"There was a whole damn break. What's going on? You get me hyped up like this and then decide to take a break," Rean said.
The break existed for one lone reason: to give people time to come to a conclusion on what just happened. At the same time, Rean noticed the guild top teams were called forward quietly and offered medallions of honor.
This occasion was unlike anything he had expected. What he once considered might be a boring night turned out to be something beyond his anticipated scope.
"I noticed they didn't consider the raids of rank C and below. What's up with that?" Lin asked.
Lin was the most reserved of the bunch, so this question definitely shocked her team.
"Now that you mention it, you're completely right," Miles added.
"You noticed how some teams with higher B-rank raids still rank lower than counterpart teams with lower raids. It's quality. Numbers don't mean anything," Michael responded.
"Numbers make all the difference," Rean responded, almost as if he was waiting for Michael's comment. "The top guild made 100 B-rank sweeps. The second made a tenth of that. Don't come here on that high horse, you damn phoney," Rean said, his accusations completely laid out.
"Ho," Michael said in a sarcastic tone.
He stood up, almost like he was getting ready to do something. An attack, maybe?
'I finally found his zone. He took the bait.'
A clap was heard at their table.
It was Michael.
"Ok, nice," he said, returning to his seat.
'What?' Rean thought. 'This guy somehow just baited me.'
'He set me up, giving me a false reward initially for thinking I had bested him. This guyyyyy,' Rean thought with his face constructing a false smile.
"I wanna get you so bad," he said in a very low tone.
"Ok, ok. On with the night's event," Harvey emphasized.
"Some people may have definitely had their fill. I mean we just heard some of the most impressive results this ceremony has ever heard. It goes without saying, the gears go faster from here," Harvey said.
"Ahaha," Harvey said, pulling out a second envelope from his jacket as if it were a magic surprise.
"In my hands contains the names of the top hunters. These hunters were selected based on their performance over the past 6 months. Unlike with the guilds, it contains the previous positions of all 10 of them, not just the top 3," Harvey emphasized.
"I know there's a bunch of new recruits and whatnot, so I have been mandated to remind you all that this list caps at A-rank. The rank S are not included as they have their own ranking system," he ended.
"Without any further ado, I give you your new top 10."
"Starting with Daniel Brim, A-rank hunter. Participated in 100 raids total, most of which were B and C rank," Harvey shouted.
"Applause people, and wherever you are Daniel, we need you up here."
The crowd continued with the applause. They didn't seem to be stopping, at least not until Daniel finally made it to the stage.
Daniel placed 20th at the last ceremony, meaning he moved up 10 whole slots.
"I think now is a very good time to mention that all ten of the hunters occupying this list are A-ranks. I am very sure this comes as a surprise to no one."
"At ninth place, we have the Association's very own, Julian Corer. He solo raided multiple D-rank gates no one was willing to handle. It's reported that the number of raids within the six-month period averaged 200. A beyond impressive amount," Harvey said.
"He seems to have moved down a rank, as last time he came in at sixth place."
"At number eight we have Loki Winfrey, the strongest hunter of the Monster's Guild. Word is he was instrumental to ending that power gate the guild raided," Harvey said.
"Loki placed seventh last time, so it does seem he's dropped a slot," Harvey continued.
As their names were called, the hunters were all met with resounding applause. The claps only stopped when the hunter had finally arrived on the stage.
"Sixth place, we have the Black Cranes' Ryle Shom."
Division Black immediately stood up, leading the ovation. No one was going to outdo them when it came to congratulating their captain.
'I can't believe it. It was all talk. Shom is actually that amazing,' Rean thought.
"Shom was instrumental to the massive growth the Cranes experienced this past six months. Of the 4 A-rank gates closed, Shom was in charge of the team that closed the very first one. The other guy—ohh, it says not to read this out yet, sorry. My bad," Harvey apologized.
"Hunter Shom has one of the most impressive growths, leaping from the twenty-third slot as of the last ceremony to nearly making the top five at this one."
Shom made it up the stage to join the others.
"Cracking into the top five, we have the Heavenly Faith's top hunter, Vincent Scarlett. Vincent was responsible for leading teams on half the raids the guild conducted on A-rank dungeons. He placed seventh before. It seems he climbed two slots, breaking his way into the top five," Harvey continued.
"Our fourth place goes to James Rebirths' star hunter, Karl Karl," the announcer said.
"Yes, you heard rightly. That's his damn name. Don't ask."
"Karl placed fourth last time as well, so it seems he's retaining his spot quite nicely. That is no easy thing to do. I mean just look at the other entries. He was instrumental in clearing all 8 A-rank gates at the guild. He didn't lead all the raids but participated in every single one."
"The third best performing hunter of the last six months is apparently Becky Lorichella."
"She placed second last time, which means we have someone placed way, way higher than they ought to."
"Becky is Venus Flame's master hunter and apparently the only female hunter to make the top 10 list. She cleared two power gates single-handedly and played massive roles in clearing a lot of the top-tier gates her guild raided," Harvey emphasized.
"At second place—wait, wait."
Harvey paused.
He was confused.
"This can't be right," he exclaimed.
He called the chairman of the event. The event was put on hold.
The crowd began losing it.
"What could possibly make them just stop the announcements?" one said.
"I don't really know. Isn't it unusual?" another added.
The hall was getting filled with unease, but before long Harvey returned to the stage to quell the unrest.
"Sorry, there was no mistake. Just bad presentation on my part."
"Our second place and runner-up for best performing hunter this past six months is none other than Seral Lush, the country's top placer for the past three years," Harvey ended.
There were no cheers.
Everyone was shocked. How could Seral place second?
Most expected that if there was to be a switch-up or any exciting placement, it would be because someone new came in second.
This wasn't unease or disappointment.
The crowd genuinely didn't know how to feel.
Everyone remained silent even as Seral made his way up the stage.
Rean glanced at Michael and Zeta. The latter was visibly frustrated. The former, however, remained rather cold-looking and expressionless.
"And now, the moment you all probably started anticipating after what I believe was like five minutes due to that little shake-up," Harvey said, attempting to calm the crowd.
"The country's current top hunter. The hunter with by far the largest stat increase and improvement rate. His merit says it all. He cleared 3 A-rank gates with his team, solo raiding over 50 B-rank gates, and even over 50 solo raids of lower-tier gates."
"I present to you Tylan Icaran," Harvey exclaimed.
"Once again, give it up for Tylan Icaran."
Everyone in the crowd began clapping. It was wild, but not too wild, as the crowd were still surprised.
Tylan placed 50th last time. An improvement of this scale was unprecedented. From what I gather, back then he wasn't even A-rank yet. To come so far in so little a time.
"Folks, let's hear it again. Tylan Icaran, people," Harvey said, handing over the mic to Tylan to say a few words.
"Em, em, hello," Tylan said.
"I know many of you don't know me. I know many of you expected a different top and whatnot. I don't want to bore you. I had a speech planned out and everything, but I guess I'll use it next time."
"I am grateful for this stage and opportunity. I hope now you all can follow my journey as you have all the others who stand up here beside me."
"There's so much I want to say," Tylan said, immediately retracting the mic from the mouth area.
He says something and then immediately returns the mic to position.
"I can see the crowd isn't pleased with the placement, so I'll say everything else when I place first again at the next ceremony. Now that the world knows me, I know you'll all be watching."
"So watch. The strongest hunter this world will ever see has taken stage. That will be all."
He said and took a bow.
In an instant, the entire crowd erupted. It felt almost as if they were always fans of Tylan.
"What's going on? Everyone is going wild for Tylan," Rean said with joy and tears.
He immediately flashed back to what Michael said.
'It all makes sense now. Seral was their brother, and Tylan his,' Rean thought.
Rean stood up, walked towards Michael, and told him to his face:
"I don't want to be congratulated for something my brother did to yours. I'll accept your congratulations when I completely outshine you, just as my brother did yours. Just wait."