Chapter 76: Private Network

"Huh..."

Just one glance at the ranking was enough to make Jackson’s pupils widen slightly.

563.

He stared at the number for a moment, almost wondering whether he had read it incorrectly.

Out of the one thousand young Awakened who had been admitted to Golden Radiance Academy this year, he had been ranked five hundred and sixty-third.

For several seconds, Jackson simply remained silent.

Confusion slowly filled his mind.

What was going on?

His gaze moved across the room, studying the expressions of his three roommates.

Jackal looked somewhat disappointed, while Jonathan wore a thoughtful expression. Angela, as usual, remained completely calm and indifferent, her beautiful face revealing almost no emotion.

None of them seemed particularly surprised by their rankings.

Jackson’s brows furrowed slightly.

He knew the strength of these three people.

More importantly, he knew his own strength far better than anyone else.

He was currently at the peak of the Second Sequence, only a single step away from breaking through to the Third Sequence Realm. His physical strength alone had been enough to produce five thousand kilograms of force during the admission test.

With such strength, Jackson had originally expected to rank among the top hundred.

If the ranking was based purely on combat strength, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see himself somewhere within the top fifty.

Yet the number displayed before him was completely different.

563.

The difference was so enormous that Jackson couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Could the academy have made a mistake?

No.

He immediately rejected that possibility.

Golden Radiance Academy had existed for countless years and stood among the most prestigious institutions of humanity. A simple ranking error would be far too ridiculous.

There had to be another reason.

Jackson took a slow breath, forcing his thoughts to settle.

There was no point jumping to conclusions before understanding the academy’s criteria.

Just as he was thinking this, Jackal suddenly let out a disappointed sigh.

"It was true after all."

His shoulder-length black hair fell across his face as he stared at the ranking displayed on his academy badge.

"Golden Radiance Academy really does favor those with six-resonance talents and above. Tsk. They gave me a rank in the eight hundreds even though I’m already at peak First Sequence."

His tone carried a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

Jackson’s eyes flickered.

So that was it.

Talent.

The academy’s ranking wasn’t based solely on current strength.

Jonathan seemed to reach the same conclusion.

He leaned back slightly in his chair and let out a quiet sigh.

"This is just the world we live in."

His expression remained calm, but there was a trace of resignation in his voice.

"If nothing unexpected happens, those with higher talents are bound to reach realms that people like us may never even be able to imagine. It’s not difficult to understand why the academy would prioritize them."

Jackal’s expression darkened slightly but he didn’t argue.

After all, Jonathan wasn’t wrong.

Talent determined a person’s potential.

Resources could help someone advance faster, but they couldn’t completely erase the limitations imposed by their innate talent.

Angela, meanwhile, remained as calm as ever.

She glanced at her own ranking without displaying the slightest trace of surprise before quietly putting away her academy badge.

She didn’t seem bothered by the result at all.

Jackson observed the three of them silently.

The tension that had been building inside him gradually disappeared.

So that was the reason.

Golden Radiance Academy wasn’t simply ranking them according to what they could accomplish today.

It was judging what they might become tomorrow.

A peak First Sequence Awakened with mediocre talent could possess greater combat strength than a six-resonance Awakened at the moment, yet the academy would still place greater value on the latter.

From the academy’s perspective, it made perfect sense.

After all, they weren’t merely selecting the strongest students.

They were investing in the future.

Jackson’s eyes narrowed slightly.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

If that was the case, then things were even more interesting than he had expected.

Because his current strength wasn’t the only thing he had.

The academy had no idea what the Golden Brush was capable of.

And as long as they judged him solely by his awakened talent, they would continue to underestimate him.

For the first time since seeing the number 563, Jackson’s confusion completely disappeared.

Instead, a quiet anticipation began to rise within his chest.

Perhaps being underestimated wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Just then, Jackal shook his head and forced the disappointment from his face.

"Who cares about the ranking for now? What matters is using the academy’s resources to grow stronger as quickly as possible. This is our only chance to prove to the academy that having a better talent doesn’t automatically mean they’re superior to us."

His voice carried a stubborn determination.

Jonathan’s eyes also flashed with a sharp glint.

Clearly, he felt the same way.

Neither of them was willing to accept their current rankings.

They had managed to stand out among millions of young Awakened and earn admission to one of humanity’s most prestigious academies. None of them had come here merely to accept whatever position the academy assigned them.

They wanted to climb.

They wanted to prove themselves.

After a brief discussion, the frustration caused by the rankings gradually faded.

There was little point complaining about something they couldn’t immediately change. If the academy valued potential, then they would simply have to demonstrate that their potential was greater than the academy believed.

Perhaps because of the ranking, or perhaps because they had simply exhausted their interest in one another, the atmosphere soon became quiet.

The first person to leave was Jackal.

He stood up and stretched his arms, his eyes shining with curiosity.

"Hmm, I’ve heard a lot about the gravity chamber of Golden Radiance Academy. Let me see whether it’s really as amazing as the rumors suggest..."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the meeting room.

Jonathan soon followed.

Within a few breaths, only Jackson and Angela remained.

The room became unusually quiet.

Jackson glanced at Angela for a moment before deciding not to bother with her.

He sat comfortably on the sofa, leaned back, and closed his eyes, treating her as though she were nothing more than part of the furniture.

There was no reason for him to deliberately strike up a conversation with someone who clearly had no interest in talking to him.

Instead, Jackson focused on something far more important.

He sent a thin wisp of spiritual force into his student badge.

The instant his spiritual force touched it, his surroundings changed.

His consciousness seemed to plunge into darkness.

A moment later, Jackson found himself standing within a vast, dark space.

The sensation was remarkably similar to the virtual environment inside his Hunter Association license.

Countless streams of information floated through the darkness, forming an intricate network that extended in every direction.

This was the private network of Golden Radiance Academy.

Jackson’s eyes flickered with curiosity.

The academy had its own independent virtual network, completely separate from the ordinary networks used throughout human civilization.

Through it, students could exchange academy points, trade resources, purchase items, share information, accept missions, challenge other students, and access countless other functions.

It was practically a miniature world of its own.

Jackson casually browsed through the various sections.

Then his gaze suddenly stopped.

[Local Arena]

His eyes narrowed slightly.

The moment he saw those words, a familiar urge surfaced within him.

Challenge.

Fight.

Climb.

Jackson had spent countless hours inside the Hunter Association’s virtual arena.

His identity as Bitter Rain had been built upon defeating opponent after opponent until his name became known throughout the virtual world.

Now, Golden Radiance Academy had its own arena.

And unlike the ordinary arena, this one contained all the students of the academy.

A faint fighting intent stirred within Jackson’s eyes.

If he entered the arena now, he could probably rise through the rankings at an astonishing speed.

It would also allow him to understand the strength of the other students.

For a brief moment, Jackson seriously considered doing exactly that.

Then he stopped.

His fingers lightly tapped against his arm.

After thinking about it for several seconds, he ultimately decided against it.

There was no need to reveal too much of his strength right after entering the academy.

The ranking had already placed him at five hundred and sixty-third.

That was actually convenient.

As long as nobody knew his true strength, he could quietly observe the other students and understand how Golden Radiance Academy worked.

There was no reason to throw away that advantage.

Jackson withdrew from the Local Arena section and continued browsing.

Soon, he found another section that immediately caught his attention.

[Skills]

His expression became serious.

Although obtaining skills outside the academy wasn’t particularly difficult for someone with enough money and connections, the situation was different here.

The skills collected by Golden Radiance Academy were the true cream of the crop.

They were techniques carefully selected, refined, and preserved by generations of powerful Awakened.

Some of them had been created by legendary hunters.

Others had been improved over countless battles.

Many were techniques that simply could not be found on the ordinary market.

Jackson’s eyes gradually became brighter as he browsed through the list.

This was exactly what he had been looking for.

His Golden Brush was powerful, but it had limitations.

His current combat strength had already reached the peak of the Second Sequence, yet he couldn’t rely on the Golden Brush for every battle.

He needed stronger techniques.

He needed a foundation that could allow him to fully utilize the enormous magical power inside his body.

And now, Golden Radiance Academy had placed an entire treasure trove of such techniques directly in front of him.

Jackson’s gaze moved slowly across the countless skill names.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

It seemed that enrolling in Golden Radiance Academy had been the right decision after all.