I Became A Third-Rate Villain In The Hero Academy [On Hiatus]

Chapter 32: Walking The Rope (1)

In the game 'Kyren Zena Chronicles,' a monster is classified as such if it meets both of the following conditions:

First, it possesses intelligence far inferior to that of humans, akin to beings with intelligence lower than that of a three-year-old human child.

Some beastmen or orcs might experience a sharp decline in intelligence when they lose their rationality, but they are not classified as monsters because they do not exhibit this behavior under normal circumstances.

Second, they exhibit an instinctive hostility towards humans.

This is an even more reliable distinction than intelligence.

Monsters cannot suppress their hostility towards humans and attack them on sight.

That is why demons, demon kings, and ancient dragons who have been considered enemies of humanity since ancient times, are not classified as 'monsters.'

This is because they generally possess higher intelligence than humans and do not indiscriminately display hostility.

******

One of the most common tasks performed by active heroes is monster subjugation.

Of course, requesting a hero's assistance is costly, so the main targets are powerful monsters that mercenary guilds cannot handle.

For example, there are Great King Beetles, Drakes, and Krakens.

These are large monsters that are extremely difficult for ordinary people to face and are more efficiently dealt with by one superhuman than 100 soldiers.

However, most monsters are too powerful for a hero to face alone unless they are top-ranked.

Therefore, when undertaking monster subjugation missions, it is common practice to work with aides or form parties with other hero teams.

***

Wednesday arrived, the day of the practical evaluation.

Today's evaluation subject is 'monster subjugation.'

Over 200 first-year Hero Department students and field staff members boarded five 45-seater carriages and headed towards the western forest.

Of course, they would not be subjugating actual monsters.

There are dozens of mock training dungeons in the western forest created by the Archmage Odius.

Like the exclusive training grounds for the Hero Department, the mock training dungeons can be customized to suit various preferences.

The surrounding environment, size, monster species, and even the number of monsters can be adjusted with precision.

Though the magic training grounds have limitations compared to reality and the mock monsters may be somewhat lacking, they're sufficient for assessing the abilities of first-year students.

As they arrived at the western forest, the carriages came to a halt.

The students who disembarked at their destination clustered together and chatted.

"What kind of monsters do you think we'll face?"

"I heard from the seniors that they had to deal with Giant Cockatrices. Maybe something like that?"

"Oh, that sounds manageable."

"I hope I get a good team... Please, let me get a mage, a mage!"

"Please, let me get a tanker, a tanker... I hope I end up in the same team as Max."