Above Pantheon City, Sky Island.
"Okay, you bunch of mongrels!"
It had been about thirty minutes since all planes landed on Sky Island, and not much had happened.
Except for the appearance of a young woman with green hair and eyes, and the fact that all applicants had now mingled, the area just remained still.
During this time, I tried to pinpoint the location of Quincy, but seeing no result, I decided to let it go.
The green-haired professor, Miss Evelyn, spoke again.
"I hope you all have gotten used to the environment?"
She didn’t wait for anyone to reply and continued.
"Now, for those of you who don’t know, Apex is divided into two schools."
She pointed back toward her left. "This side is the school of knights and warriors, while this side..."
Her fingers shifted to the right. "...is the school of magic and sorcery."
’And magic and sorcery classes can’t merge.’
This was already a piece of lore that even I knew.
The reason I knew it so well, despite my bad memory, was because of Jake Kim’s special trait.
Because of this, he wasn’t constrained by the same rules as other cadets and was able to move freely from one side to the other.
This helped him build his force and, obviously, his harem size.
But since he wasn’t here, at least Beatrice wouldn’t scream about another rule breaker.
"Now, with that out of the way, we will start the exams."
The moment those words left the professor’s mouth, I felt a certain chill on my skin.
The wind around us, the applicants, quickly picked up, as cold seeped into our bodies.
Luckily, I was wearing thick clothing, so it wasn’t as bad.
But for the other cadets?
It was like they had been dropped in the middle of Antarctica.
’Nice going, princess.’
The exam professor, whose gaze swept across the cadets scattered around the dock, landed on me.
Well, considering my face and the fact that I was prepared for this, that much was to be expected.
But was it common for all professors to have such creepy smiles?
Professor Evelyn, standing at the center of the cadets, clapped once, and the entire terrain around us changed.
We were now in a white tunnel.
Every single thing was pure white.
And... it was nauseating.
My mind started to blur after only a second of staring too intently at the walls.
The professor was no longer in front of us, but her voice soon rang out.
"Applicants, this is an MOU simulator. You all only have one mission now—reach the end of the tunnel."
A dark chuckle escaped the speakers. "It’s simple, right? Just a bit of white, running, and cold weather." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fiɾe·net
Murmurs soon erupted around the tunnel as applicants spoke with each other.
"Now, without further ado," she finally announced. "Let the first stage of the exams begin. Of course, mages can use blink and other teleportation spells."
A final dark laugh echoed again before everything went still.
The entire tunnel turned crimson as a ticking sound rang in my ears.
The light shifted from red to yellow as the ticking turned into beeping.
The tunnel turned green, and in an instant, all applicants began running.
Some mages with light affinity activated teleportation.
Those with lightning used blink, while others simply coated their bodies with mana.
I, too, began running, and after a few seconds, the tunnel turned back to white.
[Applicant No. 30 has been eliminated!]
Turning my head back, I saw the applicants who hadn’t yet begun running slowly vanish.
I exhaled and focused on the path ahead.
『 Allen Vanderbilt — 678/990 』
’So that’s my rank, huh?’
According to the original plot, there was indeed a race at the start of the entrance exam, and Jake Kim had come out on top.
If I remember correctly then...
I halted abruptly as the wall light flickered once.
The cadets behind me rushed past, casting glances as though I were some fool.
I realized it had something to do with not running.
My eyes widened in sudden recognition.
The moment those words left my lips, the tunnel walls turned crimson, and everyone mid-motion was struck by bullets from the walls.
Every applicant froze.
Those with remarkable balance managed to stay upright, while others collapsed, were shot, and vanished.
A low, dark chuckle slipped from my lips.
Soon, the tunnel fell silent.
Every applicant screamed. Some wept. Others stood paralyzed.
The tunnel walls skipped the yellow phase entirely and shifted to green.
Without hesitation, I cloaked my body in mana and sprinted forward.
The dazed students could only stare.
Most knew that green meant move, but the terror from the initial shots still lingered.
That was what this test was about.
Even if you were the strongest, without the courage to move forward, you’d only be a burden.
And I was the farthest thing from cowardly.
Someone might even mistake me for Lionheart.
Surging past the stunned students, I channeled mana into my legs and vaulted into the air.
All eyes locked onto me, the boy in winter clothes with a flawless face.
I landed smoothly without breaking momentum and darted forward like a sprinter.
Many applicants, seeing this, snapped out of their daze.
However, those already leading hadn’t stopped even after the gunfire.
The number of eliminations climbed by the minute as screams echoed through the tunnel.
『 Allen Vanderbilt 168/870 』
Soon, two more rounds of red light, green light passed, and most participants had adapted.
My rank had already risen to 79, with only 78 ahead and about 500 applicants remaining.
Beside me was none other than the dark-skinned man from the plane.
The young man, slightly taller than me, clicked his tongue.
What sort of person was he?
Part of the main cast?
Although I remembered most of Jake Kim’s knight companions, I couldn’t recall his mage companions.
Still, I was certain there had been a dark-skinned youth in the story.
The prince of one of the minor continents, Edo Ikenna, prince of Nefertari.
The young man turned to me. "What’cha staring at?"
I shook my head. "Nothing, you just seemed familiar."
"Is that so? Well, I am a prince and ridiculously handsome, so no wonder."
...What did he just say?
He was indeed attractive, but to call himself that?
I smirked. "Calling yourself handsome in front of me?"
He arched a brow. "You’re no prince—you’re a princess. You look like the type of character girls sketch in Webtoons, the ones who blush easily and dress cutely."
I clenched my jaw. "Say that again?"
The dark-skinned man chuckled darkly. "BL main character~" He gasped. "No, you’re the girl in the BL story."
He’s seriously ticking me off.
"I’m not gay." I blurted before I even realized.
The young man covered his mouth with his hand. "Who said anything about being gay?"
My pace slowed until I stopped.
He stopped too, and at that moment, the tunnel glowed red.
After a beat, his voice reached me.
Turning, I met his gaze.
He smirked as the red light pulsed.
I looked at him, and he looked at me.
"What’s the stake?" I asked quietly.
He grinned. "The loser’s gay."
My brows furrowed. "Why that bet?"
His eyes narrowed. "I know you’re gay, I just can’t prove it."
I facepalmed and sighed. "Seriously..."
Yet soon, a grin spread across my face.
"I can be quite petty, so just know—you won’t get a girlfriend after this."
We both crouched into starting positions like athletes.
"Wouldn’t have it any other way." Then he added, "Name’s Edo Ikenna. Yours?"
"Allen." I finally muttered. "Allen Vanderbilt."