NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9:
The test went on without any time to rest. The time passed like that, and soon it was 11 at night. The test takers weren’t even talking anymore, and the supervisors had dark circles under their eyes.
The only one who was completely relaxed and comfortable was Magnus. Magnus stared at the test takers who had just completed their 6th test.
“You all worked very hard till now!”
All of them didn’t even have the strength to reply to him, yet on the other hand, they looked at him with a childish gaze, hoping the tests would end. While receiving all those expectant innocent looks filled with anticipation, Magnus said,
“You just need to take this last test, and it’ll be the end!”
Upon hearing these words, everyone’s expression darkened. However, far from being angry at the frowning faces of all the candidates, Magnus burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Why do you look like you landed in hell? It was a joke.”
The candidates couldn’t understand the meaning of what Magnus said immediately and looked at him blankly. So Magnus gave them a clear and specific answer.
“The test has ended!”
“Is-is that really true?”
“Yeah!”
Finally, everyone’s face brightened up. Magnus looked at the smiling faces of the candidates.
“So, 12 of you remained, huh? That’s plenty.”
As Magnus said, out of all those candidates, only 12 were left. During the whole day, many candidates collapsed, fainted, and even suffered injuries; because of that, they were left behind.
Those who weren’t there anymore were probably back at their homes after getting their wounds treated. But that didn’t mean they were completely disqualified because there was a condition that they had to last till the end.
Instead, based on the judgment of the supervising professors, the top 200 of them would be chosen for admission into the Academy. Their nerves would probably make them anxious till the day that result was announced. But that wouldn’t happen for those present there.
“This is a matter of course, but I’ll still announce that all of you here have passed! You’re all now prospective Gigant riders.”
Taking these tests and remaining till the end is enough proof that they were all at a level that couldn’t be compared to the others.
“Ugh hm. Principal.”
The strict-looking middle-aged man standing in front said something, but Magnus ignored him and continued as if nothing had happened.
“So what? Will you really disqualify any of those who lasted till the end? Anyways, take a good look at each other’s faces because inside and outside the Academy, you’ll either be teammates or rivals.”
At Magnus’s words, Abel scanned the people in his surroundings. Among them was a person he was seeing for the first time, but many of them were known to Abel.
‘Altogether, they’re the main and supporting characters of the game.’
One was, of course, Evelyn he met on the day of registration, but aside from her, the others were outstanding characters too.
The brown-haired boy with a delicate appearance excelled at physical training. The only one with a fierce look, a red-haired girl and a purple-haired girl with a drowsy expression.
They were all characters that Abel still remembered. But instantly, he lost all interest in them and looked at Magnus.
‘I just wanna go home quickly and sleep.’
He was too tired to pay attention to someone else and just hoped Magnus would stop talking soon. Unlike other principals, Magnus ended his talk coolly.
“Okay. Judging from your eyes, you won’t even listen if I talk any longer. All of you, you did well.”
Magnus completed his sentence and with just a light eye gesture, the Academy staff approached him.
“Please follow us.”
Now they just had to follow the attendant and get on the carriages waiting for them outside.
‘Let’s get back quickly and just rest.’
Abel was about to follow the attendant with a blissful heart.
“Abel Klein.”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
However, a certain voice stopped Abel even before he took a step. Abel turned his head at that familiar voice and discovered that it was Magnus with his unique scary smile looking at him.
“That was very impressive. I guess Scarlett didn’t say that a punk caught her eye for no reason.”
Magnus could say Scarlett’s name without hesitation because, at one point, she worked under him as his subordinate.
Abel replied to Magnus’s words with a bow of his head and said.
“Thank you.”
“No need for that. I’ll look forward to your future performance too. Now go ahead.”
“Yes.” Abel politely greeted him and turned around.
His head was only full of thoughts of returning home quickly. But this time, he felt a burning gaze from the side of his head. He abruptly turned his head and found Evelyn looking at him. He looked at her likewise, wondering if she had something to say, but she immediately turned her head and went her way.
‘What was that?’
Abel frowned but then gave up thinking about it anymore and continued walking. He neither cared about it nor did it pique his interest. He really just wanted to go rest.
»————- ★ ————-«
A few days after the test. A letter with Del Modor Academy’s seal had arrived and was in front of him. The test result had arrived.
“I haven’t opened it yet.”
Scarlett spoke while she waved the envelope in her hand.
“But I can already predict the results.”
“Is that so?” Abel replied with a calm voice. It wasn’t exactly something to be nervous about.
Looking at Abel’s appearance, Scarlett smiled and nodded her head.
“Because I’ve heard some things too. Your performance was spectacular. Okay then, you open it.”
Abel politely received the envelope from Scarlett with both hands and checked the contents of the letter.
[Passed.]
On the top, the contents written on the letter were already expected. It wasn’t really that surprising. But there was something else in that letter too.
Infamous Scans
[Abel Klein. Top Rank.]
Top Rank. He got 1st place in the entrance test. Below it was instructions for him to arrive 1 hour before the original time of the entrance ceremony.
Abel’s mind just envisioned the image of the top ranker receiving a certificate or something. However, he wasn’t sure because this wasn’t portrayed in detail in the game and was skimmed over.
However, the moment he checked out the letter, Abel got a message.
[The Quest has been completed!]
[The reward will be upgraded to a general skill considering your outstanding performance!]
[You’ve acquired the ‘Shadow Step’!]
It was a general skill similar to ‘Overflow’ he acquired from the hidden piece a few days ago. Also, it was a practical skill he really needed. Abel was bound to be happy about it.
“Hm. Judging from the look on your face, it seems like it’s not just a pass, huh?”
Scarlett interpreted Abel’s expression to have a different meaning and asked him a question with a sly look. Instead of trying to clear the misunderstanding, Abel maintained a poker face and said.
“I’ve passed with the top rank.”
“Spectacular indeed. It’s beyond my expectations.”
Scarlett didn’t hold back on the compliments. Scarlett’s personality was such that she wasn’t kind to everyone. She only treated someone remarkable with that attitude as a rule. In that sense, it was proof that Abel was a talented individual beyond expectations for her.
Scarlett spoke, “Since you’ve shown a remarkable performance, you should get a suitable reward. I’ll gift you three of the family’s Gigant weapons.”
Abel’s eyes sparkled at the words Gigant weapons because something suddenly popped up in his mind.
‘Scarlett’s three-set combo.’
It was before he heard her say it clearly but he was still half sure. Originally, Scarlett chose Jet in the game, and his exclusive weapons were part of Scarlett’s three-set combo.
The weapons were game items with excellent efficiency and were called by various nicknames by different users, so Abel knew about them quite well.
‘In the game, they didn’t appear until the end of the semester.’
He wanted to think it was because he was selected with the topmost rank.
Scarlett told Abel, “I’ll send the weapons to the Academy directly, and get them fitted. Check them out then.”
“Thank you.”
“Going forward, if you keep showing good progress, the rewards will keep coming. Now, go ahead and rest.”
“Yes.”
Just like that, the conversation ended quite quickly. After the face-to-face meeting with Scarlett, Abel went straight into the room and then to bed.
And the next day, after waking up, he went for training as he always did. And the next day. And the day after. He didn’t rest for a moment to prepare for his admission into the Academy and kept training.
The time flew like an arrow released from the bow, and two weeks passed.
»————- ★ ————-«
‘Is it today?’
Abel, who was awake for a while, got out of bed and looked out the window. The sun that was just rising colored the world with its light.
Abel reminisced over that scene and looked at it with a new expression. It was the day he would enter the Academy.
»————- ★ ————-«
A huge auditorium.
Inside it, 200 cadets stood in an orderly manner.
Among them, the 40 cadets in the front stood out because their uniforms were completely different from the rest, from the design to their color. They may have passed the same thorough exam, but only the 40 cadets in the front would take the Gigant Rider course.
On the other hand, the remaining 160 would focus on training to ride a Tito and were called the ‘middle class.’ Even if they were affiliated with the same Academy, the positions they were standing in were completely different.
Below them, there was a walking class but they weren’t a part of the present entrance ceremony because they took an entirely separate training route. However, despite the categorization they were subjected to, they all had one thing in common.
”…the best quality possessed by the youth is their pure curiosity. Not for profit or to help others, but the path that lies ahead of you! What will lie beyond it! That is…”
They all wanted to stitch up that damn mouth of the first Prince, Prince Byron who was giving the speech instead of Magnus at the entrance ceremony. His speech has been going on for 2 hours, and listening to it was torture.
Not to mention, because of the special guests at the ceremony standing on both sides of the auditorium, they had no choice but to stand upright, which gave them even more of a hellish feeling.
‘He really doesn’t stop talking, huh.’
Abel was feeling the same torture too. In the game as well, Prince Byron was portrayed as a chatty character, but he didn’t know it was to this extent.
He slightly rolled his eyes and looked around to decrease his boredom. Around him, all the game’s key characters, in cluding Evelyn, were scattered everywhere. The one that stood out most of all was the purple-haired girl who was openly sleeping two spots ahead of Abel.
Considering she was in the most noticeable position, she had to be highly indifferent to her environment for her to do that.
‘May.’
This was the purple-haired girl’s name. Among the few commoners in the Upper Class, her position was clear.
‘The lazy genius.’
There was talk among the players that she was even more talented than Evelyn.
But the reason that it couldn’t be surely concluded was because of May’s laziness.
‘Because she did whatever she could to not do her best.’
Regardless of the time, she’d doze off, and there were only a few rare moments when she showed any ambition whatsoever. There was a truck full of users who were dissatisfied that they couldn’t find any way to motivate her. Abel was also one of them.
He turned his gaze away from the girl nodding her head in sleep, and looked at the boy beside him.
‘Daniel.’
Brown hair and black eyes. And a very handsome face. The boy showed a monstrous performance at the physical fitness training. He was exactly like the sincere main character in comics or movies, who gets stronger and stronger with time.
From there, Abel directed his gaze a little to the left, where there was a red-haired girl. Her name was ‘Hannah’. Her personality was fierce, like her red hair, but her skills were undoubtedly good. But there was something more important than her personality or appearance.
‘She was a one-time middle boss.’
Hannah, an ordinary classmate, would appear as a ‘boss’ who would endanger the player in the middle of 1st chapter.
[To be continued.]