Better Than a Goblin Is a Golden Goblin

The forest shook with screams.

“Gwaaaaaah!!”

“The examiner’s gone completely insane!!!”

“Why are they only targeting us and not the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠top ranks?!”

A giant nearly the size of a three-story building rampaged through the woods. Every footstep toppled trees. Every swing of his arm whipped up violent gusts. While third-years flew through the air like broken stalks of straw, Totkel watched the carnage with a face drained of all color.

He had planned to lure the bottom-ranked third-years into a trap. If it worked, he could leapfrog dozens of stronger students and seize first place. The scheme had been running perfectly.

Until this disaster showed up.

But who the hell is that first-year-looking kid?

Long white hair, a single staff, perched on a branch like she was watching a show. Sunlight filtering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through the leaves made her pale skin glow.

It’s her! She’s the mastermind behind this nightmare!

Yet he had no time to deal with her.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

First things first. That muscle-bound monster in rags, big as a house, had to go.

“Casting, Amplify!”

Totkel’s voice boomed through the forest like thunder. “Damn it, everyone launch magic at that thing! Mana bolts, binding nets, anything! Hurry up!”

The third-years snapped out of their daze. They were Magic Combat students, after all. Even the bottom ranks possessed at least third-rank skill. No matter how huge that brute was, he couldn’t withstand this many spells.

“In Code, Bind!!”

“In Code, Paralyze!!”

“In Code…”

In Code. An enhancement formula developed to strengthen low-to-mid tier magic. It burned extra mana to empower the spell that followed and added high-level encryption as a bonus. A barrage of mid-tier spells flew toward Leokan, the monster who had been tossing third-years around like toys.

But a wickedly massive greatsword appeared in his hand.

“WRAAAAAA!!!!”

The wind pressure from one swing erased half the incoming magic. The rest he blocked by simply crossing his arms.

So this really is the examiner’s test after all.

No student below second-year could possibly pull off something this ridiculous. If that monster had charged them with that greatsword, there would have been bodies. Yet whenever anyone got close, he simply sheathed the blade and started throwing punches.

Then why would they assign a task this insane?!

Even Professor Karnarof’s exams weren’t this malicious. This was a joint test between Botany Professor Silariel and the Magic Combat instructor.

Professor Sil would assign something like this?

Impossible. Yet the sheer destructive intent radiating from that giant felt like it wanted to wipe every last one of them off the mountain.

In the middle of his swirling thoughts, Totkel noticed the barrage of spells weakening.

“Magic isn’t working!!”

“We have to stop and run!!”

“You idiots! Keep firing! Just suppress it!” Totkel screamed desperately.

These morons. He was mid-tier, but watching the bottom ranks flail made his stomach hurt. The moment they stopped checking the monster, it would clearly charge. Still, they had no choice. To handle that abomination, they needed every spell they could get.

“If you don’t want to fail, keep firing magic no matter wha—huh?”

“Wait…”

“It’s… not attacking?”

Everyone voiced the same dumbfounded realization at once.

The vicious giant warrior was dissolving into particles of light. Those particles reverted into natural mana and faded into the air.

The third-years, who had been standing there with their mouths open, suddenly burst out.

“What the hell was that?!”

“We’re alive!!”

“So we just had to last a few dozen seconds!”

While the students cheered, Totkel let out a long sigh of relief.

“Whew… thank goodness.”

It really was fortunate. If the entire third-year group had been wiped out by that monster, his own exam would have been ruined too.

“Damn it, we still haven’t caught those insane first-years yet…!”

The first-year top student who had robbed every third-year she met while gathering herbs, plus the healer beside her. Rumors were already spreading among the mid-to-lower third-years: if you see pink and gold hair, don’t engage—just run.

Damn it, nobody told me about this!

And then there was that unidentified white-haired monster. Those three were the biggest variables in this entire exam.

“Reform the line! Guard the flags!!”

The unidentified human stealing flags had to be an examiner. There was no way a real student would relentlessly hunt the things without knowing their purpose.

“You did cast the weight-increasing spell on the flags, right?”

Even five flags became incredibly heavy. A mage would struggle to carry them. If that really was a first-year, the logical choice would have been to only take the herbs.

But apparently the bastard was taking flags too. So they had to respond accordingly.

The plan’s gone to hell, but it’s still salvageable.

Totkel had intended to coast through this exam. He would lure third-years into his prepared traps, steal all their flags and herbs. The traps released sleeping powder. Anyone who hadn’t pre-cast a detox spell would never even know what hit them.

Above all, we must protect the flags.

Herbs scored Botany points. Flags scored Magic Combat points. And the total number of flags was limited. If the examiner stole even a few more, his own share would vanish—

“T-Totkel!”

Someone shouted his name.

“What now?!”

“The herb bag is gone!”

“What?”

“Mine disappeared too!!”

“Mine as well!!”

He finally understood what that bastard had been aiming for.

“Damn it! You were after this from the start!”

“But Totkel… where’s your bag?”

Only then did he look down at his waist. The pouch that should have been stuffed with herbs and flags was pathetically empty.

“What… the hell…”

It made no sense. There had been no mana signature. No presence. Yet more than half the students had lost their herb bags and flags.

“What kind of monster are we dealing with?!”

His vision went black.

“Nyaaahahahahahaha!!”

A bursting inventory and a fully satisfied battle urge. My mood had basically hit its peak.

“Man, who knew the final exam would be such an amazing event?”

“I didn’t expect this either. What on earth was that monster? I definitely felt divine power.”

“Knowing will only hurt you.”

I didn’t actually know that well either. Even if I summoned Leokan and asked, the guy burned through mana potions just by existing. A literal mana-guzzling hippo. Five high-grade mana potions had already vanished into his stomach at this very moment.

“It’s great and all, but the manifestation time is the real issue.”

Still, having a tank made thieving ridiculously easy. All I had to do was brush their herb bags with my insane agility and they auto-transferred into my inventory.

“Let’s check what we got first. We need to sort this stuff.”

“Yeah!”

We had slipped into a cave in Area A. There had been a gatekeeper, of course—a leopard the size of Robert. Robert’s face had gone deathly pale and he’d pulled out his staff, but—

“Grrrrrr…”

“There, there. I’ll give you this if you stay quiet, okay? Oh, and can you watch the entrance for us? I’ll give you more if you do!”

Modern cat treats had successfully neutralized the guardian and even recruited it as a lookout.

“Kyaaah, these guys really hoarded a ton!”

No more worrying about potion ingredients. A cool summer was officially guaranteed.

I honestly hadn’t expected much since these weren’t top-rank students, but they even had premium materials like rainbow-tailed lizards and golden mandragora—perfect for high-grade potions.

“Now I just need to buy test tubes from the school market.”

“Why do you need test ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tubes? Didn’t you already get a set?”

Robert had memorized the entire herb combination chart for the next class and received his own test tube set. Professor Isabel gave them to every student who successfully brewed a potion. But one set wasn’t enough for me. I needed much stronger materials if I wanted any hope of enduring dragon mana.

I refuse to compromise on dragon mana potions.

I brushed off the question and worked with Robert to sort the poisonous herbs from the submission pile. I checked each one with my observation eye while he judged them by appearance and reagent reaction. Our speeds were surprisingly even. I might not study much, but Robert’s sorting was terrifyingly fast. His accuracy was probably close to perfect too.

“What’s this one?”

“How should I know?”

I’d stolen it because the third-years were clutching the things like teddy bears, but I had no idea what they were for.

That was all the information my observation eye gave me.

“Whatever, not my problem.”

We left the cave and started down the mountain when we ran into familiar faces.

“What are you two doing here?”

It was Linia and Aris.

“Yumia!”

Aris, who was teamed up with Linia, looked like she’d been through a war. Her hair was a complete mess. Behind them, however, several very full sacks floated lazily in the air. Looked like we weren’t the only ones hunting third-years.

Aris staggered over to me.

“Ugh… if I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve teamed up with you instead, Yumia.”

From what I gathered, Linia had dragged Aris into Area A. While gathering herbs they’d also robbed seniors and taken their bags. The resistance had been fierce, and Aris—who was supposed to stay in the back healing—had been forced to use her unique magic aggressively.

“Still surprising. I didn’t think you’d go that hard on robbing third-years, Aris.”

“What? We only fought the ones who attacked us first! We only took their herb bags…”

“Now that you mention it, there were rumors about a first-year who was actually an examiner going around.”

Linia tilted her head. I decided to keep my mouth shut. So we were the only ones who actually ambushed people.

That was when voices echoed across the mountain.

It was time to turn in the herbs we’d… acquired.