Damien turned slowly in his seat and looked at Noah with an expression that was genuinely hard to read, somewhere between impressed and deeply suspicious.

Arisha said nothing. She looked at him for one moment, her eyes slightly narrowed, then turned back to face forward.

Kaelan glanced back at Noah from the front. His expression remained neutral.

He said nothing either. But he looked at him for a second longer than he usually did.

Emma, seated a few rows ahead, had her phone in her hand and her lips pressed together into a firm, unreadable line. She did not turn around.

Ophelia was shocked. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at Noah. She couldn’t believe he had actually earned that many points. Her expression was one of disbelief.

Morgana raised one hand, her face calm, and the noise began to settle, students pulling themselves back reluctantly.

"These are the top three. Full results are visible on your individual profiles." She set her tablet down. "Review them at your own time. Class begins now."

Noah put his phone back in his pocket.

Ten thousand points.

He pressed his lips together, trying to look like someone who was listening attentively to the start of class.

He mostly succeeded. But this was too much success.

"Instructor Morgana." One student raised his arm, looking confused.

Morgana glanced at him and asked, "What is it?"

"How?... I mean, how did Noah get so many points? Only by eliminating more than a hundred students... might give him that many points." It was Ken who asked this question. The black-haired man stood up to ask this.

Morgana let out a small amused breath. "Oh! So someone did ask. I thought no one was going to ask this."

She turned towards the class and said, "Now listen. Though I didn’t say this before the battle... even harming your own teammates and eliminating them would have given you the same points."

Her words surprised everyone.

Everyone started to murmur.

Morgana didn’t stop them. Rather, she continued to speak in a loud voice so everyone would stop talking and listen to her.

"So... our dear student Noah Eldritch..." Her eyes once again landed on Noah.

Sweat started to pour down his forehead.

He knew there was no chance of being saved from this. She was going to tell everyone.

"He was the one who destroyed the huge mall and caused more than a hundred students, including our class and other class students. To be eliminated."

Silence. The whole class went silent in shock.

"Since the VR system analyzed everything, it gave Noah points for doing it. Since you were all eliminated because of him, that’s why he got so many points."

"Noahh!!!" someone yelled, their face filled with anger.

"How could he do something like that?" another shouted, glaring at him.

"No way! I thought he was the hero who defeated Travis and won the battle," someone said in disbelief.

"But he was a villain!!!" another exclaimed.

"As expected, he’s still the same Noah," someone muttered coldly.

All of them started to curse and talk about him.

Obviously, Noah didn’t care about their words. What he was worried about the most was the main cast. He had just started to get closer to them and had also made a good impression on them.

But now it was ruined.

"SILENCE!!" Morgana’s voice rang through the room.

At her loud voice, everyone turned silent. "Why are you acting like this? Didn’t we send you the rules for this battle? Was there any rule that said you cannot eliminate your teammates? Or that eliminating your teammates is prohibited?"

No one spoke.

"I clearly told you a day before the VR battle that you would get points by eliminating students. I never said you would get points only by eliminating opponent class students. As much as it was a group test, it was also a test of your individual self."

She paused briefly, her gaze firm.

"What Noah did was to get more points for himself while still leading your class to victory. Don’t you think he has done an exceptional performance? It’s true that betraying your class is wrong, but always remember that’s how the real world also works. And you need to learn that."

The class was filled with silence.

"Now, if I hear anything about you guys trying to corner Noah and question him or trying to mess with him, keep in mind you will have to face me. Did everyone understand?"

"""Yes""" everyone said in unison.

Noah was surprised. His palm covered his open mouth, his eyes staring at Morgana with admiration. It was as if he was looking at his idol or hero.

’She’s a real hero!! I think I became a fan of her,’ Noah thought.

"Alright. Let’s start the class."

—

After class ended, 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Noah ran through the corridor for his life.

"Damn it!"

He ran as fast as possible, heading in a particular direction. Just then, he saw his savior.

"Instructor Morgana!!"

The woman walking in front of him stopped and turned back.

Only to see a handsome young man looking at her desperately for help. He ran and hide behind her.

"Instructor, save me!!"

Morgana blinked and looked at who was following Noah.

"M-master..." Damien said, his expression stiff as he put his sword back into his storage ring.

The same went for the few students behind him. Arisha, who was holding a bow, also put it back into her storage device. Leonard looked to the other side while whistling awkwardly.

Emma, who had been wearing gauntlets, was now standing without them. Only Lyria had no weapon; she was running behind them as if trying to stop them from pursuing Noah.

Morgana gazed at them with her usual indifferent face and asked strictly, "What do you think you students are doing? Didn’t I just warn you guys?"

Arisha, looking slightly annoyed, pointed at Damien and said, "He said to us, ’I will take punishment from Master on behalf of you guys. Just let’s go and teach Noah a lesson.’"

Damien looked flustered. "H-Hey! Arisha, why?"

Morgana folded her arms across her prominent chest.

Noah peeked from behind her with a wide grin, clearly enjoying the situation.

"So you are willing to take punishment, huh... alright, I will have to teach you a lesson during your next training."

Color drained from Damien’s face.

Meanwhile, Noah smiled evilly.

’Instructor Morgana is the best!! She’s my real hero!!’

---

[A/N:Guy’s help me buy giving me Power stones. Need to be at top rank in power stone ranking...so I can get some new readers...I mean I don’t know if it’s helpful or not but still need to try something]