I Can Only Cultivate In A Game

Victor was politely but firmly guided off the stage, replaced by Zara and her own team of three assistants.

The cameras reset. The lights shifted again. Victor found himself standing awkwardly near a rack of outfits as stylists once fawning over him now rushed to steam Zara's cape.

He had to admit...

It was... infuriating. And a little humiliating.

Victor folded his arms. He could've walked out.

But something in him refused.

Alyss came over sheepishly. "Maybe… we could do a joint shoot? Let you two share a few frames?"

She didn't want Victor to feel ignored.

Zara scoffed. "Him? With me?"

But she didn't outright say no.

So Victor was placed beside her in the next batch of photos. Zara stood front and center in every frame, tossing her hair back dramatically, always a step ahead of him.

In most shots, she physically shoved Victor aside with her arm, just enough that the lens couldn't frame him properly.

A few assistants tried to correct her posture. She ignored them.

By the end of it, most of the shots had Victor's head or shoulder half-cut from the frame like he was an accidental photo-bomber.

He grinded his teeth. "Professional," he reminded himself. "Be professional."

Then something happened...

One of Zara's outfits—a custom-made fireweave cape laced with glowing ember-gems—slid from its rack behind them, caught on a mana vent, and tore clean in half down the middle.

The room went dead silent.

Everyone turned.

Zara's head snapped toward Victor, who had just passed by that rack seconds earlier.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You."

Victor raised a hand. "That wasn't me."

Zara didn't blink.

"Of course it was. You've been lurking around like a cockroach since I walked in."

One of her assistants whispered, "Captain, it was the wind from the mana vent—"

Zara raised her hand. The assistant shut up.

Victor opened his mouth again, calmly. "Look, I don't know what chip you've got on your shoulder, but I didn't touch your cape."

Zara's smile was razor-thin. "You've got a mouth, huh? Let's see if you still have one in five seconds."

She held out her hand.

From across the room, her saber—a curved weapon engraved with runes of flame—flew from the assistant's grip and into hers with high pitched ~twhooshh~

Victor froze.

Zara unsheathed it in a single, elegant pull as fire engulfed the blade.

"Let me make myself clear," she voiced with a cold and deadly tone, "I'm going to cut off every single one of your limbs. Then I'm going to make sure no healer ever dares to bring them back."

Gasps filled the room as staff dove for cover.

Victor's eyes narrowed.

This wasn't just temper anymore. This was an awakened threat—and her mana flared like wildfire.

Victor didn't flinch.

But all the pent-up frustration within him threatened to spill out at this moment.

Zara Feng's blade glowed brightly with searing red mana as she levelled it at Victor.

"You're done," she hissed.

Victor slowly raised his gaze to meet hers.

Not scared.

Just… disappointed.

"I always wanted to be like you," he said quietly.

Zara blinked.

Victor's voice didn't rise in anger—it cut deeper in its calmness. "Ever since I was ten, I watched broadcasts of Mana Defense Officers. People who stood tall while monsters fell. Who helped the helpless. Protected civilians during beast tides. I used to think the uniform meant something."

His fingers tightened at his sides.

"I'm going to be one. After I graduate from Awakened Academy, that's the goal. Always has been."

Zara's grip on her sword shifted slightly, thrown off by the tone.

"But you?" Victor continued with a low tone. "You walk in here, swing your title like a weapon, and treat people like trash because we don't have authority attached to our names."

He stepped forward once.

"You're not powerful. You're just drunk on privilege."

Gasps echoed in the room.

Zara's eyes flared. "Watch your mouth—"

"Why?" Victor interrupted fearlessly. "Because you're a Level 57 Awakened Mana Defense Officer?"

That drew everyone's attention—including hers.

Victor exhaled softly as his hair began swaying while qi flowed gently from his body.

"No. I can't beat you. You're a fully actualised warrior with years of experience. I'm just a sixteen-year-old."

A ripple of pure qi coiled around him—barely visible but heavily pulling at the very atmosphere like gravity warping light.

"But this sixteen-year-old," he stated, "Is no coward."

BOOM.

The air around him exploded outward.

The lights flickered violently. The racks of clothing clattered and tipped over. Floor tiles cracked. Windows trembled.

Zara instinctively took a step back—actually staggered—as Victor's qi presence surged like a windstorm trying to break free from a steel cage.

He didn't move. He didn't strike.

He just stood there with qi whirling around him like a brewing tempest.

Her eyes narrowed because this didn't seem normal. "You want to play awakened?"

She instantly charged forward.

Zara's blade came down in a vicious arc as her figure blurred like flame. But Victor's hands moved with a subtle twist, and—

A translucent wind barrier materialized into existence just in time.

BOOM!

Her sword clashed against it with a thunderous impact.

The explosion of pressure from their clash sent a shockwave ripping through the studio.

Glass shattered. Walls cracked. The ceiling above them groaned dangerously.

Suddenly, a sickening crack rang out as a giant block of the ceiling began falling straight toward one of Zara's assistants who stood paralyzed in fear.

Victor didn't hesitate.

He vanished.

One instant, he was standing behind the wind barrier... the next, a gust of wind burst through the air, and he reappeared beneath the falling debris.

With a grunt, he pushed the assistant out of the way and threw her toward safety.

But that gave Zara an opening.

She shot forward with immense speed and slammed her knee into Victor's face.

CRACK.

Victor's body launched backwards as his head snapped to the back with blood shooting out of his nose.

He flew across the room with her still clinging to him like a missile made of fury.

They crashed through the wall with glass and steel exploding outward as they plummeted from the top floor.