CHAPTER 73: VR SIMULATION

Chapter 72: VR Simulation

It was 6:00 Am , I slept well today after a week of struggle.

The morning sun filtered weakly through the Academy dormitory curtains, painting pale gold across my desk. The ink on my training notes had barely dried from last night—sword drills, mana conversion timing, ice shaping tests—but my mind wasn’t on combat this morning.

It was on money.

The hum of my Academic Watch buzzed against the wooden surface. Unknown caller. Strange. Most students didn’t have my number yet.

I tapped the screen.

"Michael Willson speaking."

A rush of static, then a voice brimming with excitement spilled through.

"Michael! It’s me, Victor Arkwright!"

I raised an eyebrow. So soon? "You sound like you’ve had three barrels of coffee."

"Forget coffee—listen! Gillton Potion House stock—remember the one you told me to put everything into yesterday? The price jumped two hundred percent overnight!"

I froze, then a slow smile crept onto my face. It’s begun already.

Victor wasn’t exaggerating. That my reader foresight matched my memory of the original timeline perfectly. Gillton Potion House—mocked as a third-rate alchemy supplier—was on the verge of collapse... until a lucky discovery of a mana-rich herb catapulted them into stardom.

And I’d just caught the wave before it crested.

"How much are we talking?" I asked, feigning calm.

Victor practically shouted into the receiver. "We bought at 0.167 Ren per share. With your 100,000 Ren investment, we snagged about 598,802 shares. Now—now it’s trading at 0.334 Ren! And it is still rising up "

My fingers drummed against the desk. Doubling overnight. In one day, the shares were worth nearly 200,000 Ren.

Victory wasn’t done. "Michael, do you understand? We—no—you just doubled your money in less than twenty-four hours! Who even does that?"

I leaned back, letting the words settle. My chest felt tight not with panic, but with quiet satisfaction.

"I told you," I said softly, "trust me."

On the other end, Victor laughed breathlessly. "Trust you? At this point, I’d let you manage my whole life if you asked! This... this is insane. Everyone’s been calling me a failure, a money-loser, but now... ha! When they see this, they’ll—"

"Calm down," I interrupted gently. "Don’t start celebrating too loudly yet. This is only the first move."

Victor went silent, then lowered his voice. "...You’re serious, aren’t you?"

"Yes. Cash out half of the profit."

"What? But—"

"No arguments. Secure the profit, reinvest the rest. There’s another opportunity coming, and I’ll tell you when."

A pause. Then Victor ’s voice steadied. "...You’re really not joking. You’re not guessing, you know."

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Explaining the system or my foresight would unravel everything. So instead, I let silence carry its own weight.

Finally, Victor exhaled. "Alright. Half secured, half reinvested. Done. I’ll handle the paperwork. Michael... thank you. I mean it."

"Don’t thank me yet. Prove you can keep up."

His laugh was softer this time, calmer. "I will. And Michael... I think I finally understand why you wanted me as your face. People are going to start noticing you. And when they do, I’ll make sure to be the shield that takes the glare for you."

That... earned a faint smile from me. Victory Arkwright might be reckless, might have burned bridges in the past, but he wasn’t stupid. He understood roles. And in this game, that made him invaluable.

We ended the call.

I set the Academic Watch down and rubbed my temples. Two hundred percent. Just the beginning.

The world thought of me as a promising first-year swordsman. A ranker with unusual grit. But what they didn’t know—what they couldn’t know—was that my real weapon wasn’t my sword or my mana.

It was foresight and knowledge about this world.

And money was just another battlefield.

"Gillton Potion House..." I murmured.

"From laughingstock to empire. And I’ll ride that rise."

My gaze shifted to the window, where students were gathering across the courtyard, laughing, preparing for class.

But today wasn’t only about money. Today was the start of something else—something that would shake the class hierarchy itself.

The VR Dungeon Test.

I stood, straightening my jacket, brushing imaginary dust from the fabric. My muscles still ached faintly from hospital recovery, but my core thrummed with mana and anticipation.

Two hundred percent gains in one night. Now... time to multiply my influence just as sharply.

---

Michael leaves his dormitory, heading toward the Academy’s sprawling VR Hall.

The Arcade Academy’s VR Hall was a marvel of steel and glass, a dome-like building that glimmered in the midday sun. Dozens of silver runes crawled across its surface, pulsing faintly, humming with contained mana.

Stepping inside was like stepping into another world. The ceiling soared high, etched with constellations that shimmered faintly, while rows upon rows of VR cabins stretched across the floor like sleeping giants. Each was a capsule of polished obsidian alloy, its surface traced with blue mana-circuits.

And standing at the front of the hall heels clicking, arms folded was Evelyn Whitehound.

Even here, she carried herself like she owned the space. Platinum hair cascaded over her shoulders, her black suit immaculate, her eyes as sharp as her mana pressure. The murmurs of Class A quieted the moment she raised a single hand.

And Today Class B is also Present.

"Cadets." Her voice cut cleanly across the hall. "Today marks your first major evaluation: the VR Dungeon Simulation."

A ripple of unease passed through the rows.

"You’ve studied dungeons in theory. Now, you’ll experience one. Not a paper test. Not a practice duel. But a simulation of a real dungeon environment—its monsters, its mana density, its traps. The system will match your actual strength, and your results will be recorded."

Her gaze swept the class. "This isn’t about survival. The VR cabins ensure no permanent injury. But... every strike you fail to dodge, every mistake you make—it will be recorded. Every weakness, exposed."

The silence deepened. Some students straightened nervously, others smirked as if the warning was meant for someone else.

Evelyn’s lips curved faintly. "Good. You understand the weight. Now—team assignments."

---

A shimmer of mana flared above the hall, forming a holographic panel. Names appeared in neat rows.

CLASS A Team

Team 1: Leon, Selena, Zack, Rita (#18), Noora (#15)

Team 2: Eric, Petric (#14), Ren (#19), George (#17), Maro (#11)

Team 3: Aiden, Seon (#20), Elara, Ranmon (#16), Chris

Team 4: Maria, Aurelia, Sakura (#13), Michael, Sam (#12)

The moment my name appeared, whispers erupted from Class B.

"Michael’s in Team 4?"

"That’s stacked! Maria, Aurelia, Sakura, Sam... and him?"

" Three Persons from Top 10, Same as Leon Team and Aiden Team"

" Young Master Eric will win this for sure"

" Hey Don’t Forgot that this Dirty Blood Bastard Leon is Strong but he can’t compare to Aiden "

" Fools only Princess Elara will win "

"Isn’t that unfair for Young Miss Maria to Join with that Commoner Bastard?"

I felt dozens of stares prickling against my skin.

From the corner of my eye, Eric’s smirk widened. Petric leaned toward him, whispering something about "commoners clinging to noble skirts." Leon glanced back briefly, then tightened his jaw, focusing forward.

Maria Frostheart’s icy expression didn’t change, though her hand rested lightly on her staff as if already planning strategies. Aurelia smiled politely, her eyes calculating. Sakura, the quiet beauty, tilted her head slightly, studying me. And Sam—ever straight-backed only nodded once, acknowledgment without words.

So this is the team they’ve given me... I thought. A challenge, and an opportunity.

---

Evelyn continued. "Your task is simple. Enter the VR dungeon, eliminate the monsters within, and destroy the dungeon core. Each team will be timed. The faster you complete it, the higher your ranking."

" I will be watching everyone so keep in mind don’t try to do anything thing other than Destroying the Dungeon Core"

She tapped a sleek black pad, and the VR cabins stirred. Their runes glowed brighter, the hiss of mana-venting filling the hall.

"Victory will not go to the strongest team," she added, her eyes flicking toward Leon, Eric, and finally—me. "It will go to the smartest."

The words hung like a blade over the room.

---

As cadets began moving toward their assigned cabins, the air grew heavier. Rivalries crackled Leon’s team glancing at Eric’s, Eric’s team throwing mocking looks toward mine. Aiden was already cracking his knuckles, grinning like a madman.

And in the middle of it all, I walked calmly toward the obsidian pod marked Team 4.

Sam fell in step beside me, quiet as always. Aurelia gave me a faint nod, her rapier strapped elegantly at her waist. Maria didn’t acknowledge me, though I could feel her mana radiating like a frozen storm. And Sakura... her gaze lingered on me a second too long, curious, unreadable.

Whispers followed us all the way.

"Team 4’s going to crush it."

"Or implode."

"Either way, I’m watching."

I smirked faintly to myself. Let them talk. In the end, it wouldn’t be their voices that mattered. It would be the results.

And I intended to set the bar so high no one could ignore it.