Chapter 15
Chapter 015.
"Anyway, if Reinia Locke is betting money, she must be quite skilled, right?"
"That's right. Would Locke just bet money on someone who's not a big deal?"
"They say she even went all-in. It seemed like she wasn't even considering betting on anyone else. They say she didn't even bet on Trevor, who's the most likely candidate."
'Lenny...'
The competitive gazes that had barely subsided flared up again.
The air within the testing site became intensely hot with animosity and wariness directed at me.
And I, who had become the subject of burdensome attention, resented Lenny and Trevor immensely.
'I want to regain my quiet and beautiful world, peace and happiness.'
I only wished to quickly take the exam and be freed from the numerous eyes upon me.
As I endured the scrutinizing gazes, the professor who would be supervising the exam opened the door and entered.
The professor scanned the dry testing site and seemed pleased.
"Everyone looks tense. That's a good attitude."
He nodded repeatedly as he looked around at the overheated atmosphere of the testing site, where students were glaring at each other with bloodshot eyes.
"You need this level of intensity to advance."
Suffocated by that intensity, I quietly lowered my eyes.
"The students here have consistently achieved good results with excellent learning attitudes and are striving for even better growth. Our Academy always keeps opportunities open for such students."
He handed out the exam papers and emphasized once more.
"Everyone knows that if you fail the exam, it will be difficult to reapply for at least two years."
He added, matching the sounds of swallowing that could be heard here and there.
"If that happens, it's not just your early graduation that will be ruined. Your honor will also be tarnished."
After the professor's statement that failing the exam was the end of one's life, the atmosphere within the testing site became even more heated.
"Don't forget that all the students around you are potential competitors."
The complexions of some students noticeably worsened.
The only ones who seemed calm were Trevor next to me and a few others who were usually praised as top students.
-The exam will now begin.
A mechanical voice announced the start of the exam, and at the same time, the remaining time was displayed.
Everyone's faces showed tension according to the time displayed in the air.
The sounds of pens scratching and papers turning filled the testing site.
Amidst the tense silence, I quietly began to fill out the exam paper.
'I need to thank Orion.'
It was worth persistently visiting the library despite his countless interruptions.
Thanks to the professor's remarks that created excessive tension, some students were distracted and struggling, but I was doing reasonably well.
While preparing for the exam, enduring his immense presence as he lingered around the library with moist eyes, my mental fortitude had become stronger than anyone else's.
To think I would be grateful to him like this.
Life was truly unpredictable.
I was smoothly filling the blank paper when it happened.
A strange sensation penetrated the back of my neck.
Soon, an unknown and bizarre something began to fill my head.
It wasn't exactly a voice, but it felt like a strange sound with a definite meaning was shaking my entire head.
The hand holding the pen stopped for a moment, and soon an enormous headache poured down.
Due to the pouring pain, the pen snapped in my hand without me even realizing it.
"What's going on?"
My head, which had been shaking so much that I couldn't answer for a few seconds, cleared up instantly.
My vision, which had been blurry as if trapped in fog, returned.
When I raised my head, I saw the professor's frowning face approaching closely.
"It's nothing. I was just a little shaky due to the sudden tension."
Tsk, he clicked his tongue and turned his head away as if ignoring me.
A faint light of contempt flashed across his gaze.
On the other hand, the moment his head turned towards Trevor in the seat next to me, his gaze softened.
'You can show your true feelings so transparently and clearly.'
The professor was definitely honest, if nothing else.
I swallowed a sigh and took out a new pen.
The deeply etched marks on the exam paper remained as they were.
'What was that just now?'
I wasn't someone who usually suffered from headaches, nor was I particularly nervous, and I was taking the exam smoothly.
The sudden pain that had struck me was impossible to explain.
"Everyone, focus."
A nervous voice was heard right above me.
He must have seen the hand holding the pen stop.
So as not to be caught out any further, I carefully resumed writing from where I had stopped.
The pen, which had cautiously started filling the paper again, found its pace.
That's when it happened.
"Kyaa!"
Someone's piercing scream filled the testing site.
Reflexively, I raised my head and saw a female student in the back row with a deathly pale face.
Following her gaze, Trevor Beril with a pale face came into view.
He was trembling all over and streaming black blood from his nose.
"Oh dear!"
Before the professor could take action, his body slumped to the side.
With a dull thud, his body fell limply to the floor.
Students with frightened faces screamed so loudly that their ears were ringing.
The professor, flustered, immediately laid Trevor down, and I could see it.
His pupils were entirely dyed black.
A chill ran down my spine, and a sense of unease enveloped me.
I couldn't take my eyes off the black blood flowing from his nose.
"Call someone!"
At the professor's voice declaring an emergency situation, someone rushed out of the testing site.
An alarm rang loudly, reconfirming that there was a problem with the exam.
Other professors who had rushed over in a hurry carried him away somewhere.
Several female students fainted from the black blood pooling on the floor, or turned their heads away with nausea.
Due to the stench of blood filling the classroom, I felt like the headache that had disappeared was about to return.
* * *
"First, go home and wait until further notice."
The professor's face was stern as he urged us not to disclose the incident that had occurred within the Academy to the outside world.
His flustered expression was evident.
Trevor was not just someone who received attention within the Academy.
The Count's family who sponsored him wouldn't stand still either, so how would things unfold?
"What about the exam?"
When someone raised their hand and asked, the professor's face showed annoyance.
The student who had asked the question flinched and quietly lowered their hand.
Some of the female students who were still sobbing had faces that showed they couldn't control their emotions.
"I'll let you know about that after the meeting, so please wait at home for now."
In the chaotic atmosphere, the professor left first.
All the examinees who had gathered to take the exam were busy looking at each other.
In the awkward silence, someone suddenly opened their mouth.
"If the exam is retaken, will the exam questions be changed?"
"Maybe."
When someone with a still dazed face agreed, the testing site soon became noisy.
Among them, one of the female students who was sobbing the most violently stood up abruptly.
She glared at the two people who were discussing the exam questions, then roughly pushed away her desk and walked towards the door.
Just before leaving, her tearful eyes glared at me.
Startled by the unexpected gaze, she turned away and headed towards the hallway.
Starting with her, everyone looked embarrassed and started to leave one by one, watching each other.
I sat in my seat until the very end and slowly got up.
Thanks to the professors' quick response, the students I encountered while passing through the hallway seemed unaware of the incident and were no different from usual.
"Merian!"
Lenny, who was waiting for me while sitting in a classroom where the lesson had already ended, greeted me brightly.
"How was the exam?"
She massaged my shoulders cheerfully and continued.
"I thought you would definitely crush all the kids in that testing site, Merian!"
"I didn't take the exam with that in mind."
Why would I crush perfectly fine classmates in an exam I was just taking to advance?
I placed my hand over Lenny's hand, which was still patting my shoulder, and quietly asked.
"So, did you bet money on me?"
The hand that had been diligently patting my shoulder stopped for a moment.
Watching her eyes cause an earthquake, I calmly asked again.
"You went all-in, right?"
I thought it was just a fleeting amusement.
But seeing that she had already been burned once and was still gambling again, it was not something to be taken lightly.
Lenny began to ramble.
"It's not like I used you, but they kept saying you wouldn't be able to advance and only bet on other kids. So, in the sense that I believe in and love you..."
"I heard you were the one who started the betting in the first place?"
"Which bastard snitched..."
"Lenny."
I held her hand that was placed on my shoulder tightly and said.
"If you do that again next time, we're breaking up."
She, who had been desperately searching for excuses, froze for a moment.
I poked Lenny's still chubby cheeks and added.
"No more illegal gambling bets."
"Okay..."
"Don't do it again."
"Okay..."
"Okay."
Lenny replied with a dejected face.
After pondering something for a while, she raised her head again with a serious face.
"Can I keep the money I won from this bet?"
"No one won money from this bet."
At my words, she tilted her head.
"I didn't take the exam well."
I was about to explain the situation to Lenny, who had a puzzled face, when it happened.
A chilling sensation that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end pierced through me.
My hands froze in mid-air, and a headache that tightened my head came with a sense of déjà vu that I had experienced before.
An unknown, unfamiliar, and bizarre voice rang in my ears, and strength drained from my entire body.
Lenny's urgent voice next to me was not properly conveyed and scattered, echoing.
With terrible pain, my vision darkened.
I felt my body slowly collapsing to the floor.
As I blinked and tried to reach the floor powerlessly, someone's hand grabbed me.
Even as my senses were fading, I could only feel the strong hand grabbing me.
"Merian."
At the low call, my eyes closed.
The pain disappeared as if washed away, and consciousness fell far below.
It felt like endlessly falling far below, where it would be difficult to come up again.
