Number 69

Miss Alison also stared at the leaderboard in shock, not knowing what to say. Every single detail on it seemed to stun her to her core.

Mr. Austin looked at the screen, a glint flashing through his eyes. He was one of the few people in the audience who was absolutely not surprised by any of the improvements. He had felt something like this coming all along.

The room stayed silent a little longer than expected—Noah Crimson's rank was clearly displayed as SSS.

Actually, no one cared about all the other candidates on the leaderboard. All they truly cared about were the top three, which everyone believed Thompson would fall under.

The leaderboard was structured as follows:

1. Noah Crimson – SSS-Rank

2. Thompson Machall – S-Rank

3. Stella Henderson – A-Rank

This shocked everyone to their very core. Firstly, there hadn't even been anyone recorded with an SS-Rank, let alone an SSS. What exactly was going on?

Sure enough, the news spread like wildfire, and before long, the half-field hall could barely accommodate any more guests.

Miss Elizabeth stood frozen in shock as she gradually—but steadily—read down the names of all 70 candidates with their ranks, or rather, their upgraded ranks.

Miss Lucy calmly scanned the board with her eyes as she clenched her fists and shivered slightly.

She traced through all 70 names and finally found hers at number 69. A cool wave of relief washed over her—at least she hadn't been eliminated this early, she thought. Then she checked her rank: B-Rank. On a normal day, this might've made her happy, but today wasn't just a normal day.

Lucy glanced through the top 70 candidates again. She actually had the lowest rank among them. Most people had A-Ranks—nobody apart from Noah and Thompson had made it to S—but still, the rest had at least A-Rank, even past the 70th person.

A chill ran down Lucy's spine. It might've just been luck that got her through. She remembered her first trial and how she'd nearly guessed her answer. Lucy slouched back in her seat with a bit of force—she might not have deserved to be here after all.

Miss Alison blinked at the leaderboard, her eyes flickering in disbelief. Did this mean Lucy had actually leveled up? Was Derek really at an SSS-Rank? These and many more thoughts raced through her mind. Suddenly, Thompson came to mind, and Miss Alison glanced over to where he was seated.

Thompson, despite all the commotion, remained calm. Though his fists were tightly clenched together, he still didn't show any emotion on his face. He wore the same expression she had seen on him throughout the Mind Grid.

Was he a robot? Miss Alison wondered. There was just no way a human could be like this. He expressed no emotions—except for perseverance. She just couldn't picture it.

Miss Elizabeth finally finished announcing all 70 candidates. She was now visibly sweating. The pressure from the piercing gazes and the unexpected turn of events was clearly getting to her.

Just as she finished, the voice of a man pierced through the hall like a knife.

"We need to see this Noah Crimson of yours. We can't pay a huge amount of money for a ticket to get in here, only for you to randomly pick a name, hand him the trophy, and slap on an unreasonable rank!" the man flared, pointing straight at the leaderboard.

The man in question was the Minister of Finance. Although he worked with a lot of sophisticated AIs, he still earned a massive salary—even though he was rarely needed in person.

He was a trusted man and not someone easily challenged, which explained why he was seated at the table for the specials.

"You guys better have a reasonable explanation for this or things won't go well! I can't spend this kind of money and get this crap," Mr. George added, banging the table where he sat.

As if that wasn't enough, another voice came from the opposite end of the hall—calm and collected this time.

"Proceed and wrap up the competition. There's rigging here as far as I'm concerned, but it has still been a great event."

The voice, though barely louder than a whisper, carried clearly due to the silence.

Everyone turned in shock to find the person who had the nerve to speak against George like that. To their surprise—it was Lucian.

Even George turned, his anger rising—until he saw who it was. To his surprise, it was indeed Lucian. He knew better than to challenge that man further.

Lucian's head remained bowed, his black hat still covering a significant portion of his face. Despite the gaze and attention he drew, Lucian wore an expressionless face.

He knew that allowing this situation to spiral out of control would only draw more fame to the alleged Noah Crimson. In the long run, that could ruin his plans.

This exact event had happened in his former life, and it was one of the things that blew up the internet. It became worldwide news. This very moment had helped catapult Noah to stardom in the distant future.

Lucian definitely didn't want that to happen.

With the hall still silent, Lucian added:

"Anyone who unjustly sues this court or any of the candidates will have me to contend with. Have a good day."

Lucian finished his statement and stood up, leaving the hall gracefully—each step landing with quiet authority.

---

******

Derek was seated outside, a drink in his hand as he admired the evening sun. It had been quite a long day. The trial still wore on him; he hadn't fully recovered from it yet. It had truly been quite the drama.

Derek calmly sipped his drink and looked around. He could see the other candidates, either sitting or standing around, casually chatting about the competition as the evening went on.

They had just one week left until the final. Derek knew they didn't have much time, despite everything they went through in the Mind Grid.

Lost in thought, Derek suddenly felt a tap on his back. Surprised he turned to the words.

"Can I sit here?"