A plunder mechanism? A world where strength is everything?
To the young girl, these rules were nothing but beneficial. After all, her grades were practically at the very bottom of the school.
As the saying goes, when you are lying at the rock bottom of a valley, every direction is an upward path!
“If there’s a ladder I can use to climb up, of course I’m going to step on it,” Erika said, walking with the elegant, practiced steps of the Court toward the guy named FFF—who, despite the name, was not currently wielding a torch.
“You don’t like Civil Engineering? Then how about I sign you up for an even more mind-numbing Situation and Policy Class? It’ll definitely fill that giant hole in your schedule.”
“A 5 hour class every day? That… something that big won’t fit inside me…! Don’t do this…!”
“This is also part of growing up. It’s all life experience. Just accept it obediently, hehehe…”
The Brass Rank student was being played with like a toy by the Silver Tier powerhouse, FFF. The other low-ranking students could only watch the scene with gloomy expressions, bowing their heads and praying that no one would notice them, or simply hoping the storm would pass quickly.
Erika called out to the lawless fellow in the clear, sweet voice unique to a Half-Elf. “Hey, you over there.”
FFF turned around, still clutching the female student’s wrist. He lowered his gaze to look at the girl.
“Oh… and who are you? What do you want with me?”
His thick, bushy eyebrows shot up. He had the face of a total barbarian, looking exactly as one would expect. He wore an interested expression, and for some reason, a hint of pleasure. Perhaps he had been waiting for someone to take the initiative and talk to him?
FFF, who had shoulder-length black hair and looked remarkably like Lu Zhishen, looked the girl up and down. “I’ve never seen that face before. Are you a freshman? It seems you haven’t heard of my great name. Don’t go thinking I’ll go easy on a new female classmate.”
“That won’t be necessary. Didn’t you say you’d accept any challenge? And didn’t you say you would never refuse one?”
“Hmm?”
FFF let out a grunt of admiration, seemingly surprised by her courage. Then, his gaze fell upon the numbers on Erika’s badge: “1021.”
The moment he saw those digits, his ferocious face twisted, and a burst of laughter erupted from his mouth. “Pfft, hahaha! A four-digit rank? Did you get into this school based on your face? Are you some kind of ‘special talent’ student? Hmm? Someone like you actually dares to challenge me, a Silver Badge holder ranked 450th?”
The sharp laughter quickly turned into a cold, low growl. “Little sister, it seems you’ve just arrived and don’t understand how things work. Rank is absolute. Status, background, looks—none of those things can give you extra points here. Power is everything!”
She had thought he was just an illiterate barbarian, but it turned out he could actually be quite eloquent when he wanted to be.
Then again, if he didn’t have some level of education, he wouldn’t know which quality classes to snatch. It seemed the rumors about him stealing high-quality courses from others weren’t just empty talk.
“Our strength is written clearly on our badges. Even a fool knows how to compare numbers. Do you still intend to challenge me?”
*Thud.* “Ah!”
The ‘educated’ FFF released the girl in his grip and strode toward Erika. He came to a halt in front of her and clenched his fists, emitting a terrifying aura.
Though his pressure was nothing compared to the intimidation of Evelyn or Emil, he could undoubtedly take on ten Erikas at once. He was nearly three heads taller than her, and this tragic height difference caused the onlookers to murmur with pity.
“A four-digit bottom-feeder… where does she get the confidence…?”
“FFF isn’t exactly a gentleman. That pretty little face is going to get wrecked.”
“If I took a beating for her, do you think she’d be my girlfriend?”
“Give it a rest. You’ve never even seen a girl prettier than her. Know your place.”
“Hmph! To be able to enter the school with that kind of strength, she must be the plaything of some noble student. What a little vixen!”
“Wait, isn’t that Erika Angelina? I remember her!”
The whispers began to gather, eventually forming a massive wave of realization.
Before anyone knew it, the eyes of the students who had been shrouded in fear and worry began to fill with curiosity and inquiry regarding the girl who had suddenly appeared.
The unexpectedly educated FFF naturally noticed this. “Erika Angelina? The Demoness from Noelle? Is that you? I heard she was a member of the Demon Race about my size with three pairs of breasts.”
‘Why does the number of strange traits always increase?’
“Is she an impostor? But there are rumors that the Queen’s Lapdog is quite the beauty. But what is her purpose in entering the Ark? …”
So that was the reaction she was getting. Erika spoke up. “So, do you accept my challenge or refuse? Or are you going to be a coward who flees from battle?”
“Who’s a coward? I just think there’s nothing to gain from beating you. You should be glad your luck is so good.”
He wasn’t wrong. When one has fallen to the bottom of the valley, there truly is no room to fall further. At the same time, others lose interest in even stepping on you.
As someone with a four-digit rank, she shouldn’t have been attractive enough for him to risk his badge…
“What if I really am the true Erika Angelina? Beating me would bring you massive amounts of prestige and honor, wouldn’t it?”
“…”
“But if you don’t accept my challenge… how unfortunate. You will become the most insignificant of my many stepping stones, forever burdened by the rumor that you turned tail and ran the moment you saw the Demoness!”
A show-off like FFF surely wouldn’t be able to handle such an obvious provocation. There were only two types of students in the Ark: Heroes and those who aspired to be Hero candidates. Using that as a base, there were two further categories: those who came for fame and those who came for righteousness.
Erika didn’t believe for a second that this barbarian had come to school to uphold justice. He was likely someone who cherished his reputation quite dearly.
‘Hehe, now then.’