The next morning on the way to school the air was colder than usual; it was the first real sign of the autumn season now. The moment I came through the gate, a crowd gathered in front of one of the giant transparent panels in the courtyard caught my attention. When I got closer, I saw a new announcement glowing on the panel:
[Student Panel / School Announcement]
The 4th Period Exam Schedule has been published. Check your student panel for details.
There was a tension on the faces of the students around me that I had never seen before. There were nine weeks until the 4th Period Exam — that is, the whole 3rd period, which was said to pass without exams, would pass in the shadow of that exam. A group of first-year students was talking in low voices in front of the panel; words like "cutoff," "scholarship cut," "if I don't pass" reached my ear.
Though two months would normally seem like a long time, in terms of the exam's importance it was actually very short; because the classes were many and the subjects hard.
When I entered the classroom Elena was already in her seat, her brows knitted as she looked at the papers in front of her — it was the first time I had seen her this worried. Dex was quietly looking out the window, but the usual serenity in his eyes was a little deeper today. And Alex, unusually, was scribbling something in his notebook without talking to anyone.
"Good morning," I said, sitting down beside her, keeping my voice as relaxed as possible.
Elena lifted her head; the sparkle in her eyes had dimmed a little. "Good morning, Kai," she said, then took a deep breath. "Did you see the exam schedule?"
"I just saw it," I said, shrugging. "What's there to take so seriously?" Elena looked at me with disbelieving eyes, then shook her head from side to side, as if my laziness had no limit. "You really aren't curious about anything, are you, Kai?" she said, half in reproach and half in admiration. "You'll understand when you find out."
Hearing this, a slight unease passed through me. Maybe this time, hiding behind the mask of indifference wouldn't be so easy.
Two days after the exam schedule was announced, I learned that we had entered the final week of club selection — this was that selection window Alex had mentioned at the start of the period, the one that "closes a week before the period begins"; the clubs started in the 3rd period. When I woke up in the morning my System greeted me with a small notification:
[System Notification]
Your elective club registration has not yet been completed. Final registration date: 5 days. Participation is mandatory.
I closed my panel and got up out of bed, muttering. "As if there weren't enough responsibility in my life already," I said to myself.
At breakfast on the weekend I brought the subject up with Master Ren. "Apparently I have to choose a club, it's mandatory," I said, with a faint displeasure in my voice.
Master Ren answered without lifting his head from the holographic equivalent of his newspaper. "That's good," he said. "It means an extra environment, an extra identity, an extra alibi. But don't pick something that will take you outside too much or draw attention."
On Monday, on the way to school, my panel suddenly vibrated with a notification that went to everyone at once:
[Mid-Term Update]
Your overall ranking has been renewed. Check your panel for details.
I paused in the corridor and opened the panel. When I looked at the figures my breath caught for a moment.
[Student Profile: Kai — Age 18]
Intelligence: 58 | Defense: 31 | Attack: 32 | Speed: 33
Control: 62 | Capacity: 31 | Leadership: 30 | Adaptability: 30
Total Stat Score: 307 / 800
Overall Ranking: 4 / 1200
From two hundred sixty-six to three hundred seven. Forty-one points. For a moment I couldn't accept it; because I hadn't done any extra training, at least not in the sense the school understands. The lazy student drifting through the day and the other me moving in the dark at night — both shared the same body, and seeing that this body had changed this much without my noticing created a strange dizziness inside me.
Actually the size of the number shouldn't have misled me. On this step of the staircase, forty points was the equivalent of two months; everyone was advancing at this speed. Above two thousand those same forty points would be worth two years, and above three thousand, a lifetime. The System's scale was generous down below and stingy up above, and that's why children's numbers grow fast and masters' numbers barely move at all.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
What really surprised me was the distribution: my other six stats besides Intelligence and Control had all come out this close to one another. My Intelligence was fifty-eight, my Control sixty-two; everything else stood at around thirty-one. It was as if there was one thing working all through the night, and that thing was not my muscles.
With that thought, when I entered the cafeteria I saw that the table was more crowded than usual — by a strange twist of coincidence, all nine of the top nine were there at the same time. Everyone had the same notification in hand, and the same mixed expression on their face.
"I went up fifty-five points," said Alex, closing his panel and grinning. "339. I'm first again, but Elena has almost caught up to me."
"Forty-nine," said Elena, puffing out her chest with pride. "328."
Dex quietly closed his panel and said only "319." Natasha, her bow propped against her chair, murmured "289," neither pleased nor displeased. Peter, a little away from me, said "300," visibly relieved; the three-hundred barrier was a threshold for him.
At the other end of the table sat a girl with a ramrod-straight posture whom I had seen constantly in class before — her black hair tied in a tight bun, sharp gray eyes, and a uniform as flawless as if it had been ironed. The badge on her chest gleamed with a platinum shine.
"You must be Kai," she said, turning to me, her voice flat but with a curiosity inside it. "Vera. Seventh place. I used to see you in class, we never had the chance to talk."
"Kai," I said, nodding in greeting. "True, we hadn't met."
There was a soldier's discipline in Vera's bearing; every movement of hers looked calculated. "My family is in the security sector," she said, with a slight pride in her voice. "Discipline was taught to me from childhood; I have no innate talent, but I don't let anyone take what I have either."
Unable to overcome my curiosity, I asked: "Any chance you'd show me your panel?"
"Of course," she said. "There's nothing I hide anyway."
[Student Profile: Vera — Age 18]
Intelligence: 30 | Defense: 45 | Attack: 28 | Speed: 25
Control: 33 | Capacity: 30 | Leadership: 60 | Adaptability: 26
Total Stat Score: 277 / 800
Overall Ranking: 7 / 1200
[Potential Limits]
Max Intelligence: 495 | Max Defense: 540 | Max Attack: 470
Max Speed: 460 | Max Control: 500 | Max Capacity: 480
Ceiling Total Score: 2,945
Her Leadership stat was obviously higher than everything else — a sharp specialization, just like my Control. "I'm signing up for the Strategy and Command Club this period," she said, smiling slightly as if she'd noticed me looking. "What did you pick?"
"I'm thinking of signing up for the Sword Club," I said. "Dex's offer."
"Ah," said Vera, nodding. "Not bad."
At exactly that moment, someone sat down in the chair beside me with uneasy steps — a blond boy with thin-framed glasses, a little shorter than me. He kept checking the panel in his hand constantly, taking his eyes off it every few seconds to look around, as if searching for a threat. The badge on his chest was a dull gold tone.
"I'm Milo," he said, his voice coming out a bit too fast, holding out his hand. "Ninth place. We've never properly met before."
"Kai," I said, shaking his hand and smiling. "Nice to meet you, Milo."
After Vera, Milo understood the reason for my curious looks at him and showed it without dragging it out.
[Student Profile: Milo — Age 18]
Intelligence: 28 | Defense: 34 | Attack: 33 | Speed: 30
Control: 36 | Capacity: 32 | Leadership: 32 | Adaptability: 32
Total Stat Score: 257 / 800
Overall Ranking: 9 / 1200
[Potential Limits]
Max Intelligence: 340 | Max Defense: 365 | Max Attack: 350
Max Speed: 330 | Max Control: 355 | Max Capacity: 345
Ceiling Total Score: 2,085
When I looked at the figures something tightened inside me. While the others' ceilings were close to three thousand, Milo's stopped at two thousand eighty-five — a potential nearly a third lower. And on a logarithmic scale, a third meant a chasm that would never close in a lifetime. That was why his ranking was so fragile; while there was still a long road ahead for the others, Milo had already entered the steeper part of his own road — it was as if he had torn every point in his hand out with his fingernails.
"257," said Milo, setting his panel down on the table, his voice shaky. "I only went up twenty points. The one in tenth place went up thirty-five."
"Milo," said Eleanor, lifting her head from her book, her voice soft. "I became 266, the gap between us has shrunk, it's nine points now. Don't panic."
"But it could change in the next update," said Milo, his voice rising steadily. "Being in the top nine — VIP food, the badge, the university advantage — I could lose all of it. The counseling class is given to tenth place too, I know, but they don't give tenth place the badge; I've seen the face of everyone who fell to that rank. I'm not naturally talented, I earned every one of my points by working two extra hours at night. If the kid in tenth place makes a jump even once, I'll never get it back."
For a moment there was silence at the table.
Elena leaned toward Milo, her voice softening with an unexpected seriousness. "Milo," she said. "Whatever your potential is, the place you've reached up to today is your own labor. Nobody can take that from you, even if the rank number changes."
Milo looked at her, and the tension in his eyes dispersed a little. "Maybe you're right," he said, smiling faintly. Vera, watching him, added an unexpected softness to her voice too. "Discipline isn't innate, Milo," she said. "Neither is mine. It's only a habit forced over and over."