Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 861

Trevor swallowed hard, forcing himself to regain control of his breathing. The weight pressing down on him wasn’t something he could see, wasn’t something tangible, yet it suffocated him all the same.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

He had planned everything. He had calculated the right words, the right setting, the right pace. Maya should have hesitated, should have doubted, should have let his words linger in her mind like an uncomfortable truth.

But this?

This was not hesitation.

This was absolute rejection.

And Trevor didn’t know how to handle it.

"I—I was just trying to warn you," he finally managed, his voice unsteady, trying to grasp at something, anything to regain control of the conversation. "I thought you deserved to know. That’s all."

Maya’s expression didn’t change.

She just stared at him, her crimson eyes gleaming in the dim light of the restaurant.

And then, she tilted her head slightly, the movement eerily slow.

"Why?"

Trevor blinked. "What?"

"Why do you think you’re in a position to give me advice?"

There was no hostility in her tone—that’s what made it worse. It was casual, almost bored, like she was genuinely confused by his very existence.

Trevor clenched his jaw, shaking his head. "I—look, I don’t have to be close to you to see what’s happening. It’s obvious to anyone paying attention. Astron is—"

Maya tapped the table once, cutting him off.

"Are we close?"

Trevor frowned. "What?"

"Are we close, Trevor?"

The way she said his name sent a shiver down his spine.

"I—" Trevor hesitated. "No, but—"

"Then why," Maya continued, leaning forward slightly, resting her elbow on the table, "do you think I should give a single fuck about your opinion?"

Trevor opened his mouth—and nothing came out.

Maya exhaled, shaking her head slightly, as if disappointed.

"You don’t know me," she stated, voice flat. "You don’t know what I think. You don’t know what I feel. And yet, here you are, sitting in front of me, talking like you have some sort of authority over my life."

Trevor’s hands curled into fists beneath the table. "I was just trying to look out for you."

"Why?"

The question came again, swift and precise, stabbing into him before he had even fully processed his own words.

He hesitated. "Because—"

"What makes you think you know better than me?"

Trevor flinched, as if he had been struck.

Maya’s voice never rose, never turned angry—but that was the problem.

She was cutting through every single one of his words with ease, as if he were a child grasping at straws.

Trevor tried to straighten his shoulders, to not let himself be cornered. "I just wanted to help. As a classmate."

Maya let out a breath, something close to amusement flickering in her crimson gaze.

"Help?"

Trevor nodded. "Yes."

"Ah," Maya said, nodding once, slow and deliberate. "I see now."

Trevor felt something was wrong the moment those words left her lips.

She tilted her head again, her voice dipping into something deceptively soft.

"Tell me, Trevor…" she exhaled, propping her chin against her palm. "How many other classmates have you pulled aside for a talk like this?"

Trevor stiffened.

Maya smiled under her mask, a small, knowing curve of her lips.

"I mean, since you’re so worried," she continued, her tone light. "You must be talking to a lot of people, right? After all, so many cadets get involved in things they shouldn’t. Surely, you must have pulled aside dozens of people to give them your special advice."

Trevor’s jaw locked.

Maya’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"But no." She exhaled. "You didn’t do that, did you?"

Trevor didn’t answer.

He felt like the very air had been pulled from his lungs.

She was dismantling him.

Piece by piece.

Trevor clenched his jaw, trying to form a response, but the words wouldn’t come. The air around him felt heavier, pressing against his lungs, making it harder to think.

Why was he doing this?

Why had he gone through the trouble of pulling Maya aside, of carefully constructing this conversation, of pushing this hard?