Putting aside this small interlude, the rest of the time before the exam went on uneventfully. By the time Senzaki Setsuna could report the coordinates of the common body parts with her eyes closed, the entrance exam of Sunyoung High School was finally in front of her.

After enduring the written exam in the morning, Setsuna used her phone to contact her friends who were not in the same exam room as her. She walked out of the campus. Perhaps it was because this was still an exam room in her mind, but she couldn't calm down just by staying in the campus.

The sent message on the screen soon became read, and then a reply popped up from the bottom of the screen.

[Mind User: The difficulty is not bad.]

Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who felt that the written exam was slightly overrated. Then she couldn't help but have a stomachache. The written exam was so relaxed that it could only mean that the following combat test was so strict that it could achieve a terrifying enrollment rate with just one exam. After weighing the pros and cons in her heart for a long time, she finally raised her hand and tapped on the screen.

[Senzaki Setsuna: As expected of W. Although I don't know if we can be in the same venue for the next exam, I still have to work hard in the afternoon.]

After typing, she sent it and looked up.

On the other side of her line of sight was a green-haired boy sitting on a bench by the roadside with a blank face. His messy hair was like the mood of all the candidates preparing for the next exam. Perhaps her gaze was too focused, but the boy who was originally looking at the sky turned his head and was stunned.

Then he smiled slightly and waved in her direction.

"How was the exam this morning?"

After three months of practice, at least Midaya's way of greeting was much gentler this time.

Setsuna sat down next to him. As classmates, she felt that they knew each other's standards, so she answered truthfully, "It was easier than I thought. I may have missed some points in the History of Heroes section, but there should be no problem with the science section."

Midaya smiled. "I thought so too … After all, Chisaki's grades in science are quite good."

With this kind of personality, it had to be good even if it wasn't good.

At the same time, the same sentence emerged in their hearts. The two of them looked at each other and fell silent at the same time. The atmosphere was surprisingly not oppressive.

Perhaps it was because Midaya had a characteristic that made people relax. Setsuna enjoyed the rare silence in the noisy examination hall for a while before she slowly opened her mouth.

"There are more than three hundred candidates participating in the exam today. No matter how dazzling the miracle is, it's impossible for everyone to pass … But as a selfish and insignificant human being, I still hope that at least three people can pass this exam."

"I, I know a child with a very special personality, and … Midaya Kun."

"But if it's just me, there's no way to fulfill this wish, right?"

"So …"

As she spoke, she exhaled and looked at the blue sky that Midaya had just looked at. Today was a good day. Even if it wasn't cloudless, it was still a clear blue.

"— Please help me, hero trainee."

She didn't know where her confidence came from. She didn't even bother to turn her head to look at Midaya's expression. Because even if she simulated thousands of times in her mind, rewinding the timeline back to prehistoric humans and then re-evolving to the present time, this was the only answer she would not guess wrong.

"— Okay."

As long as someone asked for help, the teenager would never refuse. He replied seriously, so serious that it was as if he was making a promise that was witnessed by the gods, with an unbreakable aura of an oath.

The bell for assembly rang in the distant auditorium. The crowd gradually gathered in groups of three to five and flowed in one direction.

Setsuna stood up and took a deep breath.

The combat test had officially begun.

…

…

…

This year's combat test chose a simple and easy-to-understand point system. Find the robot that represented points and knock it down to get the corresponding points.

Admittedly, it was a bit violent to let a junior high student fight a robot bare-handed, but … there was always a 'but' at times like this.

However, this was Sunyoung High School's entrance exam.

"Wow … this is scary."

Setsuna jammed the power drive wheel of the robot in front of her with a steel pipe. The poor guy with only one command struggled for a few seconds between the driving system's instructions and the obstacles in reality. Before it could calculate a solution, the temperature between the wheels rose sharply and it exploded into a pile of scrap metal at the corner of the street.

Setsuna wisely moved away from it and made sure that it was not moving before she approached it again. After looking up and down, she also removed the robot's exhaust pipe — the previous one had been destroyed in the explosion. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, straightened up and looked at the battlefield, and sighed.

"Should I say that those who dare to enroll in Sunyoung High School are not ordinary people, or …"

The scene in front of her was completely different from her peaceful daily life. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it was a special forces training site. When she heard the test question, she thought it would be a tragic scene of survival in the wilderness where the enemy appeared. However, the reality was that unarmed junior high students were slaughtering the iron-boned robots.

Candidates with relatively weaker personalities were learning to deal with robots like her, while those with stronger personalities were performing hardcore violent dismantling for everyone.

"Just be careful and don't get others involved!"

Blue electric light came from the street more than ten meters away. Setsuna subconsciously picked up the candidate next to her and teleported to the third floor of a nearby building. She couldn't help but scold the culprit who hurried downstairs.

"Sorry, sorry!

I thought there was no one here!

I got too excited … Are you okay? "

The blonde boy who ran over exuded a frivolous aura. When he saw that the victims were two girls, he obviously felt guilty.

Setsuna shrugged to indicate that she was fine. Then, she brought the girl back to the ground. "What about you?"

The girl who was forced to teleport twice had neat short hair and a capable expression. Two thin wires dangled from her long earrings like earphone plugs. It was probably her personality.

Although she was a little dazed, she still replied instinctively, "I'm fine …" She paused and couldn't help but add, "Was that … teleport?"

"Yes, it was."

Setsuna was no stranger to this kind of gaze. People who experienced teleportation for the first time would always find it refreshing. She responded with a friendly smile. "Did I scare you?"

The girl was stunned for a moment. Then, she smiled and shook her head.

"No, I should thank you." She said and extended her hand. "My name is Hyōka Erlang."

"Senzaki Setsuna. Nice to meet you."

Setsuna raised her hand and shook Erlang's hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she sensed a faint flash from a pile of scrap metal behind her.

That's —!!

The exhaust pipe in her hand disappeared in an instant, and before she could even react, it had pierced through the pile of scrap metal that was struggling on the brink of death. Then, she realized that the earphone plug had already passed through her neck. At this moment, the sound of a heavy object falling behind her slowly retracted, followed by the girl's angry voice.

"Can't you be more accurate? That's such an exaggerated electric current."

She seemed to be reprimanding him. After she finished speaking, she noticed the movement behind her and turned around. When she turned back, she was even angrier. She added, "And there are two of them?"

"Aiya —"

In contrast, the blonde boy's expression was incomparably uncertain. "It's normal for a moment to slip up. Well, I'm …"

"Who cares who you are."

After almost being sucked into the electric current net and forced to withdraw from the exam, and almost being killed by scrap metal, Erlang's anger towards the initiator in front of him was off the charts. It was only because Setsuna was present that he suppressed his dissatisfaction and reluctantly put on a friendly face. "Then, Chisaki, see you later."

Before he finished speaking.

"— —"

The boy, who had been disdained by the girl's camp, had already recovered from his shock. He raised his head and looked all the way up the giant machine that rose from the ground not far away. His voice was no longer as smooth as before. "I, I said …"

The shadow, which was enough to cover the clouds and the sun, shrouded the three of them. In an instant, they sucked in a breath of cold air. The screams from the other streets belatedly hit their eardrums. She quickly grasped the hands of the two people beside her.

"It seems that we can't meet again for the time being."