Shin turned around and stared at the blonde-haired young man running toward him with two other guys behind him on either side.
"Shin, you sunnova bitch!" He shouted, yelling loudly as he balled his hand into a fist and reared back as he charged toward the young man.
"Gettem, boss!" One of the goons shouted.
"Show 'em who's number one!" The other added.
Shin stared at the incoming fist blankly before sidestepping and extending his foot, tripping the blonde man and smacking his shoulders, forcing him to fall.
"John's at it again…" A girl sighed as she walked past the scene undisturbed.
"Don't look!" Her friend exclaimed, grabbing her arm and dragging her along.
"Mr. Roman! Shin!" A sluggish teacher said, walking past the 'fight' smoking a cigarette, "In my office, now!"
John's goons scattered like roaches, running off and abandoning their leader.
Shin sighed, leaning down and grabbing John by the cuff of his jacket, dragging him as he followed the teacher while Sienna slumped and frowned, watching him depart.
Inside the principal's office, the two boys sat while he chastised them, admonishing their actions as unbefitting their school.
"Mr. Roman, this is the tenth time this semester!" The principal sighed, stamping out his cigarette and staring at the boys, "Shin, despite your grades, this is troublesome!"
"But, Mr. Jay!" John protested expressively, "This punk disrespected the Kendo Club, and until I regain our honor, I can't return! This is a man's honor!"
"Mr. Roman!" Principal James said, raising his voice as he smacked the desk, "I don't care if you used to be the kendo club captain; fighting is not the answer!"
"But, Mr. Jay-" John whined, but the principal cut him off.
"Enough, Mr. Roman!" He shook his head, "Shin did not disrespect the kendo club. It was a sanctioned challenge."
He snapped his fingers and waved the boys off, shifting his attention to the tablet with a flashing light on his desk, "Now, you two run off to class and no more fighting!"
Shin stood and turned to John, "Do you need me to drag you, or can you walk?"
"What?!?" John rose to his feet and stepped toward Shin, pressing his chest against the young man's while pushing him, "You wanna run that by me one more time?"
Shin shrugged, smiling as he adjusted the bag on his shoulder, walked past John, and exited the office. He walked through the hallways toward a room with a sign outside that read "5-D."
The young man entered the class as the teacher discussed the basic information on Savage Gods Online. He walked past her desk and placed the note on it before taking his seat.
Due to the overwhelming popularity and roughly 85% of the world's population utilizing SGO as a source of income, many schools restructured their curriculum.
The United Federation Grand Academy was one such institution that focused primarily on developing the next generation of top-rankers.
The school was segregated into various categories, starting with 1-A being the best in the school and 5-D being the worst.
With the emergence of new powerhouses worldwide, many countries were turned upside down by powerful families attempting to gain control.
Alliances were drawn, and suddenly, a class system became increasingly popular among the upper echelons of the players in the game.
Most aristocratic families had bought their children's way into 1-A, and even Shin used to be part of the classroom until his encounter with the Kendo Club.
Shin had made his way through most of the clubs on campus when he first arrived a few years ago. The young man was fresh from the institute and wanted to make friends.
Even in the government institution, he struggled to make friends due to his repeated success and omission from the punishments issued by the instructors.
Eventually, he stopped accepting the exclusion from the punishments and joined the rest of the children, but again, it was met with disdain.
Upon arriving at the academy, Shin sought to find a group, but despite participating in over 500 club entrance exams, he was invited to none.
In addition, having defeated every member of the Kendo Club, he gained a target on his back and had a troublesome encounter.
Due to the repeated challenges from John, Shin had been labeled a troublemaker and, through lobbies from the aristocracy, was evicted from 1-A and placed in 5-D.
His adoptive parents instantly scolded him for being troublesome, mandating he return to 1-A, but even despite his excellent performance, he was repeatedly denied.
Fortunately, he met Sienna in 5-D and finally had a friend. She hailed from a prestigious family, but her potential was limited, resulting in her classroom placement.
He sat down in the seat and listened to the teacher explain the different ways to monetize your time in SGO and how the top earners were either competitive players or streamers.
It was his final year in the Academy, and soon, the tenth anniversary of SGO would go live, resulting in the admission of the students into a private server designed for students.
Every year since the game's third anniversary, certain schools have allowed students to access a private server acting as a tutorial to prepare them to increase their performances.
These students would typically advance quickly upon joining the game and were usually described as super rookies.
*DING!*
"Alright, class!" The teacher exclaimed, clapping her hands together jubilantly after the bell rang loudly, "I am glad to have been your teacher for the last three years and know you all will uphold the honor of the school.
You are all the future of the Federation, and we look forward to witnessing your progress in SGO. I hope to see all of you participating in the Rookie League in a few years!"
She brought each student to the door in a single file line and led them through the hallways into a massive gymnasium with roughly three hundred Dive Pods.
Nineteen rows of fifteen students stood in rows, waiting for class 5-D to arrive. The headmaster cleared his throat upon the last class taking their placement and tapped the microphone.
"Now that we're all here…" The man loudly stated before he pulled out the list of students and began reading, "Students will be called out in order of their grades…"
"First is Shin. Please come forward and stand next to your assigned pod!"