Book 1 Chapter 221
“Hey, isn't this a huge problem, no matter how you look at it?”
“Yeah. It’s a huge problem! An unbelievably huge problem!”
A tremendous commotion erupted at the entrance exam venue.
The shock was especially great for the second-year students who had no idea such a thing could happen.
After enduring a tough first year, they finally reached the grade where they would be treated as seniors.
But then, out of the blue, it became possible that not a single junior student would be able to enter.
As the second-year students held their heads and groaned,
Ren, watching from a distance, crossed his arms.
“Professor Halind is quite harsh. The entire second-year class as opponents.”
The initial plan for the entrance exam was to deploy only nine top-ranking students, but the exam content was changed at a professors' meeting.
While the exam was still survival-based, the content was changed to the students surviving against the entire second-year class.
“In a way, this might lead to a higher pass rate.”
Yura, with her arms crossed, clicked her tongue.
“If that’s the exam task, there won’t be any examinees who can survive.”
Yura looked at the eight top-performing students led by Leo.
Chen Xia, due to family circumstances, was unable to attend the entrance exam.
Yura nodded at Ren’s words.
The original exam plan was to divide students into groups of 50 and deploy one top-ranking second-year student per group.
“Well, let’s just watch and see.”
Yura narrowed her eyes and looked at the examinees.
“Let’s see how well this generation can fare against the current second-year students.”
***
As the examinees finished their preparations, a person holding a Hero Record stepped forward next to Halind.
“The Lumerne Unified Entrance Exam will now begin.”
At Halind’s words, the examinees showed tense expressions.
The second-year students sighed and waited for the Heroic World to activate.
“Please.”
Halind said politely to the person beside him.
The man, with a small but sturdy build, smiled and raised his hand.
Woong-!
A brilliant light erupted throughout the entire exam venue.
Seeing that, the examinees' faces tensed.
“Now we’re going to the Heroic World.”
“Haa! I’m so nervous!”
This would be their first experience of the Heroic World.
Kal let out a scoff, watching them.
“We were like that in our fresh days too.”
“But we’re still second-years, you know?”
At Chelsea’s retort, Kal shrugged his shoulders.
At the same time, a familiar message appeared before his eyes.
[Hero Record Open. Gerwin’s World. Chapter: Prologue - Eddien Mountain]
“Gerwin?”
“Wait! If it’s Gerwin, that’s the principal of Demian!”
Those who checked the message were surprised.
Demian, the Dwarf Hero Academy.
And its principal, Gerwin, was a dwarf hero who, along with the Sword Saint, had dominated an era.
The sudden activation of Gerwin’s world naturally surprised those who saw the message.
“Could it be that person…?”
As everyone looked at the person standing next to Halind with astonished eyes.
Flash-!
Bright light obscured their vision.
Leo opened his eyes and looked around.
Leo was currently standing in a forest.
‘Eddien Mountain.’
The name of the tallest mountain in the world, located in the eastern part of the continent.
And it was a place that Leo, unfamiliar with continental geography, remembered clearly.
Specifically, it was the first geographical name he checked when he first looked at the world map after being born.
The tall Eddien Mountain would not be out of place as a magnificent view.
However, it was not a place frequented by people.
This was only natural.
This was a monster-infested area.
Even with periodic subjugation, monsters were constantly spawning.
Therefore, many people questioned it.
It wasn’t even affected by Tartarus.
Yet, thanks to the endless appearance of monsters, this place, like the Forest of Monsters, remained an unexplored territory.
‘Though the curse of the Forest of Monsters may have been lifted.’
With Silatuna’s subjugation, monsters would no longer appear in the Forest of Monsters.
Leo looked at Eddien Mountain visible through the trees in the distance.
A mysterious realm where monsters endlessly spawned.
Extensive research had been conducted on the reason for the monsters’ appearance.
While it was known that the Forest of Monsters was due to a ‘curse,’ Eddien Mountain remained a mystery.
But Leo knew the reason.
Swipe-
Leo, kneeling, brushed the ground.
Something flashed through Leo’s mind.
His memories held only endless despair.
‘Thinking about it now, 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 a battle that decided the fate of the world, Leo defeated Erebus here and saved the world.
For Leo, this was also the place where he breathed his last in his past life.
‘I never thought I’d end up here like this.’
***
As the exam began, the examinees quickly concealed themselves.
Being a forest, there were many places to hide.
Everyone moved stealthily, suppressing their presence with tense expressions.
First-year students occasionally encountered each other, but combat was rare.
Normally, defeating competitors would increase one’s chances of passing.
However, if they prematurely engaged in combat, the second-year students would surely come looking for them.
That would be equivalent to a guaranteed elimination.
Fortunately, as the exam venue was around Eddien Mountain, the world’s tallest mountain, the forest was vast.
There were many places to hide.
‘Move calmly.’
Martina, having entered the Heroic World, hid herself and took a deep breath.
She had been training under Leo and was now participating in the Lumerne entrance exam.
As Martina, she desperately wanted to pass this exam and be admitted to Lumerne with pride.
‘For now, let’s just avoid meeting the young master.’
No matter what, if she unluckily met Leo, it would be over.
Martina knew that ‘moderation’ was not in Leo’s vocabulary.
While she didn’t know about anything else, Martina, who couldn’t handle Leo, nervously explored the forest. Before long, Martina encountered a group of ten examinees.
Seeing them, Martina revealed her presence and stepped out.
Rustle-
As her presence was suddenly felt, they gasped.
However, upon realizing Martina was a fellow examinee, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good, you want to join us?”
“Won’t it be a big problem if we get caught while sticking together like this?”
In response to Martina’s question, one of the examinees clicked their tongue and beckoned with their finger.
“Of course, it would be a disaster if we were caught by higher-ranking seniors. But not all second-years are the same, are they?”
He smiled confidently, a smirk on his face.
“You need to change your perspective. I think you need the courage to face them without being intimidated by them just because they are second-years.”
“That doesn’t seem like a very good option.”
At Martina’s words, the leader of the group of trainees scoffed.
“They only entered school a year before us, how big of a difference can there be?”
“Right, right.”
“Actually, if you think about it, the age difference isn’t that big either, is it?”
‘Some people are like this everywhere.’
Martina let out a small sigh.
Those who dared to challenge the Lumerne entrance exam had likely been called geniuses in some field.
While they were indeed skilled, it was only to the extent of a frog in a well.
The weight of surviving for a year at Lumerne was significant.
It was no exaggeration to say that they gained enough skill and experience in just one year to become a different person.
Knowing that, Martina was acutely aware of how reckless their thoughts were.
Should she advise them? She shook her head.
She knew that people of this type wouldn’t listen even if you told them.
“I’m leaving.”
“What a coward.”
The man who mocked Martina as she left shouted to those who had formed a temporary party.
“Alright! Everyone, let’s defeat the second-years and show the professors our skills!”
“Wow!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Rooooar! Bang-!
“Gack!”
“Kyaaaak!”
Examinees who were hit directly by the flames spewed by the fire spirit let out screams.
One of the examinees who collapsed on the ground shouted,
“W-What are you doing! Why are we fighting amongst ourselves?!”
In response, Shasha tilted her head while stroking the neck of the snake-shaped intermediate fire spirit, Prominence Lizard.
“There’s no rule saying examinees can’t fight each other, is there?”
“B-But! To increase our chances of passing, shouldn’t we cooperate?!”
“That’s true. However, I don’t intend to pass ordinarily.”
Shasha smiled faintly.
“I’m aiming for the class representative. So, I need to pass the entrance exam with overwhelming results.”
Shasha shrugged and unleashed her spiritual energy.
Fwoosh-!
Intense flames erupted from Prominence Lizard’s body.
“Consider it bad luck.”
“Ugh-!”
There were also examinees hunting other examinees.
Just then.
Whoosh-!
A spear flew through the air.
Thwack-! Boom-!
Fwoosh-!
Prominence Lizard reacted quickly and caught the spear.
However, the wind-attribute aura contained in the spear exploded, blowing Prominence Lizard away.
Severely injured, Prominence Lizard was recalled.
“A surprise attack, how vulgar.”
Shasha looked at the boy who had appeared with a cold gaze.
“I don’t think that’s something you, who picks on weaker individuals, should be saying.”
The boy curled the corners of his lips.
Seeing that, the girl, who was on the verge of elimination, widened her eyes.
“H-Haviden Virsen?!”
A student from Ikot and a strong candidate for class representative this year.
Upon the appearance of the prince of Virsen, a knightly kingdom, the examinees showed bright expressions.
“I-Is he here to save us?”
“As expected, he has chivalry!”
To the examinees’ cries, Haviden looked as if he was hearing strange noises.
“Why would I save you guys?”
“What?”
“I’m only here to defeat Shasha Sien Rodren.”
The students who stood out the most during the joint class last year were Shasha and Haviden.
Both were mentioned by Lumerne professors as strong candidates for new student representatives.
Knowing that assessment, Shasha and Haviden were wary of each other.
And now, they had met early in the exam.
“If you’re in the way, I’ll sweep you away too.”
“My personality is just as bad!”
“Royalty are all so self-centered!”
The examinees screamed.
At that moment, one examinee spoke.
“W-Wait! But if you two fight now, one of you could be eliminated! Why are you doing this?”
With Haviden and Shasha’s abilities, they could escape even if they encountered second-year students.
But if the two of them fought, it was a different story.
If they were caught by another second-year, there was a high probability of elimination.
Or, if one of them won, one would still be eliminated.
From the perspective of the other examinees, this fight offered no significant benefit.
However, Shasha and Haviden thought differently.
“If I’m not the best, there’s no reason to enroll.”
“This is surprisingly fitting. I agree.”
Watching the two men curl the corners of their lips, the other examinees’ jaws dropped.
‘Elimination if not the best…’
‘As expected, their pride is immense.’
‘Is this the true caliber of heroes?’
It was at the moment they felt these were people on a level they could never imagine.
“You shouldn’t do that. You should think about passing the exam. You shouldn’t just fight recklessly.”
Tsk- A voice of advice was heard, clicking its tongue.
“Ah!”
“L-Leo Flob!”
The appearance of the top-priority target for elimination in this exam caused the examinees to look horrified.
This meant guaranteed elimination.
However, at the same time, they were somewhat looking forward to seeing how the two students, considered the strongest among the examinees, would fare against Leo Flob.
‘We’ll be eliminated, but…’
‘Still, it might not be so bad to be eliminated after watching the fight between the strongest examinees and the strongest second-year.’
Thinking so, they looked in the direction of Shasha and Haviden.
And they were speechless.
Shasha and Haviden were running away with all their might.
“Run!”
“I want to become the freshman representative! I don’t want to be eliminated meaninglessly!”
Watching the future rulers of great nations flee while screaming, the remaining examinees wore expressions of futility.
“I’ll give you 30 seconds.”
At that moment, Leo took out a stopwatch from his pocket and said.
“Professor Halind told me not to hold back, but it’s too pathetic if you get eliminated like this.”
Seeing Leo giving them a chance, the examinees flinched and then fled.
[Leo.]
“Why.”
[Why do you give false hope?]
“You never know. You might actually escape.”
Leo shrugged his shoulders.
Elce admonished her contractor.
[Giving it and then taking it away is the worst.]