Light pours into the auditorium from outside.
A woman with silver short hair confidently steps in through the newly created door.
It’s an appearance so sudden and absurd it feels surreal.
As everyone is left speechless, someone who knows the protagonist of the event springs up from their seat.
“Cloud Envoy?!”
“It’s been a while, Lord Leo.”
Cloud Envoy, Birang Brennis.
One of the Six Swords of the Empire and the one who possesses the imperial relic.
A special weapon created alongside the former Imperial Sword, Besk.
Based on the information gathered from Besk and Leo, her entrance into the Academy shouldn’t be strange at all, but…
[?]
[???]
[What]
[Invasion of the Empire LOLLLLLL]
[Emergency!!!]
[What is Cloud Envoy doing here]
[LOL]
[Right, a raid on the Academy LOL]
[Is she declaring war?]
[Why is an NPC here?]
[Can NPCs enroll?]
She is a resident of this place.
An NPC.
“Sorry for being late. If it weren’t for the people blocking me, I would have entered on time.”
Cloud Envoy pointed uncomfortably to the back.
Clearly, when designing, there were supposed to be four doors, but now there are five.
“Speak up.”
“I didn’t hear you even if I did speak.”
“Is that so? I thought you would let everyone through if they qualified.”
“I qualify just fine. I passed the test.”
“Hmmm… I’ll check.”
[For real?]
[???????]
[How does an NPC take a test?]
[Huh?]
[Not a lie?]
[She’s pretty]
[The problem is that it’s a broadcast, how does she solve it?]
[Let’s just kill her, Lily]
[Let’s start by cutting off an arm, go go go]
I raised a blue spear in front of everyone.
Then, after manipulating the screen a few times, I nodded.
“Wow, it’s true. This unexpected situation must have caused a mistake on our end.”
“…Is it really a mistake?”
“Of course.”
It is indeed a mistake.
It’s true that we didn’t predict this situation.
Right before the entrance exam ended, while checking the final candidate, I noticed a rather unusual phrase.
《Passed – ■□ ■□■■ 〓〓〓〓》
A participant whose information is not that of a registered user but completely different.
She was Birang Brennis and, at the same time, an NPC.
Since she’s not a user based on the system, she obviously hasn’t been recorded in the clear list.
Since she wasn’t recorded, no user knew that fact.
So I was personally curious.
As mentioned before, passing and enrolling shouldn’t be a problem.
Her skill surpasses both Leo and the Sword Saint before he lost his sword.
Before Leo lost the sword, he was the Sword Saint. He surpasses both.
The problem is.
‘Why and how did this happen?’
The invitation I created cannot be accessed by anyone who isn’t a user.
Even if they did manage to connect, they wouldn’t be able to solve the problems.
How could those who don’t know the first letter of ‘broadcast’ know anything about my first broadcast or the platform I’m using?
So, I intentionally blocked her entrance to see how she would react, but… her response was far more excessive than I expected.
‘It seems like she’s hiding something.’
“I have a lot of personal curiosities, but let’s ask those later. Please have a seat.”
“Understood.”
“Oh, and Birang ‘student.’”
She flinched.
Birang’s body jerked slightly.
I don’t know why she’s here, but it seems she’s not yet used to that title.
How many people could call her a student, the Empire’s sword?
Maybe there were some in the past, but not now.
“…What is it?”
“It’s true we made a mistake, but destroying academy facilities on your own is against the rules.”
Therefore.
“I will assign 10 penalty points to student Birang.”
[? LMAO]
[Penalty points right after enrollment?]
[Is that it for destroying a building?]
[?]
[The academy’s gonna be in ruins]
[Can’t we just kill her instead?]
[Lily is really nice, though]
[I would’ve at least made a hole like the door lol]
[Lily is for real an angel]
[Only crazy idiots around here lol]
“……”
“Please leave. If you wish to file an objection, come to the Dean’s Office.”
“…Understood.”
Birang sat down in her seat with a slightly humiliating expression.
Did she not expect to get penalty points?
Given what she did, she should’ve known to brace for the aftermath.
“The Master didn’t say anything. How did you get here?”
“…I was lucky.”
“Hmm?”
Leo, approaching Birang friendly-like, tilted his head.
He persistently asked her questions, but she ultimately kept her mouth shut.
“…….”
She stares at me more intensely than at Leo next to her.
Perhaps she had matters to discuss with me directly.
“I will now begin the entrance ceremony.”
—
The Eli Academy I created was not meant for nurturing talents or structured education.
The basic curriculum can be viewed through broadcasts, and even if you can’t watch the live broadcast, you can catch up through replays or summarized videos on NewTube.
Even if you can’t watch the live broadcast, you can always catch the replay or summary video on NewTube.
So, most of the academy’s facilities will probably be used once or twice and then left unused.
The students here will attend classes once a week, maybe two or three times at most.
“Essentially, it’s all content.”
A vast campus with magnificent buildings.
With all sorts of decorations and magical tools that look mystical just by seeing them.
Since they’re already making it, they might as well decorate it extravagantly, and I, too, probably won’t spend much time at the academy except on class days.
“Of course, it will be open to students 24/7. Except for a few facilities that have time restrictions.”
[Ooh]
[Looking forward to it]
[LMAO]
[Totally legit]
[Wow]
[Is it already class?]
[What now?]
“Now, it’s the most important part of the entrance ceremony, right? I will announce the students who have been admitted with outstanding grades.”
Boom!
The brightly lit auditorium darkens again, and a tense atmosphere rises.
The whispers that were barely audible also fade away.
With everyone’s eyes focused on one place, I flipped over a piece of paper on the podium.
“This is the student who achieved an impressive 3rd place among the first batch of entrants.”
[3rd place?]
[3rd place]
[3rd place must be Yena]
[Wow]
[Yena! Yena! Yena! Yena!]
[Yena’s the best, no doubt]
[What does 3rd place get?]
[Is there anyone who caught the progenitor?]
“The student who proudly secured 3rd place among the talented new entrants will receive 3000 points each week and three passes to restricted facilities. Every academy facility will offer benefits befitting a ‘3rd place’ student moving forward.”
Rewards based on rankings aside from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will also be given…
“But they’ll be significantly lower than what 3rd place gets.”
“Will that ranking remain the same?”
Someone in the dark, emanating a yellow glow, raised their hand.
A face I recognized quite well from reality recently.
“No, it will be continuously adjusted through future exams.”
After all, this ranking is just a part of the entrance exam.
It can’t be maintained every time, so if you want to keep it, you must work harder.
Someone, the gunner, nodded while gripping their gun.
Even though they entered with a low rank, they seem confident.
The new rankers feel the same way.
Everyone here belongs to the upper echelon among numerous people, so they likely believe they can achieve enough just by learning.
Half of the students I’ve taught before weren’t really that impressive as rankers.
There were many who were completely new faces, even among rankers beyond the top 100.
[Oh, it’s the gunner]
[Oh]
[Gunner’s cute]
[DCK Winner OMG]
[Isn’t it just Choco Bus?]
[Hey…]
[The win was fed to me by Choco]
[LMAO]
[Ranking announcement]
[Yena is waiting]
“Alright! Now, let’s announce the much-anticipated 3rd place!”
“Hehehe.”
A tense silence fills the room along with someone’s laughter.
Drumroll.
[Drumroll]
[Drumroll]
“Drumroll!”
“…What are you doing, Lord Leo?”
“I’m drumming!”
“……”
“Alright! 3rd place!”
Swish.
Yena, with a playful smile, waves her hand as she gets up from her seat.
Then, as if it were the most natural thing, she leisurely walks up to the stage.
I looked at Yena and smiled with satisfaction.
“Thank you…”
“Birang Brennis!”
Boom!!!
[?]
[?]
[??????????]
[LMAO]
[Yena LOL]
[Did the Cloud Envoy foresee this?]
[It was a predicted outcome]
[Right to the cut LMAO]
All the lights in the auditorium shine on Birang, who is slowly rising from the stage.
Yena, covered in confetti due to being close to the stage, looks at me with an utterly uncomprehending expression.
Even the one whose world has ended wouldn’t make that face.
“Lady Lily?”
“What is it, Yena?”
“Why, why? Wasn’t I 3rd?!”
Clearly, Yena’s rank was 3rd.
That didn’t change until the end, and everyone could see Yena was definitely 3rd.
“That’s right. You were 3rd.”
“You were…? Really?”
“As you just saw, we had an error on our side. Birang’s score was mistakenly omitted. It’s been corrected now.”
“… That’s too much. It’s really too much.”
Yena shakes her head as if denying reality.
But the reality is often this cruel and harsh.
“Unfortunately, Yena, your rank is actually 4th.”
[Yena 4th]
[Aw LOL 4th is still good]
[LMAO]
[4th place is still upper tier]
[Aren’t the benefits from 4th place drastically less? LMAO]
“Then what was that laughter all about?!”
“What laughter?”
“You were smiling so proudly when I came out earlier!!”
That?
“I was just laughing.”
Wasn’t it kind of funny?
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