01 | Number Two

[2. Autumn Anderson: T.E - 100%, P.E - 2:00 minutes, 100%]

Even with my perfect scores, I was still ranked second place out of the thousands of candidates who took the Gamos Academy Entrance Examination. In the theoretical aspect of the exam, I got a perfect hundred. Same with the practical aspect. I took only two minutes to clear the virtual reality dungeon set up for the practical aspect, using both my sword and my gun.

But still… second place.

I refreshed the page on my phone to check if it was some mistake or a glitch in the system, but it wasn't. The number one spot on the list of admitted students remained the same.

[1. Lumina Voss: T.E - 68%, P.E - 10:43 minutes, 100%]

Just how? 

I got a higher score than him in the theory exam. The time I used to clear the dungeon was faster than him. So why? Why was he number one and I was number two?

Was it because of a bribe? Did he bribe the examination council? No, that couldn't be. He was not the type of person who would give out bribes to be admitted. Instead, he would flash a charming smile at the council and sheepishly say, "I hope I do my best to impress you."

And I bet that would've impressed them. Seeing as the strongest S-Class Rank Hunter of this generation was bowing his head to them and acting all humble. I ground my teeth in spite of the thought of it. Half a second later, I relaxed.

[The Special Skill, [Mental Control], has been activated.]

Just in time, my Special Skill came through for me. I dropped my phone on my bed and stood up. As I took a step to reach for a glass of water from my bed stand, the door of my room got kicked open. 

"Congratulations! You got into the Academy!" said my mother, Agnes Anderson, as she rushed over to engulf me in a tight hug.

Next was my father, who appeared behind me in a second, patting my head while my mother squeezed the life out of me.

"I'm proud of you son," said Mr. Logan Anderson, who would still be proud of me even if I had failed the exam.

"Now, we get to go to school together!" An idiotic voice boomed as the being who owned the voice covered my field of vision with his broad, muscular body.

Drake Anderson, my brother who was older than me by only three years, managed to push away both my mom and dad and pull me into his chest, squeezing me even tighter than my mom did earlier. I could smell his thick cologne which he regularly wore to seduce 'the ladies.'

Getting fed up with being squeezed to death, I pushed him away with little to no effort since I was stronger than him, even though he was two times my size. Thankful that I could finally breathe properly, I stepped away from the three psychos, only to feel something tugging on one leg of my pants.

I looked down to see my younger sister with a creepy smile on her face. Just looking at the twelve year old's expression, I could tell that I was about to get roasted.

"Congratulations, poop," Annabelle said. My blank expression didn't change as I predicted her next words. "You know? Cause you're number two? Haha!" She clutched her stomach tightly, laughing hard at her stupid joke.

It came as no surprise to me when I saw Drake biting his lower lip to restrain himself from laughing as well. I sighed through my mouth.

"Let it out now, everyone," I said to the people standing inside my room. They gave up the considerate family act and began laughing out loud. 

"You got perfect scores in the exams and still managed to get second place!" Drake pointed at me as the sound of his laughter doubled. 

"I knew something like this was going to happen, but it didn't make the situation any less funnier," said Annabelle in between laughs.

If not for my fixed skill, [Mental Control], I would've executed each member of my family a long time ago. They each knew how to push my buttons and do things that put me on edge. As they all laughed like the audience of an amusing circus, an uninformed person would think they were just the typical members of a family and not actually high-grade Hunters and Inquisitors. 

Hunters were an order of humans with special abilities used to rid the world of monsters. While Inquisitors were special members of today's society who were tasked with the honor of getting rid of corrupted entities. 

Inquisitors were the law; supreme and right in every way. And I was one of them. 

"It's been five minutes. I think that's long enough," I said, fed up with my family's presence in the room. 

The four of them started to sober up after that, and my mother was the first person to reach out to me with an apologetic expression. It was a fake one, but still.

"Don't feel bad about getting second place. Your ranking doesn't really matter, you know? And besides, you know you can't beat someone who was born with a 100% Charm Stats."

And I thought she was going to say something encouraging. She wasn't wrong though. Lumina didn't need to work or socialize to increase his Charm Stats. He was born with a 100%, maybe that was why everyone was in love with him and everything went his way.

Unlike me. Naturally, I was born with a high percentage of Charm Stats, but it started to decline as I grew up. Right now, I had about 25% Charm Stats; the lowest in my family and maybe even in the entirety of Gomas. I wasn't ugly by any means. Not to brag, but I had a face a person could describe as beautiful.

With ivory white skin, wavy black hair, soft pink lips, a straight nose, and my enchanting gray eyes. I was as beautiful as an angel if I'd ever seen one. 

The reason why my Charm Stats were low was because of—

"Get out. All of you. I've had enough."

—my personality.

My family didn't seem to be taken aback by my cold and harsh words because they were quite used to it. Unlike the early days when they would try to reason with me after I closed myself off and pushed everyone else away, now, they accepted my reaction, casted their heads down, and walked out of the room.

"I'm still proud of you," said dad, the last person to leave the room as he shut the door behind him.

Yeah, right.

He said those words to me so constantly that they lost their meaning a couple years ago. Left alone in my room, I dropped down on my bed cushion and sighed heavily.

I would be moving to the dorms of Gomas Academy in a week and starting classes after that, ranking second among the first years. I would never admit it out loud but it was a big hit to my ego.

"Second place…" 

I scoffed. I guess I had to settle for that now.