Coal Archer

As everyone understood and saw the explanation of the ranks from the system, they turned their heads to Zane, the one who had gained the rank of Coal. As they saw him standing near the Crystal of Awakening, the Saintness, who had been watching in silence all this time, stepped forward and stood right in front of him. There, in front of everyone, at this very moment being broadcast across the entire continent, she spoke in a voice that everyone could hear.

Saintness: "You!!! You're the God of Killing, right? I know it's you!" she said, pointing her finger directly at Zane's face, trying to provoke a reaction.

As those words were spoken straight to his face, Zane's expression changed to one of anger and surprise.

Zane:

"WHAT?!" He stepped back, trying to move away from her. "Hey! Just because you're the Saint doesn't mean you can call someone something like that! Also, it's really rude to point at someone with your finger!"

Saintness: ...Oh? So you're saying I'm wrong?"

Zane stayed silent for a few seconds before answering. As he prepared to respond to the Saintness, a sonic boom shocked everyone at the Awakening Ceremony, creating a large amount of dust and causing the newly awakened players to fall to their knees and tumble over. As the dust began to clear, a maid with an angry expression appeared, carrying the Saintness in her arms and trying to escape with her. Before anyone could recover from their shock, the maid looked at the Saintness.

Maid: "Canna!!! What did I tell you? You can't accuse people like that! We've been over this again and again over the years!"

She yelled at the Saintness, who was still trying to escape from her grasp. As the Saintness struggled, the maid slapped her bottom repeatedly and lectured her right in front of Zane. Zane, still confused about the events unfolding before his eyes, accidentally glanced at her status.

Status Window:

Name: ?????

Class: ????

Age: ????

Level: 99

Rank: Diamond

Title: ????

Achievement: ????

Stats:

Attack Power: 999 ^ + ?????

Strength: 999 ^ + ?????

Agility: 999 ^ + ?????

As Zane tried to read all her stats, she suddenly turned her head in his direction, disappearing before his eyes and reappearing right in front of him, still carrying the Saintness in her arms.

Zane thought:

"What?! She's fast—really fast! Also, level 99? I couldn't see all her stats, but I'm sure they're all 999^ since they have that symbol (^) next to the numbers. She's already reached her limit. And the '+' mark with five question marks means they're all 10,000 or above. Just how powerful is this woman? She's much stronger than the rankers from my past life."

As the maid examined Zane and took in his appearance, she bowed to him and asked for forgiveness.

Maid:

"Hello, young man. Can you forget everything she said to you? Also, I'm sorry for her actions. She's a troublemaker and has always been like this, accusing people with those weird nicknames of hers."

Hearing the maid's words, the Saintness started talking again.

Saintness:

"Wait! This time, I'm sure he's the one who caused that cosmic horror back then! I can feel it—he's the same being who entered our world years ago. It's him! Also, he happens to be the reason for the new rank. Not only that, he has an Archer class, a class that was abandoned over a millennium ago. With all of that, doesn't it make sense that it's him?"

Maid:

"Shut it! I'm not giving you any sweets for a year if you keep talking like that!"

The Saintness froze upon hearing this and finally fell silent.

Zane thought:

"What? What's happening right now?"

The maid looked at Zane with pity in her eyes.

Maid thought:

"Don't tell me he can't hear me at all? Did the sonic boom destroy his hearing?"

She turned her head to the others who had fallen over, confirming that their hearing was fine. It was clear that Zane's hearing had been affected.

Maid:

"...God dammit, Canna. I'm putting you down now. Make sure to heal his hearing before anyone notices. If they find out, it will cause us problems... Understand?"

Saintness: "Yes, I will."

Kneeling next to Zane, she grabbed his cheeks and looked into his eyes. As they stared at each other, Zane's hearing was restored.

Zane:

"Thank you for fixing it! Also, what were you two talking about?"

The Saintness and the maid exchanged glances before answering.

Maid:

"Nothing, it's nothing at all. You don't need to worry about that. Just forget what you saw, alright?"

Zane, trying to comprehend her answer, could only agree.

Zane:

"Okay, if you say so. Thank you again for fixing my hearing."

Before standing up and walking away from them, Zane noticed the two waving at him.

Maid:

"You're not allowed to have any sweets for the next year."

Saintness:

"...What?! No, you can't do that! That's too much!"

Maid:

"Too much? You accused an innocent person, and not only that, you broke your promise to only watch from the room!"

Saintness:

"...At least give me one sweet a week? Please...

Maid : No!

As the dust settled and the students got back on their feet, they tried to clear up the trouble that had been caused. They turned to the S-rank player who had been announcing earlier.

As Zane moved away from the spotlight and retreated from the center of the Hero of Sword statue, he couldn't help but talk to himself.

Zane thought:

"That was close! That was too close! How did she know that I'm not from this world and only entered it years ago? If I had stayed there any longer, she might have kept trying to make me confess that she was right! How did she even know that? It's not like I have a special appearance—black hair is normal here. Only those with elemental attributes have different hair colors, and 90% of people have black hair... So how?"

Continuing to walk away, Zane finally blended into the crowd, away from anyone's attention.

As the S-rank player spoke to the Saintness's maid and cleared things up, he prepared to continue the day's event.

S-Rank Player:

"Alright, everyone! Since the problem has been resolved, everyone will now take on the trials. Make sure to team up with people you can trust with your life. And for those who want to take on the trials solo, be sure you won't regret it later. Remember, there are countless people who thought they could do it alone and failed. The next thing you know, they couldn't clear any other trials."

As the announcement echoed, the students began to form groups. Some joined hands with friends, some with family members, and a few groups decided to team up with others who had strong classes.

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