Chapter 7: The Angel Caught in a Test (4)

Episode 7: The Angel Caught in a Test (4)

‘Gasp…’

In his past life, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of this. The fact that a beauty, rare even among celebrities, was the one proposing to team up.

So, of course, Leffrey couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Great! We’re now… wait, what?”

Her pink tail drooped. It swished towards the floor as if dissatisfied.

“It’s just… we’re meeting for the first time. I can’t trust you.”

“Meeting for the first time? But I…”

Leffrey knew a little about Hongwol.

She would become one of the famous villains in the future, notorious for robbing even banks in powerful countries. As far as Leffrey knew, Hongwol was famous for looking down on graduates of the Central Academy, let alone the ones entering it…

Could it be that she took the exam this year and failed, leading to her inferiority complex?

Anyway, teaming up with such a troublemaker wasn’t a wise move. Besides, if that troublemaker was much stronger than him, the right thing to do would be to avoid her as much as possible and kee

“Boy, let’s just stick together. You won’t regret it.”

Hongwol couldn’t bring herself to say that she was that cat. Why? Her proud self acting cute towards a man in the form of a cat?

That was too embarrassing.

“Hmm…”

Would he really not regret it? The boy avoided Hongwol’s gaze and swallowed his words. He then carefully stepped back.

“I need to use the bathroom for a moment…”

“Wait. Wait!”

…He heard a sigh from somewhere.

“Phew.”

Only the person who sighed knew the meaning behind it, but to others, it sounded like a sigh of relief.

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Candidates started filling the hall one by one, and as it got closer to the deadline, it became quite crowded. Most of the gathered candidates were divided into groups, secretly promising to help each other in the upcoming tests. In online games, this is called teaming.

‘It’s pointless.’

Leffrey shook his head.

It wasn’t an exam where having a team guaranteed success. Having a team you could trust wasn’t a bad thing, but if it was a team where everyone was just looking to backstab each other, it was better not to have one at all.

And did the academy professors not anticipate teaming? Of course not. The academy professors were, in layman’s terms, veterans, and they could predict most of the candidates’ actions.

‘Come to think of it… Hongwol wanting to team up with me is quite rational. I don’t belong to any major power, and Hongwol is also from the Mooncat tribe, whose livelihood is thievery and assassination… outsiders.’

However, Hongwol was still glancing at him with an expression that couldn’t hide her annoyance. Her drooping ears even looked pitiful. But Leffrey’s mind didn’t change. If there was no trust between them, it was better not to form a team.

And there was another reason.

‘One of the ways to gain a large amount of Angelic Power is… to save future heroes.’

Angelic Power could be obtained by performing good deeds. Leffrey was a guardian angel sent down from heaven to protect the heroes who would become heroes, and he could gain a large amount of Angelic Power by protecting heroes.

However, while Hongwol was a villain, she is a bit ambiguous to be called a hero, and she is also too strong for Leffrey to save. If the situation was dangerous enough for Hongwol to be in danger, Leffrey would probably be a cold corpse.

The people Leffrey needed were those who were weak enough for him to help at this point in time, but who were also destined to become heroes – hidden dragons. Of course, there were many such hidden dragons at the Central Academy. The problem was that most of them were privileged people who didn’t need Leffrey’s help.

‘…This is a headache.’

The boy shook his head.

The first test would begin soon.

Should he take the test like this, without having found a hero candidate to protect, let alone farm Angelic Power?

That was the moment.

“That was close. To submit your application 3 minutes before the deadline.”

“Huff, huff. Thank you.”

A girl caught his eye. A worn-out wizard hat, a wizard robe with several stitched-up patches, and a well-worn spellbook tucked under her arm. Leffrey couldn’t recognize who she was just by looking at her appearance.

The girl’s hair was unique. It looked like faded gray hair, but the inner strands were still glossy black. It was a dyeing style commonly known as inner color.

From the now-gone past,

Leffrey had heard something on a radio broadcast.

‘Yes, we have another question sent in. How does Soya-nim create her hair color?’

‘Ah… my hair color is strange, isn’t it? It’s not some stylish inner color or anything. Explaining it would be long… but to summarize briefly, you can think of it as a side effect of magic.’

Along with the words ‘side effect of magic’,

the radio had gone silent for a few seconds.

“Black Magic Princess Soya?”

Leffrey slowly approached the girl. As far as he knew, Soya was famous as a genius who self-taught black magic. The important word here was ‘self-taught’. Self-taught meant that Soya didn’t receive any support when learning magic, and therefore, there was no power backing her.

Soya needed help. The help of a guardian angel who would protect her through hardships, nurture her potential, and even search for opportunities.

‘My precious Angelic Power… I mean, hero candidate!’

Leffrey’s eyes sparkled with greed.

Dong- Dong- Dong- The giant clock in the center of the hall announced the start of the exam. The candidates stopped their chatter and looked at a man standing on the podium. Professor Park Jin-ho, with his sturdy appearance, was standing next to him.

“Good work, everyone… no need for pleasantries.”

Leffrey knew the identity of the man standing on the podium. It was Lusa, the professor in charge of this exam. He had already met her.

“Because you’ll have to really work hard from now on.”

Lusa, disguised as a middle-aged man,

said while picking his ear with a listless expression.

“We’ll be handing out bracelets to you now. This bracelet has one purpose. It’s your lifeline. If you feel like you’re going to die during the exam because it’s too dangerous… just rip it off. Those who rip it off will be teleported outside the exam site immediately. Ah, you know that those who rip it off are obviously disqualified, right? And only the wearer can rip it off, so you don’t have to worry about protecting the bracelet or anything.”

And Lusa warned in a gloomy voice,

“If you don’t rip it off because you hate being disqualified, even when it’s really dangerous… you’ll really die. You’ve heard it on the news, right? That people die in this exam every year. If you think it’s truly dangerous, rip it off immediately. We’ve warned you.”

A solemn atmosphere began to fill the hall.

“Well then, I think that’s all for the explanation…”

Lusa snapped his fingers with a bored expression.

Then, a rumbling sound came from afar. The sound, which sounded like a storm raging or rocks rolling, was…

“The first test is nothing special. Just survive… and find your way to the next testing area.”

It was water.

A large amount of water, enough to fill the entire hall.

The water poured down like a waterfall, and within seconds, it started reaching up to Leffrey’s waist.

“Go out to the hallway!”

“Quickly, to the hallway!”

There were several passages in the central hall of the application center. Of course, since candidates had to eat and sleep during the application period, it was understandable that there were passages leading to the dormitory and dining hall.

But why did the other passages exist? A total of 12 doors, 6 on the left and 6 on the right, and their respective passages. Except for the front door leading to the dining hall and dormitory, there was no reason for these doors and passages to exist.

‘This is obvious. They’re suddenly causing a disturbance to make us escape into the hallways.’

That’s why the candidates weren’t surprised when the water poured down. This kind of exam format was quite common in past exams. Creating some kind of threat to make the candidates escape and push them into different testing areas. It was too obvious.

So the candidates escaped into the hallways according to the teams they had formed. Of course, they also took the opportunity to block other candidates who weren’t part of their teams.

Not just blocking, but some candidates even subtly attacked others.

As chaos unfolded at each door, a few candidates remained motionless, floating above the rising water.

The first was Yumari, the Dragon Lady of the Seocheon Yu, the second was Hongwol of the Mooncat tribe, and the third was a boy with no connections, an orphan named Leffrey.

The boy thought,

‘As expected, the first test is exactly like it was in the documentary. A test that uses pouring water to push the students into the hallways. Most candidates would think the answer is to quickly head to the hallways before the water rises, but the correct answer to this test is…’

To stay still in the hall.

Why was staying still in the hall the correct answer?

Didn’t Lusa say earlier?

To come to the next testing area alive.

This was the next testing area. Leffrey didn’t remember exactly, but it was said that one could figure out that this place wasn’t just for a test like this, but for a different kind of test, based on various magical structures, drainage channels, and installed objects.

In the past, only one person had succeeded in making this deduction.

Naturally, it was Yumari.

‘But this time, Yumari, me, and Hongwol all got the answer to this test right. What kind of variable will this be?’

Ting- With a sharp tearing sound, a thin barrier unfolded beneath Leffrey’s feet. Only those who had headed for the ceiling as soon as the water started pouring down could avoid this barrier and reach the water’s surface. This barrier also meant that those who accidentally got the answer right wouldn’t be acknowledged.

The three of them floated and looked at each other. It was a truly awkward situation. Yumari was the first to speak.

“You came up too.”

There was a slight sense of relief in her expression.

But no one responded to her words. Hongwol was busy glaring at the professors, her ears drooping as if annoyed by being wet, and Leffrey was too busy looking at what was happening below to pay attention to her.

Leffrey watched the tragedy unfolding below. The other candidates who had formed teams had closed the hallway doors, and some even summoned Undines to grab the ankles of the candidates who hadn’t formed teams, dragging them down.

Eventually, the candidates who couldn’t hold on any longer started ripping off their bracelets and giving up on the entrance exam. Once one person gave up, the candidates started disappearing one after another like a contagious disease.

However, there was one candidate left.

A girl with gray hair. It was Soya.

She struggled to open the door with a dazed expression, resisting the Undines.

‘Why is Soya… Since Soya will become one of the best mages in the future… I thought she would have definitely passed through the door and headed to the hallway.’

Despite Soya’s movements getting slower as she struggled, the professors didn’t move an inch. Lusa yawned in the water as if bored by the sight, and Park Jin-ho ignored the foolish girl’s final moments with a cruel look in his eyes.

‘Why isn’t she ripping off the bracelet? Why?’

Suddenly, Leffrey thought this was an opportunity.

‘Wait… this is a chance to get Angelic Power. And since Soya is a future hero, if I do her a favor… this is a win-win!’

Leffrey didn’t hesitate any longer.

The boy dived and knocked on the barrier blocking the bottom. However, no matter how thin the barrier was, there was no way Leffrey could break it with his own strength.

He activated the Martial Arts of the Archangel.

And…

[Angels transcend their limits when doing the right thing!]

Crack- Crack- Crack-

Leffrey’s right hand,

made a horrifying sound as it broke.

Crack-

And then…

the barrier crumbled.

[Saving a life is truly an angelic deed!]

[You have gained Angelic Power]

[Taking risks to do the right thing is truly an angelic deed!]

[You have gained Angelic Power]

[Sacrificing oneself to save another is truly an angelic deed!]

[You have gained a large amount of Angelic Power]

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The Lusa, who had been indifferent to everything, was gone. And The Park Jin-ho, who had been lamenting the candidates’ incompetence, was gone too.

“Saving his competitor without any personal gain… what do you think?”

“…Amazing. Diving into the water where Undines are rampaging without hesitation, even though there’s no benefit to him. Self-sacrifice… conviction… it’s admirable.”

They couldn’t hide their surprised expressions as they watched the barrier fragments falling like snow.

“Jin-ho, do you still think I wrote the recommendation letter wrongly?”

“…Finally.”

Park Jin-ho was still looking up.

Fearlessly into the water where Undines were rampaging…

The boy’s completely mangled right hand…

And yet, the boy still tries to save the girl…

It was like the image of a hero.

Park Jin-ho smiled brightly at the sight.

“Finally, a child worth raising…”