Endex (2)
The library at Endex has always been perfect. Open 24 hours a day, all year round, the 300-pyeong(approx. 990 sq. meters) reading room is filled with books, and there are various facilities such as group study rooms and photocopy rooms.
Of course, all services are completely free.
[At Your Service]
: Acquisition of items, delivery, transfer, and more.
: From simple errands to complex tasks.
: We assist in everything.
: Please contact #05 001-3021-4302. It’s a safe number that doesn’t reveal either party’s phone number.
“Quite intuitive, and very helpful.”
Thanks to this, I printed hundreds of flyers for free.
The concept is simply ‘We do anything for you-‘, targeting the rich and naive students of Endex.
There are 3,000 students from first to fourth grade alone, and if you include the attendants like drivers and managers brought by the noble students, and even the commoner families who move in groups, the population within the premises would always exceed 10,000 to 20,000. If I post it here and there in Endex, they will contact me on their own.
“Hmm……”
I looked at the clock.
1 AM.
“Should I distribute them since I’ve made them?”
I have nothing else to do, and today is unusually dull.
I must say, my sleep pattern is abnormal.
Sometimes I’m so sleepy I can’t stand it, and sometimes I’m as alert as an insomniac.
“Well, why not.”
I went outside with a thick stack of flyers tucked under my arm.
……
“Yawn.”
Before I knew it, it was 10 AM.
For nine hours, I had been distributing flyers almost everywhere in all the buildings of Endex: between the bookshelves in the library, on the shelf above the toilet in the bathroom, in the alleys between Endex, between park benches, in the gym locker room, on classroom ceilings, in the middle of the clock tower, on the window sills of the cafeteria, on the seats of the stadium, in the lockers in the hallway, in the magic research room, in the club room, and so on…
“Now I’m sleepy.”
My body feels heavy, and I’m starting to get sleepy.
Ding—
Suddenly, my phone rang.
It was a text.
A client already?! I thought, and hurriedly turned it on.
[College Board Opening Notice]
On Monday, March 3, the College Board begins. We wish luck to all Endex students challenging themselves in college.
Location: Endex Valhalla Hall
Time: 11 AM
Please be aware that severe disadvantages may occur if you are late.
It’s a text announcing the opening of the College Board next Monday. Since today is Friday, it’s exactly three days later.
“College Board……”
The beginning of the fourth grade.
I’ve never done it before, but I’m not unconfident. I naturally acquired techniques and physical skills while rolling at the bottom for ten years.
However, I will not bring ‘Perion’, the future artifact remembered by the 「Notepad」, into my body if I can help it.
Why?
Because I’m a cancer patient.
* * *
Selenacio.
A prestigious academy located in the richest neighborhood of the capital of Edsilla, where the children of the entire continent’s powers bring money to attend.
In that place, which selects only the ‘real’ ones by finely measuring not only the wealth of the students but also their bloodline, talent, honor, and social authority of the family——
“Final match. Elise Petra wins!”
——Elise finished the ‘match’, the final test before the beginning of the College Board.
Waaaaa———!
Since today’s final match was open to all students, hundreds of cheers and applause poured down like a rainstorm.
At the center of that brilliant spotlight. Elise, the object of everyone’s admiration, simply extended her hand to the loser with an expressionless face.
“Take it.”
“How could you not let me win just once?”
Her opponent was Mel, the runner-up from Selenacio.
He took Elise’s gloved hand and stood up.
“You made the right choice not going to Endex. You’d be tossed around there too, wouldn’t you?”
It was a provocation of sorts. Even Elise, the top student at Selenacio, was locked in fierce competition with Gerkhen and Soliette at Endex.
“Endex, huh? You wouldn’t even make the top ten there.”
Elise quietly retorted, and Mel’s expression hardened.
“Well done.”
Just then, the headmaster of Selenacio appeared.
She handed a certificate to Elise with a bright smile.
[2013 Selenacio High School 113th Class, 1st Place]
[Elise Petra]
Elise stared at it quietly.
To be honest, she had learned more from the famous private tutors she had hired with Petra’s money than from what she had learned at Selenacio. But the real value of Selenacio was not in learning, but in ‘networking’.
“Congratulations, Elise.”
“Thank you.”
Elise bowed her head at the headmaster’s words.
“The reporters are waiting.”
There were many scouts and reporters right below the stage.
The final public training of the promising 6-star talent overflowing with star quality would probably make the 9 o’clock news.
“Can you say a few words?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Elise was somewhat curious about what kind of reporting and articles they would write.
She slowly descended the stage stairs. At that moment, countless microphones rushed towards her.
“Miss Elise, you’ve been first in Selenacio High School for three years straight, could you share your feelings-”
“How do you expect your final college board scores to be? Many betting sites have Gerkhen as the first-”
“Gerkhen and Soliette from the same school are expected to be strong competitors-.”
The questions were, as expected, similar. It was always about Gerkhen and Soliette for the past three years.
She was quite annoyed in her first year, but now she had somewhat adapted.
“My scores will be as I perform. No more, no less. After all, the real competition begins after entering college.”
Elise said with a calm, expressionless face.
……
—My scores will be as I perform. No more, no less. After all, the real competition begins after entering college.
Elise on the TV news answers emotionlessly and dryly. Desiring to be first more than anyone else, pretending not to care about other competitors. Pretending not to be interested at all.
She’s so hypocritical.
“171 cm.”
Then the old man spoke the height measured with a ruler.
“You’ve really grown? I just thought you looked tall.”
His eyebrows twitched as if surprised.
“I told you.”
I’ve grown 3 cm in a month, but my growth is a year-long process. Before regression, I was 196 cm, so I’ll probably stop around there.
“You won’t recognize me in a year?”
Not only will my arms and legs get longer, but my bones and muscles will also become stronger than they are now. They will naturally be tempered by the mana radiated by the Magic Core.
“Well, I’m going.”
I, having tightly fastened my school uniform necktie, did a light stretch.
“Off to the garden or wherever.”
The old man added a word with a gruff demeanor.
“Do you have confidence?”
“Of course.”
I immediately answered and stepped onto the basement stairs.
“First place… is overkill, but I think I could manage around 15th place?”
“……”
Perhaps he was taken aback by my confidence.
The old man, with a slightly dazed expression, said,
“Madman.”
* * *
Monday, 11 a.m., Valhalla Hall.
Among the many buildings of Endex, it is the one that most resembles a temple, and I am walking towards it.
—Ah~ How’s your condition? I’m not feeling so hot.
There were already many students at the entrance.
—Don’t get ahead of yourself, bastard~ Watch today’s round. I’ll show you… oh, it’s Shion.
As I slowly approached, a sluggish voice called my name.
—He’s really doing it too. Ah~ Suddenly, I feel down.
It was Asher, as expected.
I quickly scanned the two guys. Kain and Asher were shouldering what looked like golf bags.
“Ah~ You came to carry our golf bags, I see.”
Asher, who had just noticed my gaze, approached.
“Thanks.”
He looked down at me and slung his golf bag over my shoulder. Then he twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“……Shion. But, do you seriously think you can do it? What the hell are you thinking…… Get lost.”
Just then, the person in charge came out of Valhalla Hall. Asher pushed me away and flashed a bright smile again.
“Thanks. I’ll come to get the golf bag later. Hey, Kain. Are you okay? Our Shion says he’ll carry it.”
“Fuck off. That rat might steal it.”
“……”
It’s blatant shuttle treatment, but honestly, this is nothing.
The day when that bastard will look down on me is not far off.
“Attention.”
The supervisor spoke.
For reference, that man’s name is Chedric. He’s a person dispatched from the University Association to Endex, and he acts as a homeroom teacher for the seniors for a year.
“Total number of participants in the Endex College Board is 133… that’s correct.”
He counted our numbers and nodded.
“We will start the first task of the College Board. Come inside.”
Then, the students entered Valhalla Hall. I followed, carrying the golf bag on my shoulder.
“……What is this place.”
Standing in the hall, I looked around inside.
There was an endless corridor leading only to one side, and countless doors were placed at regular intervals.
“Each of you stand in front of a door.”
133 people moved in an orderly manner. The high-ranking guys stood at the front numbers, and I, naturally carrying a golf bag as big as my body, ended up at [Room 133].
“Now, everyone go in. The task will start exactly at 11 o’clock.”
The seniors opened the doors almost simultaneously. Beyond that was a space about 8 pyeong (approximately 26.4 square meters) in size, just like a studio. There was a clock on the wall, and a transparent pyramid sparkled on the table in the center.
I know what that is.
‘Prism’
“……Ah, wait a minute.”
Just as I was about to get anxious for some reason.
Tick-tock——.
The hour hand announcing exactly 11 o’clock rang unusually loudly.
Then a voice came down from the ceiling.
─We will now start the first task of the College Board, ‘Eligibility Test’. As previously announced, if you fail, you will lose the qualification to challenge the College Board itself.
A stiff tone and a low voice.
It’s Chedric.
─All 133 of you are in a space with the same structure. First, you will see an object in the center.
“A mana prism.”
Then, Cedric echoed the same words.
– ‘Mana Prism,’
“…Tch.”
I clicked my tongue.
I had a hunch about what the test was.
– The task for the first week is that prism.
A properly made Mana Prism has the property of absorbing magical and physical power.
– The test ends exactly 2 hours from now, at 1 PM.
If the test is what I think it is, then it’s quite troublesome.
It’s a puzzle I can’t solve, now or ever.
– It doesn’t matter how you do it. Even a tiny ‘scratch’ on the Mana Prism means success.
“Damn it.”
Suddenly, the back of my neck felt hot.
A Mana Prism is like a very hard onion. It has a strong resistance to external shocks, so unless you first analyze and interpret the flow of mana inside and break the ‘structure’, even most experts cannot break it.
It does have a weakness to physical force, but even that has a mana resistance of 99%, physical resistance of 90%, so there’s not much difference.
– Begin.
But I’m not even an expert right now.
All I have is my body, and my mana in general—Mana utilization, control, cooperation, adaptability, resistance, etc.—all of it falls short.
“Haa…”
I sighed and sank into the chair, scratching my heated neck.
“…Damn it.”
Is it over already? Just like this?
So, even after dying and coming back to life, I can’t overcome a single Mana Prism?
Then how many times do I have to die and come back to life?
It’s ridiculous…
“Wait a moment.”
Suddenly, a thought brushed through my mind.
I craned my neck to look up at the ceiling.
“I have a question.”
I shouted towards the camera in the corner of Room 133, to someone unseen.
“Can I use tools?”
– …That’s acceptable.
At the confirmation that it was okay, a light bulb went off in my head.
Let’s think about it.
I have Perion.
Specifically, Perion is 「Memorized」 in the 「Notepad」.
However, I can’t call Perion into my physical body.
Even so, I can’t break the prism with my bare fists, and my health problems are too severe.
Then.
Can’t I apply this to an ‘object’ instead of ‘my body’?
“…I don’t know, shit.”
I’ll know if I try.
No, I have to try to know.
Fortunately, I already have a weapon.
A very good friend, very kindly, lent me something in advance.
I quickly pulled out the thickest driver from Esher’s luxury golf bag.
I don’t know if it will work with this.
But it’s my only method, so I don’t want to assume it will fail.
“…”
I closed my eyes and calmly called Perion.
[——Load]
At that moment, my mana was consumed in a flash. I felt like I was going to blackout, but I didn’t know if it worked. The exterior of the golf club remained the same.
I’ll know if I hit it.
“Hu…”
I took a deep breath.
I gripped the golf club with both hands.
Someone might analyze the internal structure of this prism, interfere with the circuit where the mana circulates, and delicately dismantle it, but not me.
I just took a stance. Both arms above my head, the golf club almost touching the ceiling.
I twisted my whole body.
“——!”
I swung down the club on the prism with all my might.
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