[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-sss-rank-god-of-high-school":3,"chapter-the-sss-rank-god-of-high-school-the-sss-rank-god-of-high-school-chapter-51":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The SSS Rank God Of High School",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1501918,1948,"Chapter 51: The First Trial.","the-sss-rank-god-of-high-school-chapter-51",51,"\u003Cp>\"Surprised?\" Ymir turned to Malik with a mischievous smile. \"That even the one who was once named the strongest, played dad before he passed away?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s just an overwhelming piece of information, sir.\" Malik had said the words before his brain caught on. Then he raised his head to the director. \"I mean, my apologies, but I can’t seem to think it through properly. Ren Mora is a cripple—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ren Mora is who he wants everyone to think he is.\" Ymir raised a finger. \"A cripple. A never-awakening prodigy, like the other F-rank students. I could tell he’d done a really good job when you got shot in the back by that sniper.\" He made an impressed face. \"He wouldn’t even click on his abilities instinctively.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But how are we sure he’s truly awakened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’re not. And that’s the interesting part.\" Ymir settled back into his desk, reached into a large pile of papers, and pulled one out. He began folding it into a plane as he spoke. \"It’s easy to conclude that someone biologically linked to an SSS rank wouldn’t have issues awakening, right? I believe that’s the classified information you needed from me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, I guess.\" Malik was preparing to leave when something clicked in his head. \"One more thing though. Why monitor him from a distance? If Ren Mora is truly an SSS rank, shouldn’t he be arrested?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come off it, Malik, I’m not that irresponsible.\" Ymir didn’t look up from the paper plane. \"If I’m going to take further action against him, my perspective alone wouldn’t be enough leverage, would it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I guess not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s why putting him under your surveillance was always part of the plan.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What’s the plan exactly?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’d rather you didn’t ask me that.\" Ymir finished the paper plane and threw it toward Malik. It swooped past him and landed on the floor instead. \"I get bad luck when someone else knows my plans before I carry them out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Author’s POV]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It happened three years ago.\" Elise started, not long after we’d retired from breakfast duties. \"When the last highschool war broke out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shoved the last bite of my cinnamon roll down my throat. \"A highschool war?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She nodded. \"A rift between highschools. I think that part is self-explanatory—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, I got it.\" I lowered my eyes at her. \"Go on.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Silvic High initiated the last one. That was during Zael’s attempt to become the god of highschool.\" I was already forming a question when she continued. \"Zael’s method was manipulative. He managed to turn every school in the city against Royal High. You’d think he was trying to weaken their defence. But that wasn’t it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then what?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zael was pushing Cade to a point of anger. He knew Cade had serious anger problems, that he lost most of his form when he was pushed past a certain point.\" Elise had her fingers tapping the side of her dish. \"So it was easier to take the title of god of highschool from him when Cade came at Zael emotionally compromised. Rumours say the fight lasted three minutes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see.\" I rubbed my chin where I’d fully expected to feel a thick beard and found nothing. The disappointment washed off as a new question arrived. \"Where does Aria come in?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s the thing. Zael’s tenure as god of highschool didn’t last a week.\" Elise leaned slightly closer. \"What we heard was that Aria planned an elaborate coup against him, seized the power and took up the title as the goddess of highschool.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t believe that.\" My expression didn’t move. \"Aria hates politics. Politics is power. Power causes hierarchy. And hierarchy is the last thing she ever wants to be part of.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’ll be shocked when you find out what your crush actually likes.\" She keyed in on the word *crush* like she’d been saving it for exactly this moment. \"Think about it. You already know how powerful she is. That’s supposed to equal popularity, right. So why does everyone act like she doesn’t exist?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why does it feel like you’re forcing this on me?\" I stood up, removed my apron and hung it on the hook across the kitchen. \"Do you have something against Aria?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you even talking about?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I should be asking you that.\" My reply came out blunt. \"The goddess of highschool thing sounded believable until you got to the coup against Zael. Why would she do that? Aria is a lot of things, but power hungry isn’t one of them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t need you to believe me.\" She pushed the words in before I could reach the door. \"If you’re going to vouch for her, you should at least want a confirmation first, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned back when I reached the door. Studied the unfazed look on her face. She looked too confident for someone who was just guessing, and some part of me was finding it harder to dismiss the pieces than I wanted to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the question was still the same one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Aria was really what Elise was describing — a power hungry tyrant operating behind a carefully constructed image — did that make her a red flag?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if it did, what exactly did that mean for whatever I was currently feeling about her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>***\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>LATER THAT EVENING\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone into straight rows.\" The announcement speaker was doing its best to destroy what little peace the evening had offered. \"Once you’ve received your tag and ammo kit, proceed immediately to the main camp ground.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was how the first trial started— an urgent voice over speaker ordering three thousand students out of their cabins like we’d all been expecting this exact moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was 8pm. The rows stretched across the assembly point in hundreds of separate lines while staff members moved along them handing out equipment. I watched the tags while I waited. Three colours— red, blue, yellow. Then the guns. Small, dart-loaded, with the specific look of something designed to sting rather than injure. The whole picture was assembling itself clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chaotic game of tag. About three thousand participants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When my turn came, I received a blue tag, and they made it compulsory that it be pinned visibly to my clothes. Which was essentially attaching a bullseye to my chest and calling it fair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Malik had gotten blue too. I’d noticed because he’d spent the entire walk to the main camp ground convinced our destinies were synced and very enthusiastic about saying so out loud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camp ground was already packed by the time we got there. Ymir was on his hill, standing like a statue — the kind of stillness that communicated he had been there long before everyone else and was waiting without patience, just without movement. He didn’t begin until the last straggler had found their row.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Punctual. I’d give him that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your first trial begins tonight.\" He started, without any kind of warm-up. \"The structure is simple — survive as long as possible without your tag being damaged.\" A pause for the crowd. \"As some of you have noticed, your tags come in three colours. Blue, red and yellow. These represent the three group categories in the trial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You can choose to work with your group or operate solo. The only rule is that you cannot disqualify a member of your own colour.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let that breathe for a second before continuing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What you’re about to participate in is an extreme game of tag. Robotic drones have been deployed throughout the arena. Your task is to avoid detection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you are spotted— and most of you will be— you defend yourself using the dart guns and ammo rounds in your kit. This trial is not time-limited. It ends when a total of one thousand students have been disqualified.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A thousand. First trial. Which meant a third of the entire participant pool was going home tonight before the second trial even started. Then again, the math had always pointed here: only ten students were coming out of this whole process, and three thousand had started it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone in the crowd raised their hand. Ymir saw it. Kept talking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The trial carries 40 points— a third of your total aggregate score. Points are calculated by eliminations, stealth strategy and defence performance. Once your tag is damaged, you lose all accumulated points and are officially disqualified.\" He looked across the crowd. \"Proceed to the trial zone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trial zone was directly behind the main camp ground. Visible gate locks. An actual sign that said ’TRIALS ZONE’in large, unambiguous letters. At least this building had done the courtesy of labelling itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From outside the gate, I had just enough of a view to get the shape of the place. A city inside a city. Actual buildings, destroyed ones, their upper floors missing, rooftops collapsed at different angles, rubble and broken facades visible through the gate gaps. One glance and the apocalyptic tournament backdrop I’d been spending my nights in started sending recognition signals straight through to the front of my brain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The setting wasn’t accidental.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Something tells me this is not going to be a simple game of tag.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1528,"2026-06-06T04:35:02.744Z",1,"novelbin.me","eee0141651f175790b25ce9a7a6d3d0a5db853af51430d70296dda6453219693","the-sss-rank-god-of-high-school-chapter-52",null,53,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-sss-rank-god-of-high-school-cover.jpg"]