“Then let me ask you, did you have fun during this exam?”
Turning his head to look at the several people who had just spoken, Lomio truly laughed. “You went through being chased by magic beasts, an ambush by a dark mage, and sieges from various teams. Then, before you even reached the checkpoint, you saw an alchemy turret. Any normal person would probably want to shred the person blocking the path, wouldn’t they? But here you are, having the leisure to worry about morality.”
At this, Lomio shook his head with a bitter smile. “But I suppose it’s only natural. Otherwise, how would you have become my clients?”
“You’re really annoying!” After a brief silence, veins throbbed on Elena’s forehead. ‘You insidious villain!’
Everything he said was either a jab at others or focused on his own gain. If it wasn’t for the Lead Team under Cafnir herding the magic beasts to block the path to the high-level zone, how could they have suffered so much?
This guy! He didn’t mention a single word about his own detrimental actions!
Elena felt like her chest binder was about to burst from the indignation she was holding back. But remembering what Cafnir had said, she couldn’t bring herself to curse Lomio out. Heaven knew if he would suddenly attack!
‘This guy helping that guy… there’s just no justice in the world!’
“Hmph, it’s good that you know how formidable I am.”
When Lilith said this, those around her gave her a surprised look but quickly looked away.
“As expected of you.” A member of the Black Queen team gave a helpless thumbs-up.
This was the situation. Building too much muscle had compressed her brain, causing abnormal neural pathways. It was only natural.
In short… they were finished! Their classes were originally support-oriented, so they had hoped to find a powerful fighter to carry them through their years at the Academy. But looking at it now, following a leader like this meant their lives were essentially over!
The contract was signed. What else was there to say? Just pay the credits! They hadn’t even left the Academy, and they had already become workhorses!
Lomio couldn’t be bothered with the complex internal struggles of his “clients.”
“Hey, there are still some unclaimed cards here!”
He walked straight to Beatrice, who was still slumped on the ground, and reached naturally for the alchemy card bag at her waist.
“You!” Beatrice tried to resist.
*Shink!*
A flash of a blade passed right by her cheek. Ibuki Rei’s figure appeared behind her, already sheathing her blade.
“I accept your concession.”
A white light flared, and Beatrice’s figure instantly vanished.
Lomio checked the bag. “Tsk, [Emergency Escape]? A Level 3 card. Not bad, not bad at all. Making one of these yourself would cost at least 30 credits in materials. They’d be even more expensive on the market. We really hit the jackpot this time.”
He pulled out a few cards and, without even looking, tossed them backward. They landed perfectly in the hands of the Lead Team members.
“Buddy. Annie. Ibuki Rei. One for each of you. You’ll need them for the next exam.”
Karenina silently accepted the card, her eyes flickering. ‘Is this the reward for this time…? It’s a very practical item.’
Ibuki Rei was overwhelmed by the favor. “Master — no, this is too precious!”
“Take it. The stronger you are, the stronger our team is.” Lomio waved her off with a reason she couldn’t refuse.
After putting away the remaining cards, Lomio turned toward the end of the dense forest. “Let’s go. Time to certify at the checkpoint and clock out.”
***
The group walked toward the final checkpoint. This time, no team was foolish enough to charge at them.
“My god… are they already forming alliances in the first year?” The proctoring professor’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw this “United Legion” composed of the Lead Team and the main forces of the Black and White Queens.
Wasn’t this an exam where they were supposed to fight each other?! Why did this feel so wrong?!
The certification process was incredibly smooth. As the light of teleportation glowed, they found themselves back in the massive plaza where they had started. In the center of the plaza, a judging panel made of light and shadow had been waiting for a long time. Leading them was the breathtakingly beautiful Principal, Altemis.
“Lead Team, overall score: 94 points. Personal evaluation…”
A professor began reading the grades. His gaze drifted toward the Principal from time to time, as if observing her reaction. Lomio noticed that his personal score this time was very fairly given as an 8. A decent evaluation.
Clearly, the Principal had applied significant pressure during the previous placement exam. Although it hadn’t completely changed the professors’ views, they were still afraid of offending her, so their scores were quite restrained.
‘As expected of a super popular character. She’s just so fair.’
Sensing the shift in mood, Lomio felt a touch of admiration for this beautiful Principal, who was sometimes a bit eccentric. A normal person — especially a high-ranking normal person in a game world like this — was too rare!
The evaluation ended, and light enveloped everyone again.
—
A second later, Lomio was back in the living room of the Lead Team’s dormitory. The familiar environment made him breathe a sigh of relief.
“Finally…”
Just as Lomio was about to head to his room, he looked up and saw a figure he didn’t particularly want to see.
“My Lord, did your exam go smoothly?”
Dressed in a butler’s uniform with small leather shoes, Sylvia had her blue hair tied up neatly. But she was, after all, a woman famous for her beauty in the Academy. Her shapely figure was highlighted by the tight fabric, catching Lomio’s eye. She even revealed a sliver of her ankle! Lomio didn’t even want to imagine how many meals a hardcore gacha player would skip just for a glimpse of those legs.
Unfortunately, he was neither a foot-fetishist nor a fanatic gamer. He was just a hardened player trying to change his fate!
“It seems you’re still very keen on getting close to me, Senior?”
Lomio hadn’t forgotten her various crazy actions from before, which had severely challenged his worldview. But without her, could he have awakened such a powerful class as Dragon Shinobi? Definitely not. By now, Lomio wasn’t even sure what kind of evaluation to give this bizarre relationship.
“A bet is a bet.” Sylvia looked at the man in front of her, somewhat lost in thought.
Who was this? Lomio? These arms comparable to a veteran warrior’s, the solid muscles throughout his body, the intense masculine aura… was this really Lomio? If it weren’t for that face and the power of the witnessed contract, Sylvia would have definitely doubted her own eyes.
And it was more than that! Sylvia could sense a certain aura radiating from him that she had never felt before! His mere presence seemed to remind her Dragon Merchant bloodline to get closer to him. This was something entirely different from the previous charm attraction!
“Thanks to your efforts, I’ve achieved things I couldn’t do before.” Lomio couldn’t ignore her actions. If she hadn’t made the cards using dragon materials to trigger the evolution of his talent tree, he wouldn’t have known about this kind of cheat method. “Your cards were very useful. Thank you.”
The words of gratitude left Sylvia stunned. Then, her slit pupils narrowed. With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out the most powerful offensive alchemy card in her hand.
“Who are you?” Her voice was bone-chillingly cold. “Get out of his body this instant!”
“???”