I Became the Daughter of the Academy’s Villain

<20 - Trust Me and Follow Me>

“Now, before we start the test, I will activate the detection equipment to assess your locations and scoring. Everyone, please take out your tickets and place them on your wrists.”

The ticket squirmed and began to take form until it hardened like a metal ring, wrapping around the wrist.

“This is your ticket watch to assist with your assessment. The ticket watch sends a distress signal to a nearby judge if the wearer sustains a fatal injury that prevents them from continuing the test.”

Of course, relying solely on that would get you killed.

They said it sends a distress signal, but that doesn’t mean it will save my life.

Moreover, there’s a blind spot with that watch.

What if the wrist or arm wearing the watch gets cut off?

In that case, you might die without anyone knowing, and your corpse could go unclaimed.

“So, participants, please prioritize your safety and declare [Forfeit] immediately if you judge that continuing the test is unfeasible.”

“You have at least a Gold Ticket, so even if you forfeit or get disqualified from this advanced test, you can still apply for the lower-level exam.”

“Similarly, holders of Platinum Tickets will lose their Platinum privileges but will be allowed to take the final exam of the intermediate test.”

Wow, are you kidding me?

I didn’t know such a safety net existed!

Honestly, I was totally surprised.

Even if I fail the test, characters popping out from the lower ranks are not unheard of, so I thought, what’s up with that? But now it makes sense that such gimmicks exist.

Coming from a background of always passing advanced tests based on superior specs and veteran knowledge, I never knew about this feature.

“When it comes to reality, it’s oddly kind about giving information.”

Myung So then informed us of the final precautions.

“This examination is strictly for determining the advanced students of the Gift Academy. Inter-participant conflict is permitted, but if there are casualties, the examinee responsible will suffer severe point deductions.”

“If excessive killing is detected, the examiner can arbitrarily revoke your eligibility, and you will be barred from reapplying for up to three years.”

Honestly, that’s just a no-brainer.

Don’t put kids in the washing machine.

Don’t feed chocolate to dogs.

Don’t iron your thighs.

Such trivial rules, right?

But the vibe of this game feels more American than Korean.

The reason such ridiculous rules exist is that they’ve occurred in reality before.

“In a playthrough during the war era, that monk wouldn’t even imagine the things that could happen.”

Fortunately, judging by the participants, it’s not such a brutal generation.

When a war breaks out, supporting characters typically don’t show up during the academy entrance exams.

Now that the Northern Grand Duchess is here, there won’t be a [Demon Tribe Early Invasion] regional event, and since the swordsman Sing from the Eastern Empire has joined, the [Eastern Empire's Invasion] event is also off the table.

Having checked the major NPCs from the West, there’s no [Western Rebellion], and since I’ve seen the major NPCs from the South, there’s no [Southern Pirate King's Raid]. This whole playthrough is squeaky clean.

“Now, let’s start the First Gate.”

In other words, it’s a playthrough with no major plot characters causing trouble.

It all comes down to me doing well.

[First Gate Stone Pagoda Building Event]

Build as many stone towers as you can!

The time limit is six hours.

Building towers isn’t hard, but whether you can protect them until the end of the test is another story.

You can protect your own tower, destroy others’ towers, or secretly build towers while hiding; the way you approach the test is up to you!

Challenge the First Gate in your own way.

I think the entrance exam is a test of humanity.

There are people who enjoy watching others fail more than succeeding themselves.

It’s tough and difficult for me to do well.

That requires effort.

It’s easy to mess someone else up.

You can easily ruin someone just by swinging violence around.

The law’s role is to protect those who sincerely work hard from such violence, but unfortunately, the entrance examination hall is outside the law.

It’s a place that can’t be protected by any nation’s laws.

That means it’s a perfect playground for trolls.

“I’m the Northern Grand Duchess, Irene!”

“That stuck-up girl rejected our faction’s invitation, right?”

“Let’s show her what for.”

Named NPCs usually have many enemies.

The Northern Grand Duchess, Irene, is especially prone to that due to her cold personality and haughty demeanor.

As she built her stone pagoda, troublemakers quickly emerged, throwing stones at her.

Thud

Thock

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

“W-wait, the stones froze in mid-air?”

The Monkey Humanoid, Son Ohchun, gasped in awe.

I tugged at his pant leg.

“Why are you just standing there? We need to get out of here fast.”

“Well, it seems you’re not as courageous as a mouse. Aren’t you curious about the strength of possibly the strongest applicant in this entrance exam?”

“You mean the top three newbies, right?”

Jezel chimed in.

“Since childhood, Northern Grand Duchess Irene has fought against Northern immigrants. The renowned Paladin, Jedas, has made his name known in the Western Three Kingdoms. Hector, the son of the prominent general from the South, Heather.”

“Are those guys stronger than me?”

“I have no idea about Son Ohchun’s level, but I think neither would be an easy opponent.”

I don’t care.

I said.

“Huh? The temperature suddenly dropped?”

“Oh no. Look at the sky! Look!”

Jezel finally caught on to the oddity.

The dew hanging from the trees froze and turned into icicles.

The icicles fell and became sharp ice spikes, which lined up and aimed at those who attacked her stone wall.

“Run away!”

“We didn’t even attack!”

“Stay away, you lunatics!”

Of all the applicants who provoked Irene, those who couldn’t escape the assault of the ice spikes bled and collapsed one after another.

The ones who managed to sneak through the crowd barely escaped injury, but those embroiled in the commotion were not likely to let it slide.

“What kind of lunatic is this, trying to mess with us!”

“We almost got eliminated!”

To even think of challenging this level of competition in front of the current active combat mages, the Northern Grand Duchess, has everyone scrambling to not be singled out.

Those spoiled nobles with a superiority complex who didn’t recognize the level gap ended up either getting hit by ice spikes or were almost eliminated due to others’ attacks.

“It’s freezing.”

“You took that blast head-on?”

Son Ohchun, the foolish Monkey Humanoid, caught most of the spikes with his spear, but one spike that he failed to block just grazed him.

While everyone else was worried about getting punctured or having their wounds freeze and rot, he just got a light frost on his outer skin.

His toughness is indeed commendable.

“What’s with that cloak?”

“It’s a product of civilization. It’s optimized for blocking cold-element attacks, also known as the Ice Cloak.”

“Can you really bring equipment to a test?”

“Well, there’s no rule against using equipment.”

“That’s so unfair.”

As Jezel and Son Ohchun squabbled, they looked around.

“But where’s the mouse?”

“Miss Oknodie. Are you there?”

“I’m here!”

A voice calling out for me popped up from beneath the roots of a tree.

[You hid from a wide-area attack under the tree roots.]

[Stealth Experience +3]

[Quick Movement Experience +1]

Finally crawling out from under the tree roots at their calling, I received incredulous looks.

“What are you, some kind of mole-human?”

“Seriously. I was right next to you before those ice spikes flew. When did you hide under there? Your hiding skills are truly remarkable.”

“Thanks to my usual training.”

There’s certainly a payoff for all that sneaking around.

Indeed, the hiding skill is the best cost-benefit ratio skill.

If you level it up, it will never betray you.

“…What do you mean by usual training?”

“I often hide around in anticipation of times like these.”

“What do you mean by times like these?”

“What a silly question. Times when I’m attacked by magical bombardment or chased by assassins, of course?”

“So you mean, as a ten-year-old, you’ve been building your experience avoiding assassins and magical bombardment on a regular basis?”

“Hey, I’m not ten! I’m older than you, enough to make you gasp!”

Originally, I was over twenty.

Since my words seemed to be too incredible to believe, Jezel, after mumbling, facepalmed.

“I have so much to say to that butler and maid.”

“Why?”

“Nothing. Let’s leave before we get attacked.”

With a chilly glare, Irene surveyed the area, as if daring anyone to be foolish enough to step out of line.

No one wanted to catch her attention.

“Tsk. I guess I must forfeit the challenge.”

For reference, there’s a 100% chance that a stat stone will appear at the top of the stone pagoda Irene is building.

While it’s a rare guaranteed appearance stat stone, those who don’t belong to any Northern-related starting faction can’t even get close to it.

Wandering around near the top three newbies who can wipe out dozens of contestants on their own is just plain nuts.

“This is the territory of our Western Mercenary Union. If you don’t want to get hurt, go away.”

“We won’t accept a country bumpkin who can’t make a name for themselves among noble circles into our noble alliance. Just keep passing through.”

Others who were getting pushed around by Irene started claiming territories one by one.

While the more numerous alliances at least give warnings, the stronger few don’t bother at all.

“Isn’t a rock-headed person just, you know, a rock? Right? Or not?”

“Ahh! This lunatic!”

“Stop running and just stand still.”

A psycho trying to use perfectly fine people as materials for his stone tower!

“First, if I take them all out, there won’t be anyone to disturb me.”

“Please! We have no interest in you!”

Nearby contestants were being aggressively targeted by a spear-wielding maniac.

One and all were savage, causing chaos.

“Do I really have to climb the mountain to regain my pride? The ones gathered seem weak, while I want to engage those who are separated.”

It seems Son Ohchun is uncomfortable climbing the mountain.

It’s impressive he even held back enough not to start conflict with the senior examiner, Michael.

Although he did notice Irene’s area attack, thinking, ‘Ah, that’s a bit much,’ and decided to flee, it seems he still wants to clash with the rest.

“Trust me and follow me. The stone available at the mountain base is mostly gravel.”

Those strong individuals or the multitude rely on numbers, gathered at the base of the mountain, while the weaker individuals or smaller groups make their way up.

However, climbing the mountain doesn’t always mean disadvantage.

“Don’t underestimate the advanced test. If anyone could just stand still and build a stone tower anywhere, it wouldn’t even be used as an academy entrance exam, right?”

This event…

There’s a tremendous surprise hidden in it that NPCs in their first playthrough won’t know.

‘It’ll happen in about five hours, right?’

At the rocky mountain stone pagoda building event, here, an avalanche will occur an hour before the end of the test.

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