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Chapter 7
After the ideological screening ended, there was a break. During that time, lunch was served, and the quality was surprisingly good.
“This bread is this soft?”
I couldn’t help but marvel as I took a bite. The bread practically melted in my mouth the moment I chewed it.
I was licking my lips, disappointed that I’d finished it so quickly, when complaints came from beside me.
“Damn it, they expect us to eat this?”
“You could use this as a hammer. Isn’t this going too far?”
A hammer? If this counted as a hammer, then the bread on the battlefield must have been Mjölnir.
I couldn’t help frowning at such spoiled complaints.
“Greetings, brother. I’m Kellin.”
A burly man approached with an easygoing smile and held out his hand.
The moment we shook hands, Kellin tightened his grip. He was fairly strong.
Of course… only by ordinary standards.
When I squeezed back, his expression immediately twisted.
“AAAAH! I lose! I lose!”
He let out a dramatic scream.
As soon as I released him, he shook his hand in disbelief.
“What kind of strength is that…?”
After taking a deep breath, Kellin suddenly put on a serious expression.
“I knew my instincts were right.”
“Instincts?”
“Every time I’ve taken the security guard exam, I’ve always guessed who’d come in first. I’ve taken it four times already and never been wrong. This year, you’re taking first place.”
He chattered endlessly.
“You’ve taken the security exam four times?”
“Ahem. I’m aiming for the Elite Guard. I actually passed the regular guard exam before, but I turned it down.”
“The Elite Guard?”
“Brother, you really don’t know anything about the Academy Guard, do you?”
Kellin grinned as if he’d expected that.
I nodded honestly.
“I don’t.”
The game’s focus had always been the students and professors.
The guards barely mattered.
At most, they existed to signal that an event had begun—or to show up afterward, acting important while cleaning up the mess.
They were nothing more than extras.
Naturally, I knew almost nothing about them.
“Ahem. The Elysium Academy Guard has two branches: the Regular Guard and the Elite Guard. They may both be guards, but they’re completely different.”
“Different how?”
“The salary, for one! Elite Guards earn ten times what regular guards do, and their待遇 is on a whole different level. Regular guards are basically mercenaries who protect the outer walls. The Elite Guard is the core of the Academy’s security.”
“And the regular guards?”
“The regular guards? They’re just overworked laborers running errands all day. They mostly stay around the outer district. They never even get to see the Academy’s main building.”
So the guards I’d seen in the game were the Elite Guard.
I’d chosen the guard route because it had little story involvement while giving easy access to students and professors.
If I ended up as a regular guard instead, my entire plan would fall apart.
“How do you join the Elite Guard?”
“Heh. Finish in the top two of the guard exam, and you’ll be drafted into the Elite Guard. It’s insanely competitive.”
There were nearly a thousand applicants.
Top two…
“That’s easier than I expected.”
“…Easy?”
As I nodded, Kellin stared at me in disbelief.
Just then, the examiner stepped forward.
“All right. We’ll now proceed to the fourth testing ground.”
The next testing ground was a large, well-maintained training field covered in sand.
“The fourth test is a one-on-one duel against an Elite Guard. Your score depends on how long you last. This is essentially where the Elite and Regular Guards are decided.”
Before I knew it, Kellin had moved beside me and quietly explained.
“The examiner matters the most.”
“The examiner?”
“They personally decide how many Elite Guards they’ll recruit. Some have picked five people before. Others only one.”
“So they recruit at least one.”
As I nodded casually, Kellin chuckled.
“Your confidence is something else.”
At that moment, several guards in uniform stepped forward.
Standing in the center was a man with a goatee.
Judging by the atmosphere, he was today’s chief examiner.
The moment Kellin saw him, he frowned.
“It’s Bedrick this time. Damn it.”
“Why?”
“Bedrick’s famous for being picky. He hardly ever selects anyone for the Elite Guard.”
The goateed man stepped forward.
“Greetings. I’m Bedrick, Captain of Elite Guard Squad Four. The fourth test is simple. When your name is called, step forward and fight one of the Elite Guards one-on-one. Your score depends on how long you last.”
“I have a question, Senior Bedrick!”
Kellin shot his hand into the air.
The goateed man frowned.
“Who said I was your senior?”
He openly sneered at him.
Kellin didn’t shrink back at all.
Laughing awkwardly, he asked again,
“Haha… So how many Elite Guards are you recruiting this year?”
The examiner’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
An unpleasant smile.
“None.”
“…What?”
Kellin stammered in shock.
“Normally, the Elite Guard only recruits candidates recommended by trusted sources. We only draft people from here when we’re short-handed. But this year we have more recommendations than we need.”
He swept his gaze across the applicants with naked contempt.
“So why would I recruit from a trash heap like this?”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
“Damn it… So that’s it this year too. Just my luck to get Bedrick. Damn him. Too bad for you too, brother. Under normal circumstances you’d definitely make it. But after saying that? He won’t recruit anyone.”
Kellin warned me seriously.
I didn’t care.
I’d simply make it impossible for him not to recruit me.
The fourth test began.
The Elite Guards lined up.
Even their presence was on an entirely different level from the ragtag applicants gathered here.
There was a reason Bedrick had called them trash.
Still…
To me, they were all the same.
One after another, applicants rushed forward, enraged by Bedrick’s insults.
None of them stood a chance.
They couldn’t land a single hit before being mercilessly beaten down.
This wasn’t an exam.
It was a beating.
“S-Stop! I surrender!”
“There is no surrender.”
One applicant cried out halfway through.
The Elite Guard ignored him and continued kicking him until he finally lost consciousness.
Only then did they stop.
“Next.”
After witnessing that, applicants began forfeiting one after another.
“Damn Bedrick… He’s deliberately trying to crush everyone’s spirit. He’s beating them far too viciously.”
Kellin ground his teeth as he glared at the examiner.
I tilted my head.
“Vicious? Isn’t that fairly gentlemanly?”
“…Gentlemanly? Brother, are your eyes broken? Normally they stop after disqualifying you. They don’t beat you like they’re trying to kill you.”
He stared at me in horror.
Looks like my standards have become those of the battlefield.
Living through countless battles had left a gap between common sense and my own.
Still…
I believed my standards were the correct ones.
Sooner or later, the entire continent would become a battlefield.
“Kellin.”
His name was called.
His examiner happened to be a short man.
The examiner recognized him and sneered.
“Worm Kellin. Still haven’t given up? You’re only good enough for the Regular Guard.”
Kellin’s face darkened immediately.
“We took the exam together last year. He’s an unbelievably obnoxious bastard. Damn it… of all people…”
After letting out a long sigh, Kellin shouted a spirited battle cry before stepping forward.
His spirit was impressive.
Only his spirit.
Pathetic.
His strength wasn’t bad.
But his movements were painfully slow and predictable.
His opponent was actually quite skilled.
He could have ended the fight instantly.
Instead, he deliberately dragged it out, striking Kellin over and over.
It was nothing but cruel humiliation.
“Guard spirit!”
Kellin kept shouting as he forced himself back to his feet.
His determination was admirable.
It changed nothing.
Thud!
The guard’s baton slammed into his solar plexus.
Kellin collapsed with a heavy crash.
“Kellin. You pass the Regular Guard exam.”
The examiner spat directly onto the back of Kellin’s head.
Kellin clenched his fists, trembling with rage.
“Grave.”
My name was called.
Coincidentally, I was next.
Kellin looked up at me with his bruised face.
The fire that had been in his eyes had noticeably dimmed.
Tsk.
Clicking my tongue, I picked up the wooden practice sword.
“Brother…”
“So the score depends on how long you last, right?”
He nodded blankly.
Looking at him, I asked,
“How many points do I get if I beat the examiner instead?”
His eyes widened before he burst into a grin.
“Even as a joke… that feels satisfying.”
It wasn’t a joke.
I simply saw no need to explain that.
“Brother!! Give that bastard a proper beating!!”
Kellin roared from behind me.
He’d already recovered his energy.
His booming voice echoed across the entire training ground.
Every eye turned toward me.
Perfect.
Now they wouldn’t be able to pretend nothing had happened afterward.
“Hurry up. I want to eat lunch.”
The examiner lazily beckoned me over.
He was clearly trying to look imposing.
Unfortunately, the cheap-looking guard uniform ruined the effect.
Exactly as he wanted, I charged immediately.
The distance disappeared in an instant.
My wooden sword shot straight toward his solar plexus.
Startled, he hurriedly lowered his own sword to block.
Too slow.
Clack!
The wooden swords collided sharply.
His sword was violently knocked aside.
“What strength—”
He tried to recover his stance.
Too late.
His posture had already collapsed.
My wooden sword struck his exposed thigh.
Smack!
His leg buckled.
His balance wavered violently.
I pressed harder, forcing him down onto one knee.
At that point, most people would have admitted defeat.
He gritted his teeth instead.
He had no intention of surrendering.
Neither did I.
I had no intention of accepting one.
When I raised my sword, he instinctively guarded high.
Sloppy.
Sloppy enough to make me yawn.
Wham!
The tip of my foot struck his chin cleanly.
His eyes rolled back as he started collapsing.
I didn’t allow him to fall.
One lesson the battlefield had taught me was this:
When you crush someone, crush them completely.
Half measures only come back to bite you later.
I hooked him back upright with my wooden sword.
Held him in place.
Then unleashed my fists.
Blow after blow rang out.
He opened his mouth.
Probably trying to surrender.
I grabbed him by the mouth before he could speak.
Then I swung my wooden sword again.
I hit him as many extra times as the number of applicants he’d beaten earlier.
Finally—
Crash!
He crumpled to the ground like a broken doll.
“Pathetic.”
Clicking my tongue, I looked around.
Everyone was staring at me in utter disbelief.
Hundreds of people filled the training ground.
Not a single sound could be heard.
A wonderfully satisfying silence.
Then my eyes met Bedrick’s.
His face had turned crimson, his entire body trembling with rage.
He looked furious.
Looking directly at him, I asked,
“So… did I pass?”
Bedrick chewed furiously on his lip.
I was about to ask again when someone else answered instead.
“Brother! Of course you passed!!!!”
Kellin’s booming voice shook the entire training ground.
