M looked down at the piece of paper and smiled. The time had finallye.


    She couldn''t wait to see the look on that brat''s face when no one bid for him and he was passed by.


    <name: anthony="" dire=""></name:>


    <speed ranking:="" (a-)=""></speed>


    <quality ranking:="" (ssified)=""></quality>


    <special characteristic="" ranking:="" (unable="" to="" determine)=""></special>


    <ss ranking:="" (1)=""></ss>


    M''s eyes turned to Ryan. Her look was triumphant. Suddenly a haze covered her eyes and she lost her focus. Memories mmed her thoughts and she felt like she was transported in time.


    She was sweating, covered in dirt, racing down a deserted road except for the group of bandits headed her way.


    She shouldn''t have been alone but at the time, she was only 15 and had gotten separated from her group of bodyguards.


    It was supposed to be a great trip, surrounded by her friends and ssmates. They were learning about the ecosystem of the and focusing on nt growth near the edge of the empire when a group ofscivious bandits ambushed her.


    The bandits had easily captured her and stripped off her clothes with lust radiating from their eyes.


    She had pleaded with them not to hurt her. She tried to bargain with them and screamed that her family would give them a lot of money if they handed her over, but they didn''t care.


    All they saw was her body.


    That''s when He appeared.


    He appeared out of nowhere and instantly decapitated the person on top of her with a long sword.


    His small stature,bined with his baby face, made him look around her age.


    His movements weren''t shy like she was used to seeing by nobles, but they were effective.


    His skills put the bandits to shame, and he had dispatched all the bandits in under a minute.


    While she was happy the bandits were dead, she had been worried that he, too, would lust after her body like every other man.


    But as he walked over to her, only sadness filled his eyes as he looked at her.


    He took off his shirt and covered her nakedness with it.


    When M looked at him, she gasped. M could not see a ce on his chest or back that wasn''t covered by a scar.


    She couldn''t fathom what this young man had been through in order to attain those scars and live to talk about it.


    When she was wondering how to express her thanks, the teen turned to the side and, after staring into the distance for a few seconds said, "Your bodyguards will be here in a minute. It''s time for me to leave."


    Grabbing his hand, M cried, "Don''t go! Please stay with me!"


    It was the first time she had held a boy''s hand. It was rough and calloused like it had worked all its life to fight and survive. She felt safe in its embrace, but it onlysted a moment.


    He softly took M''s hand out of his and said, "Goodbye, litt–"


    "Little angel? What are you doing here?"


    Like lightning bolts, the words crashed into M, and she raised her head to look at the source of the sound.


    Seeing that it was the brat who cheated his way into the academy, she questioned with a slightly trembling voice, "What d-did you say?"


    ===


    The worst headache of his life assaulted Ryan. ''Why did those wordse out of my mouth? What am I talking about?'' He felt as though someone was taking a jackhammer and trying to drill a hole in his skull.


    Clenching his teeth to avoid screaming, he only barely heard M''s trembling voice.


    "What d-did you say?"


    Taking a second topose himself, Ryan said, "Sorry, I''m not sure what I just said," he mumbled as he squeezed his temples, trying to rid himself of the pain.


    As the pain slowly died down he raised his hand and said. "I''ll be there in a second," as he began walking up to the front of the stage.


    M looked at Ryan. Her left eyebrow raised high on her forehead. Her lips pursed into a tight bunch, and her nose and forehead wrinkled clearly disying her confusion. She detested this brat. "Why had he just called her ''little angel''? Only her blonde savior had called her that.''


    ''But this guy with his ugly raven ck hair looks nothing like the guy who saved me.'' But to be sure, she said, "Remove your shirt."


    The other leaders were expecting M to say something after they had been "asked" not to bid for the man going by Anthony Dire. But when M said those words, they all looked at each other with open mouths.


    The talkative auditorium instantly fell silent. All eyes were on M. Things were getting interesting.


    Hearing the venue turn silent, M looked at her fellow faction leaders at the table to see if she had missed something, but what greeted her was six mouths opened in shock, staring at her.


    "Why are you staring at me? What''s wrong?" M asked, puzzled.


    The other faction leaders looked at each other before the ck Tiger''s leader mumbled, "You just asked him to take off his shirt?"


    Looking at the ck Tiger''s leader like an idiot, M said, "Yes, to see if his body is the same one I remember."


    After taking a second to process her words, the auditorium turned into chaos as the cries of teenage girls flooded the auditorium.


    On the stage, Ryan heard thousands of teenage girls scream and shriek and thought, ''Huh, guess this is what being in a group like BTS feels like,'' after he remembered seeing a clip of a BTS concert.


    "The Fairy Queen has had a boyfriend?!"


    "Waaaaaa, my Queen! I thought you''d be mine!"


    "I can''t believe the Fairy Queen has been with a boy before!"


    Hearing all the shouts, M suddenly realized what she had said, and her face turned beet red as she stammered, "That''s not… We haven''t…."


    Realizing she could only double down, M looked at Ryan on the stage in rage and screamed, "I said take off your shirt, dammit!"


    On the stage, Ryan only looked at M with a raised eyebrow before he slowly moved his hands down to the bottom of his shirt.


    The audience fell silent as though Ryan was about to unveil a painting in a museum.


    Slowly Ryan gripped the fabric of his shirt before inching it up ever so tantalizingly.


    The audience fell into a trance as a stadium full of girls watched Ryan slowly strip his shirt off.


    One girl who had just gotten done shouting at M looked at Ryan and screamed, "He''s so hot!"


    Suddenly the auditorium erupted once again, this time even louder with shrieks from all the girls as Ryan''s carved physique was revealed.


    From the girl''s perspective, it looked like Ryan''s body was a painting that should be unveiled at a museum. It was perfect, hyper-masculine. The lights reflected the gold tint in his unblemished skin. His shoulders were wide, a perfectpliment to his cut abdomen. His smooth muscr physique gave off a feeling of rugged charm.


    M looked at Ryan and furrowed her brow, "I guess it really isn''t him."


    After Ryan was done with his strip tease, he blew a kiss to the audience.


    This was met with even more shrieks as crazed teenage girls wed at each other in their seats, moring, "He''s mine!" "No, he''s mine!"


    "Quiet!" M yelled once she regained herposure after making sure Ryan wasn''t the man she was searching for. She looked a Ryan and said, "Well I almost mistook you for someone else, but he wouldn''t be so crass."


    After a moment''s pause, she looked to her sides and added, "It''s time for the bidding. Would anyone like to bid on Mr. Dire?"


    The information for Anthony Dire popped up on the hologram.


    "Wait, that''s him?"


    "He''s the cheater?"


    Murmurs spread throughout the crowd as people realized that the hot man they saw in front of him was the one that was suspected of cheating by the faction head of the Golden Tridents.


    The rumor had long since circted. Since many of the students in the auditorium were people of high status, most of them heard about Anthony Dire through the school''s active grapevine.


    Almost everyone in the audience knew of M''s attempt to block Anthony Dire from getting into a faction because she suspected him of using his connections to cheat on the test.


    Looking at each other, the faction leaders all shook their heads and sounded out one by one,


    "No bid!"


    "No bid!"


    "No bid!"


    After thest leader sounded, M turned to Ryan with a smug smile and said, "Sorry, Mr. Dire, it seems that none of the faction leaders are interested in you at this time. If you try and work hard enough, there is still a chance that you can get recruitedter on down the line."


    Even though M had given every ranked member who didn''t get recruited this speech, the audience felt her tone was particrly acidic when speaking to Ryan.


    After no one bid on him, Ryan was escorted off stage and was led outside the auditorium.