"Hold on." The instructor dropped his clipboard and sprinted toward the target range, clearly as eager as everyone else to see the results.


    Once there, he knelt, carefully examining the three moving targets. His face registered shock. Then more shock. And then, pure, unadulterated shock.


    "How is this possible?" he murmured, tracing the bullet holes with his finger before looking back at Juniper, his expression one of utter disbelief.


    "What''s the score?" the students yelled, dying of suspense.


    The boy waited with a pounding heart.


    After a few seconds of stunned silence, the instructor finally stammered, "The score is... ten points."


    Hearing this, the boy pumped his fist with a triumphant "Yes!" He cheered, thinking her total for all three shots was a mere ten. Not only had she failed to beat him, she hadn''t even cracked the top three. He knew it! Her earlier scores had been a fluke.


    "Wait," the instructor said, cutting through the boy''s celebration with a gulp. "You might have misunderstood me. When I said ten points, I meant... each of the three shots was ten points."


    The boy''s cheering died in his throat. He froze, staring at the instructor in disbelief. What? All three were tens? That meant her total was thirty, still beating him!


    He refused to believe it. He wouldn''t believe Juniper was that good.


    With a grim expression, the boy broke into a frantic run toward the target range. The instructor didn''t stop him, letting him see the proof for himself.


    A perfect ten. Another perfect ten. And a third. Not only had she hit the ten-point ring every time, but each shot was dead center in the bullseye. On moving targets.


    Seeing the scores with his own eyes, the boy finally epted the reality. His legs gave out, and he copsed to the ground.


    "My god, what kind of monster is she? Perfect score on the entrance exam, breaks the obstacle course record, and now she''s hitting perfect bullseyes on moving targets?"


    "And the


    azy thing is, she makes it


    all look so easy, like it''s just a game for her. A little of this, a little of that, and Bam a perfect score


    "If I tried ''a little of this and a little of that,'' I''d end up in the hospital."


    "That''s it, I''m changing how I refer to her. Juniper is for mere mortals like us. From now on, she''s ''the Goddess.""


    "Wait, did none of you see that guy from the animation department deliberately mess with her rifle?"


    "He stooped that low just to win? And look what happened. He gotpletely owned by the Goddess!"


    "Yes! We won!" The students of Company 22 erupted in joyous cheers. It was a clean, undeniable victory.


    The animation students, on the other hand, stood in stunned silence, not daring to utter a single word.


    "I hereby dere that the winner of this shootingpetition is Company 22!" the instructor announced, his voice booming.. "Furthermore, due to the


    unsportsmanlike conduct of vel


    student from the animation department, who intentionally damaged his opponent''s equipment, hets disqualified from his


    second-ce position. All


    subsequent ranks will move up.


    A gasp of delight came from the student who had originally ced fourth. It seemed


    fate had a way of dealing with cheaters. He deserved it!


    After the announcement, the boy, Ferdinand Malone, got to his feet and tried to sneak away.


    Juniper stepped in front of him, blocking his path. She tossed him the megaphone. "Time to pay up," she said, her voice like ice.


    "My name is Ferdinand Malone. My father is the chairman of the Malone


    Group Era City, tha


    hissed, keeping his voice low but his tonè arrogant.


    The Malone family. A well-known name in Era City, a wealthy family that had made its fortune in coal mining.


    "The Malone family, you say?" Juniper crossed her arms, tilting her chin up as she feigned deep contemtion.