Chapter 3: Entrance Ceremony Test-2

The entrance ceremony was temporarily halted.

The professors appeared, revealed the truth, and managed to control the situation.

However, the students did not quickly return to their normal state.

Some had been attacked by the earthen dragon, while others were exhausted from the battle with it.

The academy faculty decided to postpone all schedules to the afternoon and give the students free time until lunch.

Afterwards, the professors gathered in a meeting room.

The first to speak was Kang Taewoo, the swordsmanship professor.

“These new students are truly remarkable. Taking down an earthen dragon… Professor Ji must have been quite surprised.”

A hearty laugh echoed from the middle-aged professor.

Professor Kang Taewoo was one of the first-generation hunters in Korea.

After being injured and retiring as a hunter, he became a professor at Agora Academy.

“The mana circuit itself was damaged. I didn’t expect it to malfunction from such a small shock.”

It was Professor Ji Yuri of the magic department who spoke with a bitter voice.

Having the earthen dragon destroyed by mere freshmen had dealt a severe blow to Professor Ji Yuri’s pride.

Creating magical creatures isn’t possible without dark magic.

What Professor Ji created was a magical circuit using earth and illusion magic.

By installing the circuit in a worm-shaped machine, it could mimic the appearance and magic of a real earthen dragon.

Magical circuits are inherently vulnerable to external shocks, so they aren’t practical tools for real combat.

Even so, Professor Ji Yuri had never imagined that the freshmen would be able to defeat the earthen dragon.

The conversation in the meeting began to flow.

“The one who stood out the most this time was Azuma Yuki. If Yuki hadn’t taken the earthen dragon’s attack head-on in the vanguard, the evacuation would have been much slower. The damage would have been greater too.

A prince of the Ainu tribe… Honestly, he exceeded my expectations.”

“We can’t forget Andy Acosta either. As soon as she realized there was nothing she could do, she organized and directed the evacuation in an orderly manner.

It must be because she’s the daughter of the world’s greatest squad leader. As they say, a tree destined to grow tall shows early signs.”

“The one who dealt the most damage to the earthen dragon was Theo Rozkis. Even I couldn’t help but watch in awe at his martial arts. There are many promising students in this cohort, but in that situation, the only one who could inflict such damage on the earthen dragon with bare hands was Theo.”

“The youngest of the Shin Geomcheon family, Cheon Dohwa, seemed to have realized from the start that the earthen dragon was fake. Look at this. See how he’s casually crossing his arms? This child could have damaged the earthen dragon without a sword, but he stayed quiet.

Perhaps it’s the blood of the Cheon family running through his veins.”

The professors, who had been actively discussing, suddenly fell silent.

There was a topic that needed to be addressed based on the flow of the conversation, but no one could easily bring it up.

It was Professor Ji Yuri who finally broke the silence.

“That student… who exactly is he?”

There was only one student on the professors’ minds.

A CCTV scene appeared on the meeting room TV.

One student, wearing a light sky-blue robe and a peculiar traditional Korean hat, was aiming a bow.

There was nothing strange about the bow itself. Although it was unusual for a weapon to be brought to the entrance ceremony, Professor Kang Taewoo had personally asked, and the student said he didn’t know it wasn’t allowed.

The bow wasn’t anything special—in fact, it seemed subpar in performance. Yet, a single unimpressive arrow was shot from that bow.

That arrow pierced the earthen dragon’s neck and, soon after, took its life.

Professor Ji Yuri spoke again.

“… Just one shot. A single arrow. That was what inflicted the fatal damage to the magic circuit.”

The students were praising others who had dealt consistent damage to the earthen dragon, but the professors knew better.

The defeat of the earthen dragon was, in truth, accomplished solely by that student with a single arrow.

There were students the professors had expected to excel.

That student was not on that list.

Professor Kang Taewoo rifled through some documents to find the student’s name. It was Cho Seonwoo.

“Who exactly is this kid? He’s nineteen. Must have graduated high school early. Was he raised by some guild?”

“… No. That’s not the case.”

Most of Agora Academy’s students are twenty years old by Korean age standards.

However, a few Korean students are nineteen, having graduated high school early.

Aspiring hunters often take advantage of the early graduation system.

In Korea, this is regarded as the elite hunter track.

In fact, it’s common for truly promising hunter candidates to be sponsored by a guild during high school. That’s what the professor was referring to.

Professor Kang Taewoo continued.

“This student… All of his education—elementary, middle, and high school—was through equivalency exams. He even obtained his high school diploma at the age of fifteen.”

“… What?”

“He’s from the former North Korean region. Grew up in the remote mountains of Yanggang Province with only his grandfather. Other than that, there’s no information on him.”

The northern part of the Korean Peninsula has become relatively stabilized.

However, the economic conditions and social infrastructure do not function as well as they do in the south.

There are still gates that have yet to be fully controlled in the rugged mountains of Hamgyong Province.

Naturally, the administration in those areas is still minimal.

In other words, there’s almost no information available about this student.

It can only be assumed that he lived with his grandfather, hunting demonic beasts in the mountains of Yanggang Province.

Silence spread among the professors. Professor Kang Taewoo, hoping to find some clue, flipped through Seonwoo’s personal statement but quickly closed it again.

More than half of the vocabulary was in Chinese characters.

A promising talent capable of defeating an earthen dragon in one strike had seemingly fallen from the sky.

“… An extraordinary irregular has appeared.”

Professor Ji Yuri’s words perfectly captured the sentiment of the professors.

***

The youngest of the Shin Geomcheon Clan, Cheon Dohwa, reflected on what she had seen.

At first, her gaze followed that of others.

Since everyone was looking at one spot, Dohwa also turned to see what had caught their attention.

The crowd’s instinct didn’t disappoint her. A good spectacle greeted her eyes.

‘What the… Who’s this crazy guy?’

That was her first thought. What she saw was a hanbok.

Whether it was a coat or a robe, it was one of those flowing garments she had only seen in dramas.

Dohwa only now realized that casual clothes were allowed at the entrance ceremony.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to be interested in. Dohwa turned her gaze away.

His face was somewhat decent, but people with looks like his were common.

There was no reason to pay any further attention.

“Confucius said, ‘Be resolute in pursuing the Way, abide by virtue, lean on benevolence, and find comfort in the arts.’”

‘Is he really insane?’

The boy reciting Confucian phrases had been pointed out by the professor.

That’s what she thought at that moment.

He was one of two things: truly insane, or an attention-seeker. She clicked her tongue, thinking that Agora Academy admitted all kinds of weirdos.

Then, the truly strange thing happened.

As soon as the professor’s hologram vanished, the boy abruptly stood up.

Just as she was thinking he was about to seek attention again, a spine-chilling sensation crawled down her back.

Dohwa was a step slower than Seonwoo in getting up from her seat. And at that very moment, the earthen dragon appeared.

While rushing forward, Dohwa thought to herself.

‘He noticed before I did?’

The boy had detected the presence of the earthen dragon and stood up before her.

After taking a few steps, Dohwa halted, sensing something off.

‘It’s not real.’

With her innate senses and mana perception, she saw through the illusion, realizing the dragon was a fake.

It also helped that she had fought magical beasts since childhood as a member of the Shin Geomcheon Clan.

The earthen dragon before her lacked the unmistakable aura that a powerful magical beast could never hide.

From that moment, she crossed her arms and began observing the situation.

Then, a sound caught her attention.

“What are you doing? Are you really going to fight that thing?”

The voice came from behind her, not from where the earthen dragon was.

Dohwa turned around.

That boy in the traditional robe had climbed onto the stage, pulled out a strange bow, and was aiming at the earthen dragon.

‘Did he not realize it’s fake?’

She had thought his senses were sharper than hers, but maybe it had been a coincidence.

The bow he held didn’t look particularly impressive either.

Then, he infused his arrow with mana.

Dohwa scoffed at the sight.

Directly channeling mana into a weapon is a highly inefficient method.

If he had that much mana, it would be better used in other techniques or martial skills.

Even in games, mana infusion is a method used when you have no better skills early on.

There was no way Dohwa didn’t know what Seonwoo already understood.

The only reason she didn’t fully mock him was that he only infused about half of his mana into the arrow.

It looked like he had some kind of plan.

In reality, that was all the mana Seonwoo had.

Dohwa couldn’t imagine that an aspiring hunter could have such a small amount of mana.

There was no wind swirling around Seonwoo, and no flashy lights or effects appeared.

His arrow flew unceremoniously and lodged itself in the earthen dragon’s neck. Then, it pierced through.

‘It pierced… the neck? From this distance? With a single shot?’

Dohwa doubted her eyes, but the earthen dragon soon lost all its vitality and collapsed to the ground.

She had already uncrossed her arms and turned her body to face Seonwoo.

‘… Is that possible?’

To slay the earthen dragon in one strike—could she do the same?

Dohwa shook her head.

Of course, the dragon was a fake, but it seemed like that boy hadn’t realized it.

Yet, for him to shoot that arrow meant he had the confidence that a single shot could pierce the dragon’s neck.

Dohwa took a closer look at Seonwoo.

Perhaps because she was observing him more carefully now, the boy’s face seemed much more handsome than when she had glanced at him earlier.

She studied Seonwoo’s face thoroughly, but no matter how much she looked, she didn’t recognize him.

Which meant he wasn’t a promising talent.

That archery skill… If she could synchronize with him as a swordsman, they could create an incredible synergy.

If she could recruit someone with his potential, it would definitely help in her battle for succession within the Shin Geomcheon Clan.

‘I don’t know his name yet, but… I should keep an eye on him.’

With that thought, Dohwa continued to stare at Seonwoo for a long time.