Chapter 8. Royal High Academy Entrance Exam Results

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<Royal High Academy>

With the ‘Royal High Academy’ in the center of the empire as the flagship, there are Royal High Academies with different atmospheres in the four cardinal directions of the empire.

This was to discover talented individuals in each region and to accommodate those who couldn’t easily come to the central Academy.

As it boasted the largest scale academy facilities, classes were finely divided according to student levels.

Basically, they are determined based on four classes: A, B, C, and D.
Besides these, there’s also an S class for a very small number of individuals, for royalty and high-ranking nobles with duke and marquis titles.
A total of five classes existed.

Nevertheless, the annual admission rate to the Royal High Academy was extremely low compared to the total number of applicants.

An acceptance rate hovering below 10% of all applicants.
Even that requires passing a discerning entrance exam, and successful candidates are assigned to ‘classes’ at the discretion of the examiners.

If you ask whether there’s a completely absolute standard, surprisingly, there was.

Minimum grade and Talent level required for acceptance, excluding Talents that appeal to the examiners.

For example, in the case of ‘Common Talent’, the lowest grade.

For Talents related to magic, regardless of type and grade, if there are no disqualifying factors, acceptance to the Academy is generally possible.

Even if the Talent level is 1, magic-related Talents are valued wherever you go.

And the class that’s evaluated highest after magic is the elemental series. It’s treated as a separate Talent while being closely related to magic.
Besides these, those with special Talents like magic engineering can also be accepted.

Even if it’s ‘Common’, it’s possible to be accepted into the Academy.

And all ‘the many other’ Talents are immediately filtered out.

This meant that other Common Talents were virtually impossible to be accepted.

If there’s one exception to this, it’s only for those who have achieved ‘Talent level 3’.

This exception clause wasn’t publicly disclosed as an acceptance criterion, and in fact, there were barely any students with Common grade who reached level 3 before entering the Academy across the entire Academy.

This meant that achieving level 3 with a Common Talent was extremely difficult.

And from Rare grade onwards, most could be accepted as they were rare Talent holders, appearing maybe once in 100 people.

…

ー At the main gate of the Central Royal High Academy.

Past 1 PM. Many people gathered at the Academy’s main gate.

Although the numbers had decreased compared to yesterday’s entrance exam applicants, amidst the sea of people with no room to step, one man was crossing through the crowd.

“Excuse me. I’m sorry. I’ll just pass through for a moment.”

Chunsung kept apologizing as he somehow pushed through the crowd to move forward.

Reaching the front of the huge bulletin board next to the main gate.

Chunsung began to scrutinize the bulletin board.

‘Han Chunsung, Han Chunsung…’

Where could my name be?

Knowing the world setting, it was obvious that I passed the Academy, but now what felt most important was which class I was assigned to.

‘Please be B class.’

While fervently wishing, I didn’t even look at the A class acceptance list.

I knew there was no way I’d be assigned to A class.

So I started looking from the B class acceptance list.

Thud. Thud.

Despite the constant pushing of people, I stubbornly maintained my position and read the list of B class acceptances. Then I was surprised.

“Why are there… so many names?”

The number of people listed in B class alone reached hundreds.

Dermian Bederin – B1
Luke Mornil – B1
Labella Orsia – B1
……

Names were written with surnames, and assigned classes were separately indicated, seeing which I belatedly realized a fact.

‘Right. There were those noble bastards…’

People from noble families take the Academy entrance exam ‘in advance’.

Unlike commoners like me who took the entrance exam yesterday jostling with each other, nobles take the entrance exam leisurely at a separate institution.

So the current acceptance list was bound to be much larger than yesterday’s entrance exam applicants.

Yesterday’s case was… just an entrance exam for the commoner special admission.

“Ha.”

Clicking my tongue briefly, I started reading from the B1 list continuously.

B1. B2. B3…

Even within B class, the grades of the accepted candidates are divided.

The person who received the highest grade in B class is in B1, the next grade in B2, the next in B3, and so on…

After reading through the acceptance lists up to B4, I felt my heart sinking.

‘It’s not here.’

No matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see my name.

How could the three characters of Han Chunsung be so invisible?

And B5 is the last of B class.

As I read up to the beginning of B5, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Please… please…”

Even as I uttered these desperate words, I could only stamp my feet anxiously.

There was a reason why I absolutely had to get into B class.

ー Support funds.

The Academy’s support funds are divided according to class.

From B class onwards, you can receive ample support from the Academy to the extent that it feels livable.

To get the equipment I want now or eat the food I want to eat, I had to get into B class.

While C class students receive 20 silver monthly from the Academy, B class receives as much as 50 silver monthly.

In terms of salary, there was a 2.5 times difference.

…And I had a clear goal of needing to acquire a proper spear.

If your Talent is ordinary, you need to match it with good equipment.
To buy a spear of that quality, the silver received in C class was far from enough.

After reading through the B5 class list…

I could only be dumbfounded.

“…Shit.”

Along with the involuntary curse, I rubbed my face.

‘This isn’t right.’

I wanted to at least button the first button properly.

How can this happen every time?

In the Talent test, giving me a not-so-good Talent… I tried to accept it somehow and make an effort.

So I honed my Spearmanship to reach Talent level 3 and showed my best in the entrance exam.

‘But still not B class?’

Just thinking about it, I was dumbfounded.

I guarantee that among the students accepted this year, those who reached Talent level 3 won’t even be 1% of the total.

“…”

Then I remembered Grecia, whom I met at yesterday’s exam.

She who had a level 3 Talent despite it being Unique.

‘Of course, Grecia is also level 3, but…’

Grecia should be considered a kind of named character. From frequently ranking at the top in this world setting, she was far beyond ordinary.

So, Grecia was separate.

That I’m not in B.

Thud.
Thud.

As if everyone was looking for their own name, even as I was jostled by their movements here and there, I sighed and turned my head.

Then, looking for my name in the C class acceptance list, I could see my name without much searching.

Han Chunsung – C1.

“Damn it…!”

As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t help but curse.

‘C1?’

It means if I had received just a slightly higher score, I could have at least gone to B5.

I still clearly remember that Kali, one of the examiners yesterday, evaluated me favorably.

It wasn’t for nothing that I dreamed of B class.

Because examiner Kali looked at me favorably and even said several additional words. So despite my Common Talent, I dreamed of the B class that was beyond my station.

‘Then the other two examiners…’

Did they evaluate me unfavorably?

Perhaps they just gave me passing marks fitting the minimum acceptance criteria for a Common Talent like me, and gave me a score close to the bottom, thinking I didn’t deserve more than that.

Surely… if they had evaluated me just a bit more favorably, I could have at least made it to the tail end of B class.

With these continued thoughts, I felt strength draining from my whole body.

“Haah…”

Heaving a big sigh, I slowly gave up my spot.

Being pushed by people trying to check their names, I felt sick of even looking at the names.

I just felt lamentable.

“30 silver every month…”

That’s how much difference there is between the money received by B and C classes each month.

Considering that 100 silver makes 1 gold… over a year, there’s a difference of more than 3 gold.

30 silver every month. 360 silver difference over 12 months.

I could only sigh at that regret.

“Haah.”

Now when B class eats luxurious lunches, I have to save money by not eating anything delicious.

Can I really get the spear I want?

ー A spear made of mithril.

That’s what I thought I needed most right now.

I thought if it’s a mithril spear, there’s a possibility for various activities like monster subjugation in future practical training.

But. The money needed for that just flew away in an instant.

‘…Even a rough calculation would be over 5 gold.’

Of course, there won’t be any Academy students with the Spearmanship Talent, so I need to place a separate custom order at a professional blacksmith.

And considering the cost of refining a mithril spear, it seems like it would easily exceed even 5 gold…

“This is really driving me crazy.”

Even for me who tried to stay confident and positive. Right now, I felt my spirit breaking.

…Even if I save every penny without spending a single coin at the Academy, how many years would it take to save over 5 gold?

Of all things, to be at the very top of C class.

Step.
Step.

As I absentmindedly emerged from among the people,

“Han Chunsung.”

I heard a cold voice calling me.

As I turned my head blankly, I wondered when she had arrived.

Grecia was visible at a position quite far from the bulletin board.
She looked at me nonchalantly, and as our eyes met, I felt a momentary surge of resentment.

‘Why did she have to take the exam in the same group as me?’

Did it cause my grades to be lowered?

It’s clear that Grecia received excellent grades yesterday. No matter how well I did in the exam, there was no way I could have gotten a high score.

That’s why I was assigned to C class instead of B…

But.

Contrary to those thoughts, I found myself smiling before I knew it.

“Oh. Grecia. Have you finished checking your class?”

As I approached Grecia, I was speaking to her affectionately.

…That’s that, and this is this.

I couldn’t push away the only person I could rely on right now because of a momentary emotion.

“Yes. It was A1 class.”

As I watched Grecia answer calmly, I hesitated.

‘A1…?’

That meant she was in the same class as the protagonist, Leonhardt.
And in the Royal High Academy I knew…
That was something that originally didn’t happen.