A Ruthless Rule

It was a ruthless rule. If you failed to take down every monster you had summoned within fifteen minutes, you received a merciless zero. There was, admittedly, a sort of safety net — this exam featured team scores. Two groups, merged into a single team of eight. The individual scores of each teammate were added together to determine the team's rank, and team points were awarded on a sliding scale according to that rank. Even if you fumbled your monsters and scored zero personally, belonging to a high-scoring team left you a sliver of a chance at redemption. Of course, it was only a sliver. In truth, maximizing your own individual score mattered above all else.

"Eshu Arzel here!" Eshu shot her hand up mid-explanation of the team scoring. "You said two groups make one team, but our department has thirteen groups!" "I was just getting to that." Aaron replied evenly. Beside him, the TAs stepped forward and set down a box, pouring out a pile of numbered orbs for all to see. "Since the number of groups is odd, one group, drawn at random, will run the exam with only four members. In exchange, their team score multiplier is doubled."

With that, Aaron reached into the box, and the students exchanged uneasy murmurs. "A four-person team — is that a good thing?" "……Hard to say. Depends on the situation. Their merits and risks both double." "If it's a strong team, it works in their favor." "Sounds like a massive headache to me."

Click! Aaron plucked an orb from the box and checked the number on its surface. "The group that will take the exam with four members is Group 8."

"Nooo—!" Groans erupted from all corners. Of all groups, it had to be Group 8 — widely acknowledged as the strongest group in Class A at the moment. A fearsome duo anchored the group: Aseraz Mikel and a boy called White.

"Understood." Their group leader, Aseraz, answered with a confident smile. White, as always, stared blankly into space, while the other two members were visibly struggling to suppress triumphant grins. "Well, there it is." "First place is Group 8's, no question."

After that, Aaron assigned the remaining teams. "I want to draw!" "No, me!" The twin professors Rin and Run seemed to find it entertaining, and badgered him into letting them each pick. Rin drew one group and Run the other, pairing them into a single team. Team 1: Group 1, Group 9.Team 2: Group 3, Group 12.Team 3: Group 5, Group 7.Team 4: Group 6, Group 13.Team 5: Group 8.Team 6: Group 4, Group 10.Team 7: Group 2, Group 11.

Simon was on Team 6 — in other words, sixth in the order. Thank goodness we're in the latter half. Simon naturally assumed that going later was advantageous. The pressure of watching earlier students rack up their scores would be considerable, but in return, they'd be able to observe the groups before them and make far better-informed judgments.

"Oh, the Student Council President!" The leader of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Group 4 — a face Simon had been seeing a lot of lately — approached with a beaming grin. It had been they who, during the last ghoul performance evaluation, joined Simon's strategy to take down Hector's group and claim second place. "So we're paired with Group 10 again? Looking forward to it!" The Group 4 leader extended a hand, and Simon shook it with a smile. "Yeah. Likewise."

Group 4 wasn't a bad draw. Ideally, they'd have joined forces with Hector's Group 1, or Serne and Fitzgerald's Group 11, to gang up and check Aseraz's Group 8 — but that would have been pure greed. The other Group 4 members filed up behind their leader, shaking hands with Loraine, Toto, and Esh as they steeled their resolve.

"Eshu!" "I'm so happy to see you!" Esh in particular was clearly over the moon — one of her closest friends, the one she ate meals with, was in Group 4. The two of them clasped hands and went hopping around the room together.

"Pardon the interruption." While the group members chatted among themselves, a Summoning Department TA approached and handed out a pamphlet to each of them. "This is a list of the monsters found in the underground dungeon. It includes their traits as well — use it as a reference when planning your strategy." "Thank you!"

Groups 10 and 4 sat in a circle and immediately set to work on their strategy. "Five monster types in total." Loraine said.

"None of them are difficult. The Stone Harpies are a bit tricky since they can fly."

"So they come out randomly mixed from these five types?"

"That's right."

The boy from Group 4 who'd revealed his father was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hunter took charge of the briefing. He knew even the monsters' finest details. "I think the Jejili is the wildcard." The boy with drowsy, down-turned eyes tapped the monster's photo with a fingertip. "This one's nickname is the 'Cowardly Jejili.' If it decides a fight's turning against it, it runs." "It doesn't escape by digging tunnels or flying, does it?" "It can't do either." "Small mercies." "We'll need to keep some Jet-Black in reserve for the chase, then."

The students rapidly shared the key directives. One certainty: none of the monsters were strong enough to destroy a Dullahan, so for the full fifteen minutes, they should hold nothing back — push with everything they had and focus on culling the headcount. The Jejili, which fled the moment the tide turned, should be eliminated as the top priority, as early in the battle as possible. Next came the Stone Harpy, which could take to the air — second on the kill list. Once the information was shared, they settled the order of turn. "Who goes first?" "The vanguard matters, I think. It's a battle of momentum."

The group members made a huge production of the order, but Simon, listening in silence from the back, saw things differently. There's a team score, sure, but this isn't an exam that calls for teamwork or synergy. Simon leaned back in his chair. This is a strictly individual contest. When my turn comes, taking down exactly as many monsters as I'm capable of — that's what serves the team.

Just then, Professor Grelion's voice rang out. "Right! Let's begin. First team, step up!"

Team 1 — Hector's Group 1 and Group 6 — moved to the exam site, while the remaining students filed into a lounge that doubled as a viewing room. "Wow, this sofa is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠amazing!" With the big exam looming, everyone else was wound tight as a drum, but Esh flopped onto the sofa with the serenity of a saint. Not bad, actually. It was a decent place to wait. There was a stove, snacks to nibble on when the mouth got bored. The bathroom was reasonably close, too.

And in front of the lounge stood a screen powered by a mana generator, around which the students were already clustering. "It's starting!"

The mana screen flickered to life. On it, the students of Groups 1 and 6 could be seen standing in a neat row before the exam site, waiting in order of turn. The strongest of them all, Hector, was slated to go last. Then a dungeon keeper in a black robe approached. He was a middle-aged man with a face carved full of wrinkles, and the arm visible beneath his robe was covered head to toe in claw scars. "Name." "Ko, Koiter Pizn." Koiter seemed extraordinarily nervous, being the first in the whole department to go. His lips were trembling.

"Number of monsters?" Koiter let out a long breath — hooah — before answering. "Twenty, please." Watching from the waiting room, Simon tilted his head, puzzled. Twenty? Wasn't that far too few? And this was Koiter Pizn — the student who'd been the very first to shout 'A-rank' in response to Aaron's question. "Confirmed."

The dungeon keeper withdrew, and Koiter Pizn entered the exam site. The spacious underground chamber, as yet empty of monsters, felt bare and forlorn. Koiter Pizn took his position at the far end of the space — the spot sealed off by a barrier.

The broadcast rang out. Koiter Pizn nodded and drew his handcrafted Dullahan from sub-space. Its primary material was apparently Abaddon. It was clad head to toe in plated armor, and had chosen a greatsword for its weapon.

Fortunately, the preparation time was unlimited. Koiter methodically stacked equations onto his prepared magic circle, and the moment the finishing touches were done, he attached the circle to the Dullahan's back. Vuuuummm! The magic circle whirred like a power switch, waking the Dullahan. The Dullahan, which had stood frozen in place, slowly raised its head and lifted its own severed head from the floor. Kiiiiiing—! Flames flickered to life in its twin eye sockets. "S-please begin!" Koiter Pizn shouted hurriedly.

Clang! Clang! The entrance to the underground dungeon ground open, and twenty monsters came pouring out. Koiter thrust out his arm with a mighty battle cry. "Go go goooo! Dullahan!"

The result was anticlimactic. "?!" Koiter Pizn's Dullahan was strong. The time it took to fell all twenty monsters was a mere four minutes. A full eleven minutes remained on the clock. "Uh. Uh……?" But killing the monsters didn't end the exam. The fifteen-minute limit had to elapse, no exceptions. Koiter clutched his hair, face crumpling on the verge of tears. "It was a m-mistake! A mistake! I could've won even with several times more than that!"

He spent the remaining time wallowing in painful self-recrimination. He had been far too conscious of the risk — miss a single one, and it was a 'zero.' And so, at last—

It didn't matter how much power he had left. He could do nothing but stand there helplessly beside his Dullahan for eleven minutes.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Those remaining eleven minutes stretched out like an eternity.

Bang! The moment Koiter stepped out into the waiting room, Hector seized him and slammed him against the wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Hector growled, incensed. Koiter flailed his arms, tears streaming. "I didn't know it'd turn out like this! I swear I didn't!" "Then what was all that A-rank posturing in front of the professor, with a ego like that?!" Koiter Pizn looked to the other students as though pleading injustice. "I-it's what you all said, isn't it! Even if our scores are a bit low, don't take a zero! Play it safe! As long as we don't get a zero, we win! That was the strategy!"

The students who found themselves on the receiving end of Koiter's gaze all averted their eyes in awkward haste. "Calm down, Hector." Someone rested a hand on Hector's shoulder. When Hector whipped around with furious eyes, a long-faced boy was smirking back at him. "First slot's a lesson learned, isn't it? I'll go rack up some flashy points."

"Yay~ yay." Hearing the broadcast, the boy waved a hand breezily and headed for the exam site. "Everyone, keep your eyes on me."

The boy took his place before the barrier of the underground dungeon. "Kurt Tremblay!" The dungeon keeper nodded. "Your number of monsters?" Kurt grinned wide. "What's twenty? Be a man — quadruple it! Eighty, please!"

Fifteen minutes later—

Kurt's face had gone deathly pale.

GRAAAAAAAGH! From the exam staging area beyond the wall came the bellow of a furious Hector. Even a bloodthirsty edge of Dragon Fear could be felt radiating through the stone. "How— how did this even……" Kurt sank to the floor, hollow-eyed. This exam. It was harder than any of them had imagined.