Chapter 13: Admission Exam (3) - 12
After a couple of minutes, the commotion died down, everybody having accepted the scenario that they were in right now.
I started whistling softly as I mused to myself.
"That damn protagonist with his incredible luck!"
You see, the protagonist was supposed to be on this train originally, but he had unexpectedly received an admission letter, which led him to travel to the capital to take the admissions test there instead of staying in Leonor.
Of course, this would be the stage for him to form his first relations with the main heros and heroines, and he would also be able to form relations with the nobles, as all the people with admission letters had been put on the same train.
All the other trains would be the same, with tests that you had to pass, but you were kicked out if you failed or didn't complete them in the time limit.
Of course, there was one exception, and that was the infamous "Train to Purgatory". It was basically like all the other trains, except for the fact that its tests were many times harder and the penalty for failure was death.
And, as the location of the starting point of the "Train to Purgatory" switched each year, walk-ins were always fearful that they would be one of the unlucky ones.
I, on the other hand, had chosen this train on purpose, as it was the closest one to my last location, so I could train up to the last minute, and due to the harder tests, there were bigger rewards, which made it so that at the start of the school year at the L, the 5 that had been from Leonor had all been regarded as monsters that nobody could beat.
I wanted to become stronger, so taking this train had been a no-brainer, as it would rank up my lacking star ranks as I went through real life and death situations.
As I finished up these thoughts, the lights in my cabin started blinking and blacked out.
'Well, it looks like the first test is starting.'
"Atteeeeeeennnnntion! Everyone, your first task is simple, please escape your train car in the given time of 30 minutes, good luck!"
Everyone suddenly remembered the ominous clicking that they had heard when they had first stepped into their rooms.
On the other hand, I just calmly assessed my situation.
First, I pushed my spiritual power out of my hands to use as a light, as I searched around the room to see if there was anything useful, but there was just the bed, and there was nothing hidden around or inside of it.
'Wait a second, could it be that simple?'
I walked over to the door and tried opening it.
It wiggled a little bit, but it didn't budge.
I tried turning it again, but this time, I injected my spiritual power into it.
I smiled as I felt around the insides of the door knob.
The test was simple really. All you had to do was make a key out of your spiritual power that pushed up all the pins in the lock to their position, just like a regular key.
I guessed that this test was supposed to root out anybody who was too nearsighted and had only searched the room, and also anybody that didn't have enough control over their spiritual power.
Of course, this was an easy task for me since I had this body that had been circling its spiritual energy since it was just a kid.
I quickly pushed up all the tiny pins and then turned the door with a "click".
Instead of the landscape rushing by as the wind blew into my face, what I saw instead was another room, one that was smaller than the room I came from.
But, even though it was smaller, it was much more luxurious.
Ornamental velvet covered everything, and a deep maroon color permeated all the furniture in this room.
It looked a lot like one of the smaller 1st class rooms that you would see on trains in the 1800s (in the U.S. obviously).
As I entered the room, a voice came out of a hidden loudspeaker.
"Congratulations examinee 3477! You have passed the first test. Please rest in this room as we wait for everybody else to finish up and for the second test to start."
After listening, again, I flopped down on the bed.
Unlike the last one, which was as hard as a rock, I bounced a little bit as I landed, being enveloped by the plushness of the velvet.
"Ahhhhhh."
I laid there with a smile on my face, enjoying these fleeting moments where I didn't have to worry about anything.
...
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnggggggg! Time's up everyone!"
...
...
...
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Screams echoed up and down the train as a horrible fate met the examinees that hadn't been able to escape their rooms on time.
"Whew, now that we've gotten that unpleasant business out of the way, let us begin the second test."
"In a few moments, the doors to your rooms will unlock, and you will find yourself in a hall with 12 other people."
"The test really is simple, hehehehehehe, all you have to do is whittle down the number by 3, before moving with you 9 other teammates to your next test, where you'll be competing together."
As I heard this explanation, I immediately tensed up.
You see, I was fine with danger and all, and killing monsters was fine too, but, killing humans was a little too much for my mental state right now.
I knew that this was going to happen eventually, as this was the Train to Purgatory after all, but I hadn't prepared myself mentally as I had thought that this moment would come a lot later in the admissions test.
'Hooooo, haaaaa, again, just take deep breaths in and deep breaths out.'
"Click."
The door unlocked and slid open.
Peeking my head out warily, I glanced at the 12 other open doors in this train car.
Slowly, one by one, they each poked their heads out. We each suspiciously stared at our neighbors as we got ready to fight at any moment.
Everybody suddenly tensed, so taut that it seemed like they would snap with just the slightest touch, as a kid with blond hair fully stepped forward.
"Hi, my name is Eddie. I would like to make a proposal to all of you guys. As the next test will be a team test, wouldn't it be best if we just got rid of the three weakest ones in this car?"
At this sudden proposal, everybody's minds stopped racing, as they all believed that they wouldn't be one of the three, so they all stepped forward and released their spiritual powers at the same time.
As the overwhelming pressure fell down on the whole group, a few people fell to their news and blood started flowing out of peoples' noses.
"Ok, ok, jeez, let's do this one at a time."
At these words, everybody stopped releasing their auras and started looking warily at each other again.
Seeing the sudden change in atmosphere, Eddie said, "So, who wants to go first?"
"I'll go."
Everybody's head turned as they stared at the person that had just spoken.
Somebody started laughing as they realized it was the shortest and youngest person in their group that had spoken up first.
"What can a kid like you do?" A guy asked in a mocking tone.
"It looks like we've already found one of the three, let's kill him immediately."
He grinned at me, showing his mouth full of teeth as he swung his arm to grab my neck.
'Not a chance.'
A movement faster than anyone watching but me could see, happened, and a second later, the kid that had attacked me slumped onto the floor.
As he slumped down, I could see behind him that there was a person holding the guy's heart as it was still beating.
I almost retched at the sight but managed to keep it in as a vile taste crept up my throat.
"You guys are all dumb if you haven't noticed it yet, but can't you see that this kid has the strongest aura out of all of us?"
With those words, the compartment descended into total silence as everyone started staring at me again, with even harder stares than before.
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