Free Web NovelChapter 4: Streaming The Battle!
Maryland Academy High-table.
Elevated above the field on a stone platform, the high table had the best view in the entire stadium. It was reserved for the academy faculty.
Plush chairs were arranged in a semicircle as teachers sat in them.
Every single pair of eyes was locked on one thing: The crimson pillar.
It had been twenty years since a student from Maryland Academy had chosen the Culling Game.
And now, here it was again.
"I didn’t expect anyone to be this desperate," a female teacher murmured. "To risk your life like this... what could possibly drive a sixteen-year-old to choose death over a second chance?"
Her name was Instructor Yvonne Voss. She had seen hundreds of awakenings, but hadn’t seen a Crimson one.
"Well, it is to be expected, is it not?" another teacher countered calmly. Professor Aldric Mentis, head of Combat Theory, leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "To die from shame, or to die trying to change your destiny. At least in the Culling Game, there is a chance, however slim."
Instructor Voss’s brow furrowed. "His father was labeled as humanity’s traitor when he was only 5. He lost his title, and Daeath main family threw him out like garbage. Surviving this long was already a miracle. Why risk it all in the Culling Game when he could have just kept surviving?"
"Surviving?" A third teacher retorted with a flat tone.
"You call that living? A F-Rank Player can’t survive three days in Heaven’s Domain without getting killed by another player or torn apart by a low-level beast. At least in the Culling Game, he dies fighting."
"That is a quite cold, Dorian," Instructor Voss glared at the man.
Dorian ignored the glare and replied without hesitation. "The world does not reward weakness. It never has."
They all knew the truth. An F-Rank Player was inferior and expendable.
No employer would hire you, no guild would accept you, no one would acknowledge your presence unless they needed cannon fodder.
In the major cities, F-Rank Players were exploited as disposable labor for the most dangerous tasks, clearing toxic waste, serving as bait for dungeon expeditions, or acting as human shields in guild wars.
The mortality rate among F-Rank Players within the first year was more than 50 percent.
And that was if they were lucky enough to find work at all.
Most simply lived a normal life back on earth, or worse.
At the center of the semicircle was Principal Constance.
His face lifted into a brilliant smile.
"The Culling Game. Finally!"
He had been the principal for more than a decade and hosted eleven Awakening ceremonies. In all that time, he hadn’t watched a single Culling Game."
The Culling Game is the single most exclusive event in the entire world! Gods, demigods and Saints watch these battles from their realms!"
He stroked his empty chin. "The last Culling Game participant from Maryland Academy was about 15 to 20 years ago!"
"Principal Constance," Professor Mentis said carefully, "are you suggesting that you are... pleased... about this situation?"
Principal Constance chuckled. "A woman presents herself with no strings attached, it would be foolish not to take advantage."
His shining gaze remained locked on the crimson pillar. But then, as if recalling something, his expression shifted.
The smile faltered.
"The traitorous son from the Daeth Family?" he murmured, his hand pausing mid-stroke as he remembered the full name.
Andrew Daeth.
Everyone in the academy knew that name.
Not because of anything he had done.
But because of what his father had done.
11 years ago, Alistar Daeth had been one of the most respected B-Rank Ultra in Maryland City.
And then, without warning, he betrayed the city.
He destroyed the city’s spatial barrier, the shield that protected Maryland City from dimensional rifts and monster incursions.
Spatial tears ripped open across the city like wounds in reality, and hundreds of thousands of monsters poured in.
Over ten thousand civilians died in the first day alone.
And through it all, Alistar Daeth, the man who had caused it all vanished into thin air, leaving behind nothing but destruction and death, behind.
The official reports labeled him as a traitor.
The Daeth Family claimed they had nothing to do with him and disowned his entire branch of family.
The entire city called for the execution of his mother, publicly executed her before the Police Department could ’arrive’.
Andrew was five years old when his family threw him out to the street.
No one dared take him in.
For 11 years, Andrew’s only refuge had been Haven Orphanage in Starforge district, where people were too busy struggling to survive to care about the surname of one more unwanted child.
The fact that he had managed to join Maryland Academy was a miracle in itself.
Principal Constance due to his stubborn nature had personally approved his admission, overriding the furious protests of several noble families who did not want the traitor’s son studying alongside their children. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
And now, that same boy had chosen the Culling Game.
Principal Constance was silent for a moment. The excited gleam in his eyes had not disappeared at all but increased instead.
’The Daeth bloodline,’ he mused. ’Alistair was a B-Rank Ultra with over 7000 combat index. His wife, Selene, was an A-Rank Support Ultra with one of the rarest healing talents in the city. And their son... awakens an F-Rank talent?’
The maths didn’t add up. Powerful parents produced powerful children. The Supernal Class existed precisely because of this biological rule.
For two high-rank parents to produce an F-Rank child was very rare.
’Even if it is just for a single round,’ he thought, ’as long as I get to watch the Culling Game and glimpse the insights of gods, I will be satisfied.’
He turned his head smoothly to the left, where a younger teacher sat.
"Teacher Dean."
The addressed instructor flinched slightly. "Y-yes, Principal Constance?"
"Contact the IT department immediately. Tell them to stream the Culling Game battle and cast the hologram on the main video board."
Teacher Dean blinked rapidly.
"I... beg your pardon?"
"The Culling Game," Principal Constance gaze hardened. "Stream it and cast it to the main video board. The large one in the center of the stadium." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Principal, I understand what you’re asking," Teacher Dean stammered, "but—"
"But what?"
Teacher Dean glanced desperately at the other teachers for support. They were all staring at Principal Constance with shock, but not a single one volunteered to speak.
"Principal Constance," Teacher Dean managed to speak, "not to mention the 100,000 Star Credits needed to stream a Culling Game battle the noble families expect us to stream their children’s first mission in Heaven’s Domain!"
