[Very good, Finn. You truly deserve to be ranked number one. The bonus points are yours now.] Lucy's voice echoed in Finn's ears.
"Can I leave the training now?"
[What are you saying? Of course not.]
Suddenly, a map appeared on Will's Predascion UI. On it, a location was marked—it was the tallest building in the ruins of the city.
[Finn, go there. Head to the top floor of that building.]
"Why?"
[Just do it. I'll give you a good reputation boost.]
Finn sighed and reluctantly made his way there. It looked like he had to postpone his plan to retrieve the legendary artifact.
Five minutes later, he arrived. As he looked out over the destroyed city, he contacted Lucy again.
"What now?"
[Just wait.]
Finn lay down, enjoying the view of the ruined city, feeling the wind on his skin, and daydreaming to pass the time.
From up there, he could see the other students fighting monsters. The most impressive sight was the Neobeast—a giant robot—battling a massive creature. The explosion sound effects were oddly satisfying.
But the most entertaining thing of all?
Watching girls pee.
There were no public toilets in a place like this. Even if there had been, they were probably long destroyed. That's why the students just peed wherever they could, as long as it didn't bother anyone.
Unfortunately for them, Finn had eyes like a eagle.
And now he was on the tallest building.
So he had a perfect view of the girls doing their business.
'Wow… smooth and clean.'
[Hey… what the hell are you looking at, you pervert?]
Lucy's voice suddenly came in, sounding serious.
"Just admiring a holy sight."
[You little shit! I know you're watching girls pee!!!]
"How'd you know?"
[The Predascion has a camera feed connected to the teacher monitors!!! Of course I can see what you're looking at!!! And how long do you plan to keep watching?! Look away already!!!]
"Lucy, your surveillance violates privacy."
[YOU'RE the one violating privacy, you brat!!!]
Why did she, the teacher, have to take life advice from the student who was supposed to be getting lectured? This kid was absolutely shameless!
"So what do you want me to do?" he said, turning his head.
[Look west. Right next to the white building.]
Looking in that direction, Finn saw five students being chased by a monster. They were over three thousand meters away.
[Help them. Use your Oblivion Lance.]
"So that's what this is about…" He realized now why Lucy had sent him to the top of the building. "You want me to play hero and save the other students, right?"
[Exactly. Easy for you, isn't it?]
"Yeah, but it's a hassle."
[Just do it. You've got a ton of school rule violations, don't you? If you help, I'll reduce your penalty points.]
"Fine. I'll do it."
Finn fired the Oblivion Lance—Boom!—obliterating the monster chasing the students. The recoil pushed him back five meters, and the floor beneath him cracked from the impact.
[Great work, Finn. This is the first time I've seen someone use that broken weapon multiple times without dying or even getting injured.]
"It's a great weapon. Why isn't it mass produced?"
[Because normal humans die when they use Monstrariums not based on their affinity.]
"I see. So I'm not a normal human."
[Next, help the students to the south.]
"Alright."
From there, Finn kept saving more students.
What was shocking—besides his ability to use the Oblivion Lance—was his accuracy. He never missed. Not even once. Every shot landed right on the target's head.
Lucy even started thinking he might be a veteran.
And she wasn't wrong.
In Finn's first life, he was a soldier.
He became one because the requirements were simple—loyalty to the country. It was the only path for someone like him, who had no talent, to earn money.
In his era, being a soldier was the least desirable job due to how dangerous it was. The military preferred AI and robots because they were more efficient and didn't cry when someone died.
Of course, humans couldn't compete with robots—which is why no one wanted to be a soldier anymore.
But human soldiers were still needed.
Sometimes, enemy forces hacked into AI and robots, turning them into traitors. Finn and his squad were tasked with eliminating them.
During one mission, he suffered severe muscle damage and was forced to retire.
After that, he became a cook.
[Your accuracy is amazing, Finn.]
Finn shrugged. "It's nothing. Back then, I had to snipe a rebel robot through fog, using my last bullet, with no team support. This is easy."
[Stop fantasizing.]
Speaking of robots, Finn remembered something.
"Why doesn't humanity just use robots to fight monsters? We have the tech to build advanced machines, right? That'd be efficient and easy."
[The biggest issue is energy. Unlike humans who are born with magic, robots don't have any. There's been tons of research into giving them magic, but all of it failed. In the end, magic is exclusive to living beings.]
Living bodies are magic sources.
Magic is stored in the soul.
The soul is a spiritual organ located in the brain.
Then Finn had a wicked idea—
"Just put a human brain into a robot."
[That's cruel. It's a violation of human rights.]
"Someone out there must've done it already."
[If you find out about that kind of experiment, report it to the authorities.]
Yeah… Finn knew of one such cruel experiment going on. But he had no intention of reporting it.
Because if he reported it now, the sexy, beautiful robot might never be completed.
At the very least, he wanted them to finish making the robot.
Then he could report it to the cops,
Then claim the robot for himself.
The pervert's plan was perfect.
[Break time. Finn, guard the airdrop.]
"Why use an airdrop? Why not just teleport it directly?"
[Because this is training. In reality, supplies can't be teleported.]
"How troublesome."
A plane flew over the ruined city and dropped five airdrops in various locations. The first drop zone was right where Finn was — on the rooftop of the tallest building.
Winged monsters instantly swarmed him, 'cause of course they did. Dude started blasting to protect the drop.
Sixty seconds later, the airdrop landed safely right in front of him.
Right then—bam—Ariel popped up outta nowhere.
"Bro, why you pulling up all of a sudden?" Finn squinted at her like she was sus.
"I'm starving," Ariel said, like she was opening the fridge at 2AM wearing fuzzy socks and depression.
"Where's your squad?"
"Ditched 'em."
"'Cause you were hungry?"
"Deadass."
Finn gave her a full-on judgmental stare.
"You cold for that."
"I'm also hot. So it evens out."
The airdrop was this big black cube. Ariel slapped her hand on it, it scanned her print, and poof—food box appeared.
She tried again. Nothing.
"Wait, one per person?!" She looked up at the sky like she was ready to throw hands. "Capitalist hell."
"Stop being greedy."
Ariel gave Finn the fakest glassy-eyed look ever.
Full drama.
"Finn… lemme trauma-dump real quick."
"Oh my god. What now?" Finn groaned like a tired dad.
dad.
They sat in the corner of the roof. Ariel rested her head on Finn's shoulder like she was on the verge of a romcom breakdown. Finn casually threw his arm around her… and then just naturally started squeezing her boob.
Don't freak out—this ain't a creepy moment. It's culture.
In this world, if a girl's sad, it's totally chill (actually kinda expected) for her situationship buddy to massage her boobs to help with the feels. If he doesn't? That's straight-up disrespectful. Worse—it's like saying, "Yeah, I don't wanna be your vibe anymore."
A few wholesome, socially responsible squeezes later, Ariel looked way more zen. She started eating and spilling her heart out again.
"They literally started dating yesterday, right?"
Finn just munched his food like, "meh." "Arnold and Elena?"
"Bro. They're attached at the hip. Arnold's all heroic, Elena's acting like she's in a Webnovel fanfic. He gets the tiniest cut and she's like, 'My love! Are you okay?!' Then they started blushing and giggling while talking about their first night together. Like—ew. EW." Ariel whined so hard her spoon straight-up broke.
"It's not that deep. They're just in that annoying new-couple phase. If it bugs you, just ghost them for a bit."
"I can't! They're my day-ones! Losing one to love is already pain… but losing both 'cause I dipped? That's next-level heartbreak!"
Finn side-eyed her. "You lowkey want Arnold to cheat with you, huh?"
Ariel narrowed her eyes. "And if I do?"
"Okay, go off. Just don't drag me into some cringe double date."
Like… whatever. Their mess wasn't Finn's business.
"Finn… your hand…"
'Huh? What? Is this harassment? I'm just following cultural norms! There shouldn't be any problem!'
"Play with my nipple too."
'Ah… so that's what she wants…'
Finn gave her what she wanted, and Ariel kept venting to let out her emotions.
Down on the ground floor of the building, a group had just arrived. Like Ariel, they were here for one noble purpose: free food.
They were part of Ariel's inner circle of chaos.
"Are we really just letting Ariel run off ahead like that?"
A pink-haired girl looked visibly stressed—like someone who just realized she left her phone on airplane mode for 6 hours and missed 32 messages.
She was ridiculously attractive: long cotton-candy-pink hair, huge anime eyes, tall and curvy with legs for days and a pair of… well, let's just say gravity was doing her a favor. She radiated the kind of energy that made people crash shopping carts in supermarkets.
"Relax, the teacher said Finn's already up there guarding the place." The guy who said that? Literal sunshine personified.
He had skin so fair it looked like it filtered itself. Glowing blond hair. Golden eyes that said "I pet puppies and pay taxes on time." The kind of guy your mom would trust to fix the Wi-Fi and your broken heart.
"That's exactly what worries me," the pink-haired girl muttered.
"Babe, chill. Ariel literally said Finn is her official boob support buddy. He's not gonna hurt her. If anything, he's probably up there doing chest therapy or whatever."
He said it with the confidence of someone who clearly did not understand the full situation—but believed in the power of vibes anyway.
These two were Arnold and Elena.
One was the king of blind optimism.
The other was slowly regretting all her life choices.