“This is what you call an academy story.”
A red-haired girl, nervously chatting with her parents, and a boy, repeatedly checking the condition of his sword by drawing it from its sheath.
And then there’s me, a black-haired boy, who, sighing while observing the academy scenery, is both the Black Shadow Guild’s leader and a candidate.
Ten years into my reincarnation, I thought this genre wouldn’t apply to me—but here I am, right in the thick of it!
“Doors closing soon! Exam candidates, please hurry in!”
“Just do as you’ve practiced, son!”
“Don’t be too nervous!”
“Take care, young lady!”
At the entrance of Crescent Academy, located on the outskirts of Crescent, the capital of the Crescent Empire, many parents or attendants were there, bidding farewell to their children as they headed in for the exams.
‘…Maybe I should have asked Eddie to come out and greet me.’
While everyone else was being seen off, I confidently yet lonely made my way to the exam hall alone.
I had come all the way to the academy, but the fact that I had to take the entrance exam here still felt unbelievable, so I tried to delay going in for as long as possible. However, it was time to enter.
“Please show me your identification.”
“Here you go.”
The guard, dressed neatly in uniform, took my ID and, after a brief verification, handed it back along with a piece of paper marked ‘Registration Receipt.’
“Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
The ID check was simpler than I expected.
Indeed, it was thanks to the new identity Eddie had prepared for me.
The name on my new ID was simple.
Just ‘Ryu’—my original name ‘Ryu Yeong’ minus the character for ‘Yeong,’ and marked as a commoner.
Being a commoner, I didn’t need to stamp a family crest like the nobles, and I also didn’t have to worry about protections against theft, which made it seem quite plain.
‘Why not make me a noble then? Have I been too humble all this time?’
In most countries, there are no specific eligibility requirements for the academy entrance exams, but everyone knows that most of those who enter the academy are nobility.
One reason is that most talented kids are born into noble families, but the biggest reason is the tuition fees, which commoners simply cannot afford.
The annual tuition for the academy is often construed as a joke, but it’s no exaggeration that it could sustain a family of four for three years.
“What’s your exam number?”
“176.”
“Go down the right path.”
“Got it.”
‘Hah.’
Letting out a deep sigh, I followed the attendant in the same uniform I had seen earlier and headed down the right path.
Around me, various candidates were preparing for the exam in their own unique ways.
Some mumbled to themselves while staring at the floor; others walked with their eyes closed. There were even some reading books as they walked.
‘What is going on with these kids?’
I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
Truth be told, while I might seem similar in age to them, our skill levels are nowhere close.
If I wanted to, I could easily break into the academy’s treasure vault right now.
‘The facilities really are something else.’
Amid all this, I was scanning my surroundings carefully, making sure to store them in my memory.
Remembering places I had been before was crucial for me.
To use my special ability ‘Teleportation,’ I needed to have an exact recollection of the location I intended to move to.
If my memory was even slightly off, or mixed up, and I pictured the wrong place, unexpected variables could arise.
Having experienced this myself, it was a deeply engraved lesson.
‘Though I have learned some new things because of it…’
“Hey there.”
“…Huh?”
“Your hair color is quite unusual!”
As I was busy packing away surrounding information in my mind, someone spoke up right beside me just as we neared the exam hall.
Instinctively touching my hair, I looked sideways to see a girl with bobbed hair walking next to me, who looked about 20 centimeters shorter.
She was dressed in opulent clothes, with shimmering red hair and a face that seemed like it had never seen hardship.
Definitely a noble—her fair skin and clean hands suggested she might be a mage.
“I’ve never seen black hair in person before! It’s just like the first emperor’s! Which family are you from?”
Seeing a noble girl so oblivious to the world made me feel playful.
Normally, I would have brushed it off, but since she might become a fellow student—or even a friend at the academy—I couldn’t help but feel mischievous.
“I’m a commoner.”
“…Huh?”
“I said, I’m a commoner.”
“A-a commoner? Here…?”
The red-haired girl, flustered by my statement, muttered something to herself before quickly darting ahead, leaving me behind.
I only wanted to greet her since she spoke first—was it really that shocking?
Watching her retreat as if running away from me, I found that I had somehow arrived near the exam hall.
The other candidates around us seemed to be aware of the little exchange between the red-haired girl and me, as I could feel their curious gazes on me now.
[Side Quest Activated!]
[Side Quest (1-1) ‘Top Student’]
Objective: Pass the Crescent Academy entrance exam as the top candidate.
Details: Achieve top marks in the 158th class entrance examination of the Crescent Empire Academy.
Rewards: 3 Stat Points, Title Acquired (Academy Top Student)
Penalty: None
‘Huh?’
I found myself stopping in place, suddenly fascinated by the text appearing before my eyes, reading the quest details.
So there are side quests too.
They even offer stat points and titles.
As soon as I saw the words ‘Stats’ and ‘Title,’ the trivial incident with the noble girl quickly vanished from my mind.
‘Top candidate, huh.’
This could be interesting.
Tap—tap—tap—
Amilion, the head of the 158th class entrance exams, was drumming her fingers on her desk with the pen tip, a habit of hers whenever she was deep in thought.
On her desk lay a list of candidates participating in this year’s entrance exam.
Not the list of all candidates, but a curated list of notable ones, essentially a shortlist of likely passers that her assistant had personally compiled.
Currently, the exams are in full swing, but Amilion already knows that the candidates listed in front of her will pass and enroll in the academy.
Though everyone is supposedly given equal opportunities, that’s little more than a nice-sounding phrase.
The only requirement for taking the academy entrance exam is to be at least 17 years old, but in reality, most students have already been informally decided beforehand.
Rich noble families often engage in “donation admissions,” while others use their status to sneak a peek at the exam materials. Some even blatantly receive favorable admissions through professor recommendations.
Even aside from those cases, merely looking at the pre-submitted documents provides insights into how much private tutoring a candidate has received and what potential they possess.
Amilion was fairly certain that as long as no major variables came into play, the exam scores would align closely with the names listed on the paper before her.
“Still, this girl will be the top student.”
This year boasted an especially remarkable crop of talent, but nonetheless, there seemed to be no contenders who could surpass this girl among the exam candidates.
Elaine Saint Clair.
The third daughter of the Saint Clair family, renowned for possessing exceptional talent since long ago, she had finally reached the age to enroll in the academy this year.
To be precise, she was currently taking the entrance exam, not yet officially enrolled.
“There are only seven spots in Class S, though.”
In a bid to finish this cumbersome entrance exam-related work as quickly as possible, Amilion was already predicting students’ grades and class assignments, even while the entrance exams were still ongoing.
With the help of her assistant, Amilion, known as the “All-Seeing One,” was able to facilitate the process.
However, it was no easy task.
“Is this student expected to be ranked 10th? No way! The Petra family is at 17th?!”
There were so many talents, including Elaine Saint Clair.
As she pondered how to wrap things up a bit faster, doubts crept in—was this effort truly worthwhile?
Knock, knock—
“Uh-oh.”
Just as her worries deepened, a knock accompanied by the entrance of her assistant disrupted her thoughts.
The assistant, looking visibly flustered with hair blowing about in the wind, made Amilion uneasy.
It was clear that there was a pressing matter at hand.
“Professor, huah.”
“What’s wrong? What’s happening? Is there an accident during the exams?”
“N-no, it’s not that!”
In a noble exam setting, even the possibility of an accident would make headlines, so Amilion was relieved to hear nothing that dire had occurred.
“Then?”
“The exam results are in.”
“…Great. Now I’m on edge. That’s still a pressing issue.”
“However, the results differ somewhat from our expectations…”
Nodding in response to her assistant’s words, Amilion accepted the paper from their hands.
Though she held the title of “All-Seeing One,” it didn’t mean she had absolute foresight and insight.
As a professor and researcher, Amilion was lenient enough to accept deviations from her predictions.
After all, even failed predictions represent data.
Thus, she hoped to refine her predictions based on this failure…
“Huh?”
“Whew. This is genuine.”
“Eh?”
Amilion was just as startled as her assistant when she glanced at the list of results ranked by scores.
While slight discrepancies were within the realm of expectation, significant errors were entirely outside that bound.
[Top Student: Ryu]
[Second Place: Elaine Saint Clair]
…
Naturally, Elaine’s name ought to have taken the top spot, but here it was, prominently displayed in second place.
“Ryu? Who’s that?”
Amilion’s voice trembled, filled with astonishment.
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