The cafeteria at Nova Hero Academy was massive—shining steel counters, floating food trays, and a suspicious lack of adult supervision. It was a battleground of cliques, ranked tables, and whispered reputations.
But in the far-left corner, away from all the polished elite class tables, sat a noisy, unstable cloud of energy known as Class Zero.
Kaizen wasn't around. The students were on their own.
"I still don't get why we're eating together," Rika muttered, reluctantly sitting down with her perfectly arranged tray. "Shouldn't we be avoiding each other until graduation?"
"We could," Taemin said, leaning back with chopsticks dangling from his mouth, "but I heard Kaizen-sensei might pop out of nowhere and make us spar for skipping lunch."
"I'd win," Sori said, already halfway through her food. "Unless it's against Ryuu. He's fast in a creepy way."
Ryuu, sitting quietly in the corner with only tea and a rice ball, didn't even flinch.
Minari scribbled in her notebook. "He's fast, but his eyes show no killing intent. Controlled. Trained. Probably grew up under strict discipline."
"...Creepy," Taemin muttered.
At the next table, Jae Eun was nervously peeling the corner of her sandwich. She kept glancing at Do Yoon, who was eating meat like it owed him money.
"You… eat a lot of protein," she said quietly.
Do Yoon grunted. "Gotta keep my muscles busy. Otherwise they get ideas."
Jae Eun nodded like that made perfect sense.
Meanwhile, Leo was trying to understand the menu, squinting at his tray."'Kimchi pizza rice'... Is... this normal?"
"Absolutely not," said Dae-Min, whose three clones were now arguing about who deserved the last bite of dessert. One clone threw a fork.
Byul Han flinched.
"Hey, Byul," Mira leaned over lazily, balancing a spoon on her finger. "What's your plan if Kaizen throws us into a deathtrap tomorrow?"
"Panic. Then improvise. Hopefully survive," he muttered.
"Solid," she grinned. "You'll go far."
Ha-Joon was tinkering with a mini-drone at the table, using chopsticks to make small adjustments. It beeped and shot into the air before crashing into Sori's tray.
"You owe me a side dish!" she yelled.
"I'll build you three," he said, not looking up.
Across the table, Nari was smiling at everyone with unnerving calmness."Isn't this nice? We're like a family already."
"More like a zoo," Yul said.
"With fire hazards," Yuna added.
Then Ryuu suddenly spoke, his voice low but clear.
"We should watch each other's backs tomorrow."
Everyone paused.
Even Dae-Min's clones shut up.
Rika raised an eyebrow. "You think someone might get seriously hurt?"
Ryuu didn't answer directly.
Minari closed her notebook and looked around. "Kaizen-sensei wouldn't give us a fake mission. He wants to test who cracks under pressure. Or worse—who doesn't."
Silence fell for a moment.
Then Sori stood and slammed her tray down. "Then let's crush it. We're Class Zero, right? Let's show them we're not some garbage bin of rejects."
"YEAH!" Dae-Min's clones echoed.
Leo blinked. "I do not know what is happening, but I will follow."
"Idiots," Rika muttered—but she was smirking.
Kaizen, watching from above through a floating surveillance drone, chuckled from the staff lounge.
"Let's see how long the love lasts."