I opened up my phone to see the notification from the school.

-

RESULTS FROM THE ENTRANCE EXAM

Student #000001

Your result: Passed

Details can be found on the next page.

-

I guess that was to be expected.

“Did you pass, Sumire?”

“Is that something that you’re supposed to ask me? I’m sure you can make an accurate guess, Akira.”

She really was confident.

Sighing a little, she leaned up against my table.

“By the way, Sumire. Have you been buying abilities?”

“Of course. I’ve been to quite a few {Rank Challenges}.”

“Really?”

I opened the SHOP app.

SHOP - Abilities - Universal Abilities

[Starburst] - 12,000 points

[Iron Fist] - 13,000 points

[Overclock] - 21,000 points

[Power Dance] - 24,000 points

[Snipe] - 32,000 points

… [Unlock More] - 1 Star

I could definitely afford a few, but I didn’t really see a need for them at the moment.

Looking a bit deeper, I saw that you could equip three abilities, two ‘universal abilities’ and one ‘passive ability’. It stopped people from just stacking hundreds of abilities on top of each other. I might wait until I get some stars and try to figure out synergies. I didn’t have to use them for fights at the moment, anyway.

Sumire began walking toward the door.

“The exam really helped cull the students in front of me. It seems that being in a high Caste doesn’t necessarily mean you’re smart.”

“I suppose.”

“I’m going to a {Rank Challenge} now, I’ll see you after.”

With that, she head out.

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[Sumire POV]

What’s the point in not trying to win? I thought I knew everything about Akira, but I didn’t understand him at all.

Conveniently for me, the exam managed to remove a lot of the students who were in the Castes above. There also seemed to be a weird condition called ‘Rank Redistribution after Special Exams’ that allowed me to {Rank Challenge} students who were several Castes above me. I was getting pretty bored of ranking up one Caste at a time.

…

With that, I was standing opposite the lowest-ranked student in Caste 10-J.

In the lush, modern arena, the doors slowly closed behind us. The fighting space was circular and had lots of room for movement. There were stands around the outside, like a sports stadium, but I still had never seen anyone spectate a match before. To my knowledge, it wasn’t possible to do that yet—they’d likely introduce it later on, as they always do.

The boy glared at me indignantly.

“You’re a cunt, you know. I just finished that fucking exam and now I’m here dealing with you.”

“You didn’t have to accept it~”

The defendant is allowed to decline a {Rank Challenge}, but it automatically counts as a win for the challenger. It would’ve saved him the pain he was about to feel though.

“You left me no choice, little girl.”

「You may begin.」

Suddenly, he planted his foot on the ground. Grabbing his right wrist with his hand, he made a gun shape with his fingers. His [Snipe] was activated.

I quickly sidestepped to avoid the magical bullet. Watching my movements, he continued to aim his finger gun at my head.

It’s too obvious when you do that~

His aim was quite good, but he didn’t try to predict my movements. All I needed to do was slightly move my head right as he was about to shoot. Thump. The magical bullets simply splattered into the wall behind me.

I placed my hand on the ground. I used [Overclock].

Instantly, I was right up against his face.

“Fuck…”

As fast as he could, he tried to punch me with [Iron Fist], but I easily moved out of the way, letting his knuckles glide past my face.

Pressed up close to his body, I kneed him in the gut.

Thump.

Clutching it in pain, he fell to the ground. Saliva splattered all over the ground as he frantically tried to regain his breath.

“Agh… fucking hell…”

All of a sudden, I saw him making a weird gesture with his hands.

That was probably something to do with his {Personal Ability}. It’d be best if I took a few steps back to see what it was. This was his last plea after all.

Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.

As I moved my leg, I noticed that there was a [Life Chain] on it. Metallic and stiff, it quite easily held my left ankle close to the ground. I guess I wasn’t going to be getting out of it any time soon.

Sigh.

“What’s the point of activating your ability when you’re still on the ground.”

“Shut up… I don’t care…”

He pointed his finger gun up at me again.

Thump.

It hit me straight in the chest. Aside from producing a little puff of air and tainting my uniform, nothing happened.

The boy was completely shocked.

“What…? How did that not hurt you? Was that your {Personal Ability}?”

What an idiot. I guess he didn’t comprehend the ability. [Snipe] was an ability which scaled the strength of the magical bullet shot with the distance it travelled. Basically, the further you are from your target, the more damage it deals.

Kneeling only a metre or so in front of me, that bullet was practically useless.

“Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. You’re meant to figure that out yourself, aren’t you?”

“Fuck. I give up. There’s no point.”

I guess he noticed the skill difference between the two of us. Still, you couldn’t give up until at least 5 minutes have passed. There’s still just under a minute.

He dispelled the [Life Chain] on my ankle, so I walked toward him.

Grabbing him by the hair, I tossed him onto the ground. Crash.

“What are you doing?! I said I give up!”

“So? There’s no rule saying I can’t keep fighting, is there?”

“What’s the point?”

Crunch. I stood on his ankle, pressing it against the floor.

“Agh! What the fuck! Stop. Stop!”

Fighting wasn’t only about winning. It was about dominating your opponent. This was a school where only the strongest would survive. So I’ll take my time.