At Vanguard Academy, the most dangerous thing you can become is Number One. Marcus Webb came to Japan with a past he'd rather forget and an ambition he refuses to abandon. Hidden deep in the mountains of Nagano, Vanguard Academy promises to shape the leaders of tomorrow. Here, students command real companies, navigate ruthless rivalries, and gamble their futures on decisions that can make—or ruin—an empire. But when Marcus rises from the bottom of the rankings to first place overnight, his greatest victory becomes his most unsettling mystery. Someone has been watching him. Someone has been changing the rules. And among the academy's ambitious students, where loyalty is negotiable and affection can be as dangerous as betrayal, even the people closest to Marcus may have something to hide. He came to Vanguard Academy to claim the legendary Seat of Ascension. Now he must discover whether he's climbing toward power—or being led straight into a trap.