Rise Of The Villain : In a World Ruled By Anomalies

Chapter 135 - 134 : End of the written exam (2)

A red-haired boy walked toward Exam Hall No. 29, his steps steady and unhurried.

Even though he was still in his teens, the dominating, controlled aura coming from his body didn’t belong to a boy at all. Every student who passed by instinctively moved aside, giving him a clear path.

Beside him walked a black-haired girl with calm brown eyes—Diana Stormborn.

On the other side of them were three more figures.

A golden-haired girl with ember eyes—Arina Evan Imperius—walked with small, light steps. She looked cute, almost doll-like, her features soft but her gaze sharp.

Next to her was a silver-haired girl with violet eyes. Her beauty was like that of a snow-white fairy—cold, elegant, and distant.

She was Jasmine Cael Ashford, the first princess of the Ashford Empire.

The last was a purple-haired girl—Liana Clington—the very woman responsible for Arthur’s exile from the Imperius family.

Together, the five of them drew attention wherever they went.

As they walked toward the exam hall, the red-haired boy finally spoke.

"Diana, what am I hearing?" he said. "You challenged someone for the top spot in the written exam?"

Diana lifted her chin slightly and puffed out her chest.

"You heard right, Brother," she said. "There was a scum who didn’t know his place, so I’m going to show him who is superior and who is inferior."

The red-haired boy glanced at her.

"How does he look, and what’s his name?" he asked.

Diana thought back to Arthur’s face.

"He looks decent," she said. "Black hair and red eyes. And he didn’t tell me his name, saying I would know today. He was quite arrogant."

The red-haired boy snorted.

"More than you?" he said.

Diana puffed out her cheeks and smacked his arm.

"I am not arrogant," she said.

But the moment she finished describing the boy’s appearance, the trio of Jasmine, Arina, and Liana—who had been talking happily among themselves—immediately stopped.

A chill ran down their spines.

Jasmine’s expression hardened.

"You met him?" she said, turning toward Diana.

Diana blinked in confusion.

"Do you know him?" she asked.

Jasmine’s hand unconsciously moved to her neck, rubbing it as old memories surfaced.

"Watch out for that pervert and stay away from him," she said through gritted teeth.

Diana narrowed her eyes.

"I knew he was a pervert from the start. Now it’s confirmed too," she said.

Arina’s fists clenched.

She thought, ’So that failure is taking the exam too, huh... Just how much does he intend to embarrass our family?’

Liana’s thoughts immediately filled with revenge, recalling the humiliation she suffered because of Arthur.

A cold smile tugged at her lips.

’I’ll make your life miserable... Arthur,’ she thought.

The red-haired boy’s eyes darkened slightly.

"So he’s a pervert, huh..." he said. "Looks like I need to meet him."

Jasmine looked at him.

"There will be no need for you to step in, Damian," she said. "I’ll be the one to take care of him, so don’t worry."

The red-haired boy—Damian Stormborn, the bastard son of Duke Stormborn of the Velmora Kingdom, one of the three most powerful countries in the world—nodded slightly. Among the entire family, only Diana treated him like a real brother.

"Alright, Jasmine," Damian said. "But tell me if you need help. I’ll always be there for you."

Jasmine nodded.

Damian spoke inwardly.

’Elina, do you know something about this boy Diana is talking about?’

A calm voice answered in his head.

[ Don’t worry, host. I’ll keep an eye on the exam, making sure if he’s a system user, he doesn’t cheat or anything. So you don’t need to worry about Diana. ]

Damian replied internally, ’Thanks. That gives me reassurance, because right now we cannot tell who might be our enemy in the mix. It’s also possible he is trying to target us—Diana included.’

[ It might be. ]

Before he could think further, another voice cut in.

"Princess Jasmine will not need your help, bastard. I will be there to help her," a boy said.

They turned to look.

A blue-haired boy with brown eyes stood there—Victor.

Damian looked at him and smirked.

"Victor, I was wondering why you hadn’t cursed me yet," he said. "Now you’re finally here."

Victor met his gaze head-on.

"I didn’t care for some crap like a written exam," Victor said. "Just wait for the combat exam. I’ll break that ugly mug of yours soon and show you that you will always be beneath me. It won’t be like our past battles."

Damian smiled calmly.

"I’ll look forward to that," he said. "But right now, let me take the exam peacefully."

They continued walking.

Soon, they arrived at Exam Hall No. 29.

The hall was enormous, large enough to fit more than a thousand candidates. Rows of desks were arranged in clean lines, stretching from the front of the room all the way to the back.

Staff members guided them to their seats.

Damian, Diana, Jasmine, Arina, Liana, and Victor all took places among the front rows.

Before long, all the candidates had arrived and settled down.

Evangeline, Isabella, Aiden, Julia, Aaron, and Elizabeth also entered and took their seats a few rows behind.

Isabella scanned the hall.

"Where is Arthur? I don’t see him anywhere..." she muttered.

Suddenly, a group of around twenty professors entered the hall together.

They walked in a straight line, each carrying a strong and disciplined aura. Their presence alone quieted the entire room.

One professor stepped forward and stood at the podium.

He looked over the hall with sharp, stern eyes.

"Listen carefully," he said. "If anyone is caught cheating by using skills, artifacts, or any other tools or methods, you will be immediately disqualified. No exceptions."

To emphasize his point, he flicked his fingers.

From where he stood, a dome of energy erupted and expanded, instantly covering the whole examination hall.

A faint shimmer passed through the air and vanished.

The professor smirked.

"Now, even if you want to, you won’t be able to use skills, artifacts, or anything that will help you cheat," he said. "This little domain of mine will ensure that."

At that moment, everyone in the hall felt it.

Their mana and abilities were sealed. No skills answered their call.

Students looked at the professor with wide eyes, thinking, ’What terrifying power...’

The professor continued.

"You have exactly two hours to comple—"

Before he could finish, a voice came from the entrance.

"Can I come in, sir?!"

Everyone turned toward the door.

A black-haired boy stood there, leaning slightly forward, taking heavy breaths as if he had sprinted all the way to the hall.

It was Arthur.

Seeing Arthur at the door, Evangeline lifted her hand to her forehead and sighed.

Jasmine’s blood ran cold. Her expression darkened as she stared daggers at him from the front rows.

Diana glanced back, saw who it was, and smirked.

"What a loser," she muttered under her breath.

The professor at the podium looked at Arthur. For a brief moment, disappointment flickered in his eyes, but his face remained calm.

"Hurry and take your seat," he said with a nod.

Arthur rushed inside. One of the staff members quickly pointed toward an empty desk, and Arthur jogged there and slumped down on the chair, still breathing heavily.

’Damn, I took a really long nap,’ he thought, feeling more annoyed with himself than anyone else.

The professor cleared his throat and turned back to the hall.

"So, where was I... oh yes," he said. "You have exactly two hours to complete your examination. Candidates who finish before the given time may hand in their answer sheets to me and leave."

A moment later, the staff began moving through the rows, placing question papers on every desk.

Sheets rustled as everyone flipped them over.

As soon as they had their papers, all the students—including Arthur—began reading through the questions.

Diana’s smile widened as she skimmed the first few problems.

’Easy,’ she thought. Everything she had prepared for was right in front of her.

Arthur held the paper in both hands and scanned the entire thing from top to bottom in a few seconds.

Then he picked up his pen.

He had already decided what to do.

Every page he had read earlier in the library was saved in his mind like a stack of photographs. As soon as his eyes fell on a question, his brain flipped to the corresponding "image," and the answer surfaced on its own.

He simply wrote it down.

His pen started moving.

Lines, formulas, explanations—his wrist moved without pause.

Soon, only the loud, continuous scribbling of his pen could be heard around his desk. While others were still reading and underlining key parts, Arthur was already filling lines at an inhuman pace.

He had already solved the problem of what to do with questions he didn’t fully understand.

He’d just let his photographic memory and pattern recognition do the work.

The system’s voice echoed lazily inside his mind.

[ You really are a genius in matters like that, host. I bet you could become a famous criminal if you put your mind into it. ]

Arthur’s mouth twitched.

’Shut up, you bastard,’ he thought, not slowing down for even a second.

Minutes ticked by.

The hall was filled with scratching pens, rustling pages, and the occasional sigh.

Then—

THUD.

The sudden sound cut through the silence.

Arthur had put his paper down... and snapped his pen cleanly in two, the broken pieces lying on his desk like he had just declared war on the exam itself.

Diana’s lips curled slightly.

’Looks like he gave up already,’ she thought smugly, not bothering to look back.

Arthur stood up, picked up his answer sheet, and walked down the aisle toward the professor.

He handed the paper over without a word and turned to leave.

The professor took the sheet, eyes widening slightly.

"Not even fifteen minutes have passed..." he muttered to himself in disbelief.

Around the hall, heads turned.

Everyone watched Arthur’s back as he left the room.

Some students still hadn’t finished reading the first page of questions. A few hadn’t even picked up their pens yet.

There was only one conclusion in all their minds.

’He must have scribbled anything,’ they thought. ’No one can finish properly in that time.’

A quiet murmur of understanding passed through the hall as they all nodded inwardly and turned back to their own papers.

Time flowed.

One hour passed.

Then another.

Pens gradually slowed and stopped as the last answers were written. The staff moved again, collecting sheet after sheet.

Finally, the professor stepped forward once more.

"Time is up," he announced. "The results will be shown in two hours. Wait until then."

Chairs scraped against the floor as the candidates stood.

In groups and small clusters, talking anxiously about their answers, they began to file out of Exam Hall No. 29.