abcnovels
Chapter 17: Adryn Teln
Chapter 17: Adryn Teln
Chapter 17: Adryn Teln
“What’s going on…?”
“Why are those three- what are they talking about-”
Of the eleven people in the room, four had left.
But the exam room became even more chaotic.
The participants were discussing fervently about what might be happening behind the closed door of the office they entered.
“…”
Adryn took a step back from the atmosphere and thought.
‘This is bad…!’
Once the situation settled down and her excitement subsided, she regained her composure.
But then regret flooded over her like a tidal wave, clouding her mind.
‘Was I too impulsive?’
Adryn thought it was her duty to protect Drin and Kasha’s honor.
‘I must be crazy!’
Now that she was calmer, she realized she couldn’t have been more insolent.
How could she possibly defend their honor?
‘They probably thought that way too… right?”‘
At the time, Adryn thought they were looking at her in a positive light.
She interpreted their gazes as, ‘I’m impressed that you would go out of your way to defend my honor.’
But when she replayed that scene in her mind again, the interpretation had completely changed.
‘Isn’t I being a little too aggressive?’
In fact, even when she actively defended them, their reactions were lukewarm.
Even Drin Lebringer defended number 348 instead of herself.
“Now that I think about it… What’s the relationship between number 348 and Drin? They seemed close.”
What made matters worse was that maybe Drin defended number 348 because they were friends.
If that was true, Adryn had be pretending to be an acquaintance of Lebringer’s in front of everyone else.
“…”
At this point, Adryn complexion had turned a pale blue.
‘Could it be that I’m out of Drin’s favor…?’
If Drin and Kasha were geniuses, then Adryn was a prodigy.
She was in a position where she had to worry about how high her grades would be rather than whether she would pass the Academy entrance exam or not.
She was confident she would do well.
Until just before the exam, her future at the Academy seemed bright.
Now, her future at the academy was as dark as night.
*Sigh*
For the participants, Adryn was the last thing on their minds right now.
Everyone looked towards the office and talked about those four people.
But to Adryn, it sounded like they were gossiping about her.
It felt like they glanced at her briefly.
‘It’s over…’
In this moment,
Adryn felt her time at the Academy was over.
It was only natural since she fell out of Drin Lebringer’s favor.
‘No, no.’
It was too soon to give up.
‘Kasha defended me…’
Kasha Hanahan stood up for Adryn while Drin Lebringer stood up for number 348.
‘But did Kasha really defend me…?’
Upon further reflection, it seemed more like Kasha raised objections against number 348 rather than defending Adryn’s side specifically.
Kasha Hanahan might not have any interest in Adryn after all considering her personality.
“Uhhhhh…!”
Adryn shook her head nervously with a twitchy gesture.
Her glossy and voluminous orange hair scattered around messily.
She looked like a fox waking up in a furry mess.
‘Why the hell did I-‘
She was interrupted by the horrifying realization that she had fallen under the watchful eyes of Drin Lebringer and Kasha Hanahan.
‘t’s all because of that guy!’
Number 348.
If that foolish man didn’t insist on being first place instead of surpassing Drin Lebringer and Kasha Hanahan, none of this would have happened.
‘Who does he think he is, surpassing Drin Lebringer and Kasha Hanahan!’
Adryn recalled Ceylon’s test record.
Ceylon’s movements were ordinary and didn’t match the record of 50 seconds at all.
On the contrary, the mana golem Ceylon faced was very special. Special in a way that it was embarrassingly weak.
Ceylon’s record wasn’t because he was good, it was because the golem was bad.
Anyone could see that.
Anyone would think-
“…”
Then another name popped into Adryn’s head.
Officer Sinia.
Adryn remembered the look on Officer Sinia’s face as she reviewed Ceylon’s record.
For the first time, interest and curiosity appeared in her eyes as if she were looking at chicks.
The same was true for Drin and Kasha.
As if they witnessed something unsettling.
“Oh, but thinking about it again, that commoner is quite funny.”
“That’s what I’m saying. The golem moves around like a stupid rock, but instead of thinking there’s something wrong with the golem, he thinks he’s amazing.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s like a rock. Both the golem and his head.”
“Pfft.”
Originally, Adryn should have had the same reaction as those participants.
Adryn also had the same thoughts as those participants.
That ridiculous record was truly absurd.
The record was not a reflection of Ceylon’s skill; it was due to a problem with the golem.
But Adryn couldn’t help but be bothered by Drin, Kasha, and Sinia’s reactions.
What exactly were their reactions?
‘…Does that guy really have something special? Is he really amazing?’
To assess this judgment, Adryn recalled Ceylon’s appearance.
Then in her imagination, Ceylon spoke with his characteristic clueless expression.
-I know~ No matter how you look at it, don’t you think I’m a little overpowered?
Adryn shook her head furiously.
‘Nope. Definitely not.’
That stupid looking Ceylon having some special talent in Drin’s and Kasha’s eyes… she couldn’t believe it.
She didn’t want to believe it.
Didn’t want to believe it.
‘But…’
Right now, her own opinion wasn’t important.
Her opinion held no value compared those three’s.
‘Ugh.’
Another horrible assumption popped into Adryn’s head.
That maybe Ceylon did possess some special talent that caught the attention of those three individuals’ eyes.
And because of that talent which elevated Ceylon to an unreachable position for herself, He would come after Adryn seeking revenge.
-The grudge from when we took the entrance exam. Of course I haven’t forgotten!
With a very sinister smile.
“…”
Adryn felt chills running down her spine and thought,
‘This won’t do.’
Adryn was good at diplomacy if put nicely.
If put badly, Adryn was overly concerned about other people’s opinions.
She had a tendency to be mindful of those who were in higher positions than herself.
Excessively so.
‘That guy-‘
At this moment, Adryn’s evaluation of Ceylon changed.
From being just a clueless guy to someone she needed to pay attention to.
And then the problem became even more serious.
Because that person who Drin knew as an acquaintance turned into someone important enough for her to take notice of.
-Thud
Then Drin Lebringer came out from the office.
The place that had been noisy with participants trying not to attract Drin’s attention suddenly fell silent.
‘Huh?’
Adryn also noticed the change in Drin’s demeanor.
“…”
At first glance, she seemed calm as usual, almost cold-hearted.
But in Adryn’s eyes, who was sensitive to others’ reactions, she appeared somewhat annoyed at the moment.
‘What happened inside…?’
At that moment, a group consisting of three participants approached Drin.
They were in the test together, and had been the loudest in the room earlier.
“Drin-ssi, you mentioned earlier that there was something between you and number 348 during your break. What is your relationship with each other?”
They asked without any context or consideration for their surroundings.
It seemed curiosity got ahead of reason perfectly well here.
Drin’s calm eyes turned to the man who had asked the question on behalf of the group.
“We have no relationship whatsoever.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you for answering!”
Only after accepting Drin’s atmosphere did they seem to regain their senses and hurriedly returned to their seats, finally closing their mouths completely this time around.
‘Idiots.’
Adryn thought they were pathetic but also felt grateful at the same time.
They had asked Drin the question she hadn’t had the courage to ask herself.
‘They’re not related?’
This was the moment that solved the problem that had been bothering Adryn the most.
No longer did she have to worry about ‘messing with Drin’s acquaintances and getting on her bad side.’
Now, according to Drin’s answer, she and Ceylon were indeed only acquaintances, but nothing more.
Drin behavior earlier didn’t vindicate Ceylon either, she was simply doing what she thought was right.
‘Ha…’
Adryn breathed a sigh of relief, looking like she had come back from the dead.
“So, everyone~ The results are out!”
The next words that came out of the office were also good news for Adryn.
“After reviewing the test record of number 348, I determined that there was a problem during his test and conducted a retest under the same conditions. As a result of the retest, with a time of 3 minutes and 43 seconds – he passed once again.”
Ceylon doesn’t have any relationship with Drin.
Nor was he someone with exceptional talent that those three individuals would pay attention to.
At this moment, everything that was bothering Adryn was solved.
“Aaah…”
Adryn barely stopped herself from slumping back in her seat in relief.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
‘By the way-‘
Adryn glanced at Ceylon.
She had two impressions of him.
Those two impressions were extreme opposites of each other.
Someone with exceptional talent whom those three skilled individuals would take notice of.
And an incompetent man who failed miserably in the second round exam.
Adryn assumed that if Ceylon were to retake the test, he would fail spectacularly.
Contrary to expectations, however, Ceylon did well on the retest.
A time of 3 minutes and 43 seconds, not quite as good as before, but still quite respectable by average standards.
From what Adryn could recall of the other participants in his group, three minutes and forty-three seconds was good for sixth place in the group.
‘Surprising, isn’t it?’
Adryn looked at Ceylon again.
He still looked dumbfounded and lighthearted, but at least he didn’t look as pathetic as before.
At the point where he passed the second test, he was no longer a pitiful person who couldn’t grasp his own subject.
At that moment, Ceylon looked towards Drin.
“…”
Drin turned her head away from him as if expressing annoyance.
‘What’s going on…?’
Drin defended Ceylon who stood by his record.
But Ceylon’s record was invalidated.
Come to think of it, not only Ceylon’s but also Drin’s dignity was being damaged by defending him.
Perhaps Drin felt uncomfortable about that point.
“…”
Then Ceylon looked at Kasha next.
And just like Drin did earlier, Kasha turned her head away from Ceylon too.
Maybe because of her personality she couldn’t let go of her obsession with surpassing records. It must have been contemptible for her.
There was a hint of embarrassment in Kasha’s expression, probably due to her mood.
“I knew it.”
“You’re a lowly person who doesn’t know shame.”
“You don’t even know your limits and yet you’re greedy.”
“Well well well… turns out you were nothing special.”
Adryn’s ears picked up the sound of the participants’ criticisms of Ceylon.
“…”
He was now an object of disappointment to Drin.
The object of Kasha’s despise.
An object of ridicule to the others.
It was the worst.
Ceylon was now facing the true worst, the worst that Adryn had ever feared.
Adrian thought with regret.
‘Is this because of me…?’
She had put Ceylon in this position.
Because she publicly raised questions about Ceylon’s record.
In fact, if it weren’t for Adryn, everyone would have questioned Ceylon’s record.
Moreover, even if she hadn’t stepped forward, someone else would have questioned Ceylon’s record.
It’s just that it happened to be her who did what someone else would have done anyway.
But right now, Adryn’s mind hadn’t gotten that far.
“Oh my…”
Her expression twisted with guilt.
***
‘Oh, it’s sweet.’
I safely passed the second test and entered the waiting room for the third test.
[Quest Success – Guidance]
The quest has been cleared.
In the empty inventory window, a random box containing the quest reward, a maximum Heroic Rank result, appeared.
This was enough for me to say with confidence: Today’s weather is very sweet and refreshing for some reason.
For some reason Kasha’s quest was already completed, so there was no need to obsess over being at the top of the entrance exam anymore.
Instead of getting caught up in troublesome things like using assassination skills unnecessarily, it was enough to pass the entrance exam smoothly without any problems.
Even though Kasha still doesn’t acknowledge me despite clearing her quest-
and Drin got upset for an unknown reason-
there were a few concerns but overall it was smooth sailing.
“If everything continues like this, there will be no end.”
Now all I need is good luck here at Gacha.
The crowning moment. To cap off this euphoric moment, I open the box.
“Excuse me-”
“Hmm?”
Just as I was about to open the box, someone spoke to me.
I put the inventory window back and looked at that person.
There stood a woman who looked like a fluffy fox.
“Oh, it’s you?”
Adryn.
She wasn’t a major player in the game, like Drin and Kasha, but she was important.
And, most importantly, she was the one who had just taken the initiative to question my record.
‘What the hell, are you here to do some kind of teabagging?’
I thought she was going to say the same thing and look smug.
But there was something strange about her appearance.
“Are you… okay?”
She said very cautiously while watching my reaction carefully.
‘What’s going on? Why is she acting like this?’