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Chapter 111: Final Evaluation (1)
If you asked the candidates attending Hero Academy what the most important thing was, 9 out of 10 would answer without hesitation, “Overall Ranking.”
Whether they were superhumans blessed with stigmas by the Seven Gods, or saviors of mankind who protect humanity from demons and monsters, heroes, at their core, were still "humans" just like ordinary people who had not received a stigma.
Fundamentally, humans live for their own benefit and safety, and heroes are no different.
For now, they''re merely "candidates" attending the same school, but after graduation, their statuses will vary greatly.
Some will receive high-ranking positions in their home countries or joinrge guilds and livefortably.
Others will scrape by in mid-sized guilds.
And some will end up in nameless mercenary groups, crawling through mud as low-ranking mercenaries.
‘It''s no wonder candidates are so obsessed with their overall rankings.’
Anyway.
Several things affected this overall ranking.
First, there''s ss attitude and diligence.
Honestly, this wasn''t a major factor.
As long as you didn’tpletely ck off, your ranking wouldn’t be heavily affected by this.
Second, there were bonus points you could earn during ss.
This didn’t matter much for lower or mid-tier candidates, but for the top-tier candidates, it could be a key factor in determining their grades.
And finally, the midterm and final exam scores.
These were the biggest factors in determining the overall ranking, and among them, the final exam was especially important, to the point where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that your entire semester''s grades hinged on it.
In particr, the final exam was usually conducted as a group evaluation.
Since your grade could depend on who you formed a party with, the whole school turned into a bustling marketce during exam season.
“Maurice, have you found a party for the final exam yet?”
“If you don’t mind, do you want to join my party?”
“Is there anyone in the Magic Department who hasn’t found a party yet?!”
“Are you crazy, leader?! How can you put five Warriors in a five-person party?!”
“I don’t know anyone in the Support or Magic Departments, what am I supposed to do?!”
“Argh! We need a Support! We need a Support Department student!!!”
“Looking for someone to join our final exam party! (We’re looking for fast learners and hard carries, execution if unqualified).”
As I walked into the ssroom, I could feel the heat and frenzy as if I had walked into a cult meeting.
‘It’s chaos.’
Well, it was to be expected. If you didn’t find party members by the set deadline, you’d be forced into a randomly assigned party, nicknamed "the lottery," making it even morepetitive.
‘In my previous life, I was always stuck in those lottery parties.’
I still vividly remembered the disgusted expressions of my party members when I joined their party.
Even after all this time, it was a bitter memory.
‘But.’
Now, things were different.
‘Hmmm.’
I sat leisurely in the back of the ssroom, crossing my legs.
Reclining against the back of the chair, I watched the candidates scrambling to find party members with a rxed expression.
The candidates’ gazes shifted toward me.
‘Well, it’s only natural.’
Usually, Support and Magic Department candidates, who are fewer in number, were treated like noblespared to Warriors.
But that was only in "general" cases.
‘For top-tier Warrior candidates, it’s the opposite—Support and Magic Department candidates line up to join their party.’
Although my current grades were far from top-tier, unofficially, it was widely believed that I ranked in the top five among the Warriors.
‘After all, I’ve proven my skills.’
My performance during the Sealing Ritual, where I ughtered dozens of monsters, and my overwhelming victory over Instructor Vincent during a sparring session were still hot topics in the academy.
In other words, ording to the rumors, I was a Warrior candidate on par with top-tier students like Yuren, Maurice, and Cami.
With that kind of reputation, wouldn’t there be plenty of candidates eager to recruit me into their party?
‘I’m no longer the undesirable candidate no one wanted in their party.’
Ah, how miserable those days were.
I had been called a defective product, a reject, expired trash—enduring all kinds of insults and mockery.
Even now, the memories stirred my heart with bitterness.
‘I thought I’d forgotten all about it after going through so much in my previous life.’
They say the trauma of school dayssts a lifetime.
No matter how much time passed, the humiliation and powerlessness I felt during that time were etched deep in my memory.
‘But now, the tables have turned.’
In my previous life, I was powerless.
Now, I held the power.
Back then, I was treated as a lowlymoner; now, I was someone they had to serve like nobility.
‘Come,e! Wag your tails and beg to have me in your party, you fools!’
I grinned as I watched the candidates sneak nces in my direction.
And yet.
“Ah, man… we still need a few more Warriors.”
“Isn’t there anyone decent from the Warrior Department?”
“Should we ask Yuren?”
“Do you think Yuren would join our party?”
……
“How about Cami?”
“Cami’s good, but she’ll definitely follow the Saint.”
“That’s true.”
……
“What about Juliet?”
“I asked him, but he was already in a party. You know, with those rich kids from the Republic.”
“Ugh, even here it’s all about connections?”
“This is so unfair. How are usmoners supposed to find a party?”
……
“I heard all the top-tier Warrior candidates have already found parties.”
“Sigh. Is there really no one left?”
“We’ve got no choice. Let’s try convincing Felix.”
“Felix is fine, but his personality’s a bit…”
Wait a minute.
“I’m… being left out?”
‘What is this?’
Fine, I could understand being overshadowed by Yuren or Cami, but how was I being passed over for Juliet and Felix?
‘Weren’t they just making a big fuss about how I’m stronger than Yuren?’
Shouldn’t they be swarming me, begging me to join their party?
And yet, why?
"Ugh, there''s really no one to recruit."
"This test already feels like a failure..."
"Let''s try to rope in someone from the Support Division first. I heard if you''re in a Support Division party, you can easily recruit top-tier warriors too."
Not a single person came to find me?
''Hah. They said my reputation was so well-known even among the fourth years, but was that all nonsense?''
As I sighed at this iprehensible situation.
—Ah, yeah. It''s that guy. The crazy guy among the third-year cadets, who deliberately hides his skills and purposefully keeps his overall evaluation score low.
Laios'' words suddenly shed through my mind.
"...Ah."
Only then did I realize the reason behind this baffling situation.
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''Come to think of it, there was a rumor going around that I was purposefully keeping my overall evaluation score low.''
In other words.
From the cadets'' perspective, no matter how skilled I might be, I''m perceived as someone with a peculiar preference for deliberately keeping poor grades.
"Damn it..."
Who in the world would willingly stay at the bottom?
"Hah."
Honestly, I didn''t care much about my school grades.
What mattered was preparing for the uing cmity, saving myrades, and changing the future—not trivial things like school grades.
''But now that it''se to this, it''s a bit annoying.''
I never expected thebel of "bottom tier," which had followed me around in my previous life, to stick with me even after reincarnation.
"Ugh."
As I was grumbling and ruffling my hair in frustration.
"Uh... This is Dale''s ssroom, right?"
A familiar voice reached my ears.
"Oh! It’s, it’s Yuren!"
"That''s Yuren Helios from ss A, right? The heir to the Sun Sword."
"Rumor has it he''s stronger than the professors."
"Wow... He’s seriously handsome."
"What''s Yuren doing in ss C?"
As Yuren appeared, the ssroom started buzzing.
Yuren, ustomed to being the center of attention, walked over to me casually.
"There you are, Dale."
"What’s up?"
"Ah... It’s nothing, really."
Yuren hesitated for a moment, ncing at me as he continued.
"For the uing final evaluation... want to team up with me?"
"......!"
Honestly, if you asked me if I didn’t expect this kind of offer, I''d say I did.
Yuren... No, Yurina and I trained together daily, and we were on good terms, so I thought it was highly likely we’d form a party for the final evaluation.
But.
Thinking about it and actually hearing the offer are two entirely different things.
Especially in a situation where I felt somewhat abandoned.
"Yuren, you''re the only one I can count on!"
"W-What? Dale?"
In a surge of emotion, I grabbed Yuren in a hug.
Yuren, clearly flustered, looked around in confusion, then cleared his throat awkwardly, his face turning red.
"I-I trust in your abilities, Dale."
"Haha, just leave it to me."
I patted my chest, grinning.
As Yuren and I were bantering like that, Iris approached.
"Hmm. So Yuren will be the fourth member of our party?"
"...Huh?"
Our party?
Fourth member?
"Um? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oh? No... Did we agree to form a party before?"
"No. But do we really need to say it out loud? You, Cami, and I are obviously in the same party, right?"
Iris tilted her head as if I’d said something obvious.
"Wait... You weren''t nning on finding another Support Division cadet, were you?"
"No way. Who’s better than you, our Saintess?"
I quickly shook my head and gave a sheepish smile.
''So that means it''s me, Yuren, Cami, and Iris in one party.''
The heir to the Sun Sword, the future sword candidate of the Holy Kingdom, and the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, all in the same party.
''This is...''
Honestly, this was a party so strong that if we didn’t get first ce, it wouldn’t make sense.
''Looks like I''ll finally experience being first ce for the first time in my life.''
Even before the final evaluation had started, I was already dering victory in my mind when Cami approached and asked,
"So, do you have someone in mind for thest party member?"
"Hmm. Thest member, huh."
Berald was in a different grade, so I couldn’t call him, and I heard Juliet had already found a party.
''To be honest, with this lineup, it''d be better to take in someone less skilled.''
While the main focus of the final evaluation was the party’s overall performance, there were also individual contribution points awarded.
''And those contribution points are quite significant.''
It was a sort of penalty to prevent only top-tier cadets from forming parties together.
In other words, cadets had to weigh the party’s overall performance against the individual contribution points that could provide additional bonuses.
Looking at it from that perspective, with our already excessively skilled party, there was no need to add morepetition.
"Well, we could just leave thest spot to be filled randomly."
"Hmm... I don’t like the idea of teaming up with someone I don’t know, but I guess we don’t have a choice."
"I''m with you on that."
Iris and Yuren both agreed with my suggestion.
''Well, I kind of feel sorry for whoever gets selected at random.''
Honestly, who could possibly make a meaningful contribution in a party with such exceptional members?
''Well, it’s not really my problem.''
I smirked wryly, feeling a bit of sympathy for the random cadet who would join us.
* * *
And then, on the day of the final evaluation.
Thest member of our party, selected by random draw, was—
"Uh... H-Hello?"
A freckle-faced cadet with an awkward expression.
His name, as he nervously nced around, was—
"I-I''m Albert!"
Albert Hoover, the ''Chosen One.''
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