〈 Chapter 69 〉 Entrance Exam (3)

*

After Elsie’s entrance exam ended.

The candidate who entered the swordsmanship class exam hall was a girl with black hair and black eyes, just like Elsie.

However, her black color appeared even darker and deeper compared to Elsie’s.

Her impression was likewise.

While Elsie retained a certain liveliness despite undergoing various hardships, this girl had an inexplicably cold demeanor.

“Yusera. She’s from Sakh and was raised by an Apostle.”

“Then her skills must be somewhat guaranteed.”

Proving the professors’ words, Yusera demonstrated quite impressive skills by effortlessly cutting down even the seventh Chaos Beast.

“That’s some decent swordsmanship.”

In a way, it was an expected outcome.

The ‘Apostles’ who discovered her were the right-hand members of the High Priest, carrying out direct missions across the world.

One of their tasks was to scout children with the potential to become heroes.

Since scouting was based on the High Priest’s prophecies, most of the discovered children had remarkable talent.

In fact, it was known that over ten high-ranking heroes, including the second-ranked hero, were discovered by the Apostles.

Yet, it was true that her displayed abilities so far felt somewhat lacking.

“There’s nothing particularly special about her yet.”

She must possess something more.

The professors hoped for that as she finally revealed it while facing the eighth Chaos Beast.

With a black aura surrounding her sword, she effortlessly cut through the glove of the eighth Chaos Beast.

“Just as I thought.”

The relic she wielded was a sword known to the professors.

Relic Sacred Replicant.

It was one of the 101 swords created by Heinz, a former high-ranking hero and current principal of Hero Academy, who replicated the Holy Sword.

Although it was treated as a two-star weapon, it didn’t have any particular characteristics apart from its divine power.

Surprisingly, with that ordinary sword, she managed to slice through quite a sturdy glove.

That alone proved her ability.

That was until what happened afterward.

“Hm?”

There was a crack on the sword she swung.

At least, it shouldn’t differ from the original holy sword in terms of durability.

“Is she losing durability on the relic as a cost for using her abilities?”

“What kind of unreasonable ability is that…”

Even if this was a virtual space, in real-life situations, it would be incredibly inefficient and reckless to engage in battles while consuming a relic akin to one’s life.

And soon, the ninth Chaos Beast appeared.

Well, whether that could even be called a Chaos Beast was open to question.

Yusera froze at the sight of it.

“That’s a normal reaction.”

It was somewhat strange that Elsie, the other candidate, rushed into such an opponent without the slightest hesitation.

In front of ‘it,’ an ordinary human couldn’t help but freeze.

Faced with this undeniable reality, the professors began to exchange opinions.

“I won’t choose her.”

Sigritt, the head professor of Class 1, stated.

“Decent, but it seems like her swordsmanship talent ends there. Her abilities also show clear limitations.”

Professor Huff of Class 3 agreed.

“If that’s how you see it, then it must be. I’ll pass as well. I’ve never liked those chosen by the Apostles.”

All that remained were Professor Setia of Class 2 and Professor Freira of Class 4.

Freira was the first to speak among them.

“Hmm, I’m also on the fence. I feel like I could have some fun with her…”

She appeared to be in deep thought.

While she was pondering, Setia interjected.

“Then I will take her.”

Typically, it wouldn’t matter as their fields rarely overlapped; however, the priority was generally given to the class with the highest achievements from the previous year.

Thus, since Setia decided to take her, Freira had no chance.

“Well, then it can’t be helped.”

Freira cleanly chose to forfeit.

However, Sigritt looked at Setia with a somewhat perplexed expression, unable to understand her choice.

It was a face rarely seen on his usually calm countenance.

*

In the Archery Exam Hall.

Two supervising professors were assessing the candidate, Sung Yoo-rang.

And their evaluation was nearing completion.

“Does she have both acceleration-type abilities and enchantment-type abilities? It seems her shooting skills are covered by the relic and acceleration abilities but still seem lacking. However, that’s simply a matter of her lack of skill… So, she’s practically passed.”

Just as Kyle muttered this and moved Sung Yoo-rang’s papers towards the accepted pile, Ludmilla asked him.

“About the ninth Chaos Beast. It appeared in both the swordsmanship and spear classes’ exams too, right?”

She had not possessed a relic when she entered the Hero Academy, so she had failed to surpass the eighth Chaos Beast.

Thus, this was her first time seeing the ninth Chaos Beast.

Actually, could that even be referred to as a Chaos Beast?

“That’s right. It wouldn’t matter whether it’s a sword, spear, or bow for that creature.”

“When did they start including that in the exams?”

“They exterminated it 52 years ago, so it’s been around since the current principal’s entrance exams, roughly between 40 and 50 years ago.”

That raised an eyebrow.

The entity exuding such overwhelming presence even made Ludmilla, who wasn’t even present at the scene, feel pressure…

“Has anyone beaten it during that time?”

“From what I’ve heard, the top two heroes have defeated it. But the truth rests solely with the professors who assessed back then.”

“Well, those guys are monsters, so it’s understandable.”

Ludmilla, being a high-ranking hero nearing retirement, had considerable experience.

Simultaneously, she was one of the few archers among high-ranking heroes.

Hence, she had been deployed to campaigns alongside those two several times.

And her view of their abilities… well, it was operating at a totally different dimension.

If you listed out two reasons why the Demon Kings couldn’t invade humanity at ease, those two would top the list.

If it’s an opponent only those two might defeat, that clearly indicates its implications.

“So, it’s essentially an unbeatable opponent?”

“Of course. It’s a Demon King.”

“What?”

Startled, she looked at the monster before her.

A form so distorted it was barely recognizable.

Only then did she recall Kyle’s earlier statement.

“Are you saying that 52 years ago, the one defeated was the 31st Demon King?”

Kyle nodded, confirming, “Exactly. Now that we’ve reached this point, we’ve filtered out the weak, so let’s see how the remaining candidates react in front of the strongest enemy in human history.”

At this point, passing was practically assured.

The Demon King’s appearance was merely a traditional event passed down through exams.

And most candidates would either break under the pressure or, at the worst, faint before the Demon King.

Of course, not many candidates made it this far.

“Wait a minute, are you saying those two already had the capability to defeat a Demon King even before enrolling?”

“That’s what it implies.”

Kyle answered nonchalantly, seemingly unfazed.

His eyes were already glued to the candidate.

‘That guy doesn’t seem to grasp how strong his opponent is, does he?’

There was no trace of tension on the archery candidate facing the Demon King.

‘Unless…’

*

‘Are they crazy?’

The ninth Chaos Beast.

No, before the 31st Demon King, I was rendered speechless.

‘Are they seriously putting a Demon King in the entrance exam?’

Having reached this point, I expected some basic skills to arise, but never did I imagine it would be a Demon King.

Of course, most students wouldn’t consider it a Demon King.

They would just perceive it as a Chaos Beast with a massive gap in power.

But I knew it was a Demon King.

‘Right now, there’s no way I can defeat it with archery.’

Especially with the environment set outside the barrier.

Beating a fully intact Demon King — even using Libero’s swordsmanship — would be a challenge.

…Honestly, part of me wanted to test if I could truly lose, but I also didn’t want to showcase Libero’s swordsmanship here.

Still, I was curious about the 31st Demon King.

The entrance exam’s content was something I couldn’t see from the Player’s perspective, so I only had the setting of the 31st Demon King stored in my memory, but no direct memory of facing it.

‘For example, could an overloaded arrow pierce its skin?’

Opportunities to face a Demon King were rare.

If I were to enroll in the academy, I might have more chances like this, but nothing was guaranteed.

I nocked an arrow to my bow.

‘Overload.’

Dark energy began to swirl around the arrowhead.

If this could penetrate the Demon King’s skin, it might yield a new strategy.

I released the bowstring.

Crisp.

Black particles shattered…the arrowhead.

The arrow disintegrated upon touching the Demon King’s skin.

It looked hopeless.

“I surrender here.”

I quickly declared my surrender before the Demon King could charge at me.

No matter how virtual the space was, I didn’t want to feel any gruesome pain.

*

An arrow seemingly infused with an enchantment flew but failed to pierce the Demon King’s skin and shattered.

“Of course.”

Though he had momentarily hoped for something from the candidate, eventually, he shook his head.

Fortunately, the candidate, after firing one arrow, seemed to grasp the skill gap and promptly declared his surrender.

He halted the exam before the Demon King could reach him.

“Wait, Kyle!”

“Yeah?”

Just as Ludmilla attempted to stop Kyle after the exam had concluded, Kyle had already wrapped things up.

Upon confirming this, Ludmilla seemed somewhat disappointed, licking her lips.

“It might have been pretty fun.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She had shown no reaction, not even lukewarm, toward the previous candidates but demonstrated quite a different response now.

Yet, to Kyle, this candidate didn’t feel distinctly different from others he had passed so far.

In fact, he might have had inferior archery skills compared to the others.

“Are you saying that guy had the ability to defeat a Demon King?”

“Not exactly. But he had a sense of composure.”

A sense of composure, huh?

But he did shout his surrender rather urgently.

However, it seemed Ludmilla observed something else in that process.

“That candidate’s attitude. While he was urgent, there was no panic. The moment he confirmed his arrow couldn’t pierce the Demon King’s skin, he immediately surrendered. It was as if he had planned it in advance.”

Reflecting on her words, that did seem to be the case.

‘So perhaps someone still in the game until recently has a different perspective? I probably wouldn’t have checked that far.’

Yet his judgment hadn’t been incorrect.

He wasn’t a student of the academy yet.

Thus, it was better to respect the judgment of a candidate who had declared their surrender.

‘But I am curious…’

Would there have been something different if he had not surrendered and stayed put?

*

Fortunately, the proctor seemed to have quickly caught my signal.

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh of relief.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself outside the exam hall.

The problem was that there wasn’t a lake nearby.

“What is going on with me?”

Before me stood that Great Tree once again.

*