“You obnoxious brat!” Butterfly glared intensely at Auralise as an invisible spark seemed to have formed between them. “What do you want now?” Despite having traveled together on the recent expedition, the two were still like fire and water. Constantly clashing.

  “Oh, nothing much.” Auralise’s smile deepened as she said, “I’m not going to brag, but I’m ranked fifth.”

  Fifth…? Sean’s eyes widened in surprise. Auralise might have the best mana aptitude a player could possibly have without being a Bloodline Magus, which was the inferior bright grade. But she wasn’t from the early batches of players, which made climbing the ranks exceedingly difficult at this stage of the game. The only logical explanation was her substantial use of resources. The power of money never ceases to amaze.

  “Pfft.” Butterfly snickered and mocked, “Fifth? That’s it? And here I thought you were the top player to justify that smug attitude.”

  “What?” Auralise scanned the list and when her gaze landed on Butterfly’s name, she flinched. “You? Above me? How in the world did you get ranked higher?” she muttered, disbelief flickering across her face.

  It was a fair question. Sean was sure that Auralise had leveraged the Spell Generator program and her underlings to churn out a vast array of powerful spells. Not to mention the truckload of mana crystals she likely burned through to supercharge her meditation. Yet despite all that, Butterfly’s superior mana aptitude and her status as a Bloodline Magus had secured her the higher rank.

  Butterfly grinned mischievously while crossing her arms. “Surprised? I guess raw talent beats a fat wallet and the support of your cronies.”

  Auralise’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing as her eyes climbed further up the ranking list. “So what? You’re not even number one,” she snapped. Her fists clenched at her sides. “This is ridiculous. I’ve put in way more effort than you! There must be a flaw in the system.”

  Chicken couldn’t resist chiming in with a smirk, “Or maybe it’s just that Butterfly is better, lady.”

  Auralise glared daggers at him, her cheeks flushing with anger. If looks could kill, he would have died multiple times. “We’ll see about that. I’ll let you stay on your high horse for now since the top spot will be mine soon enough.”

  Without another word, she spun on her heel and stormed off. Her entourage, including Dominique and Satellite, hurried to follow with a mix of awkwardness and determination. Clearly, they felt challenged to become the best in the game.

  “Uh, guys,” Patrick said cautiously, watching her retreating form. “I think we just made a powerful competitor.”

  Sean exhaled slowly, shaking his head. “She’s always been competitive. Nothing new there.”

  “Yeah, but this time it feels different,” Patrick muttered.

  Butterfly, one of the sources of the conflict, was unbothered. “Whatever,” she said with a casual shrug. “We’ve got more important things to do.”

  Accordingly, they didn’t mind this little banter that much. Instead, the group turned their attention to the latest expansion missions. If they wanted to hold onto their current spots — or climb even higher — in the overall rankings, they better start grinding spirit coins sooner rather than later.

  ***

  Jacky was reviewing the mission list. Despite his second-stage Initiate Attunement status and being tenth on the overall ranking, he felt a heavy weight pressing down on him — a burden no other player could truly understand. Unlike them, he had only one life.

  His attention was captured on the setting traps mission. On the surface, it was a low-risk, low-reward task, but there was no cap on how many missions a player could accept. Of course, most players avoided taking multiple missions since failing to complete them could harm their amity with NPCs or even deduction to merit points. Jacky was no exception. However, there was one mission that every combat-focused player would definitely accept: exterminating undead creatures.

  [Exterminate undead creatures invading the academy.]

  [Mission Difficulty: Two stars]

  [Requirement: First-stage Initiate Attunement]

  [Note: Caution is needed when facing the undead. Death will not be compensated]

  [Reward: 1 spirit coin per kill, with additional rewards depending on the type of undead creatures]

  The rewards were modest: one spirit coin per undead slain, but the mission didn’t explicitly state that the kills had to be direct. If traps could count, Jacky could potentially earn dozens, even hundreds, of spirit coins from a single well-placed trap without ever engaging in direct combat. Naturally, most players wouldn’t see this as a major opportunity. Setting traps was time-consuming and laying them in a sprawling forest where the undead might not even pass was a gamble and was like a fool’s errand. Still, Jacky wasn’t like most players.

  “It’s worth a try, and I can confirm with the assistant fairy,” Jacky muttered to himself. Not only was this method efficient, but it was also the safest option available.

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  Caution was imperative. After all, he had uploaded his mind into the game, so death for him wasn’t just a temporary setback — it was final. Although he was courageous, when facing an unknown danger, it was better to be extra cautious.

  His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by a familiar voice. “Thunder, you’re taking the trap mission?” Locktekei, his longtime friend, stepped up beside him, glancing at his own holographic screen.

  “Yeah,” Jacky replied, keeping his tone even. “Seems like the best option. Safer, too.”

  Locktekei nodded thoughtfully. “In that case, I’ll take the guarding mission and watch your back, bro. No telling what might wander too close while you’re setting up those traps. One hundred spirit coins shouldn’t be too hard to gather anyway.”

  Jacky appreciated the gesture and offered some advice. “Since you’re taking the guarding mission, why not grab the trap mission as well? I’ll show you how to set them up. Trust me, it’s worth it…” He quickly revealed his plan to exploit the undead-kill mission by combining it with trap deployment.

  Locktekei’s eyes widened as he absorbed the details. “Whoa, I never even considered that. You’re a genius, man! Alright, let’s do it.”

  The two thus accepted their missions and headed out to prepare. Jacky felt more secure with his friend’s company. As they walked, Jacky’s mind churned with ideas for trap designs — pitfalls, explosives, and magic traps all swirled in his head. Then, a sudden thought struck him like lightning. That’s it! An ingenious trap concept formed in his mind, one that could cover a wider area with minimal effort.

  A confident smirk tugged at Jacky’s lips. This might just tip the scales in my favor.

  ***

  Unlike usual, Victor was not relishing the sight of players dancing on his palm, nor did he deliver a grand speech about the expansion or the looming invasion of the undead army. His attention was wholly fixed on the pure-looking little girl seated before him.

  “So, Lillie, have you absorbed everything I just taught you?” Victor asked slowly, like a patient tutor guiding a young pupil.

  Despite Lillie’s extraordinary mana aptitude, as opposed to immediately forcing her to practice a meditation technique, Victor took his time to drill the basics into her head. Most of what he covered mirrored the material from the two-day compulsory class he’d previously taught to players. But unlike when teaching the first and second batches of players that he did personally, Victor was now more experienced and held nothing back.

  “Mana aptitude, elemental affinity, spell models, how to cast spells…” Lillie counted on her fingers everything that Victor had taught her, then with a bright smile, she declared, “Lillie understands everything that Mentor Victor explained.”

  Victor froze for a moment, his hand reflexively touching his throat in astonishment. He had always considered Lillie a simple-minded girl, yet her grasp of magic knowledge was nothing short of astounding. It was as if she had a natural talent for magic. Could her innocent demeanor be a fa?ade to conceal a more complex, perhaps even darker nature of hers? He couldn’t help but wonder.

  But as his gaze lingered on her porcelain-white face, so full of innocence and earnestness, Victor found it impossible to entertain such thoughts.

  Still, Victor’s suspicion wasn’t entirely unfounded. There was something enigmatic about Lillie’s heterochromatic eyes — her special constitution seemed to harbor a profound secret. With his current level of power, he couldn’t delve too deeply without risking interference or conducting a direct experiment. Not that he’d resort to such invasive methods, especially when Lillie might reveal the truth in her own time.

  “Mentor, what will you teach Lillie next?” she asked, tilting her head with a childlike curiosity.

  Victor pondered briefly before handing her a memory crystal. “Use this to study the meditation technique contained within. I’ll guide you through the process.”

  Since ascending to the rank of Elemental Adept Magus, Victor had gained the ability to craft memory crystals. However, as the academy’s sole official Magus (excluding Roland), producing these crystals in large quantities for the players was both impractical and inefficient.

  In Lillie’s case, as she had yet to become a true acolyte, she lacked the ability to wield magic. This meant she couldn’t activate the crystal on her own, and Victor had to channel his infused mana into her body to help her activate the memory crystal. Without hesitation, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder, guiding his mana through her, allowing the crystal’s knowledge to flow into her mind.

  Lillie’s eyes widened momentarily as the influx of foreign knowledge filled her head, but she quickly composed herself, closing her eyes to focus.

  The advantage of the memory crystal over the Shadowlink Mark was its ability to provide instant comprehension. Unlike the players, who relied on trial and error or additional guidance, Lillie would be able to dive straight into the meditation practice with precision. In his hand, Victor intended to turn her into a monstrous genius, unmatched by any.

  “Mentor, Lillie fully understands the Myriad Elements Method,” she said with a bright, earnest look while gazing up at Victor expectantly with her small hands clasped tightly in her lap.

  Victor nodded with a satisfied smile. “Mm-hmm.” He gently reached out and stroked her head. “You’ve done well, Lillie.” This apprentice of mine is really talented.

  Just then, the door swung open with a faint creak and a fairy flew inside. “Oh, so this is where you’ve been hiding, Master,” said Lizbeth, crossing her arms. “Setting me aside to fawn over your little student.” She harrumphed, bloating her cheeks.

  Victor coughed. “Liz, it’s… How about this? Why don’t you try teaching Lillie a bit?” Lizbeth had gained experience as an assistant in classes, so she should be more than capable. Besides, Victor had something important to do.

  “You want me to teach her?” She then grinned, straightening up. “Sure. I’ve just finished guiding those knuckleheads on the new missions, so I have some free time.”

  Why do I feel that asking for her help was a mistake?

  Lillie tilted her head. “Is Miss Lizbeth going to teach Lillie? What will Miss Lizbeth teach her?”

  Lizbeth winked. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll teach you how to have fun. Something Master will not teach you. Hehehe.”

  “Liz—”

  “Oh, relax.” She waved him off. “I’ll make sure your precious apprentice sticks to the rules. Mostly.”

  “What do you mean mostly?” was what Victor wanted to say but he kept it to himself and sighed. Whatever, he was going to let Lizbeth have her fun. In addition, it was better to see if the two of them got along since Lillie could be said to be his successor.

  Even Lillie looked excited about this as she exclaimed, “Lillie will do her best!” and held her hands together.

  Not minding them further, Victor quietly exited the room. However, he had barely taken a few steps when Lizbeth told him that there was a new mission, so he checked the Headmaster’s Journal on the way out.

  As he read through the description—

  Mission: Investigate the Eerie Rumor

  There have been rumored sightings of an abominable monster lurking in the depths of the Thornwood Forest. As the headmaster, you must ascertain the truth of these rumors yourself in order to keep the academy safe.

  Type: Side mission

  Reward: Bet-tier {Indomitable Will} spell book

  “This…”