Should I even perform on a stage now?

‘Would that even work?’

I thought so, but my head was already calculating.

500 people gathered when I did the play before.

Even if I get 1 from each person, that’s 500?

‘It’s lucrative, but… no. Get a grip.’

Is this the time to be thinking about acting?

It’s not like they’d give me a spot when I’ve only been in the drama club for less than a month.

I thought about squeezing a little more out of my friends somehow, but….

‘No, never mind.’

It’s a little awkward to look at my friends’ Favorability.

First of all, it doesn’t seem polite, and it’s already high, so how much would I gain by raising it there?

My school Impression value is currently -7. If I raise it to 0, that’s 7 points, so if I target only 43 people, that’s 301 points.

’43, huh.’

Let’s just think of it as creating 43 more or less useful connections and do it.

Anyway, I know that this system is trying to save my life by grabbing me by the collar.

Of course, I’m also working for my life, but it seems that my direction is slightly different.

‘I didn’t plan to save my life with something like Favorability.’

Still, I’m relieved to know that I can replenish points in this way.

I’ll be able to make a lot of friends.

Then Leo waved his hand in front of my eyes.

“Lucas. What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I answered roughly and got up from my seat.

“Tomorrow is the test. Let’s go train.”

* * *

“Everyone, thank you for coming to school even on the weekend. As you all know, we will be taking the first test of the first round in two hours.”

The next day, we arrived at the classroom early in the morning.

All 37 of the successful candidates from 2nd Group were desperately avoiding my gaze.

Of course, my friends in the group were excluded, but half of them failed the document screening, so it was safe to say that about 30 people were completely avoiding me.

‘Hmm.’

If I think of it as a gold mine, it’s somewhat positive.

‘Now that I think of it, should I look at them one by one?’

I stared intently at the professor’s eyes and opened the Favorability window.

Favorability +6

Professor….

As a pro-Imperial mage with ties to a pro-Imperial school, his political leanings aren’t very appealing, but it’s refreshing to know that he personally judges me so favorably. But at the same time, I also felt a little nauseous.

‘He’s someone I can’t raise anymore.’

Okay, judgment complete.

Ding—!

Favorability +6 [Targetable]

‘…….’

What do you mean target? Seriously….

I thought so, but it didn’t come out as a proposal, so I quickly found my composure. It means I don’t need to work in the professor’s laboratory even after coming to this world.

It’s a positive signal that I can have an even better teacher-student relationship.

But even if this system tells me this, my targets are the lowlifes with Favorability of 2 or less.

It’s easy and quick to raise the lowlifes.

‘Come to think of it, the guy next to me also had negative Favorability.’

Shall I try a test?

I turned my head and opened my mouth quietly.

“Hey.”

“…!”

Wham—!

When I reached out, Philip hit the desk with his knee and had a seizure.

“……”

“Is there something wrong over there?”

“Ah, it’s nothing….”

Philip muttered, glancing around.

After the report on my core stability came out, the guy looked at me even more like he was seeing a ghost.

How did he bully Lucas with this kind of guts until now? A squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Favorability -1* [Targetable]

I checked the Favorability and opened my mouth, looking at Philip, whose face had turned white.

“Philip.”

“…Why…?”

“Do your best on the written tests until graduation.”

“…Huh?”

A look of disgust at the written tests flashed across the guy’s face. The value was the same.

Favorability -1* [Targetable]

‘I was going to get at least 1 point, but he’s not giving it to me.’

Words like that don’t raise Favorability.

After all, it’s better to find a way to raise Favorability in a wide area than to make useless efforts like this.

“Write it hard.”

I felt like I had only wasted my Mental Strength, so I made eye contact with Pai, who was in my pocket.

The corners of Pai’s mouth went straight up.

Favorability +10 [Target Completed]

‘Hmm.’

I like this +10.

Separately from that, it seems that they express the meaning that there is nothing more to raise because I became friends with Pai with words like ‘Target Completed,’ but it’s not a very pleasant expression method. I want to stop seeing that window.

When I thought so, the phrase disappeared in front of my eyes.

‘…I could turn this on and off at will?’

Then, the professor called me.

“First, Lucas Askanian.”

The atmosphere in the classroom became subtly tense the moment my name was called.

The professor hesitated for a while, as if he didn’t know what to say, and then opened his mouth.

“…The other day, your core stability came out high.”

“Yes.”

“For the past 18 years….”

I waited for the words to continue, but the story didn’t come back. The professor shook his head slightly and opened his mouth again.

“Today will be the day you use magic for the first time, student. Let’s start with the understanding that we have decided to broadcast the test process in its entirety. Since you haven’t learned magic yet, don’t be nervous and think of it as a light experience and take the test.”

The gazes of the other students briefly touched me at the words that I was using magic for the first time.

‘He still thinks I’m going to fail.’

Probably other students will think so too.

Core stability is not proportional to skill.

Besides, it’s known that I haven’t learned magic yet.

It doesn’t help to explain it in detail.

“Yes, I will.”

“Good. Now, the 1-2 test is a team test. It was decided to form teams after the first test, but over 60 out of 72 people have already written down their names.”

‘They’re in a hurry.’

It must be because they didn’t want to be on a team with me.

Until yesterday, Leo, Elias, and Narce had been constantly receiving partnership requests from other students.

In fact, the same was true for other ordinary students, but I didn’t receive a single request.

In the end, my partner would be someone who failed the eye-contact game, so everyone was desperately looking for a partner.

I asked Narce if my guess was correct, and an awkward smile returned as an answer.

It meant I was right.

“Five people in our group haven’t submitted the list yet. It’s not a problem to form a team slowly, but there aren’t many people left now, so it’s better to prepare little by little. And….”

The professor checked the list and raised his head.

“Julia Zähringen.”

“Yes.”

“You are the only student among the top students in 2nd Group who hasn’t formed a team yet. You will have a higher chance of being selected for the 2nd test if you are with a friend with matching skills.”

“I know.”

I can see that the professor is taking care of her since she’s at the top.

I just rested my chin and waited for the professor’s words to end.

The professor’s long exhortation ended only when an employee came to the classroom to deliver the news 30 minutes before the test.

“Now, I hear that the 35 successful candidates from 1st Group have already finished the test. Let’s move to the test site.”

* * *

The huge school gymnasium, which was prepared as a test site, was divided into several sections.

The students were nervous, so they were all looking at the sky with stiff faces.

I heard whispers from time to time when they saw me, but there was fear and curiosity on their faces rather than animosity, so I didn’t think of saying anything.

I looked around and fell into thought.

‘The first test is just a check of individual skills.’

In Bavaria, they checked the skills with real victims, but they couldn’t do that at school, so they took on the role of victims when they trained.

‘I thought they might do something crazy by actually bringing in victims for the test….’

That wasn’t it.

It’s a situation where there’s no point in taking the test if you do that to the students.

“Mimesis~?”

Elias muttered with a frown next to me.

With the help of the Imperial Family and the Vatican, the school created a space magic artifact and used it to implement the rampaging appearance of the victim.

Although they brought in a sphere instead of the victim now for safety reasons, human figures will probably appear instead of spheres as the number of tests increases.

The school was calling the training system using that artifact Mimesis.

“I knew it from when I had these guys memorize Greek to death. Can’t they use our proud Korean language a little? I still don’t have good memories of Greek because of the verb conjugation.”

“Haha….”

Then, the sound of someone’s test ending was heard.

Beep—

[3 minutes 57 seconds.]

[Overall 2+. Good job.]

“Oh~ he’s pretty good. It’s been boring because only 3rd grade kids have been coming out so far.”

Grades up to 6th are divided into +, 0, and -, so there are a total of 18 grades.

Among them, 2+ is pretty good.

As Elias said, most of the students had been concentrated in grades 3-4 until now.

But more than that….

‘Aren’t they revealing the scores a bit too blatantly?’

If this was the modern era, people would file complaints. It’s the same thing that they’re now revealing the artifacts they use when taking the test.

But everyone seemed to be growing up strongly in this era, so they didn’t seem to care.

Then, an alarm sounded from another room.

Beep—

[7 minutes 17 seconds.]

[Overall 3. Good job.]

“7 minutes is a bit too much. Who will break the record~? Haven’t Leo and Narce entered yet?”

“Uh.”

Elias crossed his arms and whistled, then called me.

“Lucas. You know what?”

“What is it.”

“This time, the sophomores in the Knight Department and the Administration Department are betting on what grade you’ll get.”

[Next, number 25, Lucas Askanian. Number 26, Hanna Neudorf. Number 27….]

“This isn’t a test to fail, but… other subjects usually fail below 4-, right? They’re betting on whether you’ll get grade 4 or higher, or get a failing grade.”

“Is that so?”

He’s a really good friend to tell me this right before the test.

Of course, he must have thought it was okay to tell me because they were betting on ridiculous items like failing.

Elias patted my back and laughed.

“Good luck, Lucas! I bet ten errand tickets that you’ll get grade 4 or higher~! I’ll give them all to you if I win, so use them to your heart’s content.”

[I’ll tell you again. Number 25, Lucas Askanian. Number 26….]

Is he an elementary school student….

I ignored his words roughly and entered the test site.

Soon the back door closed, and the countdown sound was heard.

[The first test will begin in 30 seconds.]

I lightly rolled the Wand in my hand and looked ahead.

[3, 2, 1. Start.]

A black mass appeared in front of me.

Black mucus like Vitriol was rippling on the surface.

* * *

“Chief.”

“Call my name.”

Leo answered without expression, looking at the relay video above the test site.

The test hadn’t started yet, so all the videos showed only a white space.

“Leo, what do you think will happen to Lucas?”

“What will happen.”

“Do you think he can use magic properly?”

“……”

He can use magic properly.

No one would say that to Nicolaus, but it seems that this is what those who don’t overlap Nicolaus with Lucas think.

“Isn’t he going to blow up the school and suck blood? Honestly, his face looks more like that now than it did in the first grade.”

“What do you mean by face reading.”

When one friend laughed and asked, the student shook his head.

“No, last year he just had no presence and stuff, but this year, from his expression… you know what I mean.”

“Ah, I know~”

Leo tried to say something, but then closed his mouth again.

His position was too disadvantageous to defend Lucas now.

Anyway, it’s something that will be solved after seeing everything directly, whether it’s his skills or the nonsense rumors.

Leo answered simply.

“We’ll know when we examine him.”

“Ah, he said he’s going to Bavaria to get examined.”

Then a student who was nearby opened his mouth.

“Hey, I’m curious to see if he can use magic properly.”

“Don’t expect too much. He would have failed if this was a real grade evaluation.”

“Yeah, what do you expect when he’s never learned magic?”

“That’s true.”

The students crossed their arms and looked at the relay screen.

There were other students taking the test at the same time, but the gazes of the students who were waiting were all focused on one screen.

Lucas in the screen pulled out the Wand and spun it in his hand.

[3, 2, 1. Start.]

As soon as the announcement ended, red light burst out from Lucas’s ebony Wand. No, it wasn’t the Wand.

Magic power was erupting from the hand holding the Wand.

* * *

They said they brought in a sphere instead of a human figure to take the test in order to alleviate the students’ shock.

I understand. You have to attack the heart to blow up the core, but it’s impossible for students who haven’t gone to the battlefield to do that.

Of course, it was also beneficial to me.

It’s said that if they can be suppressed, there’s room for them to be treated and get better, but seeing the face of someone on the verge of death in front of me was incomparable to recalling the victim beyond the numbers written on the report.

But this is not the time to worry about that….

‘I need to end it quickly and act like a newbie.’

That’s why I tried to draw magic power from my hand instead of the Wand.

It’s not important to get a rank here.

Nicolaus’s movements should not be seen in me.

[Start.]

At those words, the sphere that had been floating in the air without moving began to shake. In the blink of an eye, the surroundings were filled with black smoke.

‘It’s basically the same, just with a different shape.’

It was a situation I had already faced dozens of times in the field.

I put on a Body Barrier and drew magic power with my hand.

The faint heat that I felt in my palm burst into flames with a loud explosion in an instant.

Wham! Sizzle—!

[If you abide in me, and my words abide in you.]

I rolled the Wand between my fingers once again.

A magic formula that outputs the maximum value, more than twice as much, is used in common in both Divine Power and magic power.

In fact, unless there is a special intention, skilled people activate the formula with a chantless casting. As such, chanting is just a trick to advertise that I’m a newbie, so I should rather lower the output.

I changed a part of the equation and slammed the staff wrapped in flames on the floor.

[Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.]

Kwaaaang—!!

The flames soared along the staff as if to eat my arm. At the same time, red magic power surged out like a wave from the spot where I was standing.

Success. It was magic power that I could draw out without chanting.

Bang—! Wham—!

Stimulated by the magic power, the black mass was madly shooting Vitriol in all directions.

In this case, it is important to aim at the victim to minimize damage to civilians and to put up a barrier with the minimum range, or to target the artery or core accurately.

But if I revealed that, it would be clear that I’ve done it a few times, let alone acting like a newbie.

‘What would a newbie do?’

Newbies find the right answer better than I thought.

Even though the method is often inefficient.

So what I have to do is….

To confine this entire space with my magic power.

I drew the coordinates in my head and flicked my fingers, reaching out with the other arm.

[Do not be afraid; for I am with you.]

Click—

In an instant, clear air without any Vitriol rushed to my face.

The flames and Vitriol in front of me were cleanly cleared, and a pink, thick barrier separated the flames that I hadn’t caught and me.

Whoosh—

Boom!

A loud noise was heard a beat later.

The sound of crackling hit my ears.

Crack! Thud— Thud thud—

At the same time, the dome-shaped barrier shook finely. I put strength into my legs and pushed magic power to the end of the staff. All sorts of noises that seemed to tear my ears filled my hearing. The tiles on the floor were broken one by one, and the magic power I had blown into it was jumping up through the gaps.

Thud— Pitter-patter—

The inside, which had been flashing red, turned completely black.

The sound of the barrier bubbling slightly as if it were corroding began to be heard.

‘…Good.’

The Vitriol core of that sphere, which was wrongly placed, must have burst.

The familiar mechanical sound was heard the moment I put strength in the hand holding the staff to push the magic power one more time.

Beep—

[The test has ended.]

[58.33 seconds.]

At that moment, all the black air and Vitriol in the dome disappeared.

’58? I’m glad I acted like a newbie.’

No.

I might not have acted like it, but I’m glad I had some devices to insist that I was a newbie.

I smiled and wiped away the sweat.

‘So, the score?’

It’s usually announced together, but this time, the sound didn’t come out because I finished it a little early.

The announcement sound was heard the moment I looked at the place where the relay camera and speaker were.

[Overall 1+. Good job.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep