<h4>Chapter 3: sses</h4>


    The two of us stared at each other for a few moments, wondering how we were supposed to get back to our ces. After a few seconds of contemtion, I ended up shaking my head.


    "Whatever, that''s not too important right now. If our meeting takes too long, people will get suspicious and we''ll bete for school."


    Nathan clicked his tongue.


    "Still can''t escape school even after you die, huh?"


    I hardened my expression.


    "Focus!"


    Nathan sighed.


    "Ok, alright. So what I''m thinking is that we need a n. But obviously, our n is going to hinge on the basis of knowing what can happen in the future. The first meeting between the viin and protagonist is still early on in the prologue, so we just have to keep actions as true to the normal story for now."


    My eyes widened slightly as I nodded. I really liked that idea.


    "Yeah, we definitely can''t think of a n right away. We''ll use this time to think and meet up after school back at the same ce to discuss what we''ve thought of."


    The corner of my lip twitched.


    "But isn''t it like... kind of a problem considering we''ve already gone off script?"


    Nathan looked as nervous as I was.


    "There''s... There''s just no way a little meeting like this will change that much, right?"


    I frowned.


    "Don''t jinx it, man!"


    While I said that, he was probably more unsure than I was, saying it more just to reassure himself. Nathan thought for a moment before raising a finger.


    "Ah, we have to make me look beat up to make it believable!"


    I looked at him while appalled.


    "Huh? Isn''t that just tantly changing up the events?"


    Nathan pped his hands a few times.


    "Yeah, but this is the best way to change it the least possible. Plus, I''m supposed to get bulliedter in the day. Let''s just shift that time to now."


    I took a deep breath.


    "I guess that makes sense. We have to gamble in certain ces no matter what."


    Nathan nodded.


    "Alright, then hit me."


    I looked back without moving.


    "Huh?"


    Nathan''s eyelid twitched.


    "How am I supposed to look beat up if I''m not beat up in the first ce?"


    I pursed my lips together.


    "...Isn''t it going to hurt though?"


    Nathan rolled his eyes.


    "A lot of things are going to hurt. No matter how hard you hit me, it''s going to be pretty lukewarm inparison."


    He was right. After all, the hero really does go through some grueling stuff. With a sigh, I nodded.


    "Alright."


    Nathan stood up straight and closed his eyes. I took a deep breath and pulled back my fist. I put on the fiercest expression I could, trying to get the viin in me out on the surface. Then I reached out...


    Very slowly.


    When my fist weakly pressed against his face, I sighed.


    "I can''t do it."


    Nathan looked slightly disappointed but didn''t say anything. He scratched his hair.


    "Alright, but you gotta get used to it if we can''te up with a concrete n, or if the n is to stall. After all, the hero gets bullied a lot."


    I looked down at the floor before giving a nod.


    "I''ll find a way soon enough. Just... it''s a little too much for me to suddenly be the bully."


    From there, Nathan returned with a nod before getting up next to the school wall. He took a deep breath before mming his head into the wall, which made me jump up in fright.


    "What the hell are you doing?!"


    Nathan stumbled back and held onto his forehead with one head.


    "...If I want to make this realistic, then the injuries have to be bad enough so that they can''t make sense of them."


    After taking another deep breath he ran towards the wall,nding with a hard thud. I flinched when a small crack came from his body. I raised both my hands weakly like I was surrendering while my legs crouched down slightly.


    "Wait, wait, please stop, please."


    Nathan was breathing rather roughly.


    "I guess... this should be enough. You go on first to make it seem like you left me behind."


    I let out a sigh of relief because it really did seem like he wanted to keep going. And so, I left, making my way back to the entrance of the school. Carrot Top and Baby Man were both still there waiting, then saluted right when he got back.


    "Wee back, Bryson!"


    "Thank you for gracing us with your presence again!"


    As for Minori, she was shaking like a leaf. The moment I returned, her gaze snapped to me, but right after she looked around to see if Natan was around. Seeing that he hadn''t returned, she balled up her fists but was still too scared to look me in the eye.


    Instead, she remained rooted at the spot with her head looking down at the ground.


    I gave her a nce, trying not to look for too long. It seemed like she hated me now. I could feel my heart sink to my stomach. Honestly, it was a little hard to suppress the urge to clear up the misunderstanding right then and there.


    But I remembered how hard Nathan hit the wall just to make it convincing. If he was trying that hard, then I couldn''t just make light of his efforts.


    Then, I gave a casual wave to signal to the other two.


    "We''re going to ss."


    With that, I tried my best to keep my back straight and began walking inside. Carrot Top awkwardly called out as I went in.


    "Um, don''t we first have to check the ss board to see what sses we are assigned to?"


    I froze, trying my best to stop myself from blushing in embarrassment. It was then I realized that Nathan probably didn''t know either. I turned my head to the side, trying to project my voice, speaking at a volume just below a scream. At the same time, I red at Carrot Top from over my shoulder.


    "I know that we have to first check the ss board to see the ss we are assigned to! That''s why one of you should''ve checked and reported back to me. Was that really not obvious?"


    That... that must''ve covered it up well.


    Carrot Top let out a little squeal almost like he was a pig.


    "Y-Yes sir!"


    He then rushed off to wherever the ss board was. I then went back to casually walking forth, though I made sure to slow my pace so that Carrot Top could find me when he got back.


    Though, walking slowly ended up being involuntary as I continued forth. I was dazzled by how luxurious everything looked. The halls themselves were wide, allowing many to pass through. The walls themselves looked as though they were made out of pure gold, while the asional white pirs separated them.


    There were also various small pedestals with simrly golden decorations of various types of creatures, from what looked like a boar, to dragons.


    Baby Man crossed his arms and upturned his nose with pride.


    "Hmph, only natural for the most prestigious Golden Gold School!"


    I blinked a few times. The name of this ce really did sound quite terrible, but just the hallways suddenly made everything feel a bit fitting. Though it was somewhat described in the game, the actual halls themselves were never described all that much. As for the exterior of the school, it was pure ck.


    From what I could remember, it seemed some sort of ck ore was somehow responsible for guarding against magical attacks. The ssrooms too had ck walls to deal with possible magical idents.


    That left only the hallways to be where they showed off the golden nature of the ce. Gold still had magic-repellent properties, but they were rtively weak. Ironically enough, while this ce looked the mostvish, gold was still not nearly as expensive as the strange ck ore.


    Soon enough, Carrot Top hade back, panting hard.


    "I found out... Bryson sir is in the prestigious ss A!"


    Baby Man enthusiastically pped.


    "Amazing! I''m sure we aren''t so fit to be in ss A like Bryson, but we shall settle for ss B."


    After hearing that, Carrot Top awkwardly stammered.


    "U-Um..."


    Baby Man looked at him with a puzzled look.


    "Ah, is it that we are actually ss A? It appears the two of us aren''t that bad after all. Of course, Bryson is still above us."


    Carrot Top scratched the back of his head and said rather sheepishly.


    "We... are both in ss D."


    Baby Man''s face paled, bing whiter than a sheet.


    I already knew this much. As for why these arbitrary letters seemed to matter so much to them, there was a ranking system for sses depending on a person''s talent. In total, there were five different sses for each year. Depending on one''s test scores and magical aptitude, they would be ced higher.


    The lowest was ss D. Those that were ced in that ss were considered to be failures, because they didn''t pass the test and were only allowed in because their parents gave a hefty sum of money to the school.


    Then there was ss C. The nickname for this ce was themoner ss. The reason was that manymoner families save a decent sum of money and would try their luck to enter the ss. While many wouldn''t be able to get a good test score, their magical aptitude may have been just barely good enough to be epted, thusnding in ss C.


    As such, manymoners ended up being in that particr ss.


    Above even that was ss B. The basic requirement for this ss was if someone at least passed the test, and had decent aptitude. An overwhelming magic talent could make up for failing the test though. This was a high enough rank to be proud of oneself and to be considered a bigshot among nobles.


    Next was the ss I was in, ss A. Here, there were basically two conditions to get in. One would have to have an outstanding magical talent and get a decent amount of questions right. If I had to say, it should be about 70% of all the answers. The other option was if someone had gotten perfect on their test, not even a 99% would count, then had decent talent.


    Both Natan and Bryson were in ss A. Natan got in because of his overwhelming talent. As for me, I got in because I had a perfect score on the test.


    Just thinking about that made me feel a bit of despair since I hadn''t inherited all the knowledge to get perfect on said test. What was supposed to be my one strength... was non-existent.


    But let me finish my exnation before I wallow in despair. I said there were five sses, but only described four.


    Higher than A was ss S.


    The requirements were so stringent that there were certain years where nobody would end up in that ss, though generally speaking there were about five in each year. The person that was now my older sister (by one year), was actually in that ss. The first requirement was getting a perfect test score, then the second was an outstanding magical aptitude.


    Now that I think about it, Bryson was probably rather upset when he realized that he was in ss A, but not ss S because of his magical aptitude.


    Not that I really cared, because being in ss S would honestly probably make things harder for me considering I wasn''t actually smart. Both Carrot Top and Baby Man were still there, quite stunned at their own ce.


    I saw an opportunity to get these two mosquitos away from me and decided to take it.


    "Don''t talk to me unless you reach ss A."


    Without turning back, I began walking away, leaving the two rooted on the spot. Oh yeah, if someone did well enough in a ss, then they could be promoted to one ss above. After reaching a certain requirement and being at the top of their respective ss, then they would reach the next higher ss. The only exception was ss S, but there were rumors that there actually was something above ss S.


    Though, it seemed nobody had reached that height even for hundreds of years.


    The opportunity was given once per month, and on the flip side, a person could be demoted as well, usually when someone was promoted. But assuming that the worst person was still decent enough, they could stay in the ss despite someone else getting promoted.


    Bryson in the story was rather obsessed with getting to the top spot of ss A. As for me... I didn''t really want to. Not demoting was good enough for me, and would be a difficult task. But I should still act like I wanted the spot for the sake of the story.


    I scanned the hallways, ignoring all of the differentbels and trying to find the one that said ss A. After going through the whole first floor I didn''t find it. The only ss I did see were all the different ss Ds.


    I then went to the floor above, doing the same thing, but was only able to find ss Cs. As I was going up the stairs, I suddenly realized something.


    ...If ss D was on the first floor, and ss C was on the second floor, then ss A should be on the fourth. The corner of my lip twitched.


    Ah, crap. My stupidity is already making me fumble about.


    I went to the fourth floor, and sure enough, there was ss A there for the first years.


    And along with it, was Jess. She had her arms crossed and was ring at me.


    Did I... do something?