Parallel Memory

The entrance exam has started.

The number of participants was low compared to previous years. It was because of the Devil's Invasion which led to many parents feeling not safe to send their children to Ace Academy.

However, this felt like a worthwhile opportunity for people with low talent as they might still have a chance to get into Ace Academy.

Ace Academy had much more resources than other schools and for students who lacked money, getting admitted to Ace Academy was a great chance to obtain those resources.

And for any explorer, would know that with risk comes opportunity, which is exactly the case in this situation. Attending Ace Academy might be risky but if they could avoid the risk, they would be equally rewarded.

As a result, many people who were weak were also attracted to this opportunity. They believed that since Ace Academy had few participants, they would be forced to admit them.

However, Ace Academy does not have such a thought at all. Even if the number of students who wanted to join was 1, they had to meet their requirements to study there.

They still kept the difficulty of their selection the same as the previous year. Like last year, the selection process entailed killing Rank-F monsters, and the minimum requirement was 5 kills. And if there were more than one thousand people having points greater than 5 then the one thousand people who had the most points would be admitted and the rest would be considered failed.

Last year, many people had more than 5 kills but only one thousand students were admitted. Luckily, Zero was also admitted even though his points were only 7. Though normally, people who scored 5 points would be less than one thousand but because last year was the golden generation and their capabilities were higher than in other years.

This time the monster was Skeletons which replaced the golem of last year. Compared to Golems, Skeletons had weak defense and attack but they were faster and were difficult to kill. Even if your attack hit them, as long as it didn't kill them, they could easily recover from their injuries and they could even reattach their limbs.

Typically to kill a normal skeleton, the power of the attacks needs to be on par with Rank-F peak's attack.

One should know that most of the students participating were only at Rank-F + and below. Only some participants had reached the Rank-F peak and above. This meant that for them, killing the skeletons was very challenging unless they were Rank-E - which was very rare.

Moreover, since the participants were inexperienced, there was also a risk of them being scared and making the wrong decisions. Ace Academy was testing both their physical power and mental strength.

"Ahhhhh! Please don't eat!"

"I give up! I give up! Please release me!" ....

As the exam began, those who thought it would be easy and did not prepare properly had their confidence shaken upon meeting the monster and knowing how terrifying they were. Many participants quit as soon as the exam began.

Even those who had prepared carefully were having a hard time defeating the skeleton. Their attacks hardly did anything to them and even when they managed to destroy their limbs, they would just reattach them.

While the participants were panicking, people outside were having a great time commenting on their performances. Journalists captured the video of them fighting with skeletons and added commentary while some even went further and analyzed their actions.

However, the participants' parents were different as they prayed that their child would pass and was worried when they saw how strong the skeletons were.

Unlike them, Zero was not very worried about Yui Ernest.

"WOW! She is doing great. As expected of Hiro's sister."

"Looks like she will be able to pass easily!"

Sylvia and Lisa said after watching Yui's performance. Not only them, but many others had noticed her, with journalists pointing their cameras at the screen showing her.

Yui Ernest was Rank-E which was the highest rank of that year's participants. She was easily able to defeat a Skeleton and moved to destroy a few more.

Though an experienced explorer would be able to tell that Yui had no experience in fighting, she was doing much better than other participants. She had already defeated 5 skeletons which were needed to pass the exam.

Even if she were to quit then there was a high chance of her being selected by the Ace Academy. That's why Hiro was not very worried about his sister.

Though he knows that troublesome things will soon happen to her.

"Yui Ernest? She is the sister of Hiro?"

"Call the Editors right now! We have got a great story to publish!"

"His sister is as gifted as his brother. Such a gifted family!" ...

As expected, no information could be hidden from the media. As long as they got their workers to investigate someone, they could immediately find information about them.

Immediately, the identity of the top performer in this exam was uncovered, which turned out to be a big story.

Unaware of her rising fame outside, Yui continued to hunt down the skeletons. Others were equally working hard with some managing to kill 3 skeletons.

Soon the entrance exam was completed.

Many left unsatisfied with their performance while others smiled in satisfaction as they walked out with pride.

Yui Ernest had come in first with 23 points, without any surprises. The first ranker has a large advantage over the second with 5 points separating them.

While Yui Ernest didn't compare to Hiro who had much more points, Yui was undeniably a remarkable talent.

As soon as Yui left the exam area, she was surrounded by many journalists trying to interview her.

"Can you tell us how you are feeling after the exam?"

"Is it true that you are Hiro's sister?"

"Do you think that you have met the expectations of your brother?"

"Ehhhh-"

Yui honestly didn't know how to respond to their question. She hardly liked to stand out and even when given a chance to speak in public, she would decline.

Having so many news reporters flashing her camera and mike in front of her, she was overwhelmed.

******

"That was so scary!"

Yui cried out. She was finally left alone by the journalist.

"You will get used to it!"

Hiro said as he approached Yui.

He was also overwhelmed by the journalist when he came first in the Ace Academy entrance exam. Though after having dealt with them many times, Hiro had gotten used to them.

He could approach her earlier but since she was surrounded by journalists and his approaching Yui would only make those journalists go crazy.

"Hiro! ...

Humph! You should have helped me if you were here!"

"They would pester you more if I had helped you. Anyway, let's go to a restaurant to celebrate getting first place."

"Oh! And these are my friends."

Hiro said as he turned around and introduced the group who was waiting for them.

"Hello! You were amazing!"

Sylvia said.

"T-Thank you!"

Yui replied. Normally, she would not have any interest in other people but that was not the case here.

Sylvia was famous and she was also very beautiful and even girls like Yui admired her. So, facing Sylvia, Yui made sure that she did not appear rude and tried to reply politely.

"You don't need to be so polite. Let's head out, and we will also help you with your shopping."

As she dragged Yui, Sylvia smiled. She found Yui cute and wanted to see her many dresses. Yui was like the girl version of Hiro and Sylvia couldn't wait to make Yui try more girly clothes.

"Sylvia, you should ask her first. And she might need to go eat before going shopping."

Lisa said.

As Yui had just come out of the entrance exam and didn't have any time to rest, Lisa suggested going to the restaurant first. Yui needed to recover her stamina first before doing any shopping.

"S-Sorry! I was overexcited. Do you want to go shopping with us?"

Sylvia apologized to Yui whose feelings she didn't consider while making the decision.

"It is alright! And I would be happy to be accompanied by you."

Yui replied.

"Okay! Let me take you to this restaurant that sells absolutely delicious food."

Sylvia said once more feeling excited.

Hiro also didn't have any objection and followed along with Lisa and Sylvia's planning. Anyway, he didn't know anything about what girls needed and it was more appropriate to follow their plan.