Bergham Empire: The Wenger Domain
In a vast hall, several voices drifted through the air.
"You're saying he's still in his room, playing games?"
"Yes. And his grades at the academy haven't improved... It's been five years and he's still a first-year. We have to banish him from the family; he's a disgrace."
"He is your younger brother... why do you speak of him that way?"
A voice tinged with gentleness spoke in his favor, though the speaker's face remained as cold as ice.
"If it weren't for you, Mother, he would have been gone long ago."
As the bickering continued, a deep, authoritative voice cut through.
"Enough. We shall observe him for a little while longer," Marcus said, sipping his tea.
Seated at his table were his second son—Vice President of the massive Wenger Corporation; his fourth daughter—who had graduated at eighteen and now ran a small transport company, a subsidiary of the family empire; and finally, his wife, Luna Wenger.
They were all gathered, and the subject of his second-to-last son had inevitably resurfaced, fueled by the rumors: a Wenger was on the verge of being expelled from the academy.
Karl Wenger, Marcus's second-to-last son, was currently in his room, hunched over his console.
"Looks like I leveled up," Karl murmured, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Hey, skipping class again? You're truly pathetic," his younger sister snapped. She stood in the doorway, already dressed in her academy uniform. She was only in her third year.
She spat the words and left immediately, clicking her tongue in annoyance. Karl set his console down without a word, grabbed his bag, and headed toward the academy.
While most of Marcus's children left the estate in their own cars or family limousines, Karl made the journey on foot—a long-standing habit.
The Bergham Academy, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, housed talented students from every corner of the globe. Karl's father, seeing one of his sons as nothing more than a good-for-nothing, had sent him there as a last resort.
During his first years, the professors had been harsh, but over time, they had come to realize he was a lost cause. As soon as Karl stepped onto the grounds, the whispers began.
"Is he still here?"
"If I were him, I would've killed myself by now."
He kept walking, entered the central building, and made his way to class.
"He's here..."
"Look at his hair, it's filthy. He's staining our academy's reputation."
"Ugh, disgusting."
"I heard he's repeating his first year for the fifth time."
The current educational system, unlike the old one, required prospective students to begin at age twelve or thirteen for a total duration of eight years. Karl had started at twelve and was now seventeen. While his former peers were already sixth-years, he remained stuck in the first.
Karl entered the classroom, dropped his bag, and pulled out his console. Occasionally, teachers would forbid him from playing, but he ignored them. Seeing his stubbornness and total disconnection from the world, they eventually decided to leave him be. One professor left, another took his place. Karl's eyes remained glued to his screen until, eventually, he fell asleep. The faculty could only ignore him.
When classes ended, it was time to head home. On the road, he crossed paths with former classmates: two boys from high-ranking families and a girl of similar status.
"Hey, Karl... looks like you slept through class again. I can tell by that messy face of yours," one of the boys said, his arm draped over the girl beside him.
"Roy, stop tormenting poor Karl. He's so pathetic he probably wants to die," the other boy added with a snicker.
They closed in on Karl, who watched them in silence.
"Hmm," Karl grunted, tilting his head slightly to the right.
"It seems you still don't know how to speak like a real man... To think I actually had a crush on him once. I feel so ashamed and pathetic now," Vanessa sighed.
"Stop it, Vanessa, or you'll make him cry. Besides, you were just a kid back then... Anyway, let's stop wasting time with this loser. Let's go to my car, I've got a party planned."
"You're so cool, Roy."
Karl stood there for a moment, watching them leave, before continuing on his way. An instructor, who had once seen great potential in Karl, watched the scene from afar and sighed.
"What an unlucky child..."
Evening was falling as he approached the house. The estate was immense, heavily fortified and imposing. Sometimes, the guards even refused Karl entry, as his long, unkempt hair covering his eyes made him look like a street urchin.
He entered the domain and found his mother in the central hall, sitting and drinking coffee.
"You're back."
His mother almost never spoke to him, though she occasionally defended him against his brothers' vitriol. It was thanks to her that Karl hadn't been cast out yet.
Karl paused, waiting to see if she would say more, but she simply added in a frigid tone:
"Don't just stand there. You may go."
Karl stared at his mother, whose eyes were fixed on her magazine. Suddenly, he stepped closer, his face inches from hers. She looked up, startled.
"You've become even more beautiful, Mother," he said calmly, before immediately withdrawing.
Luna Wenger—a woman respected for her cold, proud, and uncompromising nature—was rarely rattled. But after Karl's words, she sat frozen, wondering if she had dreamt it. Karl had always been a silent child. Even when she gave him basic commands like "go to the academy," he usually wouldn't even greet her.
This moment was both shocking and disturbing. Her face remained frozen in a rare look of bewilderment.
"Huh...?"
As she looked back to watch him walk away, her second son, Fred, entered the hall.
"Good evening—"
He stopped mid-sentence, noticing his mother's expression.
"Mother? What's wrong?"
She jolted. "Ahem," she cleared her throat, taking a sip of tea. "What brings you here?" she asked, regaining her composure.
Fred thought he must have imagined her shock and decided to drop it. He then laid out his proposal: he believed he had found a way to "wake up" Karl. He argued that Karl should be sent to the Imperial Army to be forged into a man.
But before he could finish, a blue light flickered into existence before them.
"What is that?"
A floating screen materialized. On it, a white creature resembling a rabbit appeared.
[Have you enjoyed your period of rest?]
[I hope so, for it is time to proceed to the next phase of the Survival Game.]