Chapter 395
Chapter 395
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 396
Chapter Title: Pro Wizard Certification Exam
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[We will now begin the Pro Wizard Certification Exam.]
After a long wait, the pro certification exam finally started.
There were 920 examinees in total.
More people had shown up than expected, but over half of them were self-taught in magic or talentless beginners.
Because of that, more than half would be eliminated in the first test, the basic ability assessment.
[I'll now give a brief explanation of the exam process. The exam lasts three days and consists of five events, with eliminations after each one.]
The short-haired examiner on the platform began his explanation.
Yang Jitae, red-haired.
He was an S-Rank Reinforcement Wizard from the Wizard Association's Special Intelligence Team—a name everyone knew.
[The first and second tests will be conducted together as the Basic Magic Ability Assessment. To explain the simple rules...]
Even without a microphone, his voice boomed through the auditorium, amplified by the mana infused in it.
It was something only someone with exceptional mana control could pull off, leaving the examinees gaping in admiration.
"Wow. Listen to that voice. You can use mana like that too..."
Yoon Hayoung looked up at Yang Jitae and let out a small gasp of awe.
Then Yoo Sungjin, standing next to us, smirked and turned to us.
"You think that's impressive? I could do that too."
His out-of-nowhere comment made Yoon Hayoung blink.
"...I didn't ask."
"Pretending you're not interested now."
Yoo Sungjin said that, then turned back to the front.
Yoon Hayoung stared blankly at him for a moment before muttering softly.
"...What is he? Does he need attention or something?"
"Ignore him. He's a bit weird."
I said it loud enough for Yoo Sungjin to hear, but surprisingly, he didn't react.
He was probably pretending not to hear, teeth gritted.
But I knew he heard everything.
Right then, a loud voice boomed from the platform again.
[...And with that, scores will be tallied, and eliminations decided. That concludes the exam explanation. We will now begin the first test: Basic Ability Assessment.]
At the same time, light flashed from the platform as various mana measurement devices were summoned.
And so, the exam to obtain pro wizard certification began.
The main event of Day 1, the Basic Ability Test, wrapped up in no time.
It was called basic, but it was "pro wizard" level basic, so the difficulty was on another plane compared to standard beginner tests.
The test items included mana control, basic magic knowledge quizzes, and more—fields I was always confident in.
[Kim Sunwoo: Total 625 points!]
—Whoa.
A small murmur of admiration rose from the spectator seats when my score came up.
625 points. With a perfect score of 750, that was quite satisfying.
This probably locked in first place.
But a high score here wasn't cause for unbridled celebration.
The Basic Ability Test didn't carry much weight in the final ranking that determined wizard rank.
—That's the star of this exam.
—Yeah. Stands out all on his own.
—He's the real deal.
Ignoring the voices from guild and association reps in the seats, I turned to the examiner who'd overseen my mana control test.
"Can I go down now?"
"...Ah! Yes, you may."
I nodded and stepped off the platform.
Yoo Sungjin, whose turn had been right before mine, glared at me with an uncomfortable look.
He was probably frustrated at being outscored by me again.
"Sunwoo! I passed the first round!"
Then Yoon Hayoung came running up with a happy face, shouting.
She was probably the only one at the Wizard Academy thrilled over just passing the first round, not even final qualification.
"Passing the first round is a given. Why are you so worried?"
"Even so, you can mess up."
Yoon Hayoung grinned.
Then she glanced over at Lee Seojun, who was taking the group basic test with number tag 420.
Staring blankly at him, Yoon Hayoung muttered to herself.
"Seojun looks in good form today, right?"
"Yeah."
As I'd felt last time, the current Lee Seojun was on another level from the one in my past life.
The current Lee Seojun was incredibly strong.
Compared to his past self, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he'd advanced by over half a year in growth.
...Still, even so.
My intervention had sped up his growth, sure, but wasn't this over the top...?
If left alone, I had a feeling he might take down Cruas all by himself without me needing to step in.
"He's improving every single day, that's for sure."
"Sunwoo, you know what?"
Yoon Hayoung, who'd been staring blankly at Lee Seojun, turned to me.
"There was that video online of Seojun sparring with you that blew up."
Her sudden comment made me blink.
Yeah, that had happened. After that day, my rating had briefly surpassed his.
"They say he's ramped up his training lately because of it. Growth from rivalry."
Rivalry, huh...
In his past life, Lee Seojun hadn't had much in the way of competitive spirit.
That made me think.
Maybe the current Lee Seojun wasn't stronger than his past self—just back to his original, proper growth potential, thanks to me.
"...Not a genius for nothing."
Yoon Hayoung narrowed her eyes at my mutter and turned to me.
"Ugh. Denying it again. Sunwoo, you're a genius too, you know?"
Instead of answering, I just smiled.
The two basic tests on Day 1 were over.
It had felt easy to me since it was the first one, but as a pro exam, the strict standards eliminated quite a few.
[Thank you all for completing the first and second basic tests. As announced earlier, the minimum score to proceed is 350 points. The 512 examinees below that, please leave.]
—Argh...
—...Failed my fourth try.
Out of 920 examinees, 512 were eliminated.
More than half gone in one go.
Now 408 remained.
And the Wizard Academy third-years, boasting the highest pass rate, had mostly survived, outpacing the older, more experienced retakers.
It really showed why the Wizard Academy was called the world's top elite institution.
The auditorium, once packed, now had plenty of empty seats.
[You will now enter the 'Virtual World' for the next test.]
Tension rippled across everyone's faces at the mention of the Virtual World.
Holding the test in a virtual space, not reality, meant accidents could happen mid-exam.
[Please follow me.]
We followed the examiner, Yang Jitae, out of the auditorium and into the pre-set virtual reality gate.
Flash!
[You have entered the Virtual World.]
['Blessing of the Unreal' has activated.]
[All stats increased by 30%.]
A burst of intense light and mana changed the world around us.
Waves crashed in our ears.
A vast ocean stretched before us, and we stood atop a massive cliff.
The sky was dyed red with sunset.
The first test had taken so long it was evening now, and the Virtual World shared real-time with reality.
"Is this the test site?"
The students looked around with puzzled expressions.
Once all examinees had gathered, Yang Jitae began explaining.
"Everyone here has met the minimum standard to become a pro wizard. This place will test how well you can apply your basic abilities."
All eyes focused on Yang Jitae.
"Many of you are wondering where this is. Unfortunately, we can't tell you anything."
......Huh?
Memories from my past life started flooding back.
This year's wizard certification exam was set to be pretty fun. Definitely different from past ones.
"We can't explain the location because the second test, 'Exploration,' will be held here."
Exploration test.
As the name implied, it was about scouting the surroundings.
It tested investigative skills, one of the key virtues of a pro wizard.
"This place is modeled after a real 'somewhere.' Clues and items with special info are hidden all over."
Yang Jitae gestured to the terrain around us as he continued.
"From now on, gather info and clues about this place. Scores will be based on the quantity and quality of what you collect."
This was exactly why hitting A-Rank on the first go in the pro wizard exam was so tough.
Exploration wasn't about raw magic power or mana quantity—it demanded insight above all.
But I was confident. From my past life, I vaguely knew what this 'island' was.
Yang Jitae went on.
"I'll now explain the rules for the second test, Exploration. Forming teams for exploration is allowed. Team size, leader—everything's up to you. Stealing info from other teams is fine too. Even robbing them outright is permitted."
"Ooh."
Everyone looked surprised at the team allowance.
In an info-gathering test like exploration, teamwork was a big deal.
And with stealing and robbing allowed, bigger teams had clear advantages.
But the pro wizard exam wasn't that straightforward.
"The key factor in Exploration, however, is info 'rarity.' Sharing your info with teammates reduces its rarity value."
Teams free to form, but evaluation individual.
In other words, more teammates didn't mean blindly better.
The more people who knew, the lower the rarity.
This would give a lot of people pause.
Team up or go solo?
Solo might mean less info, or getting dangerous...
For reference, in my past life, I'd gone solo.
Not because I knew the island's secrets from the original story or anything.
Back then, I was just scared of teaming up.
Worried my involvement might cause unwanted changes.
......Man, that's depressing.
Right then, a middle-aged examinee shot his hand up.
"When does Exploration start and end?"
"Exploration lasts three days."
"...Pardon? Three days?"
Murmurs spread at Yang Jitae's words.
The pro wizard exam spanned three days total. Dedicating all of the second test to three days raised questions.
"Won't that leave no time for the other tests? There are two more."
"Those two will be held during Exploration."
"...During?"
Everyone looked shocked.
"Yes. Exploration continues even as the fourth and fifth tests happen. We'll announce start times for those—just show up on schedule."
"...Sunwoo. Was the exam always like this?"
Yoon Hayoung asked me tensely.
"Probably a new rule added this year."
"...Why our year, of all times. Ugh."
Yoon Hayoung pouted.
Conversely, Yoo Sungjin ahead of me grinned.
"Heh. This'll be fun."
Then he turned to me.
"Hey, Kim Sunwoo. Wanna team up with me?"
His unexpected offer made me pause.
"Team up?"
"Yeah. With you and me, no one can stop us."
...Teaming with Yoo Sungjin.
Pure power-wise, he'd be top-tier with Lee Seojun for this exam.
Teaming up would definitely help in exploration.
And I could subtly leak his info to drop its rarity and sabotage him.
Hmm. What to do.
My original plan was to team with Lee Seojun for the fifth test, and the fourth too, aiming for A-Rank.
But I wanted to keep an eye on villain Yoo Sungjin too.
If he ended up with a high final rank, it'd be a hassle.
...Wait.
No need for that.
"Nah, I'm good."
"...What? Tch. Won't you regret it?"
"Nope. Why would I?"
No need to team up to check Yoo Sungjin.
I could just steal his info later.
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