"So, you three want to register as teammates?"
The woman behind the registration desk didn't look up from her laptop, fingers already moving across the keyboard. Behind her, a dozen other staff members processed their own lines of students.
"Yes," we answered in unison.
I sighed, glancing sideways at my so-called teammates. A thousand points. If we could even scrape together a thousand points between the three of us, it would be a miracle. I'm dead. Completely dead.
"Alright, done."
My wrist vibrated. I looked down at my Graphto watch as text materialized across the screen.
[A PARTY HAS BEEN FORMED]
[PARTY MEMBERS]
[LAREN MORTEZ]
[MARIA KASMIA]
[YOU CAN NOW CHECK PARTY MEMBERS' LOCATIONS AND STATUS WHILE IN BATTLE.]
How did it come to this? One moment the room had been chaos—students scrambling, shouting, forming alliances—and the next it was over. Done before I'd even gotten my bearings. And now here I stood, stuck with these two.
I rubbed my forehead as we headed back toward the VR chamber. On the bright side, at least one of my teammates was easy on the eyes. Very easy.
I stole another glance at the girl walking beside me. Maria, according to the registration. I didn't recognize the name, which meant she was probably a nobody like me. But that didn't track with what I was seeing.
She had the kind of figure that turned heads without trying. Violet hair caught the fluorescent lights as she moved, tied back in a practical ponytail. Her eyes were unusual—crimson and slightly too large, almost doll-like. And her skin looked impossibly smooth, the kind of complexion you'd expect on someone with money for skincare treatments.
None of it made sense. Weakling or not, a girl who looked like THAT shouldn't have trouble finding a team. Even the protagonist with his ridiculous standards wouldn't turn her down. So why was she stuck with us?
"I would advise you both to stop gawking at me."
My head snapped forward. I caught the eye of the guy on her other side—Laren, I guess—and we both had the same sheepish expression before focusing on the hallway ahead.
Wait.
I replayed the moment in my mind. Both of us. She'd said BOTH.
I hadn't been looking at her when she spoke. Which meant she knew I was staring without seeing me do it.
My steps slowed. This girl wasn't normal.
A frown creased my forehead. What if she was deliberately avoiding the high-rankers? Trying to stay under the radar for some reason?
Just who the hell was Maria Kasmia?
The Graphto watch chimed.
I glanced down as numbers materialized on the screen.
[473]
Around us, a synchronized hiss filled the chamber. Every VR pod in the room opened at once, their gel-lined interiors gleaming under the lights. Rows and rows of them stretched across the massive space.
"Find your pod and get locked in," a man barked from the far end of the room. His voice carried over the nervous chatter of students. "And remember—this is your hell for the next six hours."
I grimaced.
This was going to suck.