Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40. Galaxy Martial Arts Academy – Entrance Examination (4)

The day of the entrance examination had arrived.
Since guardians had to accompany students for the entrance examination, I went to school with Siu, and Cheon So-yeon went with her mother.
I was neighbors with Cheon So-yeon, and since Siu had helped Cheon So-yeon’s Mother in various ways, we took her car to school.
The admission guide came with the test schedule, and the address wasn’t particularly far from here.
I spoke while gazing at the streets visible through the window.
“This distance should be commutable.”
I had worried whether I’d need to move because of the school, but looking at the address, it was about a 15-minute drive.
With my short stride, it would take about an hour and a half to walk.
Ah, now that I’ve mastered lightness of body, could I make it in 20 minutes?
Still, I figured I’d probably ride in Siu’s car for my commute until I grew stronger.
We arrived at the school quickly, and the school grounds were enormous.
Was this elementary school campus actually larger than a university campus?
Thinking that way, I looked at the school directory at the school entrance, and it was indeed larger than a university campus.
The size was large enough to fit an entire district within it.
With grounds this vast, shouldn’t this be called Academy City rather than an academy campus?
The reason the grounds were so large was because multiple schools shared the facility.
Within the academy grounds were not only elementary, middle, and high schools, but also universities.
And there were multiple of each, not just one.
Because the grounds were vast and there were many schools, there were also multiple entrances to the school grounds.
“I knew about the escalator-style school progression, but I didn’t know multiple schools were combined on one campus.”
I later learned that besides the direct lineage school I was entering, there were schools for children of collateral branches, vassal families, disciples under family-affiliated sects, and those whose parents belonged to military force units.
There wasn’t a single school for outsiders unrelated to any family.
This is practically a cartel.
“They said to come to Cheonmu Hall… that must be it.”
The Cheonmu Elementary School I would be attending had multiple halls divided within it despite being an elementary school.
Cheonmu Hall was a massive gymnasium, making me wonder if it was really built for elementary school students to use.
At the entrance, people who appeared to be school teachers were collecting documents from guardians.
They were probably family relationship certificates, health examination results, and various other test documents for the incoming students.
After submitting their documents, the children stood on what looked like an InBody measurement machine for a simple examination.
The teachers wrote something on the spot based on the input values printed by the machine.
Cheon So-yeon and I, like the other children, submitted our documents and stood on some mysterious machine to undergo an examination.
After the simple examination ended, a man who appeared to be a teacher approached Siu and me.
“The examination results show no abnormalities, so Cheon Ji-woo’s entrance examination is approved. Cases where students fail admission happen at most once every ten years, so you don’t need to worry.”
The teacher whose name I didn’t know reviewed the documents Siu had submitted and spoke.
“From now on, you’ll take the class placement test. Cheon Ji-woo, you’re in test group 3, so you’ll first be tested on intelligence and academic ability within virtual reality, and then we’ll assess your physical condition and martial arts skills. I see you’ve marked that you’ve learned martial arts and reached the third-rate level. Based on that, you’ll be placed in Class 1.”
Class 1 was for students who entered school already having learned martial arts, regardless of their level.
Class 2 consisted of students who hadn’t learned martial arts but had formed their dantian.
Class 3 consisted of students whose dantian hadn’t formed, but the elixirs they’d consumed over time remained as latent potential.
Class 4 was classified as students who had consumed elixirs yet possessed no remaining latent potential.
However, this year there were many new students, so each class could be subdivided.
“Class 1 won’t have many students, so it likely won’t be subdivided.”
Class 3, which had the most students, would apparently be divided into sections like 3-A and 3-B.
“However, even if you’re in Class 1, who knows what will happen when you reach second year. The growth potential of children during their growth period is terrifying.”
The nameless teacher warned both Siu and me not to fall behind in competition, then guided me to the examination area I would take.
Really, was that something a teacher should say to a preschooler just entering school?
I sat down on the capsule-shaped virtual reality device the school had prepared, bewildered, and logged into the virtual reality.

* * *

The space I entered felt like something out of a fairy tale, yet my mind clearly registered that this wasn’t reality.
Was this the effect of that reality-awareness device created by virtual reality regulations?
Experiencing virtual reality firsthand, something I’d only heard about, was fascinating.
As I looked around, a panda character waved at me.
“Hello bao~! I’m Baobao, bao~! Nice to meet you, bao! What’s your name, friend, bao~?”
“…Let’s just start the test.”
At my words, the panda character named Baobao looked awkward and immediately pulled out a blackboard.
From the reaction, it seemed someone was controlling that character?
I thought there’d be something impressive about taking a test in virtual reality, but cartoon characters for children came out to dance and greet me, then displayed problems on the blackboard.
How uninterested must children be in exams for them to resort to this just to get them to take the test?
I took tests in language, mathematics, science, social studies, history, art, and music—the problems started at kindergarten level, but grew progressively harder as I solved them.
In mathematics, it went from simple arithmetic like one apple plus one apple, then suddenly jumped to logarithmic functions and calculus problems at high school level, and eventually university-level mathematics problems appeared.
Could this possibly be elementary school level by 50th century standards?
Was I, someone from 3,000 years ago, actually a primitive in reality?
Unable to believe it, I solved the problems with all my effort.
Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no time limit for solving the problems.
In the virtual reality world, it was possible to stimulate the unconscious and cognitive domains, making time flow slower than actual time.
However, there were legal restrictions—virtual reality speed was capped at 4 times real time, and continuous use couldn’t exceed 5 hours of real time.
The issue was that if I got 5 consecutive problems of similar difficulty wrong per subject, the test would end.
“Ah, I should’ve done some advance studying.”
Who would’ve thought elementary school science would include astrophysics?
Damn it, what the hell is Chao Ling and Mardel Wu’s “4-Dimensional Black Hole Interference Theory”?
I’m a 21st century person! Don’t throw theories and equations created by 30th century scientists at me!
Mathematics problems took 3 hours.
Science problems took 4 hours.
Language problems took 2 hours.
Social studies problems took 1 hour.
History problems took 2 hours.
Art problems 10 minutes, music problems 20 minutes. In total, I solved problems for 12 hours and 30 minutes.
Since I arrived at the test site around 9 AM, it had been slightly over 3 hours in real time.
As I emerged from the virtual reality, Siu asked with a worried expression.
“Are you alright, Young Master? The other new students came out in about 20 minutes, but I was concerned when you didn’t emerge for over 3 hours. The school said there was nothing wrong, and I was debating whether I should intervene forcefully.”
“I’m fine. The test questions were ridiculously difficult, so it just took me a bit longer to solve them.”
As a Korean, I couldn’t become a coward who runs away when faced with problems.
Koreans have a racial characteristic—when a problem appears, we must find the correct answer.
“The students who finished early took the martial arts test first. In fact, aside from the children assigned to Class 1, the test content for everyone else was just pulse diagnosis or detailed examinations, so most have already gone home.”
Cheonmu Hall, which had been crowded with new students and guardians, had become quiet.
Cheon So-yeon had finished all her tests and was sitting beside me, saying she would wait until I came out.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted from taking the test. Since I’m going to Class 2 anyway, can’t I just get the examination and leave?”
I’d used my mind so much that my head ached and I was hungry.
Being tired made everything feel bothersome.
At my words, Cheon So-yeon’s face crumpled and she cried out.
“No way! You have to go to Class 1 with me!”
Cheon So-yeon gazed at me with sparkling eyes, as if pleading, “Please~!”
“Sigh, fine. I’ll take the test. Ow, my whole body aches.”
I groaned like an old man and stood up, approaching the middle-aged Female Teacher who had been waiting to administer my test.
“Cheon Ji-woo, you seem tired. How about doing some breathing exercises?”
“Yes…”
Being tired made me not want to do anything.
I sat down and performed breathing exercises to relieve my fatigue for a moment.
Normally, performing breathing exercises in such an open place would be taboo in the martial arts world, but Siu was right behind me, and Cheon So-yeon’s Mother was here too.
The teachers I would be indebted to in the future wouldn’t attack me, so I simply performed the breathing exercises.
As inner energy circulated through my entire body, I felt my vitality returning somewhat.
“So, your primary weapons are listed as fists and sword. Cheon Ji-woo, which one will you be tested on?”
At the teacher’s question, I deliberated before picking up a wooden sword.
“I’ll go with the sword.”
“Good. Come at me with all your strength.”
The teacher also gripped a wooden sword like mine.
The middle-aged Female Teacher facing me stood in a relaxed stance, as if inviting me to attack, completely defenseless.
It was clear she had the confidence that she could block an attack from a third-rate fighter like me without any preparation.
Well, even though it’s called an elementary school, it’s the school the direct line attends.
A teacher instructing martial arts there couldn’t possibly be at a low level.
At minimum, they’d be first-rate; usually, they’d be at the peak.
Perhaps, since it’s the school the direct line attends, they could even be at the supreme peak.
No, wait—if they were at the supreme peak, they’d be squad leader material even in the family’s Military Force Unit, so would there be none at an elementary school?
Typically, a Major Sect’s main forces consisted of those from the current realm to the peak.
In the reality of the Galaxy Martial Arts World, first-rate cultivators who could use sword energy were treated as apprentices or rear-line personnel who didn’t even qualify as core combat forces in a Major Sect.
Imagining the Female Teacher’s skill level, I took a deep breath and used lightness technique to approach rapidly.
Whoosh!
The Female Teacher effortlessly blocked my swift surprise attack.
“Lightness technique? It’s not recommended to teach that to children under ten, but more importantly—you’ve studied the meridian pathways?”
Lightness technique was an art that couldn’t be learned without understanding the meridian pathways of the human body.
Memorizing and studying meridian pathways was part of middle school curriculum, so learning lightness technique was typically also a middle school level skill.
Though it was taught, these days few people actually learned it properly.
I moved sideways using the footwork of the Green Wood Technique, attacking the Female Teacher with the sword forms of the Green Wood Sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang clang clang!
The Female Teacher effortlessly parried my blade.
I began earnestly reinforcing my physical abilities as a third-tier cultivator, moving faster with greater intensity.
As I seriously enhanced my body, the Female Teacher straightened her relaxed posture and deflected my sword with flowing movements.
The Female Teacher’s body, honed to the extreme, redirected the strength I’d amplified with inner energy—all without using any inner energy herself.
My strength enhanced by inner energy should have surpassed the Female Teacher’s strength without inner energy, but her experience and mastery of swordsmanship more than compensated for that gap.
Being blocked so thoroughly, I felt a competitive spirit rising—a desire to land at least one solid hit.
Yes, let me try this properly.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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