The vast auditorium of Crownspire Academy slowly filled with students as the morning advanced.
Rows upon rows of seats were gradually occupied while the air buzzed with overlapping conversations. Some students spoke excitedly about the upcoming exam, others whispered nervously about what kind of test awaited them, while a few sat quietly, conserving their energy for whatever challenge the academy was about to throw at them.
The hall carried the familiar mixture of anticipation and anxiety that always came before something important.
Damon sat in his usual place on the last row, his posture relaxed, one arm resting over the back of the chair as his golden eyes scanned the room with quiet indifference.
Beside him, however, peace did not exist.
"Bosssss!"
The orange-haired young man next to him sounded as if he were mourning a tragic loss.
"Nobody—nobody took me out of that device!" Eric wailed miserably, clutching his head in exaggerated despair. "That bitch just forgot me in there!"
Several nearby students glanced over in annoyance before turning away again.
"And not even these ungrateful people!" Eric continued dramatically, pointing accusingly toward the rest of the hall. "They all left! Every single one of them!"
His voice trembled with betrayal.
"B-but boss… even you forgot about me…"
Damon avoided eye contact completely.
He simply stared forward.
Eric sniffed loudly.
"Do you even know how I was rescued?"
Damon gave him a brief sideways glance before asking flatly,
"How?"
Eric leaned closer as if revealing a great tragedy.
"The cleaner who came after everything was done found me," he said miserably. "And even he thought at first that I was some crazy new invention of the academy!"
Damon remained silent.
Eric continued dramatically.
"Only when he tried to kick me aside did he realize I was actually a human!"
Damon turned his head away.
But his shoulders shook slightly.
He quickly straightened himself and forced his expression back into its usual calm neutrality.
Eric froze.
Then pointed accusingly at him.
"Y-you're laughing at me—!"
But before Damon could respond—
A loud, maniacal laugh suddenly echoed through the entire auditorium.
"HIEHIHIHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!"
Every conversation stopped instantly.
Hundreds of students turned their heads in confusion, scanning the hall for the source of the laughter.
"Where was that from?"
"Who said that?"
"I don't see anyone—"
Murmurs spread as students instinctively tensed, some even raising their guards as they searched the room.
The laughter echoed again.
"HIEHIHIHAHAHAHA!"
But no one could see where it was coming from.
Then suddenly—
BOOM!
A burst of colorful light exploded across the stage like magical fireworks.
Shimmering sparks and bright confetti rained down from above as swirling mana smoke spread across the platform in a dramatic display.
At the center of the spectacle—
A figure materialized.
His back faced the students as he stood proudly on the stage.
He wore a sleek modern white suit, the fabric immaculate beneath the glowing lights. A round hat sat neatly atop his head, tilted slightly forward, and in one hand he held what looked like a slender magical cane or stage stick.
The confetti slowly settled around him, as the entire auditorium watched in stunned silence.
The entire auditorium fell into complete silence.
Hundreds of eyes were fixed on the stage as the mysterious figure slowly turned around to face the students.
Stylish strands of blonde hair spilled loosely across his face beneath the round hat, and a wide theatrical smile stretched across his lips as if he had just stepped onto the stage of a grand performance.
He spread his arms dramatically.
"Welcome, my children!" he declared with exaggerated enthusiasm. "I, Professor Valerian Vox, will be your exam supervisor, organizer, coordinator, and evaluator for today's exam!"
He threw his head back toward the ceiling.
Then burst into another loud, manic laugh.
"HIEHIHIHAHAHAHAHA!"
The strange laughter echoed through the massive hall.
And…..
"Can you shut up?"
It was abruptly cut short.
The annoyed voice came from the side of the stage.
A man stepped out from behind the curtains, dressed in shorts and a simple shirt, his messy hair sticking out in several directions like he had rolled out of bed only minutes ago.
He walked forward with a clear look of irritation.
Stopping beside the flamboyant instructor, he addressed the students bluntly.
"You can call me Instructor Garrick."
His tone carried absolutely no enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Professor Valerian turned toward him with a dramatic expression of disbelief.
"Oh come on, Garrick!" he protested loudly. "Can't you be a little excited?"
He gestured wildly toward the audience.
"They are going to be our students!"
Then he laughed again.
"HIEHIHIHAHA—"
Valerian suddenly lifted off the ground, his feet leaving the stage as though invisible hands had grabbed him by the throat.
His cheeks puffed out. His mouth opened and closed as small bubbles began floating out from his lips.
He clawed at his own throat helplessly, as a warm voice spoke calmly from the side.
"You should have just shut him up like this from the start."
Another figure stepped onto the stage.
She looked far more composed than the other two.
A woman with royal blue hair, tied into a low ponytail that draped forward across one shoulder. She wore a neat top and skirt, and her expression carried a gentle warmth that contrasted sharply with the chaos unfolding beside her.
She smiled softly at the students.
"Oh my my… such brilliant students," she said kindly.
"You may simply call me Miss Elowen."
Beside her, Valerian continued floating helplessly in midair while bubbles escaped his mouth.
With a casual snap of her fingers—
Valerian dropped back onto the stage floor with a loud thud, gasping for air as though he had just resurfaced from underwater.
The entire auditorium remained frozen.
Every student stared at the stage with wide eyes.
Even Eric—who had been crying moments earlier—now sat completely still.
His mouth hung open so far it looked like it might touch the floor.
Damon nudged him slightly. "What are you doing?" he asked flatly.
Eric flinched.
Then slowly turned toward Damon as his eyes shined.
"As expected from the boss," he whispered with awe. "You can even maintain your composure in front of Arcane-ranked raiders."
He continued speaking almost reverently.
"They're some of the most famous raiders alive… closing breaches all over the world for the last twenty years…"
"They're like shining stars in the vast sky!"
Damon slowly turned his gaze back toward the stage.
The three instructors were now arguing quietly among themselves.
He watched them for a moment.
Then thought dryly.
Aren't those just… weirdos?
Meanwhile, Instructor Garrick crossed his arms impatiently.
"Where are the other two?" he asked.
Miss Elowen smiled calmly.
"Oh, they're already at the exam site."
Valerian suddenly perked up.
"Ohh!"
Then he looked toward the students filling the auditorium.
"…Then what are these brats doing here?"
He snapped his fingers.
"BLOOM."
In an instant—
Every single student in the auditorium vanished.
Gone.
As if they had never been there at all.
Instructor Garrick immediately grabbed Valerian by the collar.
"What did you do?!" he demanded.
Valerian grinned.
"Oh, nothing much," he said casually. "I just sent them to the exam site."
Miss Elowen continued smiling warmly.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"Then when exactly were we supposed to tell them the rules and conditions?"
***
He hit the ground with a heavy thud and immediately rolled onto one knee, irritation flashing across his face.
"Those bastards…" he muttered under his breath.
Beside him, another student had fallen just as abruptly and now scrambled awkwardly to his feet, looking completely disoriented.
Both of them instinctively scanned their surroundings.
The environment around them had changed completely.
Instead of marble floors and glowing crystal lights, they now stood in the middle of a dense jungle landscape. Towering trees stretched high above them, their thick branches weaving together to form a canopy that filtered the soft morning sunlight into scattered golden beams. The ground beneath their feet was uneven soil covered with moss, fallen leaves, and twisted roots that spread across the forest floor.
The distant sounds of insects and birds echoed faintly through the humid air.
The student beside Damon looked around in confusion.
"W–why are we suddenly here?" he muttered anxiously. "Weren't we just inside the auditorium?"
Damon brushed some dirt off his sleeve as he stood upright, his annoyance clearly visible.
"Didn't you hear what that maniac said?" he replied flatly. "We should be at the exam site now."
The student flinched slightly when Damon spoke.
"I–I see," he said quickly.
He hesitated for a moment before nervously speaking again.
"W–what exactly is this exam?" he asked. "And… what are the rules?"
Damon let out a slow breath.
"How am I supposed to know?"
The student immediately stiffened.
"I–is this a deliberate move?" he muttered thoughtfully. "Like they want us to figure everything out ourselves… those instructors…"
He nodded nervously to himself.
"They truly are worthy of being Arcane-ranked."
Damon's expression twitched slightly.
"More like they just forgot," he said dryly.
As if the world itself had heard him, a familiar manic voice suddenly echoed through the jungle.
"Heheheheh… my dear students…"
The voice reverberated across the forest canopy.
"I guess we forgot to tell you the rules and conditions for this exam!"
The student beside Damon stared at him in shock.
Damon simply sighed.
The voice continued.
"You are currently inside the exam site prepared by the academy."
Then Miss Elowen's warm voice followed calmly.
"You may think of it as a simulated jungle world. Much like our own world, this environment will periodically produce breaches, which we will generate artificially throughout the exam."
Her tone remained gentle as she explained further.
"Your task is very simple. You must conquer these breaches as quickly as possible."
Then Valerian's manic voice burst in again.
"Hehehehahaha!"
"Students who conquer breaches will receive corresponding points!"
"For example… a regular breach with a mini-boss will grant you 100 points!"
Instructor Garrick's annoyed voice followed immediately after.
"There will also be two core breaches during the exam," he said bluntly. "We will decide when to open them. Each core breach is worth 500 points."
He continued in the same tired tone.
"There are also relics scattered across the environment. If you find them, you will receive additional points."
The student beside Damon raised his hand instinctively as if the instructors could somehow see him.
"But if one student conquers a breach first… then what about the rest of us?" he asked loudly. "How are we supposed to earn points?"
Damon glanced at him briefly.
"Well," he said calmly, "they must have thought about that."
Almost immediately, Garrick's voice returned.
"There will also be regular monsters spawning throughout the exam area," he said. "They will appear indefinitely. Killing them will reward 10 to 20 points, depending on their strength."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Each of you has been assigned a certain HP value based on the data collected by your Manacrons. If your HP reaches zero, your exam will immediately end and you will be transported back to the academy."
Valerian's voice rang out again with theatrical excitement.
"The exam will last six hours!"
Then he laughed loudly.
"Heheheheheh!"
"Let the exam begin!"
The echo faded across the jungle.
The forest returned to quiet.
For a few seconds, neither Damon nor the student beside him spoke.
Finally the student looked at Damon again.
"You're… not as bad as the others—"
The sentence was cut off.
Valerian's voice suddenly returned again, almost as an afterthought.
"Oh yeah!"
"You can also hunt your fellow students for points!"
Damon moved instantly.
Before the other student could even react, Damon stepped forward and delivered a powerful cross kick that slammed directly into the student's ribs.
The impact forced the student to double over in pain.
Damon followed the movement seamlessly.
As the student bent forward, Damon drove his knee upward with brutal precision, the strike smashing directly into the bridge of the student's nose.
Blood burst instantly as the student's head snapped backward.
Before he could fall, Damon spun his body and delivered a sharp spinning heel kick that struck the side of the student's head with explosive force.
The moment the blow landed—
The student vanished.
His body dissolved into light as the system registered his defeat and teleported him out of the exam site.
Almost immediately, Garrick's irritated voice echoed across the jungle.
"You forgot to tell them something important!" he shouted angrily.
"You idiots forgot to explain that they only get the points the defeated student has already gathered! And the final rank of the eliminated student will be the number on which he is eliminated."
His voice carried clear frustration.
Damon stood calmly where he was.
He casually touched his nose with one finger , as he brushed dust from his sleeve.
"Not my fault."