Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: End-of-Month Evaluation (4)
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A few cadets stared at the bulletin board, their expressions changing by the second.
They were the ones whose names appeared on the lower ranks list.
A chilling voice from the glasses-wearing man drifted into their ears.
"Did you feel relieved when those zeros got expelled, thinking you weren't zeros yourselves?"
The glasses man wore a sly sneer.
"But what are we to do about this? From what I see, there's not much difference between those first zeros and the ones listed here."
With that, he nodded toward the bulletin board.
From 201st to 232nd place.
The highest among them, 201st place, had a score of 150 points.
If 201st was like that, you can imagine those below.
232nd place had a measly 10 points.
With that, the glasses man declared:
"Effective immediately, the 32 cadets from 201st to 232nd place are hereby expelled from the roster."
"……?!"
Shock rippled through the crowd once more.
"What are you lot standing around for? If you want to catch up to those who left before you, you'd better start running your asses off right now."
At his mocking tone, the 32 pale-faced cadets bolted into action.
And so, the 50th Cohort, once 300 strong, was now down to exactly 200.
The glasses man looked over the remaining cadets and said:
"Well, the 50th Cohort has now set another record: the highest number of passers ever, the highest number of zeros processed, and now the highest number of expulsions. A triple crown... impressive indeed."
No one could argue against his obviously sarcastic tone.
"Even among those left here now, some of you just got lucky—especially 200th place."
At that remark, one cadet flinched.
"You might be next."
The targeted cadet's face drained of all color.
After this mass expulsion, the glasses man lightened the mood.
"Now, shall we get to the real announcement?"
No sooner had he spoken than the black sword soldier pulled out another sheet of paper.
Rustle—.
The paper the black sword soldier unfolded was small, just the size of a notepad sheet.
He began attaching them to the bottom of the central bulletin board.
Five sheets were posted in quick succession.
But they were so small that you couldn't even make out the names unless you got close.
As a few cadets craned their necks to peek, the glasses man waved them off.
"Anyone listed there is a nobody anyway. Check it later if you want."
Snap!
"Now, this is the important part."
The glasses man snapped his fingers, and once again, the black sword soldier unfolded a paper.
But this one's size was no joke.
Flutter—.
A truly massive sheet billowed in the air.
It was so big, it could pass for a small blanket.
The black sword soldier attached it right in the center of the board, directly over the expulsion list.
Thud—.
As if erasing the expelled ones from existence.
Its enormous size made the names and scores legible from afar.
Just ten names, bold and large.
Seeing it, some thought:
'This looks just like... those ten crushing the other 190 underfoot.'
The ten names smack in the center.
And below them, the cramped 190 names.
The font size, the paper size.
Even the placement.
No matter how you looked at it, it symbolized the top ten dominating the rest.
With the rankings posted, the glasses man addressed the 50th Cohort.
"Additional points based on rankings will be deposited into your bank accounts. So, top ten, make sure you have accounts set up... and since future bonus points will also be wired this way, anyone aiming for the top ten should open one ahead of time."
He threw in some mockery too.
"Of course, if you're planning to stay at the bottom forever, no need. Waste of time."
With that, the black sword soldiers departed in a group, just as they'd arrived.
Even after they left, the remaining 50th Cohort cadets couldn't shake off the shock of their first end-of-month evaluation.
They let out hollow chuckles.
"Expulsion, huh."
"So the bottom ranks will keep getting booted like this from now on...?"
"Ha, damn it all."
The bottom ranks now faced expulsion as a penalty.
The black sword soldiers' ruthlessness left no room for redemption, filling the cadets with dread.
But what terrified them more was knowing they'd face this every month from here on.
The current bottom-rankers went pale.
Meanwhile, those unsure if they were bottom or not swarmed the board.
Even if they knew their score, others crowded in to check their rankings.
They needed the info to prep for the next evaluation.
Whether it'd actually help was another question.
As they gathered one by one, soon most of the 50th Cohort was clustered around the board.
Only ten stood apart.
The ones whose names were so huge they could see them from a distance.
The top ten reacted in their own ways.
Nelly Blanc let out a quiet sigh of relief.
'10th place. Barely scraped by.'
Eric Redman seethed with anger.
'What? 9th place by a measly thousand points?!'
Schleeman Hans beamed with joy.
'Haha, knew someone would drop 500,000 points!'
Olga Moros was satisfied with her result.
'7th... not bad.'
Ivan Baskin showed no emotion.
'6th place.'
Clarice Van couldn't believe her score.
'...300,000 points and only 5th?'
And.
'Ah......'
Gunter Irons in 4th, looking somewhat dazed.
But the most heated reactions came from elsewhere.
"Whoa, I wasn't gonna care about scores, but... this pisses me off."
Arin, arms crossed and fuming.
"I'm hungry!"
Snort!
Poppi blew out a huff in agreement.
Their names sat right above Gunter's, proudly tied for 2nd.
And their points were a whopping...
2nd. Arin Helga / 1,000,000 points
2nd. Poppi / 1,000,000 points
One million points.
Exactly the same.
Considering 4th-place Gunter had 500,000, a million was an insane amount.
They'd spent that much for 2nd, so being mad made sense—but their real fury stemmed from elsewhere.
"Ugh, I'm pissed."
"I'm hungry!"
The fuming pair's eyes were glued to the very top of the list.
There sat the most obvious name.
1st. Yuri Holland
And the points next to it.
The points that enraged Arin and Poppi were none other than...
1,000,001 points.
...
Just one point.
A single, lousy point.
That alone had bumped their million-point bets down to tied 2nd.
As the two fumed...
A deflating sound came from beside them.
"Pfft!"
Arin and Poppi whipped their heads around to see Yuri clutching his mouth.
His eyes curved like crescent moons.
Anyone could tell he was holding back laughter.
"Pf..."
He tried stifling it, but it burst out loud.
"Puhahaha! Puhehehe!"
He laughed so hard tears welled up.
He clutched his stomach.
"No way, you really bet a million? I half-doubted it, but you actually did? Puhuhuhu!"
Yuri pointed at Arin and Poppi, cackling away.
Arin's face filled with irritation.
'...Why is that?'
Yuri's newly cut hair revealed a face that was undoubtedly handsome.
So why...
'No matter how I look at it, there's nothing cute about him.'
Normally, that face acting so smug would at least soften the annoyance a bit...
'But when he teases me... it just makes me madder.'
Madder, more annoying, more infuriating.
She snapped at him through gritted teeth.
"Ugh, how'd you know?"
"Know what? Oh! That you and Poppi would bet a million?"
"Yeah."
"Dunno. Just figured."
"Just figured?"
Her irritation spiked at "just figured"—
But then Yuri's rapid-fire explanation melted it away.
"Yeah, just figured. You two don't care much about scores, but points aren't super important either. Putting it all together, I guessed you'd register about half your stash."
"A...?"
"If the 2.65 million you took from me is your whole fortune, half's 1.325 million. Poppi'd probably go all-in on that...!"
"......?!"
"But with Arin stuck to Poppi's side, you'd say, 'Hey, let's just do a clean million!' ignoring all that no-collusion crap, and both register a million... "
"......?!"
"So I just spent one more point than that."
Goosebumps prickled up Arin and Poppi's arms at Yuri's breathless rundown.
They edged away from him, eyes wide with fear.
"H-hungry?"
"Y-you?! D-did you stalk us?!"
Arin's voice trembled with shock.
And rightfully so—Yuri had nailed every detail.
Even Poppi pushing for 1.325 million.
And her suggesting a flat million.
Pure, unvarnished truth.
"Stalk? Nah, I just sized you up."
His curt tone left Arin and Poppi speechless.
By now, their anger had fully evaporated.
No, this wasn't something to get mad about.
If he'd analyzed them that sharply and edged them out by one point for 1st, they owed him props.
Sure enough, Arin and Poppi were already clapping.
Clap clap clap—.
Yuri's shoulders puffed up as he scratched his head sheepishly.
"Aw, shucks. All that praise is embarrassing. Eheh."
"So, Yuri the fortune teller. When do I get married?"
"Worry about dating first, sis."
"Hungry?"
As Yuri, Arin, and Poppi bantered...
A low voice cut in.
"Yuri Holland."
Yuri turned at the call.
"Yeah?"
There stood Gunter, face stiff as a board.
Gunter let out a small sigh as the black-haired boy turned as if "Yuri Holland" was the most natural name in the world.
"...Hah."
With complicated eyes, he asked softly:
"...Why are you here? How?"
And at that question...
"Huh?"
Yuri's head immediately tilted sideways.
His face plainly screamed, *What kinda nonsense is this right now?*