Chapter 720 – 720. Savior Of The Academy
720. Savior of the Academy
“Cheating will absolutely not be tolerated. The moment you are caught cheating, you will be immediately disqualified. The use of mana is also strictly prohibited. The slightest movement of mana will be considered cheating. No other means are allowed. Please note that a barrier has been set up in this place. The barrier is sensitive to any form of cheating. If you are confident that you can cheat without getting caught, feel free to try.”
The male proctor of the written exam spoke with a stern face. There were more than five proctors inside the written exam room. With the barrier in place, it was impossible to summon Mocha or Maki to cheat.
“Begin.”
I checked the exam paper.
I nodded, looking at the black ink densely covering the exam paper.
My hand holding the pen moved, filling in the answers on the OMR card.
I started by guessing the first question.
‘The ratio of practical to written is 8:2. Even if I mess up the written, I can pass if I do well on the practical.’
I glanced at the last page of the exam paper, and there were a total of 40 questions. Roughly 2.5 points per question. Thirty of them were multiple-choice. If I think positively, there’s no way I’ll get a zero.
‘I still don’t know even after reading the question again.’
The monsters in this world were a bit different from the monsters in reality. The original game’s settings? I didn’t have time to memorize even the minor details about the monsters.
‘Wait. I’ve been studying consistently, haven’t I? …Not me, but my auto-progress avatar.’
If I use auto-progress, I might be able to get points on the written exam too.
I had submitted my smartphone before the exam, so it wasn’t in my possession. But that didn’t matter. Even without a smartphone, I could end the game whenever I wanted. The game life app was just manifested through the smartphone, but it was still my ability.
‘Game end.’
I used auto-progress in reality. But contrary to my expectations, the avatar was stupid. It glanced at the exam paper and then started rolling the pen on the desk to guess the answers. It acted as if it had never studied.
‘This bastard. Did you forget everything you studied with auto-progress?’
I clicked my tongue and re-entered the game world. I guessed without even looking at the questions. I wrote down rough answers for the subjective questions. After finishing the written exam in five minutes, I slammed my head on the desk and went to sleep.
•••
Hong Ji-wook, an A-class hero who helps the Korean Hero Association with the academy exam proctoring every year, maintained a poker face as he looked around the written exam room.
As the saying goes, a promising tree is known by its leaves. He noticed a few examinees who seemed likely to stand out at the academy.
‘The most outstanding one is definitely Ryu Hana. As the successor of the North Diamond Clan, the written exam must be a piece of cake for her.’
The rumor that the successor of the North Diamond Clan was a genius was an open secret among heroes. However, he couldn’t be sure that she would be the top scorer.
‘This year’s class is said to be a golden generation, with many outstanding geniuses gathering from all over the country. No matter how good Ryu Hana is, it’s hard to guarantee she’ll be the top scorer.’
Ryu Hana was calmly solving the exam paper with a blank face. The pen in her hand was moving more than it was still. It meant she was deriving the answers as soon as she read the questions.
‘It’s not an operator written exam, so Ryu Hana should get a perfect score.’
Hong Ji-wook’s gaze shifted to the back of Ryu Hana. There was only one examinee who was moving their pen faster than Ryu Hana.
‘He’s marking the OMR card without even looking at the questions.’
Hong Ji-wook was dumbfounded. It was the first time he had seen such a style in his five years of proctoring. Most examinees, even if they weren’t confident in the written exam, would do their best to solve one more question. Admission to Maruhan Academy was a turning point in life.
Moreover, Maruhan Academy offered various benefits depending on the ranking.
The examinee who had finished all the marking immediately fell asleep on the desk.
‘What is he? Did he give up on entering the academy?’
It was the first time he had seen such a type in five years. Feeling curious, Hong Ji-wook got up from his seat and slowly walked around the classroom, looking at the examinees’ answer sheets.
All the questions were related to hero activities. As a veteran, the answers came naturally to him.
‘This guy has studied a bit. The subjective questions are also correct. It seems like he has a hero in his family. And this guy… he’s working hard, but his grades aren’t good.’
He also checked Ryu Hana’s answer sheet.
‘Perfect. There’s nothing to criticize even in the subjective questions. Even her handwriting is excellent.’
He then approached the examinee who was sleeping on the desk. He almost burst out laughing when he saw the OMR card sticking out from the side of his wrist.
‘He guessed all the multiple-choice questions, and over 60% of them are correct. Could it be that he didn’t guess but actually solved the questions?’
To get this score by guessing. How lucky could he be?
He then looked at the subjective questions.
(Question 22.
You are isolated in situation A. A group of C-class monsters is approaching. The operator has instructed you to stop the C-class monster group. What will you do?
Answer: Order difference! The operator is so bad. What were you doing until it got to this point? Even a dog in my neighborhood would give better orders than you!)
Hong Ji-wook almost chuckled at the answer.
‘He’s crazy. But I understand. Operators sometimes give incomprehensible orders.’
(Question 34.
An A-class monster, Acid Blow, has appeared in front of you. You are a C-class hero. You need to buy 10 minutes until support arrives. What will you do?
Answer: Call my mom.)
If you know the weaknesses of Acid Blow, even a C-class hero can easily buy 10 minutes.
‘Call my mom, huh? Was he a mama’s boy unlike what he looks like? He seems a bit lacking, but he’s an interesting guy. Let’s see, his name is… Sung Yu-jin?’
Hong Ji-wook paused. It was a name he had heard recently. The name of the son of Sung Ha-ri, the Thunder of Gwancheon.
His eyes widened.
‘I heard rumors that Sung Ha-ri’s son was entering the academy. But could it be this guy? ……Is it just a namesake?’
There was no way that the son of Sung Ha-ri, a legendary S-class hero of Korea, would be like this. Hong Ji-wook wanted to believe that.
•••
The scores for the written exam came out in 10 minutes. They were ranked and posted on the whiteboard. The examinees rushed forward.
I had 33 points. Maybe it was because of my good karma, but I luckily got over 60% of the multiple-choice questions right. But the reason why my score didn’t exceed 40 points was because the subjective questions had a lot of points assigned to them.
My rank was 61st out of 70. There were 9 people below me.
‘They’re worse than me who guessed. Are they idiots?’
There were four people in first place. All of them had perfect scores. Of course, Ryu Hana’s name was among the four.
-You have all done well on the written exam. After a one-hour lunch break, the practical exam will begin at 1 PM. Please gather at the East Auditorium by 1 PM. I repeat, a one-hour lunch break….
“Hey, you’re Ryu Hana from North Diamond, right? I’m Seok Dong-min from Taecheonbo. It’s a connection, so why don’t we have lunch together? There are other kids from famous clans too.”
A man was hitting on Ryu Hana. He was reasonably good-looking. He seemed quite confident in his face and skills, but his approach was wrong. You shouldn’t approach Ryu Hana so openly when you don’t even know her.
“Famous clan? I’m sorry, but it’s the first time I’ve heard the name Taecheonbo. And I have a lunch appointment, so I’ll be going.”
The man froze. Ryu Hana left without looking back.
•••
There are three things that the proctors look at during the practical exam.
Talent, teamwork, and mentality.
Therefore, the examinees have to take two practical exams.
One is individual combat. The other is team combat.
I was confident in both. In the end, it was just about hunting monsters quickly.
The test monster was a Gnoll. Stronger than a Goblin, weaker than an Orc. And their appearance was almost identical to humans except for their dog heads. At first glance, they looked more like people than monsters.
‘The academy chose Gnolls as the test monsters to check the examinees’ mentality. Heroes not only have to deal with monsters but also with criminals called villains.’
The door to the waiting room opened, and the examinees who had taken the test before me entered.
There were a total of five people, including Ryu Hana.
Ryu Hana was still expressionless as she walked to her seat and fiddled with her smartphone. I glanced at it, and she was watching a monster lecture video. The other four were not in good condition. Two of them had stiff faces, and the other two were trembling slightly.
-Group 2, please enter.
It was my turn.
•••
Hong Ji-wook, who was in the control room, was startled and got up from his seat when he saw the person who opened the door and entered.
“D-Dean Kang Ji-young! What brings you here?!”
“I had some time, so I came to check. I’m not here to blame you, so don’t be nervous.”
Kang Ji-young sat down on an empty chair and looked at the monitors. There were more than 20 monitors, each showing five examinees from different angles. And below the monitors, numbers were displayed. It was the stress index based on the association’s data.
“Are you really just here to check?”
“That’s an unsettling thing to say. Do you think I’m going to commit some kind of fraud?”
“Ah, no. That’s not it. Isn’t the successor of North Diamond, who is rumored to be a genius, here? I thought you came to see her.”
“Are you talking about Ryu Hana? She’s a talented child. She might become an S-class hunter in the distant future.”
Hong Ji-wook remembered Kang Ji-young’s words.
Kang Ji-young, known as the Pioneer of the Heavens, had an excellent eye for judging talent. The heroes that Kang Ji-young judged would do well really did well, and the heroes she said were dangerous didn’t last long and either quit or died.
People who knew about Kang Ji-young also called her a physiognomist.
“…It seems like you didn’t come to see Ryu Hana. Did you perhaps come to see Sung Ha-ri’s son? I thought it was a namesake, but seeing that Dean Kang Ji-young came herself… it seems like he really is Sung Ha-ri’s son.”
“…Yes. I came to see how Sung Yu-jin does and make a judgment.”
“You came to make a judgment…. Have you perhaps met him separately?”
“I’ve met him a few times already. But every time, I couldn’t figure him out. In my eyes, that Sung Yu-jin has no talent. His spirit eye is outstanding, but everything else is lacking. The Jinryeong family has high expectations for Sung Yu-jin, but in my eyes, Sung Yu-jin will have a hard time becoming more than a first-class spirit master.”
“A first-class spirit master is still quite amazing….”
“That’s not all. It feels like that child’s existence itself is beyond common sense.”
“…I don’t know. Ah, the field proctors have started the exam.”
The examinees fought with the Gnolls. The average combat time was 3 minutes. The examinees did their best. If they lost here, they would be immediately disqualified.
“This year’s examinees are outstanding.”
“Yes. Especially Ryu Hana is overwhelming. She killed the Gnoll in 27 seconds.”
“What’s the average stress index?”
“The average is 30. It’s at the level of a current hero. However, the stress index briefly spiked to 200 when she killed the Gnoll.”
“The stress index dropped immediately, so it seems like she’s been trained in composure. As expected of that person’s daughter.”
“It’s not just composure, but her skills are also amazing. With that level of skill, she’s guaranteed to be the top scorer.”
“It’s too early to judge that.”
The examinees returned to the waiting room, and the next examinees entered the exam room.
Sung Yu-jin was there.
Kang Ji-young, who had her elbow on the chair and her chin resting on her hand, stared intently at the monitor showing Sung Yu-jin.
The battle began.
Lightning struck the Gnoll. The monitor flashed and then returned to normal.
Sung Yu-jin’s battle ended in 1 second. To be exact, 1.394 seconds.
“Crazy! 1 second! Isn’t that unprecedented? No, before that, there’s no way a Gnoll would die from a single lightning strike. There must be some cheating….”
“No. There’s no cheating. It just wasn’t ordinary lightning. More than that, the stress index is more concerning.”
“The stress index is… 0?! Does that mean he didn’t feel anything even while killing the Gnoll?!”
“Yes. He killed the Gnoll as naturally as breathing, like an ant he carelessly stepped on while walking.”
