Chapter 221 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 221
Chapter Title: The Exam on Eddein Mountain
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221
"Hey, this is a total disaster, isn't it?"
"It is! A disaster! A massive disaster!"
A huge commotion erupted at the entrance examination site.
The second-years, who had no idea this would happen, were especially shocked.
After a tough first year, they had finally reached the grade where they would be treated as seniors.
But now, out of nowhere, they faced the possibility of having no new juniors at all.
While the second-years clutched their heads and groaned.
Ren, who was watching from a distance, crossed his arms.
"Professor Halind is quite harsh. Pitting them against the entire second-year class."
The initial plan for the entrance exam was to use only the nine top-ranking students, but the details were changed during a faculty meeting.
The test was still a survival exercise, but the objective was changed to surviving against the entire second-year class.
"In a way, this might actually result in a higher pass rate."
Yura clicked her tongue, her arms also crossed.
"Because if *they* were the challenge, none of the examinees would have survived."
Yura glanced at the eight top-ranking students, led by Leo.
As for Chen Xia, she was unable to attend the entrance exam due to family matters.
Ren nodded in agreement with Yura's words.
The original plan was to divide the examinees into groups of fifty and send in the top second-year students one by one.
"Well, anyway, let's just watch."
Yura narrowed her eyes and looked at the examinees.
"Let's see how well this new generation can hold their own against the current second-years."
***
Once the examinees had finished their preparations, a person holding a Hero Record stepped forward beside Halind.
"The Lumerne Entrance Exam will now begin."
At Halind's words, the examinees' faces tensed.
The second-years sighed, waiting for the World of Heroes to activate.
"If you would, please."
Halind spoke politely to the person next to him.
The man, small but with a sturdy build, smiled and raised his hand.
*Vwoom—!*
An intense light burst forth, engulfing the entire examination site.
Seeing this, the examinees' expressions grew even more tense.
"We're finally going into the World of Heroes."
"Haaah! I'm so nervous!"
For them, this would be their first experience in the World of Heroes.
Karl chuckled at the sight.
"We had our fresh-faced days like that too."
"We're still only second-years, you know."
Karl shrugged at Chelsea's retort.
At the same time, a familiar message appeared before their eyes.
[Hero Record Open. Gerwin's World. Chapter: Prologue - Eddein Mountain]
"Gerwin?"
"Wait! Gerwin is the principal of Demian!"
Those who saw the message wore expressions of shock.
Demian, the dwarven hero academy.
And its principal, Gerwin, was a dwarven hero who, along with the Sword Saint, had defined an era.
For Gerwin's world to be activated so suddenly, it was only natural for them to be surprised.
"Could that man be…?"
Just as everyone turned to look at the man standing next to Halind with wide eyes.
*Fwaaah—!*
A bright light blinded them.
When Leo opened his eyes, he looked around.
He was standing in a forest.
'Eddein Mountain.'
It was the name of the highest mountain in the world, located in the eastern part of the continent.
It was also a place that Leo, who was not yet familiar with the continent's geography, remembered clearly.
To be precise, it was the first place name he had looked for when he first saw a world map.
The towering Eddein Mountain was a sight that could easily be called a masterpiece of nature.
However, it was not a place frequented by people.
There was a good reason for that.
This was a monster-infested region.
Even with periodic subjugations, monsters spawned here endlessly.
That was why many people questioned it.
It wasn't even a place influenced by Tartaros.
Yet, thanks to the endless stream of monsters, this area, much like the Forest of Monsters, remained an uncharted territory.
'Though the curse on the Forest of Monsters has been lifted.'
With Silatuna's defeat, monsters would no longer appear in the Forest of Monsters.
Leo gazed at Eddein Mountain, visible through the trees in the distance.
An unknown territory where monsters endlessly spawned.
Extensive research had been conducted to find the reason for their appearance.
While it was discovered that the Forest of Monsters was due to a 'curse', Eddein Mountain remained an unsolved mystery.
But Leo knew the reason.
*Ssk—*
Kneeling, Leo swept his hand across the ground.
Something flashed through his mind.
The landscape in his memory held nothing but endless despair.
'Thinking back, I have no idea how I managed to defeat it.'
On this very land.
The fate of the world had changed.
A new era had begun, and an immortal legend had been forged.
This was the land where the world's salvation was decided.
5,000 years ago.
In a battle that decided the fate of the world, Leo defeated Erebos here and saved the world.
For Leo, this was also the place where he had drawn his last breath in his previous life.
'I never thought I'd come back like this.'
***
As the exam began, the examinees quickly took cover.
Being in a forest, there were plenty of places to hide.
With tense faces, everyone suppressed their presence and moved stealthily.
There were occasional encounters between first-years, but battles were rare.
Normally, defeating a competitor would increase one's chances of passing.
But starting a fight recklessly would surely attract the attention of the second-years.
That would be as good as guaranteeing elimination.
Fortunately, since the exam site was around Eddein Mountain, the world's highest peak, the forest was vast.
There were many places to hide.
'Move calmly.'
After entering the World of Heroes, Martina hid herself and took a deep breath.
She had trained under Leo and was now participating in the Lumerne entrance exam.
Martina desperately wanted to pass this test and be proudly accepted into Lumerne.
'First, I just have to avoid the Young Master.'
Whatever happened, if she was unlucky enough to run into Leo, it was game over.
Martina knew that the word 'moderation' did not exist in Leo's vocabulary.
Anxious, Martina, who had no confidence in handling Leo, began to explore the forest. It wasn't long before she encountered a group of ten examinees.
Seeing them, Martina revealed her presence and stepped out.
*Rustle—*
At the sudden presence, they gasped.
But upon realizing Martina was a fellow examinee, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good timing. You want to join us?"
"If we all stick together like this and get discovered, we'll be in big trouble, won't we?"
At Martina's question, one of the examinees clicked his tongue—*tsk, tsk*—and wagged a finger.
"Of course, if we're unlucky and run into the top-ranking seniors, we're in trouble. But not all second-years are the same, are they?"
He grinned, exuding confidence.
"You need to change your way of thinking. I believe we need the guts to stand up to them instead of just being scared because they're second-years."
"That doesn't sound like a very good option."
The leader of the group of trainees scoffed at Martina's words.
"They only entered school a year before us. How big of a difference could there be?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"When you think about it, there's not much of an age gap between us either, right?"
'There are people like this everywhere, I guess.'
Martina sighed softly.
To even attempt the Lumerne entrance exam meant you had been called a genius in some field at least once.
It was true they were skilled, but they were still just big fish in a small pond.
The weight of surviving one year at Lumerne was something else entirely.
It was a period where one could gain enough skill and experience to become a completely different person.
Knowing this, Martina was all too aware of how reckless their thinking was.
She considered warning them but shook her head.
She knew all too well that these types never listened to advice.
"I'll pass."
"Coward."
He sneered at the departing Martina, then turned to the members of his temporary party and shouted.
"Alright! Let's take down some second-years and show the professors what we're made of!"
"Yeah!"
Meanwhile, in another location…
*Fwoosh! Boom—!*
"Keuk!"
"Aaargh!"
The examinees screamed as they were struck by the flames spewed from the fire familiar.
One of the examinees who had fallen to the ground shouted.
"W-What is this! Why are we fighting amongst ourselves?!"
At his words, Shasha tilted her head, stroking the neck of her snake-like, intermediate-class fire familiar, the Prominence Lizard.
"I don't believe there's a rule against examinees fighting each other, is there?"
"M-Maybe not! But shouldn't we be cooperating to increase our chances of passing?!"
"That's true. But I have no intention of passing in an ordinary way."
Shasha smiled sweetly.
"I'm aiming to be the year representative. That's why I need to pass this entrance exam with an overwhelming score."
Shrugging, Shasha unleashed her spiritual power.
*Fwoosh—!*
Intense flames erupted from the Prominence Lizard's body.
"Just consider yourselves unlucky."
"Grraaaah—!"
There were also examinees hunting other examinees.
It was then.
*Fwhoosh—!*
A spear flew through the air, cutting through the wind.
*Thwack—! Boom—!*
*Fwoosh—!*
The Prominence Lizard reacted quickly, catching the spear in its jaws.
However, the wind-attribute aura infused in the spear exploded, sending the Prominence Lizard flying.
Having taken a major hit, the Prominence Lizard was unsummoned.
"A surprise attack. How vulgar."
Shasha glared with cold eyes at the boy who had just appeared.
"That's not something the one bullying the weak should be saying."
The boy's lips curled into a smirk.
Seeing him, a girl who had been on the verge of elimination widened her eyes.
"H-Haviden Birsen?!"
A student from Icott and a strong candidate for this year's representative.
At the appearance of the prince of Birsen, a powerhouse of knights, the examinees' faces brightened.
"D-Did he come to save us?"
"He really does have a knight's honor!"
At the examinees' shouts, Haviden looked at them as if they were spouting nonsense.
"Why would I need to save you?"
"What?"
"I only came here to defeat Shasha Sienne Loadlen."
The students who had stood out the most during last year's joint classes were Shasha and Haviden.
Both were considered strong candidates for the freshman representative position among the Lumerne professors.
Aware of this evaluation, Shasha and Haviden were wary of each other.
And by chance, they had met early in the exam.
"If you get in my way, I'll sweep you all aside too."
"This one's got a bad personality too!"
"Royalty is all so self-centered!"
The examinees screamed.
Then, one examinee spoke up.
"W-Wait! If you two fight now, one of you might get eliminated! Why would you do that?"
With Haviden or Shasha's skills, they could successfully escape even if they encountered a second-year.
But if the two of them fought, it was a different story.
If another second-year found them, they would most likely be eliminated.
Alternatively, if one of them won, the other would still be eliminated.
From the other examinees' perspective, this fight seemed to offer little gain.
But Shasha and Haviden thought differently.
"If I can't be the best, there's no reason to enroll."
"Surprisingly, we agree on that. I feel the same."
As the two of them smirked, the other examinees' jaws dropped.
'"If you're not the best, you might as well fail"...'
'People at that level must have incredible pride.'
'Is this the mark of a true hero?'
Just as they were thinking that these two were on a level they couldn't even imagine.
"You shouldn't do that. You should be thinking about passing the exam, not just fighting recklessly."
A chiding voice clicked its tongue as it offered advice.
"Gasp!"
"L-Leo Flove!"
The examinees' faces filled with horror at the appearance of the number one person to avoid in this exam.
This meant certain elimination.
But on the other hand, they were also secretly excited to see how the two examinees considered the strongest would fare against Leo Flove.
'We're done for, but…'
'Maybe it's not so bad to be eliminated after watching a fight between the strongest examinees and the strongest second-year.'
With that thought, they looked toward Shasha and Haviden.
And they were left speechless.
Shasha and Haviden were running for their lives with all their might.
"Run for it!"
"I want to be the freshman representative! I don't want to get eliminated for nothing!"
Watching the future rulers of powerful nations flee while screaming, the remaining examinees wore expressions of utter dismay.
"I'll give you thirty seconds."
Just then, Leo took a watch out of his pocket and spoke.
"Professor Halind told me not to go easy on anyone, but it'd be too pathetic if you were eliminated just like this."
Seeing Leo give them a chance, the examinees flinched and then fled.
[Leo.]
"What is it?"
[Why are you giving them false hope?]
"You never know. They might actually manage to escape."
Leo shrugged.
Elsie chided her contractor for his actions.
[They say giving hope only to take it away is the cruelest thing.]
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