The Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 221
Chapter 221
“Hey, no matter how you look at it, this is a big deal, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a big deal! It’s a really big deal!”
A huge uproar erupted in the entrance exam hall.
The shock was especially pronounced for the second-years, who had no idea this would happen.
After enduring a tough first year, they had finally become upperclassmen to a new generation.
But now, it was possible that not a single junior would come.
As the second-years held their heads and groaned, Len, observing from a distance, crossed his arms.
“Professor Harrid is relentless, making all the second-years their opponents.”
Originally, only the top nine students were to be sent, but during the faculty meeting, the exam’s structure was revised.
The exam remained a survival test, but now the participants had to survive against the entire second-year class.
“In some ways, this might actually result in a higher passing rate.”
Yura crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.
“If the rest of the second-years were the test subjects, none of them would have made it either.”
Yura glanced at the eight top students, led by Leo.
Due to family circumstances, Chen Xia was unable to attend the entrance exam.
Len nodded at Yura’s assessment.
The original plan was to divide the prospective students into groups of 50, each challenged by one of the top second-year students.
“Well, let’s just wait and see.”
Yura’s eyes narrowed as she observed the test takers.
“Let’s see how well this generation fares against the current second-year students.”
When the test takers finished preparing, a person next to Harrid stepped forward, holding a Hero Record.
“We will now begin the Lumene Unified Entrance Exam.”
The test takers grew anxious at Harrid’s announcement.
The second-years sighed and waited for the Hero’s World to be activated.
“Please.”
Harrid spoke politely to the person beside him.
The small but stocky man smiled and raised his hand.
Whoooooooooooom-!
A bright light filled the test room.
The test takers looked nervous at the sight.
“Now we are entering the Hero’s World.”
“Whoa! I’m shaking!”
It was likely their first experience with the Hero’s World.
Carr laughed at their reaction.
“We used to be innocent like that too.”
“I suppose a lot can change in a year.”
Carr shrugged at Chelsea’s playful comment.
At the same time, a familiar message appeared before his eyes.
[Hero Record Open. Gerwin’s World. Chapter: Prologue – Mount Eddienne]
“Gerwin?”
“Wait! Gerwin? The principal of Damienne!”
Those who saw the message looked astonished.
Damienne, the Dwarf Hero Academy, was led by Gerwin, a dwarven hero who dominated his era alongside the Swordmaster.
The sudden activation of Gerwin’s Hero’s World took everyone by surprise.
“Could that be…?”
As everyone gazed at the person standing next to Harrid with astonished expressions—
Whoosh-!
A blinding light obscured their vision.
Leo opened his eyes and looked around.
The place Leo found himself in was a dense forest.
Mount Eddienne.
The highest mountain in the world, located in the eastern part of the continent.
It was a location Leo, unfamiliar with the current continental place names, remembered vividly.
In fact, it was the first place he had checked on the world map after his rebirth.
The towering Eddienne Mountain was a grand sight.
However, it was not a destination frequented by people.
This was because the area was infested with monsters.
Despite periodic efforts to subdue them, monsters continued to spawn relentlessly.
Many questioned why such a place remained unexplored.
Although it was not affected by Tartaros, the relentless appearance of monsters kept it as unexplored as the Wild Forest.
‘The curse of the Wild Forest may have been lifted, but…’
With Sillatna subdued, monsters no longer appeared in the Wild Forest.
Leo gazed at Mount Eddienne, visible through the trees in the distance.
An unknown realm where monsters endlessly spawned.
Long-term research had aimed to uncover the reason for the monster invasions.
The Wild Forest was known to be cursed, but Mount Eddienne remained a mystery.
Yet Leo knew the truth.
Swoosh-
Leo knelt and brushed the floor.
A memory crossed his mind.
The scenery in his memory was nothing but endless despair.
‘Now that I think about it, how did he defeat him?’
Right here, on this land.
The fate of the world had changed.
A new era began, and the immortal legend was forged.
This land was where the world’s salvation was determined.
5,000 years ago.
In a battle that decided the fate of the world, Leo had defeated Erebos here and saved the world.
This was also the place where he had died in his previous life.
‘I didn’t expect it would come to this.’
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Aine]
[Proofreader – Ash]
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As soon as the exam began, the test takers swiftly concealed themselves.
The forest provided ample hiding spots.
Everyone moved stealthily, faces tense and expressions silent.
First-year students frequently encountered one another, but fights were rare.
Typically, defeating rivals would enhance one’s chances of passing.
However, any rash confrontation would surely attract the second-year students hunting them.
That would essentially seal their elimination.
Fortunately, the forest was vast, stretching around Mount Eddienne, the world’s highest mountain.
Many hiding spots were available.
‘We must proceed with calm.’
Martina, now in the Hero’s World, concealed herself and took a deep breath.
Having trained under Leo, she had entered the Lumene entrance exam.
Martina aimed to pass and enter Lumene with pride.
‘Just avoid encountering Master Leo.’
If she were unfortunate enough to meet Leo, it would spell disaster.
Martina knew Leo’s dictionary contained no concept of moderation.
As Martina nervously navigated the forest, lacking confidence, she soon encountered a group of ten test takers.
Noticing them, Martina made a sound and stepped forward.
Rustle-
Startled by the noise, the group gasped.
Relief washed over them as they recognized Martina as a fellow test taker.
“Oh thank god. Do you want to join us?”
“If you all keep wandering like this and get caught, you’ll be in serious trouble, won’t you?”
In response to Martina’s question, one of the test takers clicked his tongue and wiggled his fingers.
“Certainly, if you’re unlucky enough to be caught by high-ranking seniors alone, you’ll be in trouble. But not all second-year students are the same, right?” He smiled confidently. “You need to change your perspective. Facing the second-year students with courage is crucial.”
“That doesn’t seem like a very good choice.”
The leader of the trainee group snickered at Martina’s words.
“They only started school one year before us; how much difference can there be?”
“That’s right. That’s right.”
“Actually, if you think about it, they’re not even that much older than us, right?”
‘So there are people like this everywhere.’ Martina sighed softly.
If you were good enough to take the Lumene entrance exam, you’d probably been called a genius in some field.
For anyone there, it was certainly true that they would have outstanding skills.
But they failed to recognize that they were merely a drop in a sea of talent.
Surviving a full year at Lumene was an extraordinary challenge.
One must gain skills and experience that essentially transformed you into a different person within that year.
Understanding this, Martina recognized how reckless their thoughts were.
Questioning whether she should offer them some advice, she shook her head.
She knew well that such individuals wouldn’t listen even if she spoke.
“I’ll get going.”
“You’re a coward.”
One of the others sneered at Martina as she departed and shouted to those who had formed a temporary party with him.
“Come on! Let’s all take down the second-years and show the professors what we’re capable of!”
“Yeah!”
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Crash-crash-crash-! Boom-!
“Choke!”
“Aaaaaaak!”
Examinees struck by the flames of a fire summons screamed.
One of the examinees who had fallen to the ground shouted, “What the heck! Why are we fighting each other?!”
Sasha, stroking the neck of her snake-shaped fire summons, Prominence Lizard, tilted her head.
“There’s no rule against examinees fighting each other, right?”
“B-but! We need to cooperate to improve our chances of passing!”
“That’s true. But I don’t plan on passing like the rest of you.”
Sasha smiled brightly.
“What I’m aiming for is the class representative position. I need to pass the entrance exam with an overwhelmingly high score.”
Sasha shrugged and summoned her spiritual power.
Flutter-!
A fierce flame erupted from the Prominence Lizard’s body.
“Consider it bad luck.”
“Aaaaaaaaack-!”
Some examinees were indeed hunting other examinees.
At that moment.
Whoosh-!
A spear whizzed through the air.
Swish-! Thunk-!
Flutter-!
The Prominence Lizard reacted swiftly and bit the spear.
However, the wind attribute Aura within the spear exploded, sending bits of the Prominence Lizard scattering.
Although stunned from the blow, the Prominence Lizard was summoned back.
“A surprise attack, how vulgar.”
Sasha glared coldly at the boy who had appeared.
“You don’t get to talk, preying on the weak.”
The boy curled his lips into a smirk.
The girl, now on the verge of elimination, widened her eyes in shock.
“H-Haviden Birsen?!”
He was a student of Icot and a strong candidate for the class representative this year.
The examinees’ expressions brightened at the appearance of the prince of Birsen, renowned for its strong knight orders.
“A-are you here to save us?”
“So, chivalry isn’t dead after all!”
Haviden grimaced, clearly puzzled by the examinees’ shouts.
“Why should I save you?”
“What?”
“I just came to take down Sasha Cien Lordren.”
Last year’s graduating class had two standout students: Sasha and Haviden.
Both were considered top candidates for freshman representatives by the Lumene professors.
Aware of this, Sasha and Haviden were cautious around each other.
Their paths crossed early in the exam.
“If you get in our way again, we’ll take you down together.”
“This one’s got a bad attitude too!”
“Royals are all so self-centered!”
The test takers protested loudly.
At that moment, one of them spoke up.
“Hold on! If you fight now, one of you might get eliminated! What’s the point of fighting now?”
Given their skills, either Haviden or Sasha could evade the second-year students independently.
But if they fought each other, things would change.
If they got caught by another second-year student, both of their eliminations were likely.
Or if they fought without interference, at least one of them would be eliminated.
To the other test takers, this fight seemed pointless.
But Sasha and Haviden saw things differently.
“If I can’t be the best, then there’s no reason to be here.”
“Sounds like we’re on the same page. I agree.”
The other test takers watched, mouths agape.
‘If you can’t be the best, then you’d willingly drop out now…?’
‘If they’re this good, they must have a lot of pride.’
‘Is this what a true hero looks like?’
They realized they were witnessing something extraordinary.
“You can’t do that. You need to focus on passing the test, not just fighting each other.”
A voice of advice came through, accompanied by a disapproving click of the tongue.
“Huh!”
“L-Leo Plov!”
The test takers were shocked to see their most fearsome opponent for the exam.
If things continued this way, they would surely be eliminated.
But they were also eager to see how the top test takers would handle Leo Plov.
‘We might be out, but…’
‘It’s still exciting to see the strongest contenders face off against the strongest second-year before we go.’
They turned their attention back to Sasha and Haviden, now speechless.
Sasha and Haviden were frantically trying to escape.
“Go go go!”
“I want to be the freshman representative! I can’t get eliminated for nothing!”
The remaining test takers watched as the future leaders of powerful countries ran away, screaming.
“I’ll give you 30 seconds.” At that moment, Leo pulled out his watch and said, “Professor Harrid told me not to let you go, but it’d be sad if you failed so early on.”
The examinees flinched and scattered as Leo offered them a chance.
[Leo.]
“What?”
[Why give them false hope?]
“You never know. They might actually make it.”
Leo shrugged.
Elsie scolded her contractor.
[I’ve said this before. Giving people hope only to snatch it away is the worst.]