Ch.83First Exam (1)

However, our leisurely greetings were short-lived.

“It seems everyone has gathered.”

There appeared to be at least tens of thousands of people.

In the middle of the exam venue teeming with this massive crowd, a voice resonated from all directions simultaneously, echoing through our minds.

“THIS IS IT!!!”

The moment all examinees’ gazes shot upward.

The owner of the mysterious voice leaped down from the ceiling and landed with a thud.

“Whew! It’s hot. Damn, I’m a furry therianthrope, so I’m weak to heat! Everyone, keep your distance from me!”

What appeared was a wolf-type therianthrope hero, similar to Miss Hoshino’s canine form.

Silver wolf ears protruded from her long, flowing silver hair, and behind her, a fluffy tail swayed gently.

But what caught everyone’s attention most was her bold outfit that revealed her glistening abs and large chest.

A short jacket casually worn over black leggings, with a top cut daringly low beneath her chest, simultaneously flaunting her intense wildness and sensual silhouette.

With each flutter of her clothing, it was as if a beast’s breath permeated the entire atmosphere.

The examinees around her instinctively shrank back from her overwhelming feral aura.

“B-Blanche…!”

“A-Rank 38th…!”

“Wow, this exam is no joke!”

“An A-Rank hero is supervising from the first exam?”

Whispers of admiration and tension spread among the examinees.

Of course, I knew her well too.

Blanche, an A-Rank hero with the epithet “Mad Dog.”

During the <Monster Frontline> game era, I remember she was a fairly popular 2-star gacha character with good stats, though she wasn’t my style so I never raised her.

Nevertheless, facing her in person now, her overwhelming presence was incomparable to how she appeared in the game.

“DON’T BE SCARED!!!”

At that moment.

Blanche, microphone in hand, barked at the intimidated examinees.

Her voice, almost like a fierce roar, reverberated throughout the exam hall.

“If you’re already cowering just because a ‘big shot’ showed up, do you really think you can become heroes?!”

The audacity to call herself a big shot.

But for an A-Rank hero, it was certainly justified.

“If you want to live, leave now!”

“…!”

“W-Want to live?”

“What kind of exam is this going to be?”

The examinees began to stir anxiously at the unexpected threatening tone.

“Now that the examinee number limit has been lifted, we need to fail that many more candidates. The hero exam from this year on will not be easy at all.”

Everyone knows the hero exam was never easy to begin with.

With the number restriction lifted, it meant we should prepare for “mass elimination.”

“No one wants to run away?”

Blanche smiled ominously, looking across the exam hall as if hinting at the “hell” that was about to begin.

“Very well. Then I’ll now begin the exam.”

“What?!”

“Right now…?”

“You should at least tell us how it works…”

Many examinees murmured in confusion as the first hero exam proceeded without any explanation of the rules.

Then.

“The rule for the first exam is very simple.”

Blanche displayed a confident smile.

“It’s nothing special… just ‘withstand my intimidation.'”

WHOOSH!

With those words, the entire exam venue, filled with tens of thousands of people, was engulfed in an impossibly heavy pressure.

Like a beast king revealing its claws, Blanche’s aura instantly covered the entire space.

“Argh…!”

“W-What is this…!”

“My head feels like it’s going to explode!”

An overwhelming pressure that no ordinary person could withstand.

Examinees began to fall to their knees one after another.

It was truly a difference in class.

It also meant that to survive here, one must endure this beast-like warrior woman’s aura.

***

One hour before the exam.

“What? You want me to release my aura against examinees?!”

“Yes, Blanche.”

“B-But! My aura is strong enough to shatter the bodies of Grade 4 monsters just by sensing it! Chairman!”

Blanche, appointed as the supervisor for the first round of this hero exam.

Having previously failed as a hero during the cockroach monster incident, she had volunteered for this position to atone for her mistake.

However, just before the exam began, she heard the unbelievable test content.

To release the same aura she uses when hunting monsters against civilian examinees.

If done incorrectly, it could lead not only to mass disqualification but potentially mass slaughter.

But…

“Of course, I’m not asking you to release your full aura. Just moderately, moderately release it, Blanche.”

The figure before her, Arcana Chairman, the idol of all heroes, simply advised caution, insisting it was necessary.

Refusal was not an option.

“Since this exam has no number limit, all sorts of talent from Hero City will gather. That’s why we need to weed out most of them from the start.”

“Even so! People could actually die!”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“W-What?!”

At that moment, Blanche’s beast ears perked up.

The Chairman’s tone was as calm as ever, but the resolute determination behind it indicated a decision that could not be reversed.

They had already crossed a river of no return.

“To cultivate superior talent, sacrifices for the greater good are necessary, I believe.”

“…!”

“And while there are many A-Rank heroes I could assign this task to, I chose you because at least you’re good at ‘controlling’ in this regard.”

“Chairman…”

This exam was like a real battle, not practice.

If an A-Rank hero unskilled in controlling their aura became the supervisor, there could be not dozens but thousands or tens of thousands of casualties.

Therefore.

“I understand, Chairman.”

“Thank you, Blanche.”

It was a brief conversation, but the weight it carried was by no means light.

Blanche pressed her lips together and bowed her head, while behind her, Chairman Arcana quietly placed a hand on her shoulder.

The assigned task was not simply supervising an exam.

It was a position of cold judgment before countless lives.

And.

Blanche opened her eyes again.

Back in reality, she stood in the middle of the exam venue, the focus of hundreds of thousands of examinees’ gazes.

The storm had already begun.

“Nnnggh…!”

“Kuhak?!”

The content of the first exam was to withstand an A-Rank hero’s aura for a full hour.

Even with the hero examiner doing her best to control her power, the intense aura was not something that could be taken lightly.

It was an impossible test from the start, like an infant trying to defeat an adult.

But the purpose was to identify true talent that could endure in such extreme situations.

“Don’t show weakness, everyone! It’s only been 10 minutes!”

Blanche slowly surveyed the entire exam venue.

What came into view was a chaotic scene of examinees sprawled on the floor and others staggering as they barely held on.

More than half had already lost consciousness, and the rest were just gritting their teeth, trying not to collapse.

Amidst this, one figure caught her eye.

“That person…”

She could recognize her instantly even among the massive crowd.

Silver hair, neat knight attire.

And in those calm movements, an unwavering center.

“Miss Song Hana, are you alright? Please compose yourself.”

“Ugh… it feels like every bone in my body is breaking!”

“You must endure. Take deep breaths, and if you’re thirsty, I’ll help you rehydrate.”

It was Zero.

Standing there unfazed, she was even calmly helping the examinee beside her, controlling the situation with composure.

‘As expected of someone who was S-Rank 15th, even if suspended… what an impossible monster.’

Meanwhile, the red-haired examinee collapsed beside her didn’t seem to have any special aura, but appeared to have some special connection with Zero.

As Blanche looked around, she noticed not only Zero but also other examinees scattered about who were withstanding this aura.

Nameless examinees enduring an A-Rank hero’s aura.

These must be the “real ones” the Chairman was looking for.

Then.

“Huh?”

“…….”

Among the crowd desperately trying to endure, one oddly out-of-place figure caught her eye.

A male examinee lying spread-eagled, completely relaxed.

“…A man?”

It was already unusual for a man to participate in the hero exam, but the issue was his posture.

While most were on their knees or lying face down under the pressure, he was comfortably lying on his back as if at a beach resort, looking up at the sky.

And his physical condition was remarkably dry, without a single drop of cold sweat despite the extreme situation.

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to her.

“C-Could it be?! Is this man unconscious and dying? If so… I need to disqualify him and send him for immediate medical—”

“N-No! I’m still fine!”

As she approached with large strides, Janghoon reflexively sat up.

His movement and tone were too clear.

Almost unnaturally so.

At that moment, Blanche’s eyebrow twitched slightly as she crossed her arms.

“Oh? You just got up…?”

“Ah, w-well… ugh, it feels like my bones are being crushed!”

Janghoon quickly flopped back down on the ground.

It was a perfect act of “playing dead,” complete with painful groans.

But perhaps his performance was too awkward.

She didn’t move.

With closed lips and narrowed eyes, she quietly looked down at him.

Slowly… for a long time, as if trying to find a flaw.

“…You definitely got up just now?”

“N-No, I didn’t?”

“You seem to speak quite well too?”

“I’ve… always been good at talking. Haha…”

Her expression remained stern.

Only the subtle twitch of her eyebrow barely revealed her inner thoughts.