The Silver Gatekeeper's First Test

Ma Hakjun's worries were not unfounded. The moment I left the chancellor's office and returned to the main building, students swarmed toward me.

"Examiner! I want to take the Silver rank exam!"

"I was here first! If I don't advance this time, I'm screwed!"

Roughly counting, there were just under ten of them. Looking closer, every single one was around Park Junwoo's level.

These punks?

The rumor that Park Junwoo had gotten thoroughly crushed by the Silver rank examiner must have spread like wildfire. Given how much of a thug he acted, he probably had far more enemies than allies. Defeating me and securing Silver would give them perfect ammunition to mock him with. It seemed they'd gathered with exactly that in mind.

Confirmed it with the Third Eye. Opportunists, attention seekers, popularity addicts... every last one of them was trying to exploit Park Junwoo's defeat.

How is there not a single decent kid among them?

Now I understood why Han Jiyun and Ma Hakjun had been so concerned. The students gathered in front of me were only a small minority. They didn't represent the Academy as a whole. But it was terrifyingly easy for negative judgments to form because of that minority. Even the students who were properly preparing as ability users could get dragged down and cursed alongside them.

People who had already made it to the Academy having this kind of rotten mindset already. A sigh escaped me before I could stop it.

If it were up to me, I'd tell them all to get lost. But my current position was Academy rank examiner. A civil servant dispatched from a public department, living off taxpayer money.

"Please prepare in order. We'll begin the examinations immediately."

Nothing had changed. It was exactly the same as right after my clash with Park Junwoo. The sensations I'd felt in my body earlier were still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vivid. I could do this. I could fight the Academy students. I was certain of it.

"Here I come! Haaah!"

The first challenger was a weapon-type ability user. He chose the most standard sword. It was a training wooden sword rather than a real blade, but getting hit by it would still hurt like hell. In the past, I would have reflexively backed away. But now I was certain that stepping forward was the right move.

I lowered my body slightly, planted my feet hard, and closed the distance in a burst. The wooden sword whistled past my ear. The student's face was now right in front of me.

"Huh?!"

Maybe because I'd ignored his thrust so easily and charged straight in. The male student looked visibly flustered. He'd probably led with his most confident technique right from the start. He tried to twist his body in a panic. Naturally, his footwork got tangled.

A wide-open gap. I drove my foot down once more and slipped through that instant.

"Examination failed."

I tapped his neck lightly with the edge of my hand. The male student let out a stunned "Ugh..." His eyes were filled with disbelief. He'd been completely convinced of his own victory.

In reality, he was only slightly better than Park Junwoo.

"Next."

I wasn't even breathing hard. Had my body ever felt this light? If I wanted, I could quit the desk job and switch to field work right now. It wasn't just my body that had changed.

When I'd first stepped into the Academy, the students had felt intimidating. People with talent on a completely different level from mine. The nation's future heroes under official management. But now all that wariness and unconscious fear had completely vanished.

"You're pretty good, Examiner."

This time it was a martial arts type. His stance was no joke. The smile had completely disappeared from his face. It seemed even these guys were finally realizing how serious the situation was.

Not that it'll change anything.

The moment it began, the opponent charged first again. A terrifying spinning kick pivoting on his left foot. I never imagined a kick could make that kind of sound. I had to block it. I had to... No. Did I really need to block it?

My heart had flinched at the thought of taking the hit, but a strange confidence surged through me. I twisted my upper body slightly and let the kick brush past. Before he could follow up with his next attack, I targeted his pivot leg.

After using your main skill, the cooldown always comes.

"Aargh!"

I stomped down hard on his defenseless left thigh. It probably hadn't broken bone, but it would leave a nasty bruise.

"Next student."

Only then did the guys who had been eagerly rushing in seem to notice something was off. They started slowly backing away, looking like they wanted to abandon the exam...

Nope. You're not going anywhere. You came here on your own, but leaving isn't up to you.

"What the hell? How many have failed already?"

"Eight."

"He's taken down eight in a row without even resting?"

"Is that guy really a Silver rank examiner?"

The murmurs from the students gathered nearby gradually grew louder. At first they'd probably thought another poor examiner was about to get humiliated. But now that the challengers were the ones getting knocked out, their shock was understandable.

All of them were at minimum Silver rank. Some had even been on the verge of Gold.

It wasn't like I had zero experience in the Measurement Department. And my ability was support-type, specifically detection and measurement. These guys had deliberately dropped to Bronze by skipping rank exams. They had more than enough skill to climb back up, which was why they'd been pulling this crap.

"Next."

Of course, they couldn't have predicted the situation would turn out like this. I understood. Even I hadn't imagined it would go this way.

Nine people blocked. Only one remained before hitting ten. I had no idea what would happen once I blocked ten, but it probably wouldn't be anything bad. If it were, the Third Eye would have given some kind of warning.

"No more challengers?"

"I am here, Examiner."

Unlike the group that had been whispering among themselves, a male student standing a bit apart raised his hand. He was clearly different from the previous challengers who had all carried themselves with arrogant swagger.

"Nice to meet you, Examiner Baek Seojin. I am Bronze rank Lee Hyunwoo."

When he introduced himself as Lee Hyunwoo, snickering sounds came from those around us. It seemed this student was genuinely Bronze from the start, unlike the others...

...Wait. Who did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he say?

But of all the students I'd faced so far, the one standing before me, Lee Hyunwoo, made me swallow dryly. While the other students were busy laughing at the real Bronze rank, I couldn't.

No doubt about it. It's that Lee Hyunwoo.

I checked with the Third Eye again just in case, but the result was the same. The name Lee Hyunwoo and the title "Master of Effort Over Talent." This male student was none other than the protagonist of the original story who'd been possessed.

Come to think of it, Lee Hyunwoo started as Bronze too.

A guy like him would explode in growth to Diamond rank in just one year. Hunting monsters and growing, defeating villains and growing again. The term "sponge" fit him perfectly. The title "Master of Effort Over Talent" ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was well-deserved. Thanks to him, all the bastards who had mocked him as a Bronze scrub at the start of the semester were doomed to fall into the abyss.

But regardless, the current Lee Hyunwoo was Bronze rank. The explosive growth, stopping monster waves, fighting villains, none of that had happened yet. Right now he was just an ordinary student being laughed at.

I'm sorry, Hyunwoo. You won't be advancing to Silver today.

For a moment I considered just going easy and letting him win. He was the protagonist. Some form of the original story's protection was probably watching over him. Riding that flow didn't seem like a bad idea.

But I quickly changed my mind. Who was I right now? The lowest member of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Ability Measurement Department? An Academy-dispatched civil servant?

Why is a gatekeeper called a gatekeeper? Because he blocks the way. And there was no guarantee there wouldn't be a penalty for failing at the gatekeeper's duty. I couldn't kick away this opportunity right from the start.

I'm also curious what will happen when the blocked count reaches ten.

It's unfortunate, but let's postpone that Silver promotion, Hyunwoo. There will be plenty of chances. By the way, I failed ninety-nine times and still didn't make it.

"Shall we begin, Student Lee Hyunwoo?"

"Please teach me."

Unlike the previous students who had charged in immediately, this was different. A good stance. Being cautious was a hundred times better than being overconfident. Of course, just probing endlessly wouldn't end the match.

There is a time limit, and if it determines there's no will to fight, it's an automatic failure. Lee Hyunwoo must know this too.

Watching Lee Hyunwoo carefully searching for openings made me want to give him some leeway. There was nothing more anticlimactic than running out the clock and losing by timeout...

KWAAAAAANG—!!

"Kyaaaaah?!"

"Wh-what the hell?!"

An ear-splitting explosion rang out. It was loud enough to cause temporary ringing in my ears. At the same time, a powerful vibration hit that made even the seated students stagger.

As I tried to quickly assess what was suddenly happening, the siren began to wail.

The students who had been in spectator mode just moments ago jumped to their feet and began running. Did the announcement just say Code Black?

I quickly racked my brain to recall what the term "Code Black" meant. It was an Academy code that sounded during emergencies. In the novel, it appeared whenever something big was about to happen. Whenever that broadcast went off, an incident occurred one hundred percent of the time.

And among them, Code Black. If it was Code Black, then... could it be a villain invasion inside the Academy?

Wait a second. Now that I think about it, the first time Lee Hyunwoo showed his true strength was when villains launched a large-scale...

Damn it. Why did I only remember now? The fact that Lee Hyunwoo had appeared meant a villain attack was coming right after!

KWAAANG—!

KWAKWANG—!!

The roar rang out again. This time it wasn't from one direction. The sounds were coming from everywhere at once.