I Shall Be Happy

(3rd person's POV)

Today was the 2nd day that that 104th Cadet Corps has officially begun.

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"Psst... Look at that guy... Geez..." (Mob 1)

"Yeah... I can't believe someone actually came while flirting with 2 other girls. Did he come here just to get girls? This is insane." (Mob 2)

"That's not all... I heard last night someone said this guy supposedly has 3 girls. It's that cute blondie over there on the left and those two beauty sandwiching him." (Mob 3)

"Tch, tch! What's good about that guy? I bet he's just some rich son of a b*tch playing around. I bet he's going to fail miserably on the ODM test. And those girls are just whores leeching of his money." (Mob 2)

"Hey. Wanna teach him a lesson?" (Mob 3)

"What? How? You know, we can't do something stupid right? Or else we're going to the sent back to the reclaimed lands. Worse, we might just be executed!" (Mob 2)

"Yeah. How are you gonna do it without getting noticed?" (Mob 1)

"Relax... I have some laxatives. Maybe we can put it in their food. Hehe. Then they won't be able to take the lesson tomorrow and then get kicked out." (Mob 3)

Meanwhile, these guys were discussing their scheme silently, Athanatos was also plotting his own evil plan after eavesdropping their conversation.

In fact, he had already done it and was just waiting for the result.

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"You maggots! Today we're going to be testing your talent on the ODM gear! This will be a test for your aptitude. Failures will not be tolerated and will immediately be sent to the reclaimed lands!"

""OHH!!!""

"Get into a group of 10 and gather around the device!

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(MC's POV)

Heh. Those fools who dared to badmouth my friends and I will definitely get what they deserved. Even though I have promised not to use my ability, that promise was already broken last night with Mikasa. What's the difference between doing it now?

Still though... One of Mikasa's words last night came as a surprise to me. I don't even know why she wanted me to give Annie a chance to also become my lover. Aren't women possessive of their partner? Or is this an Oriental thing?

Regardless, before she had spoken, I have never even considered getting a harem myself.

I was just going to choose and marry Mikasa and Mikasa only, leaving Annie for herself. Although it might have been cruel to her, I figured she wouldn't have minded it too much later since we are still young, after all.

Well... I'm quite relieved that Mikasa is alright sharing me with Annie. It's not like I don't have any feelings for her. I do... but it was suppressed. So I'm not really against being with Annie also. But if I have broken her heart, then I'm afraid our relationship would become uncomfortable. She might also just alienate herself from the family. Once that happened, I would be quite — devastated.

Thank goodness. It's all good now.

But now... there are 2 big problems.

One is my girlfriend, Mikasa, who is open to the idea of polygamy but, at the same time, very possessive. And then there's Annie, who though is not my girlfriend, also likes me. After she got an okay from me, she has been actively trying to pursue me.

Their chemistry is... how should I say it?... Not good.

Like right now, for example.

"Grrrrrrr..."

" *Smirk*（￣～￣;）."

It's like a catfight over here. Mikasa is pissed at Annie's public display of affection, even though Mikasa had made it clear last night that: I was her boyfriend.

And Annie... she's just taking delight in Mikasa's grumbling while flirting with me.

And now, both of them are hugging my arms. Mikasa on the left and Annie on the right. Obviously, it was Annie's fault. She was the very reason why they are holding each of my arms.

A while ago, she was actively flirting with me in front of everyone. Not wanting to lose, Mikasa also joined in the fight. And the whole affair now devolved into something like a catfight.

But the losing one here is Mikasa, who is not used to the public display and is blushing like crazy.

"Why are you here. Annie?"

"Am I not allowed to be here? Or are you going back on your own word?"

"..."

"Besides... Thana-kun doesn't dislike this, right?"

What? Why are you bringing me into your conversation?

"Ahem. I think we shouldn't be too intimate here. Look over there. The instructor is glaring at us right now."

Excellent assist Keith Shadis!

"*pout*. Hmm!"

Good lord. The fight is no more.

But why are you both still holding my arms?

It was then that something has finally happened to the three fools earlier.

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(3rd person's POV)

"There's a saying about 'birds of a feather flock together'. Now, in my goddamn plus 45 years of living. I now finally have the fortune to see this come true... *Inhale*. *Exhale* WHAT IN THE GODDAMN HELL ARE YOU RETARDS DOING HERE!!!"

In front of Keith Shadis, were three failures of life. Just 5 minutes ago, an average looking guy came up for testing; and he failed miserably. He was deeply tangled around the wires while looking like an idiot. Although rare, it wasn't like this has never happened before. That was if... the next two guys weren't the same.

He knew the only way possible for such a circ.u.mstance to happen is for their belts to be damaged. But early in the morning, when he was rigging Eren's belt, he also checked the others. None of them were destroyed; thus, the only possible explanation for these three fools was that they had mediocre talents.

The three guys broke down in tears. They had a dream of going to becoming one of the Military Policemen, so they can freely enjoy a lavish life supported by the civilians' taxes. In other words, they were just fleas dreaming of becoming dragons, even if their equipment wasn't broken.

Yes. That's right. Their equipment was faulty. It was broken by a certain someone right after they plotted an evil plan.

After a while, these three pathetic guys couldn't handle the humiliation by being here anymore and ran away. Now. They were going to be sent to the reclaimed lands and spend the rest of their life as a farmer.

A fitting end for the fools.

And now... another person will also become a fool. How will he handle this?

Find out on the next episode of Drago...

(A/N jk)

"Heh,"

A fool. Ahem... It was finally Eren's turn to show off. With a haughty expression, he confidently walked up to the testing device. Then with grace, he began to make a passionate speech.

"Those three were truly losers. If you just give up right there, then what's the point of coming here? How could anyone even live with such a pathetic life? If it was me... I would have probably killed myself right there. I mean, that would at least be more glorious than picking up rocks and weeds for the rest of your life."

""EREN! EREN! EREN! EREN! EREN! EREN!""

The crowd went crazy with that speech. Although some of them didn't like his mocking tone, they were definitely influenced by his charisma. And above it all, they wanted to see how one of the seeded cadets was going to perform.

"WATCH AND LEARN! Pull it up!"

Eren wasn't the least afraid. He had been training to be able to control his body minutely. His command over the body is nigh-perfect, so why should he be worried?

Slowly, the cadet in charge began to rotate the lever, and the wires were being pulled up.

Meanwhile, in Eren's mind...

'Arghhh. Why is this so hard!!! I thought it was supposed to be easy!! How could Armin have done it so easily???'

Eren was totally baffled. He did not expect this dramatic turn of events. He thought it would have been a breeze for him to pass but even with his all, he was struggling to stay still.

If not for his resilience of refusing to give up, he would have kissed the earth and eating a bunch of dirt.

From others' perspective, Eren looked just like any other cadets, with not a single trait suggesting that he was a genius.

Silence descended on the entire training ground.

Everyone anticipated that he would ace this test with ease, now... this is what they got?

Then what was the point of all that hype? What about his well-defined muscles? What about that handsomely chiseled face? Was all of that just wastes?

"EREN! WTF M8? Why are you struggling so hard on this goddamn easy test?"

Suddenly a voice came out from the crowd.

It was Athanatos, who was also currently testing on a different device.

Unlike Eren's face full of struggles, Athanatos' was like a kid cheerfully walking in a park. He was playing with the wires like he was sitting on a swing. He could move as he will. He could be at standstill or do any pose while he was in the air. It was as if he had been using the ODM gear for dozens of years.

A feat way too impressive for a first time user.

Back to Eren.

When he heard Athanatos' taunting words, he became distracted and shamed. It ultimately caused him to lose control of his body, and he fell on the face head-on with the ground.

He made a small cry of pain when he collided, but what he felt wasn't physical pain. He was humiliated. His earlier words were now biting him back, making him seemingly look like an idiot.

"You alright there, Eren? Why the long face? What happened there?"

The whole field was still and dead on silent as no one dared to make a sound. It was more like... they didn't even know how to behave in this kind of situation.

After watching the weird scene for a while, Keith Shadis finally spoke up.

"Eren Yeager... You... passed."

No one knew, but Keith was actually the one responsible for Eren almost failing. Due to him not wanting Eren to waste his life in the Survey Corps, he sabotaged the equipment. And this resulted in the current situation. But, seeing the determination on Eren's face, he decided to not be selfish and pass him.

Meanwhile, Mikasa and Annie were looking at Athanatos with a questioning gaze. They knew it was his fault that the three fools failed earlier, but now that Eren also almost failed, they were having doubts. But seeing his genuine reaction to Eren's incompetence, they clear away those doubts. That still doesn't change the fact that the three people have failed the exact same way, with Eren almost being the fourth.

"It's alright, Eren. Some people have bad days. And some have good days. You're just a bit unlucky today."

Hearing those words, literally, everyone almost wants to beat him up.

What does having luck have to do anything with the test? It's all pure skills!!!

"I... I..."

"It's alright. They say failure is the mother of success. Look at the bright side! Now you still have room to grow!"

In his Sage mode, Athanatos was speaking profoundly. He acted as if he was the wisest man alive while advising the young.

But he was being totally oblivious to the awkward mood that's occurring right now.

Some even wondered, 'How did the playboy, that everyone thought was going to fail, became the most skillful ODM user instead of Eren? Isn't the role reversed?'

Everything was so goddamn awkward, the whole field went on silence for the next hour, even while people were still testing.