9 Steps to Godhood

After leaving the hospital ward, Ryan followed a teenager—since all the students here were teenagers—and learned that his name was Fin. Fin cursed his bad luck, lamenting that he had to accompany Ryan to tour and worrying that he might be implicated in whatever trouble Ryan brought. 

As they walked around the training grounds, Fin began to explain their situation. "It's common knowledge that you've lost your memory, so let me start from the beginning. You see all these teenagers? There are about 60 of us here, and we're the second batch. The Viscount is training us to become assassins, spies, and the like—people who can do his dirty work. Most of us were kidnapped from the slums, though a few, like you, came here hoping for a job at the Viscount's estate. Bad luck seems to follow you closely, huh? As for me, I was kidnapped. If I survive this, I might actually thank the Viscount—at least here, I get to eat my fill."

Fin led Ryan to the sleeping quarters, a large bunkhouse divided into separate areas for boys and girls. The boys slept in rows of bunk beds, and Fin pointed to the lower bunk that belonged to him. 

"Here's the schedule," Fin continued. "We wake up at 5 a.m. sharp. If you're late, you get a strike. Morning exercises start immediately—jogging, bodybuilding, and so on until 7 a.m. After that, we bathe and have breakfast. You can eat as much as you want—bread and milk. Then we have classes: geography, escape tactics, poisoning, infiltration, and more. After lunch, we spar with wooden weapons. It hurts, even though they're just wood. In the evening, it's weapons training, followed by supper. After that, we're free to do whatever we want, but fighting is strictly prohibited. The Viscount doesn't want us killing each other. Break the rules, and you'll get ten lashes the first time. Do it again, and it's execution."

Fin paused, then added, "Every two months, there's a survival exam. The bottom five are executed. I doubt even knights train as brutally as we do."

Ryan frowned. "Knights? What are they? Are they the Viscount's guards or part of the army?"

Fin looked surprised. "Oh, right, you don't remember. Knights and mages are the real path to nobility for people like us—if we had the talent, that is. Knights can destroy a house with their bare hands, and mages can command fire, wind, water, and more. They're the true way to rise in the world. But most of us don't have that kind of potential, so we ended up here."

Ryan's eyes widened. "How do you become a knight or a mage?"

Fin hesitated before answering. "Knights and mages usually come from noble families. Becoming a mage requires high talent and attending a mage school to gain knowledge and pass tests. For the rest of us, it's pretty much out of reach."

Ryan thought to himself, *It seems the nobles have blocked the path to extraordinary power to ensure no one can threaten their rule.*

As they finished their tour of the camp and returned to the bunkhouse, Fin gave Ryan one final piece of advice. "From now on, don't talk to me. Here's some advice: everyone here wants you dead. You'll have to work ten times harder than the others if you want to survive."

With that, Fin left to join the training, leaving Ryan alone in the sleeping area. Ryan sat on his bunk, deep in thought. *Why haven't I become smarter? Why can't I remember any skills? Why hasn't my body changed? In other stories, the protagonist gets superpowers or becomes incredibly strong after traveling through time. Why is it so different for me?*

He decided to review his so-called "cheat ability." There were nine stars in his mind, and after touching the smallest one, he had traveled to the world of the *Limitless* movie. This meant he could potentially travel to nine different worlds, but when he tried to touch the star again, nothing happened. It seemed he could only travel once. *What's the point of traveling if I can't bring back any powers? Maybe I'm missing something.*

Then, something caught his attention. After eating a full breakfast, he noticed a tiny part of the star had lit up. It was so faint that he might have missed it if he hadn't looked closely. *What does this mean? Will lighting up the whole star allow me to travel again? Or maybe it'll grant me the powers I had in *Limitless*?* He didn't have time to figure it out—everyone here wanted him dead, and he doubted he'd survive the next two-month exam. *This is hell-level difficulty. I guess this is the downside of being the protagonist—always stuck in impossible situations.*

As the days passed, the bunkhouse filled with people returning for dinner. Ryan was about to head to the cafeteria when a group of boys blocked his path. The tallest one, who seemed to be their leader, glared at him with anger. 

"Ryan," he said, "because of you, our already difficult lives have become a living hell. I promise you, I'll make you pay for it in the next exam. During sparring, I'll break your bones one by one. Remember my name—it's Bill, and I'll be your death."

With that, Bill and his group walked away, the others cheering for him and casting looks of anger, hatred, and pity at Ryan. *I guess I'm really unpopular,* Ryan thought. He headed to the cafeteria, grabbed his dinner, and sat down. As soon as he did, everyone around him moved away, leaving him isolated. Ryan wasn't surprised anymore. *What will come will come. I'll just do my best.*

He ate voraciously, noticing that his appetite had increased significantly. After finishing, he returned to his bunk, hoping for a good night's rest. He knew he wasn't fully healed yet, and he also knew that no one would go easy on him. Tomorrow would be another grueling day