Chapter 41: Recruitment I
On one side, compensation and support were being provided to the families who had lost their loved ones during the beast attack. The damaged buildings across the city were slowly being rebuilt. The entire city was in the middle of a massive recovery effort.
On the other side, the review process for the university entrance exam had already begun.
Normally, the exam results would be released online a week after the examination ended. However, because of the attack, the results this year had been delayed by an additional week.
After settling matters related to the attack, the association made copies of all the qualified students’ recordings and sent them to every academy at the same time to prevent any single academy from gaining an advantage.
Among the million students who took the test, only one hundred thousand had passed, and twenty-two thousand of them were from the Eastern Alliance.
Even then, not everyone would have a chance to enter the top academies. Only the top three hundred students had a chance of making it into the Top Five Academies.
Zac spent the first week recovering from the aftereffects of using ’Overdrive,’ and most of the second week was spent with his family.
He took Carrie to school every morning and picked her up afterward. He helped his mother around the house and occasionally checked in on Lima as well.
Even though she always chased him out in the end, she never actually refused to see him. That alone was enough to make Zac believe he still had a chance.
Meanwhile, in Central City, the Top Five Academies were reviewing the exam recordings one by one.
Since there were nearly a hundred thousand examinees, no academy had enough time or manpower to personally review every single recording.
Because of that, they hired large teams whose job was to filter through the footage and identify promising candidates.
Only the recordings of the top students would eventually reach the hands of the academy representatives. And even among those elite candidates, only the very best would be selected by the Top Five Academies.
At the High Standard Academy, currently ranked number one among all academies, a group of reviewers was examining the recordings.
Inside one of the review rooms, a middle-aged man carefully watched a student’s performance on the screen.
"He seems like a good choice. What do you think?" he asked the person seated beside him. The man next to him was an elderly professor with sharp eyes and silver hair.
"Yes," the old man replied slowly, "but there’s a glitch in his recording. Part of the footage is missing. Maybe his USB was damaged."
The middle-aged man shrugged. "They’re low-grade devices, after all."
The old man frowned. "Out of millions of participants, only his recording got glitched."
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head.
"Well, who cares? What matters is what the boy is capable of, not a few missing minutes. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. We’ve seen VSBs malfunction because of minor interference and portal radiation before."
"Fair enough."
The middle-aged man turned toward an attendant nearby. "Bring me his report."
The attendant quickly stepped forward and handed him a file. The moment he opened it, his brows furrowed deeply. "What the hell is this?"
"What happened?" the old man asked.
"He has E-rank potential."
"How is that possible?" the middle-aged man muttered. "Someone with E-rank potential shouldn’t have this level of attack power, especially after only one month."
"That’s exactly what bothers me," the old man said.
"Judging by his performance, I’d say he’s already reached D-rank. For someone with E-rank potential, surpassing their natural limit should be impossible."
The middle-aged man looked at him. "Then what do you think?"
"Let’s keep watching."
The two continued reviewing the footage in silence. The moment they saw Zac killing a C-rank beast, both men froze.
"Send a recruiter right now."
But the attendant hesitated. "Sir, we usually only send personal recruiters for students with S-rank or SS-rank potential."
"I know that," he snapped. "But do you think an S-rank student could kill a C-rank beast after awakening for barely a month? Just do what I said."
"Yes, sir."
Just as the attendant was about to leave, the old man stopped her. "Tell the recruiter to take a potential-checking crystal with them. I want his potential tested again. If the boy turns out to be S-rank or even an A-rank potential, then recruit him immediately."
"And if his potential is truly lower than that?" the middle-aged man asked. The old professor’s eyes remained fixed on the screen. "Then there’s no need."
The attendant nodded and left the review room. After she was gone, the middle-aged man looked at the old professor.
"You think the Awakening Ceremony made a mistake?" "There is a possibility," the old man replied. "We won’t know the truth until we test him again."
Similar scenes were unfolding across every academy in the country.
***
On a high mountain whose peak rose above the clouds, an old man sat alone inside a pavilion, quietly watching the setting sun.
He was short and slightly plump, with a small belly that stretched against his plain white robe trimmed with blue and gold. A pair of glasses rested on his nose. His hair had long since begun to recede, leaving the top of his head slightly bald, while a long white beard flowed down to his chest.
His face was calm and serene as he leaned against the railing of the pavilion.
"How peaceful."
The old man closed his eyes and enjoyed the gentle mountain breeze. Suddenly he heard rapidly approaching footsteps. "And here comes someone to ruin my peace."
Opening his eyes, he looked toward the figure rapidly running up the mountain path.
The man arrived at the pavilion and immediately bowed.
The old man turned to him. "Weren’t you responsible for this year’s recruitment? Why are you here instead of doing your job?"
The man straightened himself and quickly replied, "Sir, I was indeed responsible for this year’s recruitment. I was already on my way out of Central City when the vice principal suddenly stopped me."
"Oh?"
"She said she would handle the recruitment of Mellow City herself and asked me to do the rest."
The old man’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Is that so? That’s quite unlike her."
After a brief pause, he asked, "Didn’t you ask why?"
The man stared at him in disbelief. "Sir, you’re not seriously asking me that, are you?" The old man blinked.
"I have a family that depends on me," the man said with a bitter smile. "I don’t want to die just because I asked her an unnecessary question."
"Hmm." The old man stroked his beard. "She’s not that bad." The man wisely chose to remain silent.
"Anyway," the old man continued, "if she truly wants to do it herself, then let her."
"Yes, sir."
The man bowed once more before leaving. After he was gone, silence returned to the mountain peak once again.
The old man turned back toward the horizon, watching the last rays of sunlight disappearing beyond the clouds.
A faint smile appeared on his face. "I knew you wouldn’t be able to sit still after learning that his son was coming to the academy."
He shook his head. "But I didn’t think you’d be this impulsive."
His gaze remained fixed on the distant sunset.
"Let’s see what the future has in store for him."
