.

    .

    A week passed by in a sh.

    Winter tightened its grip, and the air grew colder with each passing day.

    Frost flowers bloomed on windowpanes, and students'' breaths formed white puffs in the frigid air.

    The sky was a hazy gray, hinting at the possibility of the first snowfall.

    Final exams had arrived at the Academy.

    "I totally bombed it..."

    Lucy clung to my arm, her voice choked with tears, as we walked back to the dormitory after finishing our exam.

    She leaned against me, her shoulders slumped in despair.

    "Raiden... what am I going to do...? I messed up so badly..."

    "Please calm down, Your Highness... It''s just one exam..."

    I patted her back reassuringly.

    Judging by her distress, it seemed like the exam results weren''t looking good.

    Well, to be fair, the difficulty of this exam was brutal.

    Especially Professor Sharon''s questions, that damn blue-haired woman.

    Her questions were on another level entirely.

    ‘Who in their right mind puts concepts rted to the ''Re-Creation'' on an Academy exam...?’

    The exam paper was packed with concepts that were more likely to appear in Magus Tower research papers.

    Most students probably had mental breakdowns the moment theyid eyes on the questions.

    It was an impossible level of difficulty for the Academy.

    "Professor Sharon... went too far..."

    "The difficulty of this exam was indeed high. They even included concepts that we haven''t learned yet..."

    "Sob... but I still got two questions wrong...!"

    "Two questions... you say?"

    On an exam where the estimated average score was 41 out of 100, that was practically a perfect score.

    Even the top students usually missed fifteen to twenty questions.

    And she only got two wrong...?

    "...Your Highness, I believe that would make you the top of the ss."

    "Lady Phyler only got one wrong..."

    "Lady Phyler is quite something."

    I, on the other hand, had missed nine questions.

    It was a decent scorepared to the other students, but it was nothingpared to the true geniuses like Lucy and Margaret.

    Feeling a little embarrassed, I tucked my exam paper back into my bag.

    As I was trying tofort the still-dejected Lucy, I heard familiar voices calling out from behind us.

    "Hey! It''s my brother!"

    "Woohoo! Look who it is, the one and only Maniac!"

    I turned around to see the red-haired angel and the golden-haired delinquent walking towards us.

    "Brother! How did you do on the exam?"

    Ariel rushed over and threw her arms around me.

    I chuckled and gently stroked her hair.

    "Not bad... how about you?"

    "I aced it! I might actually be the top of the ss this time!!"

    "Oh..."

    I pped my hands together and let out an impressed whistle.

    If Ariel got the top spot, wouldn''t that mean she''d be stealing the title from ra Misoph, one of Allen''s heroines?

    "Good job, you were pretty bummed about getting second cest midterm."

    "Yeah! I studied super hard this time!!"

    I wondered how ra Misoph would react to losing her top spot...

    It would be quite amusing to see, considering how obsessed she was with her grades in the original story.

    I still hadn''t forgotten the smug look on her face when she rubbed it in Ariel''s face that she had gotten second cest time.

    Maybe I should go and witness the drama firsthandter?

    "Ariel... you''re first ce... sob, and I''m second..."

    "Y-Your Highness?! Why are you crying?"

    "I''m second... I''m trash..."

    While Lucy and Ariel were having their little moment, the Golden Boy, who had been lurking nearby, sauntered over to us.

    He nced at the weeping Lucy and asked,

    "What''s wrong... Why is Your Highness in tears...?"

    "She missed first ce by one question."

    "Oh dear..."

    The Golden Boy looked at Lucy with feigned sympathy.

    "Cheer up, Your Highness. Second ce is still amazing."

    "Thank you..."

    "Second ce is still amazing."

    "...Why did you say it twice?"

    I had a feeling he was up to something when his expression brightened at the mention of ‘second ce.’

    And there he was, the Golden Boy, teasing the First Princess of the Empire without a care in the world.

    He was literally risking his life for a prank.

    This guy was definitely the biggest troll in the entire Empire.

    As I stared at him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, his mismatched eyes met mine, a mischievous glint dancing in their depths.

    "Well, well, well, if it isn''t the Maniac. How did you do on the exam?"

    "Hmm... I think I got somewhere in the upper-middle range. What about you?"

    "Heh heh!"

    The Golden Boy let out an obnoxious chuckle and held up three fingers in response to my question.

    What did that mean?

    Don''t tell me he got third ce in the entire year.

    "I got third ce in the year!"

    "Oh."

    "From the bottom!!"

    "Oh...?"

    I was about to congratte him on getting third ce, but then I processed the rest of his sentence.

    Third ce in the year... from the bottom.

    In other words...

    "You''re saying you''re practically at the bottom of the barrel, you absolute degenerate?"

    "You could say that!"

    The Golden Boy grinned proudly and gave me a thumbs-up.

    ...What was wrong with this guy?

    He was definitely not human.

    I sighed and rubbed my forehead, and the Golden Boy justughed.

    "Whatever~ It doesn''t really matter, right? I can just make up for it in the ranking battle next week~"

    "Hmm... make up for it in the ranking battle, huh?"

    The ranking battle.

    It was an exam that all students in the Academy participated in.

    It was a one-on-one tournament where students fought each other to determine their rank.

    With the Golden Boy''s skills, he would definitely get a good ranking unless he got extremely unlucky with the matchups.

    The ranking battle had almost as much impact on grades as the written exams.

    "This guy has a n, you know.."

    "Is that so?"

    I replied nonchntly, but I couldn''t help but scoff internally.

    Did he think I didn''t know about using the ranking battle topensate for my written exam score?

    I had my reasons for not relying on it.

    "...You''ll regret that."

    "Huh? Regret what?"

    "Just you wait."

    The Golden Boy tilted his head in confusion.

    I gave him a knowing smirk.

    If I remembered correctly...

    This year''s ranking battle had a high probability of being canceled midway through... no, it would definitely be canceled.

    On the third day of the ranking battle, exactly a week from now...

    Monsters, led by two mid-rank demons, would attack the Academy.

    "Status window."

    I called out in a low voice, and the familiar mechanical sound rang in my ears.

    A blue screen materialized in front of me.

    *—Ding!*

    [User: Raiden Lishite]

    Gender: Male

    Age: 18

    Race: Human

    [......See more]

    [Main Quests Pending: 1]

    [Main Quests In Progress: 0]

    [Completed Main Quests: 1]

    I moved my finger and tapped on one of the text boxes at the bottom.

    *—Ding!*

    [Main Quest Pending]

    Title: Unbreakable

    [Description]

    The Demon King''s army is attacking the Academy.

    Protect the Academy from the cruel shadows.

    Enemy Scale: To be revealed in 5 days, 4 hours, and 27 minutes.

    [Rewards Upon Sess]

    1. +1500 Favorability with Academy Students

    2. 3000 Points

    3. Acquire Title: ''Hero of ■■''

    4. Acquire Skill: ''Sanctuary''

    [Penalties Upon Failure]

    1. Weakening of Reynolds Academy''s Forces

    2. 328 Deaths

    [Possible Sub-Quests]

    1. Hero of Blood

    2. Faceless Hero

    3. Madman

    [......See more]

    [Time Remaining Until Quest Start: 5 days, 4 hours, and 27 minutes]

    One week until the second main quest.

    Unfortunately, it seemed like my final exams were far from over.

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