Hero Academy Entrance Exam
And just like that, a month passed.
I had decided to focus my efforts this past month mainly on preparing for the Hero Academy entrance exam, but in my previous life, I’d somehow managed to make it to university, and since I’ve pretty much memorized the entire JRO strategy wiki, I don’t think there’s any way I’d be foolish enough to fail the written exam at this point.
Besides, more importantly, there are hardly any bookstores in this world. JRO didn’t require books, so I never really paid it any mind, though.
At most, you’d buy grimoires in a magic city or something.
So, naturally, there weren’t any Hero Academy entrance exam prep books or anything like that for sale.
In other words, even if I wanted to study, there were no materials.
So, to also prepare for the Practical Exam—the one where they assess your actual combat abilities—I spent most of this past month leveling.
I wiped out about three Orc hordes, which caused an increase in goblin settlements, so I annihilated about seven of those, and while I was at it, I culled beast-type monsters until they became difficult to find.
As expected of the ‘Farmer’ profession, which was the most popular one in JRO, my leveling efficiency is far greater than when I was Unemployed.
Reaching level 17 in a month is huge. On top of that, perhaps due to hunting so many monsters, my Adventurer Rank also rose to B.
And so, today was the day of the Hero Academy entrance exam.
Clutching the exam admission ticket that had indeed arrived for me, I stood before the main gate. It seems I at least managed to pass the document screening.
“This is it, huh?”
Ragna, standing next to me, looked a little nervous as she stared at her own admission ticket.
…This past month. I did my leveling solo, but in my other time, partly as a review for myself, I also lectured Ragna on how to prepare for the written exam.
It’s a given that I’ll pass, since I personally tutored her. Ragna, who had decent stats in JRO, will surely pass too.
…And Reina, being royalty, as well.
However, when you come this far, you start getting greedy.
Since I’ve made it this far anyway—I’m thinking I’ll aim for perfect scores on both the written and practical exams and pass at the top of my class.
◇
After finishing the four-hour-long written exam, we headed to the venue for the Practical Exam. As for how it went, I’m pretty sure I got a perfect score unless something truly unexpected happened.
…The content was about the level of arithmetic I learned in elementary school in my previous life, and questions about monster ecology, geography, and lore that would be common knowledge for any hardcore JRO player. Frankly, the difficulty was such that I’d be embarrassed if I got even a single question wrong.
…However, Ragna’s cat-eared, walking beside me, were drooping dejectedly. She might not have felt too good about it.
“A-adding three fractions is just unfair…”
Sh-she couldn’t do the math…?
Come to think of it, I lectured her on monster weaknesses, ecology, and JRO lore, but I didn’t teach her anything about this stuff at all. …Honestly, elementary school level math is so basic if you lived in Japan that it was a complete blind spot for me.
“W-well, I think you can make up for it in the practical exam. From what I hear, the practical exam results are weighted more heavily than the written one.”
“Y-you’re right! I want to be in the same class as Haito, so I’ll do my best!!”
“O-oh…”
It’s kind of embarrassing when she gets motivated like that.
And so, the Practical Exam began.
◇
The Hero Academy’s Practical Exam involves being randomly assigned by an examiner into groups of six, then fighting in a round-robin tournament within that group, with points distributed according to win rates.
If it’s a round-robin with six people per group, I’ll fight five opponents. Assuming a perfect score is 100 points, that means each win is worth twenty points.
Technically, if you happen to be assigned to a group with an unusually high level, you could fail even if you’re reasonably strong, so there’s a fair bit of luck involved in this exam. Well, it doesn’t matter to me since I won’t lose no matter who I face.
Anyway, the group I was assigned to was Group A-1.
The group at the very end, huh.
Ragna was in Group B-3. I was a little relieved that we were in different groups. If she were in the same group as me, she’d be guaranteed at least one loss, and that would be pitiful.
Now then, what kind of people are in my assigned group?
It’s a mystery if there’s even a single person who’s properly surpassed level 10, but I shouldn’t let my guard down. If I fight cleanly, I should be able to win normally.
Thinking this, I calmed my mind and went to where Group A-1 was gathered…
“Haito?”
“…Reina?”
Reina was there. She’s in A-1 too?
“How dare a disowned ‘Farmer’ like you address Reina-sama so informally!”
“S-stop it, Ellen.”
A silver-haired woman in a knight’s uniform showed her anger, her hand touching the hilt of her sword. Ellen Nightroad. In JRO, she was supposed to be Reina’s knight and childhood friend.
…Well, since I became her fiancée, I’m Reina’s childhood friend, though. I’d seen this world’s Ellen from a distance a few times, but this was the first time we’d actually spoken.
“No, you are right. My apologies. I apologize for my rudeness, Reina-sama.”
“Haito…”
Reina looked at me with sad eyes.
Right now, I’m just Haito, disowned by the Dukeheart House, not a noble or anything. …I haven’t yet become a man worthy of Reina.
But,
“While I’m being rude, allow me to apologize in advance for giving Reina-sama’s record its first blemish.”
“Haito, you’ve got some nerve. I’ve become many times stronger than I was last month, you know?”
“I’d expect so.”
The Dragon Knight Princess profession gets significant penalties to magic attack and agility, but in exchange, it receives massive bonuses to everything else. If Reina, who’s confident in her physical attack and defense, took that job, she’d likely have enough power to overcome a slight level difference.
But, that’s only if I weren’t a JRO player.
To be blunt, Reina without her Thunder Dragon is only about as strong as a slightly powerful knight. Besides,
“I’ve gotten stronger too, you see.”
“Oh? If you’re going to say that much, I won’t hold back on you, okay?”
“I don’t mind holding back on you, though?”
At my words, Reina laughed, looking amused.
And Ellen glared sharply at me for my thoroughly impudent remarks.
“Of course, I’ll be sure to thrash Ellen-sama too, so please don’t worry.”
“Is that so. Then, let’s have you fight me first. Instructor, is that acceptable?”
“Well, it’s a round-robin anyway, so I don’t particularly mind.”
The elderly instructor readily agreed. So it’s Ellen before Reina, huh.
Well then, shall I show this ‘Knight’-sama Ellen? The true way to fight as JRO’s strongest profession, the ‘Farmer’—