"Damn it," I muttered under my breath, staring at the blinking notification on my screen for what felt like the hundredth time.
[NOTICE! NOTICE!! NOTICE!!!]
[ALL STUDENTS ARE TO HEAD TO THE VR LAB]
[EMERGENCY TEST]
How could I have been so careless? How could I have forgotten about something this important?
"But weren't the exams supposed to start at least three weeks from now? What the hell is an emergency test?" Victor's voice cut through my thoughts, his forehead creased with worry and confusion.
"Stop whining. I should be the one complaining," I shot back, though my irritation wasn't really directed at him. I glanced down at the glowing numbers on my meta-watch.
1.9.
Still not quite at Level 2. Even if I somehow managed to scrape together enough progress to reach the next stage, what would it matter? The weakest first-year students were already at Level 4, and even they were looked down upon as failures. What did that make me? Less than nothing?
