Chapter 35: Midterm Exam (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 35: Midterm Exam (5)
The midterm exams had finally begun.
The first two days were written tests. All subjects were crammed into that two-day period.
And just a moment ago, the last of them had ended.
“Ugh, my neck hurts.”
My whole body felt stiff, probably from spending so much time hunched over my test paper.
I cracked my neck a few times to loosen it up, stretched lightly, and walked out of the building.
The Gaon campus was buzzing with activity, busy with preparations for the exams and upcoming events. Starting tomorrow, the official visits from outsiders would begin.
“Where does that professor even live?”
“Just pass us already… What kind of hero needs to take written exams?”
Students, finally free from their tests, grumbled as they walked across the plaza.
Amid the noise, I sat on a bench and looked up at the large scoreboard in the center of the plaza.
The massive monitor floating in the air displayed the names of students who had been challenged, updating in real time.
[Person-to-Person Combat Challenge Notification]
[Rank 2 Yohan] -> [Unknown Jung Hae-in]
[Person-to-Person Combat Challenge Notification]
[Rank 42 Seong Si-woo] -> [Unknown Jung Hae-in]
And there was my name.
“…What should I do?”
Honestly, I didn’t care about either of them.
In Yohan’s case, I’d already had a feeling this would happen at the cafe yesterday. I could see why he’d do it.
But Seong Si-woo…
What the hell was with this guy?
He usually treated me like I was invisible, and now he suddenly challenges me to a duel?
Did he go on some kind of seclusion training?
…As if.
But there was something more important.
I had no intention of fighting all my matches in the first place. My plan was to fight the first round, then forfeit the second and third, accepting the disqualification.
Because by then, I needed to leave to stop the Mine attack.
There were things far more important than exam scores.
That meant I had to choose.
Who would I fight?
Seong Si-woo or Yohan?
The display on the scoreboard cycled through, showing my name again.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and took out my watch.
Then, I used the “Designation Rejection Right,” a single-use ticket given to every student.
[Using ‘Designation Rejection Right’ on ‘Rank 42 Seong Si-woo’.]
To be honest, this was how I felt:
I’d fought Seong Si-woo once before in an unarmed duel.
He was weak then. Since that day, he hadn’t received any kind of care from me, and it hadn’t even been a month. It was hard to believe he could have changed noticeably in such a short time.
This world was far too cruel when it came to talent for a protagonist to have some grand epiphany after just a few practice sessions.
In other words,
You’re weak as hell.
I didn’t want to waste my one and only match on Seong Si-woo.
It wouldn’t even be fun.
And so, in the end, my choice was…
[Use of the Designation Rejection Right automatically confirms your match with ‘Rank 2 Yohan’.]
Yohan.
*
I thought it was crowded yesterday…
I was wrong.
Today’s plaza was on a completely different level. This was the highlight of the midterms: the person-to-person combat.
The area was so packed with people that the sound of their murmuring was a constant, deep hum, with banners and flags of all kinds fluttering in the wind.
It felt more like a festival.
Seriously, I have a match to get to.
Sighing, I managed to push my way through the crowd.
There were three arenas in total—A, B, and C. Since the duels happened simultaneously, people moved toward the arena where the student they were cheering for was competing.
My match was in Arena A. So that’s where I had to go, but…
There were just too many people.
Rank 2 Yohan was fighting here. I’d also heard that Rank 1, Kang A-rin, was in this arena, so it was only natural for a huge crowd to gather.
I finally squeezed through the throng and made my way up to the spectator seats.
“WAAAAAAAHHH!!”
The roar of the crowd shook the arena. Even I flinched.
Down in the massive stadium, a battle was already in full swing.
It was Kang A-rin against a female student whose name I didn’t know.
It seemed her opponent had challenged A-rin without knowing what she was getting into. Probably out of a misplaced sense of competitiveness.
The ‘Are you really all that strong?’ type of feeling.
I found an empty seat and started watching the match.
It felt pretty one-sided. The fight was going exactly as expected. Kang A-rin was strong.
An archer, a long-range fighter, had allowed a brawler to close the distance.
That meant the outcome of the battle was already decided.
This was the third time I’d seen it happen.
But—
Kang A-rin wasn’t finishing the fight, even though she could have ended it long ago.
She kept glancing away, her eyes scanning the stands. She was looking for someone.
Then, her gaze finally landed on me. Her eyes widened…
And in an instant, her form vanished.
Then.
-BAM!!
Kang A-rin’s fist slammed squarely into the archer’s stomach.
One shot. A single blow was all it took to bring her opponent down.
The female student collapsed without even letting out a scream, clutching her abdomen as she gasped for breath.
“The winner is—Kang A-rin!!!”
The announcer’s shout was met with an explosion of cheers.
“WAAAAAAAH!”
Kang A-rin waved, playing to the roaring crowd.
But her eyes remained fixed on me.
“She’s good.”
That was my assessment.
I didn’t know her reasons, but she could have ended it much sooner if she’d wanted to. Her opponent seemed to know it too, clutching her stomach with a look of intense frustration.
The scoreboard announced the order of the upcoming matches.
My turn was next.
At that moment, I heard my name being spoken here and there.
“Jung Hae-in…? Who’s Jung Hae-in?”
“Ah, this is going to be another one-sided match. I’ll start paying attention from Yohan’s second fight.”
I could hear reactions from all over the stands. Most were conversations between guild evaluators.
It made sense. Guild evaluators were people hoping to see a promising prospect’s true skills emerge. They hated it when the opponent was too weak, since that rarely happened in a lopsided fight.
I quietly rose from my seat.
Guess it’s time to go.
There would be a break to prepare the stage, so if I left now, the timing would be perfect.
I left the stands and headed for the player entrance tunnel.
As I walked, the cheers grew more distant, replaced by the low, dull sound of my own footsteps echoing in the tunnel.
After my identity was confirmed, I waited at the entrance.
“Please wait for three minutes, then you may enter.”
“Got it.”
After waiting a few more minutes as instructed, I slowly made my way up to the arena.
“WAAAAAAAHHH!!”
The moment I stepped out of the tunnel, the roar of the crowd pierced my ears.
The cheers were even louder than before.
Well, most of them were for Yohan, who stood before me.
Yohan basked in the cheers, a bright smile on his face as he waved to the crowd. He carried himself as if he owned the stage.
We stood facing each other.
“So you accepted?” he said with a smile.
No matter how loudly we spoke here, the crowd wouldn’t be able to hear us.
“I thought you’d be too scared and reject it.”
I didn’t bother to answer.
There was no need to say anything.
I just slowly loosened my wrists and waited for the countdown.
A tiny crack appeared in Yohan’s expression. Of course, it was quickly replaced by his usual gentle smile.
“We even went to a dungeon together.”
He continued.
“I know you’ve been hanging around the Saintess lately.”
It seemed he’d even had Cheon Yeo-wool investigated.
I still didn’t react.
But Yohan’s lips curled into a slight smirk as he stepped closer.
“Let me just ask you one thing.”
His smile deepened.
“The Saintess…”
He took a short breath, then tossed out the question—ever so lightly.
“Did you sleep with her?”
“Hah…”
I let out a sigh.
The lukewarm feelings that had been building since I entered the tunnel vanished in an instant. Like a thick fog lifting, all the unnecessary emotions inside me disappeared.
I couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh. My expression turned to ice.
“You’re even more messed up than I thought.”
Hero Yohan.
I wondered what would happen if everyone found out that the true nature of the man packaged in a friendly and kind public image was this pathetic.
-3! 2! 1!
The countdown echoed through the arena.
I slowly raised my spear.
I looked at Yohan one last time.
He was still smiling.
But behind that smile, a twisted obsession flickered.
“Time for a reality check.”
*
Most guilds watched the students’ battles from the general stands to make their evaluations.
But this place was a little different.
Gaon had three arenas—A, B, and C—and in the center of them all was a special viewing box, a kind of VIP room, that offered a panoramic view of every arena.
Here, the key figures of the so-called ‘major’ organizations could watch any match they pleased.
-Click.
The sound of a glass being set down on a high-quality wooden table echoed quietly.
“That was an excellent fight from the noble lady A-rin.”
As Gaon’s officially recognized Rank 1, her match was naturally the first topic of discussion.
Kang Yun-hyeok, the Guild Leader of Maengju, a subsidiary guild of Glory, began to draw the attention of those around him.
“Guild Leader Kang Yun-hyeok, the noble lady A-rin’s growth rate is truly astonishing.”
“At this rate, she might become an S-Class Hero right after graduation.”
Kang Yun-hyeok nodded, a relaxed smile on his face.
He had expected this reaction.
Kang A-rin.
His niece, and the strongest talent Glory had ever produced. It had seemed like a crisis was at hand after the death of the heir, Kang Yu-sung, but Glory had defiantly bloomed a new flower.
His gaze shifted to the scoreboard.
The list for the next match was appearing.
Hmm…
The next battle would soon unfold in Arena A.
Since Yohan was competing, the Arcadia Cult and other major organizations naturally moved to the viewing section for his match.
“Haha, Bishop. Hero Yohan’s battle is about to begin. This Hero… he’s truly remarkable.”
People flocked to the side of an old man in white priestly robes, all trying to get on his good side.
“That child… will become the new light of the Arcadia Cult.”
“Haha, of course he will.”
Anticipation for Yohan’s fight was high. Many in the VIP room wanted to watch his match.
Most of the talk was about Yohan.
Kang Yun-hyeok, however, was interested in something else.
‘Uncle, I’m putting him in Glory.’
One day, out of the blue, Kang A-rin had recommended someone for Vanguard Glory, Maengju’s frontline team. It was less a recommendation and more an attempt to register him on the spot, which he had blocked with his authority as Guild Leader.
‘Jung Hae-in.’
He’d never heard the name before in his life. But upon investigation, he found out the kid was a hero who used the alias Mukgui. He had a decent record for his age, but…
Glory was not a place for a merely decent hero.
Therefore, he decided to stand in the viewing section for Jung Hae-in’s match, not Yohan’s, to see the fight for himself.
He wanted to know why his niece had recommended him.
But as he moved to Jung Hae-in’s viewing area, Kang Yun-hyeok’s face showed a hint of confusion.
“What is this?”
He had expected it to be empty, with everyone flocking to see Yohan, but a considerable number of people were gathered there.
Arcadia, Lotus, and… Vanquisher.
Vanquisher…?
He’d found it strange when they announced their participation in this bidding match, but their choice of whom to watch was even more unexpected.
Kang Yun-hyeok turned his gaze toward the Arcadia group, with whom he was at least acquainted.
He quietly spoke to one of them.
“Bishop Luke, are you here to see student Yohan?”
Luke shook his head.
“No. It was a recommendation from the Saintess. She strongly requested that we watch Jung Hae-in.”
“As for me… I am someone who moves according to the Saintess’s will, so I am here to fulfill her wish.”
Kang Yun-hyeok’s expression hardened strangely.
…The Saintess too?
Something was off.
Now that he looked, the lineup of people watching Jung Hae-in’s match was extraordinary.
A guard warrior from the Yu Family. The Lotus Guild. The Arcadia Cult. Vanquisher.
…And me?
He had taken his seat out of simple curiosity, but now, Kang Yun-hyeok decided to sit down properly and watch the match with his full attention.
And in the center of that viewing section…
-Crunch.
“Hae-in’s pretty popular, huh~”
A man spoke, casually munching on a snack.
It was Park Gwang-cheol.
He occupied his seat with an air of complete nonchalance, showing no signs of tension.
“Oh shit. Hae-in’s pissed.”
-Crunch.
“You are so fucked~”
Taking another bite of his snack, Park Gwang-cheol settled in to enjoy the show.