After spending so much time hopping between worlds, I'd gotten used to functioning without much rest. Whenever I actually felt mentally drained, I could simply return to Earth, where time flowed differently, clear my head, and come back feeling fine.
It was basically cheating the concept of exhaustion.
I went up to the rooftop for a bit of sightseeing.
And honestly...
It's beautiful.
The blue sun hanging over the horizon, casting this strange glow across the academy it just hits differently metaphorically and literally, when you're actually just standing here instead of staring at it through a screen.
I've spent most of the day wandering around the academy, basically sightseeing.
And if I'm being honest...
I'm not really looking forward to the genre shift.
It's nice right now.
I get to act like Barry, Reliving teenage years isn't actually so bad, even thought I have to act like barry, I got the chance to bicker with friends, eat ridiculously good food, and discover things about this world that weren't even in the game.
That's definitely my favorite part.
Because the thing about background characters in the game was that they looked so... generic.
That made me wonder how Barry parents looks, I'm still not prepared to meet them.
They are people you walked past without ever thinking twice.
But now that I'm actually here?.
Some of these "background characters" have insane drip.
Like, seriously.
Who the hell designed these people?
I don't remember half of them looking this cool.
Right?...
...
No one answered back.
The system had been unusually quiet lately.
Our last conversation had only lasted a few lines.
I wondered if it was because we were inside the academy.
Maybe there was some kind of interference.
...
Regardless I'm still sightseeing.
...
By the time I realized how much time had passed, I was already dangerously close to being late.
"Shit."
I started running.
By the time I reached the examination grounds, I was out of breath,
I leaned agaisnt the wall trying to catch my breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Phew.
Looking up I saw how packed it was.
Now that all the regions had been merged together, the number of students gathered in one place was ridiculous.
Tens of thousands of people.
I scanned the crowd.
Let's see.
There's Balin.
Hans.
Hjördis.
Aldren...
He looked unusually downcast.
That's weird.
And then there were all the people I hadn't met yet.
I slowly searched through the crowd.
Noah.
Blond hair.
Blue eyes.
He had the kind of face that made him look immediately approachable, like someone you could probably start a conversation with without worrying about getting stabbed afterward.
Then...
Mei Mei.
My eyes stopped.
The first thought that entered my mind was.
That hair must be ridiculously long to style it like that.
Her luscious green hair flowed down behind her, catching the light.
It was beautiful.
Her yellow eyes were bea-.
I slapped myself.
Whooaaaa...
Did I just call someone's beautiful?.
In my head?.
That's a first.
I had never once found myself attracted to someone.
Not guys.
Not girls.
Nobody.
And now, my brain had decided that Mei Mei was beautiful.
Is this what people mean by love at first sight?
...
Probably not.
It's definitely because I was inside Barry's body.
I'd already noticed that I seemed to unconsciously pay more attention to the Snake people than everyone else.
It was like some part of Barry naturally gravitated toward them.
So...
Barry has a type, huh?.
I stared at Mei Mei again.
Huh so this is what it feels to be captivated.
I already planned to pursue the mei mei route, so this is pretty neat.
Putting that aside, I looked around for Raksha.
But no matter where I looked...
She wasn't here.
But I decided not to dwell on it.
Instead, I started making my way toward my friends.
I raised a hand and waved.
"Yo"
Before they could've respond.
Suddenly
"MISS ME?!"
A familiar voice echoed across the entire examination grounds.
At the very top of the arena stood Miss Lunaria, smiling brightly at the thousands of students below.
The collective expression of the students could only be described as dread.
Lunaria spread her arms dramatically.
"You missed me, right?!"
Nobody answered.
Mostly because nobody wanted to.
Lunaria placed a hand over her chest.
"Aww. I can feel the love."
She paused.
"Now, you might be wondering..."
She leaned forward.
"Didn't I say I wouldn't be supervising this trial?"
A few students nodded.
"Well..."
She smiled.
"I lied."
The entire crowd went silent.
"But technically..."
She raised one finger.
"The correct wording was that I wouldn't be the only one supervising this trial."
She snapped her fingers.
WHOOM!
A massive platform materialized high above the arena.
Rows of luxurious chairs appeared across it.
And sitting in those chairs were people I immediately recognized.
Influential nobles.
Guild leaders.
Military commanders.
Important representatives from various kingdoms.
And, to make matters worse...
Several professors from the academy.
Lunaria grinned.
"That's right!"
She gestured toward them.
"Your evaluators!"
The students immediately began whispering among themselves.
Some looked nervous.
Others looked excited.
A few looked like they were reconsidering every life decision that had led them here.
Lunaria clapped her hands.
"Now, now! Don't be nervous!"
She smiled.
"The only difference between the first, second, and third trials and this one..."
She paused.
"...is that your evaluators are visible."
Even she knew that was bullshit.
How exactly was anyone supposed to stay calm when some of the most influential people in the world were sitting above them, watching their every move?
Lunaria cleared her throat.
"Anyway!"
She snapped her fingers again.
"Let me explain what this trial is."
She paused.
"We don't have a name for it."
Silence.
"We ran out."
Another pause.
"So we're calling it..."
She looked around.
"The Fourth Trial."
...
"The purpose of this examination is simple."
Her voice echoed throughout the arena.
"We will be evaluating your individual combat ability through one-on-one battles."
The moment she finished speaking.
BOOM!
The ground beneath us trembled.
Thousands of platforms erupted from the battlefield.
One after another.
Five hundred.
A thousand.
Two thousand.
Until roughly five thousand individual platforms
covered the examination grounds.
However...
Only one thousand of them were numbered.
I looked toward the center.
The numbers were arranged in descending order.
1000.
Then 999.
Then 998.
The closer you looked toward the center, the smaller the numbers became.
Until finally...
1.
Lunaria pointed toward them.
"Now, you might be wondering what those are."
She grinned.
"Those are the platforms reserved for the Top 1,000 ranked applicants."
A wave of murmurs spread throughout the crowd.
"They have already earned their positions through the previous examinations."
She raised a finger.
"And because of that..."
"They are guaranteed an S-Rank benefit upon completion of this trial."
The crowd became noticeably louder.
Lunaria's smile widened.
"So..."
She gestured toward the numbered platforms.
"Why don't you do me a little favor?"
Her grin became downright malicious.
"Knock them off."
A few of the top-ranked students immediately looked toward her.
Lunaria waved cheerfully.
"Okay, okay. Before we begin the trial, we'll be returning your belongings."
"For those who don't have anything in there besides clothes..."
"My condolences. Truly."
All of us naturally looked at Balin who looked quite dejected.
Dorian as well.
I mean I don't even have a luggage.
Lunaria paused, then smiled.
"And now, it's time to release our naughty students."
Suddenly, several participants appeared on the battlefield.
"You see, they've broken a few academy rules, so naturally, we had to put them in time-out."
I looked at the newly released students.
Then I froze.
Raksha was among them.
Oh.
So that's where you've been.
I had been wondering where the hell she was.
Apparently, I was panicking for no reason.
Compared to the other detained students, however, Raksha was in a completely different situation.
She was wrapped in thick restraints, chains covering her body and restricting almost every movement.
And yet...
It wasn't stopping her from thrashing around.
She had long, spiky white hair and pitch-black eyes that somehow made her look even more feral.
Raksha violently pulled against the chains.
"These feeble chains cannot hold Raksha for long!"
...
Is she speaking in the third person?
"The moment Raksha is free, Raksha will-."
Lunaria casually dropped her onto the ground.
Along with the rest of the detained students, her restraints were released.
Thud!
Raksha was the only one who was dropped hard enought to make a sound.
Raksha immediately scrambled upright and continued shouting something under her breath.
Unfortunately for her, Lunaria had silences the surrounding sound.
Whatever Raksha was saying was practically impossible to hear.
She just kept angrily muttering to herself.
I chuckled to myself.
"Alright, alright. That's enough."
"Now, now."
Lunaria clapped her hands.
"Look in front of you."
I followed her gaze.
Two professors stood on the platform.
I recognized both of them.
The first was the professor of Weapon and Combat.
Professor Holden.
She had short black hair, black eyes, and only one arm.
If Hjördis was what you would call unnecessarily absurd beauty, then Holden was something completely different.
Plain beauty.
There was nothing particularly extravagant about her appearance.
Beside her stood the professor of Magitech.
Professor Ramona.
She had chestnut-colored hair and striking golden eyes.
She was a rather large woman, with a soft, imposing build that contrasted strangely with her shy demeanor.
She seemed almost nervous standing in front of so many students.
I stared at her for a moment.
...
She's cute, remind me of my mom.
Lunaria gestured toward the enormous platforms scattered across the examination grounds.
"Now, before anyone gets excited and starts beating each other senseless, let me explain how these things work."
She pointed toward one of the platforms.
"These are Duel Platforms. They're designed specifically for this examination, the moment two participants enter a platform, the system will scan both of you, after that, it creates a Proxy."
The proxy looked exactly like Holden.
Same clothes.
Same face.
Same missing arm.
The students murmured.
"The Proxy is connected to your body," Holden continued. "Any damage you receive during the battle is transferred to it instead."
A student raised a hand.
"What happens if the Proxy takes too much damage?"
"Naturally it'll reaches its limit."
Holden pointed toward the duplicate.
"Once the Proxy can no longer continue, the participant is considered defeated."
Another student raised their hand.
"So we're completely safe?"
Holden nodded.
"From physical damage caused by the battle, yes."
Lunaria snapped her fingers.
"There's one more thing!"
A transparent barrier suddenly formed around the edge of the platform.
"This platform also prevents you from falling off the arena."
She pointed toward the barrier.
"If you're knocked beyond the edge, the barrier will catch you and return you to the platform."
Ramona timidly raised her hand.
"Um…"
Everyone looked toward her.
She glanced at Holden.
"Could I demonstrate?"
Holden sighed.
"Sure."
Lunaria grinned.
"Professor Ramona will now demonstrate."
Ramona nervously adjusted her sleeves.
"Ah…"
She looked at Holden.
"Sorry in advance."
Holden raised an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about it."
Ramona nodded.
Then.
BOOM!
She punched Holden.
The sound was absolutely horrifying.
Holden's body practically launched across the platform, her boots leaving the ground as she flew backward.
The crowd collectively gasped.
She would've gone straight off the platform.
WHAM!.
A transparent barrier caught her several meters from the edge.
Holden slowly slid down it.
Silence.
Ramona froze.
Her eyes widened.
"I'm sorry."
Holden pushed herself upright.
"Don't apologize."
She cracked her neck.
"That was a good demonstration."
Lunaria clapped her hands.
"Alright!"
She smiled brightly.
"Without further ado..."
"Let us begin!"
Without further ado indeed, I immediately approached Finn.
"Give it."
He stared at me.
"...Give what?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Give it."
"I'm not giving you shit."
"C'mon, man, You need to advertise it anyway, Who else could do it better than the literal second-place student in the academy?"
I pointed toward him.
"Number two. Finn."
Then I held out my hand.
"So... give it."
Finn's expression twisted into pure frustration.
He clearly wanted to argue.
Instead, he sighed and reluctantly handed me two Magitech item.
"Yay!."
"What did I do in my past life to be involved in you In this one?."
"Benevolent things probably."
"I doubt that."