Ring! Ring!
Just then, the 9:00 AM alarm rang out, signaling the start of classes.
We headed straight to our assigned classroom. Upon arriving,
we saw that our teacher was none other than Mr. Adam, the same man who had shown us to our rooms the previous day.
We found our seats and sat down. Mr. Adam scanned the room. Seeing that all the students had arrived, he cleared his throat to begin the lesson.
"I am your History teacher," Adam announced. "Today is my first class with you. Listen carefully."
However, my attention was elsewhere. I tapped on the 'Daily Mission' tab on my system interface. A blue holographic screen materialized in front of me.
[Daily Mission]
[New Mission: Listen carefully to the teacher's lecture.]
[Reward: 200 XP]
Since this was the first mission of the day, I mentally dismissed the screen and focused my attention on the teacher.
"Open your books to Chapter 1: The Beginning of the War between Humans and Primals," Adam began.
"Today, we will talk about the 'Origin Users'. When the war between Humans and Primals began, many powerful users emerged.
To save humanity, they shared their powers with the public. These people are known as Heroes."
He paused, his expression turning serious.
"However, there were others who refused to share the secrets of their power.
They kept their abilities exclusively within their bloodlines. These families are what we call the Origins."
The entire class listened in pinned silence.
"A peace agreement has been signed between the Primals and Humans,"
Adam continued in a grave tone. "But we cannot say that we are truly living in peace. That is why everyone must work hard—for your family, and for your country."
The lecture continued for some time before finally coming to an end.
Clap! Adam clapped his hands together. "Now that your first class is over, I am going to explain the other features of your smartwatch. Listen closely."
Even the students who had been whispering in the back fell silent, turning their full attention to him.
Seeing the room go quiet, Adam nodded.
"Colonel Pandey told you earlier that this smartwatch is your lifeline. Now, I will tell you about its benefits."
"First, let's talk about Credits," Adam explained. "To start, everyone receives 100 credit points. After this, you will receive daily points based on your level.
A Level 1 student gets 10 credits, Level 2 gets 20, and so on." A murmur went through the room.
"You might feel that this is unfair," Adam said loudly, cutting through the noise. "But this is the truth of the world. The stronger you are, the more benefits you receive."
"From now on, your watches are fully active. Previously, you could only see your level. Now, you can view your full status and your credit balance."
Beep! Beep! All the students touched their watches simultaneously. A green holographic window floated up from everyone's wrist.I looked at my own window.
[Name: Aditya]
[Age: 16]
[Class: +2 First Year, First Month]
[Level: 5]
[Credit: 200]
As I read the text, a mechanical voice echoed in my mind, audible only to me.
Around me, chaos erupted.
"I'm only at Level 1..." one student complained. "With yesterday's and today's allowance, I only have 120 credits."
"I wish I was Level 4," another sighed. "This is too little to survive on."
They were realizing the harsh reality of the hierarchy.Suddenly, a familiar chime rang in my head.
[Ding!]
[Daily Mission Update]
[Mission: Listen carefully to the teacher's lecture.]
[Status: Completed]
[Reward Received: 200 XP]
[XP: 450 / 1000]
"I need 550 more XP to reach Level 2," I calculated silently.
I looked around the room. Some students were beaming with joy at their high credits, while others looked crushed by their low status.
Mr. Adam stood at the front, watching them with a helpless expression. He knew the system was harsh, but there was nothing he could do to change it.
Ring!The bell rang, signaling the end of the class.
After the class concluded, Dev, Jeevan, and I wandered through the academy corridors.
"Aditya," Dev asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "Do you think the Origin Users did something wrong back then during the war?"
I glanced at him. "From whose perspective do you want the answer?"
"What do you mean?" Dev looked confused.
Jeevan, too, was waiting silently for my response. I knew he was keen to hear what I'd say, considering he came from an Origin family himself.
"In the eyes of the general world, what the Origin Users did was wrong," I began slowly. "It was a time of desperate war. Because they refused to share the secrets of their power with humanity, they were painted as villains. But from the perspective of their own families, they weren't wrong at all. They knew that once their secret was given away, they might be called 'heroes' in name for a short time, but their true existence would eventually be wiped out."
I paused, letting the harsh truth sink in. "The moment ordinary people realized they possessed these abilities, fear and greed would take over. If everyone knew exactly how their powers worked, they would inevitably discover their weaknesses too. Their destruction would have been guaranteed."
I gestured vaguely to the world around us. "Look at the present now. Origin User families still exist and thrive in high positions. But the families of those 'Heroes' who shared everything? Very few remain. Only the truly powerful bloodlines among them survived; the weaker ones disappeared long ago." I finished my explanation.
Jeevan nodded sombrely. "You're right, Aditya. That is exactly the current situation. They are 'Heroes' in history books only; their actual presence today is almost nonexistent."
We continued walking as we talked. Since it was daytime, the sunlight debuff was active. My stats had dropped by 20%, bringing my effective power down to a solid Level 5 standard.
Further down the main corridor, we spotted a commotion.
A boy was sitting on a chair like a king, his body wrapped heavily in bandages beneath his uniform. Two imposing guards stood on either side of him, and in front of them, a long line of anxious students had formed.
The boy in the chair was Sam—the same Sam that Jeevan and I had beaten up earlier. As predicted, he hadn't told anyone about his humiliation. If he had confessed his weakness, his Boss would have kicked him out of the gang immediately for being a liability.
His job today seemed to be racketeering—forcefully selling basic goods to students at wildly inflated rates to collect credit points.
His two Level 2 guards were barely suppressing their laughter. They knew Sam had taken a severe beating recently, though they didn't know who was responsible. However, one angry glare from Sam silenced them instantly. He then proceeded with his "business."
The first boy in the line stepped up, wanting to buy some fruit.
"5 credit points," Sam stated coldly.
"This is daylight robbery!" the boy complained, his voice shaking slightly. "Outside in the town, the price for this is only 3 credits. You're selling it for 5!"
Sam glared at him with dead eyes. "You have a very loose tongue. Are you going to tell me what the true price is? For that big mouth of yours, the price just went up from 5 to 10 points."
"I won't buy it then," the boy retorted bravely, turning to leave. "I'll just go to the shops in town."
"He's not going to learn the easy way," Sam sneered, motioning to his guards. "Take him to the corner and teach him a proper lesson."
"Yes, Boss."
The two guards grabbed the protesting boy and dragged him into a secluded corner of the hallway. The sounds of violence soon followed.
Thud! Smack!
"No! Please, don't hit me! Stop! I'll pay!"
The beating went on for ten agonizing minutes. Finally, the two guards emerged, dusting off their hands. The boy who had complained earlier limped out behind them, looking battered, bruised, and bleeding from his nose. Without another word, he transferred his entire daily allowance of 10 points to Sam's watch and hobbled away.
The remaining boys and girls in the line were terrified. The message was clear. They silently stepped up one by one and bought whatever Sam was selling at whatever ridiculous price he demanded, too scared to utter a single word of protest.
The three of us watched the entire sickening scene from a distance.
"The beating we gave him earlier clearly wasn't enough," Jeevan growled, gritting his teeth so hard his jaw muscles popped. "Now he's just openly looting people."
"Calm down, Jeevan," I said quietly. "We can't interfere too much in this specific operation. You know as well as I do that powerful families run these rackets behind the scenes."
Jeevan calmed down visibly, though the anger remained in his eyes. He knew the reality of this world. Extorting the weak was much easier than earning credits through hard work. But he felt helpless. If he interfered now, it would cause financial losses for those big families, and for those people, losing money was akin to having their own parents murdered—they would retaliate viciously.
Right now, Jeevan wasn't strong enough to take them on head-to-head. It was a dangerous game, and getting involved prematurely would be suicide. Once he became a powerful user, it would be a different story.
"Aditya," Dev asked quietly, looking disturbed. "Does the Army really say nothing about what is happening inside the Academy? The bullying, the extortion... it's happening right in the open."
"This situation actually benefits the military," I explained coldly. "Think about it, Dev. When the strong torment the weak like this, who will the weak eventually turn to for revenge?"
Dev thought for a moment. "They would need someone powerful... someone who can give them the resources and training to fight back."
"Exactly," I nodded. "And that 'someone' is the military hierarchy. But the military never gives anything for free. If they provide you with too many resources, you will accumulate a debt you can never repay monetarily. Your only option will be to sign your life away and join the military permanently to work it off."
I looked Dev dead in the eye to emphasize my point. "That's why I'm warning you now. You can ask for help from friends like us, but never accept too many favors or resources from the military establishment. If you do, you will never escape their clutches."