If looks alone could kill, Veer would have died a thousand times already. His words had extinguished the tiny hope others held, and that certainly didn't feel good.
Sensing the atmosphere, Veer coughed and hurriedly explained, "Don't look at me like that. I have something in mind, but I can't just implement it instantly. That's why I said you have to endure it for now!"
Fortunately, his words carried his intentions well, and the others understood. As much as they hated the soup, they knew it wasn't something they could get rid of so easily.
After all, if it were that easy, they might have already done it. Not to mention, many people had already lived under these rules and couldn't find a solution.
Some even tried to steal from the kitchen, but unfortunately, they were caught and punished for breaking the rules.
Veer heaved a sigh of relief as the atmosphere returned to normal. He had been genuinely afraid they would gang up on him.
"But there's something for you," Veer said, jumping and once again standing on a wooden table. He smiled and flicked his fingers as a small container dropped onto the ground out of nowhere.
"W-What?"
"Is that a storage ring?"
"Heavens! He's rich!"
"No wonder he managed to get those two. He's powerful and rich!"
"Damn! I'm jealous!"
The others were surprised as they instantly recognized the ring on Veer's finger. It seemed normal, but after what Veer did, it was clear that it was a storage ring.
These were very rare, but rich families could still afford them, so the students knew about them and had seen many such rings.
Ignoring their reactions, Veer crouched down and patted the container's top. "This has a total of one hundred chocolate bars, and seeing as there are almost one hundred of us, it should be enough."
A smile formed on his lips as he added, "Just endure that trash, and you can eat this to refresh your taste buds."
Not only the others, but even Rock was surprised by his actions. He took a chocolate bar from the container and said, "This is your stock, right? You sure you want to share it with us?"
"I am your leader, so of course I have to make sure you're well-fed," Veer shrugged. "Just enjoy it and support me when it's needed."
"Don't worry, boss! We'll go through hell for you if you manage to solve our food problem!"
"Exactly! I can endure this shitty housing, but not the food. If you can solve it, you'll have my loyalty until I graduate from here."
"I can't promise much, but I'll say this: this whole dormitory will have your back if you manage to fix our food!"
Only now did Veer truly realize how desperate the boys here were. But remembering how the soup tasted, he didn't doubt their intentions.
'I wonder how many have already quit,' Veer thought, looking over at the hundred boys of the Second Dormitory.
Veer had joined quite late because of his awakening, and the actual admission had been ongoing for four months already. Only these hundred had managed to endure those four months, so Veer was sure many others had resigned before even being admitted properly.
'I'll have to solve the Third Dormitory problem too,' Veer thought, remembering there was one more dormitory with even worse conditions.
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, he stood up and said, "My soldiers, endure one more night. I promise you'll eat good food tomorrow!"
"Hell yeah!"
After that, he let someone distribute the chocolates to everyone and stood silently in the corner.
He observed every single student and noticed how happy they were while eating the chocolate bars.
'Ah! I might get addicted to this pointless kindness,' Veer thought, shaking his head and turning away.
Since he had no appetite after drinking that soup, he decided to go outside and walk around the dormitories.
As he was exiting the building, an excited voice stopped him.
"Hey! Boss!"
Veer stopped and waited for the young man with spiky hair to catch up. Then, they began walking together as Victor started the conversation.
"Boss! Are you sure you can solve the problem?" Victor asked after some hesitation. He scratched his cheek and added, "You know, we don't want false hopes."
"Don't worry! I already have a solution for that," Veer smiled and didn't elaborate further. Instead, he asked the question that had been bugging him for a while. "By the way, I've seen people from the First and Second Dormitories, but no one from the Third Dormitory. Why is that?"
"Oh, that? Well, it's because no one lives there," Victor shrugged as they reached the outside of the Second Dormitory.
He pointed at the Third Dormitory, which looked like a haunted house now that darkness was creeping in, and said, "Everyone already resigned!"
"That's surprising!" Veer raised an eyebrow.
"Not really!" Victor sighed. "You've seen our conditions, and the Third Dormitory had it worse than us, so you can already imagine the hell they lived in."
Veer hummed and stayed silent, looking at the Third Dormitory, which was so old and worn down that it looked like it might collapse at any moment.
After observing everything, Veer came to a conclusion. The First Dormitory represented the high class, including powerful and rich people.
The Second Dormitory was for the middle class, where people had just enough to survive and a small chance of moving to the high class.
As for the Third Dormitory, it represented the slums—a poor area where even survival was difficult, so hardly anyone could achieve anything.
'No underdogs rising from the slums?' Veer was a little surprised but didn't dwell on it.
He was the protagonist, so there was no need for an additional "protagonist" figure.
Then his gaze shifted to the First Dormitory, which looked like a five-star hotel, and a sigh escaped his lips. He had to give Freya some credit for creating such a system, but it was flawed in many ways.
Just like how the world is!
Victor spent some more time with Veer, joking around and sharing details about the academy. After the sun completely dipped below the horizon, leaving only the dark sky, Victor also left.
Thinking of something, Veer took out his phone and called Elara. As always, it didn't take long for her to pick up. A sweet, content voice came through the line.
"Yo! I was just about to call you. Our dear Liliana actually has a magic that can turn even the most garbage food into the best delicacy. Want some help?"
Veer was speechless and replied after a pause, "...No, but I do need your help with something else."