The Retired Hero is an Extra

"I hope you all are ready for this," the person addressed the examinees before continuing without any regard for them.

"State your choice of weapon for this test and nothing other than what you ask for will be with you."

'It seems the academy only wants those who can respond to spontaneous things,' Jash mused, noting the bewildered expressions of the two elves and one dwarf.

Caeron maintained his facade as if nothing could faze him, so Jash just chose to ignore the guys for now and instantly said, "1 meter sword."

The academy personnel raised an eyebrow in interest before quickly handing over the sheathed sword with a smile.

"Hammer!" the dwarf exclaimed, seeing the sword, not wanting to be left behind.

"Hammer? What kind?" the man asked with furrowed brows, he didn't seem to like the ambiguity of the request.

"Uhm, warhammer!" the dwarf said, thinking that was enough to explain his point.

"Here," the man said with a darkened face, ignoring the dwarf's grumblings about the hammer not to his liking.

"A magic staff," Caeron implored, glancing away from the dwarf and after the two elves had chosen a longbow and a spear each.

'So not all elves use bows,' Caeron thought in interest while the two elves were intrigued about him being a mage.

The only one with a plain old indifferent expression was Jash, which finally changed as the man suddenly declared, "Go!"

It was really abrupt but before the other four could react, Jash had already dashed in.

'I really didn't want to spend another second there,' he heaved a sigh of relief before appearing in the academy stadium.

The air was rife with anticipation, and he could feel the weight of expectations pressing down on the examinees.

'The crowd is no joke,' he commented inwardly, hearing the loud chanting-like cheers from the eager audience.

Meanwhile, most examinees were having a tough time, feeling burdened by the expectations placed unto them by their beloved family members.

Some were feeling it in the nerves, barely calming down after recalling the tough journey they had gone through to stand here.

Their minds racing with doubts and suspicion after looking at the strangely calm and indifferent faces of the rich—nobles, merchants, clans, alike.

Still, they managed to push away the nagging doubts and focused on the immediate task, trying to find an announcer.

Jash too inadvertently glanced at the grand stage once more, where the officials were now taking their positions.

The reality of the test—the gatekeeping test—began to sink in.

While the examinees felt anxious about the test, their parents and guardians eagerly anticipated the figure of their ward.

They had been pre-informed about all these formalities and possible mass teleportation of their wards to the arena.

The fact that not all would be present remained a bugging thought due to the tests they were going to have beforehand.

Hence, they could only pray that their good wishes to their sons and daughters worked and they would succeed.

Unfortunately, life wasn't all sunshines and rainbows.

While many were happy to find their wards there, some weren't lucky enough to see them.

Still, they clung to the hope that it was merely a matter of not spotting their children in the crowd.

Sadly, their last straw of hope was shattered by the loud noise of crackers bursting.

—Bang! Bang!

Ignoring the loud commotion outside, the noble families discussed the outcomes and boasted about their own kin to each others.

As many big names were participating in this year's Entrance Test, even those who did not participate came here to see the performance of their future rivals.

After all, Solarnelle Academy, or any academy for that matter, was not a peaceful place where they only focused on developing talents.

Over the course of years, the academies had become the place where many talents came from and many diminished.

Only those who had actually graduated from the harsh academies knew the ruthless truth hidden from the common populace.

This place was meant to train the young privileged children out of their protective shells!

This was the decision made by the only Female Empress in the history of the Solarnelle Empire, and no one could change it.

"Welcome to the final phase of the Entrance Test!!"

A young man's voice diverted the audience's attention as they looked around the stadium, amazed by the various decorations.

"This is yet another year for the Solarnelle Academy and we are here at the opening ceremony to witness the future talents compete against each other!"

Cheers rang out amongst the crowd as some overexcited people clammered about their children.

"That's my son!!"

"That's my daughter!!"

"That's my sister!!"

"That's my father–"

"Ahem, I am Rui, your host for today," the young voice said, unable to hear the crowd after the last shout.

Why would someone shout about their father from the crowd!?

Eyes turned to him in the huge stadium as he donned a black suit and stood on a flying platform above the stage covered in an opaque-white barrier.

Not only the crowd, even the examinees focused on him.

"It can't be..." an examinee blurted out, pointing his trembling finger at the figure of Rui.

Confused by his gesture, someone asked, "What's the matter, Ren? What happened?"

Yet Ren's expression worsened before a look of horror appeared on his face as he began to let out incomprehensible murmurs.

"No, no... Yes! This has to be a dream!!"

—Smack!

"Say it clearly, idiot!" another one from the group of five said with an angry expression.

"You-"

Before the girl who asked politely could chide the boy who hit Ren, Ren yelled, his voice cracking in denial, "He's Rui! That RUI!!"

"RUI!! The one who is known for terrible pranks and randomly messing up this test!"

Only after hearing his voice did they understand, but then it was Ren's turn to feel confused.

No one gave him the reaction he anticipated, they just chose to ignore him.

"W-what? Aren't you guys understanding!?" he screamed in frustration but this time, even the girl distanced herself from him.

"Are you an idiot? Do you think he can mess up the Entrance Test?" the one who hit him earlier remarked, annoyed by the stupidity of Ren.

Everyone ignored him while Rui was the only one who was smiling, stealing a glance at Ren.

'Interesting,' Rui thought to himself, planning to take out these guys first.

However, Rui failed to notice three people totally ignoring everything and only looking at him.

One was naturally the protagonist, aiming to do his best while the next one belonged to Jash and Amael.

The latter two were very much aware of how the test would go, knowing the rules were the only thing that mattered.

'Hope he didn't change them,' Jash mused, ready to curse the 18 generations of Rui if he did his shit with even the rules.

Yes, Rui was going to mess up and Ren was absolutely correct.

Just that no one would think the Solarnelle Academy would allow it... or so the large majority believed.

Only those who had been played by Rui had disgusted expressions at him and pitiful at the examinees before their mood turned intrigued.

After all, it was not every day that such a talented generation would have to go through the difficulties, right?

As if anticipating the rising anticipation reaching its crescendo, Rui smiled cheerfully and began, "Every year, the Entrance Test is conducted separately for males and females..."