Hard Head

Alexandre laughed at the female professor's words and prepared to attack—

But suddenly, a familiar man stepped between the two of them and shouted, "Enough!"

It was Omega! He turned and gestured to the woman. "Calm down, Professor Finlay. As I shouldn't have to tell you, it's also forbidden for professors to fight with students. Your words just now made it very unlikely the disciplinary committee would support any demands you made for expulsion. Really, you should know better than to let yourself be goaded by a maggot like this."

Professor Finlay's eyes immediately died down to a dull glow. She pulled herself into a neutral stance, lowering her arms. "Of course. Forgive me, Professor Omega."

Omega inspected Finlay, noticing that one of her arms was twisted at a strange angle. Alexandre's punch had broken her arm. However, due to a combination of adrenaline and Finlay's discipline, not a single sign of pain showed on her face.

Then Omega turned to examine Alexandre.

By this point, Alexandre had suppressed his emotions once more. He felt embarrassed, and he cursed himself for his lack of self-control. He usually kept his emotions in control, after all. By allowing his anger to rise so that his eyes would shine and make it clear that he'd been modified by Virus Z, Alexandre had let his pride and rage pull him into an idiotic fight.

What would happen now? Would he be disqualified from continuing the exam? After all, it was impossible that Omega wouldn't recognize him.

But Omega simply looked Alexandre straight in the eye for five long seconds, then waved a dismissive hand. "You're dismissed for now. Everyone, line up!"

Alexandre frowned. Omega had clearly recognized him, so why was the instructor protecting him instead of calling him out? Apparently, Omega wanted Alexandre to continue the exam. Surely a candidate who attacked an instructor was supposed to be thrown off the island immediately, if not locked up.

'I'll worry about that later,' Alexandre thought to himself. 'For now, let's see what this announcement is about.'

Everyone got into line. Due to all the students being at different levels of drunkenness, it wasn't a very straight line. Once everyone was paying attention, Omega and Finlay climbed onto a podium where a mic was set up.

Omega leaned in and began speaking. "Alright. The last 2036 Hunter test will take place tomorrow at dawn. This time around, each candidate group will be present for the same test, around 7,500 in all! If you're here, guzzling my beer and trying to understand what I'm saying with that lump of fat you call a brain between your ears, then this is your last chance to not be a failure.

"That is, you failed your first-year exam and have been given this second chance makeup exam. It's very simple: You must neutralize thirty candidates and take their watches within ninety minutes. If you fail, you'll be expelled from the academy, your HunterDeck will be confiscated, and you'll no longer receive your doses of Virus Z.

"There's the slightest chance that some of you maggots might be lucky enough to run into candidates even stupider than yourselves. After you meet your quota, each additional watch will earn you a $1,000 cash bonus paid immediately at the end of the test! A nice bit of pocket money, eh?"

After finishing, he took a long, contemptuous look at the drunken line in front of him. "Understand!?" he barked.

All the failed students saluted and shouted, "Yes, Professor Omega!" The most drunken of them started beating his chest and screaming, "WOUW! WOUW! WOUW!" It wasn't long before others joined in, creating a scene like a swarm of apes worshiping the discovery of fire.

Then the party was over. Students began to throw trash into the fire and fold up the nearby tables. Alexandre had gathered the information he'd been seeking about the next day's test, so it was time for him to slip back to town and then get a few hours of sleep before dawn.

But before he could leave, a figure moved to stand directly in front of him.

It was Omega.