A lot of explanations in this chapter. Please bear with it...
...
Unfortunately, I could not continue investigating Gerone because I had another class later. Thus, I asked Jazine to keep me informed of anything she discovers.
Later that day, I was taking a lecture about Introduction to Dungeons.
While I was in the middle of class, I felt someone elbowing me.
It was my friend, Andrew. He approached me and whispered something in my ear.
“Hey, Jane. Is it true that you stopped someone from committing suicide yesterday?”
I was surprised. How did Andrew learn about it?
“So it’s true.” Andrew judged when he saw my reaction. “Then it must be true that you were with the eblors when it happened. There are a lot of rumors around that you were being friendly with them.”
“I was just helping the Student Assembly. I'm actually not close with the eblors.”
Andrew sighed in relief.
“That is good. You know how people feel about eblors. Nothing good will come from being close to them. I don’t want to see my good friend being ostracized.”
I shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
“Well, I will still be your friend even if that happens.”
I rolled my eyes.
Right then, I felt an intense killing intent focused on us.
All of sudden, something came flying right toward our foreheads.
Both Andrew and I reacted immediately, sending mana toward our arms and using it to protect our foreheads.
“Ouch.” A piercing pain made me let out a hiss as the projectile hit my arm before falling to the ground.
‘An eraser?’
Andrew’s and my expression stiffened as we raised our heads and looked at the front of the class.
There, Mr. Javier Arango, the teacher of Introduction to Dungeons, was looking at us with an expressionless look.
“It looks like you two lovebirds are too distracted whispering words of love to each other to pay attention to my class.”
The rest of the class giggled and chuckled, including my little sister and Sylvia; making Andrew and I become embarrassed.
“Sorry, teacher.”
“I’m sorry.”
We apologized in a fluster as the teacher clicked his tongue.
“Students like you are the ones who are later asking things that I have already explained in class.”
I scratched my cheek embarrassed.
The teacher sighed.
“Listen well, because I won’t explain it twice.
“You should be already used to the academy, so it’s time to explain how you will be evaluated from here onwards.” He started.
“Just like when you were admitted, the school will evaluate you through a scoring system. This score will be calculated taking into account four factors. These factors are level ranking, team ranking, combat ranking, achievements, and finally, exam results.
“You already experienced the level ranking during the entrance examination. Every month, you will have one opportunity to enter the virtual world starting from your highest level, and at the end of the semester, the level you manage to reach will grant you the corresponding score. This score is equivalent to 25% percent of your total score.” He explained.
“Next is combat ranking, worth another 25%. As you know, this school allows duels between students. There are two kinds of duels, friendly matches, and ranking matches. You can have and refuse as many friendly matches as you want, but it’s different for ranking matches. Any student can challenge students above his rank whenever he wants, and the higher-ranked student must accept. However, every student can be challenged only once every two days, and a maximum of thrice every week.” He continued explaining.
“If the lower ranked student defeats the higher ranked student, then he will take his place and the loser will fall one place.”
The students around the classroom looked at each other with grave expressions and faces full of fighting intent.
Ley raised her hand at that moment.
“Teacher, which will be our initial ranking?”
“Your ranking from the practical part of the entrance examination.” The teacher replied. “However, you don’t need to worry about that yet. The combat ranking will be enabled only after the first month of class.”
“What about the team ranking?” I asked.
“The team ranking is related to the teams I asked you to form the first class. After you form your team, it will be evaluated through different activities during the semester, including dungeon exploration and team battles. The final result will be the next 25% percent of your final score.”
I raised an eyebrow.
As expected, the teams are very important.
Right now, there are only three people on my team though. Ley, Sylvia, and I.
We still are lacking two people.
‘I should hurry up and see if I can find another candidate.’ I thought to myself.
“Now let’s talk about achievements.” Mr. Javier continued. “Unlike the previous three, the criterion to evaluate achievements is vaguer, but in simple words, it will evaluate your general performance during the semester, including the progress in your mana, the evolution of your skills, and even your performance in extracurricular activities. Every time you achieve something the academy deems worth praise, your score will increase. This is another fifteen percent of your final score.” The teacher paused for a moment. “Finally, the written exam results are worth the last 10%.”
Just ten percent?
As expected of a place whose main focus is the combat strength of the students.
Afterward, the teacher explained a few more details about the grading system.
The maximum score you could get in every field was one thousand, and at the end of the semester, the four scores will be tabulated to generate the final score and ranking.
Getting a higher ranking means getting access to better resources. Likewise, a lower ranking means fewer resources plus it increased the probability of being expelled from the school.
If the school judged that the progress of a student was not worthy of the resources it invested in them, then the student will enter a probation period before being expelled if they did not show any improvement.
It was a very competitive system created to make the students pressure each other as much as possible and use that pressure to improve.
Thinking about it, perhaps this is one of the reasons why many students suffer from depression and stress.
“Any of you have a question?” Mr. Javier asked.
When he saw that nobody asked anything, he nodded.
“Very well. Before ending the class, I have something else to inform you. Next week, we will go to the first dungeon exploration. All the students in the first semester must participate, so make sure to be prepared. Your performance during this dungeon will be included in your achievement score, so make sure to do your best.”
“What dungeon are we entering, teacher?” Andrew asked excitedly.
“You will be notified that day. Don’t worry, it won’t be that hard considering that this is your first time.”
A dungeon, huh?
I fell deep into thoughts.
It looks like it’s time to visit a dungeon again.
A lot of explanations in this chapter. Please bear with it...
...
Unfortunately, I could not continue investigating Gerone because I had another class later. Thus, I asked Jazine to keep me informed of anything she discovers.
Later that day, I was taking a lecture about Introduction to Dungeons.
While I was in the middle of class, I felt someone elbowing me.
It was my friend, Andrew. He approached me and whispered something in my ear.
“Hey, Jane. Is it true that you stopped someone from committing suicide yesterday?”
I was surprised. How did Andrew learn about it?
“So it’s true.” Andrew judged when he saw my reaction. “Then it must be true that you were with the eblors when it happened. There are a lot of rumors around that you were being friendly with them.”
“I was just helping the Student Assembly. I'm actually not close with the eblors.”
Andrew sighed in relief.
“That is good. You know how people feel about eblors. Nothing good will come from being close to them. I don’t want to see my good friend being ostracized.”
I shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
“Well, I will still be your friend even if that happens.”
I rolled my eyes.
Right then, I felt an intense killing intent focused on us.
All of sudden, something came flying right toward our foreheads.
Both Andrew and I reacted immediately, sending mana toward our arms and using it to protect our foreheads.
“Ouch.” A piercing pain made me let out a hiss as the projectile hit my arm before falling to the ground.
‘An eraser?’
Andrew’s and my expression stiffened as we raised our heads and looked at the front of the class.
There, Mr. Javier Arango, the teacher of Introduction to Dungeons, was looking at us with an expressionless look.
“It looks like you two lovebirds are too distracted whispering words of love to each other to pay attention to my class.”
The rest of the class giggled and chuckled, including my little sister and Sylvia; making Andrew and I become embarrassed.
“Sorry, teacher.”
“I’m sorry.”
We apologized in a fluster as the teacher clicked his tongue.
“Students like you are the ones who are later asking things that I have already explained in class.”
I scratched my cheek embarrassed.
The teacher sighed.
“Listen well, because I won’t explain it twice.
“You should be already used to the academy, so it’s time to explain how you will be evaluated from here onwards.” He started.
“Just like when you were admitted, the school will evaluate you through a scoring system. This score will be calculated taking into account four factors. These factors are level ranking, team ranking, combat ranking, achievements, and finally, exam results.
“You already experienced the level ranking during the entrance examination. Every month, you will have one opportunity to enter the virtual world starting from your highest level, and at the end of the semester, the level you manage to reach will grant you the corresponding score. This score is equivalent to 25% percent of your total score.” He explained.
“Next is combat ranking, worth another 25%. As you know, this school allows duels between students. There are two kinds of duels, friendly matches, and ranking matches. You can have and refuse as many friendly matches as you want, but it’s different for ranking matches. Any student can challenge students above his rank whenever he wants, and the higher-ranked student must accept. However, every student can be challenged only once every two days, and a maximum of thrice every week.” He continued explaining.
“If the lower ranked student defeats the higher ranked student, then he will take his place and the loser will fall one place.”
The students around the classroom looked at each other with grave expressions and faces full of fighting intent.
Ley raised her hand at that moment.
“Teacher, which will be our initial ranking?”
“Your ranking from the practical part of the entrance examination.” The teacher replied. “However, you don’t need to worry about that yet. The combat ranking will be enabled only after the first month of class.”
“What about the team ranking?” I asked.
“The team ranking is related to the teams I asked you to form the first class. After you form your team, it will be evaluated through different activities during the semester, including dungeon exploration and team battles. The final result will be the next 25% percent of your final score.”
I raised an eyebrow.
As expected, the teams are very important.
Right now, there are only three people on my team though. Ley, Sylvia, and I.
We still are lacking two people.
‘I should hurry up and see if I can find another candidate.’ I thought to myself.
“Now let’s talk about achievements.” Mr. Javier continued. “Unlike the previous three, the criterion to evaluate achievements is vaguer, but in simple words, it will evaluate your general performance during the semester, including the progress in your mana, the evolution of your skills, and even your performance in extracurricular activities. Every time you achieve something the academy deems worth praise, your score will increase. This is another fifteen percent of your final score.” The teacher paused for a moment. “Finally, the written exam results are worth the last 10%.”
Just ten percent?
As expected of a place whose main focus is the combat strength of the students.
Afterward, the teacher explained a few more details about the grading system.
The maximum score you could get in every field was one thousand, and at the end of the semester, the four scores will be tabulated to generate the final score and ranking.
Getting a higher ranking means getting access to better resources. Likewise, a lower ranking means fewer resources plus it increased the probability of being expelled from the school.
If the school judged that the progress of a student was not worthy of the resources it invested in them, then the student will enter a probation period before being expelled if they did not show any improvement.
It was a very competitive system created to make the students pressure each other as much as possible and use that pressure to improve.
Thinking about it, perhaps this is one of the reasons why many students suffer from depression and stress.
“Any of you have a question?” Mr. Javier asked.
When he saw that nobody asked anything, he nodded.
“Very well. Before ending the class, I have something else to inform you. Next week, we will go to the first dungeon exploration. All the students in the first semester must participate, so make sure to be prepared. Your performance during this dungeon will be included in your achievement score, so make sure to do your best.”
“What dungeon are we entering, teacher?” Andrew asked excitedly.
“You will be notified that day. Don’t worry, it won’t be that hard considering that this is your first time.”
A dungeon, huh?
I fell deep into thoughts.
It looks like it’s time to visit a dungeon again.
