novelraw Chapter 82 : Abnormal Symptoms (1)
Chapter 82 : Abnormal Symptoms (1)
Chapter 82: Abnormal Symptoms (1)
A notice that flew in during class.
I wondered what kind of trick this was again.
Until this additional proposal came out, 200 points had no privileges.
There was only the fatal penalty where, if you lost even once while at 200 points, all your points were taken away.
But this time, privileges had been added.
The most eye-catching part was that if you passed the professor interview, you could immediately receive a special selection and move to Class 5 without waiting until the graduation ceremony.
It was definitely a tempting privilege.
But…….
“Artel, isn’t Class 5 an advanced class?”
Hei asked.
And that was exactly why I was worried.
No matter how well you did in Class 3, even if you went to Class 5 through a special selection, an entirely different world unfolded there.
I imagined something like this once.
Let’s assume that Hei, Kiena, and I all obtained 200 points together, passed the professor interview, and went to Class 5.
But what if the test to move from Class 5 to Class 6 was also decided by the amount of points held through duels, just like in Class 1 and Class 3?
I would be fine, but Kiena and Hei wouldn’t last even a week.
That meant the level of students in Class 5 was not something those two could handle right now.
On top of that, because of the Joint Admission System, if the two of them were expelled, I would be bundled together with them, so I wondered if this could really be called a privilege.
Thinking about it another way, anyway, if you had 200 points and lost even once, you dropped to 0.
Because of that, even in Class 1, Hapert ended up being certain to be expelled from just a single duel.
In Class 3, I had no chance of losing, but I didn’t know about Hei and Kiena.
Hei had shown himself falling behind even in Class 1 against his counter, the Water Element, so it wouldn’t be an exception in Class 3 either.
Kiena didn’t have any particularly glaring weaknesses, but I had to consider the one-in-a-thousand chance.
But if we assumed holding 200 points, losing even once and dropping to 0 was an obstacle that could come to either Kiena or Hei.
If the points were going to be taken away by someone else like that, I thought it would be far more efficient and worthwhile to use all of them to take the professor interview instead.
Still, the problem remained: we didn’t even know what the professor interview actually was.
‘At this rate, do I need to stack up 200 points first and figure out the nature of the interview?’
Even for me, it was an unbearably frustrating situation.
There were mountains of things I needed to find out as soon as possible—go up, meet Etar, learn about the Emmet Family’s past, and why he had changed so much after witnessing my death—but because of the trap called joint admission, I couldn’t act alone and ended up like a beast captured in a cage.
No matter how sharp and sturdy my fangs and claws were, I wasn’t using that strength properly.
‘If it weren’t for joint admission, I feel like I could have managed somehow.’
Above all, there was no explanation of what kind of treatment would be handed down if you failed, so it felt far too much like a gamble.
“Artel?”
Because I didn’t answer his question, lost in deep thought, Hei now poked me with his elbow and asked again.
“Ah, yeah. It’s an advanced class. It’s the 5th Circle.”
“Wow, Class 5! Don’t you think we could go too? Look at this. It says you can go anytime you want during the semester. Doesn’t that mean if you pass within this year, you go before even having a graduation ceremony?”
Maybe because he had just pulled off Tap-Taking, there wasn’t the slightest tension in his words—only confidence overflowing instead.
“……Right.”
It was because he didn’t properly know the level of Class 5 that such confidence was coming out.
Hei definitely had talent, but he wasn’t at a level where he could comfortably endure Class 5.
That probably went for Kiena as well.
To begin with, as a Summoner, and one who hadn’t even been properly handling summoning magic for many years, Class 5 would be the same as ascending to the seat of an Archmage for Kiena.
Summoners carried the innate limitation that the 6th Circle was their limit.
The notice that had just flown in felt like it was pointing directly at me and saying, “You alone, come to Class 5,” and I didn’t think that was just my imagination.
“Class 5, huh. I want to go. No, should I try challenging it, Artel? I feel like I can do it. It’s just bubbling up inside me. We even caught the top student, right?”
Hei asked with an innocent expression.
“…….”
I only nodded slightly.
‘If we mess this up, it could turn into poison.’
After class ended, I went to the duel arena.
It was to check a few things with Professor Cullem.
“A guy who doesn’t even duel—why did you crawl back again?”
“I have something I’m curious about.”
Now that I was used to Cullem’s grumbling tone, I naturally brought up my main point.
“What is it?”
In response to her question, I unfolded the notice that had just flown in and asked,
“For someone like me with joint admission, do all three of us have to exceed 200 points to take this interview?”
“That’s not it.”
Cullem answered immediately, without even pretending to think.
“Then?”
“If I want to see just one person, I can do that.”
“And if I pass the interview, what happens after that?”
“What do you mean, what happens? It’s all written there. You go to Class 5 anytime you want.”
That wasn’t what I meant.
It felt like she knew the intent and was deliberately pretending not to.
“I’m asking what happens to the other two if only I pass.”
When I pushed a bit more firmly, her expression also became a little more serious.
“You’re asking because of the Joint Admission System, right? If even one person is decided to be expelled, the rest are expelled together.”
“You know it well.”
“I was going to notify the three of you separately anyway, so this works out.”
Instead of answering, she showed me her Mob.
It was a professor-only Mob, and on it was a notice from this school’s Headmaster, Ed Etar.
[Joint Admission System Revision Proposal]
-Currently, among the five branch schools, the only one with joint admission students is the Ed Branch School.
-Therefore, at the Headmaster’s discretion, there is authority to change, add, or delete the relevant school rules.
-The Joint Admission System only exerts its effect on students who are in the same class.
-In other words, if one member has their ability verified and moves on to the next class, the remaining members are still in the same class with each other, so the effect of the Joint Admission System applies only to that student.
“Is that enough now?”
“…….”
Seriously…….
How strange.
It was a notice from Etar that made any words I might have had disappear.
Looking back on the past.
Since Class 0 had nothing special, I just passed over it.
I chewed over everything starting from Class 1.
As if it wasn’t enough to suddenly change the weekly joint class, the duel subject, into a monthly one, they outright removed that subject in the second semester and made students compete with each other every day.
If the road leading to Class 6 were likened to a cliff, Etar had deliberately installed all kinds of obstacles—slippery stones, thorny bushes, and more—doing everything he could to block anyone from climbing up.
But now, all of a sudden, it felt like he was about to roll out a red carpet and welcome us in.
‘No, at this point, hasn’t he already laid it out?’
Why he was suddenly showing such a favorable attitude toward me was, as expected, impossible to know.
“Are you done?”
Cullem asked again.
“No, there’s one more thing.”
“Ask.”
“I understand that if I pass the interview, I can head to Class 5 whenever I want, but what about the opposite? If I fail, what happens then?”
But after hearing my question, she put on a rather interesting expression and started saying something completely unexpected.
“That’s surprising. Instead of asking what you do in the interview, you’re asking about the price of failure. It sounds like you’re already certain you’ll be taking the interview.”
“Yes.”
Gathering 200 points wasn’t difficult for me anyway.
If I made full use of the afternoon hours, I could easily do ten duels in a single day, so even stretching it out, it would take twenty days.
In less than a month, I could go to Class 5, and the restriction of joint admission would disappear, so for me, it was an opportunity with no reason to pass up.
So I answered honestly, without hiding anything.
“You’re not curious about what the interview is?”
“Not particularly.”
To be honest, I was curious, but no matter what kind of task they gave me, it didn’t matter.
There was no way I would fail anyway.
“Well, fine. Good. You’ve got the skill to be that arrogant, so it’s like you’re saying it doesn’t matter what it is, right? I like that. But I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“If you’re that curious, why don’t you take the interview and try failing?”
I thought she seemed oddly compliant, but I was the fool for expecting even a little.
“Yes, I understand.”
Since there was nothing more to find out from Cullem, I simply nodded once and turned my body around.
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
She asked from behind me.
“For what?”
“Until you take my interview.”
“Who knows. I think it’ll be possible within this month.”
“Later than I expected. With your spirit and skill, I thought it wouldn’t even take two weeks. Did I overestimate you?”
Her attitude kept changing, and her mind seemed to waver back and forth, which didn’t sit well with me.
Part of me wanted to connect Linking right there and rummage through her thoughts, but it would be pointless, so I decided against it.
Anyway, this year—no, within the first semester—I would be leaving Class 3.
Since I was someone who would be leaving, wasn’t it better to stay quiet and go rather than cause trouble before leaving?
Once I went up to Class 5, I’d be stepping right up to the threshold of where Etar was, so there was no need to act rashly.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
As always, I ended the conversation with that single line.
“It’s not really a compliment, but well, does it matter? Anyway, I’ll be eagerly waiting for your interview.”
Cullem left behind a meaningful remark, as if she had no intention of losing either.
That evening.
In the cafeteria, Kiena, Hei, and I gathered.
As the three of us sat side by side and enjoyed our meal, the first to bring up today’s notice was Kiena.
“Artel!”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you think we might be able to go to Class 5 within the first semester? We beat the top student as soon as we arrived! It looks totally possible!”
Good grief.
I hadn’t expected even Kiena to take an interest in Class 5.
That in itself wasn’t wrong.
She had maintained high grades from Class 1 onward, so her confidence had grown accordingly, and she probably thought she could do anything.
But knowing the reality of Class 5, I simply held my tongue.
I didn’t want to say something as miserable as telling her she wouldn’t be able to adapt even if she made it to the 5th Circle.
“Huh? Huh? What do you think, Artel? Don’t you think we can do it?”
When I stayed quiet, she kept poking me with her elbow to the point of annoyance, forcing an answer out of me.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
I had no choice but to spit out a dry response without even looking at her.
“Hei! The Class 3 kids are strangely not dueling us, but that’s because they’re scared of us, right?”
Now Kiena’s conversation partner shifted to Hei.
“Of course! We caught the top student right after enrolling! Everyone must be scared because of that!”
“Then let’s make the first move now! What’s the point of waiting! The faster we collect 200 points, the sooner the day we go to Class 5 comes!”
The two of them already seemed to have their hearts set way up there, in Class 5.
And so, at the cafeteria, Kiena and Hei began wrapping up the day, showing their resolve to start dueling from tomorrow.
After returning to the dormitory, I fell into deep thought.
‘At first, since I didn’t know what would happen to me either, I thought I’d raise them and climb up while turning them into my followers…….’
Contrary to my original plan, I found myself thinking that this time, I might abandon the two of them and climb up alone.