Chapter 8

◈ Chapter 8: First Exam – Meanwhile, the clatter of wooden swords rang out.

Even though it was break time, two people were going at it.

Both bore the names of prestigious families: Amon and Bell.

The instructor flipped a page on his evaluation sheet. [Bell Red]

Bell exhaled a puff of smoke from her mouth. [Possesses the Red Family's unique magic]

"Hey, wait a second, Bell! We agreed you wouldn't use that!" Amon waved his hands.

"A One-Hit Kill is the only stylish way to finish."

The moment she finished speaking, a blade strike whizzed past.

Amon flattened himself to the ground, barely dodging.

A second later, Bell slumped and collapsed.

"Huu..." [Boasts One-Hit Kill, but it's single-use only]

The instructor, wearing a helpless expression, turned to the next page. [Amon Coster]

"So is passing out like that stylish...?" Amon murmured as he caught Bell's limp body mid-fall. [Possesses the Coster Family's unique magic (but has never used it during training)][Perfect sword examiner]

And, to add another note: [Strong candidate for Top Student]

"Hey, Mago."

Mago looked up.

"Bell's out cold again. Can you carry her?"

"Sure, I guess."

Mago pushed himself up by pressing his hands on his knees. He caught Bell's wooden sword just as Amon tossed it to him.

Mago walked over, and the two squared off, focusing.

Amon lunged first, aiming a thrust at Mago's wrist.

Mago sidestepped easily, then hooked his foot behind Amon's leg, tripping him.

Amon hit the ground hard.

Right beside his head, Mago drove the tip of his wooden sword into the sand.

"One."

"Ugh..."

Amon scrambled to his feet. The moment he was up, he swung his sword.

A few exchanges passed.

Then, when Amon raised both arms to block a sudden overhead strike, he realized in an instant.

"Damn."

He'd fallen for Mago's feint. It wasn't an overhead strike—it was a mid-level attack. Mago had changed the sword's trajectory mid-swing.

The tip of the wooden sword tapped Amon's chest.

Amon froze, hands still locked in the air above his head.

"Two."

"Hey, what the hell have you been doing?"

"You said it yourself. If that were a real enemy instead of an orc model, I'd be dead."

"So?"

"You've died twice now." [Mago]

The instructor tried to add another sentence under Mago's name.

But he just sat there, pen hovering, lost in thought.

By the time the ink at the nib had dried, he finally scratched something down in a rush.

Whatever came to mind first.

- Are you talking about Mago?

That was what the soldier who'd brought in the enlistment forms had said the other day.

- I've seen Mago fight. Marjelo Arnis. You know, the genius from the Special Forces. He reminds me a lot of her. [Maybe he's not a fake.]

*

"First exam. The event is a race."

In the theory classroom, the Head Instructor hung a map on the board and began.

"This map is just an example. Don't bother memorizing it; it won't be the one used in the test."

A race.

The thought of running laps around the parade ground with Amon flashed through his mind.

And if he went back even further?

Of course he remembered taking this very first exam in his previous life.

"Listen up. Focus."

The large map was marked with three colors.

One was black.

The entire map was black.

Another was red.

A squiggly red line traced a route.

"The red line is Course A."

The instructor cleared his throat and launched into the full explanation.

"There are a hundred of you, so you'll be split into two groups of fifty. Group A and Group B. Group A takes the red—Course A—loops around the mountain behind us, and returns to the training camp. Understood so far?"

All the trainees answered in a single, clipped shout.

The instructor nodded and continued.

He tapped a blue line with a new wooden pointer.

The final color among the three was blue.

"Then Group B follows Course B, naturally."

The blue line started at a different point than the red Course A.

The path marked in blue.

That was Course B.

Red * Course A for Group A.

Blue * Course B for Group B.

Simple enough.

"The difficulty goes up from here."

The instructor pulled a small scroll from inside his coat.

A red band wrapped around the middle of the scroll.

Red—representing Group A.

"This is Group A's map. And the one who'll be carrying it..."

He tapped the blue line on the main map with his pointer.

"Will be Group B."

A murmur rippled through the listening trainees.

"Shut your mouths and hear me out to the end. Each group's map will be held by the opposite team. Group A's map is with Group B. Group B's map is with Group A. So how do you get back to camp after covering 21 kilometers of mountain trail?"

The tip of the pointer landed on an X marking the map.

A checkpoint.

The single point where the red and blue lines—starting from different places—crossed.

"Group A and Group B will meet exactly once. Right here. At that point, you may exchange maps with the opposite team, take them by force, steal them—however you want. As long as you obtain a map and follow the correct route back. That's it. Any questions?"

Bell's hand shot up.

"Bell Red."

"If we don't have a map, can't we just get back to camp anyway?"

"Good question, Bell."

The instructor scribbled something on his personal evaluation sheet.

Probably a positive mark.

"Instructors are stationed along each route. If a trainee fails to show themselves at those points, they're disqualified. So don't even think about leaving the course. Any other questions?"

This time, it was my turn.

I raised my right hand high.

"Mago."

"Do all 50 members of each group move together as one team?"

"Again. Good question."

The instructor added another note to his sheet.

"Short answer: no. The 50 trainees in each group will be further split into teams of two."

I already knew that, which was why I'd asked deliberately.

I intended to leave my own mark on that evaluation sheet too.

"With a hundred trainees paired into teams of two, that makes 50 teams total. Speaking of which, I'll read out the team assignments now."

The instructor pulled out a prepared sheet of paper.

"I'll start with Group A. When your team is called, step forward and receive your cloth."

Two large baskets sat nearby.

Both were piled high with cloth—one red, one blue.

Markers identifying which group each trainee belonged to.

The instructor called out names in pairs.

There was no way I'd end up with the same partner from my past life.

The fault lay with Kinzo Shua—the extra addition.

With Kinzo, who'd been sidelined last round due to serious injuries, now participating, the team pairings had been scrambled completely.

Names passed by, one after another.

"Group A, Mago."

My name was called.

I stepped forward and tied the red cloth around my bicep.

The partner whose name came after mine was...

"Kinzo Shua."

Kinzo walked up with a faint smile.

I hadn't expected to be paired with him, but in the end, it couldn't have turned out better.

"Now I'll call Group B's names."

The instructor swallowed and began reading.

I wasn't the only one whose partner had changed.

"Amon Coster."

Everything was shuffled.

"Bell Red."

Amon and Bell rose with confidence. They tied the blue cloth around their right arms.

"It feels like the two people who should never be together just got stuck together. Group B's not off to an easy start," Kinzo muttered.

Once all the teams were assigned, I raised my hand again.

"What is it, Mago?"

"If only one member of a two-person team makes it to the finish, what happens?"

"You're sharp today."

The instructor nodded.

"You're asking about the score if only one of you crosses the finish line. Let me start with the basics. The first team to arrive gets 100 points—full marks."

He tapped his shoulder with the pointer as he continued.

"Thanks to you all staying at exactly a hundred trainees. Second place gets 99 points. Third gets 98. It drops by one point each. Then the score is split in half between the two teammates. The points are divided evenly no matter what. Do you understand what that means?"

"So even if only one person shows up, the score still counts?"

I asked.

"That's correct. But only if they arrive within the time limit. No matter what rank one of them achieves, any trainee who doesn't enter within the time limit gets zero points. Any other questions?"

The instructor waited a few seconds. Silence.

"Oh, one more thing. You'll be equipped with a dagger for emergencies. Using it to attack another trainee is obviously forbidden."

The trainees responded.

"Let's begin immediately."

*

Three hours before the first exam started.

Group A.

The trainees had finished packing their gear and assembled on the parade ground.

From that point, Group A and Group B went their separate ways.

The Head Instructor, who'd finished the briefing, led Group A himself.

Another instructor took Group B somewhere else.

"Wait until Group B is ready."

Group A's trainees scanned the ground for a place to sit.

"While warming up your bodies."

Unfortunately, Group A had drawn the Head Instructor.

There would be no easy rest.

We were hit with an impromptu punishment drill.

Push-ups.

On the way down: "We are!"

On the way up: "One!"

Only after we'd sweated buckets did the Head Instructor hand out the prepared maps—one per team.

What Group A received was the B map, tied with a blue ribbon.

Kinzo kept the map for himself.

A little later, he whispered to me.

"Hey, Mago. You remember what the Head Instructor briefly showed us during the briefing? Group A's map. I didn't unfold it, so I can't be certain, but that was definitely the A map, right?"

"Probably."

"He wouldn't have prepared a fake map if he wasn't going to show it to us."

"Right. Why do you ask?"

"I memorized it. That map."

"What, you memorized... wait, what?"

"Keep your voice down."

He pressed a finger to his lips, then moved that hand to tap at the corner of his eyes.

"I figured it was worth a shot, so I used clairvoyance on the sly to slowly memorize it. No harm in trying. And lucky us—we ended up in that very Group A."

"You really memorized the whole thing?"

"The other trainees don't know I can use clairvoyance magic. They probably never expected anyone to memorize the map."

"Still, there's no guarantee the map you memorized isn't a fake."

"That's true. But still, Mago—if we fail to get a map, it's worth a shot."

"If we fail, you mean."

"Besides, the instructor said other instructors would be stationed along the routes. If we run into one along the way, that'll confirm my memory is correct. We can verify it that way."

Kinzo pulled back from my face.

"Let's think more as we go, Mago. For now, stealing the map is the easiest option."

Kinzo Shua.

When the exam looms, he becomes a completely different person from his usual self.

Out of all the 66th Class trainees, Kinzo—having graduated from university just last year—is probably the one who treats exams most seriously.

That sharp instincts of his were a blessing.

As someone who knows the future, I felt like giving him a standing ovation.

Kinzo had already locked Group A's route into his head.

And I, having been in Group A in my past life, also knew the route.

Which meant...

I now had the option to send Kinzo ahead and block the path myself.

"Things are going smoothly."

In my past life, I placed 43rd.

The partner I'd been paired with was Bell Red.

When we reached the checkpoint together—

"The instructor said we couldn't attack with daggers—not that we couldn't use them at all."

Amon had pulled out a dagger and held it right in front of my eyes.

Back then, all the trainees knew my weakness.

Subduing me had been laughably easy.

"Drop the map, Mago."

I'd had no choice but to do exactly as Amon said.

"Sorry, Bell."

In the end, I'd been the one to drag her down.

"It's fine. You'll do better next time."

But the look on Bell's face as she said that—it was more bitter than anyone else's.

That was the first time I'd ever stood in someone's way.

The first taste of humiliation and guilt.

I still remember it.