Chapter 221

221

“Hey, this definitely looks like a disaster, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. A disaster! An absolutely huge disaster!”

An enormous commotion broke out at the entrance examination site.

The second-year students, who had no idea that something like this would happen, were particularly shocked.

After enduring a tough first year, they had finally reached the year where they would start being treated as seniors.

But now, there was a sudden possibility that not a single underclassman might pass.

As the second-year students clutched their heads in distress and groaned, Ren stood off at a distance and crossed his arms.

“Professor Halind is being quite harsh. Having the second years as a whole as the opposition is tough.”

The original plan for the entrance examination involved only the top nine students. However, during a faculty meeting, the test’s contents were changed.

The examination would still be a survival test, but now the examinees would have to survive against the entire second-year class.

“In some sense, this approach might have a higher pass rate.”

Yura, who had her arms crossed, clicked her tongue.

“The second-year students are the exam’s challenge; there’s not a single examinee among them who would survive.”

Yura glanced at the top eight students led by Leo.

Chen Xia, on the other hand, couldn’t participate due to family circumstances.

Ren nodded at Yura’s words.

The original plan was to split the examinees into groups of fifty and pit them against upperclassmen, one by one.

“Anyway, let’s just see how this unfolds.”

Yura narrowed her eyes and looked at the examinees.

“Just how well will this generation fare against the current second-year students?”

As the exam began, the examinees quickly hid their bodies.

Since it was a forest, there were many places to hide.

All the examinees moved silently and cautiously, with tense expressions.

There were instances where first-year students met each other, but there was hardly any combat.

Ordinarily, defeating competitors increases the chance of passing.

But starting unnecessary battles would definitely attract the second-year students.

And if that happens, it almost guarantees elimination.

Fortunately, the examination area, being around the tallest mountain in the world, Eddein Mountain, was vast.

There were ample places to hide.

‘Move calmly.’

Martina, entering Hero’s World for the first time, hid her body and took deep breaths.

After receiving training from Leo, she had participated in Lumeran’s entrance exam, hoping to officially enter.

Martina wanted nothing more than to pass this exam and enter Lumeran confidently.

‘First, absolutely do not meet young master.’

Whatever happens, encountering Leo recklessly would mean game over.

Martina knew well that there was nothing appropriate about Leo’s dictionary.

Though she continued her exploration amidst unease, shortly after, she came across a group of ten examinees.

Seeing them, Martina revealed her presence.

Rustle—!

The sudden sound made them gasp.

Seeing that Martina was also an examinee, they sighed in relief.

“Good that you’ve made it, do you want to join?”

“Isn’t it dangerous to gather like this and risk getting caught?”

To Martina’s question, one examinee clicked his tongue and wiggled his fingers.

“Of course, it’s a big deal if we recklessly run into the upperclassmen with high grades. But not every second-year student is the same, right?”

He smirked confidently.

“I think we need to rethink. Don’t be scared just because they’re second years; we need to have the guts to fight.”

“That’s probably not a wise choice.”

Martina’s comment made the group leader snicker.

“Come on, they just entered school a year before us; how much difference can there be?”

“True, true.”

“After all, our age difference isn’t that great, right?”

‘There are always these kinds of people wherever you go.’

Martina let out a soft sigh.

Even aspiring for Lumeran’s entrance exam would mean they heard the term ‘genius’ at least once in some field.

Even if they possessed outstanding skills, it was still at the level of a frog in a well.

Surviving one year at Lumeran was another story entirely.

In just one year, the amount of skill and experience one gathered could transform them.

Martina knew exactly how reckless their thoughts were.

She considered giving them advice but shook her head.

These types never listen to advice.

“I’m leaving.”

“Chicken.”

The boy chuckled mockingly at Martina as she left. He then loudly addressed those who had formed a temporary party.

“Alright, let’s take down the second years and show the professors our true strength!”

“Whoa!”

Meanwhile, somewhere else…

Whoosh! Bang!

“Urgh!”

“AAAAAH!”

The examinees screamed in pain, hit directly by the flames emitted by a fire familiar.

One of the examinees who fell to the ground shouted.

“H, how could you! We’re not supposed to fight amongst ourselves!”

As he spoke, Shasha, who was stroking the neck of her fire-type intermediate familiar—a Flame Lizard in the shape of a snake—tilted her head.

“There’s no rule that says we can’t fight amongst ourselves.”

“But, but! Wouldn’t it be better to cooperate to increase our chances of passing?”

“That’s true, but I don’t intend to pass the exam in an ordinary way.”

Shasha smiled faintly.

“My aim is to become the freshman representative. So, I need to achieve an overwhelming score in the entrance exam.”

Shaking her shoulders, she gathered her spirit power.

Whoosh!

The body of the Flame Lizard emitted intense flames.

“Consider it bad luck.”

“Kheeeek!”

Among the examinees, there were hunters.

At that moment—

Whoosh!

A spear slashed through the air.

Clash! Bang!

Whoosh!

The Flame Lizard quickly reacted and snapped its jaws around the spear. But the wind spirit contained within the spear exploded, sending the Flame Lizard flying away.

The severely injured Flame Lizard returned to its familiar form.

“An ambush? How uncouth.”

Shasha looked coldly at the youth who had revealed his presence.

“Isn’t that something you, who h*rass weaker students, shouldn’t be saying?”

The boy curled his lips upward.

Seeing this, one of the girls who had been on the verge of elimination widened her eyes.

“H, Habidden Virsen?”

A student from Ecole who was considered one of the strongest candidates for the class representative this year.

The prince of Birsen, a kingdom known for its knights, his appearance elicited cheers from the examinees.

“Wow, are you here to save us?”

“Of course, knights have honor!”

Habidden’s face showed confusion at the examinees’ cries.

“Why should I save you guys?”

“What?”

“I’m here to defeat Shasha Ciene Rodren; that’s all.”

The students who were outstanding in last year’s joint class were Shasha and Habidden.

Both were strongly rumored by Lumeran faculty to be potential candidates for freshman representative.

Knowing these assessments, both Shasha and Habidden had been cautious of each other.

And thus, they met early in the exam.

“If you’re a distraction, I’ll take you out too.”

“Same here! Don’t think so lightly of me!”

“d*mn, noble people always act on their whims!”

The examinees screamed.

“Wait, hold on! If you guys fight, one of you might fail! Why are you doing that?”

Despite Habidden and Shasha’s abilities that would allow them to evade the second years, the dynamics change when they fight against each other.

If caught by other second years, they might fail with high probability.

Or, if one of them wins, at least the other one will still fail.

For the other examinees, this fight seemed unprofitable.

However, Shasha and Habidden thought differently.

“There’s no reason to pass if not as the best.”

“Surprisingly, we seem to be of the same mind. Agreed.”

The examinees stared with their mouths agape at the two smirking faces.

‘Not the best, then fail…’

‘These people on a different level surely have great pride.’

‘Is this what the vessel of a true hero is?’

Such thoughts crossed their minds when—

“This isn’t right. We should focus on passing the exam. Fighting recklessly is wrong.”

As someone clicked their tongue and tried to offer advice,

“H-Huh?!”

“Leo Flove!”

At the appearance of the number one target to avoid in this exam, the examinees showed expressions of shock.

This guarantees elimination.

Yet, secretly, they looked forward to seeing what fight Leo would put up against two of the strongest examinees.

‘We will fail anyway…’

‘But witnessing a fight between the strongest examinees and the strongest second year might not be bad even if we fail.’

Holding such thoughts, they turned their gaze toward Shasha and Habidden.

And their expressions fell.

Shasha and Habidden were both trying their hardest to flee.

“Get out of here!”

“I want to be the representative, not fail like this!”

While observing the screaming heirs of great nations as they fled, the remaining examinees had looks of hopelessness.

“30 seconds.”

Then Leo pulled out a pocket watch as he spoke.

“Professor Halind told me not to go easy, but it would be too pitiful to eliminate you like this.”

Seeing Leo offering them a chance, the examinees hesitated for a moment, then fled.

[Leo.]

“Why.”

[Why give us a fleeting hope?]

“It might work. Who knows if they could really escape?”

Leo shrugged his shoulders.

Elshi chided him for it.

[Handing out and then taking away is the worst. It’s bad practice.]