The first few class periods flew by, with class proceeding as usual: the teacher focused solely on the students from the Upper Zone, while those from the Lower Zone had to struggle to follow what the teacher was saying and hope that someone from the Upper Zone would ask the questions they had.
If no one asked, they could only rely on themselves to look up the material in their textbooks and figure it out on their own, since the teachers not only didn’t care if they failed, but actually thought it was a good thing when students from the Lower Zone failed and the class was left with only students from the Upper Zone.
At first, Lohan paid attention to what was being taught there, but the more he understood the subject matter—which wasn’t that difficult for him given the education he’d already received in the other world—the more he realized it was a waste of time for him.
For him, who intended to focus on Elysium to develop himself—especially after feeling the major physical changes he was undergoing there—learning such specific and useless knowledge about the planets of the Human Federation would add nothing to his development in this life. So, upon realizing this, Lohan simply tuned out during class, mentally planning what he would do in Elysium.
Like him, several students weren’t paying much attention in class, especially the students from the Upper Zone who had already played Elysium.
Unlike the first time Lohan had noticed, when only 31 students besides him had played Elysium, that number had now risen to 39, and from the conversations he overheard occasionally, it was likely that by tomorrow all the students in the Upper Zone would have played the game.
Unfortunately, only Lohan and the other boy from the Lower Zone had played the game, given how expensive the neural helmet was.
During lunch break, Lohan hadn’t brought anything to eat, since he no longer needed it.
Consuming just a Level A nutritional solution was enough to keep him satiated for over 30 hours.
But he still got up from his seat and went to the college cafeteria, taking advantage of this rare opportunity to hear the gossip and news that these Upper Zone people had heard.
Looking for an empty spot, yet still close to where the Upper Zone students were, Lohan sat down and activated his perception abilities.
Even from a slight distance, he could still clearly hear various conversations from there.
Lohan’s perception abilities now functioned like a high-precision filter, allowing him to isolate layers of sound amid the chaos of the cafeteria.
At first, all that came through were trivial and frivolous conversations among the college elite, such as a girl complaining that her class’s starting outfits were "a crime against aesthetics," while a third-generation heir bragged about spending a small fortune in credits to buy mana potions and speed up the grind in Novata Village.
To Lohan, hearing that they were still struggling to reach level 5 in organized groups seemed like a joke, considering that he was already hunting elite monsters, but he didn’t mock them or show any reaction, acting as neutral as possible, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
However, the tone of the conversations changed abruptly when he focused on a group of students from the Upper Zone who seemed to be in a state of shock, staring intently at their holographic terminals.
"Did you guys see last night’s global notifications? Those sirens with the warnings about some guy named Halon performing the first official PK in the open world! Not only did he leave Novice Village while I’m still stuck at level 6, but he also killed a player before the big guilds even left the starting instances!" One of the boys remarked, his voice laced with a mix of envy and fear.
"And the worst part is, he didn’t just commit PK..." a girl interrupted, gesturing frantically. "Right after that came the announcement of the founding of the first guild, Astralis Requiem. How is that possible? My brother is in the vanguard group of the Noctis Group, and they swore they’d be the first, but this Halon and his guild just publicly humiliated them... from what I’ve heard, all the financial groups are desperately trying to find out who the founders and sponsors of that guild are..."
Lohan felt a cold satisfaction run through his muscles, which were now tense and defined beneath the cheap clothes of the Lower Zone. He kept listening as the group debated absurd theories about his identity.
"To me, not even the act of founding the first guild is the most surprising thing..." the first boy continued, lowering his voice, but not enough for Lohan’s keen senses. "They didn’t just found the guild; they cleared the first open-world dungeon right after that. From what my uncle told me, dungeons in the open world must have monsters of at least Level 10, with Level 10 Elites and possibly even a Level 11 Boss! Who is this Halon? They say he must have at least an Epic Class or maybe even a Legendary Class to be so far ahead of billions of players simultaneously!"
Hearing his own player name spoken with such awe by the very students who had ignored him in college was invigorating. He didn’t need validation or attention from these people, but still, it’s hard not to feel anything when the same people who used to look down on him now had to say his name with such respect.
Lohan realized that, for the elite of the Upper Zone, the emergence of "Halon" and "Astralis Requiem" wasn’t just gaming news—it had already become a seismic shift in the race to develop that other world.
While they speculated whether he was a highly paid super-soldier or a secret tactical genius from some rival corporation, Lohan simply breathed in the air of the cantina, filtering out the toxins and feeling the mana circulate warmly through his veins, doing his utmost to act like an ordinary kid from the Lower Zone.
What he didn’t realize, being so focused on that conversation, was that someone else was listening to it with great interest, yet keeping her expression as blank as possible, acting as if they weren’t talking about her Guild.
But inside, Isabella was laughing with pride.
’When I tell Halon what I’m hearing here, he’s going to be really shocked, hehe.’ She let out a mental laugh, but kept up her cool facade for the people around her.