Starved Degenerates
Hearth was too stunned to speak. The image of the delinquent thinking of 'that' in his free time was disturbing in more ways than one.
Hearth didn't bother to comment on his friend's statement. He wasn't sure if there'd ever be a day where it would happen, but he was sure Dillimore would tear out his hair in horror if he ever revealed what he was really doing.
Dillimore continued, "also, I never understand why you always select the exam that the top classroom students take. You always perform horribly." His friend's statement was true since that was way out of the league of his abilities. Still, his friend would never be able to understand, so he shrugged it off, "I like giving myself a bit of a challenge."
Dillimore didn't try to persuade his friend, but his face lit up with mischief causing Hearth to feel inadequate in his gut. "I heard from a little birdy that the girls will be playing capture the flag later, and the two famous school beauties will clash against each other. The Fiery Scarlet princes vs. the ice queen your s-"
"My sister, I know, man." Hearth interrupted while burying his face into his hands. Hearth felt annoyed whenever his sister was brought into their conversation because it was awkward for him, considering his relationship with her. Also, his fellow shameless brother-in-arms had no consideration when teasing him about his sister.
"Ignorance is truly bliss." Heart murmured.
"Huh, what'd you say?" Dillimore asked.
"Ah, it's nothing; you want to go play Protect the Supreme Leader on Virtual Space?" Hearth said.
Dillimore's eyes lit up with joy at Hearth's question, "hell yeah, man, I hope I get the leader position this time. I never get it." He said with audible sadness.
"That's because even King knows the horror of what would come if you got selected." Hearth joked. He wasn't kidding, though. Every time good old Dilly becomes supreme leader, the power consumes him, resulting in him getting caught out of position and bent over.
"Nah, King knows that I'm the best. I just failed to succeed, is all." Dillimore said without an ounce of humility."
Hearth gave his friend a silent prayer inside his heart before motioning to go to a private location, "let's go before the tryhards hog up all the space." Dillimore nodded in agreement, and they hurriedly made their way to the recreation room together. All the morning students finish their classes around this time, so they expected to run into the hoard of gamers.
Their fears were confirmed as a huge vibration resounded across the campus, and students in the main hallways quickly dashed away in fear of getting trampled on. Hearth and his friend became anxious as they looked at the noise coming from behind them.
"Get out of the way!"
"Coming through!"
"I'm always the last dammit."
Students numbering in the hundreds, who mainly were males, barrelled down the hallway possessed with a fiery passion, competing with who could make it to the pods in the recreation room. For people who aren't gamers, these people appear to be crazy. However, the recreational room of the academy offered enhanced technology. This technology, also known as 'virtual pods,' are top-of-the-line devices that are connected to virtual space and give the players a better ability to control their characters.
Although everyone can access virtual space with their neuro links, without a pod or any other device that assists a person's connection to the game will result in them not having a full grasp of that body's senses. In other words, once someone plays in a virtual pod, it becomes impossible to go back to playing without one for many people. Ironically these gaming pods made for a good source of revenue for the academy, with the devices providing around 15% of the academy's budget. And since the academy has a limited number of gaming pods, it made the competition very fierce.
Hearth frowned. They were going to have to make some drastic measures if they wanted to secure their lead. He turned to his friend, and together they both communicated with their eyes understanding what their objective was.
As the recreational room became visible by the hoard of students, a fervent desire to get a gaming pod swept through the crowd.
A student surrounded by his group of lackeys barked out orders, "Move to secure our area, don't let anyone enter."
"Yes, boss!" The group of lackeys and many other students started to prepare for the final showdown until everyone came to a sudden halt. Chatter began to erupt as the crowd of students bumped into each other.
"Why are you all stopping? I want to go play Harem Scape," A scrawny kid said in irritation.
"Shut up, loser, reject 3d woman, embrace muscle simulator." A buff guy said while flexing his arms.
"Isn't that just the same thing as working out? What's the point?" A boy commented with confusion.
"Everyone shut the hell up!" The boss of the lackeys said. He slowly walked to the front of the passionate crowd. He stood out with purple hair and a slightly chubby stomach, and his aura gave off one of a wealthy second-generation child. Everyone else, including the chubby boss, finally started to look at who was blocking the entrance of the recreation
Room. And when they saw the two goons at the door, the crowd's eyes rolled, and complaints sprang up across the hoard of students again.
"What is the meaning of this two sirs? This young master desires to play as the supreme leader today. I have paid extra today to boost my chances as well." The chubby boy said.
Who were two infamous goons blocking the door? Of course, it was Hearth and Dillimore, standing in defiance of the blood-thirsty gamers.
"Be quiet, everyone, the master and profound expert of shamelessness is speaking!" Dillimore's shout rang across the hall, which caused the crowd to halt to a whisper before it became completely silent. Even the young master didn't dare cause a ruckus in front of this well-known expert.
He coughed to clear up his throat before speaking, "Greetings, fellow losers gamers of Virtual Space, I have come to bargain." Hearth announced with confidence.
After letting his first sentence settle in with the crowd of gamers, Hearth continued, "I have come today with a vital piece of video that contains footage of my sister doing cosplay."
The silence continued for a couple seconds before the crowd erupted in excitement. Nobody doubted his words as he was the brother of Terra, the school's ice princess, and his shameless reputation ironically gave him some credit that he'd be horrible enough to share that private video.
The chubby young master's eyes lit up with lustful desire, and acting as the representative for the crowd, he quizzically asked who'd be able to contain it.
Hearth stroked his chin pondering in thought before replying, "We will get the top gaming pods and in return…."
The crowd of students anxiously waited for the Master of Shamelessness to finish his sentence when unexpectedly, Hearth made a movement with his hands.
"Whoever is destined to see the video will see the cosplay; may the goddess of luck be with all of you." Hearth announced and threw a storage ring right into the middle of the hallway.
The ring skidded along the hallway and stopped right in front of the students. Utter silence and shock stun the crowd for a few seconds before a blood-thirsty aura spread amongst the students.
"Kill!" A boy's eyes turned red and jumped towards the ring.
The boy's action created a domino effect as all the students, like moths to a light, sprang in motion to obtain the video.
The young master attempted to give out orders to his lackeys, "boys, make a rin-!" A fist flew and nailed him in the face, and he slumped down to the floor like a bag of potatoes.
"Boss!" The panicked goons cried. They attempted to help their boss while punches started flying everywhere, and soon blood spilled down to the floor. A Brawl had emerged right in the middle of the academy over some cosplay footage!
Teachers and academy enforcers rushed down to the brawl zone and attempted to quell the disturbance. "Stop all of you, or you will all face serious consequences." A teacher said, trying to calm the feverish students.
Alas, the starved piranhas, overcome with lustful desire, ignored the authorities' warnings, deeming the cosplay footage of the academy's goddess far more critical than their academic future.
The two villains who had caused this disaster to unfold congratulated themselves on a job well done and fled the scene before the teachers could question them.
Meanwhile, as complete anarchy descended upon one section of the academy, a prestigious classroom stood out amongst the other classrooms on the other side of the school.
This class contained the best academic students within the school; they were the best of the best within their academy and represented the future of their boony system. Every student here was an important figure, but no matter how much they wanted to stand out, nothing compared to the two goddesses in the room. The Scarlet princess and Terra the Ice princess.
They were polar opposites that both represented the best of their polarization. Scarlet was a girl known for her boisterousness, fierceness, competitiveness, and pride that came with her personality. On the other hand, Terra had a calming voice with a quiet disposition that gave off the impression that she was unapproachable to the masses. However, people who have interacted with her more than once know that under that icy attitude is someone with a deep sense of pride that refuses to be shaken.
"I hope you're ready to lose Ice queen." Said the Scarlet princess in provocation. The class immediately brazed for the calm before the storm. Everyone knew that today was part of a selection process that would determine who'd be the academy's Champion in the upcoming world's tournament. This part was the knowledge test before they'd move on to the physical section.
"Please be silent, Miss Scarlet. The exam will begin soon." The proctor scolded.
"Tsk, yes, mam, I'm sorry for my immaturity." Scarlet apologized.
Scarlet didn't fail to notice Terra's mocking gaze as if she thought Scarlet's provocation was just a joke. She felt her fury rise, but she calmed down, believing she'd beat the Ice queen today.
"You know the rules, and so do I. The exam will begin once you connect your neuro links. Begin!"
Compared to Hearth's classroom full of nervousness, these students had an aura of complete confidence, and only calmness could be felt across the floor.
Terra, whose eyes were closed, finally opened them to reveal a set of beautiful dark blue eyes. An unnoticeable smirk briefly flashed across her face when she saw the exam contents.
"I will be the true queen today, Scarlet."