CHAPTER 37: VELMORDOP EAST

Velmordop Public Secondary — East Campus. Or as the students call it, Velmordop East. Or just VPE if you’re lazy and hate syllables.

It’s big and f*cking old. It’s where the city dumps about half the teenagers who aren’t rich enough for a private license mill but still want to pretend they’ve got a shot at passing a Hunter qualification test someday.

Sitting smack in the mid-lower district of Velmordop, it’s the kind of place that looks decent from the front gate — big brick arch, city flag, a training gym with exactly three working punching bag that’s older than half the staff.

Affordable for working-class families, packed every semester, and it only takes basic zoning or a laughably easy entrance test to get in.

You could probably pass if you spelled your name right and didn’t punch the principal.

Its reputation? Ehhhh. Let’s just say that it’s not the worst, and most certainly not the best.

It’s not an elite hunter school, but the city’s hunter taxes keep the lights on and the gear lab stocked with dull practice swords that squeak like squeaky toys when they get bent.

It’s got this big, dumb divide: kids on the "Hunter Prep Track" strutting around like they’re two seconds from signing pro contracts, and the ones who aren’t, the normal academic kids just trying to survive until they can maybe land a Gate support job or a grocery gig that doesn’t suck.

Lanz? Oh, he’s technically "Hunter Track." Technically. But since he flunked his Awakening test so bad that he landed in the FFF zone, which was not his fault, he’s basically their walking punchline.

Almost everyone just calls him a cautionary tale, the mascot for "this could be you if you suck enough." Which was probably an honor for him... or not...?

Still, it could be worse. There’s Velmordop Public North — VPN — with its "tough kids" and half-broken lockers.

Or Velmordop Central Academy, the shiny semi-private one where all the spoiled inner district kids go to spread gossip and pretend they’re gonna be SS-rank legends next month. Talia used to go there before she peaced out, flipped the spoiled brats the bird, and transferred to Velmordop East.

And of course, there’s St. Jomawa’s. The fancy old-money independent school where you pay enough tuition to buy a baby gate monster just to brag that you sit next to other rich brats with custom Hunter gear they never use.

That place? Not worth it... well, it does have a lot of good teachings and trainings, but our boy is poor as f*ck, so we don’t care about that school.

Anyways.

Velmordop East takes four years to complete, IF you actually passed. And students from ages fourteen to eighteen can enter.

Ohh, and the last few weeks before summer break? Forget it. No body f*cking cares anymore at that point.

Every student just daydreams about crashing on a beach or working some half-legal gig to afford cheap milk tea. The teachers don’t even bother yelling.

And that’s where we are now — the final stretch. The sweet, desperate crawl to freedom.

Somewhere behind all this info dump, an alarm clock’s been getting louder. And louder. AND LOUDER—

"AHHHHHHHHH I’M GONNA BE LATE!!!!!!"

Lanz’s scream rattles the dusty windows of Apartment 3B, the vibe shift so sudden you’d think a Gate just spawned in his living room.

He practically crashed face-first into the bathroom door, hair sticking out like he’d been struck by lightning in his sleep.

He jammed his toothbrush into his mouth with one hand while hopping around trying to yank his socks over his heel with the other.

"Stupid alarm... stupid Gate rerun... stupid me..." he mumbled, foam bubbling out around the bristles as he nearly tripped over his own boot.

He spat, wiped his chin, then bolted back to his room, grabbed his bag, double-checked for his new drip like they were some priceless heirloom, then realized he’d almost left his actual notebook behind.

"Priorities, genius, priorities!" he hissed to himself, shoving the battered pages into the bottom of his bag like it was an afterthought.

He stumbled into the kitchen, hair still half-wet, eyes darting around for any sign of his family.

But the place was dead quiet, no Mom humming, no Dad sipping stale coffee, no Kaz or Miku yelling at each other over cereal.

Then he spotted it, a lone piece of paper on the sofa, Kaz’s crooked handwriting scrawled across it like a final blow to his pride.

"i told mom that you’re already awake lmao, this is a lesson lanz, sleep early, you idiot — Kaz"

Lanz scrunched his nose, flicked the paper onto the coffee table, and snatched up the last piece of toast off the counter like it owed him sh*t.

"What the actual f*ck..." he grumbled, eyes almost ready to cry a river.

He stuffed half the toast in his mouth as he shrugged on his bag, already half-jogging for the door. "Mr. Responsible wants to talk sh*t when he gets home at 2 AM. Un–f*cking–real."

He slammed the door behind him, shoelaces half-tied, the note already forgotten.

Lanz skidded around the corner, toast crumbs still stuck to his cheek, backpack strap threatening to slip off his shoulder at any second.

He spotted the familiar iron gate of Velmordop East, half-covered by students crowding around the main walk. His eyes flicked through the mess of heads until they landed on her.

Talia!

She stood just off to the side of the gate, arms crossed, bag hanging loose from one shoulder like she hadn’t a care in the world, again.

Her expression was that old classic — calm, blank, borderline scary — the same look she’d worn when they’d first met.

Nothing like the soft grin she’d had back at the park.

He slowed, wiping the toast crumb off his cheek with his sleeve. ’She’s really doing the cold act again, huh?’ he thought, squinting.

But then, just for a flicker, she glanced over and the corner of her mouth twitched up, that tiny smile slipping through before she buried it again behind that blank face.

’Aha! Busted!’ Lanz’s grin broke wide across his own face. He pushed through a group of first-years, already lifting his hand to wave her over —

But a weight slammed into his back so hard he pitched forward like a sack of rice.

"G’morning, grocery knight!" Kenji’s voice crowed into his ear, arms wrapped around Lanz’s shoulders in the world’s dumbest piggyback tackle.

"KENJI, WHAT THE F—" Lanz’s curse cut off as his knees buckled and the both of them hit the concrete path in a heap.

Before he could shove Kenji off, Hiro came out of nowhere, feet leaving the ground as he cannonballed right onto the pile with a squeak. "PARKOUR!" he shouted.

"PARKOUR YOUR MOM— GET OFF ME!" Lanz wheezed. He tried to push Hiro’s elbow out of his ribs but only succeeded in smacking his own knee.

And then, like the final cherry on the chaos sundae, Leo walked over, calm as you please, and perched himself on top of Hiro’s back like a king claiming his new throne.

He opened his lunch bag, unbothered, and popped a candy in his mouth. "What are you guys doing down there?" Leo asked.

"That’s one way to greet your friend," Lanz croaked out, face half-smooshed against the pavement.

"It was Leo’s idea," Hiro mumbled, voice muffled.

Kenji snorted, adjusting his grip around Lanz’s shoulders like he wasn’t half-choking him. "Wait, where the f*ck is Leo then?"

Leo didn’t even look up. He swung his bag and smacked Kenji right in the ear. "I’m here, idiot."

Kenji winced. "Ow! You’re literally ON TOP OF US—"

Before the dogpile could evolve into a wrestling match, a gravelly voice barked across the gate. "HEY! YOU FOUR!"

All four idiots froze, heads turning as one. The security guard stood a few feet away, arms crossed, a vein in his temple pulsing like it was about to file a formal complaint.

"Yeah, yeah," they all grumbled in perfect unison, peeling themselves off the ground with the grace of stunned chickens.

Kenji brushed dirt off Lanz’s shoulder like he hadn’t been the cause of it. Hiro tried to stand but Leo stayed perched on his back until the last possible second, just to be petty.

Lanz staggered upright, hair sticking up worse than before, eyes cutting back to the gate.

Talia was still there, watching the whole circus unfold — and when he met her eyes, that little smile cracked through her fake serious mask for just half a second more.

’This is gonna be a long day,’ Lanz thought, groaning as Kenji slapped him on the back again.

End of Chapter 37.

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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 13

EXP: 64 / 130

Next Reward: +10 Stat Points to a chosen stat

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

World Rank Association: UNLINKED

Stats:

STR: 10 | AGI: 10 (Affinity) | VIT: 5 | DEX: 5 | INT: 11 | WIS: 5

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 55 / 55]

Skills:

[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]

[Phantom Stride Lv. 2]

[Blade Control Lv.1]

[Parry Timing Lv.1]

[Reflex Sync Lv.1] (Passive Skill)

[Combat Awareness Lv.2] (Passive Skill)

[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]

[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]

[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]

[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]

Equipment:

Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)

Goblin Dagger

Spiked Boar Tusk Shard

Lightweight Chest Padding

Boots of Basic Mobility

Fingerless Gloves (Basic)

Starter Cloak: Faded Black

Training Ring (+1 VIT)