Chapter 82

I initially ignored the notice about the experiential learning program.

“…I agree. We don’t have time to worry about trivial matters like that.”

After the duel, Irene wiped her spear’s blade, reflecting it in the light here and there.

The spear she used was a high-quality piece of equipment, adjustable for carry and able to be disassembled. Of course, compared to the five-star equipment and exclusive gear obtainable through special missions later on, it was merely a clunky toy.

“Moreover, as you know, the first-year experiential learning is conducted at the ‘Chloris Great Forest’ managed by the academy. It’s not some external dungeon; who knows what tricks were played inside? They might have set strange traps to kill students again, just like at the entrance ceremony.”

“That’s true! Wait, Chloris Great Forest? Isn’t that place locked up so that not just anyone can enter?”

Listening to Irene, I recognized the familiar name.

“If you’re talking about the jungle dungeon near the school, yes. It was sealed due to lack of profitability, and the School Board of Directors usually keeps it locked but allows entry only during experiential learning or experiments.”

The Chloris Ruins are dungeons that also appear in the game.

There were two reasons I hadn’t sought out this dungeon until now.

First, the difficulty was high. Most of the monsters that appeared were still low-tier, but here, mid-tier monsters showed up often. Given that we struggled against Scrags and Pelinots just a few weeks ago, there was no reason to attempt it.

Second, the entrance to the area was blocked by a thick gate.

Once out of curiosity, I tried sneaking in, but my trick of crossing through a clone didn’t work. Perhaps because there were complex machinery set up to interfere with the gate, my clone was shredded the moment it was created.

“They say if you go into a black hole, your body stretches like spaghetti; that’s exactly how we looked.”

“Crossing the gate made half my body numb; it felt awful…”

Some Violets only made it through the entrance with their upper body. After about ten seconds of seeing the lush jungle, everything went dark, and I can’t express how strange it felt.

However, now, at our level, it piqued my interest. Because that dungeon truly held a lot of useful things! Even if not Crystal Flowers, we could find many herbs or items worth money, and above all, there were ruins that facilitate rapid growth and treasure chests that yield rare relics.

“Irene! Let’s go there!”

“What? Why all of a sudden?”

“I heard from an informant that…”

I omitted the source of my information and explained to Irene why we must go there.

“Are you saying it’s a ruin that drastically boosts the capabilities of the Awakened Ones? If that’s true, we must go! But, the School Board of Directors surely wouldn’t be unaware of that…”

“I just found out, too.”

Irene, listening to my explanation, couldn’t hide her surprise.

It was only natural. Despite lacking a status window, the people in this world understand the concept of growth.

In Crimson Scholar, the concept of levels isn’t just a simple game system. Awakened Ones in this world can absorb power from living beings rich in Ether when they die, allowing them to grow their abilities.

Of course, levels and absorption rates differ for every individual. Some may kill a few monsters and grow tremendously, while others may stack monster corpses yet barely take a single step forward. Ordinary folks don’t stand a chance.

However, there are those whose growth levels and Ether absorption rates set them apart. Heroes like Irene, who are right before me.

“Then, let’s go as a team there!”

Since we’re going anyway, it wouldn’t make sense to go alone. It’s better to grow alongside friends. Especially since Irene’s unique ability is a large-area buff, it works perfectly with me!

“Sure, if it’s possible. But Violet.”

“What?”

“You can’t arbitrarily decide the team composition for experiential learning.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“According to regulations, the composition of experiential learning teams is randomly determined under the management of the instructors. A minimum of three people is required.”

I had them scout for relevant information. A response soon came back.

“It’s true. It’s for the sake of team-building among students. You can’t just form groups with those you know.”

“I’m stuck doing group projects with strangers!”

This was a problem. We couldn’t monopolize it with people we know.

Seeing my frustrated face, Irene thought of something and had an idea.

“Oh, but students in the top 5% of diagnostic test scores can specify one person they want to accompany them. I’ll designate you, Violet. How about that?”

“Wow, really? Thanks!”

She confidently reassured me with a smile.

Wait a minute. This means Daphne gets left out.

Of course, provided we assume that Daphne is also a good student, one of either Irene or Daphne would choose me, and the remaining person could choose the other.

But the top 5% is not child’s play.

More than anything, I couldn’t only rely on my friends. I needed to put in effort, too.

“Then I’ll start studying from today!”

“Yeah, with only two days left, give it your best shot.”

Oh no, only two days left? I need to go insane with studying!

*

To be honest, studying made my head hurt and was boring. If I had time to study, I should be swinging my sword and practicing magic instead.

“Professor Albert told me to practice recovery magic by fixing broken dishes…”

“Heroes don’t study!”

But having resolved to work hard, I couldn’t avoid preparing for the exams.

So, the Violets decided to prepare for the exam in their own way.

The method was simple. We’d copy the textbooks and materials, then assign one person per section to review them.

“We even have printouts for each subject!”

“I’ve brought a laptop.”

“I picked up a desk!”

According to the information, there were about 40 problems per subject on the exam. Therefore, while one Violet was looking at the test paper, forty Violets could tackle one question each.

This way, we’d never be rushed for time.

“Alright, let’s start the exam!”

“Let’s go!”

We didn’t just stop at preparing materials; we even conducted a rehearsal. The Violet in charge of the exam sat at the desk and reviewed the questions, while several Violets sat at desks with their assigned sections of materials, frantically flipping through pages, reading, and verifying the underlined parts to answer correctly.

-Ding-dong!

The alarm rang. The Violets submitted the exam. Upon grading, we found that all but one were correct.

“Wow! This is easier than I thought!”

However, the problem lay in the math section.

“No way! I only just figured out what a quadratic equation is recently!”

“This is a curse!”

I had no idea how to solve this. Recently, I’ve been going over math again under Professor Albert’s merciless whip, but there was so much to learn.

The Violets huddled together, brainstorming, but no clear answers emerged. Was there some good method?

“Let’s just give up on math and hitch a ride with friends!”

“I don’t want that. My pride won’t allow it!”

Amid our bickering, one Violet broke away from the commotion, carrying a basket filled with frozen meals, drinks, potato chips, and comic books.

“What’s that, Clone Ninety-Four?”

“This is what Yurik-sensei ordered.”

“Oh, right. Please take it to him.”

The Violets nodded in agreement and then returned to the marathon meeting.

“There must be another way…”

Just as we were about to proceed with the meeting, an idea suddenly struck all of us like lightning.

Now that I think about it, the solution was incredibly close.

“That postdoc dude is in the sciences.”

“Wouldn’t he be better at math than us?”

We jumped up.

Moments later, we entered a room. Yurik, sitting on a worn-out couch with a dazed expression while playing video games, opened his eyes wide upon seeing us.

“What, what’s going on! Is there something wrong, Clone Legion ladies?”

“No! Sir, could you take a look at this and solve it?”

“Please solve it!”

“Help us out!”

When the Violets abruptly presented the workbook to him, Yurik, still bewildered, adjusted his glasses and began examining the workbook carefully.

“These are past exam questions from high school. They’re a bit tricky, but not too hard. But why are you asking me suddenly…”

“We’re actually going to present 40 problems of this level the day after tomorrow; can you solve them?”

“This isn’t hard at all. But, why would I?”

“This looks like school exam questions…”

When Yurik began to question further with a dubious look, we quickly shut his mouth and inquired about his requests.

“Have you been feeling frustrated? Don’t you want anything? I’ll give you everything except freedom. Is your money running low?”

“What good is having a lot of money if I can’t go out? Even going out is like just taking a neighborhood stroll. Have you heard about Goodo? Can’t you bring him here?”

Goodo is the name of Yurik’s elderly dog he has been taking care of in our absence.

“Okay… then I’ll bring him over today. Anything else you need?”

“Could you provide a mini-fridge for the room? And please fill it with beer and drinks. I need a heater, too; it’s a bit cold since it’s October.”

“Understood. Then keep your promise!”

“Of course. It’s for everyone’s safety…”

Inside, we cheered joyously.

And so, the exam day approached.

“Ten minutes until the exam starts!”

“Everyone, prepare!”

The Violets calmly prepared for the exam.

The diagnostic test began, with 40 Violets and 20 assisting Violets, each armed with textbooks, sitting at their respective spots and starting to solve the assigned problems. The operation proceeded smoothly without any hitches.

However, an unexpected problem arose. The Violet in charge of the exam, Clone Ninety-Six, completed her problems too quickly on-site.

“Ninety-Six! Don’t you still need to prepare your answers?”

“But I already know everything! Just double-check! I recall it all.”

When we compared the problems Clone Ninety-Six solved against the textbook materials, they were correct. But how did she finish so quickly?

After scanning through the Violet Network, we discovered the results.

“We memorized the study materials earlier!”

“We went over the materials too many times because of the rehearsal.”

That was it. After dozens of Violets examined the books several times, the parts each individual had seen had been embedded in the Violet Network and were memorized as a whole.

We had unintentionally studied!

The math exam, which had been the toughest challenge, was also solved.

Before an elite scholar who had completed post-doctorate studies, high school mathematics was nothing more than child’s play.

“I’d like to have that new Grand Cheese Bacon Burger large set for lunch. Is that alright?”

“What? Just a cheeseburger set? I’ll buy you steak! There’s wine too!”

“Then let’s go!”

With engineering calculators and computers by our side, we had nothing to fear.

As the Violet on-site reviewed the math problems, we copied them for him, and Yurik delivered answers without a hitch.

Thus, the diagnostic test concluded without issue.

*

Three days later, the results were announced.

In a traditional school, you might imagine a large report card pinned to a bulletin board, announcing the rankings from first place down, but in modern society, they didn’t do such things.

Since it was a diagnostic test, results would be reported individually.

We waited for the rankings to be released, and when the time came, we accessed the school’s dedicated Apple application.

“Let’s log in!”

We clicked on the grade inquiry section.

After a long and tedious loading screen, my name and a number appeared.

And when I looked at the ranking, we couldn’t believe our eyes.

[…Violet D Rugilinn-1/XXXX…]

“Huh…?”

“This must be a mistake. No way.”

Rubbing my eyes and looking again, the number written on the report card was clearly right. The rank was surely ‘1.’

“I actually got first place, something I couldn’t even do in the past…!”

“Are we actually geniuses?”

“That’s way too much of a coincidence…”

We ended up taking first place.

Wait, did we just ace that too well?