Ram Was Named Ram for a Reason

At the entrance to the Phantom World, the first batch of examinees had already finished the exam and emerged.

Excluding those who had withdrawn midway due to unexpected circumstances, only around two hundred and seventy or eighty remained out of more than three hundred and fifty examinees.

More than half were jubilant, while the expressions of the smaller half were so grim it seemed the word "despair" had been carved onto their faces.

It was obvious at a glance who had met the standard and who had not.

Still, the elimination rate was far lower than in the first round. Anyone who had passed the written test had some skill.

Standing in the distance, Jia Xiu tried hard to spot Mia among the examinees.

He was in a hurry.

This concerned whether he would need to do his own homework for the next few years.

Yet after searching for a long time, he still did not see Mia.

"Ram, have you seen Mia?"

Jia Xiu figured that since Ram was so much taller than him, his view had to be far broader.

"No."

As he spoke, Ram turned around.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

Watching Ram's strange behavior, Jia Xiu asked in confusion.

"Whenever I can't find something, I pretend I've forgotten about it. Then I suddenly turn around, and I can see it."

"Huh?"

Jia Xiu deeply doubted this. How was it any different from stuffing tangled earphones into a pocket and hoping some mysterious jostling force would shake the knots loose?

Ram swiftly whipped around.

"I see her," he said in a muffled voice. "Over there. Those two little hands raised up."

Jia Xiu looked in the direction he pointed. Sure enough, in the middle of the crowd, a pair of hands was being raised with all its might, bouncing up and down.

So this was the power of [Strong Luck]? Sorry for doubting it just now.

As for those hands, they had to jump just to barely rise above everyone else's heads. That short—it had to be Mia.

She was hopping around so energetically after the exam.

She was full of energy!

She must have passed.

"Mia should be fine. The next batch depends on your performance."

They had their "little workhorse"; now they needed funding too.

As Jia Xiu spoke, he reached out to pat Ram's shoulder, but could not reach it, so he could only pat his triceps instead.

To be fair, they felt incredibly solid. No wonder he studied blacksmithing every day.

"Got it, boss."

Ram's way of thinking was simple. Whatever Jia Xiu told him to do, he did.

Still, the task Jia Xiu had assigned him was a little too simple—simple enough that he understood it after hearing it once.

Ram had never really trusted things he could understand easily.

"Relax, don't be nervous. Do as I said, and you'll definitely pass."

"Understood, boss."

At that moment, the mage who had previously announced the exam rules appeared at the entrance. His voice, amplified by magic, reached the ears of every examinee.

"All examinees, please note that the rules for this round have been adjusted as follows.

"Starting with the second batch of examinees, the required thirty crowns may only be obtained through Adventurer Association commissions.

"Adventurers must go on adventures."

Hearing the altered rules, most of the examinees were baffled.

Hadn't they already been required to complete Adventurer Association commissions?

Only Jia Xiu understood.

Can't handle it, huh.

This was a patch to block the method Mia had used.

Could it be that he had guessed the examiners' intentions wrong? Perhaps they had not wanted to test the examinees' sharp observation and innovative thinking.

But they had not disqualified Mia. They had recognized her score.

He understood now. They accepted the outcome of the bet.

So the exam-setting team had the mindset that finding a loophole meant you were impressive.

Then there was no problem.

They would proceed according to the original plan.

He still had plenty of loopholes to exploit.

Encouraged by Jia Xiu, Ram entered the Phantom World as part of the second batch of examinees.

Not far from Saint Delro Academy, an ornate carriage stood in a secluded alley. Harnessed to its shafts was a dark-red drake.

Inside the carriage, Thomas, his face full of exhaustion, forced himself to sit upright and maintain a noble's elegance.

Seated opposite him was a middle-aged man with an emblem representing Saint Dero pinned to his chest, proving that he too was a faculty member of Saint Delro Academy.

"Have the rankings for our batch of examinees come out?" Thomas asked weakly.

Over the past three days, in order to surpass the amount Mia had earned, he had completed commissions day and night with barely any sleep. His physical and mental strength had long since reached their limits.

In the end, he had still earned less than Mia.

The reason he had not immediately gone to rest was that he wanted to use his family's connections within the academy to confirm his results.

The middle-aged man opposite him was a member of a branch of the family: Gudrian Reinhardt.

A mentor at the Sorcerers' Institute, he was also an important figure during the entrance examination's preparations.

Though he was already an exceptionally capable sorcerer, he still had to treat Thomas with the utmost respect.

Because Thomas was his generation of the family's hope, the most likely candidate to become the next head of the family.

Hearing Thomas's question, Gudrian answered, "You ranked first among the first batch of examinees."

After hearing those words, Thomas visibly relaxed.

"What about that Mia?"

"She was second. Although she ultimately obtained the most crowns, she reached the thirty-crown threshold too slowly. She only reached it on the evening of the first day, so her overall score was lower than yours."

"So I was first in time taken to meet the standard, and first in total score."

"Yes."

A faint smile appeared on Thomas's face. Two first places—not bad. Then, suddenly, he thought of the written test.

Because he had been very confident in his written-test score, he had not asked about it before. But since an unexpected competitor had appeared in the practical exam, could there be one in the written test as well?

Gudrian clearly did not want to answer this question directly.

"Your written-test score was very good."

"Was I first?"

"Uh... no. You were third."

"Third?!" Thomas's voice suddenly rose several pitches. "Then who were the first two?"

"Second place was Mia."

"Who?"

"The Mia from the same batch as you."

The faint smile Thomas had struggled to produce vanished completely. "Who was first?"

"Jia Xiu."

"Who is that?"

"A warlock from Creekwood Town. He got full marks."

Thomas's eyes widened. Someone had gotten full marks on that kind of test? How had he never heard of such a person before?

Rubbing his forehead, he slowly said, "Tell me once the results for the next two batches of examinees are out. Especially that Jia Xiu. If necessary, you understand."

"I understand."

"Fine. I need to rest."

After Gudrian left, Thomas gazed at the sky beyond the carriage window, though no one knew what he was looking at.

His obsession with first place largely stemmed from his own experiences.

As a child, he had not been valued by his family. That only changed after he became the one who had inherited the strongest magical power. No one cared what methods he had used to become the strongest, or what he had made a contract with.

That was when he understood a truth.

As long as he remained the strongest of them all, the one ranked first, then whatever he had done before could be accepted.

No one could rank ahead of him...

Meanwhile, at the examination office.

The head of the exam-setting team walked around with his hands behind his back, inspecting the new batch of examinees.

A minor accident had occurred with the previous batch, but it had all been acceptable.

And he had already modified the rules.

No examinee would be able to find another issue with the Phantom World. After all, it was a work into which he had poured his heart and soul.

Go have a proper adventure, young examinees.

Just as he finished making a round and was about to leave, a proctor suddenly shouted.

"Chief, there's an examinee named Ram who's robbing stores in the city."

"Let him rob them," the chief said with a confident smile. "As long as someone commits a crime in the city, it will trigger the guards. Every evildoer will eventually be brought to justice!"

"But Chief, this Ram has already robbed three stores in a row."

"What?"