Bang!
Ms. Claire slammed her palm against the blackboard.
The large letters written there trembled from the impact.
End-of-term tournament.
It was the start of the final exams.
"This Wednesday, the end-of-term tournament begins! Since this exam affects your grades, prepare thoroughly!"
[It’s finally starting!]
End-of-term tournament, huh.
Hmm, no matter how I think about it, I can’t understand why this counts as a final exam.
Shouldn’t a test have some kind of differentiation?
In most Academy novels, they use things like this to rank students, but I always wondered if that made sense.
If the first and second place meet in the preliminary round and the first place loses, then that person ends up in last place, right?
When I asked the author about it, they revised the plot. I guess today’s chapter is about that.
"The tournament will include a loser’s bracket. So don’t worry too much."
"A-a loser’s bracket?"
Oh, the teacher’s explaining it now.
She must have noticed the students looking uneasy.
"There’s been talk for a while now that tournaments lack differentiation. That’s why we’re adding a loser’s bracket."
"O-ohhh…"
"And one more thing."
As the students relaxed, Ms. Claire delivered another crucial piece of information.
…In a way, this was the most important part.
Even I hadn’t thought of this. Sometimes the author does come up with good ideas.
"This tournament will be in teams of two."
"W-what?!"
"If we add a loser’s bracket, we won’t have enough time. Everyone agreed on this. The reasoning was sound."
Hmm, look at them all flustered.
They must be the students who heard about the tournament from their seniors.
It’s kind of satisfying to see them panic when the details don’t match what they expected.
I can control the emotions of the dolls! …Or something like that.
Well, it wasn’t *me* who chose them, but the author.
"S-sound reasoning?"
"That’s right. Have any of you ever worked in sync with another person before?"
"…Ugh."
"No, right? I already know."
"B-but…!"
A student who had been about to argue trailed off when they saw Ms. Claire’s expression.
…It was a look of longing. Probably thinking of her dead comrades from the past.
That was part of her backstory, after all.
"I say this from experience. …Working with others is something every hero must do at least once."
"B-but! We’ve never practiced teamwork before! Changing the exam format now—"
Doesn’t make sense.
The student who had been about to say that finally shut their mouth when they realized Ms. Claire was staring at them.
Right. The teachers had just been turning a blind eye.
Academy exam contents are supposed to be confidential. Plus, the details are only announced on the Monday of that week.
Knowing the exam format in advance is technically impossible. The teachers had just been doing them a favor by pretending not to notice.
The students finally realized that.
"So try it out within this week. …You all want to become heroes, don’t you?"
"Y-yes, that’s right…"
"Most heroes don’t work alone like you might think. At the very least, they work in pairs. That’s the standard. The lone wolves you imagine are a minority of a minority."
Ms. Claire picked up the chalk and wrote on the blackboard.
Teams of two.
"The monsters at the front lines are too much for even an ordinary superhuman to handle alone. So most form teams. …But tell me, with whom do superhumans form these teams?"
"Aren’t we close colleagues? Of course we are."
"No, that’s not it. About half the time, you end up coordinating with someone who isn’t your teammate. It’s different from what you’re all thinking."
"…Huh?"
Wait, seriously?
I didn’t know that either.
Maybe the Author set it up without telling me.
After all, the Author doesn’t bother explaining things to me if they don’t think it’s necessary.
I’ve suffered so much because of that.
"As you all know, Superhumans are busy. Frontline defense, villain extermination, patrols for citizen safety—there’s no time to rest."
Before I knew it, Teacher Claire had switched back into lecture mode, pacing around the students as she continued.
"Superhumans are still human. They need rest, and they get injured. It’s common for teammates’ schedules to clash. …So, what do you do when a teammate is injured and their schedule is thrown off?"
"Uh, take care of them?"
"Are you insane? We’re already short on Superhumans. If one team member gets hurt, do we just leave a perfectly fine person idle? If we did that, expansion would slow down even more than it already is."
"…"
The student who had been answering Teacher’s questions fell silent.
After all, every single one of their opinions had just been shot down.
"The answer is simple. You team up with a free Superhuman—someone you’ve never met before, or maybe just seen in passing—and carry out the mission together."
"…B-but! That could lead to accidents!"
"Of course I know that. That’s why this final exam is designed around that very scenario. I don’t expect it to solve everything, but getting a little more familiar with it won’t hurt, right?"
[Hmm, not a bad setup, don’t you think?]
The Author’s voice shattered my focus entirely.
So it was just a setting gimmick. I was the idiot for actually listening to Teacher’s lecture so intently.
After circling the students once, Teacher Claire returned to the chalkboard and began writing in the empty space.
"The evaluation criteria for this final exam are simple: teamwork and the ability to handle unexpected situations. …Unlike the old days, where rank was everything."
The word "teamwork" was written large on the chalkboard.
As the students stared blankly at it, Teacher Claire made her announcement.
"For this tournament, teammates will be chosen by lottery."
Huh. So who am I paired with?
I glanced over at Yu Siwoo and Amelia.
Those two are probably doing it together, right?
…Does that mean I have to team up with a stranger?
But after all the students drew their lots, I was stunned by the result.
Because Amelia was standing right next to me.
"Arte, let’s do our best."
"Y-yes. Let’s do our best."
What the hell?
Wasn’t Amelia supposed to be with Yu Siwoo?
Why is she here?
[Phew, finally, the chance has come. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been having a heroine set up but not using her?]
…What? Heroine?
I hastily looked over at Yu Siwoo’s side.
…It’s a girl. So according to the Author, she’s the heroine.
But now? All of a sudden?
Noticing my confusion, the Author proudly began explaining.
[Well, the heroine I set up didn’t get much interaction, so I figured, why not give her more screen time while I’m at it?]
You even told the readers she was the heroine!
As the Author said that, I fixed my gaze on her.
…Heroine? You told them? When?
I stared at her for so long that the shy-looking heroine seemed to sense my gaze—she flinched and started trembling violently, so I turned away.
"Arte, what do you want with that girl?"
"No, I just thought I’d seen her before… Do you know her, Amelia?"
"Hmm. We’re in the same class, but aside from sparring on the first day, I haven’t really interacted with her."
"Ah."
That was it.
Amelia’s words made it click.
Not long after enrollment, during my first sparring match, there was that girl who’d been completely wrecked by Amelia.
So that was her.
"…I see."
Now that I thought about it, the author had mentioned something like that before.
I’d assumed the author had scrapped her since she never appeared again, but it seemed they’d just been saving her for the right moment.
Well, the heroine count *was* a little low.
So far, only three heroine candidates had shown up: Laila, Amelia, and that girl.
…Captain wasn’t really a heroine, just a supporting character at best.
Laila had been burned through as a villain, and this girl was only just now making her debut in the story.
For an Academy novel, it was unusual to have a single heroine dominating the narrative. Most Academy stories were either harems or had the protagonist choose from multiple heroines.
Maybe the author was planning to introduce more heroines soon and shake things up?
"…Ah, Arte."
"Yes?"
"Don’t worry too much. Nothing bad will happen."
"?"
Amelia let out a nonsensical murmur.
What the hell? What was she thinking to suddenly try comforting *me*?
Her pitying gaze made me feel a little annoyed.
Dorothy was utterly flustered.
"Nice to work with you, Dorothy."
"A-ah, yes… You know my name?"
"We’re in the same class."
It made sense that the famous Siwoo would end up in the same group as me.
And even if it was strange that he knew my useless name, I could accept it.
There were always kids who knew their classmates’ names, even if they weren’t close.
But Dorothy couldn’t bear Arte’s gaze.
"…Is something wrong?"
"N-no! Nothing at all!"
The closer Siwoo came to check on me, the sharper Arte’s stare became.
Hii, hiii… This is terrifying.
Before, when people said she was impossible to read, Dorothy hadn’t understood what they meant.
She’d only ever seen Arte as someone who always smiled brightly—unlike herself—beautiful and strong.
Now she *definitely* got it. She had no idea what Arte was thinking.
Her eyes were glaring at her like she wanted to kill her, but her face was still smiling…!
"You look like you’re in pain… Should we go to the infirmary?"
"S-stay away! Please!"
"…Ah, r-right. Sorry."
Siwoo looked hurt by her rejection, but Dorothy had no choice.
The gaze boring into her back was growing more and more unbearable.
"U-um, teacher… Is there any way we could swap partners…?"
"I already explained. This test is about seeing how well you can sync up with someone you’ve never worked with before. If you switch now, you’ll both get the lowest possible score. Don’t even think about it."
"…Yes."
Dorothy wanted to cry.
If she could, she’d gladly give her spot to Arte.
She resented the teacher for this.