EMERGING VICTORIOUS?

As the practical exam ended, cadets were teleported outside the dungeon. The area was swarmed with injured cadets, mostly from F, E, and D ranks were injured greatly. Healers and medical staff were prepared and worked quickly to treat the cadets. Instructors started to count the students, and sadly, nine students out of 5000 had been killed. Grey, who had been in a tough fight, was taken care of by healers and sent to the hospital. Raphael was nowhere to be seen when Grey was teleported outside.

That day, everyone at UTOPIA was left in awe and disbelief. "How could two F rank cadets make it to the top 10 in the individual list?" was the question on everyone's mind. The UTOPIA practical exam had two scoring systems: team-wise and individual-wise. Meanwhile, Grey was being treated in the hospital.

After two days, Grey was discharged. Wanting to take things slowly, he went to a coffee shop on the UTOPIA campus before going to the classroom. He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat on a bench in front of a fountain, sipping his coffee slowly. Suddenly, a girl shouted, "What? Two F rankers got top 10 in the practical exam?" Hearing this, Grey spat out his coffee in surprise. He thought to himself, "How can an F rank get top 10? And two of them? They must be rich kids buying ranks with money. Their parents might be powerful in the HERO association. Chaebol bastards." (In Korea, 'chaebol' refers to a wealthy family's son.) Grey discarded his coffee and headed towards the classroom.

There, he found his friends. They all looked apologetic and ran towards him. Han Leemin, Jisuka, and Opdu were crying, feeling guilty for leaving Grey behind in the dungeon. Grey reassured them, "Don't worry, guys. I'm fine, and that was the best choice. Don't look like that, guys."

His friends laughed, the tension finally breaking. "We should have known better," one of them said, clapping Grey on the back. "You're too stubborn to die."

Grey's smile widened. "That's right. And don't you forget it."

Despite the light-hearted banter, Grey could see the guilt in his friends' eyes. They had left him behind, and that was a fact they would have to live with. But Grey didn't blame them. He knew they had made a tough call, and he would have done the same in their shoes.

"Listen," he said, his tone serious. "What happened in there… it's in the past. We're a team, and teams stick together, no matter what. So let's put this behind us and focus on what's ahead, okay?"

His friends nodded, their expressions grateful. They knew they had been given a second chance, and they weren't about to waste it.

He also told about the story of how he defeated the monster with Raphael and what happened to Raphael's team. The atmosphere got heavy again but Opdu broke the silence with a joke and they become normal again.

*******************

In a high-tech, luxurious classroom, far removed from the modest F-rank rooms, a muscular figure named Leon, hardened beyond titanium, was seething. He stared at his personal tablet, infuriated by the results of the practical exam. Two F-rank cadets had scored higher than him in the individual category, a fact that had not only him but every S and A-rank cadet up in arms.

Leon crushed his tablet in a fit of rage. The idea of anyone being near the diamond, let alone surpassing it, was unthinkable. Yet, no S-rank cadet doubted the strength of the two F-rankers. They had simply overlooked them, their gaze never lowering to see what was right in front of them.

Leon rose from his chair, his voice echoing through the room as he shouted, "Who the heck are those pests? How could they rank above me in the exam?" His words drew the attention of the other cadets, including some top-tier S-rankers who didn't usually bother with such matters.

Joopil, a fellow S-rank cadet on Leon's team, echoed his sentiments. "Yes, Leon, how could those weaklings who were mostly beaten down by low-rank monsters be equal to us S-rankers!" His words, however, struck a nerve. A spear made of light grazed Joopil's left side, the heat from it burning his hair and making him cry out in pain.

The owner of the light spear spoke calmly, his voice carrying a weight that silenced Joopil. "I believe there was some kind of mistake in the ranking. We don't need to worry about it. The instructors will take care of it." His words were absolute, and even Leon, calmed down to avoid his gaze. His gaze pressured even the fellow S-rank cadets, but there were exceptions. The problem was precisely that - how could those two F-rankers be equal to those exceptional ones who placed in the top 10?

Meanwhile, oblivious to the turmoil they had caused, the two F-rankers were living their lives at a leisurely pace. Little did they know the storm that was brewing.