Episode 25. new beginning (4)
no subway.
Alicia looked at Dante, who was shaking her legs nervously.
“Are you nervous?”
“no? … … a little.”
“It’s strange that I’m not nervous. I thought I wouldn’t be nervous at all, but when I entered the test room, I was a bit nervous.”
The adults talked as if Dante would pass, but it didn’t help much.
Where in the world is there anything obvious?
If I hadn’t slept in a sleeping capsule, I might have had nightmares.
Dante took a deep breath before speaking.
“But do entrance grades matter?”
“It doesn’t mean much if it’s not first place. The first place in the admissions grade takes the oath of admission as a representative.”
From noble mtl dot com
oath of admission.
This is where the competition begins.
At first glance, it seems a very fair way, but in reality it was not. It was a rule not to disclose the mana scans or the recordings of the magic bullet test process.
So, a conspiracy theory, ‘Isn’t it entrusting the oath of admission to a person who has been appointed in advance?’ has been raised every year.
Of course, Dante didn’t even think of a declaration. I just wanted to be able to safely enter the school I wanted.
Dante rubbed his chest and spoke.
“It’s fortunate.
“what?”
“I thought it would be a little more bothersome if we were assigned classes based on entrance grades.”
Alicia whispered in a soft voice as if aware of her surroundings.
“There is no separate class for freshmen. Just a common course.”
“ah… … okay?”
“But would it be better to work hard? You go to the dormitory after entering on the first day, right? There’s a big billboard there. In addition, the entrance rankings are all over the place from 1st to 1st place?”
“What time is it now? Doing such a savage thing? Isn’t that a complete violation of human rights?”
“I said It’s an army, not a school. If you just think like that, a lot of unfair things will disappear. This is the army and I am a soldier. Top down!”
Dante was genuinely dumbfounded.
It seemed that there would be no uncivilized culture in the old era where students were publicly executed by opening their transcripts.
Then, I suddenly became curious.
“Can I ask what grade you entered?”
Alicia said ‘Tada’ and spread her palms.
“500th place?”
“Are you not right yet? 5th. Man, 5th place!”
Dante was surprised and relieved at the same time.
As expected, Alicia was at the top level.
In theory, it may lag behind the children of prestigious families who have been educated early, but in practice, it is different.
‘okay. It’s not that I’m ugly, it’s that Alicia is very good at it. I’ll go for the middle or higher too?’
In the midst of these stupid thoughts, I arrived at the test center.
On Earth, ‘I’m a bit handsome!’ A space full of 16-year-olds. Dante entered the exam hall with Alicia’s support.
The mana scan process was the same as that received at Charlie Base. The only difference is that it uses a more expensive and precise machine?
There was no one to guide.
When the test was over, an announcement came out from the speaker, and actions were taken according to the instructions.
A little waiting time was given after the mana scan.
One of the children in the waiting room was on the phone with someone crying.
“no. Shouldn’t you let them rest for at least two or three hours after the mana scan? I think I spent too much mana when scanning. What if Matan fails?”
Dante inferred the child’s situation.
‘First of all, I know how to freely emit mana, but the mana tube seems small.’
In short, it seemed that he had consumed mana to get good results in the mana measurement, and had to take the magic bullet test without having time to recharge.
‘Come to think of it, my ability consumes almost no mana’
whether magic or magic.
It consumes the mana stored in the body. And if you consume more than 80% of your maximum mana, you will experience a ‘mana depletion phenomenon’.
Dante also had a rough estimate of his mana. At the shooting range in the bunker at BS.
The time he could fire the magic bullets continuously was about six hours.
On the other hand, the [Detect Mana Pattern] magic consumed almost no mana.
If only I could learn another magic. It means that there will be no burden even if you use the [ Mana Pattern Detection ] ability and use other magic at the same time.
It was a perfect condition to move on to a two-pattern or multi-pattern wizard.
Before long, Dante’s name was called.
Waiting time was less than 5 minutes.
[Dante Prime. Enter shooting range 21. ]
Inside the shooting range, there were only one manageon, four arrows, and a target.
[ The magic test is conducted in two ways. The first is to hit the target. A total of only five shots are counted. The time limit is 1 minute. ready to shoot. ]
Dante stood on the firing squad and grabbed the managun.
‘This is light-hearted and all-in for the second test.’
[Start shooting. ]
The countdown started with the sound of a belt.
Dante repeated what Alicia had told him.
“The power is so strong that magic bullets bounce, you asshole! shoot weakly. You don’t know what weak means?! 」
I catch my breath and release mana.
‘As weak as possible.’
Shish, shish, shish, shush, shush.
‘Oh yeah!’
All five shots hit the target.
There is no score line, so it is difficult to judge the exact score, but this is a great success.
The target plate that was far away disappeared.
This time, a large model monster came up from the bottom.
[ The second test is the maximum output test. Only one shot counts. The time limit is 5 minutes. Time is counted from now on. ]
The countdown begins once again.
Dante gripped the managun with both hands.
‘Can I just do this as usual?’
Around 20 seconds passed.
Dante raised his gun.
shook.
A large blue orb flies toward the model.
Then,
Kwak!
The model was shattered without shape.
[Exam end. Please put down the managun and leave the room. ]
Dante left the shooting range with a very excited expression. To be honest, I’m not excited about the second test. Hitting the target with all five shots was much more meaningful.
“Hey, hey hey hey hey!”
Alicia was waiting in the lobby.
She stood up and grabbed her bag.
“Did you see it well?”
“I fired five shots and they all hit.”
“A bazooka?”
“That’s what it used to be.”
“Don’t go around saying things like that. You might get hit by a knife.”
“Isn’t there a meat restaurant here? Thanks for your time this week. so i will live Not Scar, but my car.”
“Why isn’t there a meat restaurant? let’s go!”
The two walked out of the test room amicably.
* * *
Same time exam room conference room.
In the conference room, supervisors who would evaluate this test were monitoring the magic bullet shooting range.
One of them summoned his colleagues with a surprised expression.
“uh! Everyone come and take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“This is the video from shooting range 21 that came in a while ago.”
The supervisors carefully reviewed the video.
It was the second test scene.
“Destroyer, has it been the second time this year?”
“Yes? Roger Meyer was the first.”
Roger Meyer.
The second daughter of the Meyer family, the second-ranked superhuman, and the younger sister of Jeremy Meyer.
She was the first to complete the entrance exam on the first day, and like Dante, she was also the first to destroy the model.
About five breakers appear steadily every year in the entrance exam. Dante was the second Breaker of the year.
A man opened his mouth.
“You know what’s even more amazing? That friend shot me in 20 seconds.”
“What? but. I did that much when I was younger too.”
The reaction of colleagues was cold.
“Is there anyone among us who can’t do that? bluff. Anyway, that friend blew 1 billion. Aren’t you supposed to claim damages?”
Of course it’s a joke.
Being locked up for over a week and working overtime is exhausting. Even with such a trivial joke, the atmosphere quickly changes.
The monster model was made of a special ore called ‘Neo Stone’. It was first discovered on an alien planet called ‘Neo’ and was named after it.
If you think of adamant or adamantium that appears in legends or games, there is no doubt. In fact, the general public even called Neo Stone Adamantium.
This mineral is very hard, but it has a fatal flaw. The point is that it can only be processed using powerful mana.
A superman is needed to quarry Neo Stone, but not many people are willing to do it. It was because of the perception that miners were a menial job.
“Twenty seconds. That’s great. Did Roger Meyer take a minute?”
“I bet you did?”
There is a reason for the 5-minute time limit for the second test.
Max output test.
It usually takes 5 minutes for children of this age to fill their full output bullets.
“One more surprise here. That guy probably wasn’t at full output. He just ran out of the shooting range with an excited expression?”
Even if you use only 80% of your mana, you will almost faint due to the ‘mana depletion phenomenon’. It was impossible to run out like Dante.
“What is that friend’s name?”
“Dante Prime. have you heard?”
“It’s a prime family… … Are you hearing this for the first time?”
“Looks like it’s from Charlie’s base. I am staying on a visa.”
Several supervisors who heard the story sighed at the same time.
“That’s a bit disappointing.”
One of the men growled and shouted back.
“How come you are from Charlie? Are you going to discriminate against me based on where you come from?”
“That’s right, you from Charlie know better, don’t you? It was harder than others to get here. Let’s admit what we have to admit, we. What if I don’t discriminate? Still, perception is like that.”
Of course, there is no overt discrimination. However, there were many cases where promotions were delayed or assigned to difficult assignments due to ‘internal decisions’.
One supervisor quickly changes the topic. It is highly likely that such sensitive conversations will only end up hurting each other if you talk about them for a long time.
“really. Roger Meyer’s admission to Stella is almost confirmed, right?”
“So what. How much money is the Mayer family pouring into Stella these days? My brother is also in Stella, so he will go there.”
“By the way, where will that boy named Dante go?”
“well. Aren’t there usually a lot of kids from families they’ve never heard of go to AA?”
“That’s enough to confirm a high score. You might be offered a scholarship.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Let’s stop chatting and focus on our work.”
“”yep!””
* * *
“Steak is also dry aged. Did you eat well?”
Dante looked at the bill and thought he wanted to go to the Versailles slaughterhouse for a while. The meat buffet was free there.
Two million won for a piece of meat the size of a fist.
“You’re a small crab, where does all the meat go?”
“why. Is it because you’re short on money? The steak is too tough. Whose mouth are you going to put that into?”
Alicia ate a total of 12 million won worth of steak, including garnish for 5 servings.
“Honestly, isn’t it too expensive?”
“It’s not like that. But you won’t even think about eating it if you sell it expensive.”
There are some that are expensive, but the restaurant sells them at a much higher price than that. It was because of taxes.
The government imposes a 30 percent tax on restaurants. It is a ‘luxury tax’. In this day and age, enjoying food is an obvious luxury. No one objected to this.
Instead, energy capsules are 1,500 won per capsule. Three pills a day, 5,000 won, was enough to cover the meal.
Today, I ate at a high-end restaurant, so it cost more money. Usually, the cheapest monster meat at a butcher shop costs around 200,000 won. It wasn’t too expensive to eat.
Alicia said she was going back to school right away.
“I’m going out for my first planetary practice next month.”
“already?”
“Yes, Class E. So please pray.”
“Don’t die?”
“What are you crazy about? why am i dying Make a lot of monster jae ale and make it 1st place.”
There was no fear in Alicia’s expression. Her face was full of anticipation.
Looking at Alicia, Dante learns once again. It might be different if you actually encounter a monster. But there is no need to be afraid before then.
“Go and come and brush up on reviews.”
“don’t worry. Even if you tell me not to do it, I will do it. uh huh It’s gonna be fun!”
and after a month.
From noble mtl dot com
Dante received a text from Carum.
[Mister Karum: Alicia is in the hospital. ]