“Uh, damn. I’m back.”
“……?”
Schlus cursed as soon as he opened his eyes.
Alexia and the examiners watching him were left speechless, their mouths agape.
The mana response of the spell had vanished.
In other words, the spell was destroyed.
And the subject was…
“Please, let me finish my sentence! I’m giving up on the entrance exam—”
“Full marks!”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll give full marks! No objections, everyone?”
“No objections……”
Alexia’s sharp cry rang out.
Despite their discomfort, the examiners showed their agreement.
For a commoner to be unappealing was a different matter from evaluating skill.
“……Excuse me?”
Meanwhile, Schlus—the person concerned—seemed dumbfounded, standing there with a blank expression.
“Can’t you believe it? You’re the top student! If no one else scores full marks after you!”
“But what did I—”
“Now go! We need to prepare for the next test quickly!”
“What the hell are you…!”
As Alexia waved her hand, two staff members who appeared from behind Schlus grabbed his arms and lifted him up.
“Shouldn’t you at least explain what’s happening?!”
“Hah……”
The examiners sighed deeply as they watched him being forcibly escorted out.
They were the ones who needed an explanation.
How on earth did a commoner who appeared to have no talent pass the notoriously strict chairwoman’s special exam…
No, not just pass but score full marks.
This was unprecedented in the history of the Imperial University.
A commoner passing a special exam, and a full scorer at that.
“Everyone agrees that the exam process was fair, right?”
“Yes. I agree.”
“I could never have escaped that.”
With Alexia’s recheck, the examiners all clicked their tongues in awe.
It was a spell crafted by the master of barrier magic, Alexia herself.
Even if the five examiners dove in beforehand to review it, the only words that would come out were “perfect.”
The theme of the barrier magic was ‘fear.’
The barrier trapped the examinee in an escape-proof space and showed and told them what they feared most.
The reason escape was impossible was that the interior of the barrier was rendered into a ‘Mana Vacuum,’ where no mana existed.
This caused the mana needed to inscribe the spell to vanish, making casting any magic impossible.
Thus, while the examinee had no physical or magical way to escape, they would experience illusions of what they feared most from all directions.
Not many examined this special exam, but nearly all ended up wetting themselves, crying, or fainting.
For this reason, Alexia had set the passing conditions of the special exam quite generously.
If they could overcome the fear and at least attempt something without panicking, she would consider them to possess tremendous mental strength and planned to lower the passing mark of the entrance exam.
“……What did that guy see?”
“Who knows.”
But Schlus just stood there silently, even locked in that barrier.
As if nothing mattered, with an expressionless face.
When he casually tilted his head and examined his own hands and feet, Alexia and the examiners were worried there was a problem with the spell, prompting them to double-check it.
Surely his greatest fear must have presented itself before his eyes.
What on earth had he seen to remain so calm?
But then something truly surprising happened immediately after.
He had withstood the Barrier of Fear so nonchalantly; just then, as Alexia was about to declare him passed and end the spell,
“Alright then, Schlus is passed… huh?”
“What’s wrong, Chairwoman?”
“Uh, uh?!”
No one had ever seen Alexia look so flustered before.
“The spell… is about to break!”
“Excuse me?!”
But at her urgent words, the examiners’ expressions turned to horror.
Breaking the spell.
It sounded simple when said, but it was no easy task.
The spell engraved in the external mana operated as a kind of cyclic circuit using mana as an energy source.
Since it was as if anchored to external mana, anyone could interfere with the spell as long as they were close enough, even if they weren’t the original caster.
However, controlling the spell was another matter entirely.
Only the caster knows the key code of the spell, so for anyone else to control it, they would have to decipher that complicated structure and reverse-engineer the key code or find security vulnerabilities.
Up to that point, that was understandable.
Even high-ranking magicians often use interpretation or computational magic to accomplish this without much difficulty.
But the issue was that Schlus was inside a Mana Vacuum state barrier.
This meant he received no magical assistance in reverse-engineering the spell.
“Benefit! Benefit…!”
*Scrreeeech…!* *Grawwwk…!*
Despite Alexia’s all-out attempt to stop him, control of the spell eventually slipped to Schlus, causing it to break.
That was why Alexia and the examiners were momentarily dumbfounded in shock.
Back to the present.
Alexia and the examiners were gathered facing one another.
Their claiming to prepare for the next exam was just an excuse.
This year, aside from Schlus, no one else had hoped for a double major.
They simply needed time to discuss before quickly kicking Schlus out.
“Maybe he’s just good with calculations. He looked pretty clueless; he doesn’t seem like he’d do well as a combatant.”
This was the opinion of Professor Sergey von Freust, head of Battle Magic.
“Yeah! That might be true! But with that level of mental fortitude, he can overcome anything!”
“That’s one way to look at it…”
“If he can’t adapt to Battle Magic! Under your judgment, Professor Sergey, we can just give him an F! Then he’d probably give up on the double major!”
“Sounds about right. I’ve never seen someone pass a special exam before… I never expected to have this discussion.”
“Oh! By the way, Professor Ludwig, weren’t you present when I came in? The special exam passer?”
“……Yes, I was.”
Ludwig answered, narrowing his eyes as if Alexia’s voice was too loud.
With that, all the examiners’ gazes focused on him.
He had been working for over 20 years and was the longest-serving member at the Imperial University.
“Gawayn von Shulzenburg.”
“Oh! The Magic Knight!”
“That guy also passed the special exam!”
As Ludwig softly whispered the name, everyone nodded in understanding.
Gawayn von Shulzenburg.
The Shulzenburg family, which had once been a mediocre mercenary family, transformed into the emperor’s most beloved knight family under his leadership.
He was recorded in history as a peerless magician and knight.
No one could match his martial skills, and his magic was a significant innovation in both scholarly and combat fields, known throughout history.
“Wait a minute. He passed the exam? Not full marks?”
“Yes.”
With Ludwig’s brief answer, the atmosphere froze.
If even Gawayn couldn’t break the spell, then what kind of a freak was this commoner?!
“I wonder if he’ll even get to enroll after the entrance exam results are public.”
Professor Sergey shook his head, sighing.
Noble families will probably cause a ruckus again.
Just being a commoner enrolling is unusual enough, and now he’s the top?
There will be countless informants hired to dig through Schlus’s past.
Some families might even try to assassinate him.
“It’s been a long time! It seems like something exciting is about to happen! Don’t you think, everyone?”
However, for some reason, Alexia’s eyes sparkled, not hiding her excitement at all.
To her, an ordinary daily life as a human was painfully dull to the point where she couldn’t stand it.
The examiners responded with hearty laughs, agreeing with Alexia.
It was already a given that a wind of change was blowing through the Imperial University.
Where that wind would blow was now the main concern.
*
[Quest Achieved]
[You receive 3 shop coins as a reward.]
As soon as the spell was dismantled, words appeared before his eyes.
Shop coins, huh.
What kind of shop are they talking about?
[Shop]
[You can purchase items using shop coins.]
[It will activate when all stats reach 10 or above.]
10 or above, huh…
Things like strength or agility can be raised to that level with enough effort, but what about mana sensitivity or strength?
Without getting a special item, I don’t see any way out.
Since I’m the author, I know where the items are, but… they’re all buried in dangerous areas.
If I go now, I’ll become a corpse in no time.
…I’ve got no answer.
Usually, in possession stories, isn’t a shop a given?
[Author’s Note: But you’ll need to grow, so I added it in. 10 is the average, so you should reach it in no time, right?]
“This freaking…”
The annotations attached to every element were getting on my nerves.
What do you mean, 10 is average?
Is it fair to dump a commoner with such low averages into this situation?
When I return to reality, I’ll make sure to hunt you down first.
“Welcome. Just one person?”
“Yes. A draft beer, please.”
“Got it! The price is—”
“30 Tirion, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
As I passed by, I stopped at some random tavern.
The price of draft beer is definitely 30 Tirion. I remember that clearly.
30 Tirion is worth around 3,000 won in Korean currency.
I set it up for ease of calculation.
“What the hell is this…”
As I rummaged through my pockets, I pulled out 8 coins.
All were 10 Tirion coins.
Are you telling me that my entire wealth is 8,000 won…?
“Here you go, customer.”
“……”
The beer was served, but I couldn’t refuse to pay.
In the end, I had to part with my precious 30 Tirion.
“Ahhh…”
I took a sip of the beer and tried to collect my thoughts.
Firstly, my name is Schlus Hainkel.
By name and by attire, I’m clearly a commoner.
“Hmm…”
Looking into the mirror hanging on the tavern wall… I’m relieved to find I’m not ugly.
I couldn’t say I’m muscular, but it seemed like I have some defined muscles and calluses from labor.
That’s good. So far, so good.
The issue is that I don’t know anything beyond that.
I have no idea where Schlus is from.
Who my family is. Wait, do I even have a family?
I can’t fathom what this guy does for a living.
‘Profile.’
I murmured inwardly, hoping for something, but—
“……Damn it.”
Nothing happened.
There’s a stat window but no profile window?
Serious system design is terrible.
It seems that I’ll have to run around and ask to find out about Schlus Hainkel’s identity.
“Oh.”
While downing the beer, I suddenly remembered.
The special exam for the entrance exam.
Why did I forget this?
It was the exam with extreme difficulty passed brazenly by one of the notable characters, Erica.
That barrier’s name was Barrier of Fear, and it should display and tell the examinee their greatest fear…
But I didn’t see or hear anything.
It truly went pitch black before my eyes as every sound was blocked.
The barrier couldn’t have malfunctioned, so why did that happen?
I’m scared of more things than I can count.
If a swarm of cockroaches popped out, I’d be a blubbering mess.
But Alexia and the examiners wouldn’t think so.
They must think I have no fears or possess superhuman mental fortitude.
“Hah. This is ridiculous.”
I’ve unwittingly enrolled in the Imperial University as the top student and now appear superhuman.
Yet in reality, most of my stats don’t even meet the average; I’m the bottom of the barrel.
If I hadn’t possessed this body, I’d have smoothly failed that exam.
By the way, I wonder where the protagonist of this novel, Siegfried Hertlocker, is and what he’s up to right now.
“This is insane.”
I suddenly recalled.
In the original story, the protagonist, Hertlocker, barely passes into the Imperial University.
But is it true that the original Schlus, who was supposedly going to fail, scored full marks?
That means Hertlocker is gonna fail.
This is bad.
I’m seriously doomed.
By “doomed,” I don’t mean the kind where the main character exits the academy story, halting progression.
Hertlocker won’t drop out of the storyline just because he failed to enroll.
In fact, it might even influence the story more than the original.
The protagonist, Siegfried Hertlocker, is a spy from an enemy nation currently at war with the empire.
He was dispatched as a terrorist to kill all students and professors at the Imperial University.
