The Retired Hero is an Extra

"You've arrived as fast as me, but... don't interfere," A boy glared at another as he spoke.

The other, however, didn't seem to care and just grinned as if challenging the first boy.

—Swish!

"A bunch of idiots."

A low voice echoed, and two barriers activated, eliminating them in one go as they were within the boss monster's range.

Jash made the comment with a yawn as a bored look was plastered on his face.

"Waiting for others sure is annoying," he muttered to himself before he frowned suddenly.

"Why do I sound like the guy who got stood up by his date?"

His voice turned discontent as he felt dissatisfied with the thought, even if it was his own.

Thankfully, the sound of rushing footsteps awoke him from his internal musings.

Though not for long...

'What does it even matter? They're gonna be poofed either way,' he mused, closing his eyes and resting his head on his palm.

Meanwhile the ones approaching sensed his presence and could only see his back, getting alerted at the sight.

They wondered why someone was so close to the boss monster, which looked incredibly terrifying to them.

Only someone crazy would do that!

Their assumption saved them from getting eliminated as they changed their direction and stayed far away.

However, some idiots actually considered it a good chance and bypassed Jash, only to get eliminated within a second.

At the same time, one or two attacked Jash, only to meet the same fate of quick eliminations.

Seeing this, the few who actually took caution gulped nervously, seeing their inevitable eliminations from both parties.

Obviously, they'd consider Jash a monster as well since he didn't even say anything and quietly sat on a rock.

Unfortunately, the situation would only get more tense as every examinee who wanted to prove themselves would arrive soon.

No way they'd leave the boss monster if they were confident in their skills.

Also, the fact that some of them would indeed be strong was a problem for the weaker examinees.

'They wouldn't even serve as cannon fodders,' Jash mused as he opened his eyes and jumped off the rock.

Not in the direction of the monster, but backward as a spell immediately engulfed the rock he sat upon.

'Who else was it going to be if not you,' Jash thought inwardly, not even glancing at the source.

It was the Silver-haired, orange-eyed, Caeron Agria.

The [Wind Hurricane] spell consumed the rock by leaving deep cuts and crevices on its surface.

It was made unusable as it shattered after the spell waned off.

However, the scene appeared different for the examinees nearby.

They held in their breath, hoping not to get noticed by the boss monster or these two monsters.

Sadly for them, it was just the beginning as the convergence of all the talents was about to soon happen.

"You were here earlier," Caeron said, "So you must be waiting for others to take down the boss monster, yes?"

Caeron's voice echoed while he stood nearby at a safe distance from the examinees as well as the boss monster.

"Also, you were the only one sitting around, don't you think that's unfair and unequal for the others?"

Hearing the chiding tone, Jash just rolled his eyes. 'Him and his rightful facade,' Jash scoffed internally.

"Well, technically nope. I was just waiting to eliminate competition," Jash said truthfully with a casual shrug.

His tone was as if he hadn't just offended everyone who heard him yet no one actually took action.

They were waiting for the confrontation with the new guy and him and hoped to take both of them down.

Alas, Caeron was much too afraid inwardly and was somewhat of a coward, so there was no way he would attack first.

The only reason he attacked earlier was to gauge the guy's strength and since he escaped it, Caeron chose to keep his distance.

Of course, Jash's casual confidence was the most likely reason for Caeron's decision, which differed from the arrogance of others.

If it was pure arrogance, he might've considered it, but the way Jash put it... it seemed inevitable.

Thankfully, the standoff didn't last long as more examinees showed up, cautious of the duo.

'This is what I wanted,' Jash mused sarcastically with a shake of his head, clearly disliking the exaggerated situation.

However, the next second, everyone nearby was caught off-guard by a sudden presence of bloodlust, staggering a few right in their tracks.

Some barely composed themselves and raised their weapons, alerted by the disturbance in their surroundings.

Only Jash frowned, wondering, 'Where did that come from? I remember no such mention.'

Unlike others, he had little reaction to the bloodlust, accustomed to such sensations from his dungeon training.

Not like any amount of bloodlust would cause him to stagger due to his past life, but his current feat was remarkable for his fellow examinees.

On the other hand, Caeron was cautious, but this much bloodlust was not enough to break his facade.

In the end, anyone who had gotten specialized training would have trained in hunting dungeon monsters, so they would also be used to experiencing this much bloodlust.

Naturally, it didn't take long to track its source—the boss monster itself.

It was yearning for more eliminations, or was it programmed to act that way?

'Or worse yet, it was changed due to the changes because of me?' Jash pondered, not expecting it to bring changes so soon.

Yet he shook that thought off, aware that he would end up stirring quite a hornet's rest, so what did it matter when?

It was inevitable, and facing one more challenge ahead of time wouldn't matter much in the long run.

Looking around at the stunned examinees, Jash quickly made a decision and unsheathed his sword.

Before any of them could react, he had already dashed at them, dispatching the easy targets before anyone else could.

In fact, he was just taking advantage of the monster's sudden leaking of bloodlust, or he would have to waste his time and stamina even more.

Although the bloodlust might have caused problems for others, it was nothing for him, making him treat it as a golden opportunity.

'Faster, faster, faster...' he kept repeating the word in his mind as if it would make any difference.

"Hmm," Jash hummed in satisfaction, holding in his urge for deep breaths so as to not appear weak.

He had just eliminated nearly 10 examinees either by his sword, or pushing them into the boss monster's range.

At this point, the results mattered more than his method as he wanted to get rid of the unstable factors as much as he could.

Meanwhile, the audience was going bonkers at the crazy sight, wanting nothing more than it to get even more intense.

"Now, that's a good sight," Rui commented with a wide grin, holding the mic at an angle, appearing extremely attention-grabbing.

Fortunately, his words were indeed true.

Or else he would be hearing the audience booing him just like it happened many times already.

While they were excited, the gamblers were getting nervous as Jash seemed stronger than his earlier assessment.

If he secured First Rank, the amount of money they'd lose... it was unimaginable.

Some had even put all their savings and even houses in the bets... and they would be getting a harsh lesson real soon.

Bringing them out of their self-misery was Rui's excited shouts, "There it is, there it is everyone!!"