After driving for two hours, the bus arrived at the Academy.
During that time, Su-hyeon spent his time quietly looking out the window or closing his eyes and organizing his thoughts.
'I'm not even sleepy.'
He chuckled, thinking that he was truly not in a human body, given that he wasn't tired at all despite doing insane levels of training until just the day before and departing in the early dawn.
'In the past, I used to be tired from Monday onwards even after sleeping all weekend before going to work.'
Superhuman recovery ability.
Another power gifted by the Unlimited characteristic.
[We have arrived at our destination. All applicants please disembark.]
Eyes turned toward Su-hyeon as he got off the bus.
Su-hyeon thought it was because of Yu-jin who had gotten off before him, but that wasn't the case.
"Is that him? The one who qualified through a recommendation letter?"
"Seems like it."
"The Ma-in he faced was C-rank, right?"
"With that level, shouldn't he be beyond taking entrance exams here?"
"My friend who was at the scene said he fought incredibly well. All the armed police officers thought he was a professional hunter."
"Don't exaggerate. He probably just got lucky or things worked out well for him."
"Right. Anyway, didn't he not even qualify to apply before getting the recommendation letter?"
"Yeah."
"So, does that mean his characteristic itself isn't that remarkable?"
"It's not all about characteristics."
"But they're important. Compared to kids like Seo Jun-seong, he probably has limitations."
"..."
Su-hyeon's identity, revealed by Yu-jin, had already spread among students in other buses during the journey.
'Kids will be kids.'
Su-hyeon thought nonchalantly.
Obvious interest and obvious belittlement.
The fact that they thoughtlessly talked like that in front of others was itself proof of their immaturity.
'This isn't the time to be gossiping about such things.'
"Silence."
At that moment, the voice of a man walking onto the platform heavily pressed down on the wide field.
"Did you all come here to play?"
Though it was a small voice, as if he was murmuring, it reached the ears of all applicants clearly.
"...!"
The students, suddenly tense, all straightened their posture.
'Indeed, his intimidation is no joke.'
Kim Cheol-han.
Su-hyeon slightly admired the presence of this iron-blooded instructor.
"Don't make me warn you multiple times."
"Yes, sir!"
"Now check your exam number on the admission tickets you received."
Rustling sounds of papers being taken out filled the field.
"You'll see an alphabet at the beginning of your exam number, right?"
Su-hyeon was the only one who didn't even take out his admission ticket.
E-137502.
Having taken the exam hundreds of times, he had memorized his exam number like a military ID.
But the rest hadn't, so they were hurriedly checking their numbers.
Seeing this, Kim Cheol-han's expression grew colder.
"Answer."
"...Y-yes!"
"Keep your answers short, sharp, and uniform."
"Yes!"
"The alphabet at the front and the two digits after it are your group and sequence number. Go to your positions and stand there."
"Yes!"
The applicants busily moved to take their places in front of signs arranged from left to right in ABCD order.
'At least they're not complete slackers.'
Su-hyeon, who had been standing in his position from the start, chuckled.
After gauging the atmosphere once, weren't they now acting promptly at each command?
Before the dust had settled, 200 students had found their places.
Each field had 200 students, making a total of 1,000 applicants taking the exam today.
"Align your ranks evenly."
"Yes!"
Instructor Kim Cheol-han narrowed his eyes as he saw Su-hyeon standing relaxed among the applicants who were busily adjusting their rows and columns with glances.
'That boy must be Jeong Su-hyeon.'
His behavior had consistently caught his eye.
He hadn't been talking loudly, hadn't checked his number on his admission ticket, and hadn't moved while everyone else was moving.
'He was standing in front of the right sign for his position from the beginning.'
It wasn't particularly remarkable, but it was clear that he at least had better observation skills than the other applicants.
"Now let's move. Group A, follow this instructor in order."
He hadn't even introduced his name yet.
'Does he think there's no need to tell his name since most of these people will be going home anyway?'
Among the applicants overwhelmed by the atmosphere, only Su-hyeon had a gentle curve on his lips.
It was like the relaxed demeanor of a discharged sergeant playfully re-entering the recruit training center.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
"E-13! Come and get your test results!"
"Yes."
Su-hyeon received the test sheet that measured his mana volume and physical abilities as he passed through a cylindrical measuring machine resembling an MRI.
'Estimated rank D. As expected.'
It was just one level above the cutoff of D-, but even this would have been impossible without the month of training.
'Can't help it with the low mana volume and characteristic output still being weak.'
Instead, in terms of pure physical abilities, he was at a level that wasn't much behind other C-rank Awakened.
'That's actually fortunate.'
Ordinary gamers would have barely scraped by with a D-.
Being able to start with D was already worthy of being called an excellent beginning.
'Anyway, the estimated rank here only accounts for 20% of the evaluation.'
What ultimately determines the grades is the practical exam at the end.
"No trace of magical energy in the body either. Hmm."
The instructor who handed over the test sheet drew a circle on the evaluation form.
"Good. No issues. Move to the next location."
"Yes."
In fact, this was just a confirmation procedure.
It was a procedure to verify and digitize the estimated rank given externally, and to check the accumulated magical energy in the body to block the possibility of any potential risk factors entering.
'Next is the written exam.'
It weighted 10%.
The subjects included basic subjects like Korean, English, and mathematics, as well as a personality assessment.
'I could get a perfect score on this even with my eyes closed.'
Su-hyeon smiled.
For him, even elementary-level dictation would feel more difficult.
"Cheating will result in immediate expulsion."
The proctor who handed out the dense test sheets checked the time and announced the start of the exam.
The time limit was 1 hour and 30 minutes.
But Su-hyeon finished marking all answers in just 10 minutes and put down his pen.
'Look at that guy.'
The proctor looked at him with disapproving eyes.
'Even if it's less important, he's blatantly guessing?'
But his eyes widened when he saw Su-hyeon's test paper.
Every question on the spread pages had been answered correctly.
'...Was he a good student?'
After the written exam, the applicants had lunch in a massive student cafeteria.
'That guy must be Seo Jun-seong.'
Su-hyeon, who was eating alone, turned his gaze to a boy sitting amid everyone's attention.
A slim build with sharp, deep eyes that was evident at a glance.
He was a top-tier named character who would eventually possess power equivalent to an S-rank Hunter.
His characteristic was psychokinesis with extraordinary output.
'Later on, he becomes a crazy guy who can pull out and throw buildings.'
He was truly a nightmare for enemies.
'And he also has an extremely great father.'
Su-hyeon thought.
Due to his father's influence and his own abilities, he was already nationally famous.
'In sports terms, it's like Lionel Messi who was demolishing his seniors at La Masia, or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who was bombarding the minor leagues since his youth.'
Besides him, Su-hyeon's cohort was filled with numerous monsters, like Lee Yu-jin, the granddaughter of the Sword God, and Hwang Ji-su, who possessed the strongest potential in ice manipulation.
'It's a common setting. The protagonist's generation is always either the golden generation or the worst generation.'
As Su-hyeon moved his chopsticks while observing the named characters—like the boy eating a cute lunchbox with a body twice the size of others, or another boy standing carelessly among friends who were fluttering around watching him—a boy approached him.
"Hello! You're in Group E too, right? Let's eat together."
'Nam Tae-hoon.'
A seemingly slender body but with feline-like agile athletic ability and features with drooping eye corners.
Nam Tae-hoon, who put down his tray with a geniality that eased others' wariness, grinned.
"I'm Nam Tae-hoon. My estimated rank came out as D+."
'He's hiding his strength.'
Nam Tae-hoon was a character with many secrets, but he was the type who would be helpful in various ways if you became friends with him.
"Congratulations. I got a D rank."
"Ah, it's just an estimated rank anyway. If that alone determined superiority, they would have decided acceptance based on rank alone without this exam. Don't you think?"
Nam Tae-hoon joked.
As he said.
An estimated rank was a figure that could only be determined by excluding intangible abilities like immeasurable combat techniques, mentality, experience, characteristic operation skills, and growth potential.
It was merely a reference since it was measured based on high mana volume and destructive power of abilities.
'Anyway, even D-rank is already superhuman compared to mediocre hunters.'
Nam Tae-hoon asked Su-hyeon, who was lost in thought.
"By the way, I heard the story. Pretty impressive, huh?"
"Not really."
"No, seriously. How many guys here could fight like you did? Most would probably become minced meat in less than 30 seconds."
Nam Tae-hoon narrowed his eyes, saying that untrained teenagers who merely possessed special abilities were at that level.
"But I guess your motivation for choosing the Execution Force over becoming a Hunter is clear."
The Samcheok incident.
The fact that Su-hyeon was a survivor of that incident hadn't yet spread among the students.
So Nam Tae-hoon had thrown the remark as a surprise attack, thinking he knew Su-hyeon's background.
"That's right."
But Su-hyeon, who already knew that he knew this fact, calmly nodded.
"Oh, I'm right? Right?"
Instead, it was Nam Tae-hoon who seemed flustered after bringing it up.
"You don't mind not becoming an Execution Force member?"
At Su-hyeon's counter-question, Nam Tae-hoon grinned.
"Of course. But the Execution Force does suit my taste better than being a Hunter."
"Taste, huh."
"Demonic beasts are too gross, you know? It feels like seeing giant cockroaches or mantises. Ugh."
Nam Tae-hoon spoke with disgust.
"It's better to deal with humans. Less nauseating, right? Though Ma-in also look quite appetite-killing..."
Su-hyeon listened well to his somewhat loose-screw talk, and Nam Tae-hoon chatted excitedly.
"Anyway, what I'm saying is, let's both do well."
"We'll be competitors once the practical exam starts."
"Come on. This isn't a tournament where only one winner is selected. Why should we keep each other in check?"
Nam Tae-hoon shrugged his shoulders.
"Both you and I just need to push down the kids swarming here and rise up."
Though he didn't know the specific events yet, Nam Tae-hoon showed no fear of competition.
He had the composure of not even doubting that he would pass.
"True."
And Su-hyeon was the same.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
After finishing their meal, all thousand applicants gathered in the main auditorium.
"Attention."
Kim Cheol-han took the stage again.
"I will now announce this year's practical exam event."
At his words, a thousand applicants focused their nerves, even reducing their breathing sounds.
The practical exam that would determine acceptance or rejection with its 70% weighting.
Announcing the specific event on the day at the venue was a tradition unique to EFAC.
"The practical exam you will take from now on is a simulated battle."
Murmur, murmur.
Agitation, sighs, and screams instantly filled the auditorium.
"Silence!"
Kim Cheol-han, who calmed the audience with a single word, continued his explanation.
"There are 5 starting lines. Mountain terrain, urban city streets, coastal area, suburban area, and underground waterway. 200 students each will start from these points, with the primary goal being to reach the central finish line first."
Additionally.
"Blocking your way will be machine-made humanoid robot dummies. And dummies resembling demonic beasts."
"!"
"Of course, they're not as ferocious as real demonic beasts. But each individual's strength is much stronger than the humanoid dummies."
"This can't be."
"Demonic beasts..."
"Each of them has a small bead-shaped marker attached to their necks. In other words, your score will be determined by combining the points you collect by taking these markers and your arrival ranking at the destination point."
'He's not telling everything.'
Only I knew that there were a few more scoring criteria beyond what was mentioned.
'It's definitely a difficult exam.'
The 1,000 applicants gathered here were truly selected elites.
But out of these, only 100 people would remain until the end and cross the threshold of acceptance.
No.
Excluding non-combat personnel not present here, it's exactly 80 people.
'Even the Military Academy accepts 300 people. This is incredibly harsh.'
Of course, there are other institutions training Execution Force members, but EFAC's status was beyond comparison with them.
"When we gather here again in two weeks, more than 90% of you will be gone."
Kim Cheol-han said coldly.
"But that's what competition is. Let me greet you in advance. Good job, and goodbye."
"...!"
'He's such a harsh man.'
But unlike the applicants who were completely intimidated, I was rather in a cheerful mood.
Watching the chick-like stage of named characters who would later become proper members of the Execution Force—those still quite immature, those already prepared, those going berserk, those unable to draw out their full power, those who overestimate or excessively doubt themselves.
It was somewhat entertaining.
Shortly after.
I was standing behind the starting line, looking at the urban cityscape.
[I'll start the countdown.]
Kim Cheol-han's voice echoed through the speakers.
[5.]
"Phew."
"I'll pass no matter what!"
"Let's go!"
Voices of excitement, fear, and attempts to shake off tension were heard from various places.
[4.]
But soon the audience became quiet.
[3.]
Then only rough breathing could be heard.
[2.]
[1.]
[Start.]
Dududududu!
200 students rushed forward simultaneously.
Except for me.
"They're full of energy."
Bang! Crack!
Everyone seemed to be handling the dummies blocking their way fairly well by utilizing their characteristics.
Of course, there were some who were on a different level from the start.
"Out of my way!"
The cold energy extending from Hwang Ji-su's five fingers instantly froze the dummies in her way.
"Haaaaah!"
The slashes released by Lee Yu-jin in one breath cut and split the dummies.
Boom!
Meanwhile, Seo Jun-seong utilized his psychokinesis to compress debris like bullets and shoot them, destroying everything in sight.
"Wow, that's insane."
"Look at that firepower."
The applicants marveled at Seo Jun-seong, who was collecting only the markers from the necks of completely destroyed dummies with his psychokinesis.
'A monster is a monster.'
Even without using much power, the scale itself was overwhelming.
[Hwang Ji-su 16P! Lee Yu-jin 13P! Seo Jun-seong 21P!]
It seemed that Hwang Ji-su and Seo Jun-seong, with their superior range compared to Lee Yu-jin who used a sword as a weapon, were taking the lead.
"They're truly on another level."
"It's okay. We just need to make the cut line."
The others didn't even think about competing, focusing only on making the passing threshold.
'They lack fighting spirit.'
Of course, in their eyes, I must look like someone who's given up on the exam, just lazily running around at the back without catching even one dummy.
'Go ahead and burn out your energy.'
Regardless, I slipped into a side alley and disappeared from sight.
The main game hasn't even started yet.