The moment the test ended, the classroom felt like a funeral.
Clard and Ivan sat frozen, staring into nothingness, while Benjamin—who scored a perfect 50—did not read the room at all.
**Benjamin:** "Sooo… how'd the exam go?"
He asked it with way too much excitement.
Silence.
Silence so deep it felt like it came from the abyss itself.
Ivan had barely passed.
Clard… didn't.
**Ivan:** "Thank god I passed… but I think Clard… is dead."
His worried eyes shifted to Clard.
Clard didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't exist.
By the time school ended, the trio walked out like three zombies.
Benjamin was awkward, Ivan was depressed, and Clard moved like a lifeless NPC whose script failed to load.
Then Benjamin broke the silence.
**Benjamin:** "Sooo… Ivan… what was the new novel again?"
His face confused, yet curious.
Clard remained silent.
Ivan sighed, then finally answered.
**Ivan:** "You know… *Worlds in Ruin, Idiots in Action.* The funny one?"
And *that* broke Clard's trance.
His drool, which had been forming a small river, evaporated as he snapped back to reality.
Clard: "Oh! Worlds in Ruin, Idiots in Action? I have the unreleased chapter!"
Ivan and Benjamin nearly tripped.
Both whipped their heads toward him.
**Benjamin & Ivan:**
*"How are you NORMAL right now? Didn't you literally get the LOWEST score in the whole school?!"*
In perfect sync.
Clard just shrugged.
**Clard:** "Oh no, I'm actually in the top 50. Didn't you see my name?"
They pulled up their screenshots.
Clard had a **0.5 / 50**.
Impossible.
Legendary.
A world-record stupidity achievement.
**Ivan & Benjamin:**
*"HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVEN GET A DECIMAL SCORE?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE—EVEN FOR YOU!"*
Clard waved them off.
**Clard:** "Relax. My butlers will handle it."
He snapped his fingers.
Shadows rippled across the hallway as his black butlers materialized—silent, loyal, and terrifying.
Before Clard could explain what to do, the butlers already forged his exam score.
**Clard's new score: 38/50.**
He jumped to top 15.
Benjamin stayed top 1.
Laura, top 2.
Ivan, top 16.
The butlers vanished like smoke.
Benjamin and Ivan just took a moment… then pretended it was normal.
They continued walking to Benjamin's house.
When they reached his front door, his mother wasn't home.
The three idiots now had the entire house to themselves.
They went upstairs and opened Benjamin's bedroom door—
—and froze.
A girl with wings sat on Benjamin's bed, calm, graceful, almost glowing.
Ivan and Clard nearly passed out.
**Ivan & Clard:**
*"WWW-WH-HY IS THERE A GIRL IN YOUR ROOM?!?!"*
Perfect synchronization.
Perfect panic.
But Benjamin didn't react.
He recognized her.
The girl from his dreams.
The one who gave him power.
The goddess Uzakia.
**End of Chapter 8**