.
"Hello everyone. I am Arnold Ashford, cousin of the current emperor of the Empire, and I will be your physical endurance professor."
"Yo, what do you think—can you survive this lecture till the end?" Sammy asked, smirking at me.
"Yes, I can," I replied firmly.
I absolutely can.
Believe me, bro.
"No, sorry to disappoint you, but everyone in this class is going to have a very hard time," Amanda said, walking up beside me.
"You too? Come on, can you not have some confidence in me? I considered you my friend, and now you've betrayed me," I said, my tone sharp with frustration.
"Friends…" Amanda muttered under her breath.
"What is wrong with her?" Sammy nudged me, whispering in my ear.
"Shut up, man, and listen to what Arnold is saying," I snapped, annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah… fuck off," Sammy muttered, turning his eyes toward Arnold.
Arnold's voice carried across the room. "Now, everyone, today's first exercise will be jogging. We're heading to the ground, and you will run one hundred rounds of it."
The classroom fell into dead silence. You could hear a pen drop.
"Come on now, let's go to the ground, shall we?" Arnold said with a smile.
"This is what you both were talking about," I muttered, realizing the horror Amanda and Sammy had warned me about.
"Yes," they both answered in unison.
We walked toward the ground. Sammy and I joked as usual, while Amanda shook her head at our antics. As we entered the field, I noticed several boys glaring at me. For a moment, I wondered if they were into the same gender, but then I realized—they were glaring because Amanda was walking next to me.
Why am I so beautiful?
Should've been ugly.
It's their fault for being ugly.
Arnold gestured toward the massive field. "Now everyone, look here. This is the ground. You will run one hundred rounds of it."
My stomach sank. My future was already doomed.
"On the count of three, everyone will start running," Arnold said, still smiling. Then he added, "The person who crosses fifty rounds will be exempt from running further."
The class erupted in cheers, their relief palpable. I didn't cheer.
Believe me, bro.
"Three… two… one… Get running, everyone, like your life depends on it!"
The air tensed for a heartbeat, then exploded into motion. Students sprinted with all their might, mana flaring—until Arnold snapped his fingers. Instantly, every spark of mana vanished. Confusion rippled through the crowd.
"It's physical endurance class, not a fashion show. Use your stamina to complete the task," Arnold barked.
"Nice. Finally, I've got equality in this cursed world," I muttered, thanking whatever gods might be listening.
But my childish joy didn't last. Everyone was already far ahead of me.
"…Fuck. Why always me?"
I jogged behind the class, cursing my luck. For the first two rounds, I managed to keep up. After that, hell broke loose. My body shook, begging me to stop. Sweat drenched me, my vision blurred, and every step felt like dragging a corpse. I wanted to quit—God, I wanted to quit—but I kept going.
Arnold's voice rang out. Amanda and Sammy had finished fifty rounds at the same time. They were exempt. My heart sank. Everyone else pushed through, finishing their hundred rounds. I was the only one left, staggering, while the rest laughed at me.
An hour passed. Finally, I reached the last round.
"C'mon, Rudra, only one more to go. Do it fast!" Arnold urged, pointing at the finish line.
"Haah… haaa…" I panted like a dying animal, dragging myself across the final stretch. Laughter and cuss words echoed around me, stabbing deeper than the pain in my legs.
And then—blackness. My vision collapsed, and I lost consciousness.
---
"WAKE UP, DARLING!"
"Wake up, or else I'm going to release the video of you sleeping," Sammy said in a deadly serious tone.
"Ohhh… Oye, shut up. My head's ringing like crazy, and the first thing I hear when I wake up is your voice?"
"Just say you love it," Sammy teased.
"Listen to me—FUCK OFF, YOU IDIOT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Now both of you stop fighting, or I'll report this to the headmaster," Amanda's calm voice cut through.
I turned my head. She was sitting beside me, munching on an apple like nothing had happened.
"Haaa… How did I get into this situation?" I groaned.
"You collapsed the moment you crossed the finish line," Sammy explained, Amanda nodding in agreement.
"Ohhh… Guess I'm the weakest human, huh." I chuckled bitterly, realizing why I'd passed out.
"It's okay, it happens—" Amanda began, but was interrupted by a stern voice.
The school nurse stepped forward. It was Sophie.
"Looks like Rudra is all right. Oh yes—the headmaster is looking for you three."
I turned to Sammy. "Remind me again—are you the headmaster's secret lovechild or something? Why would he call us this early in the school year? We haven't even done anything yet."
"NO, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! I AM NOT ANYONE'S LOVE CHILD!" Sammy yelled.
"Come on then," Amanda said calmly, as always. "Let's go see what the headmaster has to say