My Seven Wives in One Body and Me, her Manager-Chapter 62: Now, It’s the School’s Core Team’s Turn

Once the students finished fighting the enemy and successfully defeated them, the display on the window showed the final moments of the simulation, replaying so they could analyze it. Mario could be seen burying his axe into the Blob Mantis’s eye, forcing it back, before Viola and the other students moved in for the kill. After the footage ended, the gym lights flickered back on. Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly looked down to see all the students panting and looking exhausted; many were sitting on the floor, their chests heaving as they struggled for breath.

Suddenly, Steve threw his arms around them, pulling Dennis, Jason in the middle, and Kimberly on the end into a wide huddle.

"Okay, get down there, fast. It’s your turn. After this, I’m going to teach the others who’ve already awakened how to draw out their power, and I’ll explain the awakening process to those who haven’t yet," Steve said with a smile.

"Ugh... alright, sir," Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly replied dejectedly.

Eventually, the three of them went down to the center of the field. Meanwhile, the other students helped each other up and headed to the mezzanine to watch their turn. Without any small talk or explanation from Steve, the entire room suddenly went pitch black. Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly found themselves in the same ruined city filled with darkness, lit only by the stars and the black snowflakes falling around them. Then, a Blob Mantis and two Tusk Crawlers appeared before them. Suddenly, a voice came over the mic.

"Now, I’m giving you ten minutes, so please finish this quickly. Simulation start," Steve said through the speakers.

"Skrieeeek!"

The enemies immediately lunged at the three of them with ferocity. Naturally, the trio readied their weapons and took their stances. Jason shook his head.

"Man... only ten minutes? Back on the bridge, it took us forever," Jason said.

"There were more enemies back then. Let’s just do this," Dennis said, taking the lead.

"Let’s go," Kimberly said, drawing her two carbine rifles.

Immediately, Dennis activated his Blood Lust, hoping to wrap everything up in five minutes. Meanwhile, Kimberly was shrouded in a silver fire aura and Jason in a purple fire aura as he aimed his sniper rifle forward, kneeling on one leg. Without delay, Dennis blurred forward, passing the two Tusk Crawlers. Kimberly followed, instantly taking down one Tusk Crawler with her dual carbines. The Blob Mantis swung its mantis-like, spiked arm. Jason fired, blowing one arm clean off with his sniper, while Dennis parried the other with his gauntlet.

Dennis delivered a front kick that sent the Blob Mantis reeling backward, then sidestepped a needle shot from the remaining Tusk Crawler. "Blam!" Jason shot the Blob Mantis square in the chest, shattering its eye. Kimberly then charged forward, blasting the Blob Mantis at point-blank range and severing its legs with her carbines. Following up, Dennis leaped over Kimberly and smashed his fist into the creature’s upper body where the head should be, burying his hand deep inside as he landed on the monster’s shoulders. The dragon-like tentacles lashed out at Dennis, but Jason picked them off one by one from a distance, destroying them.

Dennis drove his other fist in and, using his raw strength, ripped the Blob Mantis’s body apart to the left and right, while Kimberly fired into its exposed vitals, killing it instantly. As the Blob Mantis’s carcass hit the ground and Dennis landed, he, Kimberly, and Jason turned toward the last remaining Tusk Crawler. It looked terrified. They just smiled. Of course, the Tusk Crawler was taken out immediately, and the simulation ended in just four minutes.

Dennis immediately deactivated his Blood Lust, breathing a sigh of relief because they had defeated the enemy before he lost consciousness. He turned to see Jason and Kimberly also powering down their energy auras and raising their hands; Dennis shared a high-five with both of them. Everything went dark, and then the room lights flickered back on. They looked up to see the screens on the mezzanine still replaying the final moments of the simulation.

"That turned out to be easy, but I’m glad you didn’t lose it this time. I was actually a little scared I’d have to fight you if you went berserk again," Kimberly said to Dennis.

"I’ve been practicing. I can hold it together for five minutes now before I lose consciousness," Dennis replied.

"Wow... so that was a close call. Good thing nothing happened," Jason said, looking surprised.

"That’s the idea. Since I have you guys, I was sure we could wrap it up in under five minutes, and I knew you’d be able to stop me if I went off the rails," Dennis said, looking at his two friends.

"Easy for you to say. You literally killed Ivan and Sasha," Kimberly noted.

"They weren’t ready for it then, right? That’s only natural. If they had been prepared, I don’t think they would have been taken out that easily," Jason added thoughtfully.

"Yeah, exactly. Ivan was able to keep up with me even when I was raging; I saw it in the video playback from our sparring simulation," Dennis said.

Suddenly, they were startled by the sound of applause. Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly looked up at the mezzanine and saw that the replay had finished. Almost the entire 10th-grade class was clapping, including Mario, Viola, Franky, and Fiona, who were applauding enthusiastically with wide, proud smiles. There was also some scattered, much quieter clapping from a few 11th graders, though most of them just looked terrified as they stared at Dennis.

Then the mic crackled to life again. "Alright, congrats on finishing the exercise so quickly. Now, get back up here. The next lesson is about to begin," Steve said over the speakers.

Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly immediately headed up to the mezzanine and walked toward the room next to the control booth used for briefings. As soon as they reached the mezzanine, they were swarmed by the 10th graders. Plenty of people tried to talk to Jason, especially the girls, and a crowd of guys gathered around Kimberly. Naturally, the space around Dennis remained empty—until Mario, Viola, Franky, and Fiona approached him.

"Wow... you were amazing, dude," Mario said cheerfully, holding out his fist.

"Thanks," Dennis replied, bumping Mario’s fist with his own.

"Crazy. You took down the enemy that nearly killed us in just a heartbeat. I’m proud of you, man," Franky said enthusiastically, offering his fist as well.

"That enemy was actually pretty tough," Dennis replied, bumping Franky’s fist.

"Ah, you made it look easy, big brother. I loved watching it," Viola said.

"Exactly. You really are great, and you look so cool right now," Fiona added.

"Yeah... thanks," Dennis replied awkwardly.

Seeing Mario, Viola, Franky, and Fiona crowding around Dennis, the other 10th graders began trying to talk to him as well, making him feel awkward since he wasn’t used to the attention. However, not a single 11th grader—his own classmates—offered a word. They only swarmed Jason and Kimberly, acting as if they were repulsed by him. Dennis began to understand it more clearly now. Just as Jason had said, the problem wasn’t with him; it was with his classmates.

"Clap... clap,"

Everyone turned to see an impatient Steve clapping his hands. Immediately, the 11th and 10th graders lined up and began walking toward the briefing room next to the control booth. But as Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly tried to pass by, Steve placed his hand on Dennis’s chest, stopping the three of them.

"You guys head back to class and rest. Your performance was enough," Steve said with a smile.

"Wait, we aren’t joining the lesson, sir?" Dennis asked, confused. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"What else are you going to do in the lesson? Your goal was to show off your abilities to the others. Now that’s done, you aren’t needed anymore. So go to the cafeteria, the classroom, or wherever you want—just don’t go home. I don’t care, okay," Steve answered.

"Alright then, sir," Dennis, Jason, and Kimberly replied.

Steve walked straight into the briefing room, leaving the three of them standing there dazed, staring at his back. They looked at one another, then turned their gaze back to Steve as he opened the door and stepped inside. Once the door closed,

"So that training we just did was basically just to show off?" Jason asked, sounding confused.

"It feels a little insulting, because it feels like after being used for a show, we’re just tossed aside and not invited to join," Kimberly added, clutching her chest.

"It looks like we were just used as tools to motivate the others... yeah, you’re right, it is insulting," Dennis said.

"Aaah, whatever. Let’s go to the cafeteria. What are we even doing here? Might as well go eat, I’m hungry," Jason said, turning around and putting his arm around his wife.

"You’re right, babe. Screw it," Kimberly replied.

"Okay, let’s go," Dennis replied, turning back even though he still glanced over his shoulder at the briefing room on the mezzanine.

As they walked, an interface screen popped up in front of Dennis’s face, and he read it silently.

[EXP Point Gained : 150,000 point.]

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Character Profile :

Name : Dennis Larson.

Race : High Human.

Class : Barbarian

Level : 30 -> 32 (13,000 / 77,500 -> 82,500)

Health : 20,000 / 22,400 -> 23,400.

Stamina (SP): 8530 / 9000 -> 9250.

Strength : 22,700 -> 24,100.

Agility : 21,700 -> 23,100.

Dexterity : 21,900 -> 23,300.

Constitution : 22,700 -> 24,100.

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Dennis closed his interface screen, then continued walking toward the cafeteria alongside Jason and Kimberly, who were chatting while holding hands.