Chapter 40 - An Unexpected Figure
Once we had all gathered, Crystal started talking—still acting as the leader, even though it was really Cordelia behind the scenes.
"The test will be dungeon diving—or to be more specific; monster hunting."
Crystal declared with a voice only us could hear. She leaned across the white tablecloth, lowering her tone so that the surrounding tables in the restaurant wouldn’t overhear the sensitive details.
And as soon as she said that—Zion looked at me with slightly widened eyes.
He snapped his head toward my side of the booth, his mouth slightly open in surprise after remembering what I had guessed just yesterday.
’Lucky guess.’
I mouthed to him. I offered a subtle, playful smile, letting him think it was purely a blind prediction on my part.
Anyway, Crystal continued—
"The academy has its own controlled dungeons; they use it to give experience to the students... they hold tests and activities in them."
She tapped her fingers against her tea cup, laying out the baseline setup for how the faculty managed practical field trials for incoming classes.
I already knew everything, but I still listened; I might hear some information that aren’t from the game, after all.
I kept my eyes fixed on her, taking small sips from my glass while paying close attention to any potential divergence from the original storyline.
"The test this end of the month will be held in one of those dungeon, in a tower called; [The Tower of Seven Gates]."
"We freshmen are only allowed to access two floors of it, and to go to the second floor—we need to deal with the mini-boss ourselves. The test has a very simple rule; each monster we kill inside the test, we get points, and the points depends on how strong the monster we hunted."
Crystal explained. Her explanation was crisp and well-organized, breaking down the exact mechanics behind how the faculty evaluated team performance during high-stakes practicals.
"The whole test will last for three days, we can come out of the dungeon at any time during this—but we can’t go back in after that."
Cindy and Zion were surprised to learn how long this test would take.
Their eyes blinked in shock, clearly not expecting a freshman evaluation exercise to span multiple full days inside an active, monster-filled structure.
I would be as well If I didn’t know it beforehand; but if you really think about it—you’ll also realize that clearing dungeons mostly take days, weeks, or even months. So the fact that we would be staying inside the dungeon for a few days isn’t that weird.
Real dungeon expeditions required proper pacing, resource management, and stamina conservation rather than short, explosive bursts of strength.
"There will be academy staffs wandering—they will just observe and silently grade us individually. And when someone is in danger; they will interfere to save them, but that person will be eliminated after that."
"Though, the group he was in can still continue without that person. Their score will continue to rise, except for the ones already eliminated in their group."
"And once you get eliminated by the staff intefering; it will be deducted from your final score. So to receive your full score—you need to come back out of the dungeon by yourselves."
Crystal explained all the information he has to us.
She leaned back in her chair, making sure every single one of us understood the severe penalty attached to failing or relying on safety proctors.
Then quickly, before any of us could even talk—
"Our goal is to reach the second floor on the first day, and after that—get the stop spot in the test."
Crystal declared that.
She placed her palm firmly against the table, her sharp eyes scanning our faces to gauge our reaction to her ambitious target.
"..."
The whole area went silent when she said that.
The light hum of the background air conditioning was the only sound left in our corner as the sheer magnitude of her goal settled over the group. I can feel Crystal’s and Cordelia’s eyes hovering one by one on us. It was obvious that they’re trying to see our reaction for their plan.
They were carefully observing whether we would show fear, hesitation, or doubt upon hearing such a demanding strategy.
And then, all of a sudden—
"Sure, let’s aim for the top spot."
Zion said that, smiling confidently.
He leaned back in his seat, grinning without a single trace of anxiety as if securing first place was the most natural thing in the world.
"I’ll try my best then."
Cindy followed. She gave a calm, steady nod, resting her hand near her waist while accepting the challenge without any complaints.
I smiled at their reaction, so then, with a shrug of my shoulders—
"Isn’t it normal to always aim for the top?"
I told them that.
I took another quiet sip of my drink, giving them an easygoing smirk that matched Zion’s unbothered confidence.
*****
After that, we just ate and talked more about the plan for the test. We even scheduled some group training to get used to working together.
We spent the next half hour going over role assignments, basic vanguard positions, and signal calls to ensure our synergy would be clean during live combat.
It will be always after class, on the training grounds where Zion and I fought before.
Since the arena had high-level barrier protection and broad open space, it was the ideal location to practice combined attacks and defense formations.
And so, after our short meeting—we finished up and decided to go on with our day. Crystal and Cordelia left first before us.
They stood up together, giving a short polite acknowledgment before stepping out of the restaurant toward the upper administrative zone.
"I will go back to the house now, I need to help Sis with the chores."
Cindy said. She picked up her small bag, giving us a soft wave as she prepared to take the local campus transit back toward her family’s residence.
"I’ll look around the academy. Wanna come, Vael?"
Zion asked me.
He stretched his arms over his head, looking eager to explore the outer commercial plazas and training facilities scattered around the lower grounds.
"I’m good. I have something to do back in my room."
I replied with that.
I gave a dismissive wave with my hand, declining his offer while adjusting the strap of [Frost] on my belt.
I’m going to prepare for the test, memorized what happened in the game, and try to remember anything important.
I needed quiet time to write down every detail about [The Tower of Seven Gates], its floor layouts, hidden monster spawns, and specific boss patterns from the original game timeline.
And just like that... we parted ways after that.
Zion headed off toward the main avenue while Cindy walked down to the transport station, leaving me to head back to the dorms alone.
... ... ...
... ... ...
... ... ...
I was walking alone back to my dorm.
The tree-lined footpaths were relatively quiet on a Sunday morning, with only a few students strolling along the stone walkways in the distance.
Looking at my phone as I do so, when all of a sudden—
Tap.
Someone stepped in front of me and blocked my path. The sudden shadow falling over my screen caught my attention, forcing me to stop right in my tracks.
"Hmm?"
My feet halted, and my head returned in front of me. And there—I saw a familiar, and very unexpected face.
I blinked in pure disbelief as I looked up from my messaging screen.
It was Cordelia!
She was standing right in the middle of the paved road, blocking my direct route toward the residential towers.
"..."
She was just looking at me, not saying anything.
Her pearl-like blue eyes were locked directly onto mine, filled with an intense, unreadable emotion that made the air between us feel heavy.
I looked around, and noticed nobody near us. Looks like she had it so that it’s only the two of us around here.
The surrounding trees rustled softly in the wind, but the nearby footpaths were completely deserted, as if she had deliberately timed her approach to cut me off in isolation.
I was about to open my mouth and ask her questions, but before I could even try to—
"Vael, I’m glad that you survived."
She spoke first, telling me that.
Her voice was surprisingly quiet, carrying a soft, trembling edge that sounded completely different from her cold, noble demeanor at the restaurant.
"...?"
I was confused.
My jaw tightened slightly, my mind completely blanking as I struggled to make sense of what she was talking about.
"It’s been years since we last saw each other."
She said, then with a sad look on her face—
She took a small step closer, her expression crumbling into a deeply remorseful, mournful gaze that made my heart skip a beat.
"I’m sorry about your parents..."
She mumbled that, and as if that wasn’t surprising enough—
Her eyes lowered toward the ground, her fingers clenching tightly into the fabric of her skirt as she spoke.
"I’m sorry we weren’t able to help you as well... the elders of your family are threatening to start a war againts us if we tried to intervene."
Cordelia declared that.
The heavy words dropped like a massive anvil into the silent afternoon air, completely shattering everything I thought I knew about my character’s background.
"I know I’m just making excuses. That’s why I understand you earlier, pretending not to know me when we saw each other."
She followed.
She lowered her head slightly, offering an earnest, painful apology that felt far too real, far too heavy, and completely unmentioned in any part of the original game story.
She started talking more and more, and me... I was just hella confused.
I stood there frozen on the stone walkway, staring at one of the main game heroines apologizing to me for a past tragic backstory that I had absolutely zero knowledge about.
’What the hell...?’