The instructors and assistants gathered in the situation room were watching the exam venue through a large screen with dozens of cameras.
The large tablets in their hands were busy assigning additional points and deductions based on the applicants' actions and combat, but.
"Is that Hwang Ji-su's freezing?"
"The output is amazing. If she can freeze them instantly from such a distance, the dummies have no way to counter."
As expected, there were predetermined applicants who attracted the most attention.
"Seo Jun-seong's psychokinesis is truly deserving of its reputation. His father's blood hasn't gone to waste."
"He manages both power and delicate control. A genius without question."
While the flashiness of those two unleashing large-scale attacks from a distance certainly caught the eye.
"Lee Yu-jin's sword energy is already quite mature."
"Even with a blunt sword, it's sharper than a real blade. The Sword God must have put her through quite rigorous training."
"Yes. And she's barely even using her characteristic."
Lee Yu-jin's sword, which cut down dummies efficiently with each breath, also earned praise from the stringent instructors.
"Those three certainly live up to their reputation in terms of skill."
"It's rare to have three top-level students appearing simultaneously in one year."
Besides those three, there were many applicants who piqued the instructors' interest.
"Hong In-hyeon? I heard he was undoubtedly the top in the Chungcheong region."
Hong In-hyeon's performance—floating himself with wind to fly freely, blowing away dummies with powerful air pressure, and cutting with wind blades—was enough to catch the instructors' attention.
"His characteristic utilization is quite good."
"Plus, he knows how to use his body. He's different from other Awakened who just shoot wind from a distance."
"Interesting."
Meanwhile.
"Haaap!"
Go Do-il who charged like a bullet with a steel-hardened body to shatter dummies, and.
"Take this!"
Kang Geon-woo who transformed into a gorilla form and slammed iron dummies onto the ground—the fighting styles of such applicants were also enough to make the instructors award bonus points.
"They're fighting straightforwardly, utilizing their strengths."
"Not bad. It's the orthodox approach, for now."
The instructors' expressions were generally filled with satisfaction.
"Good output, and they've trained their operation methods in their own ways."
"Not just the top ranks, but the applicants below them are also of high caliber."
Indeed, it was a performance worthy of being called the best talent pool in recent years.
"By the way, what happened to that guy?"
One instructor asked.
"Who do you mean?"
"You know, the one who received a recommendation letter from Team Leader Song Young-hwan..."
"You mean the friend called Jeong Su-hyeon."
Their gazes turned toward Su-hyeon, who was leisurely moving alone in the corner-most screen.
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'As expected, this is comfortable.'
Su-hyeon was satisfactorily disposing of dummies wandering between alleys, showing off physical functions with output on a completely different dimension compared to just a month ago.
Crack!
Su-hyeon's fighting style, efficiently destroying dummies with just his fist wearing knuckles, made viewers feel at ease.
Whoosh!
Su-hyeon dodged a dummy's fist swung in a familiar pattern and struck its knee area, breaking it.
Snap!
As Su-hyeon retreated from the attack range of the kneeling dummy and removed the marker from its neck, the instructors let out small exclamations of admiration.
"That guy fights well."
"His destructive power itself isn't impressive at all, but he's subduing the dummies easily without exerting much effort."
They were people who well understood how remarkable such a fighting style was.
'Not bad. But... hmm?'
Kim Cheol-han's eyes sparkled at the next scene as he recalled his friend's words.
Graaaah!
A wolf-shaped demonic beast dummy charged and tried to bite Su-hyeon, and.
"Oops."
At the exact moment the beast jumped into the air with its jaws open, Su-hyeon precisely twisted his body to avoid it while removing the marker with his left hand.
"Well, well!"
Su-hyeon's ease in handling even the demonic beast dummy, which had higher combat power than the humanoid ones, surprised the instructors who hadn't paid much attention to him.
'He's dodging while seeing everything. And at the same time, he's landing counter-attacks.'
Kim Cheol-han immediately grasped how high-level Su-hyeon's brief exchange was.
"Against the demonic beast dummy, he didn't force himself to destroy it but just tore off the marker."
"Smart. He understands the purpose of the fight well."
"Look at his handiwork. He's not just relying on knuckles, but using various tactics."
"Yes. He's different from those who just bash away to steal markers."
"What deserves praise are his eyes. He never misses the opponent's movements."
"What exactly is this friend's characteristic?"
"Who knows."
But.
'Curious.'
Kim Cheol-han harbored not just interest but also suspicion as he watched Su-hyeon.
'Why?'
Su-hyeon's behavior of deliberately running into alleys with fewer dummies showed no greed for dummy points.
As a result, he was falling far behind not only the top-ranked students like Seo Jun-seong and Hwang Ji-su but also other upper-ranked applicants.
The most concerning point was that despite this, he didn't seem rushed at all.
'It's as if he knows what's going to happen next.'
Kim Cheol-han frowned.
'Did that bastard Young-hwan give him a tip in advance?'
But he soon denied his own thought.
'That's not his style. Then how?'
Kim Cheol-han wasn't the only one who read that Su-hyeon had another aim in his actions.
Swish, swish, swish.
Nam Tae-hoon, who was moving between building shadows to avoid the dummies' eyes, ambushed a careless dummy and cut off its marker with a dagger.
"Yeah, easy, so easy."
Nam Tae-hoon, who was accumulating points without much effort, observed Su-hyeon who was advancing at a similar pace nearby.
'That guy seems to know something.'
Somehow, he sensed a kindred spirit in him.
'If he knows, how on earth?'
Nam Tae-hoon's expression turned serious.
'It's easy to guess that this exam won't end like this based on past cases. But the specific content is top secret known only to Academy personnel.'
Of course, from Nam Tae-hoon's perspective, who had no way of knowing Su-hyeon's true identity, it was an unsolvable question.
"Huh?"
That's when it happened.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Each time the sound of air bursting was heard, applicants were thrown back like kites with cut strings.
"What the hell is that!"
Nam Tae-hoon was shocked to see applicants who were quickly approaching the finish line to aim for high scores being thrown away one after another.
'Could this be it?'
His gaze turned back to Su-hyeon, and.
"Finally, huh."
Su-hyeon thought as he checked the explosion sounds and applicants' screams in the distance, along with the time displayed on his wristwatch.
'Phase 2 is starting.'
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In Kim Cheol-han's announcement that grades would be determined by the total of arrival rank at the finish line and points collected from dummies, there was one fact intentionally omitted.
The real challenge that the Academy had prepared for this cohort's applicants.
That was...
'That friend.'
Kim Cheol-han thought.
Oh Chang-seong.
An Awakened who had awakened with the characteristic of "Were Tiger," one of the most powerful beast species among lycanthropes, and a man with close combat ability that ranked among the top even among instructors.
Wearing restraints that forced him to use only 10% of his power, he was attacking the applicants with 20 assistants.
"Grrrrl."
Oh Chang-seong's eyes flashed with beast-like sharpness as he let out a low growl.
"You little puppies, let's see what you've got!"
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
His fists, which he struck in the air with enthusiasm, turned into fist winds that covered the applicants.
The struck applicants fainted without even being able to scream.
"This can't be!"
Shock and fear appeared on the cadets' faces.
"This year's applicants are all wimpy!"
Unbelievably developed muscles writhed, flaunting their beastly nature.
Without transforming into beast form, without bringing out his claws, with just the wind pressure from punches thrown with only 10% of his strength.
The sight of him blowing away elite applicants like flies was rather terrifying.
"...That's why this becomes the most important judgment criterion."
Kim Cheol-han, watching through the screen, grinned.
When facing an opponent that is 'impossible to deal with' and fighting a battle with no visible chance of winning, how would the applicants behave?
What they wanted to see wasn't just combat power or the potential of characteristics.
Rather, what they valued most were qualities as Execution Force members who would have to risk their lives fighting mighty Ma-in on the front lines.
Therefore.
"Aaaahhhh! Run away!"
"How can we beat something like that!"
Applicants who blindly ran away were given deductions.
"A typical reaction."
In just a short time, hundreds of applicants received a shower of deductions, and.
"Uaaaaak!"
"Kuhek!"
Applicants who froze in panic and got blown away were given merciless disqualification.
"The worst."
'Quickly running away to at least preserve one's life is the lesser evil choice. There's nothing as stupid as just standing there and taking it.'
Meanwhile.
"Ah crap, this is too much!"
Nam Tae-hoon used his ability to climb to the roof of the tallest building, hide, and observe Oh Chang-seong and the assistants from above.
Seeing this on screen, Kim Cheol-han nodded.
"Avoiding, hiding, and then reconnaissance. Correct."
5 bonus points were given next to Nam Tae-hoon's name.
But he wasn't the highest scorer.
"Stand back!"
Seo Jun-seong created distance from the rampaging Oh Chang-seong and assistants, then utilized his psychokinesis to shoot debris piles, trying to tie down their feet.
"An excellent choice."
Kim Cheol-han unhesitatingly gave 10 points for the precise action, as if he had memorized the Execution Force's tactical doctrine.
"Hmm?"
In contrast, Hwang Ji-su's choice was the opposite of Seo Jun-seong's.
"Is she trying to reach the finish line in the gap!"
The assistants who were grading exclaimed in admiration.
"Hmph."
Kim Cheol-han smiled.
'She didn't forget the objective even in an unexpected situation.'
According to the initially stated criteria of "dummy points" and "finish line arrival rank," Hwang Ji-su's choice to exploit the gap was also praiseworthy.
"7 points."
While it was true that Seo Jun-seong's action was the most appropriate, Hwang Ji-su's choice was also a decision to prioritize mission completion at the crossroads of "mission completion and citizen protection."
'This too is one answer.'
The actions of top-ranked applicants facing Phase 2 generally satisfied the instructors.
'True ability is revealed in urgent situations. Just having strong power doesn't make you suitable for the Execution Force.'
"Yaaaah!"
Among them, there was an applicant who charged head-on despite knowing resistance was futile.
"Hong In-hyeon!"
"Reckless."
Kim Cheol-han evaluated him in one word.
'He's still someone whose blood rushes to his head easily.'
However.
'His courage is worth giving a good score.'
"Hahaha, what a pup!"
Hong In-hyeon, who neutralized the cannonball-like fist wind with his wind, floated his body and unleashed wind blades.
'Look at this kid!'
Oh Chang-seong smiled and tensed his entire body.
Just with that, Hong In-hyeon's wind blades couldn't even make a scratch.
Swoosh!
Oh Chang-seong, who charged with explosive thigh muscles, dodged Hong In-hyeon's straight punch and lightly knocked his abdomen.
"Kueok!"
After easily knocking out Hong In-hyeon, Oh Chang-seong carried him on his shoulder and put him down on the ground.
"Not bad. Lay him down separately."
"Yes."
Looking at Hong In-hyeon being carried away by an assistant, Kim Cheol-han gave 4 points.
'He fought well in his own way.'
As Kim Cheol-han nodded, Yu-jin's position caught his eye.
"Hmm?"
During the fight, Oh Chang-seong ran toward Yu-jin, who was surrounded and isolated by two assistants.
In this situation, it was clear she would be subdued after engagement.
'Oh no. Is the Sword God's granddaughter going to get deduction points here?'
Kim Cheol-han narrowed his eyes at the unexpected situation.
'This is interesting.'
"Stand back!"
Oh Chang-seong, who had sent away the assistants, shot three fist winds.
"Eek!"
Yu-jin's sword, which avoided two and deflected one, emitted sword energy.
Boom!
A collision sound that was hard to believe was from a sword and fist was heard.
'Well, well!'
Oh Chang-seong, who felt a piercing pain from the energy penetrating into his body through his arm, stepped back first to avoid the following horizontal slash.
'As expected indeed. Was her characteristic called Mana Penetration?'
The so-called penetration style.
Oh Chang-seong inwardly rejoiced after tasting the power of the characteristic that made swordsman Yu-jin even more formidable.
'Excellent. This one will become great.'
However.
She still had a long way to go.
"Kuuk!"
Oh Chang-seong, who seized a momentary gap and dove inside the sword's range, deflected the thrust and tackled Yu-jin with his shoulder, sending her flying.
"Finish her."
As an assistant approached Yu-jin, who had taken a massive hit as if hit by a small car, and Oh Chang-seong turned his head to find the next target, at that moment.
"Aaak!"
Su-hyeon, who suddenly appeared, ambushed the assistant and sent him flying with a flying kick.
"Hmm?!"
Kim Cheol-han's eyes widened.
'He deliberately appears in this situation?'
It was still difficult for him to guess what Su-hyeon's purpose was.
'What are you thinking?'
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"Can you get up?"
I asked, extending my hand to Yu-jin.
"Yes, no, sorry. I don't think I can yet."
Perhaps because the shock was so great, Yu-jin struggled even to adjust her posture.
'Well, she did take a body tackle from that guy, so breathing must be difficult.'
There's no other choice.
"Try to relax."
I hoisted Yu-jin onto my shoulder.
"Th-thanks."
Yu-jin expressed her gratitude in surprise.
'Hmm.'
I was surprised too.
Somehow heavier than I thought...
"Here they come! Behind us!"
I jumped to avoid the fist wind shot by Oh Chang-seong, filled my thighs with mana, and then landed on the rooftop after bouncing between walls like in parkour.
"That was close."
"What's with that guy!"
I quickly scanned the surroundings while watching Instructor Oh Chang-seong, who was shouting at the unexpected situation.
'Good.'
The faces of those who remained nearby were also as I expected.
'With this lineup, it's worth trying.'
"Yu-jin, stay like that. I have a plan..."
From now on, I needed Yu-jin's name value and influence.