I'll Take the First Place Retest Reward (4)

The retest was over.

Her entire body drained of strength, Choi Hana collapsed right where she stood. Quite a few other cadets lay unconscious around her as well.

It really was nothing like the high school academy days. The difficulty of the exam had been far higher than she expected.

She had been startled when more monsters appeared than anticipated, but the true wild card of the entire test had been that enhanced monster.

For all its massive bulk, it had been unnervingly agile, and she had allowed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far too many clean hits from the boss.

I had a hell of a time putting down that orc chieftain. Haa...

Even though she was confident in real combat, those deductions had cost Choi Hana a painful chunk of the kill count she had carefully built up.

On top of that, it was a dark-attribute monster that constantly spread curses. She had barely finished it off just before time ran out, but enduring the debuffs while taking the boss down had been grueling.

Even I, who am somewhat used to dark attributes, struggled. The other cadets must have had it far worse.

Checking the status board confirmed it—quite a few examinees had retired. Simply surviving that boss would almost certainly mean a pass.

Wait—Lee Junwoo?

Instinctively she searched for his name, and the result made her freeze.

Not only had Lee Junwoo survived—he had taken first place in Group 13.

No... this is the highest record of the entire retest so far!

He had cleared it with a full twenty-five seconds remaining.

Her whole body still ached from the brutal fight, yet Choi Hana hurried out of the exam zone and immediately pulled up the replay.

This... can't be real...

She was stunned. Lee Junwoo's combat had been perfect.

Even against a curse-spewing dark-attribute boss, the holy power of a Paladin had shielded him so thoroughly that he never took a single hit.

Even when he wasn't using his shield, he dodged every single attack.

That evasion bordered on foresight. More than anything, his movement itself defied belief.

Just as she had glimpsed during the exam itself—he moved so slowly it almost looked leisurely, yet it was not sluggishness. It was pure composure.

And then the finishing blows: after perfectly reading the boss's openings mid-fight, three precise strikes to the vital points ended it completely. No flashy explosion of power—just clinical, lethal accuracy.

As a hunter, it was textbook perfection.

Even at a clear disadvantage he never panicked or despaired. He calmly played the optimal line and walked away with a flawless victory—the mark of a true veteran.

Honestly, she had been moved. It was a presence you simply did not see among the young hunters gathered here.

Even in the organization she led—full of hardened underworld awakeners who had survived for years—none of them stayed that calm in front of a superior foe the way Lee Junwoo just had.

If that Lee Junwoo joined our organization...

The surging emotion got ahead of her. Before she knew it she was standing right in front of him, words tumbling out.

"I... I... th-th..."

But Choi Hana panicked and stammered. It was not that she froze around men—yet her body locked up on its own.

Why am I like this...?

Perhaps the long habit of watching him only from the shadows had become second nature. Standing face-to-face was suddenly mortifying.

To exaggerate, it felt like standing in front of an idol she secretly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠admired—though of course Choi Hana had zero interest in celebrities.

She had almost blurted out "I was so moved!" but the second she thought about it, the words became unbearably embarrassing.

"What's wrong?"

Lee Junwoo looked at her with open confusion.

"I... I... thank you!!"

Unable to say what she had originally intended, she fled at once.

A short while later the retest results were announced.

Yet Choi Hana's heart still refused to settle. Lee Junwoo kept circling through her mind.

Even the thanks she had shouted earlier now felt so random that her face burned scarlet.

What's wrong with you, Choi Hana?! At this rate you'll never recruit him into the organization!

Forget recruiting—he might just write her off as a lunatic.

Huk! That would be a disaster!

The thought made her stomach drop.

Above all, she had watched the final moments of that replay with her own eyes—the will of a true Paladin.

Lee Junwoo... even with his stamina completely spent, he never collapsed. He held his ground until the very end.

One of the core virtues demanded of a Goddess Church Paladin was indomitability. A Paladin had to be the light and the shield at the front of the party. The moment that Paladin fell, the entire party's sustainability crumbled.

Yet even at the last second—face deathly pale, whole body trembling—Lee Junwoo had refused to go down.

It was the exact opposite of her own collapse the instant the exam ended.

No Paladin department student has ever shown that kind of nobility.

These days most Paladins chased money and fame as tanks for big-name guilds rather than the honor of the class itself. But Lee Junwoo was the complete opposite, and Choi Hana knew it.

Someone that kind, and he carries an indomitable will on top of it. We absolutely need him.

To put it a little strongly, even though they were the same year she already felt respect for him. Her resolve hardened further.

Still, speaking to him again right away was impossible. The earlier embarrassment left her face burning hot.

Eventually the remaining groups finished their retests as well, and the final rankings were posted almost immediately.

"The top cadets I call out now, gather here! Lee Junwoo, Choi Hana, Seo Jinhyeong..."

The summons snapped her back to reality.

Come to think of it...

Theia Academy was ruthlessly meritocratic. Every exam awarded rewards to the top three without fail. That was why Choi Hana had stayed up night after night preparing for this retest.

Above all, the pre-announced first-place prize—Wyvern's Red Fang Powder—was an item any alchemist would kill for.

But first place, of course, belonged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Lee Junwoo. The gold medal and the powder went to him; second-place Choi Hana received only the silver.

I'm not disappointed, though. If anyone other than Lee Junwoo had taken first, I would have argued.

The fighting spirit he had shown today more than earned it.

She had not come away empty-handed either. The silver medal alone granted midterm bonus points and academy store credits.

Suddenly An Yumin floated into her mind. During the three years of high school academy they had often shared the same class. Competitive by nature, Choi Hana had always felt an unreasonable sting whenever she lost to her—and An Yumin herself never accepted defeat either.

Yet this loss felt completely different.

"I don't need this, so you take it."

At that exact moment Lee Junwoo held out the small pouch containing the fang powder.

"Th-this is...?"

She stared at him in fluster, but he simply handed over the expensive item as if it were nothing and turned away.

Even Instructor Lee Suyeon, who had just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠awarded the medals, looked dumbfounded.

"That's expensive stuff. You're just giving it up?"

Lee Suyeon met Choi Hana's eyes. Choi Hana knew the value of the powder perfectly well, so the casual generosity left her stunned.

Completely uninterested in wealth beyond the honor of first place—he truly looked like the ideal Paladin.

"That student Lee Junwoo... he seems interested in you, doesn't he? No other reason he'd just hand over something that pricey."

"Th-there's no way! Someone like me...? Lee Junwoo is a model Paladin who simply doesn't care about money!!"

Choi Hana's face flared hot. She shook her head frantically and bolted out of the exam hall.

Instructor Lee Suyeon watched her go with a puzzled expression.

Once the retest ended I had to leave the high school academy dormitory.

I was already a graduate. The dorm extension had only been allowed until the retest; now that it was finished, there was no choice.

A full month still remained until academy admission, so I found myself at the familiar PC bang that doubled as a net café—my old high-school hangout. I needed short-term part-time work and had plenty of other things to handle.

Money... yeah, I need a lot more of it.

The world really did run on cash. Theia Academy was notorious for its brutal tuition, and since I had entered through the retest, an admission scholarship was out of the question.

If I still had Aegis-level fame, earning money would have been easy. As things stood it was impossible, so for a moment I felt a twinge of envy.

My gaze drifted to the seat beside me.

Huh? Not empty.

Someone had already claimed the neighboring booth and stepped away briefly. Their monitor was still streaming a live broadcast on TwkaTV.

It was the major streamer who had interviewed Aegis at the graduation ceremony—nickname MungseokQ.

The title of the stream caught my eye.

Aegis—those three—were apparently doing a joint stream with her today. Their faces had not appeared yet.

Staring at someone else's monitor forever was rude, so I turned back to my own screen and opened the email I had actually come to check.

The congratulatory mail made me think back on the retest for a moment.

The results had been more than satisfying. Before awakening the hidden authority I had been worried about simply passing; with that new power I had taken first place outright.

Well, it was a retest without any of the real top-tier cadets, but still.

I looked down at the medal the supervisor had given me. My own face reflected in its surface.

As for the extra reward—the Wyvern's Red Fang Powder—I had handed it straight to Choi Hana.

Sold on the open market it would easily fetch a few million won, but an alchemist like her will put it to far better use.

The underworld side of things. Going forward I had to grow inside the academy while simultaneously operating as the villain Unknown. That was the fate bound to my hidden title.

Cooperation with Choi Hana, who already led an organization in the underworld, would be essential. Giving her the powder was no loss at all—just a minor investment compared to the returns waiting in the future.

I checked the notification window.

Originally this was a quest the original protagonist An Yumin was supposed to clear. Instead, an extra like me had snatched the first clear.

The detailed reward contents appeared before my eyes.