Following Valery, Ryan made his way down a long corridor. The sound of a hundred pairs of shoes clattering against the ground echoed off the dimly lit metal walls.
Only a hundred left after the Lieutenant ordered the 400 unranked recruits through a suspicious door, back in the unadorned chamber they had come from. As he snuck a peek through the door, Ryan saw only darkness, giving him the feeling of peering into a void.
Coming to the end of the corridor, Ryan saw an entrance to an auditorium stage. Bright lights shone from above, forcing the ranked into the spotlight. Squinting his eyes, Ryan found it difficult to pinpoint the exact number of people in the auditorium. He could clearly see the people seated in the front row, but things became blurry as he looked further into the audience.
Ushered into seats on the stage arranged like bleachers, they were told to sit down in order of class rank.
Ryan saw a few jaws drop as he claimed his seat in the top left, marked with the number one.
"Attention, recruits!" Invisible speakers broadcasted a high-pitched female voice throughout the vast auditorium. "As the faction leader of the Golden Tridents, I'd like to welcome the 415th enhancer class to the Military Training Academy."
A roar of applause bellowed from the seats. Whistling and catcalls were thrown in for good measure.
After the noise settled, the commanding voice continued, "In a moment, the bleachers will relocate you to the back of the stage, and we shall begin our faction recruitment ceremony."
"But before that, to inspire and motivate our new batch of unranked enhancers in the audience, we will show exactly what you're going up against. I present the top five placement's individual category rankings!"
Five holographic screens appeared midair, each showing a face with a name below and four rankings attached.
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ <Name: Austin Richelle>
<Speed Ranking: (C+)>
<Quality Ranking: (C-)>
<Special Characteristic Ranking: (D+)>
<Class Ranking: (2)>
After only bothering to glance at second place, Ryan looked at where his spot should be but was baffled by what he saw.
<Name: Anthony Dire>
<Speed Ranking: (A-)>
<Quality Ranking: (Classified)>
<Special Characteristic Ranking: (Unable To Determine)>
<Class Ranking: (1)>
The cheering suddenly stopped, and the whole auditorium came to a standstill. After several uncomfortable seconds, a gruff female voice shouted, "Why is Anthony Dire ranked #1? Who let an obvious cheater rank first?!"
Like the match that sparked an inferno, the whole auditorium blazed to life with chatter.
Ryan covered his ears, trying to drown out the deafening noise.
The roar of the crowd only abided when a loud "Quiet!" sounded out from the speakers.
"Congratulations to those of you who deserve to be here," The voice said. "Please remain in your seats as the bleacher's transport you backstage."
As her voice faded, the bleachers shook and slowly raised off the ground. Wheels extended from the bottoms and began rolling them towards the stage wall.
As the bleachers slowly moved, Ryan heard murmurings in the crowd.
"Is Goddess Mila going to allow that bastard to get away with it?"
"Even though his body is alluring… he's too arrogant."
"Nobles are getting more and more pretentious these days."
'Are they referring to me?' Ryan wondered, still baffled at the goings on. The number one ranked enhancer hologram had his own beautiful face. And, as Ryan looked at his reflection in one of the mirrors on the wall, it was certainly beautiful.
'But why are they calling me Anthony Dire? It's not Anthony that is #1, it's me that is listed first in the rankings.'
Feeling his blood turn cold, a sudden foreboding feeling washed over him as he thought, 'My room changed, and my body suddenly became strong. That weird girl appeared, this energy, my new body… did I really die?'
As the thought struck him, he realized the indisputable facts that all pointed to a solitary answer. 'Yes, I did die. And somehow, I am either undead, or I have been transported into a different world and in a new body.'
Ryan wanted to curl up in a fetal position, but the stage wall was only a few feet away.
Only when they were within an inch of the wall did a passageway open, allowing them backstage.
After the bleachers locked into position and lowered to the ground, Ryan rested his elbows on his knees and massaged his temple with his palms.
"She used you too hard as well, huh?" The boy to his left said.
Frowning, Ryan looked over at the boy and asked, "What do you mean?"
Smiling wryly at Ryan, the boy answered, "I mean, it's clear that you got squeezed."
"I don't know what all that shouting was about as I ain't no noble, but I know a squeezer victim when I see one."
Seeing Ryan's eyebrow raised, the boy sighed, "Guess it's your first time."
"Squeezed is the term when we enhancers get used as a pleasure toy until all our juices are squeezed dry."
"From your body language, it seems to be the most logical conclusion that you got used and abused by whoever was in your BCN replica."
The boy placed a languid hand on Ryan's shoulder, "Don't worry, they're not all like that. My name's Austin, by the way. What's yours?"
Ryan looked at Austin's hand on his shoulder and realized there was a misunderstanding, but didn't correct Austin as the real reason for his mood was much more complicated.
As Ryan was about to reply, he saw a man appear below them, walking towards them.
As he got closer, Ryan recognized the man from earlier, Marcus, the cumbersome son of a pompous noble, or so Ryan thought.
As Marcus approached, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "It's you!" Like an exuberant toddler, he excitedly pointed his finger towards Ryan.
Brow furrowed, Ryan thought, 'Did this man know the previous me?' Thinking of the possibility, his heartbeat picked up. 'If that was the case, maybe this guy has some answers.'
Maintaining eye contact with Marcus, Ryan pushed his chest out and said, "Do you perhaps know me? I don't think I've had the honor yet." Knowing this man was a noble, if Ryan wanted to glean any information from Marcus, it was best to be cordial.
Combining the way Lieutenant Valeria treated Ryan, the information he had, and his cool, confident demeanor, Marcus was sure. It was him. "My apologies for my boorish actions. My name is Marcus Montgomery, of house Montgomery. We are a low Viscount family, but today it is the honor of our house to meet your esteemed self."
Ryan's calm exterior almost cracked at the turnaround he had just witnessed. One second, Marcus was acting like the ruler of the world, the next, tame as a lap dog.
"My name is Anthony Dire, and the pleasure is mine, Marcus Montgomery." Seeing the hologram call him Anthony Dire, he guessed that was his previous name.
"Haha, my goodman, you jest. Oh my, I haven't laughed like that since Father's birthday ball last spring!" Marcus said, throwing his head back in laughter.
Sitting beside Ryan, even Austin started shaking with laughter.
"Why do you both laugh at my name? Do you think my name is worth laughing at?" playing the role of the superior aristocrat Ryan tilted his head and asked.
Seeing Ryan's scowling face, Marcus stopped laughing and wiped the tears from his eyes, "Are you claiming your real name is Anthony Dire? Surely you jest, my goodman!"
Frowning, Ryan sensed he was missing something. Was his name well known? Was he some despicable person before?
"Do you truly not know what Anthony Dire represents?" Marcus asked, seeing the bewilderment on Ryan's face.
'Does Anthony Dire translate to something profane in another language?'
"Dude, you aren't one of them, are you?" Hurriedly raising his hands in mock surrender, Austin stammered, "I didn't mean to laugh, honest! I thought you were joking!"
Sneering at Austin, Marcus said, "Someone of his ilk cannot be one of them."
Marcus jolted and turned towards Ryan. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. . . I didn't know you wanted to hide…." Marcus babbled, seeming to think he was making everything worse. Looking out the corner of his eye at Austin, he said, "I'm sorry. I'll just stop before I say anything else." Bowing to Ryan, he returned to his seat.
His brow furrowed, Ryan watched Marcus leave. Determined to get answers, Ryan turned toward Austin but shook his head, realizing Austin had already escaped.
Resolving to find the answers later, he started to calm his brain and fell into a deep meditative state.
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