It ought to be the last day of the test, but White didn’t feel interested in venturing out to hunt Supernaturals.

He had already completed the system quest and was currently ranked number 1 on the Points ranking.

Safe to say, he had already achieved his goal.

"Food?"

The words echoed to him, coming from Zisel, who was stuffing down foodstuffs into her cheeks.

"I don’t..."

He tried to say, but even though his lips kept moving, at the point of rejection, air suddenly refused to leave his lips.

The sight of it made White pause, his hands rubbing his neck, before he replied again.

"I don’t..."

And once more, the words disappeared.

"Youuuu okay?"

Zisel asked, noticing the weirdness of it.

White paused in disbelief before an idea occurred to him, and he tried.

"Actually... I’d like something to eat too."

He said, and while it made Zisel smile, White’s heart shook.

’Is that...’

[It didn’t allow you to refuse her.]

The system panel flashed.

’Why do I have to be the one in between this toxic love?’

White asked, as Zisel passed him some juice and loaves.

"You’re not him."

Zisel suddenly said, and White turned to her.

"What is that?"

"You’re not what you were yesterday,"

Zisel noted, but then in that moment, she watched as White’s hair suddenly began changing to a dark color, lengthening.

"Oh,"

It made her freeze as he shut his eyes for a while, dark veins shifting all over his face, and his teeth clenched as he resisted the intent to shift and reverse the change.

After some struggle, the black hair faded back to the curly white, and White exhaled in slight exhaustion, turning to Zisel, asking,

"Can you do me a favor and not say that again?"

He asked, and she paused for a while before nodding.

"So, it’s there inside you."

She noted, and White didn’t argue it.

That was obvious enough.

As they ate, she turned to her runic watch, her hands pausing all of a sudden.

It drew White’s attention, watching as Zisel looked at him in shock.

She held even more disbelief than that horrific transformation of his yesterday.

"What’s wrong?"

He asked in caution.

"You’re number 1 on the ranking, with exactly 7,080 points?"

She asked in disbelief, though White didn’t understand why that was so shocking.

"I was number 1 yesterday too, though, right?"

"Yes. But you had about 1,400 points, and then the one in 2nd position had 1,210. Right now, your points are 7,080, but the rank 2 person is at 2,300."

She said.

"You’re number 1 by a multiple of three. Just how many Supernatural creatures did you kill? Was that what made you lose it and appear... like that?"

She said, and White couldn’t help but drift back to yesterday.

He had really gone all out yesterday, killing Supernaturals to fulfill the test’s quest.

It was why, when someone like Inumaki had appeared, who, though strong, was still nowhere near White’s true power level, he had still been forced to flee.

He was simply too weakened.

And that was when the realization hit him.

’I’ve killed them both. Inumaki and Rukun. I killed both of them.’

"Yes. It was one of the reasons."

He said to Zisel, who nodded her head before quickly stuffing down the rest of her breakfast.

"I have to go up the rankings, too. At least enough to qualify for the next Outerschool outing."

She mused.

"You’re not coming?"

She asked, and White nodded.

He was already at the top by so many factors. Why bother?

"I’ll take a brea..."

He tried to say, but all of a sudden, the air disappeared out of his lungs once more.

This time, Zisel could clearly see it, as White’s face scrunched up in slight annoyance, rubbing his throat.

’No way! You’re not going to tell me what to say or not say!’

He screamed back at whatever held his voice, trying to stop him from speaking, and tried to take back control, only to fail.

"Well, see you here at night, then..."

Zisel said, turning her back, and in that moment, the change began violently as White’s dark skin rapidly began peeling, his hair lengthening and its color changing.

[You can’t fight against its transformation, White. It’ll completely take over if it wants.]

The system panel.

’Well, I also can’t keep letting it have its way.’

White said, gritting his teeth and trying to revert.

[Let it have its way for now, while you find a way to keep it in control.]

The system advised, and White’s brow creased in slight annoyance at first before eventually he sighed.

"Fine!"

He said in his thoughts as the transformation halted, before receding.

"You know what, Zisel?"

White called out as Zisel turned, finding him grabbing a couple more bottled drinks and snacks before shutting the vault door.

"I wanna help you out."

White said as the vault made a beeping sound.

"Help me out?"

Zisel asked.

"Yes. Don’t tell me you don’t think having the number 1 student on the ranking by your side as you fight against Supernaturals and try to go up the ranking won’t be good for you."

He said as he watched her narrow her eyes in distrust.

"But of course, you can say no. Then, I..."

In that moment, she watched again as his lips kept moving, but the words stopped coming out, and White’s expression plummeted once more.

Though it looked all weird, in a way, Zisel felt like she understood what was going on perfectly, and she turned back, hiding the smirk on the corner of her face.

"Actually, I don’t mind. I move fast, though, so... don’t fall too far behind."

She said before becoming a purple blitz.

White raised an eyebrow at her words before he laughed out loud into the air.

"Yeah, right."

He said, cutting off the nylon on a snack and stuffing the meaty beef snacks into his mouth while jogging after her.

______

Zisel has always seen herself as faster.

Her purple eyes weren’t just purple for purple’s sake; they offered her incredibly fast processing speed that wasn’t just mental but also physical, allowing her to race forward with more speed than most.

Yet when she turned her head to the side, the scene made her jaw drop.