The End of the Exam
Everyone turned to look at Shannon. Among them, the team members wore expressions as if they were shooting lasers from their eyes. It was only natural. Asking about graduate school in front of a professor who might be short on graduate students—how could they not react that way? The incomprehensible nonsense mentioned before the exam started was something that could just be glossed over and moved past. It was merely a phrase that had once existed, to be remembered as a proposal that would be rejected in the future.
“Um…… Hey everyone…… Why the faces…….”
The emotions of those who had seized the symbol of first place plummeted into the abyss. Because it was all too clear what kind of reaction the professor would show. Probably something like “Oh, lucky me, time to get some slaves for grad school.” Or perhaps she’d declare that they couldn’t leave until they signed up to become graduate students.
“Graduate school? Ah, are you talking about the priority selection rights for graduate students, one-on-one meetings, and preferential recruitment opportunities?”
Professor Fernanda asked with a chuckle. Shannon nodded slightly even as she looked visibly uncomfortable.
“That was just something I threw in to draw attention.”
“Huh?”
“Professors know full well that students hate going to grad school. It was just a line to grab some attention. Don’t think too deeply about it.”
We’re not idiots either. We know you guys hate graduate students. So we slipped that line into the speech to draw some aggro. But seeing a freshman ask about it like this, it seemed to have worked quite well. And ending with “don’t think too deeply about it”—that was a statement telling us that all our worries up until now were nothing but a fleeting dream.
“Uh, um…….”
“How about it? Are your concerns resolved now?”
“Yes, more or less…….”
It meant there were still some unresolved parts. Professor Fernanda thought for a moment before speaking plainly.
“Still, it wasn’t a completely useless thing to say. The one-on-one interviews have changed to four-on-one like now, but they’re still happening anyway.”
The direction itself existed. It was even flowing in its own way.
“Moreover, the priority selection isn’t mandatory; it’s just ‘selection rights.’ It means you can decide for yourselves.”
“So it was selection rights. I thought it was mandatory selection all this time.”
“If it had been, wouldn’t it have collapsed from lawsuits long ago? And while it’s called selection rights, it’s really just giving extra points during the graduate school entrance exam.”
It was something unavoidable within the academy system. It was nothing more than allowing them to pass the grad school exam even with insufficient specs.
“Lastly, what would we even do with freshmen like you? In any case, becoming a graduate student would be four years down the line.”
“Still, undergraduate researchers…….”
“Undergraduate researchers? Half of them run away after being picked, and the other half don’t even go to grad school. Besides, the work itself isn’t all that fun.”
A professor openly showing freshmen the reality of the academy. Kang Sian thought that, contrary to her appearance of enjoying exploiting graduate students, she was honest.
“Uh…… You’re quite kind yet honest, aren’t you.”
“I’m a bit like that.”
“But Professor Fernanda, is it okay to give us freshmen this kind of advice?”
It was a good thing for a professor to be nice to students. But whether it was okay to say this much was unclear. If she spoke like this, wouldn’t it reduce the number of slaves who’d be dragged into grad school later? It could even mean driving away kids who might become S-rank slaves in the future.
They waited for an answer amid their doubts. Professor Fernanda waved her hand dismissively as if to say no.
“Anyway, you guys don’t seem to have much to do with the psychology school~”
In terms of a regular university, it meant they were from different departments. Honestly, it was the right thing to say, and it was also a remark that pointed out reality. Professor Fernanda didn’t stop there. She went further, starting to point at each of them with her finger one by one.
“That muscular mage friend over there, judging by the ornaments on your clothes, you’re from the earth or wind school. But you don’t seem to be from South America, which is famous for the wind school.”
“Oh, I’m from New Zealand.”
“Then you must be an earth school mage. Right?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
“On the other hand, the friend next to you wearing revealing clothes is a water school mage.”
“Huh, how…….”
“Your staff is a model commonly carried by water school mages.”
“Ah……!”
She was suddenly guessing their schools just from their appearance and attire. It was a sight befitting the school that delves into the bare faces of humans. Eventually, her finger pointed toward Cheon Mari and Kang Sian. However, she tilted her head slightly as if troubled.
“Are you two twins?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Ah, you’re not family but friends. From the way you were subtly looking out for each other earlier, you seem like a couple. Am I right?”
Kang Sian and Cheon Mari looked at each other. Then they frowned and pointed at each other in disgust.
“This bastard?”
“This bastard?”
“Huh? No? Then close relatives?”
“No.”
“No.”
Her predictive ability had plummeted sharply. The credibility of the school that delves into the bare faces of humans began to decline like a stock after purchase. Naturally, Professor Fernanda, whose theory had been denied, widened her eyes. It was as if she had witnessed something strange for the first time in her life.
“Wait, just friends? How many years have you two known each other?”
“Nine years.”
“Twelve years.”
“Hey, why are you inflating it.”
“No, it’s correct that we’ve known each other for twelve years.”
“Three of those years were just you tormenting me. How is that being friends.”
“You tormented me back then too. So it’s the same thing.”
A fight between two prideful geniuses. It was a cross-section showing the friendship between a possessor and a regressor that had started off on the wrong foot. On one hand, it was also the epitome of pettiness. Just as they were about to start hurling colorful insults at each other—
“Hold on, that’s enough fighting between childhood friends. You two are the same age and from Korea, right?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
The finger that had lost its direction now pointed at Cheon Mari. Professor Fernanda had a thoughtful expression.
“That elf girl over there, your main magic isn’t ice school magic, is it?”
“No, I learned a bit but didn’t find it very fun, so I switched to the chaos school.”
“I see, that explains your equipment…… But which branch of the chaos school did you dig into exactly?”
“The blood branch. Martial arts using magic power belong to the magi school.”
“Blood branch and…… magi school? The null school? Hmm, unfortunately it wasn’t the illusion branch.”
“Ahem, I’ll have to decline graduate school.”
Blood branch magic, the extremely difficult magic of controlling blood. However, as difficult as it was, it was magic that could maximize an individual’s combat power and survivability to the fullest. Cheon Mari was a hunter who had chosen a difficult path to link it with her own superpower. It was a direction where she couldn’t even guarantee how long it would take to get used to, and because of that, she was somewhat of an outsider when it came to magic from other schools. At least when she showed her martial arts and swung her sword, she used magic other than chaos school. She did use the magi school, also known as the null school, but that was the extent of it.
‘Hmm…… I don’t have a school I can really call my main one, so I probably won’t get any good comments.’
This was also why Kang Sian, aside from martial arts, didn’t know how to properly use magic. Since his teacher and friend lacked the capability, there was no proper way to learn. Moreover, he lacked magic power, and learning martial arts had taken up a lot of his time. With Na Sua and the internet’s help, he had learned a bit of ice school magic, but even that had clear limitations. One of the reasons Kang Sian had entered Palaestra Academy was precisely to solve this. Surviving as a hunter without issues, carrying out dangerous tasks, and catching hero candidates was difficult with martial arts alone. He needed to increase his magic power somehow and learn magic systematically. Not simply by learning from someone’s help at home.
“And you over there…… Your movements when fighting on the ground were strange. What exactly are you?”
“Movements? Did you perhaps see me using my time superpower?”
“Ah, right. But you weren’t using ice school magic despite being Korean. Is there a reason?”
“I learned mainly the magi school because of martial arts. So aside from the really basic stuff, I don’t know any ice school magic.”
“I see…… Your fighting style too, if you learn well at the academy you’ll become great. Though I think you need to be careful with your relationships with women before that…….”
“Excuse me?”
“Ah, it was just something I said by mistake. Forget it.”
Kang Sian had a question mark floating above his head. But the professor didn’t reveal the content she had muttered even after repeated questions. Mixed with the sound of the wind, it felt like he might have misheard, yet also not. In the end, he had no choice but to let it go. Though there was a somewhat unpleasant feeling, the moment on the magic carpet wasn’t very long. A few minutes passed, and beyond their gaze, a faint crowd, the exam destination, and an empty electronic display board came into view.
“We’re almost there now. Everyone, pack your things and prepare to get off.”
The end of the exam. The reward of first place was approaching sweetly.
“Oh, and since we’re almost there, I’ll say this. This year, there will be fewer restrictions on lectures based on exam results compared to last year.”
“Huh? Fewer?”
“The academy’s circumstances are a bit difficult. There’s a shortage of classrooms, a shortage of professors, things like that. So the level-based restrictions are going to be lifted quite a bit.”
Restrictions that truly couldn’t be helped would be lifted. In other words, the system where lecture applications were divided according to individual levels would mostly disappear. Of course, it wasn’t just restrictions that disappeared. Numerous lectures had also been abolished.
“On top of that, many of the lectures that high-level students used to take have also disappeared.”
Especially the abolition of lectures exclusive to high-level students. Instead, mid-level and low-level student lectures were scheduled to be greatly reinforced.
“……? Then there was no point in taking this exam, was there?”
“Actually, if it weren’t for the low-level freshmen, there wouldn’t have been a reason to take it.”
“Then do high-level students get treated the same as mid-level ones?”
“No, that’s not it. High-level freshmen are scheduled to apply for lectures together with the fourth-years as a reward.”
Fourth-year, third-year, second-year, first-year order. In other words, high-level freshmen would be the first to apply for lectures alongside the fourth-years. It was granting them priority, and in a way, it could be considered a huge benefit. It meant they could quickly take lectures they would have missed as first-years.
‘No, it’s much better than I thought?’
Kang Sian scrapped the lecture plan he had kept in his head. Because it seemed like he would need to plan his lectures from scratch again. It was hopeful enough. It was satisfying enough. The group got off in front of it with bright expressions. Now the finish line was truly right in front of them.
“““Thank you, Professor~”””
“Everyone, don’t go around talking about what I said today~”
“““Yes~”””
“If strange rumors start going around for no reason, I’ll tell the admissions office to make you graduate students, so keep that in mind~”
“““Huh?”””
The atmosphere turned somewhat chilly. Kang Sian and his teammates’ eyes trembled slightly. However, it wasn’t serious. Professor Fernanda chuckled and waved her hand.
“It was a joke, a joke.”
“““Phew.”””
“Later, try taking the ‘Basic Illusion’ lecture sometime. It’ll be quite an interesting experience.”
That was her final piece of advice. Professor Fernanda flew up into the sky along with the magic carpet. Thus, only four people remained in front of the finish line. Their goal was clear, and what remained to be done was obvious. Their bodies were drawn to each other. Exactly five seconds later, the contents of the empty electronic display board were newly updated.
- Kang Sian (#1): 07:02:59
- Cheon Mari (#1): 07:02:59
- Kaia Mitchell (#1): 07:02:59
- Shannon Clíodhna Redmond (#1): 07:03:00
A wave of discomfort poured out. Everyone turned to look at Shannon.
“Shannon?”
“Ah, no!! This machine must be broken!!!”
It was her own protest. But it only added to the triviality.