---
Steven stood up from the bench and began walking around the garden.
Max was following him at a distance—not too far, but not too close either.
At that moment, Steven felt his watch vibrate. He checked it and saw that Mark was calling him.
He opened the video call, and his previously cold expression was replaced by a warm expression and a small smile.
Mark appeared on the screen in front of Steven.
[Hello, brother! Did you take the test?]
"Yes, I finished the written test. The practical test is in half an hour," Steven replied.
Mark said enthusiastically,
[I know my brother is very smart, so you'll do great on the test. I trust you.]
Suddenly, a cat jumped onto Mark and scratched his face.
[Hey, Bai! What's wrong? Stop!]
Byrne stood in front of the screen, pushing Mark away, and waved his small hand toward Steven.
The scene looked very funny, and Steven chuckled quietly.
"Hehehe," he said.
[Brother, Bai hates me. Why is he being so harsh with me?]
[Meow meow!] Byrne also began complaining, but no one understood his grievance.
Steven ignored the two children's complaints and told Mark,
"Mark, I need to end the call and go to the practical test location."
"See you."
[Okay, brother, see you… ah, ah, Byrne! Stop!]
Steven ended the call, but a warm smile remained on his face. It seemed that this brief call had lifted his previously annoyed mood.
Soon, he returned to his usual expression.
Max, who was behind Steven, had witnessed the entire scene and felt confused.
'Can he really show an expression like that?'
Max had spent a few hours with Steven, but they hadn't spoken. He had only followed Steven and noticed that his expressions were either calm or cold and had barely changed since their meeting.
So he assumed that Steven was unfeeling and expressionless.
But what he had just witnessed left him bewildered.
---
While Max was still confused, Steven returned to his cold expression and continued moving forward until they reached the location of the practical test.
The practical test area was a very large hall, containing many machines resembling capsules with multiple screens to observe events inside the capsules.
The machines were very advanced virtual reality devices, making the user feel 99% of the sensations as if they were experiencing reality itself, not virtual reality.
The instructors had set the sensation level to 70% to test the students' endurance.
Several students had already gathered in the hall, waiting for the test to begin. Some looked very nervous, some confident, and others were chatting and laughing with friends they knew.
Steven found a spot with fewer students and waited for the test to begin.
A middle-aged man wearing rectangular glasses and formal attire entered the hall.
He stood in front of the students and spoke loudly so every examinee could hear him. It seemed he was using magic to amplify his voice.
[Hello, examinees. I am the vice principal, my name is William. Shortly, the practical test will begin.]
[I will explain the test procedure, so please pay close attention, as I will not repeat it.]
[Before starting, please go to the rank assessment machine to register your rank and talent.]
[As for the test procedure, we divided the students into four groups. Each group has a different colored card with your number. The colors are green, yellow, red, and blue.]
[Examinees with the same color must not attack each other, or you will fail. For different colors, each card you obtain by defeating an enemy gives you 10 points. In other words, all your enemies are all colors except your own.]
[Also, beware! Your enemies are not only humans but also monsters. Each monster defeated gives points: Rank G grants 5 points, Rank F grants 10 points, Rank E grants 20 points, and Rank D monsters are rare and grant 50 points.]
[Okay, please do your best to succeed in this test. Good luck… Ah, I forgot to mention, the test will last for 6 days. You must rely on yourselves to survive. I wish you all success. Goodbye.]
After William left, a commotion broke out among the students as they divided into four groups according to card color. Some became enemies with close friends, while others formed teams with students of the same color.
Steven had a blue card but didn't mix with the students of his color. He preferred to stay alone unless forming a team was necessary.
He observed the virtual reality environment's design. The setting was a large forest, and in the middle of this forest stood a tall tower.
The tower was the final mission students had to complete. This mission would determine the students' success or failure. It was a surprise test to assess how quickly students adapted to sudden changes.
Steven always carried survival tools in the wilderness stored in his ring, as most of his missions required him to survive in the wild.
As for the sword, he had prepared one suitable for a student of medium strength.
In short, Steven had prepared everything he needed to stay unnoticed.
He raised his hand and checked his earring to ensure it was working properly.
Then he went to the rank and talent assessment machine.
Everything went smoothly, and his rank and talent were registered according to the values he had set using the earring.
Steven's earring also acts as a rank suppressor, so he could not use his true rank unless he removed the earring from his ear.
Steven noticed a big commotion near one of the rank assessment devices.
He assumed it was Kai because Kai had nothing to hide, unlike Steven.
So a 14-year-old reaching Rank C would definitely create a big scene and could even cause suspicion about whether he was truly 14 years old.
Steven ignored the commotion and went to a quiet spot, as it was none of his concern.
He waited until all the students had registered their ranks, and finally, they were allowed to enter the virtual reality environment.
Steven sat in the capsule, closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was standing in a forest, surrounded by trees everywhere.
Steven drew his sword, and his blue card was still attached to his clothes.
He began exploring the forest. There was another thing William hadn't mentioned: you could also earn points by collecting rare herbs in the forest, which could be stored in the VR storage.
However, most rare herbs were guarded by monsters.
Steven knew that during these days, a large-scale battle would occur among the student groups of different colors in the open space of this area.
So he decided not to go to the open space during the first five days.
But it would be necessary to go there on the sixth day.
'Hmm… I need to get a few points. I wrote that Kai got 1,500 points in the test and secured first place with a 600-point lead over second place. So 250 points should be enough for me.'
Kai's rank in the story at the start of the academy was D.
This meant that Kai now was stronger than Kai in the story, so Steven didn't know how many points the story's Kai would get.
Steven decided to aim for 250 points and avoid the open space for the first five days.
So he began moving in the opposite direction from the open space, deeper into the forest.
--