I Became The Academy’s Narrow-Eyes

Chapter 10: Surprised!

“We finally arrived.”

After successfully completing the unofficial preliminary entrance exam led by Drin, I followed his guidance and arrived at Zone 1.

Now it’s time to take the Academy’s official first entrance exam.

Unfortunately, it was time to part ways with Drin.

Still, if I made it into the Academy, there would be plenty of opportunities to make fun of him-no, meet him-so let’s lighten up.

“Drin, thank you for guiding me. If it weren’t for you, I would still be wandering in the dark and dirty maze where powerful beings roam.”

“If someone sees us together, they might think we’re conquering dungeons or something.”

“Drin may not know this, but I’ve faced formidable villains in those back alleys before.”

“You don’t mean me, do you?”

“No! No, this time, really!”

“This time, really?”

“Now, now. That’s enough of that, Ser Drinn. Let’s laugh, we’re going to be parting ways, shouldn’t we do it with a good laugh?”

Hahaha!

I forced a laugh and tried to create an atmosphere of parting while Drin looked puzzled.

“What do you mean by saying we’re parting now?”

“Huh?”

“You said we were going on our way to take the Academy entrance exam.”

“That’s right.”

“So am I. Come with me.”

Oh, come to think of it, Drin was also participating in this entrance exam.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, you’re worried about me taking the test alone, so you suddenly changed your admission decision to-”

“Sillon. Although your concern is appreciated, you need to relax a bit. Do you really think it makes sense for me to take an unexpected Academy test because of you? ”

Dreen said seriously, with a look of pure concern on her face, not the slightest hint of sarcasm.

“Ouch, that hurts. Your pure reaction is too painful…”

“What are you talking about? I wonder if this person is really going to be okay…”

The Ain Academy had its facilities distributed throughout Arienne City.

The area with the most facilities was District 1, where the main building, dormitories, and other core facilities were located.

Where Drin and I arrived was an examination hall created by remodeling one of the academy’s facilities.

At the entrance of the exam hall, people were lined up forming a long queue that seemed never-ending.

As soon as Drin and I got to the back of the line, others joined us.

‘As expected, it’s not as long as I thought’

According to Ain Academy’s philosophy, anyone was free to take the entrance exam, with no restrictions on qualifications or conditions.

As long as you graduate, you’re good for life.

When people heard about the entrance examination method, they believed that the examination center would be overrun by people who thought they could just take a shot.

However, the actual number of people who flocked to the test center was not that high.

Knowing the reason for this, I nodded as I realized why.

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“There are fewer people than you think, is that what you think?”

However, Drin came up with a pointless remark while being all pouty mode again.

She obviously assumed I didn’t know why, and she was going to tell me.

It was the perfect angle for teasing, but she was looking at me with too much glee.

Like a little kid asking, “How big is the sun?

But to me, it was more like the kid who said, “Ask me how big the sun is!

“Ugh, how do you know? That’s a lot of people!”

I couldn’t help but respond in kind, which is exactly the kind of response Drin would want.

“Everyone who hears about entrance exams thinks the same thing: they’re legitimately worried that there will be so many people that the testing center will be paralyzed.”

Drin pointed to the long line.

“Well, for all that, the line at the test center isn’t that long right now, in fact, it’s almost too short. Do you know why?”

“Oh… why is that?”

Dreen pointed to the reason I had noticed just a moment ago.

It was a two-man (?) team: a crudely constructed golem and an attendant.

They stood at the entrance to the testing center, greeting the participants.

As they stood before it, a glow emanated from the grooves carved into the golem’s body.

“Failed.”

A red glow emanated from the golem, and the representative announced the candidate’s rejection.

“Passed. Contestant number 346.”

A blue glow emanated from the golem, and the representative declared the contestant successful and assigned them an entry number.

This whole process took about an average of 30 seconds or so. It was none other than Academy’s first round exam.

“So basically, within that short period just now, one person was eliminated and one person passed. As there are many people gathered here, processing speed is fast enough to maintain a reasonable crowd level.”

After finishing his enthusiastic explanation, Drin looked at me with a face that seemed to say, “What do you think?

“Oh wow… My curiosity has been neatly resolved. Drin is truly knowledgeable!”

“You’re exaggerating too much. Well, if it helped you then I’m glad.”

No big deal.

Drynn said with a calm demeanor.

But I could see it in his eyes, the unpleasant stalker glare that watched his every move.

The faint smirk of satisfaction on his face.

“It’s just like this…

I played along with Drin’s act,

It tastes different from when teasing someone for fun

“Drin-ssi, did you know about this?”

“What?”

“The speed at which this line is shrinking right now. It’s so fast, I’m telling you because I don’t think you, Drin-ssi, who has never stood in a line in your life, would know.”

“I’ve never stood in a line in my life? What nonsense.”

Drin’s pupils, who were about to argue back, shifted to the upper right corner with an “Huh?”.

“Oh? What’s that reaction? I was just joking. But seriously, have you really never stood in line once in your life? Because of your noble status!?”

“No, it’s just that…”

But still, teasing is sweeter.

“Damn it! I knew it would be like this! It turns out anyone can take the test. These bastards!”

Why is there so much commotion near the golem?

Drin and I poked our heads over the line at the sudden commotion and surveyed the situation.

There were five people left in front of us.

The participant causing all this chaos was being evaluated by the golem and the examiner.

“Those weaklings who look like wimps get accepted, but I’m rejected? Ha! Explain yourselves, you bastards! Why am I not qualified? It’s obvious that just by looking at me, they’re not qualified.

That was the problem with the simple, quick test.

When you hear “beep beep, you passed,” an exclamation of “Oh, I don’t know what it is but it must be great!” naturally comes out.

But when you hear “beep beep, you failed,” an exclamation of “Oh, I don’t know what it is and that’s why it pisses me off!” naturally comes out.

When I asked if it was common for rejected students to make a scene, the person in charge, presumably an academy assistant, just sighed in annoyance.

“Entry number 346 meets the minimum standards the Academy requires of its students in terms of mana sensitivity. You, on the other hand, do not meet that standard, that’s all. Your profession or status is irrelevant.”

I can summarize what the representative said in one word.

Not enough levels.

‘Get 10 levels like me.’

I’m technically level 14, but whatever.

“What?! How do you know my mana sensitivity?”

“This golem has been optimized solely for measuring the mana sensitivity of subjects while sacrificing all other functions. Its accuracy is guaranteed by this academy. So we placed it here. Therefore unless your intention is to disrupt the test forcibly, please make way for ‘the waiting participants’ immediately.”

The mercenary turned around at mention of the examiner’s emphasized phrase ‘the waiting participants’.

A long line.

And countless participants glaring at him.

I joined them.

Then, he turned pale and quickly left his spot.

No matter how hot he was, he wasn’t hot enough to be filming “Fuck the Academy in the center of the Academy” right now.

“We will resume the exam.”

And with that, it was our turn.

“My noble lord, you go first, and get away from this barbaric ‘line’ as soon as possible!”

“Yes, sir, and the sooner I can get away from here, the better.”

Drin shook his head and stood before the golem.

-…

The mineral-like eyes of the golem stared at Drin.

Then a blue light seeped out from the hollows of the golem’s eyes.

“Passed. Entrant number-”

The examiner tried to confirm that light and assign a participant number to Drin but couldn’t continue speaking.

The blue light emanating from the hollows of the golem became more vivid.

It grew brighter and more dazzling before spreading rapidly in all directions.

“Huh?”

“What?”

People in our line.

People in other lines.

The people taking the test.

Examiners overseeing exams,

Everyone looked toward the source of the blue light.

Soon the light faded, and everyone in the room was staring at Drin.

While everyone was barely able to extract a trace of blue light from the golem, a mysterious woman stood alone, performing a spotlight show of a different caliber.

“Is that you, Lebringer?”

Someone muttered, which was the cue.

“Isn’t that Lebringer, Drin Lebringer?”

“The prodigy of House Lebringer who’s taking the test?”

“That hair, those eyes… I think I recognize him.”

“Surely, there’s no one among the contestants with such ridiculous-”

“As rumored, there’s a tremendous-”

The people were convinced that the owner of the blue flashes was Drin Lebringer, and came to attention in earnest.

“Contestant number 347, welcome to the Ain Academy.”

Even the person in charge of taking care of the participants became much more polite and cautious toward Drynn.

“Thank you.”

In the midst of all the commotion, Drin was undaunted.

After giving a slight bow to an official, she entered into the examination hall.

Even though Drin disappeared, excitement still lingered in that place.

In the bustling scene, where everyone was excited about Drin’s presence, there was only one golem that showed interest in me – solely for mana resonance measurement purposes.

“Now is it my turn? Please take care of me.”

Upon hearing my words, the staff finally snapped out of it and looked at the golem, preparing their notes.

-…

The golem’s cold gaze that had been fixed on Drin now turned towards me.

If the golem’s reaction to seeing Drin resembled a teenage girl meeting her idol on the street, then its reaction to seeing me was like a teenage girl meeting her dad on the street.

A faint blue light seeped out from within the golem’s hollows.

“Pass. Participant number 348.”

Blue light is blue light, after all.

The staff assigned me a participant number.

And so I entered the examination room while they were about to receive the next participant.

-Uuung

Like turning off a TV, the light emitted by the golem suddenly dimmed.

Not only did my created blue light disappear but also the red light that served as eyesight replacement.

“Huh. Why is this happening?”

Even when trying everything possible, there seemed to be no sign of life in the golem anymore.

Apparently, the golem had crossed the rainbow-no, the stone bridge.

And perhaps the cause was me.

“Well then…I’ll take my leave!”

With a bounce in my step and after confirming once again that there were no traces left on the golem, I nonchalantly left.