After the surrounding environment collapsed, it began reconstructing itself once more.
Before long, the interior of the building from before entering the exam hall came into view,
and the torn muscles and shattered bones started healing.
In the blink of an eye, the background had shifted back to the building where I'd been before the exam.
The only difference was that the countless people who had been there were gone, leaving me alone.
'Looks like I finished first after all.'
It was only natural.
The 60-minute written exam had basically just been copying answers from the answer sheet, so I'd finished in 20 minutes.
As for the practical exam, I'd taken down nearly every beast in one strike, excluding the troll.
By the time others finished their written exams, I'd essentially wrapped up the practical one.
'Well... might as well rest until the others arrive.'
I picked a suitable spot and sat on the ground.
Sitting down released the tension from the practical exam.
'Feels like it's been ages since I could relax...'
But I couldn't let my guard down completely yet.
I'd played the game before, so I knew the truth even if it felt like we'd returned.
This place was still inside the magic exam hall.
The exam wasn't over.
What remained was the crisis response evaluation.
The Frontier Academy entrance exam was publicly known to consist only of the written and practical portions.
That's why, once students thought the exam was done and let their guards down, the beasts would ambush them.
It was a nasty test that judged how they handled that situation.
Assuming you'd passed the written exam without issue,
as long as you cleared up to stage 4 in the practical, you could even run from the crisis evaluation and still pass.
But with top rank as my goal, I couldn't just sit idle.
I had to shine brightest in that test too.
As those thoughts crossed my mind, some tens of minutes passed,
and a cluster of light appeared in the auditorium, gradually forming a human shape.
'Are they finally wrapping up?'
The light faded, revealing a clearer figure.
Lustrous sky-blue hair fell in long waves,
porcelain skin gleamed flawlessly, sharp features stood out,
and when her closed eyes opened, they revealed brilliant blue irises like captured skies.
The academy's top student in the game, unchanging.
A potential ally character.
Isabel Helm.
She had finished the exam and arrived here.
Upon arrival, she immediately scanned her surroundings.
Her gaze lingered on me for a moment as she looked around,
but she quickly turned away, as if losing interest.
'Only natural.'
She was fundamentally indifferent to those around her.
Unless you showed skill or scores worthy of her attention,
and right now, I hadn't demonstrated anything yet.
'She probably just pegged me as an early dropout candidate and moved on.'
It was the expected reaction from someone who saw herself as top dog.
I couldn't deny she had overwhelming prowess compared to the other applicants.
A spark of defiance ignited in me.
I wondered what her face would look like if I snatched the top spot.
'That's all the more reason I have to do it... claim first place.'
As I thought that,
another cluster of light appeared.
Golden hair tied back loosely,
porcelain skin rivaling Isabel's,
yet unlike Isabel's, her red eyes burned with fiery determination.
Another potential ally character.
The academy's runner-up in the game,
Libia Clawit.
She emerged after completing the practical exam.
Isabel and Libia locked eyes.
Libia hesitated briefly before blurting out in frustration.
"Argh! Seriously! I thought I'd beaten you this time!"
Isabel responded with a faint smirk.
"Doubt it. At that snail's pace of yours, you'll never catch me, Libia."
"Pfft!"
Oh no.
I flinched under the sudden stares from both of them.
I'd burst out laughing without thinking.
Seeing their friendly banter up close, straight out of the game, had caught me off guard.
"Hey, what? Someone else already finished besides us?!"
"How rude, laughing so loudly while eavesdropping on our conversation."
"What's the big deal, Isabel? We were the ones talking loud in the first place. Anyway, finishing already? You're pretty impressive yourself."
Isabel looked annoyed but soon lost interest and turned away.
Libia tossed a curious question my way.
"Thank you for the praise. Sorry for eavesdropping and laughing. You two just seemed so close, it reminded me of old times and made me chuckle."
"No, no, it's fine! We were loud, so don't sweat it! You finished quick, though! How'd it go? Feel good about it?"
"It was decent, nothing spectacular. Looks like the others are finishing up too."
In fact, minutes after Isabel and Libia arrived, more clusters of light began appearing.
Quite a rapid pace.
They were probably the mid-tier ones who hadn't aced it but hadn't flunked early either.
"Yeah! Well, guess I should head out now! Nice meeting you! Let's chat again sometime!"
"The pleasure was mine, Lady Clawit. If chance allows, let's meet again."
"Huh? You know me?"
"Of course. You're famous."
Indeed, she and Isabel were set up as the disciple of the Sword Saint and heir to the Magic Tower Lord, renowned even before entering the academy.
Children of prestigious noble houses—anyone would recognize them.
"True that! See you later then! Oh! Isabel, wait up! Let's go together!"
With that, she turned and chased after her friend.
"Pfft."
A laugh slipped out.
This was my first time meeting game characters—main ones, no less.
It felt refreshingly novel.
"Time for me to get ready."
By now, quite a few people had gathered inside the building.
The crisis response evaluation was about to begin.
Far fewer than when we'd first arrived,
but still a decent crowd.
A magic circle appeared on the platform at the front of the building.
A distinct ripple of mana strong enough for everyone present to feel,
and from it, a human figure began to emerge.
'Here we go.'
Purple hair flowed long, horns proclaiming her inhuman nature,
beauty undeniable to any eye, purple irises gleaming.
'Eris...'
Academy Chairman Eris,
the dragon who had lived countless ages, my favorite character.
And one of the few irrecoverable characters in the high-freedom Frontier Chronicles.
Eris, standing on the platform, spoke.
"First, congratulations to everyone here. You have all passed the Frontier Academy entrance exam."
"The entrance ceremony and first day of classes will be announced later. You are free to go home now."
The chairman's announcement of acceptance sparked cheers throughout.
"Woooaaahhh!"
"Whoa! I really thought I'd failed."
"Yes! Gotta rush back to the family and tell them!"
But as I'd kept saying, the exam wasn't over.
This was still inside the magic exam hall,
and that chairman up there was an illusion.
"Uh...? Why won't this door open...?"
A boy mumbling quietly as he tried the building door to head home.
That was the trigger.
Pffft—!
Something burst from the platform.
All eyes turned there.
And on the platform unfolded an unbelievable scene.
The Academy Chairman.
The world's strongest being,
her head exploded by tentacles from an enormous black something, reduced to a corpse.
"......."
A horrific silence enveloped the building.
"Kyaeeeeek!!"
A girl's scream shattered it, followed by
"Outta the way!"
"We gotta get outta here!"
"Save me!!!"
"I don't wanna die!!!"
chaos erupting inside.
In that instant, overwhelming pressure emanated from the platform.
The black something lashed tentacles, skewering fleeing students.
It crushed the chairman's corpse with its massive body, a single huge red eye radiating dread.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status ailment 'Fear.']⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Unique Trait {Defying Heaven} nullifies status ailment 'Terror.']
Black Ghost {Mahaton}.
The identity of the being emanating overwhelming pressure.
"Hoo—"
I steadied my breath and calmed my mind.
To begin with, it was just an illusion. Deal enough damage, and it'd vanish.
Black Ghost {Mahaton}.
A disaster-class beast from the game, one requiring national-level forces to handle.
Not something for an academy entrance exam.
'Well... it's way weaker than the original.'
'This was originally a lifeline for the failures anyway.'
A second chance for those who bombed the written exam
or failed to clear stage 3 in the practical.
It inflicted fear and terror too much for average courage to overcome,
and resisting through it meant passing.
Sure enough, a few were steeling themselves to resist despite the dread.
Even the protagonists, including Libia and Isabel, looked tense and afraid,
but true to their renown, they were already preparing attacks.
'I need to aim higher than that.'
Shing—
I drew my sword and stepped forward.
Fear and terror had long since been nullified by {Defying Heaven}.
I activated the skill {Space Domination}.
The surroundings tinted gray as my senses and nerves seized control of the space.
A familiar sight—one I'd seen countless times in the practical exam.
"Danger!"
Libia shouted at me as I advanced.
A tentacle from the massive body hurtled toward me at terrifying speed to impale me.
Exquisite mana infused my body and sword.
Thanks to {Mana Manipulation}, the power coursing through me was on another level compared to before.
I lightly leaped, dodging the tentacle's strike.
The Black Ghost's weakness was its red eye,
blatantly obvious, but hard to hit amid the flailing tentacles.
I landed and diagonally slashed the incoming tentacle with my sword.
Even weakened, a disaster-class was still disaster-class.
Each tentacle boasted overwhelming toughness,
imbued with horrifying strength.
Blocking head-on would send me flying instead.
With that in mind, I slowly surveyed the area.
Most couldn't block the tentacles and got pierced.
Some resisted and parried, but that was their limit.
Even standout protagonists like Libia and Isabel were busy just defending.
I was barely managing to deflect them diagonally with mana-infused strikes,
but 'I've been saving something special for this.'
I had one skill held back for the crisis response evaluation.
In that instant, a different power surged through my body.
The mana in my body and sword amplified wildly, sharpening to unprecedented precision and edge.
My aura shifted.
Everyone left in the building felt shock and awe radiating from me.
The Black Ghost was no exception.
Recognizing me as the greatest threat, all its tentacles flew toward me.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡{Defying Heaven}
Attack damage increased by 1000% for 1 minute.
A 10-fold boost.
Even judging purely by stats, from 20 to 200.
If the academy chairman was the current strongest,
this put me at near-top-tier power.
Kaboom—!!
I gripped my sword properly and leaped at the tentacles.
A massive crater formed where I'd jumped.
{Basic Swordsmanship} - Variant
Spinning Slash
I spun like a whirlwind, slicing through all the tentacles and closing in on the red eye in an instant.
The overwhelmingly tough tentacles tore like paper.
Using the severed ones as footing, I steadied and leaped again.
I thrust my sword at that red eye.
Thrust
A technique I'd performed endlessly in the practical, but now with unimaginable power.
Splooosh—!
A huge hole gaped where the red eye had been,
and kaboom—
the massive body crashed to the floor.
Simultaneously, the behemoth and its surroundings began to crumble.
Thus ended the long, grueling Frontier Academy entrance exam.