Axel laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't tired. How could he be with tomorrow looming like a blade over his throat?
Vale Fryberg's first major test.
A virtual fight simulation.
In his past life, that test had nearly broken him.
Selene Asper, Elise Doyle, and… Joseph Calign.
That was his team.
Selene and Elise had ignored him, insulted him, brushed him off like lint on a jacket sleeve. But Joseph? Joseph Calign had laid hands on him more than once.
Shoved him into walls, tripped him, and beat the shit out of him more than one time. The instructors turned a blind eye. Everyone did.
Axel hadn't forgotten. He never would.
This time, though?
This time, he was different. Stronger. Sharper. Smarter. He wouldn't play the quiet support that let others walk all over him.
Some way, somehow, he was getting payback.
The structure of the test hadn't changed from what he remembered. "Team battle," Vale liked to call it, though that was generous. A more accurate term would've been "strategic bloodbath."
There were two rankings: group and individual.
Each student earned points by defeating others within the simulation. Take down a player, earn one point. Eliminate an entire team, and the value doubled. Even if your team failed, high individual scores were enough to keep you from failing the class, so long as you weren't the weakest link.
Along with dealing with humans, you'll might come across weird monsters to kill as well, though they aren't worth any points.
In his past life, Kai had scraped by with trap setups and stealth tactics, barely passing. It earned him enemies and a reputation for cowardice.
This time, he didn't need traps.
This time, he was going in headfirst.
…
Morning light poured into the classroom windows. Axel took his usual seat beside Selene and Landon. The latter was slumped forward, clearly not thrilled to be awake this early.
"Class!" Vale Fryberg's voice hit like a whip, slicing through the usual chatter.
Every head turned.
"Today is your first major exam," he said, tone clipped and cold. "If you fail, you'll be kicked from the course. No second chances."
The room instantly tensed.
"Battle royale in teams. Your job is to survive, work together, and rack up kills. Group points matter. Individual points matter more. Don't drag your team down. Also, there will be monsters summoned for you guys to fight as well."
Work together, huh?
Vale led the class toward a chamber behind the classroom. A vast room lined with human-sized pods. Sleek, cold, high-tech.
One by one, names were called in alphabetical order. Axel stepped forward early and climbed into his assigned pod.
The interior was padded and unnervingly soft, like a luxury coffin. He let the lid seal shut and stared at the blinking interface above.
[Axel Lycan]
[Rank 3221]
[Log in? Y/N]
His finger hovered briefly… then tapped Yes.
The moment it accepted, his consciousness was swept away, ripped from his body and hurled into the simulation.
—
He landed softly in the simulation's waiting room.
A wide atrium lit with golden sunlight, with rows of weapons and holographic displays on the far wall. The room buzzed with students warping in. Some already checking out gear, others grouping up.
A box popped up on the right side of his vision:
[Team Members: Selene Asper, Elise Doyle, Joseph Calign]
No surprise there.
He closed the box with a blink and headed to the weapons rack.
Unlike usual classes, these weapons were no longer dulled and weren't wooden. Fucking finally. Actual steel.
Axel let his fingers drift across the handles until he found what he wanted; a nice willow-leaf saber. Light and agile. Designed for clean movement and rapid strikes.
He swung it once, twice.
Balanced. Sharp.
Perfect.
Satisfied, he sheathed it and turned—
"Boo!"
The voice nearly grazed his eardrum.
Axel didn't flinch, but his foot shifted, body pivoting sharply toward the culprit.
Selene stood grinning at him, her compound bow slung across her back.
"Hey~ Found you," she chirped.
He raised an eyebrow. "You must think you're hilarious."
"Oh, I know I am." She flashed a peace sign and spun on her heel. "C'mon. Let's find the others."
She walked ahead, practically skipping. If he didn't know better, he'd swear he saw a tail wag behind her.
Axel followed.
And then they ran into him.
Joseph Calign.
Still tall, still obnoxiously smug. His gray hair was slicked back like he thought he was royalty. He stepped up beside Selene and gave her a look that made Axel's skin crawl.
Sweet. Sickeningly so.
Joseph didn't even glance at Axel.
Beside him was a smaller girl, Elise Doyle. Barely over five feet. Purple hair done up like a porcelain doll. Her amethyst eyes flicked toward Axel briefly, filled with immediate, visible disappointment.
"Selene Asper, right?" Joseph said, voice smooth. "We're your teammates."
"Nice to meet you two," Selene replied, then pointed over her shoulder. "This is—"
"Axel Lycan," he cut in. "Rank 3221."
Elise looked him up and down like she'd found a bug in her soup.
"Elise Doyle. Rank 350."
Joseph let out a low chuckle. "Joseph Calign. Rank 125."
Of course he was proud of that.
Joseph finally turned to Axel, only to sneer.
"Hope you can keep up."
Axel said nothing.
Instead, Selene suddenly stepped closer and casually linked her arm with his.
Was she…protecting him?
Axel stiffened on instinct, eyes narrowing, but he didn't shake her off.
Joseph's expression twitched.
Just barely.
But Axel saw it.
In a flash, the fake charm vanished and something darker flickered behind his eyes, rage, barely veiled. Then, just as quickly, it vanished, replaced by his practiced smirk.
If Axel had been anyone else, he wouldn't have noticed.
But he wasn't the same Axel anymore.
And Joseph wasn't going to get away with anything this time.