As Kaelen finished his speech, the three Goddesses didn't even give him a second look. They immediately walked away from him and stood close to Haruto, their faces filled with pure disgust.
"We have absolutely zero interest in you or this pathetic contest," they said in unison, their voices cold enough to freeze the hallway.
Haruto looked Kaelen dead in the eye and asked,
"Who gave you the right to just decide you're marrying nine girls?"
Kaelen cut him off instantly, his voice booming with arrogance.
"Not nine—ten! My fiancée, Lilith, is already a Princess and my soon to be wife. After I marry her, I will become King. And in this city, a King has the divine right to marry another nine most powerful women to ensure the royal bloodline produces the strongest offspring. I've decided to choose these three for their talent and beauty. You should consider it an honor."
Haruto looked around the hall. Every other girl in the school was glaring at the Goddesses, their faces twisted with extreme jealousy because they weren't the ones chosen.
But Bellona, Ivory, and Lustra didn't care. The moment they heard the word "marriage" come out of Kaelen's mouth, they looked at him like he was something disgusting they'd stepped on in the street. They wouldn't even acknowledge his existence.
Haruto adjusted his bag strap, his expression unchanged. "I don't think they're exactly 'ready' for your proposal," he said flatly. "So, their answer is a no."
Kaelen laughed, a sharp, grating sound.
"Haruto, you talk a lot for a low-level glitch. But fine, I'm a generous King. I'll make you a minister. You can stay with them even after they become my Queens, but you'll be their servant. It won't be like it is now, but at least you'll be nearby. How does that sound?"
Toya stepped forward, his teeth grit. "That's enough."
Kaelen's eyes shifted to Toya, mocking him.
"Oh, Haruto, is this your new toy? I've heard about him. The owner of the white aura... Toya. Once I'm King, I'll give you a job too. You can be a minister, and Haruto here can be your assistant. Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?"
Toya's anger spiked. His white aura began to pulse and glow, vibrating with a dangerous intensity. Kaelen's bodyguards immediately stepped in, crossing their spears to block him. But before Toya could lash out, Bellona placed a single firm hand on his shoulder, pinning him in place.
"No," Bellona said, her voice steady and commanding. "This isn't your job, Toya."
Lustra stepped up beside her, looking at Kaelen with pure boredom.
"We reject your offer. Completely."
Ivory adjusted her glasses and let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"Honestly? I'd rather die than be part of your 'lineage.' The logic of your existence is just... tragic."
Haruto watched the scene unfold, his mind racing. Is this it? he thought. Is this the "Impossible" challenge the God of Creation warned me about?
He looked at Kaelen, who was still smirking, trying to lure the Goddesses away with promises of status and royalty.
"So this is the threat," Haruto muttered to himself. "A social siege. He's trying to break my family apart by offering them 'promotions' and titles. He wants to tear down what we've built by turning them into his Queens and me into a servant."
But as he watched Bellona's hand firmly on Toya's shoulder and heard Ivory's cold, mocking laughter, a different realization hit him.
Wait... this isn't a threat to me. It's a threat to him. He looked at his team—three ancient powers and a Level 60 warrior—standing united in front of a Level 8 student who thought he was a King.
My family isn't breaking, Haruto realized, his black aura flickering deep in his eyes. They're supporting me more than ever. Kaelen thinks he's inviting them to a palace, but he doesn't realize our house is already a fortress. He's not a hunter; he's just a bug trying to fly into a spiderweb.
Haruto stepped forward, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his team.
"You're right, Kaelen. It wouldn't be like it is now. But I don't think you are a king because there's no room for 'Kings' who beg for wives."
Kaelen let out a sharp, mocking laugh, his orange aura flickering with arrogance.
"Oh, I see now," he sneered, looking at Haruto and then at the three Goddesses.
"I finally get why they're sticking with you. It's the credits, isn't it? You've got some pocket change I don't know about."
He stepped closer, his voice dripping with venom. "But don't get comfortable. I'm the one who's going to be King. Once I take the throne, I'll have so much wealth and power that I could buy and sell all of you ten times over without blinking."
He turned his gaze toward Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona, his eyes scanning them with a disgusting, transactional greed.
"Tell me, ladies... How much is this loser paying you to keep up this charade? Because if you're looking for a real Master—someone with the rank and the credits to actually back up his arrogance—I'm right here. I'll double whatever he's offering. You shouldn't be serving a loser, you should be standing behind the elite."
Kaelen shifted his gaze away from the girls, his eyes landing on Toya. A slow, condescending smile spread across his face as he looked at the "Ace of the First Year."
"And you, Toya," Kaelen said, his voice dripping with mock disappointment.
"The famous possessor of the White Aura. I expected more from a talent like you. To think that even the star of the freshmen class sold his soul for a few credits... It's pathetic. You're following a loser like a lost puppy just because his family has a deep pocket?"
Kaelen took a step closer to Toya, ignoring the fact that Toya's hand was white-knuckled on the hilt of his sword.
"Don't be a fool," Kaelen continued, extending a hand as if offering a grand prize.
"Join my team. I won't just give you more money than this person ever could—I'll give you Social Status. In this Academy, power is nothing if you aren't standing with the elite. Why be a servant when you can be a King's right hand?"
Toya felt a surge of pure, unadulterated rage. Internally, he wanted to laugh in Kaelen's face. To Toya, who was secretly a Level 60 monster, this Level 8 senior who used to seem like a giant now looked like a tiny, buzzing insect. He could end Kaelen with a wrist.
But he felt the weight of Ivory's Reality Magic pressing down on him. She had cloaked his true power, making him appear as a mere Level 5 to everyone else. If he unleashed his aura now, he'd blow the group's cover and ruin Haruto's "game."
Toya's breathing was heavy, his teeth gritted so hard they could have shattered. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he turned his head and looked at Haruto, his eyes silently pleading for the order to "delete" this loud-mouthed brat.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed as he stared at Haruto, his mind racing behind that arrogant smirk. Everyone in the halls is whispering that this glitch somehow jumped to Level 3, Kaelen thought, a flicker of doubt crossing his mind. How is that even possible? A trash-tier Level 1 doesn't just leap forward like that without a massive system error.
He decided to push harder, wanting to see if he could force a glitch in Haruto's composure. If I mock him enough, maybe he'll get desperate and open his HUD to prove me wrong. If I can catch a glimpse of his interface and it still shows Level 1, his entire "prodigy" act will be exposed in front of the whole school. I'll make him the biggest laughingstock in the Academy.
Kaelen took a final step toward Haruto, his boots clicking sharply on the marble floor.
"I heard the latest update on your 'status,' Haruto," Kaelen sneered, his voice loud enough to echo. "You've finally climbed out of the gutter. From Level 1 to Level 3? Quite a feat for a loser. But don't let a tiny bit of progress get to your head. Learn your limits. Even at Level 3, you're just a servant compared to the elite standing right in front of you."
Haruto didn't look offended. Instead, he let out a soft, playful chuckle—the kind of laugh someone gives when they're watching a child try to explain how the world works.
"Limit?" Haruto repeated, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He slowly reached up and pressed his palm against the center of his chest.
"You should really check the latest news, Kaelen. Your intel is lagging."
-- HUMMM --
A crisp, translucent HUD snapped into existence over Haruto's heart. For exactly two seconds, the blue light illuminated the shocked faces of the hallway crowd.
[NAME: HARUTO]
[TITLE: STARCHILD]
[LEVEL: 4]
The '4' pulsed with a cold, steady glow. Before anyone could even take a screenshot with their eyes, Haruto flicked his hand and the screen dissolved into static.
Kaelen's breath hitched. His eyes widened, his brain struggling to process what he just saw. Level 4? Already? He had seen the numbers, but his ego refused to accept the reality of Haruto's growth speed. He felt a sudden, cold bead of sweat roll down his neck.
Kaelen quickly masked his shock with a loud, forced laugh, trying to regain his grip on the situation.
"Level 4?!" Kaelen barked, though his voice was a pitch higher than before.
"So you gained another level. Big deal! You're still just a child playing with a toy! Even at Level 4, you're barely half of my rank. You're still nothing compared to me!"
This is simply impossible, Kaelen thought, his eyes darting across Haruto's calm face. Is he skipping levels? Or worse... is he suppressing his true level? No, that's not possible. I can't sense even a glimpse of mana from him. Even a person at Level 5 should have 100 times more mana than a Level 1, but he feels like a complete void.
His gaze dropped to the badge pinned to Haruto's uniform. His heart skipped a beat. Wait... is it possible he is simply generating mana without using it? Nobody has ever seen the color of his aura. And look at that badge... it's cracked. That only happens during high-level mana exposure. No... no, stay calm. Just act cool.
He forced his trembling hands into his pockets and looked back at Haruto with a sneer.
"You might be leveling up fast, but you're still a dwarf standing in the shadow of a giant. Don't think for a second that a '4' makes you equal to an '8'."
Haruto leaned in, his smile turning from playful to something much darker and sharper.
"It's not about the height of the level, Kaelen. It's about the depth of the power," Haruto whispered.
"I'm a Level 4 because I'm just getting started. You're a Level 8 because that's where your story ends. Now... Do you want to keep measuring numbers, or should I show you what happens when a 'player' gets bored of the game?"
Kaelen's face twitched, his veins bulging as he tried to swallow the humiliation. He couldn't handle the way Haruto looked at him—like he was a minor bug in a much larger program.
"Don't talk trash to me!" Kaelen roared, his Level 8 aura flared up, causing the nearby lockers to rattle.
"You think you're special because you're moving fast? I am capable of things you can't even imagine! My potential is limitless. I'll be Level 70 before you even figure out how to reach Level 10!"
Haruto didn't even blink at the outburst. He just tilted his head, his smile turning dangerously sharp.
"Level 70?" Haruto chuckled, a dry, hollow sound.
"Kaelen, by the time you finally crawl your way up to Level 70, I'll be sitting at Level 1000. We aren't even playing the same game anymore."
Behind him, the entire group—Ivory, Lustra, Bellona, and even Toya—burst into laughter. The sound of their collective amusement echoed through the hallway, making Kaelen's "Elite" status feel like a joke.
Kaelen's expression went dead serious. The playful arrogance was gone, replaced by a cold, desperate greed. He signaled his four Level 6 bodyguards to step closer, forming a wall of muscle.
"Look, I'm going to be straight with you," Kaelen said, his voice dropping into a low bargain.
"Give me these three. Hand over these girls to me, and in exchange, I'll give you my servants that are far more powerful than them—Level 6 warriors who actually know how to fight. You get protection, and I get what I want. It's a fair trade for a Level 4 like.…."
Haruto's expression shifted instantly. The playfulness vanished, replaced by a gaze so cold it felt like a system crash. He cut Kaelen off before he could finish.
"You've got it all wrong, Kaelen," Haruto said, his voice as sharp as a razor.
"They aren't my servants. They are my family. And my family doesn't go anywhere with trash like you."
Haruto paused, his eyes narrowing as if he were analyzing a bug in a code. He tilted his head slightly, a mocking glint returning to his eyes.
"But I'm curious, Kaelen... Why are you so desperate? Why do you want these three so badly that you're willing to trade your 'Elite' guards for them?"
Kaelen didn't even hesitate. He straightened his collar, looking at Ivory, Lustra, and Bellona with a gaze that made the air feel greasy.
"Why?" Kaelen laughed, a dry, arrogant sound.
"Because look at them! Such high-tier beauty and grace... They are masterpieces of the system. In this Academy, assets like that belong to the top. They belong to me, the Elite. A loser like you having them is a glitch in the social order. High-tier beauty belongs to the powerful, not to some Level 4 trash who got lucky."
Haruto's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"I see. You don't see people, Kaelen. You just see 'gear' to be equipped. You think your Level 8 rank gives you the right to own everything you look at."
He paused, then a mocking glint returned to his eyes.
"But hey, I believe in 'Player Choice.' I'll give you one chance. If you can make them an offer and they actually want to go with you... then they're all yours."
Kaelen's eyes lit up, thinking he could win them over with his status and wealth. He turned to the three Goddesses, puffing out his chest.
"You heard him! I can give you everything—rank, luxury, and a Master who is actually Level 8! Why stay with this loser?"
The three Goddesses looked at each other and began to laugh, a sound that was both beautiful and terrifying.
"Even if you offered us this entire city" Ivory said, her eyes glowing with a faint, divine light,
"we wouldn't leave his side for a second."
Lustra leaned closer to Haruto, her face flushing with a soft blush as she gripped his arm tighter.
"We belong to him because he's the only one who could ever conquer us. You? You aren't even worth a line of respect in our world."
Bellona just smirked, her hand twitching as if she were imagining a thousand ways to kill Kaelen.
"Try to buy us again, and I'll show you what happens when 'family' protects its own."
Kaelen stood there, frozen. He had the rank, he had the guards, and he had the money—but in front of Haruto's group, he felt like a Level 0 peasant.
The laughter of the Goddesses should have broken Kaelen's spirit, but instead, his expression shifted. The shock in his eyes hardened into a cold, jagged resolve. He didn't scream, and he didn't order his guards to attack. Instead, he began to laugh—a low, condescending sound that echoed through the marble hallway.
Kaelen stood there, his laughter echoing through the hall, but inside, his mind was a chaotic mess of calculations and doubt.
I've called them out in front of everyone, Kaelen thought, his jaw tightening. If they say no now, my reputation as a King is finished. My dignity will be worth nothing.
He glanced at Haruto, then at the Goddesses, and finally at Toya. One thing is clear—money and greed won't work on these people. Haruto isn't willing to let them go, and they aren't willing to leave him. It's a dead end.
His eyes shifted to Toya, who was still vibrating with that suppressed white aura.
And Toya... something is wrong there. He looks like a loyal soldier, but why is his anger so controlled? Why is he standing behind a Level 4 kid?
They only met recently, but the connection feels like it's been there for years. I tried to find them yesterday, but the whole group had vanished. Something happened between them yesterday—something that turned Toya into Haruto's shadow.
Kaelen straightened his uniform, masking his inner panic with a cold, jagged resolve. He couldn't let the "Impossible" weight of Haruto's presence crush him. He needed a stage where he could prove his superiority.
"Family? Conquered? You girls are more delusional than I thought,"
Kaelen said, straightening his uniform and brushing a speck of dust off his shoulder. He looked at Haruto, his eyes gleaming with a new, dangerous spark.
"Fine. If words won't convince you, and money won't buy you, then there's only one 'game' left that matters in this Academy."
He stepped back, gesturing to the massive digital leaderboard hanging in the center of the hall.
"Haruto, I challenge you to the Wizard Quest." Kaelen declared.