Coin’s Edge: Reincarnated as a Extra

The influence of the five great empires over the academy was immense, thanks to all the resources, money, and positions they had poured into it. But humanity would always be humanity—driven by personal ambition and selfish goals.

If there were major problems at the academy, or even just things that seemed ineffective, they would immediately withdraw their support.

Of course, it had to be a truly serious problem for them to act so boldly. They wouldn't give excuses like, "This doesn't work," or "I don't like it. I don't want to invest in commoners." Such a stance would inevitably stir rebellion within their own empire, and even hostility from others.

Because, at its core, turning away from the academy meant turning away from humanity's mission to defend itself—especially now, when all empires needed to cooperate against threats from another world.

If ever a "reasonable" excuse surfaced, and their citizens supported it, this academy would surely be pushed to the brink of collapse.

"Recently, I've heard rumors about instructors disappearing. Is that true?" Toby, the young emperor, asked politely.

The other emperors shifted their attention as well. They had also caught whispers over the past few years.

Wilmot frowned. "It's true. But we already caught the culprit, so there's no need for you to concern yourself with our work."

"Hahaha. I hope so," Toby replied with a sly smile, raising his cup of tea. "So then… who was the culprit?"

Wilmot stayed silent, sipping his own tea like the others. In truth, he hadn't caught anyone yet. It was a major problem, but his clan would soon send more support. Until then, his only focus was to get through the final exam smoothly and drive these damned emperors out of his academy as quickly as possible.

"Why do these troubles always happen at times like this? It feels like everything has been carefully planned for years…" He glanced around the table, searching for the faintest clue in their faces.

Because he knew very well: if anyone wanted to pull their support from the academy, the emperors themselves had to be the first suspects.

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense, so one of the emperors, Tara Peay, spoke up, trying to ease things.

"Alright, whatever, that's not our problem. Now, why are we starting to talk about major work?"

The other emperors nodded in agreement.

Just like that, the Principal laid out all his plans for the final exam and a group of excellent students, and so on.

Of course, the emperors were the ones providing rewards for this exam. Those meaningful and precious rewards would create plenty of motivation for students to push harder for the future.

To earn the reward, first-year students had to pass two stages of the exam.

First, every student had to join a group. Luckily, they could form their own group whenever they wanted. If someone got left out by everyone else, they would be randomly placed into a group for the first stage of the final exam.

Each group was limited to about three members. Then, they would be sent into a real world created by an S-Rank Artifact. That place was filled with beasts from the Equilibria World. The students had to collect points by defeating other groups and aim for the top 10 strongest teams. Only then would they qualify for the final stage of the exam.

The final stage was kept secret—even the Principal himself didn't know what it was. Everything depended on the S-Rank Artifact.

But to reach that point, they had to defeat certain groups or steal their points, since points took the form of badges crafted by the S-Rank Artifact.

All their actions and achievements would be recorded and replayed for the audience outside to watch.

As for Hector, his goal was a herb from the exam's reward. He only needed to reach the top 10, nothing higher. He planned to surrender the moment he stepped into the final stage, and that way he would still get what he wanted.

That mission sounded easy.

But first, he had to survive the initial stage of the exam. Fortunately, for now, he still had some scraps of information from the novel. The problem was, he didn't know if it was reliable or just another trap. Even so, they had no choice but to act. If it turned out to be true, their chances of passing would rise a lot.

"Hey, are you sure this is the right way? We've gone back and forth across so many roads, yet we keep running into nothing but beasts," Tyrone asked as he snapped a wolf's neck and tossed the body against a nearby rock.

Hector only nodded.

"If we get there, you'll see."

Bam, standing nearby, just sighed in disappointment.

"…I made a mistake."

"Tsk, what a mess. Anyway, we've got to hurry. My system just announced our group is dead last in the exam," Tyrone said, glancing around before leaping out from behind the rocks which were coated by the blood of dozens of wolves since they were summoned by the S rank-Artifact and Hector had leaded here, looking for a secret road. Yet, it didn't go as they expected.

Hector walked slowly, tapping his cane against the ground as he moved, feeling for the way forward.

"Don't bother with the smallest details. Focus on the outcome—that's your goal. Besides, I think I've found some prey for us."

But Hector couldn't laugh after saying that. His mind was too chaotic, filled with illusions. Even though he was blind, they didn't fade away.

Tyrone quickly dashed up to a rock, scanning the area with a grin. At last, after hours of dull wandering, he thought he had found real prey.

Meanwhile, Bam stared into Hector's blind eyes for a while, recalling the first time Hector activated his bloodline related to eyes.

"So that's your true power."

Even though Bam wasn't particularly impressed with Hector, seeing his fragile state—mentally and physically—was enough to make anyone curious. Even someone as careless about the world as Bam.

From an ordinary guy, Hector had turned into a lunatic who sometimes muttered meaningless words to himself.

"It's funny that someone like him is curious about me. You'll see the reason soon. Just wait. Because right now, I'm mad."

Bam shut his tired eyes and walked on, lost in thought.

"That's… pretty creepy. I suppose you're a tough guy now. Anyway, don't drag me into your mess."