Is This a Scam?
The whole thing felt off. Not just off—it was downright bizarre.
Why on earth was a professor here? And why was she riding a flying carpet? 'We went through the test, got the card, cleared the trap... and now a professor shows up?'
All sorts of questions flooded Kang Sian's mind. No matter how he looked at it, the situation made zero logical sense. He kept studying the professor, hoping to catch some kind of clue. But staring at her only made his suspicions grow stronger.
Her dark clothing and tattered black robes screamed suspicious. Her deep tan skin and distinctive facial features marked her as a Mestizo—someone of mixed racial heritage. The skull necklace and all those dangling ornaments practically shouted necromancer. And the rather expensive-looking magic carpet showed off her social status.
“I’m Professor Fernanda Zapata, in charge of the mentalist department at Palaestra Academy—specifically the illusion arts.”
And Professor Fernanda, who seemed to have everything, smiled as she spoke. It was the kind of smile that suggested they could finally relax.
Kang Sian and the rest of his team exchanged awkward glances. Then, almost in unison, they bowed—politely, if a bit stiffly.
“Ah, hello, Professor Zapata.”
“Well, the exam’s basically over anyway. No need to be so tense.”
The exam was over?
Kang Sian looked at her in confusion. The professor waved the question off like it was nothing and gestured for them to come closer.
'What the hell is she trying to tell us? I can’t think of a single thing.'
Kang Sian hesitated at the edge of what looked like a railing. Beyond it was either a terrifying drop to the ground or the magic carpet.
“It’s fine if your shoes are muddy. Just get on already.”
He swallowed hard and looked at the professor. She kept waving him over. Finally, he stepped onto the carpet that looked like it might collapse at any second.
He expected to sink right through it, but the carpet was surprisingly firm. To Kang Sian, it felt as stable as stepping on solid tile.
The professor then gestured for him to sit. “Oh, and the rest of you—come on up too.”
She motioned to the other team members. Starting with Cheon Mari, they all climbed aboard. The carpet was wider than it looked, so they could sit with a decent amount of space between them.
There didn’t seem to be any danger of falling, but unlike everyone else, Shannon was trembling like a leaf.
“H-hiiiik…!”
It was her first time riding a flying carpet. She sat down, frozen stiff. When a light breeze blew, the carpet swayed gently. The unfamiliar sensation made the whole team even more tense.
The professor, trying to ease the mood, pointed at each of them one by one.
“Hmm, the top scorers of this exam are all such impressive-looking kids! The top group from the last exam was completely useless.”
“Top scorers…?”
“That’s right! First place in this placement exam.”
First place in the exam. That would mean the test was over. But this wasn’t the destination. If anything, they’d been moving in the opposite direction and were probably somewhere in the middle-to-lower ranks.
“Professor… I’m sorry, but isn’t this the wrong way to the destination?”
“You’re right. It’s not the destination. But you kids are definitely in first place.”
Not the destination, but still first place. It was a contradiction that made no sense.
As Kang Sian tilted his head in confusion, Professor Fernanda gently stroked the carpet beneath them.
“Anyway, we can just ride this straight to the destination.”
“…Ride this and get off up ahead?”
Wasn’t that against the rules? He’d heard that arriving by any kind of vehicle was forbidden.
“Are you worried about the regulations?”
“Yes. I am.”
“It should clearly say on the back page: ‘Vehicles permitted by authorized personnel are exempt.’ Did you not read it carefully?”
“What? There was something like that?”
It was the first he’d heard of it. He quickly pulled the paper out of his bag and checked. Sure enough, in tiny print, there was a long list of warnings and exceptions.
It was the kind of legal ass-covering you’d expect from lawsuit-happy America. He’d thought only corporations pulled this crap, but apparently the academy did too.
Is this a scam?
The font was so small that getting sued over it seemed extremely likely. Kang Sian was stunned by the academy’s shameless behavior—basically begging new students to donate lawsuit money.
“Looks like you only just noticed. Well, to be honest, we did try to hide it a bit, so that’s only natural.”
She openly admitted they’d tried to conceal it. In other words, this entire exam had been one giant deception.
“Th-this is…”
“Why did we do it? Because if we hadn’t, you all would’ve noticed from the start and rushed straight to the destination.”
“Wait, wait a second. The destination? So we didn’t have to walk the full 64 kilometers?”
“Of course not. And it’s the same for the other students too.”
Palaestra Academy might aim to train the world’s best hunters, but even active S-rank hunters would balk at running a 64-kilometer marathon. Who in their right mind would spend all night counting their steps to the finish line just because it was called an “exam”?
Only someone with a serious frontal lobe problem would do that.
That’s why the 64-kilometer walk was essentially a fake objective. Walking there was allowed, but there were several much faster routes.
“Just look at how many professors and staff—like me—are waiting at various points along the course.”
“Various points? There are that many professors?”
“Yep. Every professor was mobilized for this exam. There are more behind us too.”
She pointed at the empty air behind her. When Kang Sian stared hard, he could faintly make out human shapes.
“How…?”
“That’s the power of this academy for you. Everyone, show yourselves for a moment!”
The moment she finished speaking, the transparent veil disappeared. What had looked like empty space was now filled with a long line of people.
Professors riding magic carpets and magic brooms. A wide variety of people waved at Kang Sian and his group.
“Hey kids~ Hi there~”
“Honestly, the old method was way too rigid. The results had been weird for years.”
“Last year and the year before, the top ten were all four-man porter teams. Changing the format this time gave us much better results.”
“That’s why we decided at last year’s meeting to run this placement exam as an experiment.”
“Well, if this works, we can tweak it a little for next time. I’m so glad.”
“Kids~! When you register for next week’s classes, make sure to sign up for Hunters and Mass Media~!”
Professors waiting to pick up the new students. The shocking part was that these weren’t the only ones stationed here.
“Then what about the other students…?”
“If they solve the hints or problems and find one of these special locations, someone will be waiting for them. That person will give them a ride to the destination.”
“And we arrived here before any of those other groups.”
“To be more precise—you guys were the first to reach the very first special location!”
So that was it. In terms of physical distance covered, Kang Sian and his team had taken first place.
“Well, technically you’re second. The actual first group didn’t take the combat test, so they didn’t have a key card. That makes you number one.”
First place out of more than 12,500 teams.
It was an unbelievable achievement for an exam he hadn’t expected anything from. His ancestors must be so proud they’d be bursting out of their coffins. Kang Sian was at a loss for words at this reality that felt like his dead relatives were scratching off winning lottery tickets for him from the afterlife.
“Anyway, there’s no point hanging around here. Let’s get going. Sit tight so you don’t fall off.”
Tap. Tap. She rapped the floor with her fingers. The carpet began gliding through the sky even more smoothly than a luxury car.
A speed comparable to a car should have affected the passengers, but thanks to the magic enchantments, only their hair fluttered slightly. Nothing else happened.
In the middle of this mystifying situation, the carpet was soon soaring above the main road.
“Hmm, we haven’t gone that far yet. I’m bored—want to take a look below?”
While glancing down repeatedly, Professor Fernanda pointed at the countless new students on the ground. She then lowered the carpet to about eleven meters above the spot where someone was launching magic spells.
It was a height where everyone could easily be put in danger. But professors were always bold as brass. She didn’t give a damn.
The group flew boldly right over the temporary building where the combat test had taken place.
“That’s where you took your test, right?”
“Yes, though I’m not sure if that was the only place tests were happening.”
“The combat analysis is based on the final test. There are quite a few test rooms, but listening to all of them is pointless.”
“Then, like us, finding the iron tower after doing it only once is—”
“The elf girl is thinking correctly. Finding a special location as quickly as possible is the best strategy.”
“Whoa…”
“Moreover, unlike previous years, this exam puts heavy emphasis on observation, judgment, patience, sense of direction, and other abilities.”
“There were so many traps and the road felt so long… so that’s why.”
The professor nodded. The power-type girl scratched her head, seemingly confused by something.
“Professor, then was the weird signpost problem also part of that?”
“Ah, yes, that too. I wracked my brain so hard trying to trick you all.”
The question structure that made no logical sense—it had all been intentional.
“Keep putting in useless questions, drill it into their heads that they should just stick to the main road, then confuse them with difficult problems.”
If you got lazy and took the main road anyway, you’d miss the fastest route. It was essentially a test of each individual’s willpower and intelligence.
“Oh, want me to tell you something fun?”
“Yes?”
“The signpost that made you take the side path—there were actually professors disguised as students nearby.”
In cruder terms, plants. They’d planted internal enemies to steer students away from the side paths.
Naturally, both Kang Sian and Cheon Mari knew exactly who those plants were. In fact, they’d seen them with their own eyes.
'No wonder Sua noona was there.'
'Sua unnie? If I hadn’t listened to Sian, we would’ve been in big trouble, wouldn’t we?'
It was a grand operation to lure in students. Whether this could be called a fair exam was debatable, but Professor Fernanda looked extremely satisfied, as if this was exactly how an exam should be.
If she hadn’t been this pleased, she probably wouldn’t have revealed the behind-the-scenes details so willingly.
By the time the conversation turned to how the graduates’ skills had declined too much and the guilds’ complaints had influenced this exam, Shannon—who had been frozen solid at the terrifying height of eleven meters—finally thawed out.
One might ask what kind of dragon was afraid of heights, but that wasn’t really important right now.
The flightless dragon beastkin curled her tail tightly around herself and mulled over everything she’d just heard. Then she brought up the single most important fact that everyone else had been trying to ignore.
“U-um… excuse me… what’s going to happen to our graduate program…?”
Graduate program. The word everyone had desperately tried to forget.