I Was the Strongest Sword God in My Past Life

part 6

Although Cashen’s report was filled with improvements, including Jien’s swordsmanship skills and his treatment of residual mana, Selfis flipped through it without reading properly.

‘Hmm, Dayven is suspended. With the sponsorship money, 15 days should suffice. This Jien guy is trouble wherever he goes. This incident… it’s all because he stirred up trouble.’

Unaware that Jien had defeated Dayven, Selfis casually wrote down 15 days and stamped the report.

“Tsk! Such guys should be expelled from school quickly.”

Selphis irritably cleared away the documents.

“Ah, now that I think about it, today is!”

As something came to mind, Selphis fiddled with his phone, and within minutes, a professor entered.

“Excuse me, Principal? It’s about the newspaper issued within the school…”

The slightly annoyed voice belonged to Romina. And for good reason—anyone could buy the school newspaper just a five-minute walk away, yet here she was, running errands for the newspaper department because of her advisory role.

“Ah… that real nuisance.”

Romina sighed as she handed over the newspaper.

“Here’s the latest issue.”

“Oh! Thank you, thank you. You’re always so diligent, Teacher Romina. Hehe, I’m really looking forward to this feature.”

Selphis laughed hollowly.

Romina had seen the content of the newspaper and almost laughed at Selphis unwittingly. Ah, must manage my expression, manage it.

“Principal, you do know that our club doesn’t have a separate professor checking in, right?”

“Of course, I know, I know. How busy our Professor Romina is~ The Stigmata Studies exam is not far off, is it? What can I say, our Arcana can’t do without Professor Romina.”

Selphis bit eagerly at the bait Romina had thrown to make her escape.

“Thank you, Principal. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Romina left the principal’s office with a pleasant smile. Selphis watched her go and then rubbed his hands together like a fly.

“Looking forward to it.”

Selphis spread the newspaper wide on his desk and sipped his tea.

The newspaper feature was so popular that it was distributed outside the school for promotional purposes. It was indeed a significant event.

“The content is just as good.”

Because the feature introduced notable freshmen, various institutions would likely make scouting offers once it went public.

“That’s money and publicity. Hehe, this semester’s freshmen have a good vibe.”

In the past, skill was the only virtue for a Saver, but now, star quality is also a skill.

“Especially for students. If a Saver’s image doesn’t meet an institution’s needs, there will be no scouting.”

Selphis sipped his tea, more expensive than an equal weight in gold, as he turned the page.

[Feature! The Blue of Freshmen!]

[Riel: For this feature, we interviewed some of the famous freshmen to welcome the new semester.]

“Ha ha, they’ve put some effort into the design for the feature.”

Selphis turned another page with a satisfied smile.

[Riel: I’ve heard that in the history of Arcana, you have the highest mana potential. There’s even a rumor that you received a One Number just for your aptitude. Is that true?]

[Isabelle: My test opponent forfeited, so I had no choice.]

[Riel: What do you think about your nickname?]

[Isabelle: It’s irritating, so don’t ask.]

‘I was the one who came up with it.’

The school assigns nicknames to those ranked from first to ninth, the One Numbers. Usually, the teachers decide collectively, but in Isabelle’s case, the principal, Selfis, pushed so aggressively for ‘Scarlet Flame Witch’ that no other teacher could oppose it.

‘What’s wrong with Scarlet Flame Witch? It’s stylish.’

Selfis was overflowing with affection, even willing to overlook interviews that Isabelle extremely disliked, especially when reminded of her family background.

‘Isabelle is outstanding, not just in talent but also in looks.’

Revealing her family background, known only to the faculty, would turn the school upside down. However, Selfis decided to postpone that pleasure for the future.

Twenty years in teaching.

Three years as the principal of a private school.

Now, Selfis’s performances and productions were no less than that of a broadcaster.

‘Is it already the last turn? This special edition turned out well. The newspaper club must have struggled.’

It was a short interview, but already six people. Now it’s the last turn. Selfis flipped the page, predicting who would be next.

‘Alright, who’s next? It must be one of the One Numbers…’

[Gian Russel.]

‘Hmm?’

Selfis stood up and took out his reading glasses from the desk. He laughed heartily, as if in disbelief, ‘Hahaha-‘

‘Age does make the eyes dim. There’s no mistaking it.’

[Gian Russel.]

No matter how much he looked around, the name written in the newspaper was Gian.

Gian Russel it is.

‘What!’

Selfis shouted, forgetting his dignity.

‘Why would you interview this guy!’

It was a special edition covering important content, and they included an interview with the bottom-ranked student who was about to be expelled. But he was curious about what was written.

‘I really can’t understand! Oh, my headache…’

Selfis held his forehead and slowly turned the newspaper page. He could easily flip through reports, but the newspaper distributed outside the school was another matter.

[Riel: What’s the current ranking in the school year?]

[Jien: Ranked 162nd.]

[Riel: Recently, you overwhelmingly defeated rank 37 in the duel?]

[Jien: I was lucky.]

‘Hmm? You beat Dayven?’

[Riel: The school is abuzz with your sudden surge in skill. Among the various rumors, what’s the truth?]

[Jien: It seems the residual mana was healed, allowing me to reap the benefits of the training I’ve been doing all along. I would like to dedicate all this success to the principal.]

“Me? Ha, this kid…”

Though it came out of nowhere, a compliment is still a compliment. Selfis’s mouth stretched into a grin.

[Riel: Is there a reason?]

[Jien: Being labeled a failure unfit for Arcana and advised to drop out, I took that as a cue to work even harder.]

“Cough, what? This little b*stard!”

One must read to the end, thought Selfis, clutching the back of his neck in shock at the twist.

And this is a special edition newspaper.

It’s already been published, not just in Arcana, but in the suburbs as well.

“This, this guy right now…”

As if struck by a thought, Selfis fiddled with his phone irritably.

“Hello! Professor Romina?”

– Yes, Principal.

“How could you let the club advisor print such nonsense in an interview…”

– What? You said it yourself earlier, Principal. You were too busy, so no need to proofread.

That was about typos!

But he couldn’t say more, remembering his own words just moments before.

“Enough!”

He hung up the phone roughly, grinding his teeth. That failing student was truly someone he couldn’t bring himself to like, no matter how hard he tried.

‘Jien Russel… I was considering overlooking his expulsion since he improved!’

Selfis’s emotions, once held to public standards, had now turned personal.

‘Just wait for the evaluation test! I’ll make sure to cut you down!’

Selfis’s eyes gleamed as brightly as his bald head.

* * *

As the evaluation test approached, Jien devoted most of his training time to practical combat. There’s a certain order to real combat. If initially, the focus was on physical conditioning, now he chose training for sensory enhancement.

“Indeed, Arcana. Their equipment is top-notch.”

[Rank 162nd in the school year, Gian Russell.]

As the phone is held up to the entrance, a mechanical sound is heard, and the automatic door opens.

[The current difficulty limit is 2-7.]

A square room about 20 pyeong in size.

Image projectors are placed at each corner, and there are no other objects. Just a room filled with white.

“Activate the Image Room.”

The ＜Image Room＞ is the name of this place. Gian completed the background settings of the Image Room by touching the screen of his phone.

Crackle.

The white room soon transformed into a forest full of weeds. Although it was just a hologram and only the image had changed, the atmosphere was certainly alive.

[Current difficulty 2-7. Projecting 2 creatures of level 2 and 4 creatures of level 1.]

“Confirmed. Detailed settings. Bipedal form.”

[Sparring monsters. Level 1 difficulty, 4 dwarf goblins set in area 4.]

[Sparring monsters. Level 2 difficulty, 2 scythe mantises set in area 1. Shall we project the image as is?]

“Yes.”

Crackle!

The image projector in the corner emitted the hologram again.

Then, in the empty forest, six vivid holographic monsters appeared, as if they were real.

“Kieeeric!”

“Kiruk kek? Human! Scary human! Where is our leader?”

“No tools. No tools. What to do?”

The mantis with scythe-like claws roared, and the goblins, about 70cm in size, stepped back in confusion.

Gian picked up a training sword compatible with the Image Room and easily sliced through the monsters.

Gian channeled mana into his feet to increase his speed and used the acceleration to thrust the sword into the belly of the scythe mantis.

“Kieeek!”

When pulling out the sword, he made sure to conserve his movements, cutting down the goblin that was attacking from behind in one fell swoop.

“Kiie, kek!”

It took only 30 seconds to deal with all six monsters.

It was fortunate that the Image Room was a closed space; had someone seen it, it would have caused quite a commotion. However, Gian was not satisfied there.

[A new record has been set. The difficulty limit has been raised to 3-2.]

“Switch to difficulty level 3-2.”

[Current difficulty set to 3-2. Projecting two class 3 creatures.]

“Confirmed. Detail settings to the monsters native to Zone 3.”

Jien believed that it was most efficient to slay monsters of various forms from different zones. With the number of gates being infinite, so were the monsters, hence the constant need for preemptive strategies.

[Sparring monsters. Class 3 difficulty, two Gold Spirit Snakes from Zone 3 set. Shall we proceed with the projection?]

“Proceed.”

The ‘class’ attached to a monster signifies its strength. The higher the number, the stronger; the lower, the weaker. However, even within the same class, there are particularly tricky adversaries.

The Gold Spirit Snake was one such foe.

At 5 meters long, its constricting pressure could crush even a car. While giant snakes often lack venom, the Gold Spirit Snake’s habitat, the Swamp of Evil Spirits, was so saturated with poison that even the weeds were venomous.

“Hssssk!”

As the apex predator of such a swamp, the Gold Spirit Snake was brimming with deadly toxin.

“Hssk!”

“Hssk!”

Two Gold Spirit Snakes slid across the ice, rushing towards Jien.

‘From the left.’

Jien calmly positioned his sword at the mouth of the Gold Spirit Snake.

Swoosh!

He dashed along the body of the snake.

The giant serpent, now split in half, while the other spat venom from a distance.

‘Even a touch to the skin means disqualification.’

Though it was just a hologram and not truly dangerous, contact with the venom meant failure. Jien, aiming for a perfect clear, spread his palm towards the venom.

Blocked by an invisible wall, the venom that fell to the ground sizzled fiercely.

‘The image quality is…’