Chapter 131: Officially Recruited!

Ethan could hardly stop himself from smiling, a B.

He had actually gotten a B.

After walking into the hall expecting nothing more than a C, the result felt almost unreal. He had known he performed well during the obstacle course, but he had never imagined that his performance would be enough to place him among the students who had officially qualified for Association trainee Rift missions.

The realization continued to sink in as he looked at his name on the screen.

Ethan Ashford — Grade B.

He was still staring at it when Jake leaned closer, grinning.

"Congratulations, Ethan."

Lara smiled as well. "Seriously, congratulations. You did really well."

Rin reached over and gave Ethan a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Look at you. You actually got a B."

Ethan laughed, still feeling a little dazed by the result.

"Thanks. I honestly thought I was getting a C."

"Same," Rin admitted. "But I knew you did better than you thought."

Before Ethan could respond, whispers began spreading through the hall.

At first, they were quiet enough to blend into the general noise of students reacting to the results, but as more people noticed Ethan’s name on the screen, the whispers became harder to ignore.

"How are you sure this selection wasn’t just handed to him the same way he was exempted from the punishment?"

Ethan’s smile slowly faded.

He glanced toward the crowd but didn’t say anything.

Another student immediately responded.

"Didn’t you see Ethan when he finished the obstacle course? He was among the top ten."

"That doesn’t mean anything. There were other students among the top ten who weren’t called in B."

"There were also students who weren’t even among the top twenty who got B, weren’t there?"

The first student hesitated.

"That’s exactly what I’m saying."

"No, it isn’t," another student cut in. "You’re acting like they only used completion time to grade everyone."

The students around them began listening more closely.

"Ethan finishing within the required time proves that he at least performed well enough to qualify for consideration. The academy obviously doesn’t grade based on time alone. There are other things involved, like combat performance, control, decision-making and probably a lot more that we don’t know about."

Someone else scoffed.

"Then why were some people who finished faster than him given lower grades?"

"Because, as I just said, they don’t use only time."

The student sighed before continuing.

"And you’re ignoring the fact that Ethan actually finished the course. If he had done nothing and simply received a B, then you’d have a point. But he went through the same obstacle course as everyone else, finished on time, and clearly did well enough to earn the grade. Why are you only questioning his result because he was exempted from punishment?"

That silenced some of the whispers.

Ethan listened quietly.

He couldn’t exactly blame them for being suspicious. After everything that had happened with the punishment list, people were already convinced that someone powerful was favoring him.

Unfortunately, Ethan still had no idea who that person was.

And now, apparently, he was being dragged into another controversy because of it.

Can I just have one normal day?

Before the discussion could continue, Mr. Davin had already moved further down the list.

The names continued to be called.

Then came the students who had received an A.

Ethan watched as Mr. Davin announced the first name.

Then another.

And then—

"Student Rin—Grade A."

Rin’s eyes widened.

For half a second, he looked genuinely stunned.

Then his face broke into a huge grin.

"Yes!"

Ethan immediately turned toward him.

"Congratulations!"

Rin laughed and gave him a quick high five.

"Looks like we both made it."

"Apparently."

Mr. Davin continued calling names.

"Student Jake—Grade A."

Jake’s expression immediately brightened.

Lara clapped for him while Ethan congratulated him as well.

"Nice one, Jake."

"Thanks," Jake replied, looking pleased with himself.

Rin glanced at him.

"Didn’t expect that."

Jake gave him a smug smile.

"I told you I did well."

Rin rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

More names followed until Mr. Davin finally lowered his tablet.

"That concludes the results."

The hall gradually settled down.

Mr. Davin looked across the students.

"A total of thirty-five students have qualified for Rift participation."

A murmur immediately spread through the hall.

"Further information regarding your assignments, schedules, requirements, and Association trainee procedures will be relayed to the qualified students later."

He paused before adding,

"For everyone else, you may continue with your regular academy courses and practical training according to your assigned divisions."

With that, the announcement was officially over.

Students began getting up from their seats, talking excitedly among themselves about the results.

Ethan turned toward his friends.

"Wait for me. I’ll catch up with you."

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to ask Principal Ronan something."

Before they could question him further, Ethan was already moving toward the platform.

He hurried after Principal Ronan, who was walking away with Robert and the other academy staff.

"Principal Ronan!"

Ronan stopped.

Ethan quickly caught up to him.

"Why was I exempted from the punishment?"

Ronan looked at him for a moment, as though he had been expecting the question.

"Of course it is because of the privilege offers Drey gave you."

Ethan’s expression changed immediately.

"So it really was because of that?"

"Yes."

Ethan stared at him.

"But didn’t I reject those privileges?"

Ronan’s expression remained completely calm.

"Ethan, you really didn’t have the right to decide whether you could reject something that was given to you by Drey."

Ethan blinked.

Then he laughed.

Not because he found the situation particularly funny, but because the sheer absurdity of it was starting to amuse him.

So that was how it worked.

He had refused Drey’s privileges.

The academy had decided he didn’t get to refuse them.

And now those same privileges had apparently exempted him from punishment without his permission.

Fine.

If that was how they wanted to play this, Ethan could play along.

His smile slowly widened.

"Good."

Ronan’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

Ethan folded his arms and looked directly at him.

"Just know that you guys forced this on me. Since I’ll be taking it because I apparently have no choice, my friends will also be exempted from this punishment."

Ronan’s expression changed.

Ethan’s smile became even brighter.

"I’ll use this privilege power you’ve given me."

He turned slightly as though he had already made up his mind.

"In the end, you’ll be the one begging me to reject it."

Ethan looked back at Ronan.

"Watch and see!"