Chapter 30: [30] Meter Rising
Xavier watched Beppo scrolling through his phone, the screen reflecting in his eyes. The self-proclaimed social media star had somehow turned their lunch conversation from classes to hunter rankings, and now he wouldn’t shut up about it.
"Dominic Black is definitely top-five material once he graduates," Beppo declared, tapping his screen. "His Kinetic Absorption ability is straight-up broken. But if we’re talking active professionals, nobody touches Virgil Constantine."
Xavier speared a french fry with his fork. "Virgil is overrated."
He didn’t actually know who the hell Virgil Constantine was, but the way Beppo spoke about him with such reverence made Xavier want to disagree on principle.
He was a hater after all.
Beppo’s head snapped up, his perfectly styled hair not moving an inch despite the sudden motion. "Overrated? Are you serious right now? The man cleared a High Tier-3 gate with a bunch of D ranks last year!"
"So?" Xavier shrugged, enjoying the way Beppo’s eye twitched. "One gate doesn’t make someone a legend."
"It wasn’t just one gate!" Beppo’s voice rose an octave. "He’s cleared seventy-three gates with zero team casualties! Zero! Do you know how unheard of that is?"
Xavier leaned back in his chair, affecting a bored expression. "Sounds like he plays it too safe. Real hunter legends take risks."
"That’s—that’s not—" Beppo sputtered, putting his phone down with enough force that his salad jumped. "Who do you think is better then?"
Xavier hadn’t expected the question. He stared blankly for a second before saying the first name that came to mind that he remembered seeing on Gate Break. "Miyuki Tanaka."