048

One of them grabbed Ron and began to hurl him over himself before sending him flying through the cafeteria. The five of them were augmented. They had built-in machinery in their bodies that enabled them to display fighting prowess beyond your average human. They were young but already incredibly powerful, even without their armaments.

As Ron flew away, he didn't even know why. As he crashed into a table, breaking it, and covering himself with various dishes, he felt more surprise than pain or anger. As he slowly got up, he could hear the jeers of the other students and the grief of the few who had their table broken and food littered over the floor.

As for the five who threw him out, they were laughing.

He looked at them, then at the rest of the crowd and finally, at his outfit covered in food. He spotted a little piece of meat and picked it, then ate it. It was tasty. As he glanced around, he saw nothing but mockery, childish mockery. But he didn't feel anything. He wasn't embarrassed, scared or anything similar. He looked at his silver mechanical arm. This was probably the reason why he didn't care right now. He had faced something far more terrible before and this seemed just too… small. Yeah, it was lowly. It wasn't worth his attention.

He looked at the five and sighed before leaving the cafeteria amidst the jeering.

He was no longer hungry anyways. He went to take a shower and threw the clothes he wore into a bin. He washed them after his own shower and then went on to lay in his bed. He spent some time on his wrist-com then cried himself to sleep as he recalled his loneliness.

More than the pain of losing an arm, losing his status, Ron was feeling the loss of his friends and acquaintances. The memories didn't want to leave him alone though. And every time, he recalled how there wouldn't be anymore with these people. It made him cry.

…

He woke up to a new day and pumped himself. He prepared himself before leaving his dorm. He planned to go around the neighborhood once more. Different from before, whenever he passed by a student, they would chuckle at him or send a bad joke his way.

He ignored them.

The day seem to go by in a flash as he enjoyed the fresh air of the outside world. He spent some time in a park and around a plaza, taking in the sights and enjoying the few performers.

Then, he went back for dinner. He didn't hesitate to go to the cafeteria again. What happened previously didn't matter in front of free food.

Students mocked him overtly as he walked in and throughout the process of getting his food. As he was standing with his tray, he looked around and there was still only one table free. He sighed and went to sit over there before starting his meal.

He ate in peace

The five augmented students didn't arrive while he was there. They only reached the cafeteria after he left. They were quite angered by his antics but couldn't do shit about it at the moment. They would get him the next day.

And from there, time passed by in similar ways.

After being sent flying once again, he just gave up on that table. It wasn't worth the effort. And things became easier. He just randomly sat wherever, spooking the students of the table. But he ate just fine.

And it became the day of the new term. As he approached the gates where the class assignments were fixed on signs, he checked for his name.

War Engineering…No. It wasn't here. Maybe they placed him in a different major?

Heavy Mechanical Engineering…No.

Weapon Engineering…No.

Chemical Engineering…No.

…

Modern Engineering…No.

He couldn't find his name anywhere.

He tried looking again but it really wasn't up there. He waited until most students left, either rejoicing or depressing, and went to ask a worker. The both of them looked once more and they did not find his name in any engineering classes.

Then, the worker offered to check in the other departments. He found his name. In the attendant department. He asked the worker what this was and the worker looked at him as if at an idiot. It was to be expected. Who would be signing up for this kind of thing with no knowledge of it? Still, the worker answered him.

Augmented assistants…

As Ron heard the man, his face turned pale. It wasn't his work to take care of a student's mental health so the worker got him the timetable and left him. As he looked at it, he saw that there was a lesson in half an hour. But he couldn't care less. He had a bigger problem right now.

He ran to the faculty building and went straight to the counter. As he talked about his situation, the poor guy behind the counter didn't know what to do. In the end, he called the head of admission over.

As the head of admission was being told about the student making a ruckus at the faculty counter, he sighed. From the start, he knew this guy would come. So, he prepared himself. He would play the villain until the end.

He went out to meet him and began to explain to him that after reviewing his test results, they decided to send him there. Depending on how he did, he would have the opportunity to switch back to an engineering major.

Ron looked at him with disgust throughout.