Sure enough, exiting the exam building was a sullen-looking Irene with textbooks in her hands.
As Zach glanced at Irene's departing figure, he was tempted to ask her, but Alya held him back.
Liam, who also wanted to see what was up, was interrupted by a whisper in his ear.
"Are you trying to cockblock me or something? Let me speak to Lily for more a second without you interrupting."
Instantly, his attention was brought away from Irene and back to Kevin, who was fuming in front of him.
Lily was too caught up in planning how to minimize or completely stop the djinn intervention on the cruise ship to even notice Irene, and Alya believed that talking to Irene would only make the situation worse, as Alya had been chosen for the student council while she wasn't.
Irene's emotions declined even more when she saw that her entire group was laughing and discussing without her even being there.
The final nail in her coffin was that Kevin and Liam seemed to be arguing about Lily, completely forgetting about her existence.
For the first time, Irene was worried about her exam performance as she walked to the training hall after the exams.
Her lack of focus and constant stress had gotten to her, causing her studying to decrease massively and, in turn, her test results.
At the front of the training hall, she saw the familiar figure of Ren, instantly lightening her mood.
If she thought she had done terribly, then Ren, being a moron, probably would get a 0. In other words, Ren was the perfect punching bag for her!
Irene was constantly surrounded by people who were as talented as she was or even more, so being around a weakling like Ren was just what she needed.
Following Ren inside the training hall, Irene was thinking about how to insult him when the sound of the door closing snapped her out of her thoughts.
When she looked up, she realized that Ren was no longer there; instead, he was inside one of the AI dummy rooms.
Holding her anger in, Irene realized that as a weakling, Ren should only have access to the AI dummies for 3 hours.
"I can wait... yeah, I can."
Heading to the training hall's target practice area, Irene fired fireballs even more powerful than usual until, finally, the sound of a door opening echoed throughout the empty hall.
Since exams had just finished, no person besides Irene and Ren was crazy enough to train, so that had to be Ren!
Dusting the ash off her clothes, Irene cockily walked over AI dummy area with her lines already prepared.
However, as Irene glanced upwards, no lines came out of her astonished mouth.
Beside the sweaty Ren was Scarlett, the new transfer student who ranked 7th in the first year and was comparable in beauty to her.
Even that weakling had friends now... while she was left all one. Despite all the prejudice and terrible rumors surrounding him, Ren had a smirk on his face as he walked out of the training hall with Scarlett trailing behind him.
Listening closely, Irene could even hear the two bantering about, while completely ignoring her presence.
"Oh, if I don't? Are you going to harass me like the rumors say?"
"Sorry, couldn't hear you. I was too focused on that spot on your shirt."
"You're bringing that up again? Oh, just wait, you'll see."
Stepping in front of the exit to the training hall, Irene stared silently at the two, trying to adjust the insults she had come up with earlier.
"Do you know her? Is she one of the girls you harassed, Ren?"
"...? Really? After a while, the joke gets boring, you know."
"But didn't you tell me to believe what I wanted about the rumors? How do I know it's really a joke?"
"So you decide to follow my directions now? What happened to earlier and the day before that and that."
Shifting his gaze from Scarlett to silent and stationary Irene, Ren asked.
"Are you a statue or something?"
Finally coming up with something, Irene arrogantly spoke.
"Trying to get over failing the midterm by spending time with girls? Really, that might just be a new low for you."
Looking at Ren for his reaction, she was surprised that a smirk was still plastered all over his face as he responded.
"Oh, are you projecting? Where's your entourage? Oh wait, don't tell me..."
"... you... little-"
"Yeah, I have plans later, unlike you, so I gotta go."
Stepping past her, Ren and Ruby left the training hall, leaving Irene seething behind. Up into the night, the sound of fireballs hitting the poor targets could be heard, and the sound of yelling echoed throughout the empty room.
"I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU'RE.."
"WHY NOT ME!?
...
...
...
Having spent the last days practicing and preparing my skills for the upcoming cruise ship fight with both Lily and possibly the djinns; I didn't have any time to pack.
When I woke up on the day of the bus's departure, I stuffed the few pairs of clothes I had that were not torn in my luggage before taking a shower and changing into the academy uniform.
Taking out my smartwatch, I contacted Raven to ensure that things would continue to run smoothly in my absence.
[Raven: Boss... if you have a vacation, can't I?]
[Ren: When we're rich, you can take a vacation every day, so just keep working through it, Raven. You got this!]
[Raven: You keep saying "when." When the hell are you going to tell me when that "when" is? What if I die tomorrow, then what use will working bring me.]
[Ren: Don't worry, you won't die while I'm alive.]
[Raven: ??? what does that mean?]
[Ren: You got this; keep selling those scrolls!]
Putting down my smartwatch, I exited my dorm building and headed to the bridge that connected the academy to the capital.
Nearing the bridge, I could see countless luxury buses and a crowd of students excitedly surrounding them while talking.
Of course, some students were huddled up in the corner praying to the gods for good exam grades.
"...wait isn't that Han and Jin?"
First, Raven, now those 2?
Leaving them to the prayer group, I dropped my luggage off our class bus and checked in with my professor.
Somewhat curious and nervous, I asked Profesor Zia.
"Can you tell who my group members are?"
"You'll find out in a minute."
"... if I'll find out in a minute, why not just tell me now?"
"Ruins the surprise."
"Since when have you liked surprises? Aren't you the one who said in class that they're obnoxious?"
"So, that's what you pay attention to in my class?"
"... we're getting off-topic. About my group-"
"Just go sit down."
Nodding my head disappointedly, I walked back over to the crowd and started looking at my smartwatch
On the bus, there was no technology allowed as the school wanted groupmates to bond, so this would be the last time I could check anything for the entire day
After another couple of minutes, Profesor Zia's voice spoke out, immediately silencing the talking students and catching the attention of the praying students.
"As you enter the bus, you will be given a group number. The bus is sectioned off into areas for each group, so head to the area marked by your group number."
Heading into the line of students waiting at the bus entrance, I suppressed the urge to use my stealth to sneak to the front of the line, using the shadows of the students and the bus.
After what seemed like an entirety, I was once again met with the face of Professor Zia. Before she could say anything, I cautiously said.
" *ahem* As you know, my reputation is not the best, so the group would be awkward if it's not people I know. So, with that in mind, what is my group?"
"And, whose fault is that?"
"It's my fault that my every action is monitored by gossiping students?"
"Are you saying that your actions described by the students are true as they observe you everyday?"
"Now, you're just grasping at straws. Aren't teachers supposed to use logic?"
"Your group number is 5. Head in and don't cause any trouble."
"You didn't say that last part to the student before me."
Ignoring my last remark, Profesor Zia pushed me into the bus, so I headed to the back where section 5 was located.
Since I was the first group member to arrive, I immediately found the most comfortable and spacious seat in the section and sat down.
Reclining my chair, I almost fell back to sleep when an angry voice sounded from right above me.
"...oh don't tell me... What the hell is this?"
Seeing the angry Irene standing in front of me, I replied.
"You understand that this a punishment for me, not you, right?"
Before Irene could respond, another voice sounded from the entrance to the section.
"h-hello, is this the right section?"
In walked Zach, accompanied by a digital camera that hung around his neck.
The thing about my luck is that I couldn't tell when it was S or G. Was it good luck or bad luck that I was put in a group with Irene and Zach?
Anyway, it didn't really matter to me as the main group during this trip of Lily, Kevin, Liam, and Alya was formed.
"Should we all introduce ourselves...?"
Seeing the opportunity to entertain myself, I shot back at Zach
"What is this kindergarten? Grow up."
Ignoring Zach's crumbling figure, Irene replied.
"Oh, you're one to talk? Didn't you attack someone else because they stole your crush? Aren't you just a spoiled child?"
Really bringing up Liam and Lily?
Even though she was talking about the original Ren, I still felt offended on his behalf, so I immediately began thinking of insults.
Before I could reply, another voice entered the section.
"Ohhhhh, that was a low blow..."
[A/N: Sorry for the short chap. 2 tomorrow. 75 PW or 1 Gift = +1 Chap]