Academy Entrance Exam
"Hey! Hey! Hold them back! I said hold them back—!!"
"Ugh—!!"
Thwack!!
"Guh!"
"Everyone failed. Clear them out."
"Yes, Professor."
The unconscious bodies sprawled across the sparring arena were dragged away, their limbs limp as they were hauled off the floor. They weren't lifted by flame magic or carried on stretchers—just grabbed by arms and legs and dragged away, still unconscious from failing the exam.
"No... no! I have to get into the academy—!"
Thwack!
"Y-yes. Too bad."
One of them stirred mid-drag, thrashing like a cow being led to slaughter, unable to accept reality. But a single, unhesitating punch sent him back into unconsciousness, and he was dragged away without a second thought.
"Cheon Seong... do you think we can do this?"
"We can."
Yuna gripped my hand, her voice tight with tension, and I assured her we could make it.
It was understandable that someone as energetic as Yuna would be nervous. So far, many had attempted the exam, and many had failed.
'About one or two per team, maybe.'
Teams of four or five would enter, and roughly one or two would pass.
You might think that's a decent success rate, but that was across three teams—only one or two total passed.
Was the passing condition complicated or difficult? Not really.
The requirement was simple: just survive. That was it. If you could endure the professor's sparring match—even without winning—the professor would call it a pass midway through.
Of course, those who only ran away or used teammates as bait were automatically disqualified.
But even with such a straightforward condition, passing was far from easy.
The academy's professors were all at least Mid-Upper rank, with some reaching Highest rank—national assets in their own right.
Even if they weren't holding back, their talent, experience, and combat history were unmatched. Most had survived the 1940s, a time of rampant murder and war.
They were national heroes who had fought against Japan, reclaimed their country's independence, and survived the June 25 War against North Korea. No matter how lenient they were, these were seasoned warriors facing 20-year-olds who'd barely killed a few monsters—let alone fought humans. It was only natural they couldn't withstand the professors' attacks.
"Next team, come forward."
And now it was our turn.
After witnessing so many failures, tension was evident on Yuna and Dang Hwa-ran's faces.
"You've seen enough, so I won't explain the rules. Begin."
"Wait, Professor Kim. I'd like to conduct this exam."
"Hm? Aren, you want to do it? Unexpected. I thought you weren't interested in this kind of thing."
As the professor preparing to start, another professor stepped forward, and the one leading the exam asked in confusion. The newcomer bowed his head.
"Please. Let me handle this exam."
"Well... I don't mind. Go ahead."
"Thank you."
The exam's lead professor changed, and the man called Aren looked at us—more precisely, at me—and spoke.
"I'm Aren, and I'll be overseeing your exam. The rules are the same as Professor Kim's. Come at me with everything you've got."
"Cheon Seong, the professor changed. What do we do?"
"We'll adjust our plan a bit, but it's fine."
I'd analyzed the previous professor's attack patterns and strategies, but creating a new one wasn't a big issue.
"Then we'll begin, Professor."
"Right. Come at me with everything."
—Thud!
At Aren's command, Dang Hwa-ran kicked off the ground and charged at him.
.
.
.
.
'This girl has talent.'
Aren assessed Dang Hwa-ran's skill as she rushed toward him, wielding a large needle-like weapon similar in length to a Japanese kunai.
He'd taken on the role of exam proctor out of boredom and disinterest, wanting to see Cheon Seong's true abilities. But seeing Dang Hwa-ran's performance, he thought it might be more interesting than expected.
Flick—!
As Dang Hwa-ran charged, she infused mana into her weapon and threw it.
Aren deflected the projectile with a sword swing, and a pillar of flame erupted beneath his feet.
Boom!!
'Was the first attack a feint?'
If Dang Hwa-ran had continued her charge, she would've been caught in the flame pillar's range. Aren assumed her initial attack was a feint, dodged the flames, and prepared for the next assault.
Crackle!
Where Aren had landed after evading the flames, lightning crackled, and a powerful thunderbolt struck down.
She'd predicted where he'd land after dodging the flames and followed up with an attack.
The force was strong enough to scar the specially reinforced floor of the sparring arena, but Aren sliced through the thunderbolt with his sword. As he did, Dang Hwa-ran and Cheon Yu-seong approached from both sides, attempting to attack.
'How far ahead is he seeing?'
He was completely caught in their trap.
He'd been outmaneuvered by mere students' plans.
From the first attack, they had anticipated his every move—dodges, blocks, everything.
In other words, this team wasn't just thinking one step ahead—they were four steps ahead.
Even if he was holding back because they were kids, predicting his actions from the very first attack wasn't easy.
'Who's giving the orders?'
The fact that multiple attackers were coordinating without harming each other meant someone was directing them.
Thud—Bang!!
Aren crossed the arms of the two attacking him from both sides, making them strike each other, and retreated while scanning the area.
Deflecting their attacks was easy, but he couldn't act recklessly—they might have anticipated that too. He deflected Dang Hwa-ran and Cheon Yu-seong's attacks while searching for the commander directing them.
Cheon Seong's team had managed to stall an academy professor with just four coordinated moves.
'Lee Cheon-seong—that guy's the leader!'
As Aren searched for the commander, his gaze fell on Cheon Seong, calmly observing the fight. He was certain Cheon Seong was the one giving orders.
He'd known Cheon Seong was quick to assess situations, but he hadn't expected such exceptional command skills. Now, the guy he'd already wanted to recruit was even more appealing.
Aren reaffirmed his resolve to bring Cheon Seong in when green light enveloped Dang Hwa-ran and Cheon Yu-seong, who had been injured in their attacks.
Whoosh—!
The wounds on both of them healed rapidly as the green light touched them.
Yuna had prepared healing magic in advance and cast it on the two.
'Need to stop the healing quickly—.'
Clang!
Aren's attempt to interrupt the healing was blocked by Yoo Hwa-young's flames. Cheon Yu-seong and Dang Hwa-ran, having recovered their strength, charged at Aren once more.
He couldn't escape.
He'd thought he'd gotten away by crossing their attacks to make them harm each other, but before they could take damage, the green light had already enveloped them. That meant Cheon Seong had anticipated even the counterattack.
'What the hell is he?'
Aren couldn't predict this far ahead himself, yet Cheon Seong, barely half his age, could. It was beyond surprising—it was awe-inspiring.
'At this level... maybe it's okay?'
If they were weaker, he'd never risk using his unique ability for fear of injury. But with Cheon Seong seeing this far ahead, he felt confident enough to reveal some of his own abilities.
His blood began to boil.
Cheon Seong was issuing instructions via telepathy, which he'd pre-embedded in everyone before the exam began.
His commands, seeing two, three, even four steps ahead, were repeatedly blocked by Aren, but the attack cycle never stopped.
'Ugh... I didn't want to do this, but it's a hassle.'
Everyone followed Cheon Seong's orders and was holding their own against the academy professor, but for Cheon Seong, giving orders was just a nuisance.
Even before his regression, Cheon Seong had been the one acting, not the one giving orders. When his comrades first asked why he insisted on fighting instead of commanding, he'd explained it simply.
'It doesn't suit me.'
He had the judgment to give orders and the insight to see several steps ahead, but for Cheon Seong himself, commanding felt as uncomfortable as wearing ill-fitting clothes.
The reason he was now taking on this unsuitable role of command was because of the way Aren had looked at him from the start.
'I don't know why, but that professor's target is me.'
From the moment Aren took over as the third exam's proctor, his attention had been fixed on Cheon Seong.
For some reason, he'd drawn the concern of an academy professor.
At first, he'd planned to give orders briefly, then mislead Cheon Yu-seong with a wrong command to cause embarrassment and join the fight himself. But if the professor's attention was on him, he needed to divert it as quickly as possible.
Boom!!
"Cough—!"
"Guh!"
As he tried to predict Aren's movements and issue the next order, Aren's aura shifted, and Cheon Seong was struck down faster than anticipated.
Whoosh—!
Following Cheon Seong's orders, Yuna had been preparing healing for Dang Hwa-ran and Cheon Yu-seong when Aren swiftly approached from behind, aiming a strike at Yuna's neck. Cheon Seong lunged, pulling Yuna into his arms and kicking Aren away.
Boom!!
"W-what's happening..?"
"Yuna, step back. And Yoo Hwa-young, protect Yuna in my place."
"I get that, but... hey, are you okay? You just took a hit meant for Yuna."
"What!? Is that true?"
'That useless thing again...'
Cheon Seong hadn't expected an academy professor to use their unique ability in just an entrance exam. He'd blocked Aren's attack aimed at Yuna by using his own ability, but in doing so, his shoulder had been struck by Aren's counterattack meant for Yuna.
"It's just a graze, so I'm fine. I'll handle my own healing—Yuna, focus on healing those two first."
Startled by Yoo Hwa-young's words, he stopped her from casting healing magic on him instead of the fallen two and stepped forward. Aren touched his bruised side and asked,
"Now you're showing up?"
"Isn't it a bit much for an academy professor to use their unique ability in just an entrance exam?"
Aren glared at him, as if to say 'You dare?', and answered Cheon Seong's question.
"I came because I was interested in you, but you didn't show up. And the ability—those two are pretty skilled, so I only used it a little."
He cut off any noisy responses in advance.
"I don't understand why you're interested in me."
He also cut off any inconvenient remarks.
"Because I'm the proctor for the second exam."
That bastard was really something.
"So you were interested in me back then?"
"Yes."
While conversing with Aren, Cheon Seong secretly issued one-sided telepathic commands without seeking opinions, stalling for time.
If someone saw it, they might call it cowardly during a match, but being careless in front of an enemy was foolish.
Before his regression, he'd had to use any means necessary to kill traitors, Celestials, and monsters who followed the Celestials for some reason.
If you didn't kill them, you'd die. If you didn't die, you killed them.
That was the world before regression.
At night, he'd sleep with his body but keep his mind alert to prepare for ambushes. Conversely, to ambush others, he'd crawl through piles of corpses, deliberately get attacked by monsters and traitors, and control his heartbeat and body temperature to fake death—then strike when they let their guard down.
Even knights who valued chivalry, except for one, had abandoned it entirely, making backstabbing and ambushes their daily routine. To Cheon Seong, who'd lived such a life, chivalry was just something only idiots who didn't value their lives would do.
"...Anyway, come at me quickly. I'm stuck proctoring this boring exam because of you."
"If you insist, I'll comply."
And the fact that an academy professor couldn't even block a regular student's telepathic flow was just stupid.
Cheon Seong thought this and drew up red mana.
But he didn't stop there—he also drew up green mana and mixed it with the red.
The red and green mana repelled each other, causing his blood vessels to expand and收缩 repeatedly, but he didn't stop, continuing to mix the mana.
'He only grazed me, intending to knock me out, but if he'd touched Yuna... he'd have to pay the price.'
"Hm? What did you just say—"
The red and green mana, mixed into harmony, flowed through Cheon Seong's body—a mana that didn't exist in the world.
Though they couldn't coexist, Cheon Seong's unique ability made them do so, generating fire and wind.
Wind-Flame Magic.
Whoosh—!!
Heat spread across the sparring arena.
"Hey, hey! Wait, what's that!"
Blazing Storm
"I fight with a sword, not magic—!!"
A storm of fire and wind engulfed Aren.