Chapter 87 – Entrance Exam (1)

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Eighteen years old this year.

Yohan, who had a little over a year left until graduation from the military academy, was Josef’s son.

After Josef died in an unexpected accident, he inherited everything.

Everything, except for his rank, that is.

“Yohan, I am truly sorry about your father.”

“Your father must have wanted to see you graduate too…”

“If you have any trouble in the future, let me know.”

The military academy classmates of his father, Josef, all pitied the left-behind Yohan and were busy scrambling to promise that they would stand in for his father in the future.

Since almost all the powerful figures in the zone tried to look after him somehow like this, Yohan did not find his father’s death all that regrettable.

‘Sooner or later… he had to retire someday. Perhaps it is a good thing for me that it happened before graduation.’

Josef was not normally an affectionate father.

His father always prioritized the commander over him, and after Haydam appeared, he was so busy caring about Haydam’s affairs that he probably didn’t even realize Yohan was facing his graduation year this year.

‘It is obvious, seeing that even right before his death, he passed away while handling Senior Bones’ business for that bastard.’

Well, even so, since that devotion must have been what allowed his father to climb to that position, he didn’t resent it too much.

Therefore, the reason Yohan was swallowing his anger inside right now was not because of his indifferent father.

“What do you think Master Haydam prepared for the entrance exam?”

“He must have prepared something incredible again.”

“Ah, I wish he would run a training simulation with us too…”

Every time his classmates, who were mobilized as entrance exam proctors alongside him, talked about Haydam, Yohan ground his teeth inside.

‘My father devoted himself to the zone until right before his death. But Haydam, that guy didn’t even show up at my father’s funeral. A mere illegitimate child from the slums…’

The entrance exam that Haydam was said to have prepared was also just laughable.

In Yohan’s opinion, the recommendation system and the exam system were not much different.

‘Do they think the executives just recommend anyone? They choose and select only children who are worth sponsoring and send them to the military academy. To ignore that effort and speak as if the executives are committing corruption.’

Of course, he himself was not particularly a chosen talent like that, and had entered the military academy by recommendation simply because he was Josef’s son.

He was an elite who had received systematic education under Josef since childhood.

Thus, it was natural for him to enter the military academy, and he did not like orphans from boy soldier backgrounds flocking to the academy, which had only admitted ‘chosen’ children.

It was called an entrance exam, but not even half of those orphans would pass.

‘They have to have learned something to take an exam.’

As proof, the sponsored children quickly recognized that Yohan was Josef’s son and greeted him politely first, whereas the orphans of boy soldier backgrounds didn’t even recognize who he was and were busy whispering among themselves.

‘Even if Senior Plato was the first to advocate the entrance exam and other graduates agreed… this isn’t right.’

Not all current cadets agreed, and the same went for Yohan.

He knew that among the classmates who came here as proctors today, there were several who had complaints like Yohan.

At that moment, the gazes of the boy soldiers, who had been busy chatting among themselves, all focused on one place simultaneously.

Looking that way unconsciously, a child who resembled the commander to a frightening degree was entering the entrance exam venue with a stride unsuitable for his age.

“Hello, Master Haydam!”

“Have you come, Master Haydam?”

“Master Haydam, is your body doing alright?”

Seeing the children, who had pretended to notice or not notice him, rush to stand up from their seats with gazes that seemed to stem from genuine respect as soon as Haydam appeared, Yohan frowned.

Yohan also knew well that Haydam held charity parties for children of his age every month.

Therefore, if they knew gratitude, such a reaction was a natural result.

But.

‘To win favor with food is an idea only an illegitimate child from the slums would think of.’

Looking at Haydam with disapproval while thinking so, his eyes met those dark, deep eyes.

Yohan hurriedly bowed his head without realizing it.

Realizing belatedly that he had avoided the gaze, Yohan was no small amount of flustered.

‘W-What? Why did I avoid the gaze?’

While Yohan himself could not understand why he had avoided the eyes and was calming his pounding heart, Haydam’s small leather shoes walking toward him across the surrounding children caught his eye.

Although Yohan had been nervous for a moment, not knowing why he was approaching him, he soon recalled that the place he was standing was a platform and raised his head while trying to put on a calm expression.

Before he knew it, Haydam stood with his back to him, looking at the children below the platform.

Unexpected words flowed from the turned-around Haydam.

“The entrance exam will be held by moving the location to the snowfield.”

“Pardon?”

Since the content of the entrance exam was said to be confidential, they had not known how it would be conducted until now, but they were just vaguely thinking it would be a method of handing out exam papers and grading them.

But to say the snowfield.

“The snowfield? Do you mean you will take these children outside the zone?”

Haydam scanned Yohan, who interrupted him and asked abruptly, from head to toe once and answered shortly.

“Yes.”

‘Informal speech?’

But now was not the time to point out Haydam’s informal speech.

“W-What is the content of the entrance exam that requires going outside the zone?”

Haydam glanced at Yohan, then turned his head back toward the children and spoke.

“The entrance exam is a hunt.”

“A hunt?”

“We will spend a night in the snowfield and hunt monsters.”

The cadet proctors who heard those words stirred, but the children seemed to have no idea what this meant.

‘It means going out to the snowfield and catching monsters directly. How is that a hunt? It’s a subjugation! Going on a subjugation with kids who are only eleven years old? And as an entrance exam?’

Yohan, who was dazed for a moment by the statement that went beyond common sense, hurriedly walked in front of Haydam.

“That makes no sense!”

“What makes no sense, Cadet Yohan?”

Yohan, who flinched for a moment at the fact that Haydam knew him, cleared his throat a couple of times and spoke in a voice that was slightly more polite than before.

“It’s sudden… and isn’t it unfair?”

“Unfair?”

“Among the boy soldiers, there must be children who have already been to subjugation battles, but the sponsored children haven’t even been outside the snowfield yet—”

“Can that be called unfair?”

Haydam had a smile of interest on his lips.

“Suppose I gave exam questions related to military tactics. Then which side would that be disadvantageous to?”

“T-That…”

Since Yohan had been thinking just a moment ago that the sponsored children would be at an advantage because they had already learned things, he could not actively refute and slurred his words.

Haydam, who was staring blankly at such Yohan, spoke with a smile in his eyes.

“I know what Cadet Yohan is worried about. You must be worried that they will get hurt while out on a hunt.”

“Pardon?”

“Is it not? It’s not like you’re worried that the boy soldier children will pass the entrance exam, surely.”

Startled by Haydam’s words, Yohan quickly denied it.

“N-No, it isn’t. It is true that I was worried about the children getting hurt.”

“Right. I also do not wish for the children to get hurt due to the entrance exam.”

“Then…?”

“The hunt begins the day after tomorrow. Everyone prepare individually and gather at the entrance of the zone. You, who are proctors, also prepare for camping and come. You may actively help so that the children do not get hurt.”

To prepare the items needed for the hunt individually?

And that they may help the children?

‘In this case, the sponsored children are unconditionally at an advantage.’

Unlike the boy soldier children who received no sponsorship, the sponsored children could prepare ample goods needed for the hunt and could learn the knowledge required for subjugation in the meantime.

Furthermore, under the pretext of helping so that the children wouldn’t get hurt, they could assist in the hunt of the applicants they supported.

‘Didn’t he dislike children of high-ranking executives entering? What on earth is he thinking?’

Haydam, the very person who made Yohan’s mind complex, was only looking at the children with a smile of unknown meaning.

“Then, the day after tomorrow. Everyone make sure not to be late.”

* * *

“Meursault, what is the meaning of this?”

The day the content of the entrance exam was announced.

Because Meursault and Haydam had kept it a secret until the end, the commander, who learned of the entrance exam’s identity through another person, immediately summoned Meursault and asked for details.

“To say the entrance exam is a hunt. If it means going outside the zone, it’s called a hunt, but isn’t it a subjugation?”

“It is true that we are going outside the zone, but it’s not a subjugation—”

“Even without this, there was an accident due to abnormal weather. How could you think of sending children outside the zone!”

It was a point in time not even a few weeks after Josef died from a lightning strike.

Furthermore, to the commander’s knowledge, among the proctors for this entrance exam was Josef’s son.

If Josef’s son, Yohan, were to get hurt in this subjugation, the public opinion of Haydam, who pushed through the entrance exam unreasonably, would surely turn bad.

There was no way Meursault wouldn’t know this.

The commander looked at Meursault as if he couldn’t understand.

“What are you going to do about Yohan, that child? What if that child harbors bad intentions and deliberately ruins the entrance exam…?”

“Not all children in the world are like Master Haydam, Your Excellency.”

At that, the commander frowned.

“You said you didn’t want to make my son your son-in-law, and now you openly badmouth him in front of me.”

“No, why does the conversation bounce that way?”

Meursault let out a sigh inwardly.

‘He was cooler than anyone when divorcing Lady Daphne, but as soon as I said I didn’t want to make Master Haydam my son-in-law, he grills me constantly.’

“Anyway, even if a young child who hasn’t even graduated from the military academy concocts a scheme, it will be in the palm of Master Haydam’s hand anyway. Don’t you know that too, Your Excellency?”

“Hmm…”

Perhaps thinking it made sense, the commander seemed to soften slightly, but still shook his head as if this wasn’t right.

“Even so, I oppose the children going outside the zone by themselves.”

“There are boy soldiers too, and above all, Master Haydam—”

“I’m worried a situation will arise where Haydam has to take responsibility for everything.”

“There will be no such thing. Many proctors are following, and in the first place, the subjugation—”

“The proctors are also ultimately still cadets, children, aren’t they?”

Having his words cut off consecutively, Meursault shut his mouth.

The commander tapped his office desk as if anxious.

“Even without this, during the last subjugation, large-class monsters launched a surprise attack and caused that mess. To think of hunting monsters, what on earth was Haydam thinking…”

“That is why I’ve been trying to tell you that since earlier.”

Fearing that the commander would cut off his words again, Meursault spoke in a hasty tone.

“The thing the children have to face is not real monsters.”

“…What does that mean again? Are they supposed to catch fake monsters?”

“The target of the subjugation is Master Haydam.”

“…”

The commander looked at Meursault with a face that lost its words for a moment.

“…He is my son, but I really have no idea what he is thinking.”

“Anyway, since it turned out that way, you don’t have to worry about the children…”

“What do you mean, Meursault?”

The commander spoke with a serious face.

“I’d rather be less worried about them subjugating real monsters.”

“…”

‘You thought so too, and yet you told me to make him your son-in-law?’

Meursault rested the words rising up to his throat with effort.