novelraw Chapter 5 : Martial Academy Entrance Exam (2)
Chapter 5 : Martial Academy Entrance Exam (2)
“What is that?”
At the sharp-eyed examiner’s words, a silence fell over the examination hall for a moment.
‘Ah. Of course.’
It’s cold. This was why I couldn’t feel completely at ease even while holding the platinum plaque.
A silver plaque might be one thing, but a platinum plaque was an unfamiliar object even to the professors.
I was flustered for a moment, but I soon answered calmly.
“This is a platinum plaque.”
At those words, a woman with a gentle impression sitting in the opposite seat, Wu Hwiryeong, opened her mouth.
“Ah, that? It’s that thing from before, isn’t it? The recommendation plaque.”
As expected, this platinum plaque was a kind of free pass. I was inwardly relieved.
But the words that followed were unexpected.
“…I’ve heard of such a thing. So what are you trying to say?”
The one who first pointed me out was the voice of the sharp-faced examiner, Namgung Dohyeok.
At the unexpected point, I quickly racked my brain.
‘Still, an examiner of his age can’t not know about this. Someone should be pretending to know soon.’
“Where did you get that?”
Just then, a solemn voice came from the center of the judges’ seats.
A man with a large build and a handsome face was looking this way.
Gu Jabeom, the chief examiner of this examination hall.
“I received it. From an old man.”
I answered obediently, mixing in the truth. There was no need to hide or embellish more than necessary.
Then, Gu Jabeom stared at me intently, trying to judge the truth of my words.
“That’s not something anyone can have. It’s an item that was given to only a very few when Murim Academy was first established.”
Gu Jabeom looked into my eyes and then declared as if making a statement.
“According to the original regulations, the holder of that plaque can pass any stage of the entrance exam, just once.”
Right. That’s how it should be.
But the fact that he specifically mentioned ‘original’ meant there was another problem.
“But I’m curious. How did you receive that person’s recognition?”
Gu Jabeom asked, staring at me.
‘Why do my ominous premonitions always come true like this?’
Damn old geezer. He could have just given me a silver plaque.
A silver plaque, although it deducted points, was a kind of exam change ticket that could be exchanged for another test.
That alone would have been enough, but the fact that Mi Tae-eul went out of his way to give me a platinum plaque must have been a favor and a test. Maybe it was even revenge for actually getting hit.
Getting pouty because a patient his grandson’s age gave him a little massage.
‘So what do I do? Do I use the authority of the platinum plaque and persuade them by citing the rules, or….’
As I was lost in thought, Gu Jabeom’s words continued.
“I’m just curious. I want to know why Instructor Jeongmuk wrote that he should keep a close eye on you.”
At those words, I finally grasped the situation.
“I’ve become curious about you, who has been recommended by two people I acknowledge.”
‘It wasn’t just the platinum plaque that was the problem.’
The fact that I had strangely passed the first exam had become a butterfly effect.
‘I didn’t expect such a variable to appear so soon.’
It became troublesome due to the unintentional attention.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
But since things had come to this, it was better to go all the way.
I put on a thick face and spoke shamelessly.
“Then I will show you after passing the second exam according to the regulations. Because that is the principle of the platinum plaque.”
At my answer, Wu Hwiryeong smiled slyly, and Namgung Dohyeok’s expression hardened. Their reactions were different, but both were surprised by my attitude.
They probably thought I was arrogant or audacious.
Gu Jabeom also stroked his chin as if interested and said to me.
“Well, that regulation was changed a few years ago. It was decided that the exam supervisors would judge its acceptance at their discretion.”
That can’t be true. It was obvious to anyone that it was a lie. It was probably a rule he had just made up.
However, in this place right now, they were the ones in power. I had no choice but to follow, even if it was unfair.
But a small protest should be fine.
“It seems that person didn’t know. He would be disappointed if he knew.”
“Is that a threat?”
Killing intent was shot at me as if to crush me, but I endured the momentum with [Will of the Extreme] and added.
“Of course not.”
When I endured the pressure, Gu Jabeom showed an interested look. This was the reason I had been taking an arrogant stance from the beginning.
‘I’ll appeal my abilities here.’
In preparation for this situation, I brought out the proposal I had thought of before.
“If the presence you just showed is not all you have, please let that be the test instead. I will try to endure it.”
For a moment, it was as if the space had frozen.
A guy who wasn’t even a rising star was going to withstand the presence of one of the top hundred masters of the Central Plains.
It was a huge provocation. To the point where even I thought it was audacious.
‘But Gu Jabeom actually looks favorably on those with such a challenging spirit.’
I felt like I was standing on thin ice, but I didn’t back down and stared into Gu Jabeom’s eyes.
“Hoo, an interesting applicant.”
After a moment, an answer came back. Gu Jabeom’s lips were turned up, but his eyes were utterly cold.
I had a hunch. That it was a sign like the calm before a storm.
In the suffocating atmosphere, as I swallowed dryly, Gu Jabeom’s expression turned cold.
“Ugh!”
In an instant, an immense pressure rushed in. It felt like being trapped in the deep sea. I couldn’t breathe as if my lungs were filled with water, and extreme fear and helplessness dominated my entire body.
‘Damn it!’
A normal martial artist would have already fainted, but I had [Will of the Extreme]. My fading consciousness slowly rose, and my narrowed vision returned to normal.
How many minutes had passed like that? After what felt like an eternity, I felt the pressure release and took a breath.
“You certainly have guts. It wasn’t for nothing that I got a tip. It was worth coming in person.”
‘What?’
Only then did I realize the source of the unease. Originally, Gu Jabeom shouldn’t have been in this place. But because I had met Mi Tae-eul, the future had been twisted.
As if to prove that hypothesis, Gu Jabeom’s declaration followed.
“It wasn’t bad. But this is a place to see forms and skills. Spirit alone is not enough.”
‘Damn it!’
There’s no point in figuring out where it went wrong. The important thing is that I have to show something in this place.
‘There’s no easy way to pass.’
It didn’t seem like a situation where I would pass just by showing some first-circle magic.
Of course, they would be curious, but they would probably drop me while questioning its practicality.
‘In that case, I’d rather show the best I can do right now.’
I quickly racked my brain and opened my mouth.
“Then I will receive a single strike from one of the exam supervisors.”
“Heh.”
“What?”
Reactions immediately followed. Even Wu Hwiryeong seemed to have lost her words at the audacious attitude.
It couldn’t be helped. Everyone here had skills at least at the level of an executive of a famous martial arts sect.
‘But it’s better than a duel.’
A duel, where you have to subdue the opponent, forces a long battle. With this trash stamina, I would collapse before exchanging a few blows.
On the other hand, in a guided sparring session with a master, no matter how strong they are, if it’s just one strike, there is a definite probability of enduring it somehow.
Of course, that’s under the premise that the opponent will go easy on me at the level of a new student. Thinking about this, I had to earn their favor even a little right now.
“However.”
I had no intention of being dragged around unconditionally. Since they had broken the rules first, I was thinking of using the platinum plaque as an excuse to get something out of it.
Even if I seemed arrogant, as a student from the Zhuge family who had even brought a platinum plaque, they wouldn’t be able to rashly kick me out.
“Since you’ve gone this far, may I also make one request?”
“What did you say?”
At the unexpected counter-proposal, Gu Jabeom’s eyes shot up.
Perhaps because of his characteristic of liking audacious things, I saw the corner of his mouth move.
“What do you want?”
“Please turn a blind eye just once, even if I cause trouble.”
A silence fell among the examiners who had been watching silently.
Even Wu Hwiryeong, who had been smiling with interest, hardened her expression. A declaration of violating the school rules, this was no different from trampling on the authority of the academy with muddy feet.
“This bastard!”
“…He’s openly saying he’s going to cause trouble. What does he take us for to say something like that?”
“…….”
The two masters revealed their displeasure. Just as it was becoming difficult to endure the encroaching killing intent even with [Will of the Extreme].
Gu Jabeom let out a chuckle and nodded his head.
“Fine.”
“Chief Professor Gu Jabeom!”
“Instead.”
Gu Jabeom raised his hand and stopped Namgung Dohyeok.
And he glared at me with his white, gleaming eyes.
“You won’t have any complaints even if an arm flies off in the process, right?”
At the utterly bloodthirsty declaration, the professors’ momentum also subsided.
“…Yes.”
What’s an arm? If I failed the exam anyway, all that was left for me was death.
“So who are you going to choose?”
Gu Jabeom looked at me with an expectant gaze. A perverted man. Of course, not him. I would be split in half and killed by his giant blade.
Then Wu Hwiryeong? Or maybe….
After a short deliberation, I pointed at Namgung Dohyeok. At the same time, Namgung Dohyeok’s expression crumpled. It seemed he thought he was being looked down upon.
“Do I look like a joke to you?”
Over his irritated expression, Namgung Dohyeok unleashed a bloodthirsty presence.
It wasn’t as much as Gu Jabeom’s, but it was a presence that held a chilling quality. To the point where I immediately regretted my choice.
But my judgment was extremely rational.
Namgung Dohyeok might seem prickly at first glance, but he was a good educator to the students. In the game, he was harsh but he was a character who didn’t use excessive force, so he was trustworthy.
He was the only adult here who could faithfully conduct a guided sparring session within the framework of education and examination.
‘It’s just that his methods are excessively rough.’
As proof of that, even now, Namgung Dohyeok was trying to kill me with his presence alone.
“Fine. I’ll play along once.”
Namgung Dohyeok, who had walked out from the judges’ seats, pulled out a dagger from his bosom. His main martial art was the flying dagger style.
“What do you want? A sword? A dagger?”
Asking like this while deliberately pulling out a dagger was giving me a choice. That if I wanted, he would face me with a weaker sword.
Normally, one would choose the sword, which was not his main weapon, rather than the dagger. But not me.
After finishing a deep breath, I made the opposite choice.
“I’ll go with the dagger.”
At that, Namgung Dohyeok’s expression hardened even more.
“Don’t regret it.”
From a distance of over 30 meters, he turned his wrist. Then, like a magic card, a stack of daggers fanned out in his hand.
Namgung Dohyeok, who was glaring at me with his fingers spread like a magician.
I forgot to breathe and immersed myself in the daggers in front of me. Then, I could faintly feel the flow of qi between the daggers.
‘I can see it.’
I could see the flow of mana. Qi, in the end, was a power with the same origin as mana. It couldn’t escape the senses of [Absolute Magic].
Soon, thinking he was ready, Namgung Dohyeok spoke in a low voice, imbued with internal energy.
“Try to block it.”
Swish-
The daggers soared brilliantly into the air around him. The red energy they held made it look as if flower petals were swirling.
“I will throw only one of these.”
I took a vertical stance. I could faintly feel the flow in the sword dance of the daggers, which was so dazzling it made my eyes dizzy.
My lowered vision and hearing due to [Dulled Senses] were useless, but paradoxically, because of that, I could feel the flow of the daggers even more clearly.
A tense silence, as if walking on a tightrope, continued in the sound of the wind splitting. A chilling sound of something cutting through the air.
In an instant, I felt a current of air rising from the front. I reflexively tilted my sword towards my right shoulder.
Clang!
In an instant, with a shock that felt like my hand was being torn apart, the dagger bounced off.
I almost dropped my sword, but thanks to the movement of [Limitless Martial Body], I was able to narrowly avoid dropping it.
“Hoo.”
I let out a sigh of relief and raised my gaze.
Namgung Dohyeok had a surprised expression.
I couldn’t see his face in detail, but it must have been so. Because even Gu Jabeom and Wu Hwiryeong, who were watching from the side, couldn’t find their words.
‘He probably didn’t expect it to be blocked like this.’
The core of the flying dagger style lies in the stealth behind its splendor. It’s scary because it’s a long-range attack that you don’t know where it will come from.
But conversely, it also meant that if you could grasp the timing and direction of the attack, you could surprisingly easily counter it.
‘He didn’t even put his internal energy into it.’
Of course, the strike just now was an attack whose original power was extremely reduced by holding back. But even so, he probably didn’t expect it to be seen through and deflected so easily.
Because those who saw it for the first time were usually confused by the unpredictable movements of the daggers and got cut.
And so, in the silent examination hall, I asked.
“Is this enough?”
At my words, Namgung Dohyeok’s expression turned demonic, Wu Hwiryeong suppressed a laugh, and Gu Jabeom raised an eyebrow.
“It’s enough.”
The result was a pass.
* * *
“So this is the junior student building.”
I stood in front of the student building door and muttered. I was slowly starting to feel that I had entered Murim Academy.
‘I can breathe a little easier now.’
I hadn’t taken the final exam yet, but with this, I could distance myself a little from the future of dying under house arrest.
Of course, it wasn’t like there were no remaining worries.
‘To start dormitory life right after passing.’
It would be completely different from the life where the previous servant took care of me.
‘So I have to be even more on my guard.’
Just because I’ve entered the student building doesn’t mean it’s completely over yet. If things go as planned, the final exam for the prospective students will be held next week.
Because there are so many people, the exam is divided into day 1 to day 5.
‘And most of all, I have a reason to get good grades.’
I especially had to aim for the top spot.
I needed the various benefits that came with being at the top, such as the right to go out and the authority to view the intermediate library.
The problem is that to do that, I have to surpass various monsters….
‘This is a headache.’
Even before entering the student building, my head was already starting to hurt.
According to the regulations, I had to stay here until the day of the final exam.
The problem was that if I stayed here, I would also experience that ‘event’.
‘It can’t be helped.’
After much deliberation, I opened the door, and a fight was taking place there.
A man with a bob cut was fiercely striking with the side of his hand, and a bald man was blocking him. Due to the fierce battle, the interior was hot with the heat of the fight.
At the same time, the gazes of the prospective students who were standing there turned to me. A tense tension was circulating inside.
“You must be the last one, right?”
One of the onlookers asked me with a sly smile.
At that sight, I couldn’t help but sigh.
The unavoidable prospective student event. The beginning of the ranking battle.
(End of Chapter)