdown began to beep.

As soon as the countdown hit zero, all the dummies opened their eyes.

But before they could move, Cael activated his skill.

Battle Reaper’s Dominion spread through the arena.

Instantly, all the dummies had their ranks drop by one major stage.

But Cael did not stop there. He lifted his hand upward.

Moonlight released from his body and began to materialize into moonlight swords.

This was something Cael had realized during his training with Seraphina.

Moonlight could materialize.

He had gained those insights from the mana construction of Mana Sovereignty.

Cael learned that moonlight could materialize even without Mana Sovereignty, an unexpected result.

Cael looked at the dummies, which were just about to take a step forward.

Under the astonished gazes of Team Gray, Cael waved his hand down.

Instantly, all the moonlight swords fell.

-BOOM.

-BOOM.

-BOOM.

The moonlight swords moved fast. In a single second, all the dummies were pinned down, their heads pierced.

The virtual interface opened again.

Time cleared: 3 seconds.

On to the second trial.

...

The white room changed into a forest. Before Team Gray stood a large mountain. They could see a flag on top of the summit.

The interface gave a brief explanation of the trial.

Cael quickly read the info and turned back. He saw the amazed gazes of his teammates.

Cael tilted his head.

"What?"

Edwin was the first to speak.

"You have a special element?"

Only then did Cael realize his teammates had never seen him use moonlight before.

Cael said softly,

"Let’s talk after the trials."

Aria nodded.

"You owe us a treat."

Brania agreed.

Cael shrugged.

"Fine by me."

Just like before, a countdown began to beep.

Cael took a deep breath, even though this was just a virtual world.

As soon as the countdown hit zero, Cael released wind and enveloped his teammates, making them float. They were startled.

"What are you—"

"Wa-wait."

"?"

Before they could say anything else, Cael started running up the mountain.

His body was enhanced with wind. Not only that, but behind him, the wind carried his teammates.

They were baffled. Cael did not explain this, but they felt embarrassed as they realized they were being dragged along.

As Cael ran, an arrow shot toward him seemingly out of nowhere from the side.

Cael did not even turn his head. The arrow suddenly froze and blasted away.

A few seconds later, the ground beneath Cael suddenly broke.

But Cael did not stop. He stepped on the "air" and jumped back onto solid ground.

The higher he climbed, the more traps he encountered. But Cael did not care.

Soon, he saw the flag clearly and reached it.

Trial 2 completed.

Cael dropped his teammates onto the ground.

Ignoring their gazes, he checked the result.

Time cleared: 31 seconds.

Actually, Cael could have been even faster if he had used his mana vessel to the fullest. Not to mention, he was only using [Gold 1] output.

Still, it was a very impressive result.

"On to the final trial."

Before anyone could respond, the mountain vanished. The forest dissolved.

Team Gray’s vision blurred as the virtual world shifted around them.

When their vision cleared, they found themselves standing in a large hall. And it was vast.

The ceiling stretched high above, lost in shadow. The walls were lined with windows that let in soft, colorless light.

And there were five hundred people.

Some were young. Some were old. Some wore uniforms, clean and pressed.

Some wore costumes, strange and mismatched. Some were playing games on the floor. Some were eating at long tables.

Some were walking. Some were sitting. Some were laughing. Some were staring blankly at nothing.

Everyone was doing something.

Everyone was alive in their own virtual way.

A virtual interface opened before Team Gray. This time, it displayed only one line. Three words.

Find the imposter.

The interface also informed them of the rules.

Team Gray had twenty guesses, or lives. Each time they accused the wrong person, they would lose one life.

The final score would be tallied by the number of lives remaining and the time taken to complete the trial.

Cael did not immediately start the trial like before. Instead, he turned and looked at his teammates.

"What do you guys think?"

He could not help it. The trial’s motive was simple, but they were lacking a method.

Any method. Five hundred people. One imposter. No clues given. No hints.

Edwin shook his head. He did not have any ideas either.

Aria and Brania looked at each other before shaking their heads as well.

Cael inwardly sighed. He had already been expecting this.

The interface informed them that the trial would automatically begin in five minutes.

Until then, they could not move from their spots. They could only observe. Only think.

Cael looked around the hall as he contemplated.

He could not see all the people inside from where he stood. He tried to use his mana perception to scan the crowd, but he was surprised to find he could not.

His mana was there, but it would not extend beyond his body.

’Restricted until the trial starts.’

But strangely, Cael noticed something odd.

Either the virtual humans couldn’t see them or were just ignoring them.

Some glanced in their direction. Some walked past without a second look. Some seemed to look right through them.

Cael wondered.

Weren’t they the strange ones here? Four outsiders in front of virtual beings.

If everyone in this hall were a virtual being, then the four members of Team Gray were the only real ones. The only outsiders. The only ones who did not belong.

But the trial asked them to find one imposter.

But from the perspective of the virtual world...

Wasn’t Team Gray itself the imposter?

No. That was too simple. Too obvious. The trial would not be that straightforward.

And besides... the goal is to find "imposter" not "imposters".

Soon, the five minutes passed.

A countdown began.

The moment the countdown hit zero, Cael felt it.

A pulse. A shift. A single presence that stood out from the rest.

Cael muttered under his breath,

"Is that all?"

He stepped forward. His teammates watched in confusion as he walked through the crowd. He did not hesitate. He did not search. He moved with purpose.

He stopped before a sick-looking boy who was drinking coffee. The boy’s hands trembled slightly.

His eyes had dark circles beneath them. He looked exhausted.

Cael put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said,

"Found you."

Instantly, the hall vanished. The people vanished.

Team Gray found themselves back in the white room.

Edwin immediately asked,

"What just happened?"