The academy cafeteria was enormous.
Rows upon rows of long metal tables stretched across the massive hall, each one filled with students talking, arguing, or eating loudly. The ceiling hung high above like the inside of a temple, glowing crystals embedded into the stone casting a soft blue light across the room.
To most of the students, it was just another cafeteria.
To Feyi, it looked like another world.
He had followed the rest of his class silently after their orientation ended. His steps were careful, almost cautious, as if he expected someone to suddenly tell him he wasn't supposed to be there.
When he reached the serving counter, a cafeteria worker slid a tray toward him.
Feyi froze.
On the tray was a bowl of steaming porridge, a bottle of soda, and a thick slice of roasted meat.
For a moment, he simply stared.
His throat tightened slightly.
Feyi had lived most of his life on the streets.
His parents had died when he was very young. He didn't even remember their faces clearly anymore—only vague flashes of warmth and voices that slowly faded with time.
After that, the streets became his home.
Food wasn't something you ate because it was mealtime.
Food was something you ate if you were lucky enough to find it.
There were days when he searched trash bins just to find something that wasn't rotten.
Meat?
That was a luxury.
Soda?
That was something rich kids drank while laughing in front of convenience stores.
Yet now the academy handed it to him like it meant nothing.
Feyi picked up the tray slowly.
His stomach growled loudly.
He quickly walked to an empty table at the edge of the cafeteria and sat down.
For a moment, he just stared at the food.
Then he started eating.
Fast.
Very fast.
Spoon after spoon of porridge disappeared as if he was afraid someone might suddenly take it away. The warmth spread through his body, easing the constant hunger that had followed him for years.
The meat was juicy.
The soda burned slightly in his throat.
For the first time in a long while, Feyi felt full.
He was halfway through the meal when two shadows stopped in front of his table.
Feyi looked up.
Rhyden stood there.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and confident, Rhyden carried himself like someone who already believed he was destined to become powerful.
Beside him stood Kaela.
Her expression was calm but sharp, her eyes cold as she observed everything around her.
Without asking, Rhyden pulled a chair and sat down across from Feyi.
Kaela sat beside him.
Rhyden leaned forward slightly and grinned.
"Hello, Anomaly."
Feyi blinked.
"Hello, Anomaly," Rhyden repeated casually.
Kaela didn't smile.
She simply watched.
Feyi lowered his spoon slowly.
"Hello…"
Rhyden rested his elbows on the table.
"I'm the strongest in our class," he said bluntly. There was no arrogance in his tone—just simple confidence.
"But when we were fighting earlier…" he continued, "the way you moved was strange."
He tilted his head.
"So I wanted to ask."
"What was your trial like?"
The cafeteria noise hummed around them, but at the table it suddenly felt quiet.
Feyi's hand paused.
Inside his mind, the memory returned.
The Trial.
Dark ground.
Broken buildings.
And monsters.
Several creatures had chased him the moment the trial started. Their claws tore through the ground as they rushed toward him.
Feyi had done the only thing he was good at.
Running.
Living on the streets had trained his body in ways that normal people didn't understand.
You ran from gangs.
You ran from drunk men.
You ran from dogs.
You ran from people stronger than you.
Running kept you alive.
So Feyi ran.
The creatures chased him across the ruined trial ground, their roars echoing everywhere.
Then something unexpected appeared.
A goblin.
Its skin was green and rough, its teeth jagged like broken knives.
But the strange thing was—
The goblin didn't attack him.
Instead, it attacked the other creatures.
The monsters immediately turned on each other.
Claws, teeth, screams.
Chaos erupted.
Feyi moved through the battlefield carefully, dodging attacks that came too close.
He didn't hide.
He didn't fight.
He simply avoided everything.
Until one creature lunged directly at him.
At that moment, Feyi reacted instinctively.
He punched.
Just one punch.
The creature stumbled sideways—straight into the goblin's claws.
The goblin tore it apart instantly.
After that, the creatures continued killing each other until almost nothing remained.
Then the trial ended.
Even now, Feyi still didn't understand why the goblin ignored him.
But one thing he did understand was this:
Standing out was dangerous.
On the streets, the kids who looked strong were the first ones gangs tried to recruit.
The kids who showed talent were the ones who disappeared first.
Feyi had survived by doing one thing.
Keeping his head down.
So he looked at Rhyden and shrugged.
"My trial was quite easy."
Rhyden raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Feyi nodded.
"All I did was run."
Rhyden blinked.
"Just run?"
"You didn't fight anything?" he asked.
Feyi pretended to think.
"Oh… I forgot."
"I ran and also slept."
Kaela's eyes narrowed immediately.
That lie was terrible.
Even a small child could tell he was lying.
During the class combat evaluation earlier, Feyi had moved with sharp timing and balance. His reactions were too precise for someone who had simply run during their trial.
Kaela studied him carefully.
Why lie?
Feyi looked back at her calmly.
"You don't believe me?"
Rhyden scratched his head.
He stared at Feyi for a few seconds.
The boy sitting across from him looked completely ordinary.
Thin.
Quiet.
Eating like someone who hadn't eaten in days.
Nothing about him looked dangerous.
Rhyden sighed and leaned back.
"Actually…"
"What are we doing with this newbie?"
"He seems like some kind of compost being."
Kaela stood up.
"If he wants to lie about something so trivial," she said coldly, "then there's nothing worth asking."
Rhyden shrugged.
"Yeah. Let's go."
The two of them walked away.
Feyi continued eating silently.
Only when they disappeared into the crowd did he exhale slowly.
"That was close…"
He finished the last of the porridge and drank the rest of the soda.
His stomach felt warm and full.
But his mind remained alert.
This academy was filled with talented people.
Sharp people.
People who would notice things.
Feyi stood up and returned the tray.
As he walked out of the cafeteria, he muttered quietly to himself.
"Don't stand out."
"Don't attract trouble."
"Just survive."
For someone who had grown up on the streets…
Survival was the only thing that truly mattered.
And Feyi had become very good at it.