Brushing himself off, he staggered to the edge of the alley and headed toward the combat zone.
This was his novel, so he had a general idea of the layout. He squeezed through the crowd and the tight cliques formed by other applicants. The air was thick with perfume, sweat, and nervous excitement as he made his way down the wide asphalt road.
Towering skyscrapers and smaller buildings, likely lodges for parents and applicants, rose on either side of him, their glass walls catching the sunlight and scattering it into blinding reflections that forced him to narrow his eyes. Carriages, sleek mana-driven vehicles, and uniformed attendants moved in orderly streams along the roads, their sounds blending into a constant metallic hum.
After walking a bit farther, Kai reached the massive crystalline stadium where the entrance exam would be taking place. Behind the massive construct stood colossal metal gates that stretched as far as the eye could see.
"Wow."
Kaiser shook his head. He was not entirely sure what the goddess of stories wanted from him, but that did not mean he could afford to idle around and get himself killed.
If by some unreal chance this was truly his own story, then he had a chance to see it through and fix the plot that had been mangled by the editors.
At the very least, the body of Kaiser Vanguard was attractive enough to earn the nickname Alabaster even from his bullies. Even passing examiners and parents could not help stealing glances at him as he walked.
Stepping into the stadium that resembled a modern colosseum, his eyes swept across the immense structure. Tiered seats curved upward in perfect symmetry, and at the end of a long slope of immaculate white stairs lay the main stage, a circular arena surrounded by a faintly shimmering barrier of mana.
The seating arrangement was clearly divided. Commoners like him were clustered in one section, while the nobles and royals occupied elevated platforms draped in banners and guarded by uniformed knights.
Kai knew he had a crazy imagination even on Earth, but that his crazy imagination was not enough to build such a majestic world. The sheer scale of the infrastructure, the scent of fresh stone and polished metal, all of it was unreal, and this was just the entrance of the academy, not even the main deal.
He took in a deep, shaky breath, then slapped himself. "Enough of that, let's find a place to sit."
Slowly climbing the stairs, he settled into an empty chair six rows above the stage.
Not knowing when his match would be scheduled, all he could do was hope it would not be anytime soon.
As he leaned back, offering a polite nod to the beautiful women who were staring at him, a young man with spiked blond hair and an outfit that screamed rock and roll strode into the center of the arena.
Drones hovered overhead, releasing a cascade of flower petals that drifted through the air like colored snow. Scattered cherry blossoms joined them, filling the stadium with a faint, sweet fragrance.
With a sharp clap of the announcer's hands, gigantic floating screens blinked into existence, displaying different camera angles of the crowd and the arena.
Kaiser's gaze lifted to one of the screens, and he immediately froze.
The image staring back at him was that of his own face.
An alabaster-skinned beauty with light lilac hair and crystalline blue eyes, long lashes, chiseled yet soft features, and a well-toned, lean body. He looked less like a person and more like some angelic being sculpted by the gods.
However, what troubled Kai was the fact that he could not recognize his own body.
That feeling deepened when his name, or rather the original owner's name, echoed across the arena.
APPLICANT NUMBER 49 OF 50: KAISER VANGUARD, PLEASE STEP FORWARD.
"No way? It's my turn already?" Kai murmured, trying his best to sink deeper into his chair, but his image was already plastered across the screens.
He swallowed hard as the attention of thousands of people locked onto him. Not having any choice, he rose on his unsteady legs.
'Damn, I'm scared as shit,' he grimaced, making his way down the flight of stairs.
'I was the one acting brave, but who am I kidding? I might be mentally older than them by a year or two, but they actually know how to use magic. Freaking magic.'
Forcing himself forward, he ascended the four white stairs that led to the arena. The moment he stepped onto the mini battlefield, he noticed the obvious sneer on his opponent's face, which made his stomach drop.
'Shit.'
The boy standing in front of him with his hands on his hips was the same boy who had assaulted him just a moment ago.
'Who the hell thought it was a good idea to match me against my bully?'
Before he could gather his thoughts, the rock-and-roll man announced loudly,
"THE RULES OF THE EXAM ARE SIMPLE. MAKE YOUR OPPONENT ADMIT DEFEAT, PUSH THEM OUT OF THE RING, OR KNOCK THEM UNCONSCIOUS BEFORE THE FIFTEEN-MINUTE MARK IS OVER!"
Joshua smirked as he widened the distance between them. The examiner also stepped back and signaled for the match to begin.
"Why don't you just quit, little guy?" Joshua mocked, not even hiding his contempt.
"Like hell, you motherfucker."
Kaiser, realizing what had just slipped out of his lips, covered his mouth with his hands, but the damage had already been done.
Veins protruded from Joshua's forehead, and before Kai could even try to assess his surroundings, a leg whipped into his gut like a steel lash.
The impact tore the air from his lungs. Blood burst from his mouth as he was sent tumbling toward the edge of the ring. With his miserable stats, Kai knew it was nearly impossible to regain his balance.
But stats and brute force were not the only things that could be used in a fight.
According to the description of one of his skills, he was capable of reducing surrounding thermal energy, which meant the colder the surroundings, the more ice he could produce.
[YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE TALENT: ALABASTER ICE.]
A cold sensation wrapped around him in an instant. The feeling was subtle, but to someone from Earth it felt like stepping into a winter night.
Frost bloomed beneath his fingers as they clawed at the ground, halting his slide, and a thin glaze of ice spread across the arena floor where he crouched.
"Interesting… You didn't fall?" Joshua asked as his gaze darkened before he leapt forward with full force.
The crowd's cheers roared in favor of Joshua. He was clearly the better candidate to enter the academy and become one of the great ones, while Kai felt like a porcelain doll barely holding onto its life.
But Kai was not a foreigner to this kind of clique, nor was he dumb enough to go against it. The only way to truly survive a trope he himself created was by riding it.
'No one's supporting me? Guess I have to change that first.'
He began breathing in short gasps, making sure the giant screens caught each and every second, and in his worst moment, he let Joshua's foot slam into his spine.
Pain exploded through his body, and his vision flashed white as a scream tore from his throat.
Blood pooled behind his eyes, and his knees buckled as Joshua grabbed his hair.
"Oi, Alabaster. Do you want to die? Just give up already."
Smiling through bloodstained teeth, he said, "Never."
Joshua's expression twisted.
He launched him forward with a brutal strike, yet Kai did not even try to block it. That distance was exactly what he needed.
Once he could stand a little straighter, he raised a dagger he had tucked away, then pressed it to his own throat, his face trembling with carefully crafted despair.
"Why?" he yelled. "Why do you take pleasure in tormenting me?"
The arena fell into a shocked murmur.
Kai grimaced as the thought of his next words made him feel like throwing up, but this was all part of the process. If he could not win as the main character, then he had to be the scheming man.
Tears spilled from his beautifully crafted face as he whispered, "I just wanted to be a hero."
Droplets of blood slid down his pale skin as he continued,
"If you hate me that much and find joy in bullying and tormenting me, then I would prefer to just die!"
Joshua's eyes widened, his hands trembling at his sides. Before the dagger could reach Kai's neck, he lunged. However, everything seemed to slow down the moment he got close to the handsome young man. Kai dropped the dagger, the faint clang echoing through the now quiet arena, and within a split second, he seized Joshua's arm, leaned in, and bit into his neck.
[YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE TALENT: ALABASTER ICE.]
Frost surged through the bite wound, flowing directly into his body.
One thing Kai had noticed since the start of the fight, which even made his plan possible, was how immature Joshua was at using mana. As someone who wrote S-Rank characters, he knew everything about how mana control worked, and Joshua had not even begun to graze the surface.
With this, he knew that if he were to attack inside his body instead of outside, Joshua would not be able to stop it. Such a plan would never work on someone in the main cast, but for an inexperienced Joshua, it was perfect.
The scream that tore through Joshua's lips was enough to shake the arena. Ice spread across him, and red marks began showing beneath his eyelids.
No one in the arena could even say a word as Kai jumped back, coating his hand with as much mana as he could muster. Joshua's eyes were wide, his jaw slack. One of his hands was on his neck, while the other was practically useless.
Kai did not let the initial fear of the chill of winter leave him before slamming his mana-coated fist into Joshua's gut.
They were already close to the edge, so his efforts were enough to send Joshua hurling out of the ring.
Kai panted heavily, then raised his middle finger toward Joshua. "Fuck off, you bully bastard."
Joshua, who was already outside the arena, gritted his teeth before a gust of wind erupted around him. Kai shielded his gaze as the gale slashed narrow cuts into his skin. However, before Joshua could attack, the examiner intervened.
"APPLICANT NUMBER 42, YOU HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?"
Joshua tried to protest, but the examiner's voice cut him down. With no other choice, he retreated, throwing Kaiser a final venomous glare.
Kaiser collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. His vision was dimming. Only then did he realize how badly he was injured.
'Just this much and I'm already passing out. Well, I did win, so there's nothing bad in it.'
He collapsed onto the cold floor as the thunder of applause faded into darkness.
The moment he fell onto the arena floor, his score appeared on several screens in the arena.
KAISER VANGUARD – COMBAT EXAM RANK: 30 OF 50.