Return Of The Strongest Player

"It's midnight…" Evan muttered, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean you didn't know whether we were here?"

"Shut up, Evan," a blonde-haired girl spoke in an unrefined fashion. Her hair was silky, and she wore a white top with black jeans. Her skin was quite pale, and Arthur wondered if she was a vampire from Heaven's Spire.

Beside her was a serious-looking guy with glasses. His hair was dark and swept to the side, which provided him with a nerdy feel. However, his body was sturdy, as displayed by his muscles that bulged from his clothes.

He wore a suit and tie.

"Gary, why are you in formal clothing?" Evan asked, narrowing his eyes. "This is a dormitory room, not a conference. Are you going to sleep in trousers and a dress-shirt? Wait, why are you wearing glasses?"

"I always wear glasses, dumbass," Gary responded in a tone dripping with annoyance. "We just came back from the entrance ceremony. Wait… did you guys seriously skip the entrance ceremony?"

"The entrance ceremony? What's that?" Arthur asked, tilting his head.

Caroline, the blonde-haired girl, shook her head in disbelief. "It's a party for first years. Well, only the people with familial connections went. Like, the Ainsworths, Dereks, McCoys, Garcias, and so on."

"Ah, so a party for snobs," Evan commented, and a dirty sock flew towards his face. "You're disgusting, Gary."

"Shut up, Ev," said Gary, climbing up on his bed, which was above Arthur's. From above, he extended his arm for a handshake. "I'm Gary Anderson. Nice to meet you, Mr. Arthur Solace. I've heard much about you."

Arthur reciprocated by extending his arm. They shook hands and the crimson-eyed man nodded. "I'm… well, you know my name. Also, I've heard… a few things about you, I guess."

"He hasn't heard anything about you. It's a way of being polite," said Caroline from a distance, entering the bathroom to change.

"No shit, Carol!" Gary spoke, but the bathroom door had shut by then. He let out a sigh before shaking his head and sliding under the covers. "Today was fucking exhausting. Ev, pass me some water."

"Tsk," Evan clicked his tongue before handing Gary his water bottle. "Get your own, man. We're sharing indirect kisses here and there."

"Even kissing the homies is acceptable," responded Gary, revealing a toothy grin. "It's not gay if it's done in friendship. Ah, Arthur, can I call you Art? I usually call people I know using a nickname. Carol for Caroline, Ev for Evan and so on."

Art… it was an unfamiliar feeling for Arthur. It was a version of his name no one had used before.

"Sure," he responded, but couldn't mask his hesitance. Gary furrowed his brows but eventually accepted.

"Art, have you ever been caught doing something bad?" Gary asked in a voice dripping with exhaustion. It seemed he was on the verge of dozing off, but couldn't put away the burning question.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, stealing from someone, or… joining others to bully someone…"

Silence descended upon the room, and Arthur let out a chuckle. "No, I haven't been caught doing those things."

"So you did them, then? Naughty boy."

"Eh, I'll leave that up to your imagination."

Once Caroline returned, the squad turned off the lights and dozed off. Since it was already midnight and Gary and Caroline had had a few drinks at the entrance ceremony, it didn't take long before the sounds of snoring encompassed the room.

At that moment, Arthur's eyes slowly opened.

'He knows,' thought Arthur, recalling Gary's words. Although it could've been a coincidence, his words were coordinated in a fashion that made it impossible to have been a game of 'luck'. His voice of exhaustion…

It was a facade.

Through the drowsiness in his voice, Arthur knew he was faking it. His breathing pattern was vastly different from that of a man about to fall asleep. Also, he continuously stimulated himself by fidgeting, which was obvious to Arthur's senses.

'Is he allied with Arcadia Academy?' Arthur thought before shaking his head violently. 'If that was the case, I would've been dead by now. He would've surely called the executives of the academy.'

Espionage was a big no-no in Arcadia Academy. As the most prestigious school on the planet, it retained its reputation through its strict measures. If a spy was caught, they were executed without a second thought.

Even interrogation was denied in some cases.

The value of Arcadia Academy's reputation was priceless, and that was precisely why Arthur was able to trick Henry Noxickle, or Jack Valentine, into folding. Had Arcadia Academy's punishment system been loose, the crimson-eyed man would have died at Henry's hands. Instead, the latter was now the former's dog.

'Fuck,' thought Arthur. 'I can't report this, either.'

That would display his incompetence.

*

The next day, as Arthur exited his bed, his mind was clouded with tons of thoughts.

As he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, the crimson-eyed man chugged a certain stimulant to maintain his glycogen levels and energy. However, since he couldn't do the same the next day due to the stimulant's sheer effectiveness, he swore to sleep that day.

'Who is Gary affiliated with?' Arthur wondered, ignoring the bags under his eyes. Although his glycogen levels had returned to normal, his cortisol levels had only increased due to overthinking the situation.

Well, it made perfect sense, considering the matter dictated his life and death.

"Why do you look so exhausted?" Caroline asked, fixing her hair in front of the mirror. Although they were strangers, she didn't mind remaining in her sleepwear before Arthur, as if she thought the man didn't have any libido.

Unperturbed, Arthur shook his head. "I didn't get any sleep. Turned out homesickness is more severe than I expected."

Caroline let out a chuckle. "You'll get used to it. You're in Class A, right? You guys have a spar with our class today, Class B."

"A spar, huh? Might be interesting."

"Ah, don't twist someone's arm this time."

Arthur simply smiled.