The Smiling Death

It was evening time now. Amon was sitting on his bed in a cross-legged position. He was holding his pager.

Why?

Because the result of the Practical Exam would soon be notified. They were going to reveal it.

"You seem very eager," a soft voice came from beside him. It belonged to Seraphina.

Amon turned towards her, his eyes playful. "Of course I am. I mean, I might be at the top. Close to you guys. Hehehe."

Amon giggled. He was excited to know.

Seraphina shook her head with a small chuckle.

"Tsk! Sneaky bastard! You stole all my points! So don't be too proud!" Across from them, Marcus sneered in annoyance.

They were still in the same tent.

Amon grinned at Marcus.

"Oh come onnn, Marcus. That's just strategy~ You should thank me. I helped you improve your awareness."

Marcus's eyebrow twitched. "You stabbed me in the back."

"Exactly!" Amon nodded proudly. "Now you'll never trust anyone again. See? Character development."

Marcus looked like he wanted to throw his pillow at him. What character development? All he was doing was talking nonsense. Because of this, Marcus was going to get a rank under Amon. Which was humiliation to him.

Eliana, sitting on her bed while cleaning her bowstring, giggled behind her hand.

"Amon… you really are something else."

Amon puffed out his chest. "A genius? Well, it was like a battle for surviving. So all is fair. I didn't do anything wrong. And I survived until the end. I was the second last to be eliminated."

"You are like a menace," she corrected sweetly.

Aisha, who had been pretending she wasn't listening. Snorted.

"He's not a menace. He's an idiot who thinks he's smart. There's a difference."

Amon placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "My heart… it hurts… How can you say that to me, Aisha? I don't think our relation was this bad."

Seraphina rolled her calm eyes. "Stop being dramatic."

She had been hearing Aisha and Amon. They were talking about something that she didn't understand. Laying on the same bed? Hugging?

But despite her calm tone, there was a small smile on her lips. It's rare for her to do it.

After all, she was enjoying it.

Then Amon's face turned thoughtful. "By the way… at the end… all students were from the same class. I mean our class… What about the top students from other classes?"

His question was valid. After all, there were many talented students in other classes as well. But the last ones who were able to reach the center were only Class A.

"Oh, about that. We actually hunted them down during the starting days of the exam. Me and Seraphina. When we met for the first time, we decided to target them. While some others were eliminated by ours truly, Arnold," Eliana said from her bed with a wide smile.

Arnold just snorted from his place, not interested in joining the conversation.

"Oi, even I defeated that bastard Matthew from Class C, and Ronald from Class D." Marcus didn't back down. How could he? He had worked so hard for seven days.

"Ohh! Amazing, Marcus. I was literally running away each time I saw a strong opponent. Hehehe. It was fun," Amon shamelessly talked about his own performance. Maybe he was someone who enjoyed the exam the most.

"It's good to see that our class was the one to dominate this exam," Seraphina expressed her thoughts on it. She was genuinely happy.

At her words, everyone agreed.

While the other students in the tent tried to ignore their talk. Why should they listen? They were defeated by these guys.

So they all tried to act like they were asleep.

Just then.

BEEP! BEEP!

Everyone's pager made a beeping sound.

Everyone got serious and looked at their pager.

Even those who were sleeping–or pretending to sleep.

Amon looked at the notification. His heart was beating faster. It was the moment where his name would be at the top. Where would his name be?

He closed his eyes and exhaled heavily.

'Okay.' He snapped open his eyes.

With trembling fingers, he clicked on it.

---

[Class A : Amon Vale]

[Accumulated Points : 22,050]

[Second-last survivor bonus points : 5,000]

[Total Points: 27,050]

[RANKS]

1. Seraphina Luminous: Total Points – 61,500.

2. Amon Vale: Total Points – 27,050

3. Arnold Bigod: Total Points – 22,150

4. Marcus Lionheart: Total Points – 17,600

5. Aisha Darkfang: Total Points – 17,000

6. Matthew Habsburg: Total Points – 16,400

7. Eliana Sylvaris: Total Points – 16,150

8. Caelin Windsor: Total Points – 15,200

9. Arya Valentine: Total Points – 14,100

10. Siyara Roland: Total Points – 13,000

.

.

.

[Eliminated students by other students don't lose their points. But the one who defeats them gets the same amount of points.]

---

Amon blinked a few times to see if it was true or not.

"Hahahhahaa!"

The silent tent filled with the creepy, loud laugh of Amon.

Everyone looked at him.

Not because he was laughing creepily.

But because he was at second rank.

All he did was backstabbing Marcus and surviving until the end.

And he got at the top. Just like that.

"Hehehe!"

"Oi, stop laughing like that. You sound creepy," Marcus said from across. His face held balanced irritation.

Amon covered his mouth dramatically with both hands—even though the stupid grin breaking through made it pointless.

"Second… SECOND!" he whispered to himself, shaking. "I actually… I actually beat Arnold… and Marcus, Aisha, and Eliana… HA!"

Seraphina looked at him with a faint amused exhale. "You're acting like you won first place."

"I basically won first!" Amon declared proudly, chest puffed. "Second rank! I'm literally right behind you! Just a small gap of… uh… thirty-four thousand points."

Eliana choked on air. "That's not small!"

Amon frowned. Now that he thought about it, at the end of the ranks there was a note.

'So even if I hadn't injured myself, I would still have gotten the same points… but I guess Seraphina would have gotten more –22,050 points.' Well, putting those thoughts aside, he observed the others with a smile.

Aisha smacked her forehead. "I swear… the confidence this idiot has… where does it come from?"

"Talent," Amon replied instantly. To be fair, he knew that he was still a lot behind them. But he really liked their expressions. He really loved it.

Was he always like this…? Yes, he was!

"No, it's delusion."

Amon ignored Aisha and stared at his pager again with sparkly eyes.

Second place.

Second.

Not 50th. Not last. Not garbage.

S E C O N D.

He felt like crying from happiness.

Marcus, however, did not share that happiness.

"That's bullshit," Marcus muttered darkly.

"How… HOW is this bastard above me?!"

Amon placed a comforting hand on his chest, voice gentle.

"It's okay, Marcus. Not everyone was born to be in the top three. Some people exist to motivate us—"

"Bastard, stop talking bullshit!"

Amon quickly got up from the bed and moved towards Aisha.

"Help! Wolf girl, protect me!"

Aisha looked at him with a deadpan stare.

"You know I should push you toward him, right?"

Before she could, Seraphina spoke, her tone light but firm:

"Both of you, calm down."

Marcus froze.

Amon froze.

Even Aisha sat straighter.

Seraphina looked at Amon with a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Congratulations, Amon. You worked… very hard."

Amon blinked.

It was not the first time she praised him. But he liked it every time when she praised him with that beautiful, sweet face.

"Hehehe… well… I mean… you know… I did my best…" He scratched his cheek, suddenly shy.

Eliana giggled. "He's melting. Look, he's melting."

He was definitely melting.

Arnold, still sitting on his bed, scowled down at his own pager.

"Tch. Second place by a huge gap… and I'm not even closer to first place…" he muttered, disappointed.

But then he glanced at Amon.

Even from across the tent, he didn't feel annoyed. Rather...he felt disappointment, in himself.

Amon was rolling on his blanket now, hugging his pager like a treasure.

"SECOND!!!! HAHAHA–"

A pillow slammed into his face.

"Shut up already!" Marcus yelled.

Amon sat up again, unfazed. "Even if you hit me, Marcus… I'll still be above you in rank~"

"You sneaky rat—"

Eliana held up both hands quickly. "Okay okay! Enough fighting, please! We all did well, didn't we?"

Aisha nodded. "Yeah. At least we all survived the entire week."

Their gazes then turned to silent Seraphina.

She didn't brag.

She didn't smirk.

She simply said,

"…I'm proud of you, Amon."

Silence. Not to others. She praise Amon again.

Marcus blinked. Eliana smiled mischievously. Aisha raised her ears in surprise.

Amon stared at her.

Then, with the seriousness of a monk revealing enlightenment, he said.

"…Sera… you're too cool. It's actually unfair. But thank you again. I love it when you praise me."

Her cheeks tinged a faint shade of pink.

"Don't say weird things."

Amon grinned. "That was a compliment."

She turned away, but the small smile on her face remained.

Arnold lay back down, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"…I'll surpass you next time," he muttered at Seraphina.

She glanced at him. "I'll be waiting."

And for a moment… the atmosphere felt warm.

Until,

Amon raised his hand proudly.

"Everyone! As the official second ranker, I just want to say—"

"NO ONE CARES!"

Marcus, Aisha, and Arnold shouted together.

Amon blinked. "Hey!"

Eliana laughed softly. "It's going to be a long year with you, Amon."

Seraphina nodded. "…Yes. But somehow… I don't mind."

Amon's grin widened.

----

[A/N : Sorry guys for only 1 chapter again. I was busy. Anyway even if it's 1 chap. It's longer than average one. I will try to post 2 chapters again from Tomorrow.]