Apparently, it wasn't only Leo, Leon, and the others who were shocked—every other fresher was equally stunned.

So much so that the academy had to issue an official announcement within 10 minutes just to calm the chaos and clear the doubts.

Ting!

>Fresher 'Tavian Gridfall' has legitimately scored 5,500,000 points by exploiting a loophole. In respect of outsmarting the system, he is allowed to keep the rank as well as the monthly salary.

That was it. Nothing more. No explanation of how the system was outsmarted, nor any hint about the loophole itself.

But when Leo and the others sat down to discuss it, surprisingly, it was Miho who voiced the most plausible theory.

"Maybe he was extremely low-ranked initially and challenged a high-ranking person?" Miho said thoughtfully.

"After the 1000-point multiplier from the rank gap, he could've directly scored that many points."

Leo mulled it over, eyes narrowing slightly, before realization dawned on him. It was the most probable method.

To directly score 5,500,000 points with a 1000-point multiplier, there had to be a rank gap of at least 5500. That meant the challenger had to be someone from the Life Talent division—because during the trial, only combat talents had participated, and the combat talent selected individuals were 4947. Every Life Talent student had started with 0 points and had their ranks assigned purely based on registration order.

Which meant if Tavian had been ranked 5500th, he would've needed to directly challenge Leo to gain that many points. And if he had been 6090th, then the target would've been the 590th-ranked person. Since Lily wasn't challenged, it meant someone ranked between 4th and 590th had been challenged—and had lost.

"Any case," Leon said, breaking the silence, "that guy secured at least the prize pool of the 2nd bracket."

Similar to how a person could only jump 1 bracket, a person could also only fall by 1 bracket at most. That didn't mean Tavian would hold onto his ranking, though. Once the competition ended, challengers would come knocking relentlessly, pushing him further and further back.

"But I wonder what kind of Life Talent someone needs to defeat a person ranked in the 500s…" Leo muttered, his brows knitting together.

"Or maybe it was a setup," Leon added quietly. "A rigged match… nobles do that all the time." Then his eyes widened slightly. "Wait."

He straightened.

"What was the prize pool for the second bracket?"

They quickly pulled up the information.

11 – 50:

- 200000 AC

- 5 Pseudo 3-star random Beastcores / Advancement Materials for oneself

- 5 Pseudo 3-star Soul Crystals

- Stat-boosting treasures — overall 50 stats if absorbed effectively

"The Advancement Materials… for oneself…" Leon murmured, eyes lingering on the line.

"Maybe the material is so rare that it can't be bought," he continued slowly. "And Aurelius Beast Academy must have it."

"Gridfall?" Leon said after a moment. "I can't seem to recall such a family…"

Leo glanced at Leon. For someone without a title, Leon seemed to know far too much about noble families and their antics. But every time Leo tried to probe into that topic, Leon would skillfully dodge the questions, so he let it go.

While Leo was lost in thought, Miho noticed something else.

"Brother Leon!" she exclaimed suddenly. "You were exercising again!?"

Leon jolted out of his thoughts.

"H-huh? Who? When?" he stammered, panic flashing across his face.

Unfortunately, the sweat soaking through his shirt betrayed him completely.

Leon grimaced inwardly. He regretted not changing before coming out. Since his body didn't require sleep to accelerate recovery, he trained even at night. But once Miho started catching him repeatedly, his nightly training schedule had been reduced to just 4 days a week. The remaining 3 days were strictly reserved for rest—since his mind would be fatigued even if his body didn't need it. And fatiqued mind had a effect on body recovery too.

Although Leon himself could tell that proper sleep genuinely helped, he couldn't abandon his habit. So he trained secretly—either inside his shed or near Bigfoot, who trained alongside him.

"Today, I will personally make sure you sleep," Miho declared, grabbing his arm and dragging him away without mercy.

Leo and Lily simply watched in silence as the two disappeared down the corridor. Leo looked at Lily.

"What? I didn't teach her or influence her in anyway." She said with a huff.

After chatting for a while longer, they eventually went to sleep as well.

When morning arrived, the first phone to ring was Miho's.

Ting!

>Name: Miho

Current Rank: 1468

CRP: 0

Phase-1 Match Schedules:

Arena-3

1st January: 10 AM, 11:30 AM

2nd January: 12 PM, 2 PM

3rd January: 11 AM, 2 PM

4th January: 9 AM, 12:30 PM

5th January: 10 AM, 2:30 PM

Note:

1. One Arena has 5 rings. If matches are ongoing in a certain ring, do not disturb them and proceed directly to your allocated ring, which will be notified at that time.

2. In case of absence exceeding 30 minutes, you will be automatically declared defeated by clean loss.

*On the same day, the reason for absence will be investigated. If found to be due to personal incompetence, CRP will be deducted and fines imposed.

A few minutes later, Leo's, Lily's, and Leon's phones rang almost simultaneously.

Ting!

>Congratulations on being one of the top 10 students. Our Empire is proud of you!

>The top 10 students do not need to fight on schedules. The CRP system does not apply to them. Only if another lower-ranked student within the top 10 challenges you for your rank are you required to fight. Otherwise, your battles will be held on the 9th and 10th days of the competition.

>Students whose ranks remain from 7th to 10th by the 5th day must battle the next bracket's students on the 6th and 7th days of the competition.

The moment Lily saw the message, she fiercely tapped on her phone.

Ting!

>You are challenging 1st ranked student, Tavian Gridfall.

>Confirm?

Ting!

>Student 'Tavian Gridfall' has already received a challenge request. Please try again later.

"Argggghhh!" Lily groaned loudly, slumping back. "That was my only chance to have a ranking beside Leo…"

After a brief pause, she clenched her fist.

"I'll challenge whoever wins then."

Leon watched her, irritation mixed with a sudden, fearful thought. Right now, he was the biggest obstacle between Lily and standing beside Leo. Even if she couldn't defeat him in a fight, she could absolutely poison his food.

His gaze shifted toward Miho, who was calmly checking her phone nearby.

Leon let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Fhew… Miho won't let her poison me.

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