One hundred years ago, Earth merged with another world on a different plane of existence. As such, dungeon gates opened up between the worlds and monsters from the other planet invaded Earth. It became complete chaos, and millions across the globe died.

  However, not all hope was lost, as humans were given magical abilities to fight back. Slowly, but surely, these humans known as "dungeon hunters" or simply "hunters", brought stability back to civilization.

  Some time later, hunter academies were established. These academies aimed to train the next generation in using their abilities to fight monsters. One such academy, "Evergreen Academy", became the most prestigious hunter academy around, as several top tier hunters were alumni from Evergreen Academy.

  And now, I've become a student at that very same academy.

  'My imposter syndrome is seriously acting up...'

  What started as a joke applying to several schools way out of my league ended in me being shocked stupid by an acceptance letter. I honestly don't even know what Evergreen Academy saw in some generic guy like me, but it's not like I was going to complain about getting accepted.

  'Anyways, shouldn't my roommate be coming any minute now?'

  The entrance ceremony had ended a few hours prior. Since classes didn't really start until tomorrow, I had used that time to familiarize myself with the campus layout. Afterwards, I just decided to go to the dorm room and lay down for a while.

  "Hello hello hello! Is my roommate here~? Oh! There you are! You aren't asleep, are you?"

  The young man with peach hair who had just walked in casually poked my cheek, and I let out a soft sigh.

  "...No."

  Somehow, I felt like my time at Evergreen Academy would be very exhausting.

  ? ? ?

  "Hey Gene! You should wake up! You probably don't want to be late on the first day of classes, right?"

  My roommate Red aggressively shook me awake, and I weakly pushed him away. We hadn't talked much last night, as he had left with an awkward expression after a phone call, but we'd at least gotten through basic self introductions.

  "...Screw off. Let me sleep more."

  "No way! You'd hate me if I did that."

  Despite my protests, I was dragged out of bed by Red and forced to put on the academy's uniform. As a uniform, it was actually pretty simplistic, just consisting of a white button up shirt and dark green pants, but I was surprised at how much it complimented my black hair.

  Anyways, once I had gotten it on, Red brought some pancakes with fruit over to me.

  "Here, we have time, so eat up!"

  "Aren't you being excessively nice to someone you basically just met?"

  Red cocked his head to the side like he didn't understand what I had said.

  "Do I need a reason to be nice to someone? Well, if I had to give one, it's because I'd like to be friends with my roommate!"

  "Ah, alright then... thank you- I'll try to repay this kindness in the future."

  "Well, don't feel the need to, but if it makes you comfortable, go ahead."

  With that considerate remark from Red, I dug into the fruit and pancakes that Red had given me. The fluffy texture melted in my mouth, and the combination of the juicy fruit and syrup made for a perfect medley of sweetness. They were shockingly delicious, to the point where I questioned whether they were even considered pancakes or not.

  "You like them?"

  "Yeah, they're amazing. It's a bit awkward to be eating them alone though."

  "Oh, haha, sorry. I made mine earlier right after I woke up."

  "...Just how early do you wake up?"

  "I'd say about 5 A.M. is a comfortable time for me to wake up. Any earlier and I get kinda... stubborn?"

  "...Huh."

  'I can't believe morning people actually exist like this.'

  Momentarily stunned, I just ate the rest of my pancakes with a blank expression. After I was finished, it was time to go to our first class, and so Red and I headed off to the freshmans' lecture hall.

  ? ? ?

  "Good morning everyone. My name is Instructor Barrett, and I will be your homeroom instructor during your time at Evergreen Academy. I will be in charge of any general announcements, trips, or other major events that may occur for your class. Since we will be seeing each other for a while, I hope we will get along well.

  Anyways... as you all know, hunters each have their own unique abilities. Some abilities may share very similar characteristics with each other, but they ultimately differ as a whole. As such, it can be very difficult to quantify the strength of a hunter.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  However, Evergreen Academy has managed to do just that. Every student here will take a ranking examination today and be ranked fairly according to their capabilities. There are three different ranking categories; offense, defense, and support. Please group up in front of the category you are most confident in."

  Instructor Barrett stepped aside to let the students group up. He had a bit of an intimidating physique, but the students weren't too afraid of him as he seemed agreeable enough in his introduction earlier. Red and I got up from our seats in the corner of the lecture hall and joined the multitude of students clamouring to the different categories.

  "Hey Gene, which category are you going to?"

  "The offense one. It suits me best."

  "Really? I'm going there too! Let's compare our ranks afterwards!"

  "...Okay, sounds good."

  I never quite cared for ranking systems before, as I felt that they'd made people a lot more hostile in the name of "friendly competition". Regardless of my thoughts on that matter though, all of the students were eventually grouped up in their respective categories. Two more instructors then entered the room, one a confident and beautiful woman and the other an enthusiastic young-ish man.

  "Hello everyone, you can call me Instructor Reina! I'm in charge of your combat classes here at Evergreen Academy."

  "And I'm Instructor Lee! I'm in charge of alchemy class, and this is my first year teaching classes on my own, so please treat me well!"

  Instructor Lee looked towards Instructor Barrett with expectant eyes, as if asking to be praised. In response, he gave a light nod, brightening Instructor Lee's expression and allowing Instructor Reina to continue speaking.

  "Offense and defense students, please follow me to your examination room. Support students will follow Instructor Lee to their examination room."

  After Instructor Reina finished speaking, we followed her down a corridor and into a large room filled with virtual reality capsules. It was very impressive, and it could probably hold at least a few dozen students at once.

  "This is our state-of-the-art virtual reality training room. Today, you'll be using this to take your examination. When you first enter the virtual world, you will be prompted to input the exam you're taking and the characteristics of your ability. Please do this accurately, as various monsters have different characteristics that benefit different people, and we want to make sure everyone has an even starting line. Once you have done that, you will recieve further instructions depending on the examination you're taking. After the exam is finished, you will return to the lecture hall so that another student may take your place.

  Don't worry, if you have any questions about the exam, you'll have an opportunity to ask them before you begin. Now that I've said my piece, please enter the room in an orderly fashion. Once all of the capsules are full, just wait outside until a student leaves."

  Despite the initial chaos, the students actually managed to organize themselves in a semi coherent line, apart from a few troublemakers. Red and I ended up somewhere in the middle of the line, and so we struck up another conversation while we were waiting.

  "Have you ever used a virtual reality system before, Gene?"

  "No. They're too expensive."

  "Ah, well, I think you'll like it! It's really cool! Everything in virtual reality feels so real, from walking and eating to even riding rollercoasters! It's a shame this is only a training program though... do you think they would have any VR games in here?"

  "Probably not. This is a school, not an internet cafe."

  "True, true... I'll just have to bring in my own games then!"

  "...I somehow doubt the school will let you do that. And even if you managed to smuggle them in, how on earth would you get the games installed on the system, let alone without getting noticed?"

  "Hm... I'm not sure... how about you give me some ideas?"

  "...How about you just come up with some better ideas of your own?"

  "Oh yeah! I'll just bring in my own VR capsule!"

  "..."

  Time passed quickly as we continued to mindlessly chat, and we eventually entered the training room where the examinations were being held.

  ? ? ?

  Opening my eyes in the virtual reality space and taking my first breath, I couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration.

  'Holy... it's just a white matrix void, but it feels so real! This is amazing!'

  A child-like curiosity and amazement that I hadn't felt in years washed over me as I moved my body around. Suddenly, a blue screen filled with blanks popped up in front of me.

  'Ah... this must be where I input my info.'

  I diligently inputted my info into the screen before pressing "confirm" and saw a few warnings about the dangers of virtual reality pop up in front of me. I closed those pop-ups and watched as the white landscape turned into a beautiful grassy plain. I was at a loss for words.

  I started hearing a voice in my head, but I tuned it out as I ran around the grassy plain. I could feel the wind hit my back, and I decided to shamelessly roll around in the grass for a bit.

  'This is great! It's not hot, I don't get dirty, and best of all, there's no bugs! I wish there was a hill though, I've always wanted to try rolling down one.'

  After messing around for a while, I finally remembered that this was supposed to be an examination and I tuned back into the voice that was probably very important to listen to.

  "-If you have any questions, feel free to ask now. Otherwise, whenever you are ready to start the exam, just hit the green button on your wristband."

  The voice sounded like a pre-recorded version of Instructor Reina, and I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I had.

  '...Okay, let's just pretend I didn't do all that.'

  Regaining my composure, I looked down at the wristband Instructor Reina had mentioned. I was impressed that I hadn't even noticed this on my wrist in the first place. There were two buttons, one green and one red. The green one started the exam, so I assumed the red one ended it.

  "I'm sorry, I couldn't understand your instructions. Could you repeat them for me again?"

  But there was no reason for me to play any guessing games when I could just ask for the instructions again.

  "Sure thing. In this examination, you will face off against several rounds of monsters. There could be one monster, or there could be many. The more rounds you complete, the higher your ranking will be. After each round, any injuries you had sustained will be healed. If you wish to give up at any point during the exam, just press the red button on your wristband.

  Everything in this examination will feel real, but please do not worry, as your body is safe and sound in the real world. However, if you are ever too afraid or injured to continue, do not hesitate to give up. Especially if you're in a near death state. Your mental health is important.

  If you have any questions, feel free to ask now. Otherwise, whenever you are ready to start the exam, just hit the green button on your wristband."

  The pre-recorded Instructor Reina finished her spiel, and I was surprised at just how kind her words sounded. Pushing that aside though, now that I knew what the exam was actually about, I readied myself and pressed the green button to begin the exam.