The Legendary Programming Mage

Ding!

『 Allen Vanderbilt: 1/270 』

A wide grin spread across my face, and in the next moment, a loud ringing echoed through the tunnel.

The pristine white walls began to dissolve as if they were an illusion, and once everything vanished, I found myself standing in the same spot as before.

"Is this a mental attack?"

Turning to my left and noticing Sylvia, I answered, "No, it's not."

I waited a moment longer for her to ask why I thought so, but she said nothing.

My gaze lingered on the beautiful black-haired woman with crystalline blue eyes. "Aren't you going to ask me how I knew?"

For a moment, there was silence. When I looked down, I saw her staring at me.

"What?"

She shook her head. "You're really attractive, like it's almost unreal."

She quickly looked away and began mumbling something under her breath.

Such a weirdo.

I didn't know why she was so different from the novel.

Well, considering how I skimmed through most characters' POVs, it wasn't shocking that she was this different.

But still...

"Hello! Hello!"

A loud voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

At the center of the cadets again was Professor Evelyn.

However, unlike before, the number had now dropped.

Two hundred and seventy.

She smiled so widely that everyone could see it.

"I know the exam was a bit anticlimactic, but as I said before, Apex is the place for the best, and when I said the best, I didn't just mean in punching."

She emphasized each word with her hand. "What do you think will happen if we accepted students purely based on combat or written exams?"

No one answered, but I knew what she was about to say.

Each year, the youngest professor always gave this speech.

This year was supposed to be Beatrice's turn, but knowing her, she would say something like, "Why should I do that? Age only matters in your strength. I'm stronger than you, so you do it."

I almost chuckled at my own thought as Evelyn continued.

"If Apex gave such an exam, it would make us pass on strategists and people whose talent isn't one-on-one combat."

Different students began murmuring among themselves.

"This is the reason why our Apex Academy conducts exams in a way that allows students, no matter what field they excel in, to shine.

If you're a strategist, then you would have figured out the timing of the red and green lights and rallied allies to work with you."

Her gaze settled on both Quincy and a certain young knight. "And if you have confidence in your strength, then you devour everyone."

Her eyes swept across the students before turning to me with a soft smile.

"Now!"

She took a dramatic pause.

"I hereby announce that all of you who stand before me now have been admitted into Apex Academy."

The murmurs of students erupted into laughter and cheers.

I literally couldn't even hear myself for a full minute.

Some people hugged their friends, others cried, and some collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

I, on the other hand, felt goosebumps prickling all over my skin.

The hairs on my arms stood on end, a sensation similar to when I watched a crazy face-slapping scene in a movie.

A faint breeze brushed past me, carrying the scent of spring.

Professor Evelyn grinned. "Spring is here, and a new life has begun!"

In an instant, the area around us started changing.

It was clearly teleportation, but it felt as if we were stepping into an illusion.

The moment the world stabilized, we found ourselves in a large area filled with towering buildings.

We all stood in the middle of a street.

The buildings were somehow connected, and the same robots I saw in the Hunter Association moved about.

Some transported recycling bins, while others carried out different tasks.

"Wow." The words slipped out before I even realized it.

Another world.

Even in this new world, unfamiliar to me, this street felt like stepping into yet another dimension.

'I can't believe everything here is powered by magic.'

Something stirred inside me.

I wanted to learn.

I wanted to dissect everything, both the magic and the technology, and understand its components.

And it wasn't just me—every student had the same fire in their eyes.

Evelyn's face softened, as if seeing her children after a long absence.

"Welcome, all of you, to your new home, Apex Academy."

Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs, while some remained still, unable to process everything.

Evelyn, looking like she was about to tear up, wiped the corner of her eye. "Tomorrow will be your entrance exam, but for now, relax."

She pointed to the largest building a few steps away.

It was a skyscraper, not perfectly straight, connected by glass stairways to other buildings.

From the roof to about halfway down the structure, a large "1" symbol was displayed.

"This area and the surrounding buildings primarily belong to first-years, and that building over there is your dorm."

— "Wait, boys and girls share the same dorms?"

— "Kikiki, seems fun to me."

— "Ugh, I hope we don't have any perverted boys in our year?"

Evelyn rubbed her temples. "Yes, males and females share dorms. In war or a rift, you can't start worrying about who is male and who is female."

All the students seemed to understand after that explanation.

Afterward, she gave a few extra rules.

Unlike most academies, Apex didn't discriminate in living arrangements; however, rank became important for classes and other facilities.

Since: points = money.

After the first-years entered the building, everyone went to their assigned dorms.

The ground floor was a central, massive hall where students could gather and interact.

There were rooms for each of the two hundred-plus cadets, each with a bathroom, study area, and a spacious bedroom like a five-star hotel.

There were also training rooms and gyms, even haunted chambers and floors where the terrain shifted.

But I didn't care about any of that, it was time to rest.

I barely took in the sight of my room before collapsing onto the soft bed.

I had tried my best.

And I was now the Apex of the first-years.

Even though I started later than others, I had made it.

Slowly, my consciousness faded as I drifted into the embrace of sleep.