Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 154: The Beginning of the Entrance Exam

[Quest: Crystal Academy's Entrance Exam **]

[The great entrance exam has begun! Do you have what it takes to become one of the greatest magicians in all <Lucidus>? Prove yourself by completing several tests and show off your magical capabilities to your future teachers! Good luck, young mage.]

[Objective: Pass all 3 tests for this exam.]

[Warning: There are only about 20 slots for this school year. The [Quest] will automatically fail once all slots are filled before it's finished.]

There it is. I suppose the internet rumors aren't kidding; this exam doubles as a [Quest]. But looking at all of the participants in the courtyard makes me feel a bit nervous. The window stated that there are only 20 slots for this year, so there's a low chance of me succeeding if stronger players breeze through the exam before I do. Either way, I don't waste any time preparing for it as I go through every book I've rented from the <Grand Library> and the articles and wiki pages about <Isekai Online's> lore and setting. I know secrets are waiting for me to discover them, and I can't afford to mess this up. Besides, Yur1 is with me, and I trained hard to perfect my magical skills and spells as best as I can.

But looking around again...

"Geez... Where do you think the principal of this school comes out for the speech or something?"

"Hey, don't be impatient. The event hasn't started yet. Just give it a few more minutes. They're bound to show up sooner or later."

"If they're gonna have a speech scene or something, I'm turning on my [Sleep Mode] to skip all of it."

"Yeah. I bet it's just all fluff to fit with the magical school setting."

I'm not sure if anyone here is taking all of this seriously...

[ADVENTURERS!]

Everyone stops chatting as soon as we hear a loud boom echoing in the courtyard. I doubt this game world invented the speakers. So that means...

[FUTURE APPRENTICES! AND WAYWARD SOULS! YOU ARE FINALLY HERE FOR THIS MOMENTOUS OCCASION!]

As I look around for the source of the voice, a strong breeze blows right past us. I look up at the stage and gasp to see a large tornado suddenly erupt above it. Everyone panics as most back away from it, yet some NPCs and players remain standing firm as they calmly watch it unfold. Yur1 and I are two of the latter, knowing this is part of the cutscene. And as expected, the tornado slowly disperses and reveals several adults wearing the same blue and green robes over their formalwear, with an older man landing on his two feet. He's not like any other wizard principal I recognize with his clean-cut grey hair, angular glasses, and a silver suit underneath his starry blue robe. With a big bow, he turns and smiles at us with a wave of his wrist, and a neon blue hardcover book suddenly appears out of nowhere in his hand.

[I apologize for making you all wait. My name is <Waver Talzi>, the dean of this very establishment,] the older man introduces himself. [Let me be the first to welcome you to the <Crystal Academy>, the door to your path of the arcane!]

Everyone cheers in response as the fear of watching the tornado disappears from their faces. I'm no exception since I almost thought they had botched their grand entrance.

[The moment you step through the door with a uniform and an academy badge, your journey begins!] He then flashes the said badge that appears levitating from his hand. [However, they aren't earned through your qualifications alone. Hard work and preservation are keys to becoming a great magician. And to see if you possess all of those qualities, we will test your mind, body, and spirit to their limits, and once all tests are concluded, we will see if you are ready to become one of the next generation of <Lucidus's> greats.]