Transmigrating as an Extra Third-Rate Villain

Putting his crossbow on the ground, Han stared up at the ceiling before asking.

"I get your plan...hide until they all fight it all out. Then, in the end, we just pop out and take the top ten placement for ourselves."

Pausing for a moment, Han pointed at the cave, which was completely empty beside us, and said.

"Isn't it counterintuitive though...? If we're down here, then the recruiters can't even see us! I mean, the drones won't even be able to find us down here."

Shaking my head, I replied.

"Were they going to watch us in the first place?"

Seeing pure silence from Han, I was about to get up when a barrage of noises suddenly echoed through the tunnel.

*STEP*

*STEP*

*STEP*

As silence washed over the cave, I gestured for the surprised Han and Jin to be quiet before pointing upward.

Pointing at the ceiling, I smiled and said.

"Looks like they're finally on the move."

The real battle royale was just about to begin.

Of course...we wouldn't be watching it down in this cave, though.

Sitting back down, I leaned against the wall opposite to Jin before saying.

"Well... get comfortable. We're going to be here for a while."

...

...

...

Back in the spectator room, several recruiters could be seen physically standing up and crowding around a single screen.

Seeing this, the school administrators broadcasted the video everyone was watching onto the main screen, which resembled a jumbotron you see at a sports game back on Earth.

The most important recruiters already had the center seats, so they were sitting down while the others desperately tried to get closer to the screen.

The principal, amused by the recruiter's sudden change in behavior, commented.

"Didn't I tell you already? Time solves everything."

The school executive behind her, with a hand on a badge that said "Celestial Academy," sighed before nodding.

On the screen lay over a hundred students, all of which were running through the forest at a certain location.

As the tons of students rushed towards the barrier that was closing in, instead of away like sane people, loud shouts came from within the crowd of recruiters surrounding the jumbotron.

"THEY FOUND A COMPASS!"

"FINALLY, SOME FIGHTING!"

"HOW WILL THE TOP RANKERS DEFEND AGAINST THIS!?"

"CAN WE GET THE GOOD PART!?"

Among all the shouting, a boy resembling a recent graduate of Celestial Academy turned his gaze away from the television.

Pushing back his long black hair bangs, the boy slumped down against the chair before staring at the recruiter next to him.

Noticing the blood-red eyes locked on him, the other recruiters sighed before in a calm and emotionless tone.

"Kaneki, is there something you need?"

Chuckling at the seriousness of his tone, Kaneki, once again, pushed back his bangs... somewhat dramatically this time, before replying.

"You really do never change, don't you? Lighten up a bit, Kazuki."

Looking away from Kaneki and back at the jumbotron, which was displaying the rushing students, Kazuki replied.

"I heard your father has his eyes on a certain student. Shouldn't you be paying attention and observing?"

Chuckling, Kaneki further slumped down in his chair, his legs laid out on the ground, and responded in a joking tone.

"Oh? And isn't your brother, Kevin, also participating? I don't see you observing carefully and watching."

Seeing no response from Kazuki, who had his gaze now locked on the jumbotron, Kaneki covered his eyes and sighed.

"I know what Father said one day... but this is driving me insane. The top-ranked student of the Celestial Academy graduating class... and successor of a top-ranked order doing this?"

"Why couldn't he just have some recruiters do this boring work like every other ranked guild?"

Glancing at Kazuki, Kaneki reworded his thought.

"Besides... the top-ranked guild in the entire world."

Today was more of a preliminary day for recruiters just to weed out the terrible students, so it wasn't like Kaneki could recruit someone if he wanted to.

As Kaneki sat up straight and started watching the jumbotron, he heard a sudden whisper come from the side where Kazuki sat.

"Isn't your brother participating too?"

Propping his head on his elbow, Kaneki smiled and replied.

"You and him did get along pretty well back then, didn't you?"

Considering Ren and Kaneki's father were important figures and former heroes, many parties and banquets were hosted at their houses.

And Kevin's family, being the owners of the top-ranking knight order in the entire world, were, of course, invited.

Seeming to recall some vague memories, Kazuki glanced at the screen and responded in a soft tone.

"We did...he was quite the interesting one. I haven't seen him since that day... though."

Shrugging his shoulders, Kaneki replied.

"It really is a tragedy what happened to him, but I can't say I'm particularly sad."

Kaneki and Ren were never too close, as Kaneki was always dragged off to training sessions and private tutoring.

As the successor of the family, Kaneki was always busy studying and training to meet the higher expectations placed on him, so he barely ever saw Ren.

By the time Kaneki finished all his studies, Ren had already been dismissed and disowned by the family.

However, the younger Kaneki might have felt some grief seeing his brother treated so poorly, but the new Kaneki was different.

Shaped by the lessons of his father and taught to be cruel and unforgiving for the sake of being his successor, Kaneki simply went on with his life with a shrug after hearing the news.

Not upset at Kaneki's disregard for his brother, Kazuki simply sighed and picked up a plate of food from a waitress who was passing by.

Before returning his gaze to the jumbotron, Kazuki asked one last question.

"Oh... and when is your father coming by?"

...

...

...

"GO"

"THE MAP SAYS WE'RE ALMOST THERE."

"KEEP RUNNING."

"THIS IS FOR EVERY NORMAL STUDENT WHO WASN'T LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET SOME OVERPOWERED ABILITY!"

"PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"