<204 - Survived as an Instructor>
Singing and Jiang will take longer to arrive.
But I don’t want to keep losing my rank endlessly.
Friendship and grades.
The way to catch both rabbits at the same time was simple.
Just make sure others don’t get any grades!
“Is that the finish line?”
“What a cruel thing.”
“Not even human.”
“How can a first-year act like that?”
“Didn’t you hear? That first-year is a Dark Princess.”
“What kind of class is that?”
“The Demon King’s daughter?”
“That’s insane.”
“Seems accurate looking at how the Mamoks rise up.”
The upper-class Imperial students and lower-class second-years were chattering about me, but I ignored them.
I was more worried if I was too soft-hearted while taking the test compassionately.
Isn’t it?
I didn’t eliminate the Imperial students with strength.
I didn’t steal their name tags.
I was just letting the students on the opposite side cross the river without a care to secure 100 people to cross.
‘If it were third-years, I would have knocked them all down just in case they tried something with those numbers.’
Compared to that, letting them complain without hitting them was a merciful act!
Still, as the test dragged on, I started to get tired.
Won’t they come quickly?
Not wanting to stand anymore, I leaned against a rock near the riverbank when I heard a thud approaching.
The ground shook, and I heard screams, so it must be…
‘Did Sing come?’
I jumped up and turned around to find a Golem had come.
The Golem seemed to be saying, “I came to find my master, good job, right?”
It nudged me, wanting me to scratch its big head, but its head was so huge it blocked my view.
“Come on! You need to think about your size. Do you think you’re just a Goo Golem that Hestia takes around?”
Goo goo.
Its sulking sound was too cute, so I gave it a pat.
“If you’re bored, just drink some water!”
The Golem gulped down water to cool its core, while I laid down on the rock to kill some time.
Hmm… I’m getting sleepy.
Should I take a short nap?
As my head bobbed, I swallowed my drool while the students across the river gazed at me, following my every movement.
“Dad is awake!”
When I shouted with wide eyes, the sigh from the other side grew louder.
“A person is messing around!”
“Ah, maybe it’s a little cute.”
“Get a grip! Are you okay with losing all your grades like this?”
While I was tormenting numerous students, holding their grades hostage, I heard another thud.
It was probably another Golem.
Maybe it was Hestia’s Golem searching for the finish line, or a wild Golem that didn’t get chosen by a master?
As I glanced around, I noticed the students on the other side were freaking out, rushing into the river.
They weren’t going insane as a group.
It wasn’t because a rare golden fish or jewel fish, which appeared with only a 0.1% chance, had shown up either.
“Ahhh! A crazy killer has appeared!!”
“How much blood are they soaked in!?”
“First, let’s attack! Let’s take them down with long-range magic!!”
As magic casters fired, streaks of blue mana blossomed around them like a circle of bullets.
The scene was like a fireworks show, with smoke and the deafening sounds of various spells slicing through the air.
Instead of screams, I distinctly heard something slicing and splitting.
Crash, split, tear, shatter.
As I realized what that fierce display of effects meant, even I, a veteran, dropped my jaw.
‘Continuous parrying? Magic destruction?’
It was a technique to deflect enemy attacks and simultaneously send spells in different directions.
Between those spells, attacks that couldn’t be deflected canceled the spells outright.
It was clearly not a skill a first-year should show.
This was a technique taught with a significant focus in the Knight Department.
It could take a few weeks to months of constant training before you could use it in practice.
Parrying physical attacks and magical ones required a deep understanding of the reduced range of parrying and the functioning of magical strength.
The high skill level for this technique meant it belonged to either a talent monster or a veteran like me.
‘Magic destruction would still cause damage to the caster, right?’
Just as bullets don’t vanish when you deflect them, magic maintains its inertia as well.
Magic that has already been cast and fired will still damage the surrounding area even if the spell is canceled.
If that much cancellation damage piles up, it inflicts considerable damage in itself.
Stun.
Dizziness.
Reduced visibility.
Despite suffering from various side effects, slowing reactions, and being in a situation where I should have been knocked down by a magical carpet bombing, Sing didn’t stop.
They narrowed the gap and began to slice through the second-years, sending seniors flying from the front line.
“Run away!!”
“We can’t handle this level!”
“Parrying magic with a sword, where did that crazy person come from?!”
“Is it a third-year?! Are we being toyed with by a third-year disguised as a first-year?!”
“If the Mamok is lucky, it might escape. This is someone who can’t be dealt with relying on luck—run to the river!”
The instructors, tense enough to popcorn down, feared a potential rescue failure.
The chaos ended with over a hundred seniors being knocked out by the Mamok, while just as many students fell to the sword.
“Having fun watching?”
“Uh! Jiang. When did you arrive?”
“With them. Thought I’d try fitting in.”
Jiang’s cheek had splatters of someone’s blood on it as they smiled.
I reached out to wipe it, and Jiang stepped back, surprised.
This kid, really.
Why feel shy with something like this on their cheek?
I pushed in and rubbed their cheek to wipe the blood away.
“Now you’re all clean!”
“…You went in too easily.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. So, what about the exam? Why are you just watching here?”
“I was waiting for both of you!”
“For us?”
Jiang, confused, had just chopped down all the branches of the Mamok, which dared attack Sing, and now Sing crossed the river using the Mamok’s core as a boat while aiming their sword at it.
After explaining why I was waiting for them, I was met with incredulous stares.
“You should send a hundred, so I thought I’d start by sending those I’m close with. Aren’t you taking this test too lightly? The professors worked hard to prepare as well.”
“Hmm… That doesn’t sound like something Jiang should say!”
“Really? Well, I picked up name tags while collecting treasures on the way here.”
A blood-stained name tag came out of Jiang’s pocket.
“Wow! With that alone, you’d pass the border line!”
“Should I give it back to those I took it from?”
“Yeah!”
“Hmm… Would you really want that?”
“Yup yup!”
“Why should I give it? Aren’t you curious about what penalties you get for losing a name tag? What happens to those who cross the finish line with their name tags stolen?”
Like when you see an ant and want to step on it or snatch a wing from a flying dragonfly, Jiang had a desire to stomp and tear apart the weak classmates.
It was quite the wicked instinct for a 0.1% evil-aligned character.
“Well, just try it on the Imperial students.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to give it back for free.”
“Then trade for points!”
“Even if you say that, how would we meet? The exam is in full swing.”
“I think it’ll be okay. The finish line is right here!”
Jiang chuckled and nudged the finish line with their foot.
“Everyone is foolish. They’re wandering far from this close spot.”
“You should go too, Jiang.”
“Why should I?”
“You broke the Boarding Storage Room!”
“I don’t care.”
Jiang pulled out something resembling a small pipe from their breast pocket and blew into it.
The sound of a supersonic frequency that humans couldn’t hear stimulated the ear of the faraway mounts, which ran toward Jiang!
“Wow!”
“I trained them hard. What do you think?”
“Amazing!”
Jiang finally succeeded in taming the giant monster cat that had been hard to tame.
As a veteran, I felt a bit reflective.
To summon a pet without using physical or magical violence, just with a whistle, the world of taming is indeed profound.
“Can you teach me that? I’d like to know the technique of changing the finish line later too. It could be used to set traps by swapping treasures with explosives.”
“Sure!”
The face of the instructor witnessing the exchange of assassin techniques was filled with horror.
“Ah, Instructor! Perfect timing. Can we use those fainted seniors?”
“If you kill people, you’re disqualified.”
“What? Of course! Why would we kill anyone in the First Year Midterm Exam?”
“…Even if you kill them indirectly by teleporting them away, it’s still a disqualification.”
“Who would do something so terrible? I’d just place them across the river and fulfill my contract with the Saintess!”
The instructor nodded, looking deflated.
“Sorry. I thought too wickedly of you. It doesn’t break the rules.”
“Oknodie. What about the Imperial kids who aren’t fainted?”
“Just knock them out.”
“Did you know you have quite a bad personality?”
“That doesn’t sound like something Jiang should say!”
The instructor’s face darkened further, just in case anything unfortunate might happen.
“When feeling down, they say candy helps. Want one?”
“…I’m good. I had enough popcorn earlier.”
“You must be very uncomfortable. Your face looks even darker!”
“Eating that will only make it darker.”
“Will it make you feel worse?”
“…Yeah.”
Fear clouded the instructor’s eyes.
When you’re feeling uncomfortable, what you eat can be suffering.
“Would you like me to pat your back?”
“Please, just leave me alone…”
