CHAPTER 58: ELAIRE VON ASCARÉN

ELAIRE VON ASCARÉN — B-RANK HUNTER — 83% SYNC RATE // STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Kenji nudged Hiro with a slack-jawed look, muttering something that didn’t even make it out as real words.

Hiro, on the other hand, squinted like he was staring at something that absolutely should not exist in his reality.

Leo didn’t even bother breaking eye contact with the stage.

He just raised his empty soda can, sipped the last drops of air, and whispered, "Okay, yeah, she’s probably not even on the same species tier as us."

Even Talia, who usually rolled her eyes at power displays and never fell for school-stage theatrics, straightened her posture.

Her gaze sharpened, not out of envy though, but with a kind of measuring focus that suggested she was weighing every single thing happening right now.

Elaire stepped forward to the mic and waited.

She didn’t need to raise her hand or command silence — the entire gym had already fallen still.

When her voice came through the speakers, it wasn’t deafening, but the clarity in her tone carried like a blade.

"This Tier 1 raid is not a gift," she began, her words smooth and deliberate. "It wasn’t offered because you were deemed exceptional. It wasn’t granted because the faculty thought you were better than the fourth years. This happened because I demanded that it should."

The silence that followed wasn’t just empty air. It was weighted, every second drawn out until you could feel the crowd tightening up.

"You’ve trained in simulations. You’ve memorized formation callouts. You’ve studied monster behavior and gate fluctuations. But all of that means very little if you cannot function inside a real Gate, if you cannot move, act, and kill under pressure."

Her gaze drifted over the crowd.

She didn’t lock onto anyone directly, but somehow it felt like she had seen everyone, judged everyone, and dismissed no one.

"For this run, each group will enter in rotations, ten students at a time, twenty minutes per batch. You will not be scored by completion or by survival. You will be scored by performance.

Each beast you kill will add to your total. Goblins will be worth one point. Higher-tier monsters will be weighted according to classification. The system will be fair, and the scoring will be tracked in real-time by these gentlemen."

Her chin tilted slightly toward the BB-rank hunter and Theodore, both standing like anchors to her words.

"And for those of you already planning to coast," she added, her tone hardening, "for those of you who expect to scrape through and let your parents pay your way into a guild interview, I’ll inform you now. There is something real on the line."

She stepped forward.

Her coat shifted with the breeze, and though the movement was subtle, it pulled the attention of the entire hall to her next words.

"The top scorer, the one who emerges with the highest kill points, will receive a formal evaluation offer from the Winter Cold Guild upon graduation. That is not a courtesy invite. That is not a fake endorsement. That is a real chance to enter one of the strongest guilds in the nation. A guild with global reach. A guild with one of the highest survival rates ever recorded."

Gasps broke through the crowd.

Students stiffened, exchanged frantic whispers, or froze completely.

That wasn’t a prize. That was a life-changer.

Winter Cold didn’t look at prep students, they didn’t even acknowledge them.

For Elaire to drag that name into the air like it was nothing, it hit harder than anything the teachers could’ve said in the last three years.

Elaire folded her gloved hands neatly behind her back.

"This is your opportunity to be more than a number on a midterm. More than a name filed in a class list. This is where you prove that your sync rate isn’t the only thing that matters. So treat it seriously. Fight like your future depends on it, because for some of you, it will."

She didn’t raise her voice, but every word cut deep enough.

Then, without another line, she turned from the mic and walked off the stage, her boots striking against the floor with sharp, deliberate cadence.

The sound carried into the silence that followed, a silence so absolute that not a single student even thought to clap.

It wasn’t until she vanished behind the curtains that half the audience realized they had been holding their breath.

Some exhaled all at once, shaky and stunned, while others stayed frozen, still locked in the aftershock of what had just been promised.

A voice suddenly cut through the stunned quiet.

"Dude, did you hear that sh*t?" Hiro said, his eyes wide as if he’d just discovered the concept of sound itself.

Kenji turned to him with the driest look possible. "Are you really asking us that? No, Hiro, we all collectively blacked out during the most important announcement of our lives. Thanks for checking."

"I was just asking, okay?" Hiro muttered, already on the defensive. "You guys looked like you were on the edge of your seats. I mean, I get it though. An actual chance to join a guild on that caliber? That’s insane."

Leo finally leaned back, crushing his empty soda can in one hand before lazily tossing it toward the garbage can, where it bounced off the rim and clattered pathetically onto the floor.

But the craziest thing is, this motherf*cker didn’t even bother picking it up.

"A chance to join Winter Cold of all guilds... yeah, that’s ridiculous. But seriously, how the hell did the president even get a hold of that kind of connection? That’s not the type of opportunity you just stumble across in the faculty lounge."

Kenji crossed his arms, the energy buzzing in his voice even though he tried to play it cool. "I don’t know either. But forget where it came from, this is going to be insane. If that guild offer is real, then this raid isn’t just some practice run. This is the real deal. And if I’m being deadass? I’m pumped."

"I’m terrified," Hiro admitted immediately, which earned him a sharp side-eye from Kenji and a scoff from Leo.

Before the argument could spiral into one of their usual back-and-forth routines, the mic on stage crackled to life again.

The crowd immediately quieted, all heads snapping back toward the platform.

This time, it wasn’t Elaire.

It was the BB-rank hunter who had been standing to the side.

"Thank you, Ms. Ascarén, for those... inspiring words of encouragement," he said, his delivery stiff.

He paused only long enough to adjust the mic stand. "Now, without further ado, let’s begin!"

End of Chapter 58.

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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 15

EXP: 39 / 150

Next Reward: Quick Sever

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

World Rank Association: UNLINKED

Stats:

STR: 20 | AGI: 10 (Affinity) | VIT: 5 | DEX: 5 | INT: 17 | WIS: 5

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 90 / 90]

Skills:

[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]

[Phantom Stride Lv. 2]

[Instinctive Blade Lv.1]

[Predictive Guard Lv.1]

[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]

[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]

[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]

[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]

Equipment:

Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)

Training Ring (+1 VIT)

Bag :)

Ring of Genorya - ???