Chapter 3: Class Placement Test (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 3: Class Placement Test (1)
Joaquin Academy's training grounds.
Some groups had already grown close and were chatting away, while others glared with burning eyes, openly displaying their hostility.
Naturally, I belonged to a third faction that fit into neither of those groups.
A Special Admission Student.
It was a system created by the current academy principal, Medea Poison, under the banner of educational equality. Her intention was to subvert the academy's culture, which had degenerated into a social club for the children of the upper class. Today, however, it was essentially a class reserved for commoners. In reality, they were nothing more than targets of discrimination and contempt.
Even then, because the privileged class—the so-called "nobles"—had thrown a massive fit, only two hundred students were admitted this way.
In any other school, two hundred Special Admission Students might seem like a lot.
But when the recruitment pool spanned the entire world, it was a threshold narrower than the eye of a needle. For reference, the total student body was 2,200. Naturally, that number excluded those who had failed out. If you included them, it would probably be at least five or six thousand.
Still, lured by the title of attending the most prestigious academy, many commoner applicants did not hesitate to drink from this poisoned chalice.
I heard the competition ratio for the Special Class was 20,000 to 1 this year alone.
It seemed the vast majority preferred to be the tail of a dragon rather than the head of a snake...
Lowborn blood.
It was an unpleasant label that Special Admission Students had to carry throughout their entire school life.
Lowborn, huh...
With "Fiend" literally stamped into my name, I couldn't even think of a comeback. What a miserable life. Fuck.
Ending my brief musings, I turned my head to scan the faces around me.
Heads of every color were packed together like bean sprouts.
Blond hair, red hair, white hair. I even saw rainbow hair.
It made my black hair stand out in comparison. Perhaps because they were on edge before the exam, the cadets were quietly sizing each other up.
Just then, my gaze locked onto a long-haired girl surrounded by men in the distance. Her striking emerald hair and skin as pale as frost immediately caught my eye, along with her calm yet beautiful golden eyes.
The granddaughter of the Sword Emperor, who was hailed as the strongest hero of this century.
Abel von Nibelung.
Miracle Blessing M's main heroine and the sole reason I had spent money on the game. Seeing her in person, she was a breathtakingly beautiful girl. Honestly, I had expected her to have unnaturally giant anime eyes due to 2D artistic license, but she just had a damn gorgeous face.
Watching the men forming a literal barricade around Abel, I couldn't help but snort. They clearly just wanted to strike up a conversation with her.
Having played the game to some extent, I knew the truth. Abel von Nibelung ends up with the player of Miracle Blessing M—the protagonist. In the end, every beauty already has a partner.
Besides, to even speak to a girl of her caliber, one had to be in the same league. If a Special Admission Student like me tried to talk to her, I'd probably have to spend the rest of my life watching my back in dark alleys.
I shook my head and thought to myself.
'Ordinary, peaceful, safe.'
The three creeds I had set for my future.
Complete my studies without any trouble.
Get an ordinary job.
And live a safe life.
A hero? My ass.
My body trembles just from drawing a sashimi knife, so how could I possibly save the world? It felt like twenty minutes had passed, but that tingling sensation was still bothering my eyes.
I'd rather get cut by a blade once; that excruciating pain was simply not something a human could endure.
Let's avoid drawing the sword as much as possible.
That was my decision. Besides, I had spent nearly twenty years making a living with a knife, and I had sliced more than enough.
I let out a sigh of relief and quietly waited for the exam to begin.
From what I recalled, the freshmen would be divided into 150 groups of ten. They would enter a 'Subspace'—created by the Hero of the Origin, Balor Joaquin, when he founded the academy—and tear each other apart.
It was literally a "kill each other starting now" scenario. Since real-world consequences were excluded in the Subspace, no one could actually die, meaning any action was overlooked. Even murder.
'At least they said the group assignments are random... but we'll see about that.'
There was also no limit on the rarity of armaments. In short, it was a system designed for the privileged to sweep everything. No one would bat an eye even if someone brought out family heirlooms or national treasure-grade armaments, using the absurd excuse that one's weapon was also a reflection of their skill.
'It's so fucking unfair.'
A migraine washed over me at the thought of this crazy school and its crazy first exam.
According to the game's description, the trauma experienced in the Subspace lingered for quite a long time...
[We will now explain the rules for the 783rd Class Placement Test of Joaquin Academy.]
'I pretty much know all of this.'
The grading was handled by the Subspace itself, which scored each cadet. Simply put, it was like an AI grading essay questions.
Out of the ten members in a group:
1st place goes to the highest tier, the Star Class.
2nd and 3rd place go to the next tier, the Dragon Class.
4th through 7th place go to the Wolf Class.
And the rest go to the Tiger Class.
Naturally, my goal was the Tiger Class. Getting good grades was a waste of effort. Being ordinary was more than enough.
[We will now begin the 783rd Class Placement Test of Joaquin Academy.]
A dry, yet almost sacred and intellectual voice filled the training grounds.
The chattering mouths instantly fell silent.
Next, the details and rules of the exam were listed.
A few cadets smiled with satisfaction, as if they had already known.
[The exam begins as of this moment.]
[May the Blessing of the Hero be with you.]
One by one, they began to vanish with soft whoosh-whoosh sounds.
Just as I was wondering, 'When is my turn...' I was swallowed by the Subspace before I could even register it.
* * *
30 minutes after the start of the exam.
Nearly two-thirds of the groups, around a hundred of them, had finished their exams.
The Subspace spat the cadets back out.
[Evaluation for Group 24 has concluded. 1st place: Aaron, 2nd place: ...]
[Evaluation for Group 47 has concluded. 1st place: Marksman, 2nd place: ...]
The voice announcing the end of the exam rang out every time cadets were dumped back onto the training grounds.
There was a wide variety of reactions, from cadets throwing up their breakfast to those maintaining a calm demeanor.
However, most of them had lost the strength in their legs and were collapsed on the ground.
"Come to think of it... having so many outstanding kids in this batch means the results are basically predetermined. I think I chose the wrong exam topic. Maybe I should have gone with team play."
Medea, who was watching, rested her chin on her hand and yawned. Her voluptuous breasts jiggled with her every movement.
"Can you even call this a fair exam when there are no restrictions on armaments?"
The Sword Emperor, who stood with his arms crossed, furrowed his brow. Medea shrugged and crossed her legs, fully exposing her sleek thighs.
"An old-fashioned guy like you wouldn't know, but when you're the academy principal, there are so many things to worry about. Do you have any idea how hard I had to fight just to make the group assignments random? Huh?! I almost got wrinkles around my eyes! What does a shut-in who does nothing but stay at home know about academy politics? It would've been nice if you'd helped out a bit, you old geezer!"
"Since you already have wrinkles, you might as well have suffered a bit more."
"Sigh, what's the point of talking to you..."
Medea grimaced and switched her crossed legs.
"Anyway, as expected of her. Abel von Nibelung cut down everyone in just seven minutes and fourteen seconds. Wow, at this rate, top marks are practically guaranteed... Well, unfortunately, she couldn't break your record, but this should still put her in the top ten in the academy's history."
"It is only natural for one of the Nibelung bloodline."
Contrary to his tone, one corner of Siegfried's mouth curled upward. Medea giggled and summoned a translucent window in the air. It was a list detailing the freshmen's armaments and results.
"Taking the exam with a C-Rare armament is just like you, Sieg."
"Abel wanted a fair evaluation of her skills."
"She's already such a boomer at her age."
Even as Medea and the Sword Emperor conversed, the Subspace continuously spat out the remaining cadets until only a single group was left.
"It seems to be wrapping up, so I should head out."
"There's still one left. You're leaving?"
"It is bound to be one of those trash's kin anyway."
The Sword Emperor glared out of the corner of his eye at the crowd chatting while covering their mouths with fans. Medea chuckled softly and nodded.
"See you next time."
"Sure. Next time we meet, it'll probably be when you're dead, you old geezer."
The Sword Emperor responded to Medea's farewell by flipping her off. But the moment he stood up—
Ssssshh—
As if on cue, goosebumps broke out all over everyone in the training grounds. The Sword Emperor and Medea stared at each other simultaneously, then turned their heads to lock their gazes on the training grounds.
"You felt it too, right?"
"..."
In response to Medea's question, the Sword Emperor narrowed his eyes and leaned his head toward the training grounds. Beads of sweat formed on the foreheads of the crowd and trickled down their temples.
The Sword Emperor stared at the training grounds. His eyes darted around as he quickly scanned the cadets.
The incomprehensible sensation he had felt just a moment ago was gone.
"T-That's impossible!"
Medea's finger pointed toward the sky.
The Sword Emperor tilted his head back.
Slice—
A sound echoing from the clear blue sky.
Slice—
Cracks began to form in the firmament.
The sky split wide open with a loud crack, then shattered like glass.
From the rift, all the cadets of the final group fell, completely unconscious.
* * *
The outcome was predetermined anyway.
But of all things, by some terrible stroke of bad luck,
I seemed to have ended up in the group of death.
The twins Mao Jin and Mao Shun from the Iron King Family, one of the prestigious hero families of the neighboring country. Having twins in the same group was already cheating, but...
'The Twins of Tyranny.'
They possessed natural talent, but also a viciously violent streak. The notorious rumors about those two knew no borders.
Just the two of them had eliminated six other members of our group. Their methods were so brutal that it was hard to watch.
Grinning with bared teeth, they had beaten the six cadets into a bloody pulp. Though the victims had struggled and fought back in their own way,
it would have been one thing if they had just knocked them out with a single blow. Instead, those two dragged things out, savoring the writhing of the fallen cadets for thirty minutes.
Crunch—
"Hey, bro, how's it going over there?"
Snap—
"Looks like I'm mostly done?"
In the end, the twins snapped their necks while laughing. Then, they tossed them to the ground like discarded gum wrappers. The younger brother, Mao Shun, counted the bodies of what used to be cadets on his fingers. It seemed the only reason they had left me for last was because I looked too weak to even be on their radar.
"Ah, damn it. Why did you kill one more than me, bro? This is so annoying."
"Sorry, sorry. I'll let you have that one instead."
"Oh, then we're good."
The twins' gazes shifted to a red-haired girl who was trembling pitifully.
I had been through all sorts of hardships in my past life, so I could handle it, but it was painfully obvious that this fragile girl would suffer from PTSD for the rest of her life due to this horrific carnage.
Soon, the younger brother, Mao Shun, cracked his knuckles menacingly and walked toward her with light steps. It looked like he intended to snap her neck as well.
With every step he took closer, the female student trembled violently. For some reason, she showed no intention of resisting.
At this rate, she would be beaten to a pulp by Mao Shun's strike. At that thought, my hands clenched into fists of their own accord.
"You motherfuckers!"
An expletive burst from my mouth reflexively. Even though I knew the carnage before me was just an illusion inside the Subspace, flesh had been torn and bones had been shattered.
They claimed the academy's purpose was to raise heroes, but looking at these twins grinning as they dismantled their classmates, this place felt more like a villain breeding ground. No matter how much the academy emphasized practical training, there had to be a limit.
No matter how I looked at it, there had to be some corruption behind the academy admitting these trashy bastards who were basically psychopaths.
The Mao twins took their eyes off the girl. Instantly, their bloodshot eyes glared at me. At the same time, two faces broke into sinister, creepy grins.
"What's this? There was one more bastard left? I didn't even know he was there."
"Look at his name tag. He's a Special Admission Student? Lowborn trash."
After their noisy chatter, the twins nodded at each other.
The younger brother, Mao Shun, clenched and unclenched his left hand, which was clad in an iron gauntlet. Exuding thick bloodlust from his eyes, he slowly walked toward me.
"Bro, I'll snap this bastard's neck real quick."
Standing behind him, the older brother, Mao Jin, sneered as he watched.
"Oh, right. That bastard just swore at us, so rip his tongue out while you're at it."
"Got it."
Mao Shun replied, scratching the back of his neck. As he shook his iron gauntlet, red blood splattered onto the ground in droplets.
Should I use the Blessing of Painlessness?
The thought crossed my mind for a second, but I immediately shook my head and dismissed it.
The duration of the Blessing of Painlessness was only thirty seconds.
To those crazy bastards, I wouldn't be an enemy, but a mere toy. There was no way that short amount of time would satisfy them.
Suddenly, a chilling dizziness crept up my spine. My gaze naturally dropped to the bag resting at my feet.
The Song of the Sword.
A sharp, chilling sound was calling out to me like a sob.
'If only I could do something about these motherfucking bastards.'
Ordinary, peaceful, safe.
It hadn't even been half a day since I made that resolve. Fuck.
Mao Shun's approaching steps grew faster and faster. I unzipped my closed bag and pulled out my sashimi knife.
"Pfft, what an idiot."
A mocking laugh.
"This is why lowborns are..."
Mao Shun lightly kicked off the ground and leaped, his expression showing he had lost interest.
His iron fist, coated in sticky blood, aimed for my legs.
I took a slight step back and activated the 'Blessing of Painlessness'.
Let's just hold out for thirty seconds. Something will happen.
A cool sensation wrapped around my hand.
Since it was still in its sheath, nothing unusual happened yet.
I took an awkward stance and flailed the knife through the air.
The sheath of the sashimi knife slid off, revealing its cold, sharp blade.
And then,
[The Blessing of the Sword God is activated.]
The sword stopped its song, and—
++++++++++++++++++++++
《May the Blessing of God be with you》
++++++++++++++++++++++
It burst into an indescribably gleeful laughter.