First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 58

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 58

 

Bael pulled out a bundle of documents from his leather bag.

 

The documents contained the applicants’ faces, names, and brief special notes.

 

“First, there’s this person.”

 

Bael pointed to one person’s photo with his finger as he spoke.

 

The face of a woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail was familiar to me too.

 

The psychotic axe girl who had maintained first place with 1.2 million points on the first day I took the first exam.

 

“Her name is Irin Kramer. Final first exam ranking: 3rd place. Score: 1,230,941 points. Her place of origin is listed as the Kingdom of Alps. It’s a small country beneath the Void Snowfield.”

 

That girl ended up in 3rd place for the final ranking.

 

Doesn’t that mean there were two more people who scored higher than 1.2 million points?

 

‘I should retract my thought that the applicants’ level had dropped.’

 

I had taken the first exam on the morning of the first day of application registration.

 

During the week after that, any number of highly skilled individuals could have applied.

 

Suddenly, I became curious about something.

 

“Count Ernst knows all the applicants’ rankings and scores, right?”

 

“Only the top few.”

 

“Then what was my final ranking?”

 

My score was 1,128,035 points.

 

At the time, I was in 2nd place, following Irin Kramer.

 

Now that the first exam has completely ended, what rank would I be?

 

“Asel is 5th place in the final rankings.”

 

5th place.

 

Then I could assume 4th place’s score was also around 1.2 million points.

 

Perhaps all the top rankers had similar scores.

 

That expectation was shattered quickly.

 

“Next is this person.”

 

This person was also a woman.

 

Her blood-red bob cut and long scar crossing her left eye were striking.

 

“Tanya de Belyaev. Final first exam ranking: 2nd place. Score: 1,429,393 points. Place of origin: Argent Empire, Argon Territory. She’s the eldest daughter of Count Belyaev, the lord of the territory, and uses swift swordsmanship with two daggers.”

 

“1.4 million points despite using speed swords. That would be quite troublesome.”

 

“Yes. She’ll be a much more difficult opponent to face in actual combat.”

 

The first exam was a simple power test.

 

It was structured to be disadvantageous for those using sharp, swift swords compared to those wielding heavy broadswords.

 

Despite that, achieving such a high score meant she was not only fast but each of her strikes had destructive power that far exceeded normal standards.

 

‘Not bad.’

 

She seemed like she wouldn’t be bad for some entertainment.

 

“This person didn’t take the entrance exam, did she?”

 

If she had applied, she would have definitely passed easily.

 

It made no sense for someone of this caliber to fail a mere entrance exam.

 

“All of the top 5 are people who didn’t take the entrance exam. This is why transfer exams are difficult. You have to face new competitors in addition to those who barely failed the entrance exam.”

 

Most importantly, the number of people selected is extremely small compared to the entrance exam.

 

Bael suddenly let out a sigh.

 

“Actually, Tanya de Belyaev is skilled enough that it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to take 1st place normally. Looking at past records, the 1st place in first exams was usually formed around 1.3 to 1.4 million points.”

 

Bael picked up another document.

 

His expression as he examined the document seemed full of worry and concern.

 

“But this year, of all years… a monster entered.”

 

I checked the photo shown in the document.

 

Curly white hair. He was a handsome man with pale white skin and clear gray eyes.

 

Bael began his explanation.

 

“His name is Ragnor von Grantuan. As you can tell from the preposition ‘von,’ he’s from the Holy Kingdom, not the Argent Empire. Final first exam ranking: 1st place. His score is…”

 

Bael paused as if he still couldn’t believe it, then continued.

 

“4,832,180 points.”

 

…4.8 million points? Did he mistake the units?

 

But I could clearly see the man’s score written in the document with my own eyes.

 

Just in case, I asked again.

 

“4.8 million points?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Not 480,000 points?”

 

“I’m certain.”

 

It was a figure that exceeded three times the 2nd place score.

 

Bael continued explaining information about him.

 

“Ragnor von Grantuan is very famous within the Holy Kingdom as the next-generation world’s greatest swordsman. He passed Byeolmaseong’s entrance exam as valedictorian and attended for one semester, then suddenly said he wanted to study abroad, dropped out, and came to our country.”

 

The Holy Kingdom’s ‘Byeolmaseong’ is one of the world’s top 3 academies, standing shoulder to shoulder with Millennium Academy.

 

The fact that he passed their entrance exam as valedictorian already proved his skills were more than sufficient.

 

“Moreover, during that one semester, he never once lost 1st place in school evaluations.”

 

“Well, anyway, you’re saying he’s quite an impressive guy.”

 

“That’s how it appears.”

 

Bael looked through the bundle of documents once or twice more before putting them back in his leather bag.

 

It seemed like that was enough regarding the applicants.

 

“The transfer exam rule is survival death match. They lock you up in a maze-like place and tell the kids to just fight each other. Until a final winner emerges. Of course, there are more detailed rules… I’ll explain those gradually.”

 

Bael interlocked his fingers and leaned his body toward me.

 

“Our strategy for this transfer exam is simple. Avoid Ragnor von Grantuan and hunt as many people and monsters as possible. Of course, it would be good if we could avoid Tanya de Belyaev too, but with our team’s strength, we should be able to handle someone like her.”

 

Ragnor von Grantuan.

 

If he’s such an impressive guy, he’ll certainly draw a lot of attention.

 

Encountering him would be a loss for me.

 

As Bael said, it seemed better to aim for avoiding him for now.

 

“But Count Ernst.”

 

“Yes, please speak.”

 

“Who is 4th place? Don’t I need to know about them separately?”

 

“Ah, that person is…”

 

Just as Bael was about to speak, a familiar voice came from the restaurant entrance.

 

“Sorry for being late, Young Master Ernst.”

 

Against the backdrop of afternoon sunlight streaming through the open door, two silhouettes revealed themselves.

 

One was a young man with bronze-tanned skin and a muscular body.

 

It was Joseph de Folcy.

 

Next to him stood a man I’d never seen before.

 

Light green hair and a delinquent-looking skull necklace.

 

Both hands shoved deep in his pockets, swaggering as he walked this way.

 

“Let me introduce him. That person is the final 1st exam 4th place, Ariel de Ortano. Along with Asel, he could be called our team’s greatest strength.”

 

Ariel approached the table and looked me up and down with a quick glance.

 

It was hard to read any emotion in his sunken eyes.

 

He casually spat out a comment.

 

“You’re a commoner, right?”

 

“…”

 

“I heard you got 1.1 million points on the first exam? Pretty impressive for a commoner. I’m Ariel. Please take care of me.”

 

Ariel extended his hand, which had skull-patterned rings on his index, middle, and ring fingers.

 

I clasped his hand and said.

 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Asel.”

 

“…Huh, that’s it?”

 

“What more is needed?”

 

“Just as I heard, he’s an ill-mannered fellow. A commoner, no less.”

 

Joseph placed his hand on Ariel’s shoulder from beside and added.

 

“Exactly, didn’t I tell you? He’s someone not worth associating with. Well, at least his skills are solid so he’ll be helpful.”

 

“Of course he better be helpful. That’s the only reason I’m still letting a commoner who spoke informally to me live peacefully.”

 

Bael let out a groaning sound.

 

“We’re teammates now, so if you start fighting already, it’ll be difficult to pass. And Asel, while I’m showing you respect by speaking formally to each other, you do know that commoners are supposed to treat nobles with proper courtesy, don’t you?”

 

Commoners, nobles, royalty.

 

Humans really obsess over such trivial things.

 

‘What a bunch of nonsense.’

 

For a moment, frustration washed over me wondering what wealth and glory I was seeking by keeping these types around as a so-called team.

 

Soon I recalled my original purpose and came to my senses.

 

To successfully infiltrate the school, it was better to maintain the team by playing along with them appropriately rather than creating conflict.

 

I nodded and apologized.

 

“Mm, you’re right. I was short-sighted. I apologize, Duke Ortano.”

 

“Tsk. Since you apologized right away, I’ll let it slide for today.”

 

Ariel crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.

 

If I’m receiving this level of discriminatory treatment even before enrollment, how severe will it be after I enroll?

 

Will I really be able to have a quiet school life without causing problems?

 

I’m already wanting to forget about teams and whatnot and just smash all their faces in.

 

‘Sigh, I need to endure this.’

 

My worries are mountainous.

 

Let’s think of this as part of patience training.

 

I let out a small sigh.

 

* * *

 

Millennium Academy’s 1st Practical Combat Training Ground.

 

This was the world’s largest combat training ground, only opened during important academic schedules like entrance exams or midterm and final evaluations.

 

The theme changes each time it opens, and this transfer exam’s theme was ‘labyrinth’.

 

Applicants’ starting positions are randomly assigned throughout various parts of the labyrinth.

 

The exam doesn’t end until either the time limit expires or the number of survivors drops below the selection quota.

 

“This brings back memories.”

 

In the control room where the internal situation could be monitored at once through video crystal orbs installed throughout the labyrinth.

 

Peil de Bremen, a male student enrolled in the 1st year Swordsmanship Department, gazed at the screen connected to the crystal orb with nostalgic eyes.

 

“Memories my foot. It was only a few months ago at most.”

 

The owner of the reproaching voice was Frida de Alexius, a female student enrolled in the 1st year Magic Department.

 

The two were from different departments but had met in liberal arts classes and quickly became close.

 

Fail took a long sip of his drink and asked.

 

“But Frida, why aren’t you watching the Magic Department side and here instead?”

 

The 1st Practical Combat Training Ground was so vast in scale that it was often divided into sections for efficiency.

 

The Combat Department transfer exams were also conducted simultaneously in divided sections.

 

And this was the control room belonging to the Swordsmanship Department exam section.

 

Frida answered with sleepy eyes while yawning.

 

“There aren’t any particularly notable applicants on the Magic Department side.”

 

“Is that so.”

 

“I heard ‘that guy’ applied to the Swordsmanship Department this time?”

 

“Ah, you mean that person?”

 

Even without speaking the name aloud, both knew well they were referring to the same person.

 

Ragnor von Grantuan.

 

A genius swordsman extremely famous within the Holy Kingdom.

 

He’s even called by the grandiose title of the next-generation world’s greatest swordsman.

 

Fail shuddered and grumbled.

 

“I heard he passed Byeolmaseong’s entrance exam as valedictorian and never lost first place even once during the semester… If he’s from the Holy Kingdom, he should just stay at Byeolmaseong. Why did he apply to our school?”

 

Frida looked up at Fail’s face and giggled.

 

“Hehe. Fail, are you scared of that guy?”

 

“Sc-scared of what?”

 

Fail’s face turned red as he flailed his arms frantically.

 

But he couldn’t deny the fact that the guy was scary.

 

Fail was also a student at this school, and among the countless geniuses gathered here, he knew what it meant to never lose first place even once.

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