Episode 112. Final Evaluation (2)

“Did you save all your party members?”

“No, half of us are spinning around.”

“Ah, this exam is doomed!”

“Kyaaah! Why did Professor Lucas put me in this crazy party?!”

“It’s all the professor’s fault!”

“Shut up, you brat!”

Exam day.

Even before the contents of the final evaluation exam were announced, the classroom was in chaos.

Some candidates had already formed their parties and looked relaxed.

Others were screaming in despair at the sight of their disorganized party members.

And then there were those who teased the despairing candidates.

With the final evaluation looming, the candidates were as chaotic as a bustling market.

“Quiet.”

Professor Lucas entered the room and spoke in a low voice.

Silence fell over the classroom like a splash of cold water.

“Judging by your expressions, it seems everyone is nervous.”

Professor Lucas looked around the candidates and smirked.

He placed a large box on the podium and continued.

“I anticipated this, so I made a special juice just for you all…”

“No, thank you!”

“We’re not nervous at all!”

The candidates shook their heads frantically at the sight of the sticky green juice filling the box.

“Is that so? If you don’t want it, I can’t force you.”

Professor Lucas looked at the juice in the box with a regretful expression.

“Hmm. But it’s a shame to waste the juice I made after gathering ingredients from the back mountain yesterday. Since we don’t have much time, I’ll pick just one person to drink it.”

“……”

At the mention of choosing just one person to drink the juice, all eyes in the classroom turned to one candidate.

A freckle-faced, somewhat clumsy-looking candidate paled and shook his head.

Professor Lucas smiled brightly at him.

“Candidate Albert. You look very nervous.”

“N-no! I’m really fine, Professor! I’m not nervous at all!”

“Hoho. I understand. You said you couldn’t form a party and got assigned by lottery, right? It’s natural to be more nervous when you’re put in a party by chance.”

“That’s not it! Dale was kind enough to welcome me…!”

“Dale? That guy was kind to you?”

Professor Lucas’s gaze turned to me.

He shook his head firmly and continued.

“Nonsense. That brat Dale wouldn’t kindly welcome anyone.”

Wait, what did I do?

“Anyway, being in that jerk’s party must have made you even more nervous.”

Professor Lucas smirked, took the juice from the box, and approached Albert.

“Here, drink up, Candidate Albert. It’s good for you.”

“Kyaaah! Nooo!”

Albert screamed and struggled violently, but he couldn’t overcome Professor Lucas’s brute strength.

After Albert drank the professor’s special protein juice and became “healthy” (?)…

“Now, let me explain the final evaluation exam.”

The main topic of the day began.

“As you all know, this final evaluation will be conducted by party. The party assignments are already done, so you should have checked your party members, right?”

The candidates nodded at Professor Lucas’s question.

“Of course, I don’t think all of you got the party you wanted. Some of you might have ended up with members you didn’t want at all.”

A deep sigh came from some candidates at Professor Lucas’s words.

“But that’s how it will be after graduation too.”

Professor Lucas looked around the candidates and continued.

“Sometimes, you’ll have no support types in your party, or no frontliners to lead the charge.”

In an ideal party composition, a five-member party would have 2-3 frontliners, 1-2 magic users for firepower support, and 1 support type to maintain the party.

But that’s just the “ideal” party composition. Reality is different.

There are plenty of parties with five frontliners and no magic or support types, or even parties with three support types and a crazy imbalance.

“Creating your ideal party is practically impossible.”

Professor Lucas spoke in a firm voice.

“More often than not, you’ll have to work with party members who don’t suit you at all.”

That’s why the school doesn’t actively intervene in party formations.

After graduation, you’ll have to form your own party anyway.

And in that case, you’ll likely end up in a “less than ideal” party.

“There will be times when you have to work with party members below your level, and times when you have to work with those far above you.”

“What’s important isn’t who you form a party with, but what you can do within that party.”

“Think deeply, ponder, and agonize over how you can prove your worth in the small world of a party.”

Professor Lucas looked around the candidates and spoke softly.

“After you graduate, you won’t even have that chance.”

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence fell over the classroom.

The candidates who had been complaining about their party members swallowed hard.

I stifled a laugh as I watched Professor Lucas instantly change the classroom atmosphere.

‘He really loves to show off.’

Of course, that didn’t mean Professor Lucas was wrong.

As he said, after graduation, you’d often be thrown into situations without even a chance to think about what role you could play in a party.

‘The problem is, thinking about it won’t magically create a role for you.’

Just like in my past life.

If the gap between you and your party members was too wide, you might not even be given a role to begin with.

‘In those cases… ugh.’

I shivered as memories from my past life crept up.

“Now, I assume you’ve all understood enough about parties, so let’s move on to the next topic.”

Professor Lucas turned on the magical tool on the podium.

Vroooom!

The magical tool emitted light, and a large holographic map appeared.

The map showed the interior of a massive ancient ruin.

“This exam will take place in an ancient ruin that was previously explored and then remodeled.”

“Wow… insane.”

“How big is that place?”

“We’re definitely going to get lost…”

The candidates stared at the holographic map with their mouths agape.

Professor Lucas looked at them and stifled a laugh.

“Each party must find ‘secret rooms’ hidden throughout the ruin, take the exam inside, and collect as many tokens as possible. That’s the content of this final evaluation.”

Of course, the locations of the “secret rooms” weren’t marked on the map.

One candidate raised their hand and asked.

“Do different tokens give different points?”

“Good question. As Candidate Morris said, the tokens you can get from each secret room are divided into gold, silver, and bronze grades.”

Professor Lucas manipulated the magical tool, and four tokens of different colors appeared on the map.

The candidates’ eyes turned to the fourth token, which Professor Lucas hadn’t explained yet.

“What’s that…?”

“That’s the ‘diamond’ grade token. There’s only one in the entire ruin. You’ve experienced something similar in the midterm, so you should have an idea, right?”

The candidates nodded at Professor Lucas’s words.

“The party that gets this diamond token will immediately receive the highest score, regardless of the number of tokens they’ve collected. Of course, additional points based on individual contributions will still be given, so getting the diamond token doesn’t guarantee first place.”

Some candidates (those in parties above their level) sighed in disappointment at the professor’s explanation.

Professor Lucas looked at them and smirked.

“Ah, and the ruin is filled with guardian golems, traps, and puzzles, so the process of finding the secret rooms won’t be boring.”

“……”

The candidates’ expressions hardened at the seemingly impossible exam content.

“They said the real challenge starts from the third-year final evaluation… they weren’t kidding.”

“How are we supposed to find secret rooms in such a huge ruin?”

“Guardian golems are one thing, but traps and puzzles are just too much.”

The classroom started to buzz again.

“Quiet.”

Thud.

Professor Lucas lightly tapped the podium, and the chaotic atmosphere calmed down.

“Any other questions about the final evaluation?”

“Um…”

One candidate cautiously raised their hand.

“You said we’ll take an exam inside the secret rooms… what exactly is the exam? We don’t have to fight some high-level monsters, do we?”

“Hoho. Good question.”

Professor Lucas nodded with satisfaction.

“Don’t worry. There are no monsters inside the secret rooms.”

“Phew.”

“Instead.”

Professor Lucas grinned fiercely.

“Instead of monsters, a professor will be waiting for you.”

“…What?”

“Waiting for us? What do you mean?”

The candidates’ eyes widened at Professor Lucas’s words.

“Exactly as I said.”

The holy mark on Professor Lucas’s left chest glowed, and magic power flowed out.

“The professors will enter the secret rooms first and wait for you…”

Creak, creak, creak!

The iron podium Professor Lucas stood on screamed under the intense magic pressure.

“And you’ll have to fight and defeat us.”

“……”

“……”

A deathly silence fell over the classroom.

“Ah, by the way.”

Professor Lucas clenched his fist and smiled brightly.

“If you come to my room, be prepared to break a limb or two.”