Evan's mouth fell slightly open at the claim. Another F-rank? He had wondered if he was the only one around here. The Central Awakener Academy had never publicly disclosed its students' ranks, but it was easy to assume that people like Evan would hardly be accepted into such an illustrious school. And even if someone had the connections to get in, would they really want to surround themselves with geniuses and high-ranked Awakeners, regularly being reminded of what they lacked? Probably not. Yet here stood another student claiming to be an F-rank.
With a new understanding, Evan studied Hiroto. The lowered head. The hunched back and slumped shoulders. The way his hands remained tightly clasped together. They were all obvious signs that he'd been having a miserable time at school. But was his sister the only one bullying him, or was everyone else joining in too? Did it even concern him?
"So what?" Evan said. "Are you implying I should act like you? Keep my head down and cower everywhere I go, even though I've done nothing wrong?"
"N-no... that's not what I..." Hiroto stammered.
"Then what do you mean?" Evan asked.
Hiroto opened and closed his mouth several times, but ultimately no words came out.
Seeing him lower his head again, Evan sighed and walked away. It wasn't that he didn't understand what Hiroto wanted. The boy had probably hoped to find a kindred spirit since they were both F-ranks. But if Hiroto expected him to wallow in misery alongside him or become a shield against his bullies, then he had the wrong person.
Evan had no intention of picking fights with anyone unless they started one first. Getting entangled with someone who was openly targeted by his own sister, for reasons that seemed far more complicated, would only make his own time at the academy harder.
His goal was simple: finish his studies without causing too much of a ripple. Though, considering he was a transmigrator saddled with a curse and an incredibly unhelpful System, that goal already felt more like wishful thinking. Getting involved with Hiroto would only make it even harder to achieve.
As Evan returned to his room, intending to work on his assignments, he suddenly remembered something. You shitty System, did you forget to complete the Quest and give me my reward again? Evan thought.
[(*￣▽￣)b]
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed your mission!]
[Against all odds, you managed to enroll in one of the most illustrious academies in Nova Terra despite not deserving it! A nepotism admission? How scandalous!]
[Reward Obtained: Talent-o-Scope ×1]
[The world has never been fair. Some people are simply born with greater talent than others. With this handy-dandy, one-time-use item, you can take a peek at someone's future potential!]
Evan's eyebrows shot up as he leaned closer, rereading the description of the item he'd just received. Hold on. Wasn't this incredibly useful? It was just like the appraisal abilities those hunter manhwa protagonists often had. They'd discover some ordinary person with hidden potential, nurture them, and eventually, that random hotpot waitress would awaken as an S-rank.
If he could find one of those hidden gems and earn their gratitude, wouldn't that mean he'd have a loyal lackey who'd do whatever he asked? Sure, he had Reid, an overpowered protagonist for a brother. But Reid was his older brother first and foremost. He'd fuss over Evan and try to stop him whenever he thought Evan was being reckless. A follower Evan personally discovered and helped rise to the top wouldn't do that. And if fame and money ever went to their head, Evan could always sic Reid on them and teach them the valuable lesson of never biting the hand that fed them.
Before the excitement could overtake him, however, logic reminded him of one important detail. This was a one-time-use item, not a skill. That meant if he picked the wrong person and they only turned out to have B-rank or C-rank potential, the item would be wasted. He needed to find someone who hadn't awakened yet but possessed the potential to become at least an A-rank, if not an S-rank. That was easier said than done.
"Damn it, System! Why couldn't you make this a skill?!" Evan cried, clutching his hair in frustration.
[(⇀‸↼‶)]
Fine. It was his own fault for expecting anything from the System.
Evan had a new goal: find his first lackey. He knew the task would be monumental, if not nigh impossible, but that didn't stop the Talent-o-Scope from igniting a fire within him. He couldn't help but daydream about bulldozing all those annoying bullies and stuck-up rich kids by ordering his lackeys around.
Unfortunately, that fantasy didn't survive long. Evan soon discovered that leaving the academy wasn't as easy as he'd hoped. It wasn't that students were forbidden from going off campus. The real problem was the mountain of assignments and coursework he had to keep up with. Between academic classes filled with mundane, sometimes mind-numbing lessons and Awakener courses where he was constantly met with dirty looks from his classmates, he barely had any free time.
Even when he managed to carve out a few spare hours, he couldn't exactly spend them wandering around the city, trying to figure out which face in the crowd belonged to a potential S-rank, could he?
Looking as though his soul had left his body, Evan threw himself onto the grass of the outdoor combat field. The sky above was cheerfully blue, uncaring of his foul mood.
"Lookie here, what’s got our hottest F-rank new student looking so heartbroken?"
A girl with olive-toned skin and dark wavy hair tied into a high ponytail suddenly appeared in his vision. She wore the academy's combat training uniform: a fitted black long-sleeved athletic shirt tucked into charcoal-gray training pants. The name tag read Carmen Ruiz.
"Get that Vertex Vision Pro off my face, Carmen," Evan said. "I’m not interested in starring in one of your NovaTube videos."
"Aw, that's hurtful, Evie Mc-F-rank." Carmen clutched her chest with exaggerated anguish. "But don't worry, the recording isn't on. I actually need these glasses for my terrible eyesight too. Not everyone is blessed with 20/20 vision."
Evan rolled his eyes. Only someone with more money than common sense would combine prescription glasses with a recording device.
"And why are you so mean to me when I’m trying to be nice to you?" she said, sitting down next to him. "Don’t you see how unpopular you are? You could use some friends."
"You’re an E-rank. It’s not like you’re much better than me," he replied.
"True, but I’m not F-rank, am I?"
Ignoring her, Evan sat up and watched the two students sparring in the center of the field. They exchanged a series of blows before one girl slipped inside her opponent's guard and drove a clean punch into her midsection. The impact sent the other girl stumbling backward, and she dropped to one knee. The instructor called the match, declaring the standing girl the winner.
"Alright, that’s good enough, you two," Instructor Daniel Brooks said. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with cropped black hair flecked with gray and a stern face. His dark eyes scanned the faces of the students, landing on two people. "You two seem quite cozy. Whitfield and Ruiz, you’re up."
"Yes, sir."
The two teens got up without much fuss and took their spots in front of the instructor. A sharp whistle cut through the field.
"Begin."
Carmen came in fast, snapping a quick jab toward Evan’s face, but he tilted his head just enough for it to skim past his cheek. She followed with a sharp right hook, forcing him back half a step as her confidence rose and she pressed forward with a flurry of punches.
Evan didn't retreat. He slipped inside her guard, caught her wrist mid-swing, and twisted just enough to throw her off balance. Carmen quickly recovered and spun into a kick, but he lowered his stance and redirected it, letting her momentum carry her harmlessly past him. By the time she turned around, Evan was already there. His palm shot into her chest, knocking her back a step.
Brooks blew his whistle again. "Winner, Whitfield."
"Wow, for someone who’s newly awakened, you’re sure a beast, Evan!" Carmen said.
"It’s nothing," Evan replied. He was only fighting an E-rank, and Carmen herself had never taken combat too seriously. Considering he’d been receiving personal training from Reid ever since he joined the academy, it would be embarrassing if he couldn’t defeat her.
Evan sat back down on the grass, and they watched as the next pair stepped forward to spar. It was Hiroto against another teenage boy. The whistle blew, and Hiroto backed away, raising both forearms tight in front of his face as he circled to the side. His opponent didn't give him any space, stepping in with a straight punch that forced Hiroto to block and stumble backward. A follow-up hook slipped past his defense, grazing his ribs and pushing him further off balance.
Hiroto tried to answer with a hesitant jab of his own, but it barely extended before he pulled it back, returning to defense as another strike drove him backward again. Cornered near the edge of the circle, he raised his guard to protect his head, leaving his body exposed to a final body shot that knocked the breath out of him and ended the spar.
"What a one-sided beatdown," Carmen whistled. "Hey, aren't you going to comfort your friend?"
"Since when am I friends with him?" Evan asked.
"Because you're both F-rank, duh."
"And that automatically makes us friends?"
"Well, it should. I mean, imagine you two standing together. Two F-ranks against the world! Isn't that romantic? And if you guys are ready, I'm more than happy to make a video about you two. I'm sure you'll get popular!"
"Not interested." Evan turned his head away.
In the distance, Hiroto walked away with his head lowered as usual, sitting by himself far from the other students.
"Are you really that cold-hearted? Look at him. He's like a kicked puppy," Carmen said, nudging Evan in the side.
"If you're so insistent, why don't you approach him yourself?"
"Me? Why would I? It's not good for me to get close to any boys. What if rumors start spreading that I have a boyfriend? That won't do."
But it's fine for you to bother me like this? Evan thought, doing his best to tune out her nonstop chatter.
Carmen, however, seemed to possess the legendary persistence shared by content creators everywhere. Completely unfazed by his stonewalling, she just kept talking. Like a parrot that had never known exhaustion, she talked and talked and talked until Evan was sure his ears were bleeding.
"Enough," Evan snapped, covering the infernal noise generator she called a mouth with his hand. "What will it take for you to stop harassing me?"
Carmen pulled his hand away. "Harassing? I wouldn't call it that. I'm trying to be helpful. Besides, shouldn't you be glad you've got a friend like me?"
Since when are we friends? Evan thought. He would rather deal with the wyvern again than suffer through any more of Carmen's presence.
"Fine. So what were you trying to say about Hiroto? What's wrong with him?" Evan relented. Maybe if he showed some interest in the topic, Carmen would finally get off his back for a bit.
Carmen's expression twisted. "Hey, didn't I just tell you?"
"Did you?" Evan asked. He had been trying so hard to tune her out that he hadn't processed a single word.
She let out a dramatic sigh. "Like I said, Hiroto is the son of S-rank Awakener Konoe Masaru. You know, the Thunder Wolf and the head of White Wolf Guild."
Evan nodded.
"But that's just the public stuff. Now for the juicy part." Carmen leaned in and lowered her voice. "Let's just say the Konoe family is a complete mess. Can you blame people for gossiping after watching Reika openly bully her own brother? Anyway, I heard Masaru only became Guild Master because he married the previous Guild Master's daughter."
"So?" What was so interesting about a marriage of convenience? It was something that had happened since time immemorial.
"That's not even the most interesting part. He was married before and had a son with another woman, but not long after she died, he married his current wife."
A ruthless social climber, then? Evan still didn't see what was so fascinating about other people's personal lives.
"Aish, don't you get it? Hiroto is the forgotten first son, and Reika is the beloved second daughter. It's really sad. His own dad doesn't love him, and his sister treats him no better. I don't know about his relationship with his stepmother, though. And you know what's even more ridiculous? Despite how they treat him, I'm pretty sure Hiroto still cares about his sister."
Still not understanding what Carmen was getting at, Evan tilted his head.
"Just follow that guy after school," she said, shooting a glance toward Hiroto.
Evan nodded. Hopefully, that would finally stop Carmen from yapping his ears off. When combat class ended and the students began to leave, he almost returned to his room, but his curiosity nudged him into giving her suggestion a try.
The guy didn't seem to notice he was being followed, so Evan didn't even need to use his ability. Skills weren't permitted on school grounds outside of classes anyway. To his surprise, Hiroto entered one of the academic buildings and headed for the rooftop. Evan trailed him up the stairs, where he found Reika sitting near the edge with her back to them, gazing at the sky as Hiroto approached her.
Evan's eyes widened, and he activated his stealth skill. Didn't she tell him to scram and never show his face in front of her again? Why was he intentionally seeking her out?
Hiroto stood there without speaking for a long while until Reika turned around and shot him a glare.
"How did you find me here?" Reika said. "No, don't tell me. It had to be that nosy girl, Carmen Ruiz. Just leave. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."
Despite her words, Hiroto refused to budge and pulled a small wrapped gift from his pocket and held it out to her. "Happy birthday."
Reika wrinkled her nose in disgust. She got to her feet, marched over, snatched the gift from his hand, and raised it above her head. "Didn't I fucking tell you I don't want your stupid gifts?!"
She swung her arm, intending to smash it against the ground, but something in Evan snapped. He shot forward and seized her wrist, stopping her.
"Hey, you shouldn't do that to a gift someone gave you," he said, becoming visible once more as he glared at her.