Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Grand Royal Academy Entrance Exam
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***
"How embarrassing."
Even after leaving the training grounds, I found myself unconsciously touching my face.
To be honest, though I had fallen into this world of , my body hadn't changed at all.
I'd waved out of habit, but that was no reason to receive such a cold stare.
‘Why would she look at me so coldly?’
My elation from reaching level 3 in Spearmanship was short-lived, replaced by a strange feeling.
I’ve always believed confidence is key, no matter what you do, so I tend to think I'm reasonably good-looking.
But the way that woman turned her head, as if she’d seen something she shouldn't have…
"I'm not... *that* hard to look at."
The more I muttered to myself, the greater my sense of disappointment grew.
I had looked for a chance to approach her for two months, but the atmosphere around her was just too strange.
She was the type of person who would only grow more distant if I approached her clumsily. Exactly that type.
I had hoped we might become friends, but in the end, not a single opportunity arose in two months.
That was a bit of a shame.
‘If only I had connections with someone who has a high-tier trait...’
It would be beneficial in many ways.
Lost in thought, I lifted my hands.
*Smack.*
I lightly tapped my cheeks and shook the thoughts away.
The entrance exam was in about an hour. I couldn't afford to get bogged down by such things now.
"Let's go with confidence."
I had raised my Spearmanship to level 3, completing the best preparations I could. All that was left was to confidently take the entrance exam.
*Thud.*
Just as I took a step toward the magnificent academy building in the distance.
Han Cheon-seong.
He did not realize it.
“……”
That a peculiar gaze was fixed on him from a distance.
***
"...Level 3?"
"Are you serious?"
"I'm telling you, it's true. That light was definitely the kind that only appears when you reach level 3."
"That's amazing. But even with all that effort, it's still just Spearmanship."
"Still, he's basically guaranteed admission to the academy, right?"
"What's the point of getting in? Even a high-level Spearmanship trait is probably worse than a level 1 magic trait."
Hearing the hushed conversation of a few people in the training hall, a woman frowned slightly as she walked.
*Swoosh.*
Her blue hair flowed down to her waist. Though a youthful innocence remained in her features, her cold expression and sharp eyes were striking. As she moved,
"..."
"..."
most eyes turned toward her.
Her aura was completely out of place in an ordinary training hall. Everyone could feel an elegance that made her seem unapproachable.
Unfazed by their stares, the blue-haired woman, Glacia, walked on calmly.
Her thoughts, however, were on the man who had just left the training grounds.
'His name was Han Cheon-seong…'
When she first saw him in the training hall, she hadn't given him a second glance.
He was rumored to possess the low-tier trait of Spearmanship, after all. But as the days passed, he kept catching her eye.
His effort was undeniably extraordinary.
Every day, he would enter the training hall in the morning and spend the entire day thrusting his spear, engrossed in training his trait.
Usually, those who ended up with such a trivial trait would give up early and abandon any thought of entering the academy.
Everyone knew what their future would hold.
And yet.
The man with the strange name 'Han Cheon-seong.'
He was different.
He would thrust his spear alone in the training hall. Just thrusting into the empty air, again and again. Taking a step forward and thrusting.
He only repeated the simplest of motions.
That was all there was to it.
Unlike the wind that stirred when she swung her sword, no such phenomena occurred, yet the man showed no signs of exhaustion.
For two months after the trait inspection, she had seen him repeat the same thrusts every single day.
'Why doesn't he give up?'
To her, the man's actions seemed utterly foolish.
A person without talent, striving for it through sheer effort.
It was like pouring effort into a futile endeavor, like hoping for a fire to ignite from a pile of dead embers.
How could that man try so hard?
...She couldn't even comprehend how her [Guidance of the Wind], which she had finally attained after two months of effort, was at the 'same level' as his.
It was rather hard to believe that he had managed to raise that insignificant trait to level 3.
*Click.*
As she was leaving the training hall, she came to an unconscious halt.
Not far from her, the man was standing there.
His distinctive black hair and all-black attire looked as shabby as ever.
Just as she was about to avert her gaze from him,
*Smack.*
the sound of him slapping his cheeks made her pause for a moment.
"Let's go with confidence."
Hearing his voice, more spirited than she expected, she blinked without realizing it.
'Confidence?'
Confidence, despite having a worthless trait like Spearmanship.
As the man started walking, she instinctively checked the direction he was headed.
It was toward the Grand Royal Academy.
It made sense, she supposed.
The entrance exam was less than an hour away.
*Rustle.*
Since they were heading in the same direction, she began to walk behind him, finding it strangely difficult to look away from his back.
“……."
That man would pass the entrance exam.
She could guess that much, since he had raised his trait to level 3.
'But will he really be able to live up to his words about confidence?'
She wondered if he could withstand the cold stares of the examiners with a trivial trait like Spearmanship.
She had seen the entrance exam once before when she had accompanied her older sister.
She still vividly remembered the examination hall from her childhood.
The hall had a heavy atmosphere, one that would crush any ordinary person.
She was certain that the man named Han Cheon-seong, walking ahead of her now, would not be able to maintain his so-called confidence.
***
*Tilt.*
...Cheon-seong turned his head, looking around.
*Bustle, bustle.*
The academy entrance exam site he had arrived at was packed with a massive crowd of people lined up to take the test.
Cheon-seong was waiting in line like everyone else, but he was getting a different kind of feeling.
'What is it?'
The back of his neck kept prickling.
It felt like someone was constantly watching him.
But no matter how many times he looked around, he couldn't see anyone who seemed to be looking at him.
"Am I just imagining it…?"
He muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck.
He was confident about the entrance exam, having barely managed to reach level 3 in Spearmanship. He wondered if he was getting nervous without realizing it.
His vision was filled with the countless people gathered to take the exam.
Most of them were tense and intimidated. A few stood in line with relaxed, confident expressions, but they were a tiny minority.
'Those with good traits are smiling, while people like me with ordinary or close-combat traits are probably feeling crushed.'
...A dry laugh escaped him as he thought about it.
Of the countless people in line right now, 90% would not be smiling by the end.
In fact, a 10% acceptance rate would be considered high.
That was how many people failed to receive good traits.
And yet, the people in this line had gathered to take the entrance exam, clutching at straws.
They were all here with the thought of 'what if,' with the complacent hope that they might get in by luck.
'How pitiful.'
He shook his head, thinking to himself.
As time passed, the line began to shorten much faster than expected.
—Examinees 401 through 410, please enter.
The announcement calling them into the examination hall came again in less than ten minutes, and the sound of it was chilling.
'Even if they only look at traits.'
How could an entrance exam test for ten people take less than ten minutes?
The line dwindled quickly, and soon, it was my turn.
"Examinees 491 through 500, please enter."
When my number range was called, I followed the person in front of me and stepped forward with vigor.
'No need to be nervous.'
I already know what the test is about.
Which means, I knew that in my current state, I could pass this test.
*Clank.*
Just before entering the examination hall, I braced my entire body.
"Gasp!"
"Wh-What is this!"
While the examinees who entered ahead of me immediately fell to their knees or froze in place, I nonchalantly walked past them.
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
My number was 496.
As I stood straight and tall in the sixth position,
"Oh?"
"Impressive."
the examiners' gazes fell upon me, and a wave of pride washed over me.
Among these ten, I was the most outstanding.
Then, I froze.
I had assumed the examiners were looking at me. But they weren't looking at me at all.
"..."
I blankly turned my head to the side and saw a woman standing calmly not far from me.
Her blue hair cascading down to her waist and her cold expression were familiar.
'What is she doing here…'
Of all the groups, why is she in the one I'm testing with?