Hello, Senior

The Hundred Academy Exchange was divided into two major segments: the defense portion and the research presentation portion.

The defense portion was an event that all students could participate in without any prerequisites. It didn't matter what year they were in or what their background was; the only things they could rely on were their own accumulated knowledge and thinking capacity.

This major segment was further subdivided into three stages: the preliminary defense, the secondary defense, and the final defense. Through a process of elimination, only students who achieved outstanding results in both the preliminary and secondary defenses would qualify to stand on the stage of the final defense.

The preliminary defense took the most direct format—all participants answered questions from their respective seats, with the written prompt distributed to them to be completed within a set time limit.

The secondary defense went a step further: all students who passed the preliminary round would gather in a much larger hall to take turns going up on stage, conducting an oral defense in front of a large audience of teachers and students.

As for the final defense, it was the most rigorous part of all—only a select few were qualified to enter the conference hall where the five headmistresses sat. There, they would face the five Great Archmage-level headmistresses one by one, subjecting themselves to their most direct scrutiny and interrogation.

In addition, the topics for the preliminary and secondary defenses were determined in advance by the headmistresses of the Five Great Academies, though they would only be made public at the designated time, forcing the students to scramble and prepare within a very limited timeframe.

The final defense, however, was completely different. It would randomly draw one of several difficult problems that had plagued the magical academic community for years, requiring the students to present their own logical hypotheses and attempt to solve it.

Because of this, the preparation time for the final defense was much longer than the first two stages, and the difficulty was on an entirely different level.

As a former academic delinquent, Greg Sass should have been trembling in fear during the preliminary defense, even if he had managed to secure a spot in the Hundred Academy Exchange through the back door.

But he was different now.

As a transmigrator who had cleared eighty-one playthroughs of the original game, Greg not only knew the questions for the preliminary and secondary defenses beforehand, but he also knew exactly which question would be drawn for the final defense, as well as which explanation would best win over the judges.

Even the research presentation portion, which he had originally been most worried about, had already been completed ahead of schedule thanks to Alice and Chloe working themselves to the bone.

So right now, he wasn't worried at all.

It was precisely because of this confidence that he had chosen to implement his plan of disguising himself as an exceptionally brilliant student to attract the attention of the current Saintess of the Church of Light.

Everything so far, including the chaos the Demon King Cult might stir up later, was well within his expectations.

It was lonely at the top.

Right now, the students from over a hundred magic academies had finally recovered from the shock of Luna, the headmistress of the Branch-String Sanctuary Magic Academy, actually taking on a human disciple. They were currently making their final preparations.

Meanwhile, Greg leaned back leisurely in his chair, crossing his legs, calmly waiting for the preliminary defense questions to be announced.

Although he didn't know what exactly was going on with Luna, fortunately, she hadn't revealed his specific identity at the time. So, for now, he could safely assume: no double agents here, business as usual!

Just as his relaxed posture formed a stark contrast with the tense atmosphere around him, a petite figure suddenly walked up to his side.

“Junior Greg, aren't you nervous?”

Senior Yelena stood before him, clutching a notebook with frayed edges in her hands.

Her face was a mask of anxiety, clearly uneasy about the upcoming preliminary defense.

“Not really.”

Greg looked up, offering a relaxed smile.

“Actually, Senior Yelena, you don't need to worry too much either. Just perform like you normally do. You already work so hard, so I'm sure you'll do great.”

Hearing his words, Yelena dithered for a moment. Then, she took a deep breath, and her clenched fists relaxed slightly.

She nodded, a trace of determination returning to her voice. “Mm, I understand. Thank you, Junior Greg!”

With that, she turned and headed back to her seat to make her final preparations.

Not far away, Vivian watched this scene unfold.

Closing the book in her hands, her gaze lingered on Greg for a brief moment.

She noticed that Greg had maintained a completely composed demeanor from start to finish, even having the spare energy to soothe others' anxiety.

She realized that Greg had indeed prepared thoroughly to prove himself.

She lowered her head, silently making a resolve in her heart.

Since that was the case, she had to work hard too, so she wouldn't be left behind by him.

Then, she reopened her book and focused her attention back on the pages.

“Yawn...”

Letting out a leisurely yawn, Greg leaned back against his chair, planning to savor that feeling of being invincible once more, when Corwin suddenly walked over and spoke to him with a hint of embarrassment:

“Um, Greg... I have a really outstanding junior who wants to meet you. Could you spare a moment?”

Hearing this, Greg was slightly startled, then shook his head in resignation.

He immediately looked up, a warm and polite smile gracing his face as he replied in a lighthearted tone:

“Of course! By the way, is this junior of yours cute?”

Corwin scratched his head, thinking it over seriously before answering honestly:

“Her looks... I guess you could only call them average, but her grades are truly outstanding. She's at the top of our academy, and even I respect her a lot! Wait here, I'll go call her over right now.”

“Oh, go ahead.” Greg's interest instantly evaporated by more than half.

As an honest scumbag, he never lied to himself.

Compared to a one-in-a-million interesting soul, he still preferred a cookie-cutter beautiful face.

This was his nature, and he accepted it shamelessly.

However, since Corwin had already brought it up and the junior had actively sought him out, it wouldn't be right to reject the gesture. Meeting her wouldn't hurt anyway, since he was currently bored.

“Hello, Senior Greg! I'm a first-year student from the Frost Ring Magic Academy—you can just call me Melina~”

Before long, Corwin returned, leading a girl dressed in a blue uniform.

At this moment, the girl was gazing at him with an innocent, naive smile, looking as if she truly were just an ordinary junior who admired her senior.

But the moment Greg's eyes fell upon her face, his smile instantly froze.

It was indeed a very ordinary-looking face, one that wouldn't attract any attention even in a crowd.

But Greg would never mistake this face.

Or rather, he would never mistake the disguise she was currently wearing.

Because in the original game, when the Primary Heroine, Melina, first debuted in Act Three, she had shown herself using this exact, plain-looking disguise!

Although she wore an exquisite disguise right now, making her look utterly average, Greg knew full well just how captivating of a face was hidden beneath that mask.

Gulp...

Greg couldn't help but swallow hard.

He took back what he said earlier.

As expected, compared to a beautiful face, he actually valued a gentle heart much more.