Not all examinees were as relaxed as Erica.
The top students who entered first were sent out one after another.
The dust-covered faces clearly showed unwillingness and frustration.
Some students went back into the magic circle again.
But some, after coming out, immediately started cursing.
"Is this tm even something a human can pass!?"
"This exam is completely unreasonable! Why would three monsters attack at the same time?"
"No one could possibly pass this!"
With the anger of failure, they cursed and stormed out of the mage tower.
They didn't even want to try a second time.
Many students who were still hesitating watched this scene and felt even more like backing out.
Some followed them and chose to leave, but most students stayed in place, watching the next groups come out.
Henny still stood there, smiling calmly at these students, completely indifferent to whatever emotions they were having.
Before long, the students who went in for the second time were kicked out again.
"Damn it! I was so close! How the hell did a mosquito pop out of nowhere!?"
"You already reached the third round? I can't even pass the second!"
"That damned bat, how is it able to shoot that accurately!?"
"I'm not convinced! Again, again!"
These students, also full of anger, once again chose to enter.
It was anger all the same.
But they were completely different from those who left because of anger.
The students who were watching noticed this as well, and it made them curious about the world beyond the teleportation circles.
So one student after another stepped forward to touch a magic circle.
They didn't stay inside long, but not long after, they too were forcibly sent out because of failure.
And they came out with heads steaming in anger, cursing nonstop.
"Holy, how can that duck-snouted rat even use vines to tie up your legs!?"
"Damn it, I can't even clear the first round!"
"I really don't f***ing believe this! Charge!"
There were also some who gave up because of the difficulty, but without exception, every examinee's heart was filled with a strong sense of anger.
Either dissatisfaction with the unreasonable difficulty.
Or because the victory that felt within reach slipped away due to a single mistake, forcing them to start over again.
But no matter which reason, the students' rage filled the entire mage tower.
It circled all around Henny.
———
At noon, under Viktor's mage tower, the place was packed tightly with reporters.
The difficulty of Viktor's exam had already spread.
When the students who gave up walked out, the reporters immediately swarmed them, asking questions nonstop.
They practically shoved microphones up the students' noses.
"Professor Viktor's exam is extremely unreasonable!"
"That insane difficulty is just making things hard for us!"
The students shouted their anger into the cluster of microphones and left.
Up until now, none of the reporters had met a single student who walked out of Viktor's test smiling.
How absurd was this difficulty?
Before the exam ends, revealing the exam content was forbidden, so even when being interviewed, students couldn't explain what actually happened in the test.
Long after noon, one student finally walked out.
His expression was totally different from the previous students, he had a relieved, relaxed smile, full of pride.
As if he had achieved something amazing during the exam.
The reporters stared blankly at this smiling student.
'Someone passed!?'
'But… it's just passing an exam, is it really worth being this happy?'
Still, with such a perfect news story walking right toward them, the reporters weren't going to let him escape.
They swarmed him, throwing questions one after another, "Wait, excuse me, student! Are you coming out after passing the exam?"
The happy student paused, glanced around.
"Ah, you mean me? Uh… yeah, I guess you could say I passed."
"Right, right! We interviewed many students who came out of this mage tower earlier, and without exception they all failed! May I ask, what do you think about the difficulty of this exam?"
The student thought for a moment.
"Difficulty? Yeah, it's really hard. I spent a little over two hours just to barely get a passing grade."
"I've taken four sets of final exams from freshman year to graduation, and this is probably the hardest exam I've ever taken."
The reporters' eyes lit up instantly.
They hadn't expected the person they interviewed to be a graduating student.
"You seem to be the first person to come out smiling. Then, what do you think the pass rate of this exam will be if things continue like this?"
"Very high, that's all I can say."
The student smiled lightly and said, "The difficulty of this exam isn't the real problem. What matters is whether the students have the courage to attempt the challenge and the patience to repeat it again and again."
"Uh, sorry, I can't reveal the exam content, so I can't talk too much."
The reporter nodded in understanding and continued, "By the way, may I ask, what are your plans after graduation?"
"Oh, that."
The student smiled warmly.
"I'm a member of the Student Council. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll probably stay at the academy as a lecturer."
"Ah, after all, Professor Viktor's exam is really interesting. I'd really love to stay and interact more with him."
He waved to the reporters and left easily.
But the reporters were no longer calm.
'Student Council member?'
'What the—A Student Council member!?'
The Royal Academy of Magic's Student Council had extremely strict selection criteria. Magical knowledge was one aspect, but strong combat ability was also part of the evaluation.
And even someone from the Student Council needed over two hours just to complete the exam.
And even then, only barely passing?
'Just what kind of exam was this…!?'
———
Inside the mage tower, Erica was transported out once again.
She stared at the dimming teleportation circle before her, a surge of unwillingness rising in her chest, and she stubbornly dove back in again.
Many examinees were stunned watching Erica go in and out.
Because this was already her tenth retry.
"Even Erica, the top student, has to redo the test? Is this exam really that hard…?"
"I just came from another professor's exam, if I leave now, do I still have time?"
The new examinees asked their classmates, faces tight with concern.
But the students, full of pent-up resentment, only cast them a sideways glare.
The newbies shivered under their stares.
"First time here?"
The new examinees nodded, and the others' expressions softened a little.
"I advise you all to try it yourselves. You get unlimited attempts anyway, no harm in trying."
"Seeing it for yourself is far more accurate than guessing here blindly. You'll understand the difficulty once you try it."
After saying that, one student stood up, patted off the dust, and walked toward a teleportation circle.
The others who had rested enough stood up as well, following behind him.
"Let's continue!"
"Damn it, if I don't clear the third round today, I'm not eating dinner."
"Shit, I haven't even eaten lunch!"
With a chorus of curses, the new examinees watched as they re-entered the circles one by one.
Once they disappeared, the newcomers blinked in confusion.
'This… this intense!?'
Henny watched as the students entered one after another. Along with their heated, explosive anger, waves of warm magical feedback surged into Henny's body.
Finally, an empty, unfamiliar voice, not belonging to Henny, sounded directly in her mind.
'Such rich anger!'
"I'm f***ing eating eating eating eating eating eating eating eating eating!"