The Last-Seat Hero Has Returned

56. Midterm Evaluation (1)

Click.

The door of the lecture hall opened, and a large man walked in with heavy steps.

The man, with a beast-like appearance, Professor Lucas, stood at the podium and looked around at the gathered cadets.

“Let’s see… 253 third-year warrior department students, is everyone here?”

“Yes. Everyone is present.”

Yuren, the representative cadet of the warrior department, stood up and answered.

I clicked my tongue as I looked around the lecture hall filled with warrior department cadets.

‘Seeing it like this, the warrior department sure has a lot of students.’

More than half of the 472 third-year cadets belonged to the warrior department, which focused on close combat.

‘Of the remaining 219, half are in the magic department, and the rest are in the support department and other miscellaneous departments.’

The support department was mainly composed of clerics specialized in healing and blessings, like Iris, while the miscellaneous department gathered irregular cadets who didn’t belong to any of the three main departments.

“As you all know, tomorrow is the midterm evaluation for the warrior department.”

“…….”

At Professor Lucas’s words, tension appeared on the faces of the gathered cadets.

The warrior department midterm evaluation.

The final evaluation at the end of the semester is conducted with a ‘party’ regardless of the department, but the midterm evaluation is conducted separately for each department.

The ratio of midterm to final evaluation grades is 3 to 7.

Although the final evaluation has a higher weight, the midterm evaluation is still an important test that cadets cannot ignore, as their future hero careers depend on their overall ranking.

“This midterm evaluation will determine your grades based on the points you accumulate by hunting monsters within the designated areas.”

Professor Lucas placed his hand on the magical device on the podium.

Light emanated from the device, and a holographic map appeared in the air.

“There are three areas: a mountainous terrain with forests and trees, a desert terrain with sand and rocks, and a snowy terrain with ice and snow.”

The holographic map displayed zones in green, yellow, and white.

“If you succeed in hunting the beasts within these zones, you will earn points according to their grade.”

“How many grades of beasts are there?”

A candidate raised his hand and asked while listening to the explanation.

“Good question.”

Professor Lucas nodded and manipulated the magical device.

The holographic map floating in the air transformed into the shape of a beast.

“Regardless of the type, a three-eyed beast is worth 1 point, a four-eyed beast is worth 3 points, and a five-eyed beast is worth 10 points.”

The professor’s words caused a stir in the lecture hall.

“Ugh…”

“Oh, there’s even a five-eyed beast?”

“If it’s up to the four-eyed level, I think I can manage…”

“I’m going for quantity. Isn’t it better to just sweep up the three-eyed ones?”

“Hey, look at the point difference. You need to catch ten three-eyed beasts to match one five-eyed beast. It’s better to aim for the big ones.”

“How do you hunt a five-eyed beast?”

“Well… skillfully?”

“Ha! Only someone like Yuren would hunt those! We have to go for quantity!”

While the candidates were raising their voices, debating what was better.

“Quiet.”

Bang.

Professor Lucas slammed his fist on the lectern, and a chilly silence descended on the lecture hall.

“I haven’t finished explaining yet, so save your brainwork for later.”

Professor Lucas pressed another button.

The hologram floating in the air transformed into the shape of a giant horse.

A horse with a horn emitting a brilliant blue light.

Muscles developed to a frightening degree, white fur covering its entire body, and sparks flying around with every breath it took.

And most of all.

Three pairs of red eyes covering its face.

Even though it was just a hologram, the beast’s appearance was so imposing that it sent chills down their spines.

“Six eyes?!”

“Crazy…! A Six-Eyed Beast is something only active heroes can handle, right?”

“Professor Lucas, you don’t mean… you’re not telling us to hunt that beast, are you?”

The cadets looked at Professor Lucas with trembling eyes.

Professor Lucas looked down at the cadets from the podium and smirked.

“Do you think I would go through the trouble of preparing and showing you this material if I didn’t want you to catch it?”

“That is…”

The cadets exchanged uneasy glances, unable to continue speaking.

“Well, of course, I’m not telling just anyone to catch it.”

Professor Lucas continued, looking up at the hologram floating in the air.

“This beast is a specially trained familiar by Professor Bianca of the Magic Department. As long as you don’t attack first, the beast won’t attack you.”

“Ah…”

“The cadet who breaks the bell hanging around the beast’s neck will be ranked first in the midterm evaluation, regardless of their score.”

In other words.

If you could just break the bell hanging around the beast’s neck, there would be no need to desperately search the area and compete with others.

“And there will be additional rewards for the cadet who succeeds in breaking the bell.”

“Additional rewards…?”

“What kind of rewards?”

“Hehe. I’ll leave that as a surprise for later.”

Professor Lucas chuckled mischievously.

“But I can tell you it’s something quite valuable.”

“Something valuable…”

Desire flashed in the cadets’ eyes.

If Professor Lucas himself said it was valuable, it must be something extraordinary.

Moreover, if they could catch it, they would secure the top spot in the midterm evaluation, so their desire couldn’t help but boil over.

But only for a moment.

“Umm.”

“No matter what, a Six-Eyed Beast…”

The cadets, facing the three pairs of gleaming eyes on the beast’s head, were brought back to reality.

“If it doesn’t attack first, can’t we just sneak up and break the bell?”

“Do you think it’s that easy? And what if you accidentally hit its body instead of the bell? You’ll be heading straight to the intensive care unit.”

“It’s a relief if it’s just a trip to the infirmary, but if not….”

“Hey, but still, isn’t it Professor Bianca’s familiar? Surely it won’t die, right?”

“Hey, haven’t you heard that every year, a few students die during exams from the third year onwards? They say three students died during last year’s midterms!”

“Crazy… If it was last year, then it’s the current fourth years, right? The strongest since the school’s founding….”

“Exactly. Even among those seniors, three casualties occurred. What about us?”

The candidates began to murmur again.

Professor Lucas spoke in a low, sinking voice.

“Quiet.”

His voice, imbued with magic, resonated heavily throughout the lecture hall.

Professor Lucas looked around at the candidates and began to speak.

“As you said, unlike previous exams, from the third-year midterms onwards, there can be ‘casualties.’ Simply put, if you overestimate your abilities and act recklessly, you could end up dead.”

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“…….”

Gulp.

The candidates swallowed dryly, their faces filled with fear.

Watching them, Professor Lucas clicked his tongue.

“Candidate Albert.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Where are we?”

“…Excuse me? Uh, the main building, lecture hall 1-A….”

“Not that. Where are you attending right now?”

“Ah… the, the Hero School!”

“Right. The Hero School.”

Professor Lucas nodded heavily.

“You didn’t come here to get good grades, secure a guaranteed future, or for honor and glory.”

“The reason you are receiving four years of education at this school is to learn how to survive as heroes.”

“I won’t tell you not to be afraid. I won’t tell you not to run away.”

However.

“If you wish to live as heroes, think.”

Ponder, and agonize.

Deliberate, and reflect.

“What you can do, what you need to learn, how you can survive.”

Professor Lucas looked around at the candidates and struck the blackboard with a bang.

“That is the purpose of this test.”

“……”

In the lecture hall filled with over 200 people, the ticking sound of the second hand echoed.

“Each candidate can choose the terrain they want to start in, so think about which terrain will be most advantageous for you.”

With those words, Professor Lucas walked out of the lecture hall.

“Whew.”

“Ugh… Professor Lucas’s presence is really something else….”

As soon as Professor Lucas left, the lecture hall, which had been silent, started buzzing again.

“By the way, if you can choose your starting point, where would you start?”

“Wouldn’t the safest bet be the mountainous terrain?”

“Hey, think a little. Everyone will think the same and choose the mountainous terrain, so there will be a lot of competitors, right? It’s better to choose the desert or snowy terrain to reduce the number of competitors.”

“But what if everyone else thinks the same and flocks there?”

“That is….”

One day until the midterm evaluation.

The large-scale mind games among the candidates to get good grades had already begun.

* * *

“Dale, where are you going to start?”

As soon as the class ended, Yuren scurried over to me.

“I’m planning to start in the mountainous terrain.”

“Mountainous terrain? Hmm. Isn’t there too much competition there?”

“Well, it’s the easiest terrain to move around in.”

But I couldn’t tell Yuren the real reason.

The reason I chose the mountainous terrain wasn’t simply because it was easy to move around in.

“In fact, if you ask which terrain is easier to move around in, the snowy region is actually easier.”

Having wandered the continent covered in snow and ice for thousands of years in my previous life, the snowy region was actually the easiest terrain for me to move around in.

Nevertheless, there was one reason I chose the mountainous terrain as my starting point.

“This time, I’m aiming for first place.”

A white horse with horns, wrapped in blue lightning.

The place where that beast was first discovered in a previous life was precisely in the mountainous terrain.

‘In my past life, I couldn’t even think of hunting it.’

But now, things are different.

‘I also crave the reward.’

In the past life, it was Yuren who broke the beast’s bell and took first place.

The special reward given to him was a sword forged from the beast’s horn.

‘When you channel magic into it, it would spark with lightning.’

Well, it wasn’t a mythical artifact that could grant immense power with just one weapon.

But it was still a fine sword, incomparable to the standard iron sword I am using now.

‘Sorry, but this time, I’ll take the sword, Yuren.’

Anyway, after graduation, Yuren will inherit the legendary sword, ‘Dawn,’ passed down through the Helios family. So, he can afford to yield this much.

“Dale, you… are you planning to target that beast?”

Did he catch on to my thoughts?

Yuren asked with a stiff expression.

“Yes, I plan to.”

“…….”

Yuren glared at me sharply as I answered calmly.

“…No.”

Yuren bit his lip with a somewhat anxious expression.

“No matter who you are, I can’t yield the first place.”

“Well, then you just have to break the bell before me.”

“…Fine. See you tomorrow, Dale.”

With those words, Yuren turned around and walked away.

“Hmm.”

I tilted my head as I watched Yuren walk away.

‘Yuren, this guy, was more obsessed with grades than I thought during his cadet days?’

Maybe it’s because the idea of being first place is ingrained in his mind.

Seeing Yuren so obsessed with first place felt strangely refreshing.

“Well, even so, I don’t plan to yield easily.”

Engraving the image of the holographic ‘Unicorn’ in my mind, I stepped out of the classroom.