Kaizen's eyes snapped open at exactly four-thirty in the morning.
He did not need an alarm clock. He did not need a rooster crowing outside his window. The sheer adrenaline of planning what was essentially a heist on a Saturday morning was more than enough to jump-start his heart into overdrive.
'Today is the day,' he thought while throwing off his covers with determination. 'Today I stop being a background texture in someone else's story. Today I get actual loot.'
He sat up and immediately looked toward the other side of the room.
Empty.
Klaus's bed was made with such military precision that the sheets were stretched so tight you could probably bounce a coin off them and watch it hit the ceiling.
'Of course he is already gone.'
Kaizen sighed while rubbing his face with both hands.
'Why did I even bother checking?'
It was not just Klaus either. Kaizen knew the game lore. The Main Characters and all the named NPCs never slept in on Saturdays, or any other day for that matter.
They were out there right now running full marathons, lifting enormous boulders, or meditating under freezing waterfalls like complete psychopaths.
Leo and the other three Heavenly Kings were all D-Rankers who had been born with natural talent, or family money, and incredible power handed to them on a silver platter. And despite having every advantage imaginable, they still worked harder than everyone else combined.
"It is completely unfair," Kaizen grumbled while dragging himself toward the bathroom. "How are the F-Ranks supposed to catch up when the elite students are grinding experience points at four in the morning? The game balance is fundamentally broken."
He took a quick shower. The water was pleasantly hot, but the moment he stepped out onto the tile floor, the morning chill hit him like getting slapped with a wet towel.
Shiver.
"Cold," Kaizen muttered through chattering teeth that clicked together rapidly. "I am an F-Rank. My cold resistance stat is basically zero."
He dressed quickly in his tracksuit, then grabbed a piece of paper from his notebook. He needed to leave a note for Klaus so the Demon King candidate would not think he had been kidnapped again and blow up half the dormitory building while searching for him.
Went for a small trip outside the academy. To clear my mind. Do not look for me. I will be back tomorrow.
He placed the note carefully on Klaus's desk, positioning it right next to a thick leather-bound book titled The Anatomy of a Soul. Kaizen briefly wondered if Klaus was planning to dissect him in his sleep, then decided he did not want to know the answer.
He grabbed his backpack from the closet and started packing the essentials:
Water bottle (currently empty, would fill later).
Flashlight (batteries included and tested).
A towel (always useful according to travel guides).
His student ID card (absolutely crucial).
A granola bar he found under his bed (slightly stale but still edible).
He slipped out of the room as quietly as possible and into the hallway.
The entire dormitory was completely silent. Everyone was either still asleep or already out training like maniacs. But once he stepped outside the building, the morning air immediately bit into his exposed skin with sharp teeth.
"It is absolutely freezing out here," Kaizen hissed while hugging himself for warmth. "If I am this cold right now in the courtyard, the mountain is definitely going to kill me. I desperately need thermal gear. I need a proper coat. I need thermal socks. I need one of those ridiculous fur hats."
He started walking quickly toward the Central Cafeteria building, his breath coming out in visible puffs.
A few dedicated students were jogging past him on the path. They were drenched in sweat, practically glowing with visible mana like human-shaped lightbulbs, looking like they had just stepped out of a sports drink commercial.
They glanced at Kaizen, who was shivering violently, pale as a ghost, and walking like a zombie, then quickly looked away in either pity or disgust.
Kaizen ignored them completely. He had a clear destination in mind and no time for their judgment.
The Central Cafeteria.
It was a massive building with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that glowed with warm yellow light in the predawn darkness, looking like a beacon of hope in the cold morning.
Kaizen walked through the entrance and was immediately hit by a wave of warmth. The smell of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon washed over him, and his stomach let out a loud roar of desperate hunger that echoed embarrassingly across the entrance.
A few early-bird students turned to stare.
Kaizen pretended he did not hear it and walked faster.
He walked straight past the Premium Station where they made custom omelets to order for fifty Crowns. He walked past the Energy Station where they sold mana-infused smoothies that supposedly boosted your magical core for one hundred Crowns.
He stopped at the Standard Issue counter, also known as the Poor Student Special.
A bored-looking woman was mechanically ladling grayish oatmeal into plain bowls with the enthusiasm of someone attending their own funeral. Next to her was a basket overflowing with slightly bruised apples and hard-boiled eggs.
Price: 0 Crowns
"Free," Kaizen whispered with genuine reverence. "My absolute favorite number in the entire world."
He grabbed a tray. He loaded it up with oatmeal that looked like wet cement, three hard-boiled eggs, and two apples that had definitely seen better days.
He sat down in a corner table, positioning himself as far away as possible from the Gym Rats who were loudly discussing their muscle gains at an obnoxious volume while flexing at each other.
The Zenith Academy was a scam in many different ways. Everything cost money here. The dormitories were divided into payment tiers ranging from luxury suites to glorified closets.
The food in the cafeteria was priced according to quality. The equipment and combat gear were so exorbitantly expensive that most students went into debt.
But the basic necessities were free.
Why?
Because the tuition fee required to even enter this place was astronomical. It was enough money to purchase a small country and still have change left over.
Rich nobles like Lance Wind paid the tuition without even blinking. SSS-Class potential geniuses like Leo Crimson got in on a full Hero Scholarship that covered absolutely everything from tuition to housing to meal plans.
Kaizen peeled his hard-boiled egg slowly, watching bits of shell fall onto the tray.
'Wait a minute.'
He paused with the shell crumbling in his hand.
'I am not a noble. I do not have family money. And I am definitely not a genius on any kind of scholarship.'
He looked down at his student ID card lying on the table.
[Name: Kaizen Renji Asahina]
[Rank: F-]
If he was just a background extra, a complete nobody with no family history and no money to his name...
'Who paid my tuition?'
The egg slipped from his fingers and rolled across the tray before bumping into his bowl.
'If I do not have a scholarship because I have no special talent... and I do not have parents or family to pay for me...'
'Did I just spawn into existence with my fees already magically paid?'
'Or is there some mysterious benefactor somewhere funding my entire education?
He looked around the cafeteria nervously. The shadows in the corners seemed a little longer and darker than before. A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold outside.
"Great," Kaizen muttered while picking up his egg and brushing off a piece of shell. "Another existential mystery to add to the growing pile of things I cannot explain."
He shoved the entire egg into his mouth at once.
"Does not matter right now," he mumbled around the egg. "First, I eat breakfast. Then, I steal a legendary sword from a dungeon. Then, I worry about my student loan debt and mysterious benefactors."