It was as if all the noise had been stripped away from the surroundings.
With the silence, thousands of eyes shifted in my direction. My skin crawled. I felt every hair on my body raise as I struggled to comprehend the situation. And yet—
My body moved on its own. Standing up as though it was only natural, I began to walk towards the stage. The gazes felt piercing, but strangely, they didn't seem to affect as much as I'd expected them to. Instead, the more ti passed, the more the gazes felt 'right'. It was odd. This strange sense of calmness... Even when facing the Guild Master a while back, I had felt this strange sensation. For what reason am I acting like this? For what reason was I able to remain so calm under such extre circumstances? It wasn't like I didn't feel fear anymore. I still felt it. Just not as much as before. But even under such fear, my body and expression remained calm. It was a strange feeling that I couldn't quite explain. "Take this. Congratulations. From this mont forward, you'll be a Paragon." Arriving by the MC, he handed a sleek tal card. Taking it, I got a good look at its simplistic design. The card was entirely black, with a photo of on the right. Written in large, light-gray numbers, big enough to span the entire card, were the digits 98.
That was all the card had. However, I knew that it wasn't that simple. The card wasn't just an ID; it had extra features I could use.
'I think I'm supposed to download an app or sothing?' I wasn't too sure. Nevertheless, I knew that Kyle and the others most likely knew. I could just ask them. "Thank you." Putting the card away, I walked toward the main area and stood next to the 99th- and 100th-ranked. Their expressions weren't quite good. It looked like they had both eaten shit. They weren't the only ones. I could see the sa sort of expression on many of the people in the venue. If not for the fact that the rankings were fixed, I wouldn't have been surprised if they had all jumped out of their seats and started shouting things like, "This is bullshit! This is unfair…! What went through your mind to do sothing like this?"
Ah, yes, there's also them... I looked at the caras that were pointed at . Thinking about the online discourse at the mont, and the articles that would inevitably be churned out, I knew the next few days were going to be very annoying.
Still, I couldn't change the situation. Since things had already progressed to this point, the only thing I could do was accept the result and make the most of the benefits assigned to as a "Paragon."
Nas continued to be called after that, but the mood had already been ruined. Standing under the bright lights, I felt increasingly uncomfortable, not just from the eyes of the audience, but from the people around as well
They were clearly the most annoyed ones. "Our next honoree is a na well known to us all. A longstanding presence within the rankings, her most recent exploits during the Malovia incident have propelled her several places higher this year. Representing the Royal Chamber Guild, and entering the 54th spot, please welco, Geneva!"
Finally, the applause grew more genuine as a certain woman stood up. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back as she wore a suit that, despite looking rather loose with her tie not done properly and top buttons unbuttoned, fit her well as she walked toward the stage and received her card.
After which, she proceeded to stand with us. Just like the others, the mont she arrived, she also stared at . Her gaze in particular felt rather botherso to as she fiddled with the card in her hand. Personally, I had never interacted with her. However, the sa couldn't be said for the doppelganger. As the "boss" of the Gate, I had been aware of everything happening inside. I knew that the doppelganger and she had tead up for a brief mont. While I didn't know the exact words exchanged, I knew the doppelganger had given her a hard ti.
I could practically feel her resentnt coming from miles away. 'Ah, shit.' "That concludes this batch. Please join in giving all our honorees a well-deserved round of applause. We kindly ask those on stage to exit through the rear and return to their seats."
The round of applause did co. It wasn't very enthusiastic, but it ca. Shortly after, we filed out through the rear, slipping past the heavy curtains beyond the stage. Staff were waiting on the other side, quietly guiding us along the proper route back into the venue.
I followed in silence, trying to not bump into anyone, afraid of giving them an excuse to start sothing with , but it looked like I didn't even need to do that as I soon felt a hand press against my shoulders. I ca to a direct stop while holding onto my breath. "You..." A rough voice followed as several others followed. Drake Ferguson? This was the man who had ranked right after . Seeing his expression, I knew that he didn't an well. And sure enough—
"Frankly, it's difficult not to find this… embarrassing. People here have worked relentlessly, pushed themselves to the brink, to earn their place in the rankings. And yet soone like you, barely within the First Order, has managed to reach a position many of us nearly died countless tis to achieve. All because of so luck. You may fool the world, but you can't fool ." The few around us stopped, turning their attention towards . I could tell from their expression that none of them appeared to be interested in stopping whatever was happening. If anything, it looked like they were interested in seeing how I'd reply. "I could have accepted it if you'd rely made the rankings. Absurd as that already is, I would have let it pass. But for you to climb this far? It's difficult to call that anything but absurd."
His grip over my shoulder tightened. Surprisingly, my expression continued to remain unchanged. Not because it didn't hurt, or not because I wasn't scared, but because my attention was elsewhere. It was towards the nurous red dots on his body. My hand twitched. For a mont, I almost felt my hand grasp sothing. Almost like a knife. But the sensation only lasted half a second. I quickly realized I wasn't holding anything.
But I could've sworn... "I have a suggestion for you." Drake's voice pulled out of my thoughts. Looking straight into his deep brown eyes, I watched as his bushy brows narrowed. "If you have any sense of sha, return your card. Other people deserve the ranking over you, and—" "Stop." A soft voice suddenly cut through. All heads once again turned, falling on a certain woman.
Drake's expression changed. "Geneva? That's... I am." "Shut up." Reaching into her pocket, she took out a pack of gum and shoved a few pieces into her mouth. Chewing, she looked around and shooed them away with a wave of her hand.
"What is this crap? All of you are old enough to start your own families, and so of you already have children. I'd expect better maturity from the lot of you. Go on, stop holding the line back. Can't you see you're troubling the staff?"
"But..." "Fucking, did you not hear ?" Chewing even harder, Geneva glared in Drake's direction. He stared back at her, unwilling to back down, but eventually shook his head, realizing it wasn't worth it. In the end, he childishly bumped my shoulder and walked away. Of course, he didn't forget to glare at the entire ti. I didn't bother looking at him and instead looked at Geneva. Just as I was about to thank her, she walked past and muttered, "I didn't do it for you. I did it for him." A loud chewing followed. "...I know what I saw." She proceeded to leave right after that. Blinking slowly, I lowered my head before looking back at the staff. "Where am I supposed to go exactly?"
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