Passed with a B-!
"I passed!"__[Image:1]
"91st, Yustia Rosenhart – Overall B-!"__[Image:2]
"Failed."__[Image:3]
……Ah." Yustia’s short sigh escaped her lips. In the screen before her, the three bold letters “Failed” stabbed her like a dagger. The surrounding space fell deathly silent.
"Hey, did you see that? Rosenhart failed."
"They say she has perfect destructive power. Why, then?"
"Mana is zero, right? Basic aptitude is missing."
"Serves her right. She dragged a human in and still called it a summoner."
Murmurs surged like a rising wave. This time it was laced with blatant mockery. Yustia could say nothing. She simply stared blankly at the screen, her shoulders sagging.
"Is this… even possible?" She whispered, her voice trembling. "My handwriting… was perfect." Tears welled up in her eyes.
I didn’t know what to say to comfort her. My lips moved, but nothing came out.
That was when she exploded.
"B-! There must be a mistake!" Yustia pushed through the crowd and rushed toward the platform where the proctors sat. "Wait, student! Calm down…."
"Please recheck my score! Destructive power is unmeasurable and my handwriting is perfect—how can it be B-?!" She shouted, voice raw.
The professor on the platform adjusted his glasses with a troubled expression. "Um… Yustia. Please calm down." He cleared his throat and shuffled through the papers. "Your results are destructive power A+, handwriting A… indeed excellent."
"Then how is it B-?!"
"The scores of this year’s incoming students were higher than expected. You were simply unlucky." The professor clicked his tongue, clearly apologetic. "If you had even a little mana, it might have been different. Mana at zero is a fatal disqualifier for a summoner. No matter how powerful your summon is, without the mana to control and maintain it, the summon remains incomplete."
His words were polite, yet they carried the cold finality of a death sentence. Yustia stayed silent, biting her lip until it bled. Her shoulders shrank visibly.
***
Near the academy gates, a quiet café. We sat in a corner booth, two glasses of lukewarm tea between us. Unlike the vibrant energy outside, our table was heavy with silence.
Yustia toyed with her cup, staring into empty space. The fire that had burned so brightly moments ago had vanished like a lie. I watched her carefully, my dry lips pressing together. This was the same silence I had seen in the locker room after defeat.
Back then the director had patted my shoulder and said plainly, “You worked hard. Rest well and prepare for next time.” I had hated those words more than anything. To a loser, encouragement always sounded like pity.
Now I was on the receiving end. What could I say to her? “It’s fine. You’ll do better next time.” To the daughter of the Rosenhart family, whose honor was at stake, this failure was no ordinary setback. It was a stain that could never be washed away.
"Um…." I finally spoke, but before I could finish, Yustia lifted her head.
"Taesan-nim. Could you help me a little longer?"
"Huh?" I blinked in surprise. Her eyes had changed. The despair and emptiness had vanished, replaced by something colder, sharper, more intelligent. Like a general planning a decisive battle, her gaze was deep and focused.
"The entrance exam at Aethernoa Academy comes earlier than at most other academies. There are still many remaining." She began drawing imaginary lines on the table, as if spreading out a map. "In the north, the Halse family emphasizes combat. In the east, Benedict specializes in orthodox summoning. In the south, Chester handles summoning along with alchemy and other arts… but it’s still a prestigious academy."
Her voice was fast and decisive. "Halse will value my practical skills highly, and Chester considers talents beyond mana. Benedict is difficult, but if I cover it with my handwriting score…."
She kept muttering without pause, already erasing the shock of failure and building an entirely new strategy in her mind.
'She has terrifying mental recovery. If it were me, I’d be drinking soju right now.' I clicked my tongue. That unyielding drive to seize the next move the moment defeat tastes bitter. It was like watching a stubborn fighter roll out of the ring and get back up.
The blood of a prestigious family must be something else.
"Miss Yustia!" Yurika sprinted up, breathless, and stopped at our table. "The dean is calling for both of you."
"Us? So soon?" I glanced up curiously. Could this be a reversal of the failure? A second look at my zero mana score? A spark of hope flared.
"Why is he calling us? Maybe…." But Yustia dashed my hopes.
"He mentioned reporting the human summoner to His Majesty the Emperor. Do you remember?"
"Ah, right." I felt the air cool as I stood. Yustia was already straightening her clothes, a solemn dignity radiating from her back. We followed Yurika toward the dean’s office.
***
"Ah, please come in." Dean Cocrac greeted us.
"You’ve already submitted the report?"
"Yes, the report is finished. I don’t know what the result will be, though." Yustia asked nervously. I felt a chill—had the emperor ordered immediate arrest of this strange summoner?
The dean stroked his beard and answered vaguely. 'But what can the emperor actually do?' I tilted my head skeptically. Surely he wasn’t serious about capturing me, right? Maybe turning me into an experiment subject or selling me to a circus. My imagination ran wild in the wrong direction.
"I heard you failed this entrance exam." He continued. Yustia’s face darkened instantly. She bit her lip and looked down.
"The scores show perfect destructive power and perfect handwriting." The dean’s voice carried a strange nuance.
'Eh?' Yustia’s head snapped up. I perked my ears without meaning to.
"Still, it’s a failure. Overall B-. Below the regular admission threshold."
"Ah…." I felt the air cool again and muttered under my breath. Then why did they even mention me? The dean smiled slyly and adjusted his glasses.
"If we’re only considering regular admission."
"What?" Yustia and I asked at the same time.
"There is a special admission track. Professors can personally scout promising students." The dean’s eyes sparkled. A legitimate parachute program, then.
I stared blankly at Yustia. Her pupils trembled violently.
"I will recommend Yustia as a candidate for the special admission track." The dean’s declaration sounded like an angel’s gospel.
"The faculty meeting will finalize the decision, but with destructive power and handwriting scores like these, the chances are excellent. Falling during speed measurement actually proves potential—meaning she’s too fast to control. That’s a strength." He stroked his chin and grinned.
"Ah…!" Yustia clamped a hand over her mouth. The despair that had plunged her into the depths of hell had flipped to pure joy. Tears of happiness welled in her eyes.
"Thank you, Dean! Truly… I’m so grateful!" She stood up abruptly and bowed. I rose clumsily and bowed with her.
'Wow, it actually worked? Life really is a one-hit wonder.' I cheered inside. The dean looked at us with a satisfied smile, then frowned as if something had occurred to him.
"But it’s strange." His gaze fixed on me. "Even with mana-based physical enhancement, the human body has limits… yet you recorded these scores using only raw physical ability. It defies academic explanation." Curiosity and suspicion swirled in his eyes, like a scientist staring at a rare specimen.
"Taesan is not a normal human!" Yustia interrupted fiercely.
"He is a summon that appeared from the summoning circle! I summoned him myself!" She pointed at me proudly. I coughed in embarrassment. The dean tilted his head and adjusted his glasses.
"Hmm… a human with no mana but superhuman strength that emerged from the summoning circle. Interesting. Very interesting." He pulled a thick folder from his drawer and set it on the desk.
"Excellent. I’ll prepare the recommendation letter. The meeting result will be sent within a few days. Until then, please wait patiently."
"Yes! I will!" Yustia answered energetically. Life had returned to her face. We left the dean’s office. Yustia’s steps along the corridor were light as if walking on clouds. She grabbed my arm and whispered,
"Thank goodness, Taesan-nim. I’m really thankful."