The imperial transit platform was crowded.
Hundreds of young awakeners stood in neat clusters, their auras flaring subtly as they waited for the teleportation gates to activate. Some wore academy uniforms embroidered with noble crests, others carried family insignias openly, their pride evident. Laughter, arrogance, and suppressed hostility filled the air.
At the edge of the platform, Harold Vale stood alone.
His clothes were plain. No insignia. No academy backing. Yet the space around him felt… different. The air bent slightly, as though something invisible refused to let anyone come too close.
The Monkey King stirred lazily inside him.
"Tch. Weaklings," Luke muttered in his mind. "They reek of entitlement."
Harold kept his expression neutral, staff sealed within his spatial ring. He had learned quickly after the awakening—showing too much power invited unnecessary trouble. Still, trouble had a way of finding him regardless.
Whispers began almost immediately.
"That's him."
"The one who broke the awakening crystal."
"He awakened an SSS-tier titan… the Monkey King."
"Why is someone like that standing alone?"
The gazes shifted—from curiosity to envy, from awe to irritation. Among geniuses, someone who didn't belong to any faction was an anomaly. An eyesore.
A tall boy with silver-lined robes stepped forward, his aura flaring deliberately. A faint dragon-shaped mana construct coiled behind him.
"You," the boy said coolly. "You're Harold Vale, correct?"
Harold lifted his gaze. "Yes."
The boy's lips curved into a thin smile. "I'm Riven Ashcroft, heir of the Ashcroft family. SS-tier Dragon Titan—Crimson Wyvern variant." He paused deliberately. "You're standing in the wrong place."
Harold glanced around. "Didn't realize the ground was owned."
A ripple of murmurs spread.
Riven's smile tightened. "This entrance exam is for elites. Those with backing. With pedigree. Not for… accidents."
Luke chuckled darkly. "He's threatened. Cute."
Harold met Riven's eyes calmly. "Then beat me in the exam."
Silence.
Riven's aura spiked involuntarily, then settled. "Hmph. We'll see how long your luck lasts."
Before the tension could escalate, the air rippled violently.
A massive teleportation array ignited beneath the platform, runes blazing white and gold. A voice thundered across the area—calm, authoritative, and impossible to ignore.
"University Entrance Examination—Phase One begins now."
Space twisted.
In an instant, Harold felt the world flip.
He landed on scorched earth.
The sky above was blood-red, clouds rolling like waves of fire. Ruined pillars jutted from the ground, and the air was thick with hostile mana. A translucent screen appeared before his eyes.
[Entrance Trial: Survival Zone]
Objective: Survive for 72 hours
Restriction: Killing allowed
Ranking based on kills, survival, and combat efficiency
Around him, other examinees materialized—some immediately forming groups, others vanishing into the ruins.
Harold exhaled slowly.
"Survival, huh…"
The Monkey King stirred, excitement bubbling beneath the surface.
"Finally," Luke said. "A proper playground."
A low growl echoed nearby.
Harold turned just in time to see a three-headed obsidian hound emerge from the rubble, red eyes locking onto him. Its mana pressure alone would have crushed most examinees.
Harold didn't move.
He lifted one hand.
The Monkey King's aura flickered—just a thread of it.
The hound froze.
Then—collapsed.
Its body shattered into motes of light without Harold ever striking it.
From a distance, several examinees stopped dead in their tracks.
"What… just happened?"
"Did he attack?"
"No—he didn't even move…"
Riven, watching from atop a broken tower, clenched his fists.
"That bastard…"
Harold finally stepped forward, walking calmly through the battlefield as monsters instinctively avoided him. He wasn't hunting yet. He was observing.
This trial wasn't about brute force alone.
It was about dominion.
And without realizing it, the other geniuses had already begun to understand one terrifying truth:
Harold Vale wasn't competing with them.
He was above the trial itself.
The Monkey King's laughter echoed faintly in his soul.