Chapter 77: Snackco Brand

Mark remained standing, eyes locked steadily on Olivia’s gaze as though the two of them stood as equals, the entire class watching the exchange unfold in real time. This would undoubtedly become fresh gossip circulating through the rest of today’s classes, especially once school let out.

It wasn’t that he actually cared much about the punishment itself. He’d already witnessed the genuine, unfiltered worst of what school detention actually looked like, locked away inside those confined cells. The real issue sat elsewhere entirely, in just how unjust and lopsided the school’s overall system felt toward him specifically, while others responsible for considerably worse offenses somehow always managed to walk away completely clean.

A brief silence settled back over the classroom before Olivia finally spoke again. "All four of you won’t be facing detention alone. Several others will be joining as well. This is simply about maintaining fairness, equality, and consistent justice within the school’s policies."

Mark shut his eyes tightly, drawing in a heavy breath before finally lowering himself back into his seat. His gaze drifted back toward the window, settling once more on the distant landscape stretched out beyond the school grounds. Hermione felt the tension radiating off him, though she made a conscious effort to stay relaxed herself, giving him the space he clearly needed to work through whatever was still boiling underneath the surface.

Victor smirked, shrugging lightly the moment Mia glanced his way with an approving smile following their arrival. "Guess that means you won’t be seeing me after class for three fucking days. How tragic," she said, eyes narrowing playfully.

Jack didn’t bother responding. His thoughts had already drifted elsewhere entirely, fixated on the face of his new freshman crush and how exactly he planned on getting closer to her. Honestly, given their current situation, he’d probably rather switch allegiance entirely, trading his role as Mia’s subordinate for serving this new girl instead.

Victor shook his head. "That guy actually thought he could take both of us down. We would’ve shown him exactly where he stands if we hadn’t been interrupted," he told Mia, who responded with a slight frown, glancing toward Mark from the corner of her eye.

"This is the same guy who apparently snapped someone’s neck before he ever came anywhere near you. You’re really that confident about showing him his place? Sounds more like he might end up teaching both of you a lesson instead," she said with a light chuckle.

Victor blinked at that, mind drifting back over their recent encounter, along with whatever exactly had happened to Kai’s subordinate, Roman. Maybe that explained why Jack had already redirected his full attention toward his new crush rather than continuing to deal with Mia’s demands.

As for Victor himself, though, the whole exchange only sharpened his interest in her further. Her personality, her sharp, biting attitude, only made her more genuinely intriguing to him. To his mind, she carried herself like some striking, sharp tongued girl who always played just hard enough to get, and honestly, he enjoyed the chase.

Amanda bit down hard on her pencil without quite realizing it, catching sight of Mia chuckling at something she couldn’t quite place. Her neighbor noticed the nervous habit and gave a light knock against her desk, snapping her out of it.

Hermione’s gaze lingered on Mark a while longer before she leaned in, aiming a playful nudge at his ribs, only to find he’d already anticipated the move and blocked it smoothly. She let out a light giggle instead, shifting to knock lightly against his locker.

"Don’t worry about the detention thing, okay? I’ll be right there with you the whole time. Let’s pinky promise on it." She gave a firm, convincing nod the moment she caught his sideways glance, finally turning fully to face her.

"You really don’t need to get tangled up in something this minor. It’s not worth your time," he said with a sigh, eyes drifting away from her again.

Hermione scowled, pinching him sharply with the edge of her fingernail.

"Don’t you dare say that again. Nothing about this is minor to me, and stop judging what I’m willing to get involved in based on where I come from. It’s honestly annoying," she said, eyes locked squarely on his face, an expression she suddenly, briefly wished she could just smack some sense into.

"Hmm, you sure about that, princess? I don’t buy it," Mark said, a faint smile tugging at his lips at her clearly irritated expression, which he privately found even more endearing because of it.

PINCH!

A second, sharper sting landed against his bare wrist this time.

"Ow, okay, okay, I get it!"

Mia’s gaze drifted toward the two of them, watching the playful exchange unfold like a pair of bickering kids, her expression twisting into a deep, unimpressed scowl. Jimmy, on the other hand, found the whole scene genuinely entertaining to watch.

***

Later, over in the cafeteria, students settled in across various tables to enjoy their meals during the break. Mark and Hermione claimed a table entirely to themselves, no one else joining in. A small platter holding plain rice cake, a butter crumpet, and a canned drink sat in front of Mark, while Hermione had chocolate chips, a bag of packaged peanuts, and a creamy drink arranged on her own side.

She glanced over at Mark, catching the lukewarm expression fixed on his face as he stared down at his own meal, before finally speaking up.

"You don’t look particularly thrilled about that food. Isn’t it your favorite? If not, mind if I just take it?"

Mark shook his head, waving a hand dismissively. "Nah, don’t worry about it, I’ll finish it. And yeah, honestly, I’d rather eat something that’s actually worth my time and taste buds." As he said it, he pulled out the Gammy fruit smoothie from his bag.

Hermione’s face twisted with mock disgust. "Wait, hold on. You never even finished that from last time, and you brought it here too? Are you serious right now?"

Mark chuckled, shaking his head again. "Nah, I’d never actually do something like that. Well, maybe. But that’s not what happened here, actually. This is a fresh one, courtesy of Derek. Guy just handed me another one out of nowhere. Pretty solid of him, right? Starting to pick up some genuine charity these days."

"Oh, my mistake then. Guess that makes sense," Hermione agreed quickly, a little embarrassed by her initial assumption.

"Growing up, my favorite snacks and meals always came from Snackco Brand. That’s actually where I first discovered their smoothies, and honestly, everything just got even better once I did," Mark told her, genuine interest lighting up his expression.

Hermione considered that for a moment before nodding along. Snackco Brand wasn’t just some ordinary food company. It stood as one of the largest, most instantly recognizable multibillion dollar brands throughout Wland, a household name that had quietly grown up alongside several generations of children by this point.

The company specialized across snacks, beverages, desserts, and quick, convenient meals, boasting an enormous product lineup built to appeal across nearly every age bracket imaginable.

For kids especially, Snackco had become almost impossible to avoid entirely. Its bright, colorful packaging, memorable mascots, catchy jingles, and cheerful advertising had woven its products deep into the fabric of an ordinary childhood.

Its commercials typically featured groups of kids enjoying snacks together, exploring new places, celebrating birthdays, or simply transforming some otherwise ordinary day into something worth remembering. The ads rarely focused purely on the food itself either. Instead, they sold the feeling wrapped around it, tying Snackco products directly to friendship, happiness, imagination, and those small, special moments worth holding onto.

Eventually, the brand’s popularity spread well past its original childhood audience. As those early customers grew older themselves, Snackco began rolling out more sophisticated product lines aimed squarely at teenagers, young adults, and older consumers alike. It introduced richer desserts, premium snack lines, energy drinks, flavored beverages, breakfast items, and more carefully packaged full meals. That expansion dramatically widened its overall market reach, transforming Snackco from a beloved children’s brand into one of the single most influential food and beverage companies in the entire nation.

Its single biggest growth spurt, though, came directly during the rise of the Mana Age.

With mana’s discovery and widespread integration into daily life, food production itself began shifting rapidly. Certain fruits, plants, minerals, and naturally occurring ingredients developed genuinely unusual properties after prolonged exposure to ambient mana. Snackco recognized that opportunity early, investing heavily into research, cultivation, processing, and preservation methods capable of safely folding these new ingredients into everyday consumer products.

Among the company’s most successful creations to come out of that research was its now famous Gammy fruit line.

Gammy fruit quickly became a standout thanks to its distinctive flavor profile and refreshing qualities, and Snackco’s research teams eventually turned it into a genuinely wide range of commercial products. The most successful by far was the Gammy fruit smoothie, which rapidly became one of the company’s true signature beverages.

The product ended up advertised practically everywhere. Kids loved it purely for the sweet flavor, while older consumers appreciated its refreshing taste and convenient, grab and go packaging. Snackco rolled out multiple flavors and limited edition runs over the years, some becoming beloved seasonal staples, others sticking around as permanent fixtures on store shelves. The company even partnered directly with schools, restaurants, entertainment venues, and various youth programmes to help push the product’s popularity even further.

What had started out as a simple, humble food business had gradually transformed into something closer to a full blown commercial empire.

Snackco’s actual origins were surprisingly modest. It began as a small, local restaurant selling homemade snacks and simple desserts to nearby customers. Its recipes gained enough of a local following that the original owners eventually started packaging their most popular items for sale in nearby stores. From there, the business expanded steadily into larger production facilities, eventually opening branches across major cities and building out a full distribution network stretching across the entire nation.

That success eventually carried the brand well beyond Wland’s own borders.

Snackco opened new branches and formed partnerships with distributors across several foreign regions, including parts of North America and Europe. Its products could be found stocked in supermarkets, restaurants, school cafeterias, convenience stores, airports, entertainment venues, and even specialized dungeon exploration outposts.

The brand had become so deeply woven into everyday life by this point that spotting its familiar logo felt almost as unremarkable as passing a well known local landmark.

Mark sipped from his smoothie through its long, striped straw with the unhurried enthusiasm of a small child, which pulled a light laugh out of Hermione as she chewed through a few peanuts before taking another sip of her own creamy drink.

"You know, now that you’ve actually got me thinking about this brand again, I think I’d genuinely like to try one of those smoothies myself sometime."

She paused for a beat.

"Maybe we could actually go hang out somewhere outside school sometime, a restaurant, a shop, a cafe, and just try out all our favorite stuff together."

"Here, try this one instead, then." Mark smiled with a hint of playful mockery, sliding his other can of drink across the table toward her.

Hermione blinked at the gesture, caught briefly off guard.

But just then, someone planted one foot squarely on top of their table, yanking both their attention sharply toward the sudden intruder.

Hermione froze in place while Mark’s expression hardened instantly.

----

A/N: What. Don’t mind my overly prolonged description of my self-made brand company.