Kai's first business meeting happened behind the academy cafeteria.
Which already felt illegal.
"Why are we near garbage bins?" Kai whispered dramatically while wearing his hood like a suspicious side character from a low-budget crime anime.
A silver-haired girl stared at him with visible disappointment.
"Because normal people don't announce illegal business deals in public."
Kai looked offended.
"I am naturally mysterious."
"You tripped over a recycling bin thirty seconds ago."
"The environment fears my presence."
"It fears your coordination."
The girl sighed heavily.
Mina Sol possessed the terrifying aura of someone who understood economics at sixteen years old.
Which honestly made her more dangerous than most beasts.
Three days earlier, she cornered Kai after tracing rumors about miracle recovery medicine spreading through campus.
Now she opened a metal case resting on top of a crate.
Inside were several pale blue vials.
Kai's refined recovery serum.
Students loved it because:
bruises healed faster,
mana exhaustion reduced dramatically,
muscle fatigue recovery improved,
and the side effects were almost nonexistent.
Most importantly—
it was cheap.
Mina lifted one vial toward the light.
"How exactly are you making these?"
Kai adjusted his hood carefully.
"The truth exists beyond conventional understanding."
"…So you won't tell me."
"I am preserving the mystery."
"You're preserving tax fraud."
Kai ignored that statement professionally.
Mina continued inspecting the vial.
Commercial recovery medicine usually tasted like chemical depression.
Kai's version apparently tasted like mint.
Which somehow made students trust it more.
Humanity had questionable priorities.
"People are calling you the White Coat Alchemist," Mina said.
Kai froze.
"…That sounds incredibly cool."
"It sounds medically illegal."
Kai smiled proudly anyway.
Finally.
Recognition.
Mina crossed her arms.
"You understand academy enforcement investigates unauthorized enhancement products, right?"
"We are entrepreneurs."
"You sold medicine from a backpack."
"Portable commerce."
"You handed one guy a discount coupon."
"Customer retention strategy."
Mina pinched the bridge of her nose.
"How are you alive?"
Kai attempted a dramatic pose.
Then immediately kicked a crate by accident.
CRASH.
Several empty bottles exploded across the alley.
Silence filled the air.
Kai slowly stood back up.
"The crate attacked dishonorably."
"…I'm increasing my commission."
Honestly?
Fair.
The operation expanded disturbingly fast.
Greyhaven Academy contained over four thousand students.
Almost all of them were exhausted constantly.
Cultivation training destroyed the body daily.
Physical conditioning.
Mana circulation.
Combat drills.
Meditation exercises.
Students survived through caffeine, painkillers, and emotional instability.
Which meant Kai's products sold absurdly well.
Within a week, Mina established a proper distribution network.
Which sounded significantly more criminal than Kai expected.
"We need layered transactions," Mina explained while drawing diagrams across a tablet.
Kai blinked.
"…Why do you sound like a mafia consultant?"
"Because stupid people get caught."
"Reasonable."
"We'll use indirect sellers."
"Reasonable."
"Never sell personally."
"Reasonable."
"Never write down production methods."
Kai slowly lowered his notebook.
"…Hypothetically?"
Mina stared at him silently.
Then sighed deeply.
"You're going to get arrested someday."
Kai pointed dramatically at himself.
"History rarely appreciates visionaries during their lifetime."
"You made stamina gel in a rice cooker."
"Innovation requires sacrifice."
Meanwhile, his daily schedule became horrifying.
Morning:
Academy classes.
Afternoon:
Physical conditioning.
Evening:
Tutoring weaker students in tactical theory.
Night:
Laboratory refinement work.
Late night:
Anonymous strategy guide writing.
Near sunrise:
Questioning existence.
Kai discovered something important during the following weeks.
He might not possess elite talent physically.
But academically?
He was terrifying.
Dungeon simulations.
Formation strategy.
Resource management.
Battle prediction.
Everything involving analysis came naturally.
Professor Dain noticed first.
"You think unusually," the instructor said while reviewing simulation results.
Kai folded his arms wisely.
"Great minds transcend conventional limitation."
"You compared battlefield movement to cafeteria traffic patterns."
"It was statistically accurate."
Unfortunately—
Kai's explanations sounded insane even when correct.
Still, results mattered more than presentation.
His tactical scores climbed rapidly.
Other students slowly began noticing.
Especially because Kai's combat scores improved too.
Not explosively.
But steadily.
Consistently.
Like someone upgrading himself manually through questionable science.
Which was technically accurate.
Inside the laboratory, Elias monitored another refinement cycle.
Floating holograms displayed rotating molecular structures while silver machines hummed softly around the room.
Kai carefully poured processed herb extract into a containment cylinder.
"You are overworking yourself," Elias said suddenly.
Kai almost dropped the container.
"…Did you just express concern?"
"I am observing declining efficiency."
"Ah. Emotional growth cancelled."
The scientist ignored him.
Again.
A holographic body scan appeared above the table.
Mana circulation pathways glowed brighter than before.
"Interesting," Elias muttered.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"That word usually creates suffering."
"Your adaptation rate exceeds projections."
"…Good exceeds?"
"Yes."
Kai blinked.
That sounded dangerously close to praise.
Elias enlarged several sections of the scan.
"Your cultivation foundation is unusually stable."
Kai frowned.
"I thought my talent was average."
"It is."
"…You somehow made that insulting."
"Talent determines initial growth speed. Stability determines long-term optimization."
Kai stared quietly at the glowing scan.
Average talent.
Stable foundation.
Maybe being ordinary wasn't completely useless after all.
Elias continued speaking.
"Many talented cultivators damage their foundations pursuing rapid advancement."
Several damaged mana pathways appeared on-screen.
"Power without stability collapses eventually."
Kai pointed at one image.
"That one looks medically tragic."
"That student likely exploded."
"…Cultivation continues sounding unhealthy."
At the end of the month, Greyhaven updated the rankings.
Students crowded around the digital boards before classes started.
Arguments erupted instantly.
Several people celebrated.
Others suffered emotionally.
One student looked seconds away from spiritual awakening through rage alone.
Kai pushed through the crowd beside Rowan.
"Please don't react dramatically this time," Rowan warned.
"I am emotionally disciplined."
"You screamed last ranking cycle."
"That was tactical motivation."
The rankings refreshed.
Kai Verdan.
Rank 168.
Silence.
Then whispers spread almost immediately.
"Again?"
"He climbed another sixteen ranks."
"How?"
"That's impossible for someone with average awakening scores."
Kai pretended not to hear anything.
Internally?
His ego ascended briefly into heaven.
Rank 168.
Still far from Top 100.
But no longer unreachable.
Progress felt addictive.
Dangerously addictive.
Rowan stared at the board.
"You're improving way too fast."
Kai adjusted his hood mysteriously.
"The truth of cultivation transcends common understanding."
"You definitely sound suspicious now."
"Excellent."
"You're smiling again."
"I am cultivating aura."
"You look constipated."
Kai's smile vanished instantly.
Emotional damage.
Later that afternoon, Kai opened his locker.
A folded note rested inside.
Stay in your lane.
Kai stared at it quietly.
Then slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Rowan immediately looked concerned.
"That expression usually creates disasters."
Kai folded the note carefully.
"The ranking war has begun."
Somewhere nearby…
several students unknowingly prepared to make very poor life decisions.