Academy Entrance Exam (2)
The words hit like a slap in the face. A blind person taking the Academy entrance exam?
It sounded ridiculous. Had we even prepared braille test papers? Of course not. Who in their right mind would assume a disabled person would try to become a hunter? There was no reason to make accommodations. This was the Korean Hunter Academy—the institution that boasted the strictest standards in the world. Passing those standards was difficult enough, and the environment here had never once taken disabled individuals into consideration. After all, hunters did dangerous, grueling work. The moment you stepped into a Tower, your life was always on the line. You had to fight monstrous enemies, witness your comrades die, and sometimes find yourself standing on death’s doorstep. That was why, even after awakening, many people chose to hide their abilities and live ordinary lives. No matter how much power others might envy, choosing a reality where your mind would break and your life would constantly be at risk was never a light decision, no matter the rewards.
And yet here was a blind person, trotting into the Academy to become a hunter. Moreover… a twelve-year-old elementary schooler.
“Yeah, she even brought a service dog. White fur, short tail—pretty cute, actually.”
“You idiot. If an examinee shows up with a dog, you’re supposed to tell them they can’t enter the testing site. Instead you were standing there grinning like an idiot saying it was cute?”
“No, it was already officially registered. She followed every proper procedure. The girl told the puppy to wait, and it just sat there without moving an inch. Pretty smart little thing.”
“She should’ve been rejected at the document stage. How did she even make it to the written test?”
“From what I heard, she got in through Professor Park Hangyeol’s recommendation track.”
“The Flame of Roaring Energy? Huh. Alright, let’s say for the sake of argument that the registration was legitimate. But how the hell is she supposed to solve the test questions? If she can’t see, she can’t even read the problems. What is there to solve?”
“Well… maybe she’s an awakened with some kind of sensory skill? She does seem genuinely blind, but she walks perfectly straight and her movements are… surprisingly natural. Professor Park wouldn’t have recommended her for no reason.”
“This is insane. A disabled person—a blind twelve-year-old elementary kid—showing up for the Hunter Academy entrance exam. I’ve worked here for twelve years and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Right? If she actually gets in, she’ll be the youngest Academy student in the country.”
“Still, there’s no way she’ll pass. There aren’t even braille textbooks. How could a disabled kid have studied? Besides, this admission season the successor from Manheon Tower is enrolling, so the professors went all out on the questions. Even if a twelve-year-old studied, how well could they possibly do? She’ll be eliminated immediately.”
Manheon Tower. A supranational research institution founded by a coalition of Europe’s hunter associations, royal families, and academia. It was also the colossal symbol Europe had erected to prove its dominance in the global hunter community. The fact that they modeled the building after a literal tower was entirely intentional. The Tower’s master was a national-level hunter known as Manshin, the Ten Thousand Gods, and stood in direct opposition to the Martial God who had founded the Korean Hunter Academy.
Since the successor had been making a media circus out of suddenly coming to Korea, the professors in charge of preparing the entrance exam had no choice but to go into hyper-focus mode. They poured their entire beings into every single question, preparing as if the Academy’s honor itself was on the line. This was a matter of pride between two institutions.
Manheon Tower wanted the prestige of having their successor claim the top spot at the Korean Academy—the school universally acknowledged as the best in the world. That would be the same as announcing to all of humanity that Manheon Tower was the greatest hunter institution on the planet. It would be like planting their landmark right in the heart of enemy territory.
The Academy, on the other hand, had to make sure the successor from Manheon Tower couldn’t cross that line so easily. They needed to hammer home the perception that even Manheon Tower’s ultimate weapon was nothing more than an average applicant in front of the Academy.
“The successor from Manheon Tower… you mean Archeus?”
“Yeah. I thought it was just a rumor, but who would’ve guessed that Archeus would actually show up? The genius raised in Europe’s strongest research institute announced he was entering the Academy, so all the professors ground their teeth and made the test questions accordingly. There’s no way that elementary kid could solve them. It’s the hardest exam in history.”
“True. Looks like Professor Park Hangyeol made a mistake this time. What on earth did he see in that kid to push her through the recommendation track that only one student per professor can use?”
“Beats me. Still, thanks to Professor Park’s recommendation, that kid at least gets to take the written test. Otherwise she wouldn’t have even been allowed to register.”
Worry. Concern. Or outright contempt. No one expected anything from the blind girl. That was how high the Academy’s reputation stood. It wasn’t for nothing that the income gap between licensed and unlicensed hunters was like heaven and earth. A licensed hunter who graduated from the Academy was guaranteed enormous power and prestige just by carrying the name. They became elites who could leverage their major and thrive inside the Towers. Unlicensed hunters, meanwhile, usually ended up scraping the bottom, shouldering all the danger with nothing to show for it. They collapsed on the lower floors of the Towers and lost their lives in meaningless fights. They took risks out of desperation for money, and the title of “hunter” often felt far too generous for them.
The highest and narrowest gate in the world—the Korean Hunter Academy. Historically, only those who passed through that gate survived inside the Towers, and they became symbols of power and authority. In a place like that, a little girl wearing dark sunglasses was nothing more than a laughingstock and an object of pity.
But they didn’t know.
They didn’t know that the blind girl was a master of cheating.
The age range was all over the place. There wasn’t a single other elementary-schooler like me no matter how hard you looked, but the room was packed with people from late teens all the way up to men and women in their forties and fifties. Every face told a different story, carried a different purpose. A middle-aged man gripping his pen with a resolute expression. A young man whose fingertips trembled with nerves. A middle-aged woman frowning at her test paper with a deeply wrinkled forehead.
Honestly, it was surprising to see so many older people here trying to become hunters. Fighting inside the Towers was incredibly dangerous. It was fascinating—and somehow desperate—that people who should already be deep into their careers had come back to this starting line.
Then again, when I thought about it—they were probably just as shocked looking at me. What’s an elementary kid doing at the Academy entrance exam? They didn’t say it out loud, but their eyes spoke volumes.
Who the hell is that?
Is this a joke? She wants to be a hunter?
She’s younger than my daughter.
The gazes I felt through my Intent were a mixture of curiosity, bewilderment, and a hint of discomfort. I lowered my head slightly and adjusted my sunglasses, as if trying to avoid their stares so they couldn’t scrutinize my face any further. Discrimination always felt unpleasant, and disabled people had an almost supernatural ability to pick up on those subtle atmospheres.
Ding—!
The moment the test began, the air grew taut. The sound of flipping answer sheets rustled thinly through the room, occasionally joined by the scratch of pen tips on paper. But most people were clutching their foreheads and letting out heavy sighs. The questions must have been brutal. Every face was painted with confusion and tension.
—Which of the following is correct regarding the operating principles and thermodynamic mechanisms of magically activated Arcane Flame?
—What is the most accurate description of the effect of Krabiorax’s antigen protein on the human nervous system?
—The following is an excerpt from the Tower Crisis Response Treaty (TCRT) signed in 2032. Which statement is factually incorrect?
—Which of the following was NOT included in the World Boss Emergency Accord (WBEA), the international treaty signed after the first World Boss, [Root of All Evil], appeared in New York?
I didn’t understand a single thing. I simply lowered my gaze and twirled my pencil between my fingers.
Whirrrrr.
The pencil spun across my fingertips like a hip-hop idol doing an elaborate dance. As a blind person, studying had never been part of my life. I’d never once imagined I would actually enroll in the Academy. So sitting here in this exam room felt incredibly awkward. The only things I had prepared were my sunglasses and one cheating eye.
Well, that’s more than enough.
While I sat there without even flipping through the test, the other examinees around me were frantically moving their pens. Some students stared holes into the questions before tearing at their hair. Others turned the page only to have their ears turn bright red. Tsk tsk. These students really didn’t inspire confidence.
But even in that heavy atmosphere, one person was creating an entirely different scene. Neat clothes, messy hair. Anyone who saw him would immediately think, Whoa, model student! Even the stereotypical studious glasses were perfect. He was solving the questions smoothly, without hesitation.
Ooh. He looks like he studies a lot.
Target acquired. I unleashed my clairvoyance to its full potential from behind my sunglasses. The test paper came into perfect view. His handwriting was clean and orderly, like something printed in a textbook, without the slightest trace of struggle.
Perfect.
I smiled faintly to myself and began copying his answers. Then—on the last page, my pen stopped.
Should I get at least one wrong?
My conscience twinged a little. If I copied everything exactly, it would be too obvious that I cheated. So I deliberately wrote a different answer for one question. I decided to keep at least some of my dignity.
This should be enough to pass.
After the written test ended, I headed straight to the practical exam area. Since there were so many people, I had to wait in line, so I sat on a bench with Achilles.
From what I’ve overheard, the technology these days is excellent—they say results come out immediately. The practical exam this afternoon will have a huge impact on the final admission results. Are you prepared?
“Prepared, huh…”
I trailed off as a loud growl erupted from my stomach. It wasn’t that loud, but because I had Intent spread out, my senses were heightened and it sounded enormous.
Grrrrrr.
Now that you mention it, you haven’t eaten.
“I guess not. Ugh, I’m starving.”
Saying it out loud made me even hungrier. I’d been so busy preparing for the test since morning that I’d completely forgotten to eat.
Damn it. I don’t have a single cent. What am I supposed to do?
I rummaged through my pockets in a daze. Empty. If Achilles hadn’t destroyed the house… The battle against the World Boss had completely demolished my room. Not that I had any real savings since I was living off government subsidies anyway.
“What am I going to do…”
My stomach growled again. I let out a deep sigh, then suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.”
I pulled a small plastic bag out of my inventory. It contained twenty grams of sparkling purple powder—magic stone dust I’d obtained after clearing the first floor of the Tower. It looked like ordinary dust at first glance, but it was actually a rare item infused with the Tower’s internal energy. If I sold it, it would easily cover the cost of a meal.
“I need to sell this…”
I held the magic stone powder in my hand and hesitated. I could go to the exchange and cash it in, but the problem was I didn’t know where it was. What if my turn came while I was gone? It would all be for nothing.
“I don’t want to leave my spot.”
At that moment—
“The practical exam will be conducted in order of written test scores.”
The waiting room fell silent. Everyone listened carefully to the announcer’s voice. It seemed the order would be determined by ranking.
“Oh, so people with high scores can finish the test quickly and go eat?”
Hmph. You didn’t even study. How could you possibly have gotten a high score? Stop entertaining ridiculous hopes and focus on making up for it in the practical. That’s why I taught you how to use Intent, after all.
He wasn’t wrong, so I nodded. Even though I had cheated, I wasn’t expecting much. There was no way the model student I copied from had gotten everything right. He did look like he studied hard, but this was a place where geniuses from all over the world gathered. I would be satisfied as long as I barely crossed the passing line. Besides, I had deliberately gotten the last few questions wrong.
“OMR card grading has just been completed. The first examinee to take the practical exam is…”
All eyes turned in one direction. The person everyone was staring at was the model student I had copied from earlier.
“That’s Archeus…”
“Whoa, he really looks like he’d ace every test.”
“As expected, the successor from Manheon Tower must have taken first place.”
“He’s Manshin’s disciple. He’s on a completely different level from us.”
“Thanks to him, this really is the hardest entrance exam ever.”
“It’s the worst generation—every promising talent showed up at once.”
But it seemed that model student was even more impressive than I thought.
Oh, so my gamble paid off. If I get a high score, I can finish the practical quickly and go eat.
There was no way I would be first, right? With that lighthearted thought, I waited for the next announcement. I was certain my name wouldn’t be called. In that complacency, I stroked Hahyang-i’s fur. Mm. The texture really was nice. Warm and soft.
But the moment my name was called for the first time—
I nearly dropped the magic stone powder I was holding.
“The first examinee for the practical exam is Ernian Ludwig, who received a perfect score on the written test. Please proceed to the testing area immediately.”
The entire room fell silent. The murmuring and even the sound of breathing stopped for a moment. Then someone swallowed hard, and all eyes instantly locked onto me.
“Perfect score? What? There’s a perfect scorer?”
“The written test first place isn’t Archeus?”
“That kid—when there was that argument at the registration desk earlier, I think her name was Ernian… no way…”
“Ernian? Isn’t that a Western name? Is she an international student?”
“I heard she’s the student Professor Park Hangyeol recommended.”
“But a disabled person got a perfect score on the written test…?”
The room had become a crucible of shock and disbelief. Eyes filled with doubt and distrust pierced me like arrows. I closed my eyes and adjusted my sunglasses once more.
Damn it. I didn’t expect this. How did it turn out like this? Did the random answers I picked to get wrong somehow turn out to be correct?
Achilles, seeing my expression, spoke.
“Even so… first place? It’s a bit burdensome.”
Black sunglasses. A small frame. And a Labrador Retriever wearing a service dog vest. To everyone watching, it must have been an unbelievable combination. A twelve-year-old blind girl had just achieved the unprecedented feat of scoring perfectly on the Academy entrance exam.
I stepped into the practical testing area. It was a wide, empty space. The floor was made of a solid mixture of metal and stone, and the walls were covered in countless scratch marks. One of the examiners spoke. His eyes were deep like a wounded beast, and his aura was tightly condensed. He looked like he knew how to fight.
“In the practical evaluation, we will be testing your ability to handle Intent.”
“Yes?”