episode_0082

I initially ignored the notice about the experiential learning.

“…I agree. We don’t have time to care about such trivial matters.”

After the sparring session, Irene wiped her spear blade, examining it under the light.

The spear she used was a high-grade piece of equipment that could be adjusted in length and disassembled for easy portability. Of course, compared to 5-star equipment or exclusive gear obtainable through special missions later, it was just a crude toy.

“Besides, as you know, the first-year experiential learning takes place in the ‘Chloris Great Forest,’ managed by the academy. It’s not an external dungeon, so how would we know what tricks they’ve pulled inside? They might have set up strange traps to kill students, just like at the entrance ceremony.”

“That’s true! Wait, the Chloris Great Forest? Wasn’t it sealed off so no one could enter?”

Listening to Irene, a familiar name caught my ear.

“If you’re talking about the jungle dungeon near the school, then yes. It’s a place that was sealed due to lack of profitability, but the school board usually keeps it closed, only allowing entry for experiential learning or experiments.”

The Chloris Ruins — that dungeon appeared in the game.

There were two reasons why I hadn’t sought out this dungeon before.

First, the difficulty was high. Most of the magic beasts that appeared were still low-grade, but from this point on, mid-grade or higher magic beasts frequently appeared. For us a few weeks ago, struggling with Scraxs and Pellinuts, there was no reason to attempt it.

Second, the entrance to the area was sealed by a thick gate.

I had tried to sneak in once out of curiosity, just to have a look, but the trick of passing through walls by creating clones didn’t work. Perhaps because they had installed numerous complex mechanical devices to disrupt gates, any clone generated was instantly torn to shreds.

“They say your body stretches like spaghetti when you enter a black hole; that’s exactly what happened to us.”

“How unpleasant it was to lose sensation in my lower body after passing through the gate…”

One of the Violets passed through the entrance with only her upper body. For about 10 seconds, she saw a dense jungle, then everything went black, and the sensation was incredibly strange.

However, at our current level, it was appealing. Because that dungeon contained so many useful things! In the jungle inside, you could obtain many valuable herbs and items, if not crystal flowers, and most importantly, there were ruins that helped rapid growth and treasure chests containing rare artifacts.

“Irene! Let’s go there!”

“What? Why so suddenly?”

“I found out through an informant…”

I roughly omitted the source of the information and explained to Irene why we had to go there.

“Ruins that drastically boost an Awakener’s capabilities? If that’s true, we absolutely must go! But there’s no way the school board wouldn’t have known about it…”

“I only just managed to find out myself.”

Irene couldn’t hide her surprise after hearing my explanation.

It was only natural. Even without a status window, people in this world understood the concept of growth.

Within the Crimson Academy, the concept of level wasn’t just a simple in-game system. Awakeners in this world could absorb a portion of power from a dying creature imbued with a lot of Aether to grow their own abilities.

Of course, the level of growth and absorption rate varied from person to person. Some grew tremendously after killing only a few magic beasts, while others barely advanced a step despite piling up magic beast corpses. Ordinary people couldn’t even dream of it.

But then. There were people whose growth levels and Aether absorption rates differed from others. Heroes like Irene, who stood right in front of me.

“Then, let’s go there as a team!”

If we were going, there was no reason to go alone. It was better to grow with friends. Especially since Irene’s unique ability was an area-of-effect buff, it suited me perfectly!

“Yes, if that’s possible. But Violet.”

“What is it?”

“You can’t just form your experiential learning team by yourself.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“According to the regulations, experiential learning teams are randomly assigned under the supervision of the instructors. The minimum is three people.”

I put out a request to the other Violets to find relevant information. A reply came back immediately.

“It’s true. They say it’s for building teamwork among students. You can’t form a team with only people you know.”

“It’s like being forced to do a group project with strangers!”

This was problematic. We couldn’t monopolize it with people we knew.

Seeing the displeased look on my face, Irene thought for a moment, then something clicked.

“Ah, but students who score in the top 5% on the diagnostic test can choose one person they want to accompany them. I’ll choose you, Violet. How about that?”

“Wow, really? Thank you!”

She smiled confidently, reassuring me.

No, wait. This would leave Daphne out.

Of course, Daphne was also good at studying, so assuming her grades were sufficient, either Irene or Daphne could choose me, and the remaining person could choose the other.

But being in the top 5% wasn’t child’s play.

More than anything, I couldn’t just rely on my friends. I had to put in the effort too.

“Then I guess I need to start studying today!”

“Right, there are only two days left, so work hard.”

Oh no, only two days left? I’ll have to go crazy.

***

Honestly, I hated studying because it was headache-inducing and boring. If I had time to study, I should be swinging swords and practicing magic.

“Professor Albert told me to practice restoration magic for fixing broken dishes…”

“Heroes don’t study!”

However, since I had resolved to work hard, I couldn’t avoid preparing for the test.

So, the Violets decided to prepare for the test by putting in effort in their own way.

The method was simple. Copy the textbooks and materials, then assign one person per chapter to review them.

“There are printouts for each subject too!”

“I’ve prepared a notebook.”

“I found a desk!”

According to the information, there were about 40 questions per subject on the test. So, while one Violet looked at the test paper, forty Violets could each tackle one problem and solve it. This way, we would never be pressed for time.

“Alright, then, test start!”

“Start!”

We didn’t just prepare materials; we even conducted rehearsals. The Violet in charge of the test sat at a desk and examined the questions, while several other Violets sat at desks holding the materials for their assigned chapters. They frantically rummaged through the materials, reading and checking highlighted sections to find the correct answers.

*Ring!*

The alarm sounded. The Violet submitted the test. When it was graded, everything was correct except for one question.

“Wow! That was easier than I thought?”

However, the problem lay in math.

“No! I only just barely understood quadratic equations recently!”

“This is a curse!”

We didn’t know how to solve this. Although we had been reviewing math under Professor Albert’s relentless whip recently, there was simply too much to learn.

The Violets racked their brains and discussed options, but no clear solution emerged. Was there no better way?

“Let’s just give up on math and let our friends carry us!”

“No, I don’t like that. My pride won’t allow it!”

As we clamored, one Violet slipped out of the commotion, carrying a basket filled with frozen food, drinks, potato chips, and comic books, and headed outside.

“What’s that, Unit 140?”

“This is something Mr. Yurik ordered.”

“Oh, right. Deliver it quickly.”

The Violets nodded in agreement and returned to their marathon meeting.

“There must be another way…”

But just as we were about to resume the meeting, an idea struck all of us like lightning. Now that we looked, the answer was very close.

“That post-doc mister, he’s from a science and engineering background.”

“Wouldn’t he be better at math than us?”

We jumped up.

A moment later, we entered a room. Yurik, who had been sitting on a worn-out sofa, playing a video game with vacant eyes, widened them when he saw us.

“Wh-what is it?! Clone Corps ladies, did I do something wrong?”

“No! Mister. Can you take a look at this and solve it?”

“Please solve it!”

“Solve it!”

As the Violets abruptly thrust the problem books at him, a bewildered Yurik adjusted his glasses and carefully examined the problem books.

“These are past high school level exam questions. They’re twisted a bit, but not that difficult. But why suddenly…”

“The day after tomorrow, we’re going to present you with 40 math problems of this level. Can you solve them?”

“This much isn’t difficult. But why do you want me to solve them? These look like school test questions…”

As Yurik looked suspicious and was about to ask more questions, we immediately cut him off and asked what he wanted.

“You’ve been frustrated, haven’t you? Is there anything you want? We’ll give you anything but freedom. Isn’t the money you’re getting enough?”

“What good is a lot of money if I can’t go out? Even when I do go out, it’s just a walk around the neighborhood. You said Godo is doing well, right? Can you bring him here?”

Godo was the name of Yurik’s old dog. We had been taking good care of him at Yurik’s house.

“Yes… then, I’ll bring him over today. Anything else you need?”

“Could I have a sirloin steak with caviar? And the finest Atmos Mountain wine to go with it.”

“Don’t joke around.”

“I’m kidding. Uh, could you put a small refrigerator in the room? And fill it with beer and drinks. I also need a heater. It’s a bit cold these days, maybe because it’s October.”

“Confirmed. Then, you have to keep your promise!”

“Of course. Whose safety do you think this is…”

We cheered inwardly.

And so, the test day arrived.

“10 minutes until the test begins!”

“Everyone, prepare!”

The Violets calmly prepared for the test.

Soon, the diagnostic test began, and 40 Violets, along with 20 assistant Violets holding textbooks from various places, sat at their respective desks and began solving their assigned problems. The operation proceeded smoothly without a hitch.

However, an unexpected problem arose. Violet No. 96, who was in charge of the test, solved the problems too quickly on the spot.

“No. 96! The answers aren’t ready yet!”

“But I already know all of them? Check it! I remember everything.”

When the problems solved by No. 96 were compared with the textbook materials, they were all correct. But why did she solve them so quickly?

After scanning the Violet network, we understood the result.

“We memorized the study material long ago!”

“We reviewed the materials too much by rehearsing for the test.”

That was it. As dozens of Violets held the books and reviewed them multiple times, the parts each of them read were engraved into the Violet network and completely memorized.

We unintentionally studied.

The math test, which had been the biggest challenge, was also resolved. To an elite scholar with a doctorate, high school math was child’s play.

“For lunch today, I’d like the new Grand Cheese Bacon Burger large set. Would that be okay?”

“Just a cheeseburger set? I’ll buy you steak! There’s wine too!”

“Then I’m in!”

Furthermore, with engineering calculators and computers at hand, there was nothing to fear.

When the Violet on site examined a math problem, we copied it and brought it to him, and Yurik produced the answer without hesitation.

And so, the diagnostic test ended smoothly without any problems.

***

Three days later, the scores were released.

One might imagine a traditional school posting huge report cards on a bulletin board, announcing results from first place downwards, but in modern society, they didn’t do such a thing.

Apparently, since it was a diagnostic test, scores would be announced individually.

We waited for the rankings to be posted, and when the time came, we accessed the school’s dedicated application.

“Let’s go in!”

We clicked on the score inquiry tab. A long and boring loading screen repeated before my name and a number appeared.

And when we saw the rank, we couldn’t believe our eyes.

[…Violet D. Ruzilin – 1/XXXX…]

“Huh…?”

“It must be a mistake. No way.”

We rubbed our eyes and looked again, but the number written on the report card was not wrong. The rank clearly pointed to the number ‘1’.

“First place, which we never even managed before…!”

“Are we secretly geniuses?”

“We copied too much…”

We ended up getting first place.

This… we did too well.