First Impressions

"Coffee Jelly is the best dish made by mankind. The soft jelly with the taste of coffee with just the right amount of sweetness that melts in your mouth makes it--"

I was rudely awakened from my dream by a blonde haired girl, who was looking at me apathetically.

This was Anny. "We were called to take the 5th exam"

I nodded getting up, and went to the venue.

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In the venue, I looked around and spotted all the important people, the 'main characters' of the story of the game:

Alexia Hadrion, the noble who seemed to be lost in thoughts while standing.

Anny Leonheart, the princess herself, who was talking to two boys, while occasionally glancing at Alexia, noticing her staring blankly.

A black haired guy, Ryogaku, who was clenching his fists in determination with a determined aura around him, his eyebrows looked very determined and the light shining from his blade was very bright and determined.

Did I forget to say that he looked determined?

And then there was the mindless brute that is in every story, Johan Charon

These four already met before and hence knew each other, forming a tightly knit friend group.

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'I'm here, finally, the work of all my life has got me here and I cannot fail now.'

Ryogaku thought as he clenched his fists.

Ryogaku was born in a remote village in the mountains.

His upbringing was very sheltered, not knowing the pains of this world, he developed sympathy for all beings.

This was until one day, his whole life crashed down.

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Hungry, and half-dead, he was saved by an old man who found him unconscious on the road.

The old man revealed himself to be the Rank 11 S+ Class Hunter, Akira Alpin.

He wanted Ryogaku to be great, as he reminded him of himself.

One day, Akira died a natural death, smiling even as his soul for heaven.

That day Ryogaku cried, but promised himself to become the strongest and help as many as he can.

He would never let anyone suffer the same fate as him.

He kept it a secret that he was trained by Akira, as he wanted to earn greatness by himself.

On his quest for training, he met his good friends, Anny, Johan, and Alexia, who all supported him in his dream.

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Let me guess, you didn't read all of it, did you?

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Now, the entrance exam is about to start, the examiner distributed the serial numbers and told everyone to go wait in our respective rooms. Me, Anny, Alexia and Johan are all in group 16.

The examinees will go 10 at a time through 10 doors, behind which are mini-dungeons made by the academy, they are ranked based on the time taken to clear the dungeon and other things like calmness in battle etc.

We went and sat down in the room, talking among ourselves.

We all had trained a lot together in the last 2 years, and were confident that we all would pass easily.

As we were talking, Alexia suddenly stiffened up, staring at the door. We all instinctively turned towards the door to find a skinny boy with an ominous aura walking in.

Looking at the boy, I clenched the handle of my sword as a chill went down my back.

Images of burning houses and people screaming popped up in my head. A single silhouette was seen killing people with movements that can only be called graceful.

My other hand went to my chest, on top of burn marks that I got on . . . that day.

I quickly shook the image out of my mind.

Even though he looks like a stick in the wind, with an unmaintained physique, he exuded an aura of superiority and oppression.

He turned towards Alexia and stared at her. Then he slowly started walking towards us.

I could see Alexia's hands trembling, as her eyes nervously darted around, trying to avoid eye contact with the boy.

We were all thinking that these two had some history, and that he had done something to her in the past.

We were going to stop him but that when Alexia said with a shaking voice, "Good . . . morning Sukuna"

"Do I know you?" The boy named Sukuna said in a bored voice.

Alexia took a deep breath and said, "I was in the party, when you . . ."

She trailed off at the end, remembering the helplessness she felt at that time.

Sukuna showed a face of realization and said, "Oh that, I've had questions about that a few times, don't worry I just got a little angry"

Sukuna then turned towards me, looking at me straight in the eyes.

It was as if my body was frozen, sweat was running down my back as I stared at the pair of eyes that seemed to be glowing.

I saw him smile a little before saying:

"Ryogaku, I have high hopes for you, make sure you pass this exam, aim for second place, because there is no chance you get first"

After saying this he went to the corner of the room, sat on a chair and dozed off.

"So, what the hell was that?" said Johan with an expression that said 'I don't get it'.

Anny shrugged, before she turned to Alexia, who had calmed down a little.

"But Alexia, why are you so scared of him, what happened in the party?" said Anny as she glanced at the boy sleeping in the corner of the room.

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'Group Sixteen, Enter the Simulator'

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--Sukuna POV--

Was that a good first impression, yeah definitely . . . I think.

Well, now I can rest for a little while, there's still time till our turn.

'Group Sixteen, Enter the Simulator'

Bruuh, why?

Well, I guess I'll try divergent fist on the monsters instead of just evaporating them with dismantle.

I waited until I was the last one in the room and lazily walked out.

My serial number was 169, so I went and entered gate 9.

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"Alright, time for a taste"