Chapter 32: The Entrance Ceremony…

It had been twenty-six days since Gray arrived at Gloria Academy, though calling it an academy was a joke.

It was a city… a really giant one.

And during that time, Gray focused on training his body and skill control to its fullest.

He ate, trained, and slept.

Those were the only things that he did on those twenty-six days, and surprisingly, he even grew a whole centimeter.

But unlike Gray’s expectation of reaching the peak of the Elementary realm, he barely reached the middle layer.

And the reason?

Apparently, Vessels could become five times stronger than regular humans… but their cultivation layers were also five times harder to push through.

That really maddened him, so, to let off steam, he took out his anger by beating up some idiot who tried to provoke him at a tavern.

And by beat up, it meant several broken bones and enough internal damage that the guy would need over a dozen elixirs just to move his body again.

Other than that, the only skill that leveled up was Swap, and now this was how it looked:

[✧ Unique Skill: Swap ✧]

Level: 2

Type: Spatial / Utility

Cooldown: 27 seconds

Effect: Instantly switch positions with any object or living being within a 125-meter radius.

Additional Traits: Swap ignores most barriers and terrain obstacles.

— The user can select something to swap and set a timer for it to automatically swap.

— Cooldown and range increase with skill level.

——+——+——+——

Gray was more than satisfied.

Even with the cooldown, he could now plan ahead and set swaps to trigger automatically. That alone gave him dozens of new ways to fight.

But that aside…

“…It’s time.”

He cracked his neck and let out a low hum of satisfaction.

[I wonder how the Entrance Ceremony is going to be~]

He started walking towards the giant academy gates, and as he reached a certain distance, his eyes widened slightly.

“…Damn.”

There were thousands of people, literal thousands, filling the road in front of the academy, all pushing forward toward the gate like a tidal wave of talent.

Gray was just one tiny drop in the ocean.

And right then…

[You’re in deep shit.]

Jasmine’s voice echoed softly in his mind, almost teasing

[At least half of these people are at the peak of the Intermediate Stage… and I even sensed a few already at the middle of the Advanced Stage.]

“…Fuck,” Gray muttered under his breath.

But his face didn’t change, his expression stayed still and cold. This was exactly what he expected.

After all… this was Gloria Academy.

The place where only monsters gathered.

The strongest academy on the continent.

The very idea that someone normal could enter was already a joke.

Still… he found one small thing to feel good about.

With this many people here… there was no way Ronan or Lira would be able to spot him in this chaos. That thought alone made his lips curl ever so slightly.

Soon, the crowd began pouring through the wide-open golden gates. The moment the last person passed through…

BOOM!

The gates slammed shut with a loud echo, and the air trembled. Right above the gate, space itself cracked.

A shining rift tore open in the sky like shattered glass.

Then, a voice echoed from above.

“Hello, my dear future… and failed students.”

It was a woman’s voice, light and graceful, but also dangerous, like a knife dipped in honey.

Everyone froze.

Even Gray’s body stiffened for a second, and his heart skipped a beat.

She was gorgeous… too beautiful. Her smile was lazy, her eyes glowed with golden power, and her presence made weaker students almost fall to their knees.

But Gray wasn’t affected for long, not because of his willpower.

But because he was the Vessel of Beauty himself.

He could feel her beauty trying to overwhelm him… but instead of drowning in it, his body naturally balanced the effect.

And it even seemed to absorb it slightly…

The woman above the cracked sky spun her finger gently.

“I’m the Headmistress of Gloria Academy. And yes, sweeties, my name is Gloria~”

As she twirled her finger, a strange light danced around the air.

FWOOSH!

A strange panel appeared out of thin air, one floating in front of every single student.

It was reminiscent of his status panel.

Gray caught his instantly and stared at it.

His eyes narrowed.

It was… accurate.

His name, his age, his current realm… and his active and passive skills.

Even Swap, his unique skill that nobody knew, was listed. Down to the level and type.

But…

“…Huh.”

Gray’s lips curled up slightly in amusement.

His class… was missing.

And so were his class skills, and the things he got from the Inheritance Dungeon, such as his unique title, and the passive skill “Blessing of Beauty”.

Not even this so-called perfect panel could detect it.

[Fufufu~ They can’t read it either. Your class is hidden even from divine-level scans. And of course, as one of the strongest Goddesses from before, my stuff is also hidden.]

Jasmine purred softly.

Gray kept staring at the panel, and then he slid it aside, causing it to disappear, but in return, a strange bracelet appeared on his left wrist.

His eyes returned to Gloria, who was high above the crowd, her eyes sparkled with playful cruelty as she floated before the cracked sky.

Her lips curled into a wider smile, almost as if she was enjoying the tension boiling in the air.

“Now then… I’m sure you’re all wondering how many of you will be accepted into this lovely academy, hmm~?” She twirled again, letting her long golden coat flutter like a cape behind her.

Then, she held up a single finger.

“Only one hundred and twenty.”

Her words hushed the entire crowd.

It was like a punch to the face; her words slammed into every single person standing there.

Thousands of students… and only one hundred and twenty would be accepted.

The air instantly changed.

Gray could feel it.

All around him, their eyes narrowed. Breaths sharpened, and fists clenched. The whole crowd had turned into wolves.

Hungry, growling, ready to kill.

“…They’ve all got fight-brains,” Gray muttered, frowning slighly.

It was like someone had flipped a switch in their heads.

These weren’t hopeful students anymore, they were murder machines, calculating who they had to crush to survive.

And then… Gloria spoke again.

“Now then~ Let’s talk about the test.”

She smiled sweetly, like she was announcing a fun little game.

“It’s none other than a simple Battle Royale.”

A chill ran through the air.

“You’ll be dropped into one of four arenas. Forest. Ruins. Underground. And Wasteland.” She stuck four fingers, causing four screens with the actual appearance of the arenas to appear.

“The last thirty standing from each arena… will pass.”

And then, her smile dropped.

Just for a second, her face turned cold and serious.

“Let me say this clearly: You’re allowed to kill.”

The student’s eyes instantly widened as soon as she uttered those words.

“This is Gloria Academy, and it has only got its reputation because it’s a place for true monsters. Only the strong survive, and the weak die.”

“There are no second chances. No mercy.”

She folded her arms behind her back, her voice still sweet, but her words cold as ice.

“Truthfully, you are not allowed to kill during class hours. But outside of that?” She gave a careless shrug.

“Anything goes. That includes the dorms, the training fields, the cafeteria… anywhere else.”

“If you can’t defend yourself, you shouldn’t be here.”

Gray felt the temperature drop again.

He looked around.

Some students were trembling, their knees falling weak.

Others?

They were grinning.

Their eyes were glowing with actual bloodlust, like they were some serial killers, and those were the perfect place for them.

But… Gray was the happiest amongst all of them.

He stood in the middle of it all, his arms stretched out in a wide ’X’ as the black strings attached to his gloves extended, gleaming faintly like spider silk in the sunlight.

They were thin…

Yet they shimmered faintly… tied to something far more dangerous than anyone could see.

“Kekeke~”

A low chuckle escaped from Gray’s lips.

His eyes were glowing faintly, a devilish grin forming on his face, his expression that of a child about to open a gift.

From deep within his gloves, the taut strings pulsed once.

[…Oh my~]

Jasmine’s voice purred in his ear. Though Gray couldn’t see her, he knew she was grinning… probably like a crescent moon drenched in red.

And then…

Fwip!

Just a single flick of his fingers.

SHING!

The strings snapped tight in the air.

SPLURT!

SPLATTER!!

Blood exploded from dozens of necks all at once.

Around Gray, nearly fifty students froze, their eyes going wide, and their mouths parting open.

They didn’t even know what hit them.

The strings had wrapped around their throats like silent snakes. And with that one sharp pull…

Their heads popped free.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

Heads dropped like melons on the ground, rolling through the dust.

Some bounced once, twice, before lying still, mouths still twitching, eyes wide with frozen fear.

SHRRK!

SPLASH!

SPLURCH!

Blood sprayed up like a fountain. It covered the stone floor, splattering the boots of nearby students.

It painted the air red.

It drenched Gray’s black coat in a fine mist of crimson, soaking the strings like threads dipped in wine.

One boy stumbled forward, clutching at the string embedded in his neck, only for his knees to buckle.

CRACK.

He hit the ground like a puppet with no strings.

Another girl, eyes wide, tried to scream, but her voice box was already gone, sliced clean through.

Gray didn’t move.

He just watched calmly, wearing the same devilish smile.

His eyes glowed faintly, a faint trail of black smoke curling from the corner of his lashes, like something darker had awakened inside him.

And yet… amidst the death, the panic, and the chaos…

A slow clap echoed from above.

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!!!

Everyone turned.

And there floated Gloria, her heels lightly hanging above the ground, her coat fluttering behind her like royalty.

Her smile was brighter than ever.

“And of course…“ she said, voice ringing through the silence, “…even in here, killing is allowed~”

Her voice was soft… and extremely deadly.

Gray looked up at her, eyes half-lidded, smoke still trailing from them, and offered her a little grin, his teeth faintly visible, his strings swaying in the air like tendrils of death.

The heads still hadn’t stopped rolling.

And the blood…It kept dripping.

Drip…

Drip…

Drip…

No one said a word as they didn’t even dare to breathe.

Because they all understood something now.

This wasn’t a game at all.

This was Gloria Academy. And the boy in front of them… wasn’t just another student.

He was death dressed in disguise.

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