Ch.1212 – The 0.1% Event

# 12 – The 0.1% Event

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’m serious. The higher you go, those so-called hero candidates are all men. There’s no fun in watching them, no fun in raising them. Women are rare just by being women.”

In other words, it was like this.

If she were a man, she would have needed to use wand magic to pass the test, but for Oknodie, being a woman, this level of strength was enough to earn a passing grade.

“Do you understand now?”

“Not at all.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. A sword occasionally needs to taste blood to be properly tamed. Feel free to challenge me if you want. Though the young lady you serve would be sad.”

Butler Jona glared intensely at Michael.

Then he turned his back.

“…I’ll let it go. It was foolish of me to expect a proper answer from an eccentric.”

The butler released the tension in his hands and entered the inn.

Michael couldn’t pull out the hand he had tucked into his chest in disappointment.

“What a shame. It’s been a while since I met an opponent worth cutting.”

A double-number ticket is reserved for future hero material.

But the person who evaluates this is the examiner.

Michael’s real evaluation criteria was simple.

‘Can they grow into talent worth cutting within 10 years, or not?’

The “young lady” had it.

That was all there was to it.

“Another boring day begins.”

After butler Jona left, followed by Michael.

Only then did the insects in the yard begin to chirp again.

* *

I obtained a peculiar ticket.

“Hmm. Hmmm? Hmmmm.”

“Young lady. Are you concerned about the ticket?”

“No. Well. That’s a lie. Actually, I am concerned.”

In the game, tickets didn’t have colors.

A ticket was just a ticket.

I didn’t know about settings like triple numbers or double numbers.

‘Is it because this is reality, not a game?’

The reason I stubbornly persisted with this capricious method for five days was to receive the hidden reward, the reputation <Recognized Talent by Michael>.

Applicants with this reputation mysteriously receive better evaluations in the entrance exam, and after becoming students, they receive numerous positive adjustments.

Clearly, being recognized by someone as incredible as Michael?

That’s amazing.

I should keep an eye on them.

Many professors think this way.

It’s also good that Michael’s own evaluation increases.

If I have his favor when he eventually appears as a guest lecturer at the Academy, it will undoubtedly be a huge help in securing good grades.

However, when I conquered the hidden route with a muscular male character, I never received such a favorable response from Michael.

‘Is it because I’m a woman?’

I immediately shook my head, thinking it was absurd.

That nobleman Michael?

No way.

With that face, he could have his pick of women to spend the night with on the streets.

Michael, who will later appear as a guest lecturer at the Academy, is famous for being fair and just among the instructors you can see at the Academy.

Though at that time, there were only men in the class.

Anyway, I didn’t think he was that kind of sweet fantasy man who discriminates between men and women.

“Jona.”

“You called, miss?”

“What did you talk about with the examiner?”

Jona calmly pretended ignorance, saying, “Nothing much.”

Looking at the butler, I suddenly realized.

Didn’t the differences from the game settings start with the butler’s whistle?

Seeing that the hidden route worked in this ticket exam, not everything has changed, but I can assume that there are significant differences in various details.

Still, this is a big clue.

‘Being able to conveniently aim for the best reward by breaking through luck with veteran techniques and displaying physical and mental prowess—isn’t that amazing enough?’

But there’s one question I can’t shake off.

Michael’s hidden route.

Its difficulty varies depending on how long you wait.

From day six onward, no matter how experienced you are, it’s absolutely impossible to clear.

But if it’s day five, it’s somehow possible.

If you use not only swordsmanship but also wand techniques.

I secretly prepared, even at the risk of earning the butler’s hatred, but the evaluation ended before I could even use wand techniques.

Before that, even the passing dialogue was different from the game.

‘Why? He said this level of strength is basic for men, but I’ve never been praised for strength before.’

The questions were brief.

I stretched with the ticket in hand.

“The real thing is the entrance exam. I’m not accepted yet.”

“That’s the right mindset.”

“Please prepare transportation!”

It was time to leave the inn.

The next destination is the entrance exam site.

The final gateway to the much-anticipated Academy entry.

* *

While the butler went to arrange transportation.

The black market merchant Giselle approached.

“I really didn’t think you’d pass.”

“I won the bet, right?”

“I admit it.”

Seeing the platinum ticket, Giselle offered sincere praise.

“Do you know the difference between tickets?”

“Roughly.”

Oknodie was originally a player.

She enjoyed the game <Graduating from the Academy with Luck>.

That isekai where the game became actual reality.

The difference between game and reality creates a sense of dissonance.

The color and grade of tickets were part of this.

10 gold coins – Ticket (30% chance of defective ticket)

100 gold coins – Guaranteed ticket

A cheap ticket with a chance of failure if you spend less money.

Now I know that it’s actually an iron ticket that doesn’t even let you enter the exam site, or a bronze ticket that might prevent you from taking the exam depending on the participant quota.

Conversely, a platinum ticket is somehow considered lucky if you get it.

In the game, where tickets had neither color nor grade, it was considered a lucky ticket whose true nature couldn’t be grasped.

Even the special treatment of triple numbers or double numbers was something she didn’t know about.

‘Even the noble house that raised this child has made preparations.’

Yet she has a general understanding of tickets.

That’s why Giselle thought.

This knowledge must be the result of education from a noble house.

Gift Academy.

There are many noble families trying to enter the continent’s premier academy.

For this purpose, many undergo training bordering on abuse, or conversely, suffer torment close to torture to prevent admission—as many instances as there are families.

“Young lady. May I ask the name of your family?”

“I don’t know.”

“You needn’t worry. The butler who was bothering you has gone to arrange transportation, and the maid is guarding the table and cannot come to eavesdrop on our conversation.”

“I really don’t know.”

“…You truly don’t know the name of the family you were born and raised in?”

Oknodie made a troubled expression.

“Don’t speak ill of my servants. They’re not bad people. They feed me well and let me train in good facilities.”

“Have you had your social debut?”

“I don’t need such events.”

“Tea parties with peers of your age?”

“Do they serve a lot of food at those?”

This is hopeless.

This is not a child raised in a normal noble family.

Clearly raised solely for admission, sacrificing her life for the glory of the family, a pitiful life knowing neither the joys of childhood nor womanhood.

The existence of such a child makes one feel sorry and guilty to the point of pity.

Even if she enters the Academy like this, she won’t escape being a marionette controlled by her family’s wishes.

“I, I’ve decided.”

“What?”

“This entrance exam. I’m going to take it too.”

Oknodie’s eyes widened.

* *

What is this old man saying?

Only those under 20 can take the entrance exam.

“You’re too old.”

“Haha. Age can be forged easily.”

“Even if you could deceive them, wouldn’t it be hard to adapt even if you managed to enter?”

The Academy’s rigorous schedule is not something an ordinary person can handle.

Giselle is no ordinary man, but strength diminishes with age.

Without the stamina to stay up all night doing assignments and preparing for exams, one cannot graduate from the Academy no matter how sharp their wit or brilliant their talent.

“Besides, you passed the ticket exam with money. The entrance exam won’t be that easy.”

“How innocent you are. Unlike what our young lady knows, the world is ugly. With the vile acts of dirty adults, what should work doesn’t, and what shouldn’t work does.”

Is he planning to use bribes?

It’s not my business, but I respect his bold spirit.

‘Can a black market merchant stop selling tickets and go take the exam?’

This is an event that never happened in the game.

I wonder if this is okay, but I can’t tell someone who wants to take the exam to stay in the countryside selling tickets.

Above all, the fact that this is an event that never happened in this game has a special meaning.

The 600 to 300 to 99 to 1 rule.

Common branches are 600 and 300.

Rare branches are 99.

Unique branches are 1.

An event that only happens when you avoid the 60%, 30%, and 9.9% probabilities and hit the 0.1% probability.

It means I’ve hit an incredible probability.

Of course, probability is relative.

Whether this is great luck or great misfortune, I don’t know.

Giselle took the challenge seriously.

He gracefully accepted the result.

Despite his identity as a ticket black marketeer, his humanity isn’t so bad.

“Is this like a middle-aged dream? I hope it goes well.”

“…A middle-aged what? It’s not like that,”

“I’ll cheer for you. Fighting!”

Giselle went up to Michael’s room with a ticket he had kept instead of selling.

Shortly after, he came down waving a platinum ticket proudly.

It’s quite impressive that he wants to achieve academic success by entering the Academy despite his late age.

“They say there’s no age too late for study. Good luck!”

“Damn brat. I really want to give you a knuckle tap.”

“Why?!”

I got cursed at after encouraging him.

Giselle was muttering something about who caused what, but closed his mouth upon seeing the maid.

“Do you like Leaf, mister?”

“……”

“I could introduce you… Ouch.”

I got a knuckle tap.