Book 1 Chapter 221
“Oh, doesn't this look like we're in big trouble, no matter how I look at it?”
“Yes. Big trouble! Incredibly big trouble!”
A huge commotion erupted at the entrance examination hall.
The second-year students, in particular, who never expected such a thing to happen, were greatly shocked.
They had gone through a tough first year and finally became the grade that would be treated as seniors.
But suddenly, it seemed possible that not a single junior would be able to enter.
While the second-year students were holding their heads and groaning.
Ren, who was watching from a distance, crossed his arms.
“Professor Halrind is also harsh. The entire second year as opponents.”
The initial entrance exam plan was to deploy only 9 top-ranking students, but the exam content was changed during the faculty meeting.
The exam content was still survival, but it was changed for the test-takers to survive against the entire second year.
“In a sense, this might have a higher pass rate.”
Yura, who had her arms crossed, clicked her tongue.
“If they are the exam task, there won't be any test-takers who can survive among them.”
Yura looked at Leo and the eight other top-performing students.
Chen Xia, due to family circumstances, was unable to attend the entrance exam in the end.
Ren nodded at Yura's words.
The original exam plan was to divide them into groups of 50 and deploy one top-skilled second-year student per group.
“Well, let's just watch for now, anyway.”
Yura narrowed her eyes and looked at the test-takers.
“To see how well this generation can contend against the current second-year students.”
***
Once the test-takers finished their preparations, a person stood forward next to Halrind, holding a Hero Record.
“From now on, the Lumerne Unified Entrance Examination will begin.”
At Halrind's words, the test-takers showed tense expressions.
The second-year students sighed, waiting for the Hero's World to activate.
“Please.”
Halrind politely said to the person next to him.
The man, small but sturdily built, smiled and raised his hand.
Whoosh-!
A powerful light burst forth throughout the entire examination hall.
Seeing that, the test-takers showed tense expressions.
“Now we're going to the Hero's World.”
“Ah! I'm nervous!”
For them, it would be their first experience of the Hero's World.
Seeing their expressions, Karl chuckled, “Hmph-.”
“We also had those fresh-faced days.”
“Even so, we're still in our second year, you know?”
Karl shrugged his shoulders at Chelsea's tackle.
At the same time, a familiar message appeared before his eyes.
[Hero Record Open. Gerwin's World. Chapter: Prologue - Mount Eddien]
“Gerwin?”
“Wait! Gerwin is Damian's principal!”
Those who checked the message looked surprised.
Damian, the Dwarf Hero Academy.
And its principal, Gerwin, was a Dwarf Hero who, along with the Sword Saint, had dominated an era.
Since Gerwin's World was suddenly activated, those who saw the message couldn't help but be surprised.
“Could that person…?”
The moment everyone looked at the person standing next to Halrind with surprised eyes.
Whoosh-!
A bright light obscured their vision.
Leo opened his eyes and looked around.
The place where Leo was currently standing was a forest.
'Mount Eddien.'
It is the name of the highest mountain in the world, located in the eastern part of the continent.
And it was also a place Leo, unfamiliar with continental place names, remembered clearly.
To be exact, it was the first place name he confirmed when he first saw a world map after being born.
The high Mount Eddien was a place where it would not be strange to call it a scenic marvel.
However, it was not a place where people's footsteps reached.
It couldn't be helped.
This was a monster-infested area.
It was a place where monsters were continuously generated even if periodically subjugated.
That's why many people questioned it.
It wasn't a place affected by Tartaros.
Nevertheless, thanks to the endless appearance of monsters, this place also remained an unexplored area, like the Forest of Monsters.
'The curse of the Forest of Monsters might have been broken, though.'
With Silatuna subjugated, monsters would no longer appear in the Forest of Monsters.
Leo looked at Mount Eddien, visible through the trees in the distance.
An unknown territory where monsters were endlessly generated.
Long research had been conducted on the reason for the monsters' appearance.
While the Forest of Monsters was known to be due to a 'curse,' Mount Eddien remained a mystery.
But Leo knew the reason.
Swoosh-
Leo knelt and swept the ground.
Something flashed through Leo's mind.
In the memory's landscape, there was nothing but endless despair.
'Now that I think about it, how did I defeat it?'
On this land.
The fate of the world changed.
A new era began, and an immortal legend was completed.
The land where the world's salvation was decided.
5000 years ago.
In the battle for the fate of the world, Leo defeated Erebus here and saved the world.
For Leo, this was also the place where he died in his previous life.
'To come here this way.'
***
As the exam began, the test-takers quickly hid themselves.
Since it was a forest, there were many places to hide.
Everyone acted secretly, suppressing their presence with tense faces.
Occasionally, first-year students encountered each other, but there were almost no battles.
Normally, defeating a competitor would increase the chances of passing.
However, starting a battle rashly would surely attract the second-year students.
In that case, it would be as good as being eliminated.
Fortunately, as the exam location was near Mount Eddien, the highest mountain in the world, the forest was vast.
There were many places to hide.
'Let's move calmly.'
Martina, who had entered the Hero's World, hid herself and took a deep breath.
After training with Leo, she was participating in the Lumerne entrance exam like this.
Martina desperately wanted to pass this exam and proudly get into Lumerne.
'Just don't run into young master, whatever you do.'
No matter what, if she unluckily ran into Leo, it would be over.
Martina knew that there was no such thing as "moderation" in Leo's dictionary.
Regardless of anything else, Leo was someone she wasn't confident in handling, so Martina explored the forest with a pounding heart. Before long, she encountered a group of 10 test-takers.
Seeing them, Martina revealed her presence and stepped out.
Rustle-
Feeling a sudden presence, they gasped! and made surprised expressions.
But realizing Martina was a fellow test-taker, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“That's good, do you want to join us?”
“If we stick together like this and get discovered, it'll be big trouble, won't it?”
At Martina's question, one of the test-takers clicked his tongue, “Tsk tsk tsk-,” and wiggled his finger.
“Of course, if we're unlucky enough to be caught by the senior students with top grades, it'll be big trouble. But not all second-years are the same, are they?”
He grinned, “Heh-,” and smiled confidently.
“You need to change your thinking. I believe we need the guts to confront them instead of being unnecessarily scared just because they're second-years.”
“That doesn't seem like a very good option.”
The leader of the group of trainees scoffed at Martina's words.
“They just got into school one year earlier than us, how big of a difference could there be?”
“Exactly. Exactly.”
“In fact, if you think about it, there isn't much of an age difference between us, is there?”
'These kinds of kids are everywhere, no matter where you go.'
Martina sighed softly.
To challenge the Lumerne entrance exam meant they had probably been called a genius in some field at least once.
It was true that they possessed excellent skills, but only to the level of a frog in a well.
The weight of surviving one year at Lumerne was different.
Literally, within a year, they would accumulate skills and experience to the point where it wouldn't be strange to say they were a different person.
Knowing that fact, Martina understood very well how reckless their thoughts were.
Should I advise them? she thought, but shook her head.
She knew that these types wouldn't listen even if she spoke.
“I'll pass.”
“Coward.”
He scoffed at Martina as she left, then looked at those who had formed a temporary party and shouted.
“Alright! Let's all defeat the second-years and clearly show our skills to the professors!”
“Wow!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Whoosh-! Bang-!
“Cough!”
“Gah!”
Test-takers directly hit by the flames spewed by the fire beast screamed.
One of the test-takers lying on the ground shouted.
“Wh-What are you doing?! How can we fight among ourselves?!”
At those words, Shasha tilted her head, stroking the neck of Prominence Lizard, a mid-level fire beast in snake form.
“There's no clause saying test-takers shouldn't fight among themselves, is there?”
“B-But! If we want to increase our chances of passing, we should cooperate, shouldn't we?!”
“That's true. But I don't intend to pass normally.”
Shasha smiled, “Heh-.”
“What I'm aiming for is the class representative. So I need to pass the entrance exam with overwhelming results.”
Shasha shrugged her shoulders and activated her spiritual power.
Whoosh-!
Intense flames erupted from Prominence Lizard's body.
“Just think of it as bad luck.”
“Gaaah-!”
There were also test-takers hunting other test-takers.
It was then.
Whoosh-!
A spear flew, cutting through the wind.
Thud-! Bang-!
Whoosh-!
Prominence Lizard quickly reacted and bit the spear.
But the wind-attributed aura contained in the spear exploded, blowing Prominence Lizard away.
Prominence Lizard, having taken a big hit, was unsummoned.
“An ambush, how vulgar.”
Shasha looked at the boy who had appeared with cold eyes.
“That's not something for you, who bullies weaklings, to say.”
The boy curled the corners of his mouth.
Seeing him, the girl who was on the verge of elimination widened her eyes.
“H-Habiden Virsen?!”
He was a student from Icot and a strong candidate for class representative this year.
At the appearance of the prince of Virsen, a powerful knight nation, the test-takers showed bright expressions.
“D-Did he come to save us?”
“As expected, he has chivalry!”
At the test-takers' shouts, Habiden made an expression as if he was hearing strange things.
“Why should I save you?”
“What?”
“I just came to defeat Shasha Shi-Eun Rodren.”
During last year's joint classes, the students who stood out the most were Shasha and Habiden.
Both were mentioned as strong freshman representative candidates among Lumerne professors.
Knowing such evaluations, Shasha and Habiden were wary of each other.
And then, by chance, they met early in the exam.
“If you get in the way, I'll sweep you away too.”
“He's got a bad personality too!”
“As expected, all royals are self-centered!”
The test-takers screamed.
Then one test-taker said.
“W-Wait! But if you two fight now, one of you might be eliminated! Why are you doing that?”
With Habiden's or Shasha's skills, they could succeed in escaping even if they met second-year students.
But if the two of them fought, it was a different story.
If they were caught by other second-year students, there was a high probability of elimination.
Or if one of them won, one would still be eliminated.
From the perspective of other test-takers, this fight was one with little benefit.
But Shasha's and Habiden's thoughts were different.
“If I'm not the best, there's no reason to enter.”
“Surprisingly, we agree on this. I concur.”
Seeing the two curling the corners of their mouths, the other test-takers' jaws dropped.
'If not the best, then eliminated…'
'As expected, at that level, their pride is amazing.'
'Is this the true caliber of a hero?'
It was then that they felt these were people in a position far higher than they could ever imagine.
“You shouldn't do that. You should be thinking about passing the exam. You shouldn't just fight recklessly.”
Tsk- A voice of advice was heard, clicking its tongue.
“Gasp!”
“Le-Leo Floven!”
At the appearance of the number one avoided target in this exam, the test-takers showed astonished expressions.
This meant certain elimination.
But on the other hand, they secretly looked forward to seeing what the two people considered the strongest among test-takers would show against Leo Floven, considered the strongest of the second-years.
'We're eliminated, but…'
'Still, watching the strongest test-takers fight the strongest second-year and getting eliminated might not be so bad.'
Thinking that, they looked towards Shasha and Habiden.
And they were speechless.
Shasha and Habiden were doing their best to run away.
“Run!”
“We want to be the freshman representative! We don't want to be eliminated meaninglessly!”
Seeing the future rulers of powerful nations screaming and running away, the remaining test-takers made forlorn expressions.
“I'll give you 30 seconds.”
Then Leo took out a watch from his pocket and said.
“Professor Halrind told me not to go easy on you. But it would be too pathetic if you were eliminated like this.”
Seeing Leo give them a chance, the test-takers flinched and ran away.
[Leo.]
“Why.”
[Why do you give such fleeting hope?]
“You never know. They might actually be able to escape.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders.
Elsie rebuked her contractor.
[Giving and then taking away is the worst, she said.]