The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned
“Have you gathered all your party members?”
“No, half of us were chosen by lottery.”
“Ugh, this exam is doomed!”
“Argh! Why did Professor Lucas assign me to this kind of party?!”
“Blame yourself, not the professor.”
“Shut up, you jerk!”
Exam Day.
Even before the final exam content was announced, the classroom was already in chaos.
Candidates who had already completed their parties wore relaxed expressions.
Others, looking at their ragtag group of party members, were groaning in despair.
And some candidates were teasing those in distress.
It was like a noisy market, with the candidates on edge just before the big hurdle that was the final evaluation.
“Quiet.”
Professor Lucas entered the room and spoke in a low voice.
Instantly, as if cold water had been poured on them, the classroom fell silent.
“Judging by your expressions, it looks like you're all nervous.”
Professor Lucas grinned as he glanced around at the candidates.
He placed a large box he had brought onto the lectern and continued speaking.
“I thought this might happen, so I made a special juice for you...”
“No, thank you!”
“We're not nervous at all!”
The candidates quickly shook their heads, looking at the sticky green juice inside the box.
“Really? If you insist, I can't force you.”
Lucas looked regretfully at the juice-filled box.
“Hm, but since I went to the trouble of collecting the ingredients from the mountain yesterday, it'd be a shame to waste it. I'll pick just one of you to drink it.”
“......”
At the mention of picking one person, the candidates’ eyes all turned to one candidate.
A freckled student with a slightly awkward expression paled and shook his head.
Professor Lucas smiled widely as he looked at the student.
“Albert, you look quite nervous.”
“N-no! I’m totally fine, Professor! I’m not nervous at all!”
“Hmm. I understand. I heard you didn’t find a party and were assigned by lottery, right? It’s natural to feel more nervous when you’re placed in a random party.”
“That’s not true! Dale welcomed me kindly...!”
“Dale? That guy? He welcomed you kindly?”
Professor Lucas’ eyes turned to me.
With a firm expression, he shook his head and continued.
“Impossible. There's no way that guy would welcome anyone kindly.”
Hey, why me?
What did I do?
“Anyway, since you're in that disrespectful guy’s party, you must be even more nervous.”
Professor Lucas grinned, pulling a cup of juice from the box and approaching Albert.
“Here, it’s good for you. Drink up, Albert.”
“No! Nooo!”
Albert screamed and struggled, but there was no way he could resist Professor Lucas’ brute strength.
And so, after Albert drank the professor’s special protein juice and became ‘healthier’(?), Lucas spoke again.
“Alright, let’s begin the explanation of today’s final evaluation.”
The main topic of the day began.
“As you all know, this final evaluation will be done in parties. Since the party assignments are already completed, everyone has confirmed their members, right?”
The candidates nodded in response to Professor Lucas’ question.
“Of course, I don’t expect everyone here to be satisfied with their party. Some of you might have received party members you didn’t want at all.”
At this, some candidates let out deep sighs.
“But that’s the same when you graduate and go out into the world.”
Professor Lucas scanned the room as he continued.
“Sometimes, you might not have any support roles in your party. Other times, there might be no front-line fighters at all.”
When planning the ‘ideal’ party, a five-member group typically consists of 2-3 front-line fighters, 1-2 mages for ranged attacks, and 1 support role to maintain the party’s endurance.
But that’s just the ‘ideal’ party setup.
Reality was different.
Plenty of parties were composed entirely of front-line fighters without a single mage or support role.
On the other hand, there were also parties with three or more support roles, completely unbalanced.
“It’s nearly impossible to create the party you want.”
Professor Lucas spoke with a firm voice.
“More often than not, you’ll have to work with party members who don’t suit you at all.”
This was also why the school didn’t actively intervene in the formation of the candidates' parties.
After graduation, you would be responsible for finding your own party.
And in many cases, you would end up in a party that was far from ‘ideal.’
“Sometimes you’ll work with party members who are less skilled than you, and other times, you’ll find yourself alongside members who are far more experienced.”
“The important thing isn’t who your party members are. What’s more important is what you can do in the party.”
“Think carefully, reflect, and agonize over it. Figure out how you can prove your worth in the small world that is your party.”
Professor Lucas looked at the candidates one by one and spoke softly.
“Because after you graduate, you won’t have the chance to think about it.”
“......”
“......”
Silence filled the room.
Candidates who had been complaining about their party members swallowed nervously.
I chuckled quietly as I watched how Lucas had quickly changed the atmosphere of the room.
‘He sure loves to put on a show.’
Of course, that didn’t mean Professor Lucas was wrong.
As he said, after you graduate, you wouldn’t even have time to think about what role you could play in your party before being cast aside.
‘The problem is, just because you think about it doesn’t mean a role will magically appear.’
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Just like in my previous life.
If the skill gap between you and your party members was too large, you wouldn’t even be assigned a role in the first place.
‘And in those cases... ugh.’
I shuddered as memories from my past life surfaced.
“Alright, I think you’ve all understood enough about party dynamics. Let’s move on to the next part.”
Professor Lucas powered on a magical device on the lectern.
Bzzzzz!
The magical device lit up, projecting a large holographic map.
The map showed the interior of a vast ruin too large to take in all at once.
“The location for this exam is an ancient ruin that was fully explored and has been completely remodeled.”
“Whoa... crazy.”
“How big is that place?”
“We’re definitely going to get lost...”
The cadets gaped at the holographic map of the ruins.
Professor Lucas glanced at them and stifled a laugh.
"Each party's task is to find the 'secret spaces' hidden throughout the ruins, take the tests within, and collect as many tokens as possible. That's the gist of your final evaluation."
Of course, the locations of these 'secret spaces' were not marked on the map.
One cadet raised their hand.
"Do the tokens have different scores depending on the type?"
"Good question. As Cadet Maurice mentioned, the tokens you earn in each secret space are categorized into Gold, Silver, and Bronze tiers."
Professor Lucas manipulated his magical device, and four differently colored tokens appeared on the map.
The cadets' eyes were drawn to the fourth token that the professor hadn’t mentioned.
"What's that...?"
"That's the one and only 'Diamond' token in the entire ruin. You've had a taste of this during the midterm exam, so you should have an idea, right?"
At Lucas' words, the cadets nodded.
"Any party that obtains the Diamond token will automatically receive the highest score, regardless of how many other tokens they've collected. However, there will be additional bonus points based on individual contributions, so just getting the Diamond token doesn't guarantee you'll be the top scorer."
Several cadets, particularly those in parties stronger than their own skill level, sighed in disappointment.
Lucas grinned at them.
"Oh, and the ruins will be filled with guardian golems, traps, and puzzles, so it won't be boring searching for the secret spaces."
"......."
The cadets' faces hardened at the sheer difficulty of the exam.
"They say the real challenge starts with the final exams in third year... Turns out they weren't kidding."
"Seriously, how are we supposed to find these secret spaces in such a huge ruin?"
"Okay, I get the golems, but traps and puzzles? That's just overkill."
The lecture hall grew noisy again with chatter.
"Silence."
Thud.
Lucas lightly struck the podium, and the room quieted down.
"Any other questions about the final exam?"
"Um...."
A cadet cautiously raised their hand.
"You said we'd be taking a test inside the secret spaces... What exactly do we have to do? It's not like we'll have to fight some huge beast, right?"
"Oh, another good question."
Lucas nodded approvingly.
"Don't worry. There won't be any demonic beasts inside the secret spaces."
"Whew."
"But."
Lucas smirked wickedly as he continued.
"Instead, we—the professors—will be waiting for you."
"...What?"
"Waiting for us? What does that mean?"
The cadets widened their eyes in disbelief at Lucas' words.
"It means exactly what I said."
The Stigma on Lucas' chest began to glow, radiating with mana.
"The professors will enter the secret spaces first and wait for you..."
Grrrk, grkkrkkk!
The iron podium beneath Lucas groaned under the pressure of his intense mana.
"And you will have to defeat us in battle."
"......."
"......."
A deathly silence fell over the room.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Lucas clenched his fist, flashing a wide grin.
"Whoever comes to my chamber better be ready to lose a limb or two."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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