The streets of New Dawn Academy were still bustling even as the sun slowly dipped toward the horizon.

Students walked in every direction, some heading back to their dorms while the new students explored the massive campus for the first time.

Among them, Zac, Marty, and Shobin strolled side by side.

"So what is it gonna be? Takeout or dine-in?" Zac broke the silence.

Marty and Shobin both looked at him.

"...Seriously?"

"You just folded a guy like a lawn chair," Marty said. "And the first thing on your mind is food?"

Zac shrugged. "Fighting makes me hungry."

Shobin couldn’t help laughing. "I don’t think we can call that a fight. That was more like you stomping on him."

"That still burns energy." Zac stretched his arms over his head. "Calories don’t care whether it’s a fight or a beating."

Marty stared at him. "Zac...I seriously can’t keep up with your mood swings. One second you’re scarier than a horror movie villain."

"Next, you’re worried about what’s for lunch."

[That’s what happens when you’re friends with someone who has a fallen bloodline.]

Zac, as always, ignored the system and looked at the two of them. "Can we stop talking about my mood swings and think about where we are going to eat? I’m really hungry."

Shobin scratched the back of his head. "I’m actually more interested in checking out the dorm."

"Same here," Marty agreed. "But if I go to my room now, I’ll probably collapse onto the bed and sleep until tomorrow."

"Exactly." Zac nodded. "That’s why we’re eating first. I can’t sleep on an empty stomach."

"Fair point."

Shobin took out the black card Matilda had given them earlier. "Let’s see if there’s somewhere we can afford."

He tapped the card against his VSB. A holographic interface instantly appeared in front of him.

"Damn...This thing has a lot more features than I expected."

He opened the academy map, and instantly an enormous layout of New Dawn Academy appeared, covered with colorful markers.

"There are... restaurants everywhere." He zoomed in.

"Whoa...Look at this. Beast King’s Grill."

"It specializes in monster meat, and it’s said grilled meat is their specialty."

Zac looked interested. "Sounds good."

But before he could say anything, Shobin immediately crushed his hopes. "The minimum entry requirement is 25 merits."

"Never mind," Marty sighed. "We don’t even have a single merit. Even a simple grilled meat costs a fortune."

Zac nodded. "See if there’s anywhere that accepts Kairos."

"Already on it."

Saying that, Shobin scrolled through the list of restaurants.

"Found one!"

He pointed at the screen.

"It’s called Beginner’s Food. It’s also the only restaurant in the entire academy that accepts normal currency."

"Good enough," Zac said.

"Let’s go before I start chewing on tree bark."

Following the map, the three of them headed toward the restaurant.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived in front of a tavern-like building with a large wooden sign hanging above the entrance with the name Beginner’s Food.

Marty looked around the place where students constantly walked in and out of it before letting out a long sigh.

"I don’t know if I’ve already said this, but this academy is ridiculously huge. We just walked fifteen minutes just to get dinner."

Shobin nodded in agreement.

Zac shrugged. "Quit whining. Let’s just go inside."

The restaurant was even busier than it looked from the outside. Almost every table was occupied, and the aroma of grilled meat, hot soup, and freshly baked bread drifted through the air, making all three of them instinctively hungrier.

Zac scanned the dining area before pointing toward a corner. "There." Tucked behind a large pillar was the last empty table in the entire restaurant.

Before they could take another step toward the table, Zac heard a girl’s voice. "Snow, look. There’s an empty table."

He turned toward the voice and saw Sabrina and Kelly standing on the other side of the crowded restaurant, both staring at the same empty table.

Sabrina instinctively looked toward Zac, and their eyes met.

Then both of them glanced at the empty table. Without another word, they sprinted towards it.

Students standing between them barely had time to react before the two shot past like arrows, weaving through the crowd and creating a gust of wind as they raced across the restaurant.

Marty rubbed his forehead. "Here we go again."

Zac and Sabrina reached the table at the exact same moment.

"I got here first," Zac said.

"No." Sabrina folded her arms. "I did."

"You wish. I touched the chair first, so it’s ours."

"You’re clearly lying. I got here first."

Zac frowned. "Why don’t you go eat some ice cubes instead?"

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "And why don’t you go peek into someone else’s shower?"

Marty quietly pinched the bridge of his nose.

Shobin asked him. "Should we stop them?"

"You think they’d stop just because we asked? Just let them wear themselves out."

Kelly let out a helpless sigh. "Why are they acting like children? This is so embarrassing."

Marty slowly turned toward her. "Yeah. For us too."

Neither Zac nor Sabrina heard a single word. They continued glaring at each other across the table.

"Mine."

"No. Mine."

Neither of them showed the slightest intention of backing down, and their argument only grew louder.

One by one, the first-year students in the restaurant turned to look, and almost all of them recognized Zac and Sabrina immediately.

"Isn’t that the guy from the Justice Arena?"

"Yeah, the E-rank potential who beat the crap out of an S-rank potential."

"Hey... look who he’s arguing with. Isn’t that the Ice Queen?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

"Are they seriously fighting over a table?"

"This is getting out of hand." Marty walked over and gently tugged on Zac’s sleeve. "Zac, I think you should calm down."

Without even looking at him, Zac replied, "Definitely not. I’m not backing down to this Ice Cube."

On the opposite side, Kelly was having just as much trouble calming Sabrina. "Snow, come on. It’s just a table."

"Yes, it is. But I don’t care. I’m not letting this bitch boy win."

Shobin stood between them, looking from one side to the other, completely clueless about what to do.

Just then, a calm voice interrupted them. "I think both of you should calm down."

Everyone turned toward the speaker and saw Daniel standing there with his usual calm expression.

He gestured toward the rest of the restaurant. "You’re attracting quite a bit of attention."

Zac looked at him for a moment before asking. "You’re the guy from class."

Daniel’s face stiffened ever so slightly. "The guy from class...?"

Before he could respond, Zac narrowed his eyes. "What? You want the table too?"

Daniel let out an awkward chuckle. "Actually... yes. But I was going to suggest that we all sit together. There aren’t enough seats otherwise."

"Absolutely not," Sabrina replied immediately. "I refuse to dine with a pervert."

"Who are you calling a pervert, you icy bitch?"

"Obviously you. Why would I call anyone else?"

Marty slowly leaned toward Shobin. "How many times have they called each other ’bitch’ so far?"

"I stopped counting after a hundred."

Kelly tilted her head. "Is calling each other ’bitch’ their love language?"

Before another argument could begin, a waiter approached the table. "Are you all first-year students?"

"Yes," Marty answered immediately.

The waiter nodded. "Are you planning to dine here?"

"Of course," Zac replied. "Just not with her."

Sabrina folded her arms. "Same. I don’t want to eat with him either."

The waiter glanced around the packed restaurant. "Unfortunately, you don’t have any other options. As you can see, every table is occupied. There are even students waiting outside."

"If you want dinner tonight, this is the only table available. And for your information..." He gave them an apologetic smile. "...we’re about to close."

Shobin blinked. "Close? I thought every facility in the academy operated twenty-four hours a day."

"They do," the waiter replied, "but only the facilities that use merits. Our restaurant only accepts Kairos, and we only serve first-year students."

"If we stayed open around the clock, we’d only lose money. So we only operate during peak meal hours. If you don’t eat now, your next meal will be tomorrow morning. And we don’t offer takeout."

He smiled politely. "So... please decide quickly."

The group exchanged glances.

Marty sighed. "Sit down." He looked straight at Zac. "I’m not starving until tomorrow because of your ridiculous rivalry."

Seeing Marty’s determined expression, Zac clicked his tongue. "Fine."

He pulled out a chair and sat down. A second later, Sabrina did the same, taking the seat directly opposite him.

Just as everyone was settling in, the restaurant door opened again. A handsome blond-haired young man walked inside with his chin held high, as though the restaurant belonged to his family.

The waiter immediately noticed him. "Are you also from Class One? The new student?"

Adrian gave a nod. "The gracious one is indeed."

The waiter paused for a moment, caught off guard by the answer. Then he pointed toward Zac’s table. "Perfect. Your classmates are all sitting there. You can join them."

The moment Zac and Sabrina saw who it was, they spoke in perfect unison. "Not him." They immediately looked at each other. Then both turned away with matching expressions of disgust.

Kelly blinked. "At least they agree on one thing."

Zac frowned. "Why’d you copy me?"

"I didn’t. You’re the one who copied me."

Daniel quietly rubbed his temples.

"This is going to be a long dinner."

When Adrian reached the table, he ignored everyone and looked at the waiter. "I do not dine with commoners."

The waiter didn’t even blink and said. "That’s perfectly fine. If you don’t want the seat, someone waiting outside will gladly take your place."

He smiled politely. "You can always come back tomorrow morning for breakfast."

Adrian immediately coughed into his fist. "When did I ever say I wouldn’t dine?"

He placed a hand over his chest. "It is the duty of a king to understand the lives of his people."

"So today, I shall graciously dine among the common folk so that I may better understand their joys and hardships."

He dramatically pulled out a chair. But before sitting down, however, he took a neatly folded piece of dark velvet from his inventory and carefully spread it over the seat.

Next, he produced a pair of spotless white gloves and slipped them on.

Finally, he took out a gleaming white ceramic plate along with a set of polished silver utensils, arranging them neatly in front of himself.

Everyone at the table, including the waiter, stared at Adrian in silence.

Shobin was the first to speak. "Don’t you think that’s... a little excessive?"

Adrian looked genuinely confused. "Excessive? There is no such thing as excessive when it comes to cleanliness and elegance."

"...Right. Sorry I asked."

The waiter handed three menus across the table. One to Zac, one to Sabrina, and one to Adrian.

Without even opening his, Zac passed it to Marty, and Sabrina did the same with Kelly.

Daniel shrugged. "I’m fine with anything."

Only Adrian carefully examined every page before confidently pointing at the most expensive dishes on the menu.

The waiter nodded and wrote everything down. Just as he was about to leave, Adrian raised a finger.

"One more thing. Please ensure every plate and utensil is thoroughly cleaned before serving my meal."

The waiter stared at him for a long second. Then he nodded with a perfectly straight face.

"Of course, sir. I’ll personally ask the chef to wash everything with a soap guaranteed to eliminate one hundred percent of germs, including the dishes."

Adrian blinked. As the waiter walked away, laughter erupted around the table.

Adrian slowly looked at everyone before placing a hand dramatically against his forehead. "Why is everyone in this academy such hypocrites?"