The moment an examinee number was confirmed, the information recorded on the admission ticket was automatically saved to the database.
The instructors assigned to oversee the practical exam could freely access the information stored in that database.
“How many examinees were filtered out by the qualification test?”
“14.2%.”
“14.2%... It was around that much last year too. A fair number were filtered out.”
“And yet there are still that many examinees. This year’s no joke either.”
“It is Geumgang Academy, after all.”
Geumgang Academy, practical exam control room.
The instructors who had not entered the first practical exam site checked the examinee status and gave bitter smiles.
Even after filtering them through the written exam and the qualification test, the number of examinees still exceeded ten thousand.
It happened every year, but even so, from the standpoint of those managing the practical exam, they could only be left speechless.
“So, how many are taking the first exam?”
“...13,492.”
“About four to five times the intake, then.”
Even among combat-related departments alone, Geumgang Academy had over ten thousand enrolled students.
That meant there were at least three thousand students in each year.
The number of incoming first-years planned for this year was roughly around that figure as well, so it could be said that four to five times the admission quota had ended up taking the practical exam.
If that was the case for combat-related departments alone, then adding non-combat and administrative fields would increase the number of examinees even further.
Therefore, they had no choice but to evaluate them in detail and create multiple points of distinction.
The qualification test was one of them.
“What are the statistics on the examinees’ bonus points?”
“About 34% are white. Of those, 60% only solved one question.”
“Most of those guys will get filtered out on their own as the exam progresses. What about the other colors?”
“Gray is 22.8%, yellow 17.7%, green 12.3%, red 8.4%, blue 3.6%, and lastly, black is 1.6%.”
“There are quite a few black tickets.”
“It’s 1.6%, though?”
“That still means there are around two hundred of them, so that’s quite a lot.”
“Those guys are guaranteed to pass.”
The qualification test only asked whether one possessed the qualifications; it did not completely determine an examinee’s acceptance.
However, if someone had solved every problem that the instructors had painstakingly designed to create distinction and obtained a black admission ticket, it was only natural to expect that they had the skill to pass in the end.
Unless an unexpected variable occurred.
Just then, someone spoke up.
“The first practical exam has begun.”
Dozens of screens installed in the control room were showing each exam site.
Through the screens, the instructors could see examinees lining up in front of iron doors.
[Grrrgh!]
“...”
Soon, they began pushing against the iron doors.
The instructors silently watched them for a while before speaking one by one.
“That won’t open.”
“He can’t open even one.”
“He’s eliminated.”
“His mana control is sloppy.”
“No wonder his admission ticket is white.”
The first practical exam was to open the iron doors.
The five iron doors had each been designed to open only when specific conditions were met.
At that moment, the condition for opening the first iron door was not particularly difficult.
The first thing the instructors demanded was how well one could control the mana inside one’s body to raise one’s physical abilities.
Showing just that much was enough.
And yet the examinees on the screens were struggling, unable to properly handle the mana within their bodies.
“How are they supposed to become Hunters like that?”
Someone who could not even open the first door had no right to set foot in this world.
Even if they did, they would only die.
The instructors clicked their tongues.
[Examinee number... One door. Pass.]
[Two doors. Pass.]
On the other hand, the examinees who did open the iron doors were also insufficient to draw the instructors’ interest.
The first iron door merely confirmed the bare minimum of aptitude.
The second iron door was similar.
To show the aptitude to become an outstanding Hunter, one had to open at least the third.
It was then.
[Hyah!]
“...Where did that sound come from?”
Hearing a shout, the instructors turned their heads toward one screen.
On that screen, an examinee dressed in a black martial uniform was opening an iron door.
“...Is he opening it with brute strength right now?”
“Who the hell is that guy?”
The instructors were dumbfounded when they saw him open even the second iron door through pure physical strength alone.
But through the martial uniform he wore, they inferred his identity and understood.
“With that uniform, he’s from the Chivalrous Yong Clan.”
“If he has a black admission ticket and his surname is Yong... Ah, here he is. Yong Haerang.”
The Chivalrous Yong Clan, one of the Ten Great Clans.
If he was from a clan that minimized reliance on weapons and employed combat techniques based on the body, then it was understandable for him to display that level of skill.
Even so, opening the second iron door without using mana was sufficiently astonishing.
However, regrettably...
“Even though he manifested mana at the end, the fourth iron door is his limit, huh.”
Although Yong Haerang opened up to the fourth door, he could not open the fifth iron door.
It could not be helped.
“To open the fifth iron door, the mana inside the body has to support it. Still, that much is impressive enough.”
The amount of mana within one’s body was an innate aptitude, and it could be called a factor difficult to improve through effort after birth.
That made it an extremely valuable aptitude.
The fifth iron door existed to find examinees with that aptitude.
In fact, no matter how outstanding a person was, unless they possessed a vast amount of mana inside their body, they had no choice but to stop at opening the fourth iron door.
“That child is...”
“Looking it up, she’s from the Black Magic Oh Clan.”
“So even someone from a clan belonging to the Ten Great Clans has a hard time opening the fifth door.”
Because of that, while examinees who opened the fourth iron door appeared from time to time, like Yong Haerang, no examinee had yet opened the fifth.
It was then.
[Hmph, it’s nothing much.]
“...”
Someone opened the fifth iron door.
The instructors all turned at once to look at the screen showing that person.
“What’s that examinee’s name?”
“I’ll look it up right away.”
A girl with red hair fluttering behind her.
When she turned around from where her back had been facing them, her golden eyes and black admission ticket appeared on the screen.
“They say she is Min Arin of the Magic Min Clan!”
“...So it was the Magic Min Clan.”
“She must be the granddaughter the head of the Magic Min Clan dotes on.”
The Magic Min Clan, one of the Ten Great Clans.
Only after confirming her background did the instructors show signs of recognition.
The fact that she possessed considerable aptitude and had applied to Geumgang Academy was already well known among them.
No, she was not the only talent known in that way.
There were two more clans.
[Can I go now?]
[Examinee number... Five doors. Pass.]
A girl asked while blinking her green eyes, her face revealing little emotion.
She, too, wearing a black admission ticket, was someone from the Ten Great Clans.
Cha Eunsol of the Cyclic Cha Clan.
[What? That’s it?]
Likewise wearing a black admission ticket, the girl was pouting.
Wavy gray hair, violet eyes.
It was Nam Yuri of the Alchemic Nam Clan.
Her clan also belonged to the Ten Great Clans.
“The Magic Min Clan, the Cyclic Cha Clan, and the Alchemic Nam Clan... To produce talents of that caliber is truly impressive.”
“I don’t know what they did, but impressive is impressive.”
Cha Eunsol and Nam Yuri, along with Min Arin, were examinees the instructors had been paying attention to.
Seeing the talents of the three, they felt pure admiration and delight.
The will of the three clans to create even more exceptional talents was frightening, but the fact that beings like them would benefit humanity and enter Geumgang Academy was something to be pleased about.
Then, at that moment, one more person opened the fifth iron door.
[I opened... the door.]
A shy-looking girl.
The instructors turned their gazes toward the girl with rabbit ears.
“Examinee number 5784? Who is she?”
“Is she from a prestigious clan too?”
“I’ll look her up right now!”
“Where did she pop out from?”
“Wait, if she has rabbit ears...”
“Her name is Yeon Haneul. She’s not from a prestigious clan, but instead... Huh?”
Compared to Min Arin, Cha Eunsol, and Nam Yuri, she had received less attention, but she was certainly an object of attention as well.
After all, she was the disciple of Hong Yena, famous as the Seven-Colored Witch and newly appointed as an instructor at Geumgang Academy this year.
“...”
The instructors’ gazes turned toward Hong Yena, who happened to be sitting quietly in a corner, observing the practical exam.
When their eyes met hers.
“Oh my, is something the matter?”
Hong Yena smiled brightly, wearing an expression that pretended not to know a thing.
The only words the instructors could offer her were words of praise.
“So she was Instructor Hong Yena’s disciple.”
“Where did you find a child like that?”
“Now I understand how she showed that kind of skill.”
As the instructors lifted her mood like that, Hong Yena answered smoothly.
“I suppose I’ve been blessed with a good disciple. It’s all thanks to Haneul doing well.”
* * *
Yeon Haneul opened all the iron doors.
“Wow... What is she?”
“Who’s that? Even the direct descendant of the Chivalrous Yong Clan couldn’t open all the iron doors...”
“They say she’s the disciple of the Seven-Colored Witch.”
Because of that, everyone in the exam site seemed shocked, but in truth, I had already guessed the result long before she opened the iron doors.
Because I could see her status window.
‘If she couldn’t open the iron doors with those stats, it would be proof that she’d neglected her training. If she had, I would’ve scolded her.’
Murmur, murmur. Whisper, whisper.
Listening to the commotion around me, I checked Yeon Haneul’s status window.
[Personal Information]
Name: Yeon Haneul (Female · 17 years old)
Alias: Disciple of the Seven-Colored Witch and 1 other [+Details]
Affiliation: Raon Middle School
[Possessed Gift]
Splitting
[Physical Abilities]
Stamina: 30 → 54
Strength: 28 → 52
Endurance: 30 → 53
Agility: 32 → 56
Mana: 75 → 84
Luck: 20 → 27
Remaining Points: 0
Her mana stat was 84.
That said it all.
The game’s story had not even begun yet, and she already possessed that much mana. Yeon Haneul was a monster.
‘Even among active Hunters, someone with a single stat over 80 would be considered strong, but she...’
Once again, I examined Yeon Haneul’s mana and clicked my tongue in amazement.
“Ugh, I’m so embarrassed...”
And yet she did not even realize just how much of a monster she was.
Yeon Haneul hurried over, hid behind me, and refused to let go of the hand gripping my shoulder.
She was fully intending to use me as a shield.
I said to her.
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Everyone just thinks you’re that amazing. I told you, enjoy it proudly.”
“How is that as easy as you make it sound? And he keeps staring at me so intensely that it’s making me uncomfortable.”
“He? Who’s he?”
“Over there, him.”
Yeon Haneul groaned.
I turned my head toward where she was subtly pointing.
“...Yong Haerang?”
“Yeah, him. He’s still looking at me right now.”
Among the examinees was Yong Haerang.
With his arms crossed, he was looking at us while showing his white teeth.
‘Didn’t he go to the second exam site?’
I never imagined Yong Haerang would still be in the exam site.
My face turned sour.
“Isn’t he looking at me?”
“No. Ever since I opened the iron doors, it feels like his gaze has been following me.”
“Then he probably recognized that you’re strong and wants to ask you to be his sparring friend.”
“Sparring friend? What’s that? Just from the sound of it, I don’t think it feels good...”
“It’s probably exactly what you’re imagining.”
“Either way, kids like that make me uncomfortable. His eyes look like he’s about to eat me alive!”
“Don’t worry about that. If anyone’s going to eat you, it’ll be me.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?”
It means only I get to torment you...
Wait, no.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“What is it? Why did you suddenly stop talking? I asked what that means.”
If I handed Yeon Haneul over to Yong Haerang as a sparring partner instead of me, wouldn’t that make things easier for me?
It seemed like a fairly decent method.
Using Yeon Haneul as a stopgap until Kang Hanbyeol appeared.
‘I’m sorry to Haneul, but this is surprisingly not a bad plan.’
“What did you mean by that?”
I looked down at Yeon Haneul, who was asking with a strangely persistent attitude, and thought.
That was when the examiner called for me.
“Examinee number 1532! Are you not coming out!?”
Now that Yeon Haneul’s turn had ended, it was my turn.
I couldn’t just stay like this forever.
“I’m going to take the test.”
“Tch, you won’t tell me…. Do well on your test.”
Grumble, grumble.
Yeon Haneul glared at me and muttered, as if something about it displeased her so much.
Even so, she didn’t forget to cheer me on.
Having received her encouragement, I soon walked up to the iron gates.
‘They’re huge when you see them like this.’
I hadn’t realized it from behind.
The iron gates were incredibly large and tall.
Standing before them, I felt as though my own existence had become terribly small.
But to enter the world of Hunters, I had to open these iron gates.
“Phew.”
Preparing to manifest the mana within my body,
I placed both hands on the iron gate.
And the moment I manifested my internal mana, I put strength into the hands pushing against the gate.
Rumble.
The first iron gate was pushed open lightly.
Then, the second iron gate responded as well.
Rumble.
The second iron gate moved.
From this point on, it took much more strength.
It was simply astonishing that Yong Haerang had opened up to the second iron gate with nothing but brute strength.
Rumble.
But I wouldn’t lose either.
I raised my physical abilities even further.
The third iron gate trembled for a moment, then began to swing open.
When I put even more strength into it from there….
‘It moved.’
The fourth iron gate also showed a slight movement.
Hearing the iron gate shake, I drew in a deep breath and pushed the door again.
Then the fourth gate creaked.
It was about to open.
Rumble.
If I put in more strength here, couldn’t I open the fifth as well?
I drew out the mana I had rotated inside my body again and again.
A blue haze billowed around me, enhancing my physical abilities.
‘…Shit.’
But there was bound to be a limit to how much I could raise my physical abilities.
If I tried to pour in any more mana than this, my muscles and nervous system might burst.
Even if I opened all the iron gates that way, it would only be my loss.
There was no guarantee I could open them, and this wasn’t the only test.
In the end, this was as far as I could go.
‘What a shame.’
Opening up to the fourth iron gate was already an excellent result.
Yeon Haneul had been able to open the fifth gate because her magic power stat was high; for me, with my low magic power stat, the fourth was my limit.
‘If only my magic power stat had been even a little higher, I could’ve opened it.’
I had done well.
Even so, a shame was still a shame.
I tried to withdraw the mana within my body.
It was right then.
Crackle!
A sudden sound rang in my ear.
A noise like static.
Crackle!
The sound continued.
Even though the fifth iron gate would not open, I had been straining to force it open, and before I knew it, I found myself looking down at the floor. I raised my head.
“…”
The iron gate was before my eyes.
And around me, I could see mana flickering with sparks.
‘Azure Lightning? No, it isn’t Azure Lightning.’
It wasn’t an electric current.
They were sparks caused by mana, which possessed the characteristic of omnipresence, clashing with one another because their natures differed.
Seeing those sparks, I felt a question arise.
‘Why are they clashing?’
There was no reason for the mana to clash.
The mana billowing around me was the mana I had released.
For it to clash, there had to be mana with a nature that repelled mine.
However, atmospheric mana was fundamentally uncontrolled by anyone, and it possessed no nature of its own.
There was no reason for my mana to clash with the mana in the air.
Moreover, for something to clash with my mana, which had a high affinity with the light attribute, then conversely….
‘Ah.’
I suddenly realized.
Just a moment ago, Yeon Haneul had released an enormous amount of mana outside her body in order to open the five iron gates.
Her mana had a high affinity with the darkness attribute, which clashed with the light attribute.
That mana was still lingering in the atmosphere now, clashing with my mana.
‘So that’s it.’
Crackle.
The mana I had released outside my body to open the fifth iron gate kept clashing, producing sparks.
Crackle!
If I wasn’t careful, the mana could explode regardless of my will.
This was dangerous.
I had to stop manifesting my internal mana immediately and get away from here.
Crack!
My evasion instinct was warning me too.
An electric current ran down my spine.
I immediately controlled the forced activation of my evasion instinct with the Instinct Control skill.
‘Maybe it might be possible….’
I didn’t know if it would go the way I thought.
I had no certainty that I would succeed.
I would only know if I tried.
So I decided to try.
Crack, crackle!
“Examinee! Withdraw your mana at once! If you keep that up, it’ll explode…!”
Boom!
I did not raise my physical abilities any further.
I simply manifested my internal mana without restraint, stimulating the clash.
The sparks formed larger and faster.
Enough that the others noticed as well.
Only then did the evaluator shout in surprise, trying to stop me.
I ignored the voice.
Boom!
The sparks exploded.
I did not move my feet from where I stood.
‘An explosion of this level can be blocked with my durability stat.’
But I didn’t know whether I could withstand an explosion even stronger than this.
So, evasion instinct.
‘If you don’t want to die, listen to me.’
I spoke to my evasion instinct.
Had my wish gotten through?
Crack!
My evasion instinct responded.
At that moment, strength surged through my body.
The instinct that had sensed danger had released the limiter on my brain.
Rumble….
I immediately pushed the iron gate.
The fifth iron gate trembled.
Just a little more from here.
Crack!
Rumble….
It moved.
Only slightly, but the fifth iron gate began to move.
Rumble….
I gritted my teeth.
Even moving the legs I had planted against the ground, I tried to open the iron gate with all my might.
Boom, boom, boom!
Mana exploded around me.
Even amidst the explosions, I paid them no mind and focused only on opening the iron gate.
And so….
‘Done.’
Opening the fifth iron gate, I stepped beyond the door.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss