….

The practical examination has finished.

Name: Jane Walker

Levels completed: 60

Total Score: 600

Placement: Sixth

Registering results…

The final score has been generated.

Name: Jane Walker

First score: 487

Placement: 53rd

Second score: 600

Placement: 6th

Final Score (Sc1+Sc2/2): 543.5

Final Placement: 4th

….

I opened my eyes slowly as the information about the results of the examination appeared in my mind.

I was still a bit dazed due to having died when fighting the eblor woman, but because I was used to dying inside the dreamland, I recovered quickly.

Then, I glanced at my final results.

My lips soon curved up in a slight smile.

“This is not bad.”

Quite the opposite, it was a very good result, considering that I only awakened around one month ago.

The entrance examination of Sanctuary First is a place where some of the best prodigies of the human race compete, but even among them, I was able to get fourth place even though I awakened only one month ago.

If that is not enough to make me feel proud of myself, then nothing is.

The demon sneered in my mind.

[What is there to be happy about getting fourth place? You have a powerful Immortal like me inside your body. You should feel ashamed that even with my help, you did not manage to get first place.]

This demon…

Can’t you let me be happy for a while?

I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore the demon while looking at the final rankings.

…

Final Ranking:

Sylvia Quin: 645 Points.

Ley Pham: 554 Points.

Theodore Riedel: 552.5 Points.

Jane Walker: 543.5 Points

Hela Luo: 543 Points.

Tierra Lorenz: 541.5 Points.

Andrew Mattew: 540 Points.

…

…

…

“So Andrew managed to get into the top ten, huh.”

Well, that is expected after his overwhelming performance in the practical examination.

Even though he did not do that well in the first examination, he got 690 points in the second examination. That score is among the best even including the previous batches of applicants.

In the end, Sanctuary’s First is an institute to train Awakened. Here, strength is valued above intelligence.

A good score in the practical examination can easily make up for an average score in the written exam.

The proof of that is that the top seven on the final score are the same as the top seven on the practical examination, even though only two of them were in the top ten on the written examination.

I continued checking the final results for a few minutes until eventually, I felt my consciousness being pulled away.

I knew that I was about to leave this virtual reality, so I did not resist.

A few seconds later, I opened my eyes inside the virtual reality pod.

“Everybody, please leave the pod. If you are among the first one thousand, go to the hall on the right. If you are not, please leave.” A woman spoke in a calm tone.

I left the pod following her instructions and looked around me, noticing that the people around me had different expressions.

Most of them seemed disappointed, sad, or downcast, while a minority was clearly excited. It was obvious that the first ones were those that failed the examination, and the second ones were the ones that passed.

I sighed softly and shook my head.

All the young men and women in this room could be considered outstanding. Most of them are second or third-tier Awakened; at our age, that is enough to be considered a genius.

But even then, they failed to get inside Sanctuary’s First.

They are geniuses, but being a genius is not enough. Only the geniuses among geniuses can get inside this college.

And this is just the start. According to the stories I heard, after entering Sanctuary’s First, the students will have to go through a constant and intense competition for resources and opportunities, and the best ones will get preferential treatment.

As for the rest, they will receive only the basic resources and teachings.

It sounds cruel, but it’s necessary.

After all, a powerful Awakened is much better than dozens or even hundreds of low-level Awakened; but it’s impossible for every Awakened to reach this level, so colleges and the government must focus their resources on the ones with a better chance of becoming high-level Awakened.

I put on a complicated expression and sighed.

But in the next second, my expression became determined.

My goal is to become a high-level Awakened, and if I want to achieve that, entering Sanctuary’s First is just the start.

I left the room and followed the instructions towards the hall on the right.

But just then, someone jumped on my back.

“Brother, I got second place~!” Ley hugged me excitedly.

I smiled slightly and rubbed her head.

“Well done, well done. You did even better than your brother. I only got fourth place.”

“Hehe, that means that I’m stronger. Brother, if someone tries to bully you in the future, I will protect you!”

I rolled my eyes and pinched my impish sister’s nose.

“Don’t underestimate your brother. How can I let my sister protect me? I will be the one protecting you.”

Ley giggled and hugged my arm.

“Brother is the best.”

I could not help but smile again.

God, why is my little sister so cute?

At that moment, I noticed that the people around us were looking at us with curious, surprised, and admiring expressions.

I quickly realized that they had heard that conversation between Ley and me, so they knew that the two of us were in the top ten.

Ley was very smug when she noticed it, but to my surprise, I was not as excited as I thought I would be.

Inside of me, I felt that what I did was not worthy of admiration.

‘… How strange.’ I muttered to myself confused. But quickly, I understood why I felt like that.

Every day, I heard the demon speak about the true powerhouses across the universe, and about how battles between Immortals and Irregulars can destroy entire worlds and extinguish interstellar civilizations.

After hearing these stories so many times, I can’t help but feel that my achievements now are insignificant.

Compared to them, I still have a long way to go.

I let out a bitter smile.

‘So the demon has influenced me that much, huh.’

I’m not completely sure if it’s good or bad.

But I really dream of the day I can reach that level.

 

…

 

Hey Guys, Aidka’s Here!

This is the end of the first arc, The Boy and the Demon. Next, it will be a couple of side stories followed by the start of the second arc.

Please look forward to it.