In a Civilized Manner

The MW campus had only one library.

Situated at the southern end of campus, the building was closer to a study space than an actual library due to its lack of books.

When Edris first visited the area, he'd lamented its distance from the dorm and the rest of campus. He didn't think anyone would bother coming here just for a free desk to study.

Now, the library was quickly the most popular place among students on an everyday basis.

Edris's grey eyes skimmed his surrounding. There were twice as many students as table spots; some paced back and forth, with low mumbles escaping their lips to memorise the pages, while others read their books while kneeling on the floor.

After witnessing the state of those who'd experienced [DETENTION], the students, especially the players, began studying like crazy. No one wanted to end up at the bottom twenty of the ranking list.

It couldn't be helped.

Students with high rankings bathed in opportunities, be they luxurious food, dorm supplies, gym access, or even personal servants, while the lower-ranked succumbed to constant harassment by school workers and other students.

For the latter group, the only way to even get a chance at improving their situation was to score higher on the upcoming test. The library was the only place on campus where players on lower rankings could study without being constantly approached and degraded by the natives around them.

Usually, Edris steered away from the library since learning was involved, and anything academic-related placed his affinity level at risk.

However, he'd found a way around this obstacle.

A cheat, he'd call it.

Resting his chin on his palm, Edris peered across the room, toward a certain brown-haired boy who'd been sitting with a book for the past three hours. The corner of Edris's lips uplifted into a subtle smile.

"My unrequited love wasn't purely a hindrance after all."

After gauging the Labyrinth's capabilities for days, he'd come to the conclusion that the structure was dependent on rules. Most importantly, a hierarchical dynamic within the rules.

Each player's role performance affected their affinity level, but the affinity drop can be neutralised if their actions fell into the more "dominant" trait in their role personality but isolated another, less prominent trait.

In Edris's case, his entire persona was built upon his obsession with his "unrequited love"; this trait was emphasized to the point where actions that'd normally lower his affinity were excused in the presence of Owein, because Edris would be considered as pursuing his love, which fell in line with his persona.

Now, if he'd only go to class…

For reasons he did not know, Owein also never attended classes. After stumbling upon the man at the music tower, Edris had consciously kept an eye out for his whereabouts, but his attempts fell in vain every time.

Owein's physiques and perceptiveness were almost as impressive as Ace's, and Edris couldn't help but wonder about his occupation in the real world. The images of the two men lined up in his head, and Edris shuddered.

"There are many scary people out there…"

After discovering this cheat, he'd considered confessing to Owein his main quest and convincing the latter to cooperate. But seeing how the man was reserved and secretive in everything he did, Edris didn't want to expose himself rashly.

Without at least some degree of confidence in success, exposing one's main task to another would be no different from passing them a sword and saying, "I'll just be hanging out here, so come stab me whenever!"

Withdrawing his gaze from the man, Edris turned his attention to the countdown on his profile.

PLAYER [EDRIS] 'S MAIN QUEST:

Confess to your unrequited love during the [FINAL EXAM]!

TIME LIMIT: 61:12:45:00

Almost a month had passed since they first arrived in Labyrinth 53.

The tests were held bi-weekly, but rankings were updated once a month as the average score of the two tests. As a result, those currently in the upper ranks, hoping to maintain their position on the chart, hoarded their resources while, lower ranks ripped their hair out trying to get their hands on the additional pages of The Story of Weisha.

Apart from the initial test, the players had already experienced the second, and the third was planned for tomorrow.

The average results of the last two tests would determine the second round of rankings.

Although he wasn't worried about the test results since he had the top student and the seven-year-old to carry him through the tests, he'd rather stay safe when it risked entering [DETENTION].

According to Ives's reports, some students had definitely cheated, successfully too, under the eyes of the professors during the last test. But there were just as many, if not more, who'd been caught.

Both Ives and Celio were crucial for his plan for the final exam, so it'd be troublesome if they were caught cheating and thrown into [DETENTION].

That said, he needed a way out of these tests.

Edris snapped out of his thoughts, narrowly dodging an ice cube flying his way.

A whole human body followed.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that, 111." A girl with a high ponytail lazily tossed an apology his way, the number '48' floating above her head.

Edris gave her a sideglance, trying to discern whether she was a native or a player.

Throughout the past weeks, natives and players have grown accustomed to addressing each other by their ranks. Especially the latter. Since the number was the only visible title for others on display, it'd become their default identification.

The girl lowered her gaze toward the student on the ground. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"With those leg strengths, no wonder my ice cream melted by the time you got here with it."

Edris lifted his head and cast his gaze toward her direction. The girl was with three others, each ranked around the same range as herself, while the man on the ground was numbered 170.

Ah.

He immediately caught onto the situation.

"…I'll get another one for you," Muttering through gritted teeth, No. 170 pulled himself off the hard ground. He dusted off his maroon pants.

"No, no. I got a better idea."

The girl, number 48, crossed one leg over the other as she observed the man with an amused grin.

"You're here to get some extra book pages, right?" Not waiting for a response, she scooped up the split ice cubes on the table, dropping them onto the ground. "Eat it."

No. 170 stared at her.

"What?"

"Five pages. I'll write five new pages for you if you lick all the cubes off the floor. Easy task, don't you think?" Eyeing the infuriating look on his face, she leaned back with a shrug. "Or you can value your pathetic pride and end up in detention. But your affinity is already in the 80s. Is it really okay?

"But anyways—your choice."

Watching their interaction from the side, Edris let out an indiscernible sigh.

Since Rule #5 prohibited physical violence between students, players like No. 48 had turned to these "games," so if the professor ever called them in for their acts, they could defend themselves with the "playing among classmates" card.

An inherently destructive structure.

The Labyrinth was set up in a way that favoured the good and made sure the bad only became worse; the only way for the latter group to improve was to suck up to the former to receive shared resources.

And the result?

A power hierarchy, just like the one unfolding right before his eyes.

In MW Academy, it was easy for high-ranked students to get away with many things; the professors and staff turned a blind eye to their actions most of the time, as long as they didn't explicitly violate the rules.

Of course, there were people like Celio and No. 12 who helped others without asking for anything in return, but naturally, there were always more people in the world who only acted for their own benefit.

In fact, Edris considered himself to be in the latter group.

Not wanting to draw any attention to himself, he was about to leave the scene when the girl suddenly turned toward him.

"Hey," she started, and Edris sensed an ominous feeling. "You're No. 10's roommate, right? Do you know where he is?"

The next moment, she watched as the dark-haired man pulled out a chair and sat right across from her. Gazing into her eyes, the man tipped his head sideways with a gentle smile.

"What about No. 10?"

No. 48 blinked twice, taken back by his unexpected friendliness. "We're on cleaning duty together tomorrow after class. So make sure to give him a reminder if you see him."

"Will do." Edris nodded. "Be sure to let me know if you see him too. Or anything else about him."

"…Okay?"

Edris pressed forth. "Do you have anything to say about him?"

"Not really..?"

He could sense the girl's gaze toward him getting strange, but he couldn't care less about her reaction at the moment.

Although smiling on the outside, he was swearing at the Labyrinth from within.

His affinity level had dropped the second he expressed disinterest after the girl had mentioned No. 10. He'd thought he wouldn't be affected since role adherence was unnecessary between players, but it appeared that a native was also in her group.

"Well if you have nothing, I'll be taking my leave," he said as he stood up from his chair, hoping to make his escape before he could get himself into more displeasing situations.

"Wait!"

Damn it.

Foot pausing mid-step, Edris exhaled silently before spinning around with a smile.

"Did you remember something?"

"About No. 10?" The girl scrunched her nose. "Maybe... But I'll only tell you after if you hear what I have to say first."

"Oh." Edris said half-heartedly. His entire focus was on the brown-haired man sitting a distance away from them.

When is he going to leave? Does he not eat?

According to his role requirements, Edris had to respond with utmost enthusiasm regarding topics involving his "unrequited love." But if Owein were to exit the library right there, his presence would overrule this trait, and Edris could pull himself away from this situation without losing more affinity.

Edris stared his way intently, praying that Owein could sense his call for support.

The brown-haired man just sat there, motionless in response.

"Hey. Why aren't you looking at me?"

After getting his attention, the girl eyed him from bottom to top, lingering on his face for a second longer before nodding to herself. Twirling a part of her ponytail, she gazed at him with fluttering eyes.

"You're a player too, right? Wanna join my team?" She asked. "We're acquainted with Alton back in the real world, and here, he's got this whole study inventory that members have access to."

Her eyes fixed on the number on top of his head.

"111… Not too bad, but definitely could be better. What do you say? If you join me, I'll make sure you won't ever fall into the bottom ranks."

"Oh?" The man spoke slowly, as though he was contemplating her proposal. "And why would you want a lower rank? Not very profitable, if I do say myself."

"I suppose not." The girl shrugged. "Oh, but don't worry. I won't make you swallow ice or anything, like the man over here. No, with the saliva, tears and all… That'll be too cruel to your face…"

Edris raised an eyebrow.

It might be his imagination, but it sounded like she was growing more excited by the second.

"I'm quite friendly to people on my team. But since you're joining from a lower rank, you'll have to be useful somehow, right?" She hopped off the table, closing the distance between them. "And since you're quite pretty…"

Edris was about to take a step back when he noticed the brown-haired man standing up in his peripheral vision.

The two locked eyes.

At the same time, the girl reached forward, sliding her index finger onto his blazer collar. She got onto her tippy-toes, whispering into his ear.

"I'm looking for a pet, you see."