The Academy Entrance Exam (Complete)

The sheer... sheer power behind that attack... it didn't just surpass mine—it overwhelmed and obliterated everything in its path. It was catastrophic.

Coming from that penniless extra?

Everyone else around me recoiled in shock at the scene.

It wasn't me—the one who should be the protagonist! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The one who should be staring back at me with those eyes!!

I'm pissed.

How dare a mere extra think they can steal the spotlight from the savior who will save this world in the future—me!

'No. Stay calm. Just stay calm. That penniless extra is finished the moment that attack lands. I'll step in and finish it. Then they'll all be focused on me.'

Cheon Yu-seong, that bastard, gets strong in the later chapters of the novel, but early on he's a glass cannon who runs out of mana and collapses in minutes.

The power I saw was insane, but with no mana left, he must be completely exhausted now.

'I'm going to make everyone look at me!!'

Crash—!

That penniless extra was supposed to win if I hit the fireball together with him, but he doesn't even have mana to stand, so who the hell would bet on him?

And anyway, the professor took that kind of attack too. I'm the one who delivers the final blow!

Thinking that, I charged forward—only for something scorching hot to slam into my back.

Boom!!

"Kuh—!"

Thud.

"Uwaaaah!!"

Hot debris exploded behind me, and something sharp stabbed straight into my spine.

Through the smoke and dust, Cheon Yu-seong saw it clearly.

Grin.

Dang Hwa-ran gripped the hidden weapon she used, aiming straight at Aren’s neck while Cheon Seong smiled at her.

Just as I was about to speak, Yu-seong suddenly collapsed from overwhelming drowsiness, eyes fluttering shut.

Cheon Seong was still grinning.

After using Blazing Storm, Seong detected Yu-seong charging without waiting for his signal and smiled with pure delight.

【Begin.】

He immediately signaled Dang Hwa-ran and Yoo Hwa-young to start, and seconds later their combined barrage slammed into Cheon Yu-seong, me, and Professor Aren.

Seong pulled back the mana he’d been cycling through his body, switched to demonic energy, and tanked Yoo Hwa-young’s attack head-on. For Dang Hwa-ran’s assault, he used telekinetic magic to redirect every shot except one straight at Yu-seong. He then snatched the weapon Dang Hwa-ran had launched—the exact thin needle she’d been holding—mid-air, not the one that looked like something a hospital would use, and pressed it to Aren’s throat.

Cheon Seong showed Yoo Hwa-young a wicked grin as he watched her, then cast a 10-layered sleep spell on her so she couldn’t speak. After treating the needle stuck in his back and the burns, he lowered the weapon and said,

"We all passed, right?"

"....Yah. You did it on purpose, didn’t you."

"We all passed?"

Cheon Seong chewed on Aren’s resentful glare lightly before asking again. Aren muttered, “This isn’t it,” and finally answered in resignation,

"The last one was a bit sloppy, but yeah—everyone passed."

"Waaaaaaaah!!"

At the word “passed,” Yoo Hwa-young shot forward with glee from the back. Seong dodged her, so she slammed straight into the floor and wall with a thud.

"Kyaa—!"

Shaking from the weird sound, Yoo Hwa-young trailed behind Seong as he walked over to Yuna. She was beaming, charging straight at him and leaping into his arms.

"Wow! Seong-ah! We all passed! We can go to the academy together!"

"It’s all thanks to you, Yuna. Thanks."

Seong hugged the woman he loved and spoke, but Yoo Hwa-young, who had been face-to-face with the wall, screamed at him,

"Hey! Why do you dodge me and let Yuna catch you?!!"

"Yuna’s my lover, and you’re just a friend."

She had no comeback to that blunt statement, so Hwa-young blinked, then still face-planted and yelled at him,

"That’s true, but we’re friends! We can take that much!"

"I thought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you were my only friend."

"That’s too much! We passed the test together—that’s what friends do!"

Yoo Hwa-young shouted, but since Seong still had something he needed to declare to Yuna, he ignored her complaints and whispered into Yuna’s ear while she was in his arms,

"Yuna. The reward I promised you after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we pass the test... I want all of it right now."

"R..right now? No, not now... There are people watching. I..I’ll give it to you later."

Yuna blushed and spoke, but Seong had no intention of waiting.

He released the sleep spell from Yu-seong, who was still sprawled on the floor, then asked Yuna again with a pitiful voice,

"Yuna, please...?"

Finally, Yuna nodded.

"Ugh... what...?"

Yu-seong woke up at the perfect moment, and Yuna rose, stepping closer to him.

They kissed until it made a smack.

Aren stared at Seong like he’d gone insane, and Yoo Hwa-young now looked like she was ready to throw up.

And Cheon Yu-seong...

"....Huh?"

His eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the last reward be claimed by Yuna.

Smack.

Yuna’s mine, so stop pawing at her.

......

......

......

......

After finishing the exam, we all headed home.

Yuna was worried about spending more time with Hwa-young and Dang Hwa-ran, but she said she had something to do, exchanged numbers with them, and left.

While I wondered what that “something” was, I teleported home—and only then did I realize what it actually was.

And once I knew, I was standing in front of Beatrice, receiving a long, scolding lecture from Yuna.

"Sister! If teleportation was that dangerous, you should have warned me in advance! I know how scared I was when I heard how risky it was!"

[I..I’m..I’m sorry!]

Beatrice knelt, hands clasped, receiving the scolding like a child, but I had no time to watch.

"And you, Seong! You were the worst! You said it wasn’t dangerous for me and told me you only learned it today! What the—?! If you fail, your arm gets cut off! Why are you telling me now?!"

"I..I’m sorry."

I scolded Yuna worse than Beatrice did.

If I’d been honest with her about the danger before teaching her, it would have been less of a scolding, but keeping it secret—especially the risky version that could cut off her body—made it ten times worse.

So Beatrice and I stood under Yuna’s lecture for hours, receiving endless scolding mixed with worry: “Never do that again,” “You really did too much,” “What if something happened?” And thanks to one of those moments, we were finally let off the hook.

"Mom~I’m hungry. I want to eat with Dad and Mom."

"Haa... I thought it would end with just you because of Seong."

One hugged Yuna and looked up pleadingly. Yuna sighed, told her they couldn’t do that again, and headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

Once Yuna was gone, One laughed cutely and ran to me, hugging my leg.

"Hehe. Daddy. I love Daddy’s smell."

"...Thanks, Hana."

Thanks to Hana, it ended here, but after two or three hours of Yuna’s worrying scolding, Seong was utterly drained. He pulled her close, and Hana grinned happily, rubbing her head against his chest.

Seong hugged her even tighter, the day’s stress melting away, and Beatrice watched with a soft smile.

"One. While Dad and Yuna Mom were away, what did you play with Beatrice Mom?"

"One played house with Beatrice Mom!"

"Beatrice Mom?"

One always called Beatrice simply “Mom” without attaching any fancy word—even before the academy. The sudden change made Beatrice’s ears turn red. She looked away, avoiding his gaze.

"Hmm... really? Then, when you played house, what role did Beatrice Mom play?"

[W..wait a second!]

Beatrice jumped at the question. One, beaming, said,

"Woof! Beatrice Mom played the dog!"

"..I..I see... So... it was fun?"

One asked, barely holding back laughter, and One insisted it was super fun and promised they’d do it again with Dad. Seong hugged her and smiled at the Beatrice who was hiding her blushing face with her fair skin and said,

"Yeah. Next time, let’s all play house—Yuna Mom, Beatrice Mom, and me."

[Uuu...!]

"Yeah! Okay!"

Beatrice looked embarrassed, One thought playing together was best, and Beatrice could only smile brightly, completely unaware of how much her heart was racing.

'Really...'

Despite knowing I shouldn’t feel this way, right now I felt incredibly light and warm inside.

***

Cheon Yu-seong’s lightning shattered everything in the room—walls and floor blackened—but Seong didn’t stop.

He’d been thinking, “I lost the top priority I planned to add to my harem—Yuna—because of that penniless extra.”

"I won’t let you get away. I’ll never let you! How dare a pathetic extra like you challenge the protagonist of this world?! I’ll kill you!!"

Yuna’s heart had always belonged to Seong, and even though she’d only met Yu-seong today for the first time, he still thought of himself as the protagonist who’d been reborn in this world. He was going to make that extra pay dearly for daring to challenge the real protagonist.

Grinding his teeth, Yu-seong tried to think of revenge against Seong—then something flashed in his mind.

"The original story.... Yeah, the original story. There was a villain organization that threatened the protagonist."

Even though it was a trash novel where the protagonist killed Yuna, betrayed the readers, and stopped updating after slaughtering every heroine, including her—it was entertaining enough in the early-to-mid chapters that he’d read it seriously and remembered it.

"Noah.... Yeah, Noah. If it’s those guys from Noah..."

Noah

Noah was the strongest, most dangerous villain group in Korea—featuring mid-rank and upper-rank members and even highest-rank ones. In the Sword God Survival Guide, they were the main antagonists. They could definitely kill that penniless extra.

In this world’s power system, lower ranks could only fight mid-rankers at best; the gap between mid and upper was enormous—upper-rankers lasted only a few minutes against them at most.

"Yeah... even if that extra got lucky and got strong, what can he do against an upper-ranker..."

Upper-rankers were on par with national power, so hiring one was astronomically expensive. But killing the extra and making sure he was gone? Money was nothing—Korean guild leader Yugam had more money than he could count, even as the only Transcendent guild master.

"I’ll make you regret stealing what was meant for the protagonist of this world."

If I kill the upper-rank villain, I can approach Yuna, who’s broken in grief, and make her rely only on me.

"Yeah... actually, this is a good thing. Losing your lover will hurt twice as much—because of that extra or because she loved him—so this is the perfect chance to make her depend on me and realize she can’t live without me."

Yu-seong imagined Yuna clinging to him, unable to survive without him, and smiled. His hand, which had been gripping his hair, now held several strands of golden thread.