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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Baekhwa Academy Entrance Exam (2)
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If I had been a righteous young man,
I would have reported this terrible cheating that occurred in a not-so-sacred examination hall.
Of course, I hesitated for a moment, but I didn't act on it.
Why?
'A squirrel peeked at the exam answers and told me the solutions!'
If I were to shout that?
Even I would have treated myself like a madman.
The only evidence was my eyewitness account.
And it was merely circumstantial, with no physical proof left behind.
They say even brushing sleeves is destiny, but honestly, that soft thought…
I did have it, just a little, a very little.
Well, it happens.
Still, even if I wouldn't step forward honorably and expose them like Camus,
Shouldn't I at least sound a warning to that squirrel duo who were already walking the path of heresy by cheating?
After the bell signaling the end of the exam rang out melodiously,
I stood by the exit, deliberately waiting for her.
Soon, a small crown of her head, with chestnut hair neatly tied to one side, appeared amidst the crowd.
As I subtly approached,
She recognized me and looked surprised.
"Oh, young master I bumped into on the street!"
I had been wondering how to approach her if she hadn't recognized me.
It was a relief.
"Did the urgent matter you were rushing off to resolve well?"
I feigned ignorance.
"Ugh, my squirrel caused trouble… If I take my eyes off it for a second, it just dashes off somewhere, you know?"
Her puffed-up cheeks made her look quite like a squirrel.
They say owners resemble their pets… was that it? Or the other way around?
"Now that I think about it, I thought I saw a squirrel near my exam paper earlier…"
I threw out the topic and observed her reaction.
For a moment, the squirrel girl's eyes widened.
"Ah, well… Our Dami is a bit of a troublemaker. It just can't stay still. Hehe."
Her quick change of subject was unusual, but I didn't miss the slight stiffening of her expression.
…I had my suspicions, but.
To think she actually put the Ratatouille meta into practice.
"The squirrel seemed to be admiring my exam paper very deeply, then whispered something into the young lady's ear."
"Ah… It just likes to climb all over me."
The squirrel girl began to show increasing signs of discomfort.
Well, there's no need to press further here.
After all, even passing one written exam is useless if you can't perform well in the remaining tests.
I put on a bright smile, as if my curiosity was fully satisfied, trying to reassure her.
"Hahaha, I'm joking. No matter how spiritual a creature it is, it couldn't possibly read—"
"Kkyuit?"
My words instantly caught in my throat.
The creature in question.
Dami had poked its head out from between her chest.
…
Wow…
Look at that…
"Oh, Dami. I told you to behave."
At first, I had only seen her gentle, pretty face.
But now I saw that this woman.
Her size was considerable…!
"Well then, I'll go prepare for the next exam. Young master, you do your best too, and let's meet again at the academy?"
The squirrel girl, who had momentarily completely taken my soul with her combined attack with the squirrel, rattled off her words quickly and then scurried away.
"Let's meet again."
Leaving behind a not unpleasant resonance.
"Oops."
I should have asked for her name.
I felt a needless regret.
Chewing on the image of the vast, ingrained pair of mounds and the squirrel in my mind,
I arrived at the External Strength Measurement Exam Hall next.
It was a test of shattering stone slabs with pure physical strength, without using internal energy, much like the breaking demonstrations seen in strongman shows.
…Honestly, I wasn't confident about this one.
After all, it had only been a year and a half since I recovered from my illness.
I could cultivate internal energy with elixirs.
But unfortunately, this was a world without steroids, which modern gym rats loved so much, or even protein supplements.
It definitely wasn't because I was lazy with my training.
"General Admission Candidate 157, Geum Sihyeon, seven slabs!"
This much was pretty good.
"Horya!"
"Prestigious Sect Admission Candidate 87, Wol Song, ten slabs!"
…
That guy's bald.
He has no deficiencies, so he should at least be strong.
Although the comparative group was a bit violent,
If you only look at the general admission candidates, excluding the prestigious sect candidates, seven slabs was quite well done.
It was the same logic as attending a regular high school and not needing to think in terms of a specialized high school.
Now, if I could just successfully complete the re-scheduled internal energy measurement.
Top admission was practically a given.
I brushed off the stone fragments that had splattered on my sleeve.
With a slightly uneasy heart, I headed back to the internal energy measurement hall I had left earlier.
* * *
"…The measurement device is broken?"
The chief supervisor, Murong Seol, doubted her ears.
It was a strange incident she had never heard of since being the first graduate of Baekhwa Academy and staying there ever since.
"Here it is."
Even as she took the tablet handed to her by the subordinate supervisor, she was half in doubt if such a thing was even possible.
"Hmm…"
However, she couldn't deny it after seeing the screen clearly marked with a palm print.
She kept staring at the mark, wondering if someone had used some internal energy technique, though that shouldn't be possible.
Tablets and smartphones.
Collectively known as advanced devices.
Mysterious artifacts developed a few years ago by the Zhuge and Sima families, along with eccentrics from the East called 'Comhaha'.
Even she, who had reached the Peak Stage at the age of twenty-eight, couldn't be certain she could destroy such an artifact with pure internal power.
Therefore, the conclusion.
"…There might have been a problem with the device itself. Please inform them that a re-test will be conducted after the other exams are over. I will go there myself."
"Yes, ma'am!"
With an endless influx of applicants, they couldn't delay indefinitely, so they sent Yoon Jihyang back to continue the exam.
And Murong Seol manipulated the supervisor's tablet to check the application of the problematic man.
Geum Sihyeon.
"Man Geum Jeonjang, huh…"
A legendary merchant group that actively invested in the advanced device development project, which everyone initially scoffed at, and now commanded the greatest wealth in the Central Plains.
Even if he drank elixirs like water, leveraging that immense wealth,
Geum Sihyeon was merely twenty years old, just coming of age.
How much internal energy could he have accumulated at that age?
There was also the possibility that he had used insider information from his family to identify a flaw in the tablet and exploit it.
She doubted he would go that far for an entrance exam, but still.
A moment later,
Murong Seol faced the problematic man.
Geum Sihyeon.
Her first impression was.
'…He's handsome.'
To use an archaic expression, he was the very embodiment of a jade-boned immortal spirit.
He was tall and dignified, and his features were handsomely masculine and striking.
"Ahem, ahem. The same problem might occur, so I will personally measure young master's internal energy."
Murong Seol maintained as stern an expression as possible as she placed her palm against his.
Judging by the calluses on his palm, he seemed to have trained quite diligently, and the man's hand, which she hadn't touched in a long time, was large and dependable and…
"Hah."
Murong Seol, whose consciousness almost drifted away for a moment, regained her composure and continued.
"Have you ever had an internal energy contest? You just need to focus your internal energy into your palm in this state."
But the man before her was, at best, First-Rate.
Compared to herself, who was on the verge of the mid-phase of the Peak Stage, he could still be considered an adorable child.
"Then, I'll begin."
Slowly, his internal energy began to push into her hand.
However.
"…Young master, you may release your internal energy without hesitation. I can handle it sufficiently."
Murong Seol's expression became serious.
The sensation was so faint that it was unbelievable he had broken that sturdy tablet.
Could it be that he really committed fraud using confidential information?
Just as disappointment was about to well up in Murong Seol's chest,
"Ah… I apologize. This is my first time holding a woman's hand like this, so I was being rude."
With a single, whispered word from Geum Sihyeon, uttered with an embarrassed expression, Murong Seol's heart melted away.
But before she could dwell on the nature of that subtle feeling,
Rumble, rumble, rumble…!
An intense surge of energy, incomparably stronger than before, poured in like a flood.
"…!"
Though she didn't show it outwardly,
Murong Seol was flustered.
This was by no means First-Rate internal energy.
It felt a bit rough and unrefined, as if it hadn't been properly tempered yet, and the cultivation method learned wasn't very advanced.
But the raw, wild power contained within it was easily at the early Peak Stage.
No, it was so intense it could even be considered mid-Peak Stage.
Murong Seol bit her lip and raised her internal energy.
As a supervisor, she couldn't show the disgrace of being pushed back by an applicant.
A silvery glow enveloped her delicate hands,
And a chilling aura began to ripple around her.
The Ice Essence inherited from her mother, as if unleashed after a long time, surged violently, trying to forcefully suppress the man's internal energy.
No.
Trying to suppress it.
Then, Murong Seol suddenly looked into Geum Sihyeon's eyes.
His eyes, still peacefully sparkling despite pouring out an internal energy so vast it was unbelievable for a martial arts novice.
The moment their gazes met, Murong Seol realized her mistake.
This was merely a qualification exam.
It wasn't a matter of pride.
If the clash escalated further, it could harm the man, Geum Sihyeon.
"That's enough."
Murong Seol tried her best to maintain her composure, slowly retracting her internal energy.
She herself had been called a prodigy,
And she had met countless people referred to as prodigies around her.
But this man.
Geum Sihyeon was the real deal.
"Full marks."
A dragon had entered Baekhwa Academy.
* * *
Thank you, Elixir God!
"Hehehe."
The resentment that had lingered from the elixir soup, which had made me want to throw up everything inside me every time I drank it, vanished without a trace.
Full marks.
What a sweet sound that was.
I even managed to get acquainted with one of the game's main heroines.
Murong Seol.
An S-rank ally who could freely wield both sword techniques and ice arts.
She had a significant flaw in being a bit old at twenty-eight.
But true to her reputation as the Ice Flower among the Five Martial Beauties, her real-life… appearance was also outstanding.
Calling it "real-life" sounds a bit strange.
Anyway.
Just proving that all the money my father had poured into me wasn't wasted felt quite refreshing.
"Yawn."
Now that all the exams were over.
All that was left was to wait for the results.
The results would be announced tonight.
…Since failed applicants wouldn't receive separate notifications.
Many people would probably not be able to sleep tonight.
I heard the taverns operated by our Jeonjang were already fully booked.
It was anyone's guess whether the drinks would be for celebration or consolation.
Walking through the somewhat deserted streets, as many examinees had left, I took out my smartphone.
Browsing the gallery while walking?
Couldn't resist.
"Oh."
Once I connected to the academy Wi-Fi,
I could access the Baekhwa Academy gallery, which had been inaccessible until now.
No wonder there weren't many posts on the Shaanxi gallery.
They were all chatting here.
[Baekhwa Academy Gallery]
[Anonymous / If my internal energy is 72 points and external strength is 50 points, is that a passing score for written exam average? T_T T_T T_T (4)]
[Anonymous / Kya, f*ck, I crushed the exam, lolllll (7)]
[Clearly2ndYearKing / Get rid of these newbies — We won't see them tomorrow anyway (13)]
I scrolled through the gallery, which was in chaos due to the influx of examinees.
"…?"
I found a familiar ID.
[Author: IcePrincess (SNOWWHITE_04)]
[Title: Princess-chan T_T T_T My heart went thump-thump today T_T T_T]
[(Photo of a unicorn carp swimming in a pond)
Today T_T T_T T_T I met a cutie T_T T_T T_T
And I held hands and squeezed and it was just… T_T T_T T_T
For the first time in a while, Princess T_T T_T T_T is super happy~~!!!!]
- Princess, it's time for your medicine. Go to the Medical Hall.
- ;;; I'm a freshman, who is this person?
- LMAO, they're a crazy roleplayer. Just ignore them.
- Are they never going to graduate, ffs?
"…"
Is this how a twenty-eight-year-old acts…?
Feeling like I'd glimpsed a fragment of a genius,
I hastily pressed the back button.
And in my mind, I adjusted Murong Seol's tier from S to A.
Indeed, outer appearance is important, but inner character is just as crucial.
Just like me.