Vanguard Academy wasn't a school—it was a battlefield dressed up in marble walls and touchscreen desks.
Ren Kisaragi stepped off the school shuttle with a single backpack and no expression. Around him, drones flew overhead, scanning new arrivals. Holographic banners sparkled above the gate.
> WELCOME, NEW STUDENTS!
EARN POINTS OR GET OUT.
A girl with glowing boots skate-hovered past him. Two boys were arguing over the fastest way to solve a Rubik's Cube underwater. Someone in a lab coat was livestreaming a "speed-confession tournament."
Ren took one look and sighed.
So this is Vanguard Academy…
The top school on Earth. Students weren't graded—they were ranked. Points were everything. If you didn't earn enough by the end of the semester, you were expelled. No mercy. No retakes. No excuses.
Ren didn't care about the chaos. He wasn't here to impress anyone. He already knew he could ace every challenge without trying.
Which is why he wouldn't.
He tugged his school cap low, lowered his posture by exactly 7%, and adjusted his expression from "blank genius" to "mildly confused transfer student."
The act began now.
---
Inside the orientation hall, a hologram of the Headmaster flickered to life. His digital eyes glowed crimson.
> "Welcome to hell," the Headmaster said. "I mean, Vanguard. Every student starts with 100 points.
Earn points by winning challenges.
Lose points if you fail.
Fall below 20? You're expelled.
Let the semester... begin."
A loud siren blared.
A giant leaderboard projected across the room. Ren's name was at the very bottom:
> #998 – Kisaragi, Ren | 100 pts
Perfect. Right where he wanted to be—forgotten.
---
After orientation, Ren headed toward the dorms—quietly avoiding the main crowd—when a girl jumped in front of him.
"Hey! You're new, right?" she said, hands on her hips. Short black hair, sharp eyes, confidence radiating like heat. "I'm Mina Sakamoto. Top ranked. What's your specialty?"
"Uh... nothing really," Ren replied, dropping his voice half an octave. "I'm just... average, I guess."
"Average?" she narrowed her eyes. "You got in here with average?"
"I barely passed the entrance exam," he said with a helpless shrug. That was a lie. He scored the highest in school history and then hacked the system to downgrade his result.
Mina stared at him like he was a riddle wrapped in a mistake.
"Fine. Try not to get expelled, new guy."
She stormed off.
---
In his dorm room, Ren unpacked exactly three items:
A self-made AI alarm clock
A book titled "How to Fail Without Looking Suspicious"
And a checklist:
> "Survival Plan:
1. Blend in.
2. Do just enough.
3. No romance.
4. No clubs.
5. No attention."
He finished unpacking just in time for his first real challenge.
---
CHALLENGE 001: SCAVENGER FRENZY
> Form a team. Find 5 hidden items across campus.
Bonus points for creativity and teamwork.
Penalty for sabotage or cheating.
Ren stared at the screen. "Bonus points for creativity?" he mumbled. "I hate this place already."
He joined the slowest-looking team—three students who argued for ten minutes about whether they were indoors.
Good. They'd lose. He could stay invisible.
But then, while pretending not to know how to use a compass, he tripped on a sprinkler valve and accidentally activated a hidden elevator that led straight to the final item.
The rest of the school was still running in circles. Ren's team won—by accident.
He blinked. "...Oops."
---
Two hours later, he checked his status:
> #318 – Kisaragi, Ren | 115 pts
+10 for item discovery
+5 bonus for "unexpected initiative"
He groaned.
From across the hallway, Mina Sakamoto stared at him again. This time with suspicion.