This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

'System! I think you made a mistake. I'm rank 1, you forgot to give me the other 500 GP'

*Rest assured Host. The System does not make mistakes*

'Yes you did!!!' Kain was struggling to remain calm now. He had been anticipating the 1000 GP he'd receive upon entering the school, and suddenly the expected amount had been cut in half!

Kain immediately walked out of the bedroom door and looked at the 202 intricately carved into it. Two. Zero. TWO! Then he turned to the only other room next to his which read 201.

'Don't tell me the numbers are based on our rankings?' Kain thought they were just assigned randomly on the same floor and didn't think too much about his room number ending in a 2.

'Did that blond prince make enough of a stink that they just gave him the top rank? No. Even the royal and all of the old noble families in the capital wouldn't be able to force the top 5 colleges to do anything of the like. It'd only serve to piss off all of the colleges, which the majority of the most powerful Beast-tamers in the empire happen to be affiliated with.'

Kain really couldn't figure it out. How could his ranking suddenly just drop by one?

He knocked hard on the neighbouring door. However, after waiting a while there was no answer.

It was almost time for the dinner appointment he'd made with Bridge and the twins. The twins seem pretty well-informed, maybe they'd have answers for him?

Kain therefore rushed to the cafeteria. If he could get this issue fixed, maybe the system would still give him the remaining 500 GP.

Using the campus map they'd been given earlier at the registration office he located the cafeteria. The massive dining hall had massive arched ceilings and a massive candle chandelier hanging in the center above rows of long mahogany tables.

At the side of the room was a buffet set up, with fresh food being constantly refilled by staff. Kain filled up a plate with the delicious-looking food before heading over to where he'd already spotted Bridge seated with the twins and three more unfamiliar individuals.

Actually just 2, a boy and girl, were unfamiliar, upon closer inspection he believed that the gloomy-looking kid seated next to Bridge was the applicant who exited the relic naked.

After getting seated, Kain put a piece of meat into his mouth. It practically melted in his mouth before providing his body with a minor increase in spiritual power. They must have used to top ingredients in order to produce food with such effects. Not to mention the craftmanship of the chef must also be top-notch.

The food was so good that Kain almost forgot what he'd wanted to ask.

He turned to Bridge, "What's your room number?"

"632. Why, you wanna come visit?" Bridge mumbled through a mouthful of delicious food.

Kain couldn't help but furrow his brows. That number meant absolutely nothing to him. Bridge's ranking was supposed to be ranked 43.

"How were your rooms assigned? I thought your room would have some indication of your ranking."

Aiden likely knowing Kain's rank cleared up the confusion. "Only the top 20 students have room numbers somewhat related to their rank. As I'm sure you've already seen your dorm room, I'm sure you already know that you top 5 students live in a separate mansion. The top 6 to 20 of each year also have private rooms, but our rooms are still within the regular dorm buildings.

Those after rank 21 have shared dorm rooms so their room numbers are just randomly assigned to whatever is available."

The three new additions to their group looked shocked at the news that Kain was in the top 5.

"Weren't you the one that also said he was double-majoring as a Planner, you're also within the top 5?! Why is the world so unfair?" Said the gloomy guy, voice pretty energetic despite his appearance.

"Not only in the top 5." Addison bragged. "He was the top-ranked applicant during the admissions test. He also got a perfect score on the academic exam."

'I see Bridge has been bragging about me behind my back'

"So you're Rank 1?! Congratulations!" Said the gloomy kid.

"That's actually what I wanted to discuss. Aiden, Addison. You guys are in the top 20 so you should have room numbers based on your rankings, did you notice anything off about your room numbers?"

"Not really…" Aiden said. "Since the dorms are separated by sex, our room numbers have our rankings among the respective girls and guys of our year. So although I'm ranked 14 in my year. My room number is 106, because out of the first-year guys, outside of the top 5, I'm the sixth.

So it's kind of difficult to get someone's precise rank from their room numbers aside from the top 5, you can just estimate their approximate ranking."

Addison also nodded "I am 103 in the girls' dorms because out of the girls not in the top 5 mansion and living in the dorms I am third."

Kain frowned. So they hadn't yet noticed anything off.

"You said the top 5 rooms were assigned based on ranking, right? But I was assigned to room 202, for the second-placed entrant."

Everyone at the table looked surprised by this. Who could rank first if not the number 1 from the entrance exam?

Aiden and Addison tilted their heads in an identical manner, before Aiden spoke. "I think I know who the Rank 1 might be then. Remember how we said that one of the admissions spots this year was already taken up, which is why there were only 99 spots max available?"

Kain and Bridge both nodded, while everyone else at the table looked as though this was news to them.

"Well, that early admit is probably ranked first if you were pushed down to second."

Kain was irritated, 'someone that hadn't even had to take the entrance exam had unfairly placed above him and cost him 500 GP? Just because they awakened independently? Maybe if he'd actually tried to awaken independently, he could have done it too!'

Likely seeing the upset look on his face Addison comforted him, "The difference in treatment among the top 5 is really negligible. At most they may just have a slightly larger room than you. The difference in privileges only really becomes apparent when you compare the top ranks to the lower ranks."

'Easy for you to say! You didn't lose 500 GP!'