Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: A Top Scorer Emerged from the Eon Family (3)
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The supervisor's tent set up in the academy student's plaza.
This supervisor's tent wasn't permanently installed.
It had been temporarily erected for the entrance exam.
The reason for setting up such a tent was to allow the chief supervisor, Zhuge Min, who designed the exam, and the admissions director, Im Tae-ok, to quickly consult if ambiguous situations arose during the exam that required interpreting the academy rules.
For example, if the pass-fail line produced ties, resulting in 162 prospective passers when only 160 new martial arts students were planned for this cohort.
"If the conduct of prospective passers within the admission quota is impeccable and their aptitude sufficient to serve as a model for the world's martial artists in the future, the chief supervisor and admissions director may, after discussion, accept more examinees than the set quota."
Such a rule could be invoked.
This allowed for slightly more or fewer admissions than planned.
Anyway.
Originally, this supervisor's tent had been set up for such purposes.
Thus, inside the tent, there were only three desks and chairs: one for the chief supervisor, one for the admissions director, and one spare just in case.
Yet today, an unprecedented number of professors gathered—far too many for those three chairs.
"Has my chair not arrived yet?"
"I-it'll be here any moment, Professor!"
"...It 'will' be? That sounds a bit uncertain, Assistant Yu?"
"...I sent the aides, but they're running a bit late. Ha. Haha."
"Goodness. You should have gone yourself instead of sending aides. There are all sorts of verification procedures when they handle it! That's why it's delayed! There are several other professors standing here besides me—do you run your research like this too?"
"N-no, sir! I'll go fetch it myself right now! In less than half a quarter-hour—no, a quarter of that!"
The reason so many professors had gathered wasn't anything else.
It was because interpreting the academy rules was needed to determine the top scorer.
Examinees vying for top spot were already guaranteed admission, so whether to pass more on the borderline might benefit many, but the real priority was here.
After all, the top scorer of the Righteous Martial Academy was practically a walking signboard.
It was an honorific title in itself, called "Current Top Scorer," drawing the eyes of the entire martial world.
Thus, any issue in the top scorer selection process could make the entire academy a laughingstock—or even spark turmoil in the jianghu.
"The freshman top scorer shall be one person.
If two or more examinees tie for first, a top scorer duel must be held to select one.
However, if one contender has exceptional extenuating circumstances warranting consideration, and the admissions committee unanimously agrees, the duel may be waived."
That was why all the professors assigned to this cohort's admissions committee had gathered.
"Everyone's here."
Once Zhuge Min, the chief supervisor, confirmed attendance, Im Tae-ok, chairing the meeting, clapped sharply to draw attention.
He briefly bowed his head, then spoke.
"Well, chairs may be short, but it seems everyone's gathered. This cohort's top scorer issue is urgent and weighty, so let's begin the meeting. I apologize on behalf of us all—please forgive our standing colleagues."
"It's fine. Proceed, Senior Im."
"My thanks. Some of you stationed at key points like Wudang Mountain may not have the full picture, so Professor Zhuge Min, our chief supervisor, will summarize the situation."
"Zhuge Min here. This cohort has three tied for first, each with 19 points."
Murmurs erupted here and there.
"...19 points? Isn't that record-breaking? And three of them?!"
"You're the leader of Team 11 from the top-point zone handling the 3-point beads. Yes. More precisely, it's the all-time highest score."
Zhuge Min corrected the misstatement and continued.
"Among them, Zhuge Seolji of the Zhuge family was initially classified as an A-rank warrior, exempt from the admission and martial prowess gates, awarded 5 points upfront. She then scored 5 in disruption, 5 in lightness skill, and 4 in the group task, totaling 19."
"That child called the Little Sorceress or the Zhuge family's lucky star?"
"Professor Namgung Jeong-ho, who handled one of the 4-point beads in the B-rank zone. As a family elder, it's embarrassing, but yes, that's how she's known. Next is Jeong-hyeon of the Wudang Sect."
"...Jeong-hyeon? The Wudang disciple who exposed his granduncle's scandal?"
"Correct. Due to that, Jeong-hyeon was initially B-rank, awarded 2 points at admission, but deducted 1 for causing a needless disturbance. He then scored 5 in martial prowess, 3 in disruption, and 5 each in lightness skill and group task, totaling 19."
"...What exactly was that 'needless disturbance'?"
"He protested the high-handed attitude of one of the aides at the exam desk. That aide was separately penalized."
"I see."
"Finally, Yong-un."
At this, some professors brightened.
"Oh, Yong-un? That hot topic D-rank warrior?"
"Seems so? Among the top contenders, there was Yong-myeong as A-rank and Yong-un as D-rank. But didn't you complain about drawing the short straw? You remember the examinee's name well."
"Of course I do. A D-rank with top-scorer potential?! If a freshman shows such promise, we can involve them in research from day one and keep them through grad school—up to a decade of talent."
But others clearly disagreed.
"Yong-un? From the Yong family?"
"Professor Chang-ryang, who handled one of the 4-point beads. Not Yong family. He's from the Eon family, disowned, so I just used his given name. Full name: Eon Yong-un."
"Ah, that Eon family scoundrel?"
Jeong-hyeon, the third-generation disciple who exposed his granduncle.
Eon Yong-un, the Eon family scoundrel.
As professors from Hyangran Hall—marked by dark cloth on the sleeves of their green robes—tilted the meeting's atmosphere subtly in favor of Zhuge Seolji,
one man stepped forward, picking his ear.
None other than No Sam.
"Hey, Namgung Jeong-ho. And you, Chang-ryang—what gives you the right to judge examinees like that? They overcame exam disadvantages; why drag up 'scoundrel' or 'exposed his granduncle' here? Judge by the exam! Right, Admissions Director?!"
"Senior No has a point."
"Exactly! By that logic, I mooched meals at the student cafeteria the whole exam period. Before coming here, I asked the staff—Eon Yong-un and Jeong-hyeon were the politest! The rest were rude, so deduct a point each?!"
"My apologies, Senior No Sam."
"It was just a loud mutter. No need to apologize."
"Keep making them sorry. And quiet down you loudmouths from the provinces—you're wasting the chief supervisor's time! Chief Supervisor, please continue!"
No Sam's shout restored balance to the meeting.
Zhuge Min spoke again.
"Yes. Continuing: Student Eon Yong-un started with a D-rank penalty of -1 point but scored 5 in martial prowess, disruption, lightness skill, and group task, totaling 19. Director, that's the situation summary."
"Well done. Now that everyone's caught up, I'll outline the agenda. No one disputes the top three. Eon Yong-un and Zhuge Seolji were team leaders for the group task; Jeong-hyeon was a member. The issue is the tie between Eon Yong-un and Zhuge Seolji. Speak freely."
"Han Yeong, who oversaw lightness skill. Both team leaders with equal scores—why not just hold the top scorer duel?"
It was by-the-book.
But Zhuge Min shook his head.
"On that, there's an additional factor: Eon Yong-un qualifies under the rules' 'exceptional extenuating circumstances.'"
"What is it?"
"He acquired more beads than anyone."
"...But isn't only the highest-value bead counted, whether two or three? Multiple is praiseworthy if one is 5 points, but not duel-waiving?"
"It's not two or three. He brought back fifty beads."
The meeting's outcome was sealed.
"F-fifty? Not five, but fifty?!"
"Yes. Fifty."
"How? The 5-point bead team was set up to be attacked, but breaking through and taking beads is worlds apart. Fifty is nearly a third of all examinees!"
Even when examinee Eun Ha-seong brought the confirmation sheet, Zhuge Min had expected a duel between Eon Yong-un and Zhuge Seolji.
"Yes. Headcount-wise, Eon Yong-un's team alone eliminated 200 examinees."
But he hadn't anticipated Eon Yong-un dominating so utterly—Zhuge Seolji had met her match.
'You lost, Seolji.'
- What's taking that meeting so long? Anyone can see you're the top scorer!
'Adults have their reasons, I suppose. I'm a disowned scoundrel; Zhuge Seolji's the prized successor of the Zhuge family, a major academy backer.'
- Judge by scores after the exam! No room for adult meddling! Even if only your other beads count as 2 points each, excluding her one 5-pointer, it's 117 to 19!
'Heh. Not quite. It was highest-value bead only, right? So even with more, it's a tie.'
- Still, fifty?! At 1 point each, 68 to 19!
'Heh. What, this isn't a street market—why haggle like that?'
- Outrageous! You're laughing it off? Master is furious!
'Not laughing so much as I can guess what's happening inside.'
- Oh? What do you think?
'Probably started with "can't give top spot to a scoundrel," then prideful Zhuge side refuses and pushes for a duel.'
Just like in the original story.
Or close enough.
- Argh! Damn them!
'Agreed. Argh! Rotten bastards!'
That was when.
As he chatted idly with his master.
The supervisor tent parted, and the exam professors poured out.
Admissions Director Im Tae-ok and Chief Supervisor Zhuge Min ascended the platform; Zhuge went to the blackboard recording rankings and filled the top three blank spots.
Scritch- scritch- scritch-scritch-scritch-
1. Eon Yong-un.
2. Zhuge Seolji.
3. Jeong-hyeon.
Im Tae-ok spoke.
"Before announcing this exam's admission quota and compliance details, I'll first declare the top scorer. This cohort's top scorer is Yong-un of the Eon family—examinee Eon Yong-un. Student Eon Yong-un, henceforth."