These students clearly misjudged their own strength and the level of danger ahead.

  Though they could return to the Gauntlet Run after being healed, their rankings would definitely be at the bottom.

  Additionally, like the first checkpoint, this one could also be passed through cooperation.

  As long as a group of students formed a team and took turns raising a defensive barrier that could protect multiple people, they could get through...

  The third checkpoint tested magic casting speed.

  It was a suspended floating island path built between two mountain peaks, composed of inverted small floating islands spaced at regular intervals.

  Each floating island was equipped with a device that could withstand magical attacks—and each device had a different preset requirement.

  Only by casting the corresponding level of magic as required could the floating island be activated, flipping the inverted island over so it could be stepped on.

  But the flip duration of each floating island was limited. Thus, one had to activate the next island’s device with a magical attack within the time limit to keep moving forward.

  This checkpoint wasn’t dangerous—even if someone fell, safety measures below would prevent injury. Yet it was the one that stopped the most students.

  A single moment of slowness, or casting the wrong magic, would cause the floating island beneath their feet to flip back, sending them plummeting.

  Moreover, the path was rigged with magic that automatically attacked if Wind Wings were detected, making it impossible to fly back up—one could only start over.

  Besides this, interference from other students was another major reason for failures.

  Unsurprisingly, this checkpoint could also be passed through cooperation.

  Since each floating island could hold multiple people at once, dividing the requirements for subsequent islands among a team would drastically reduce the difficulty...

  After these checkpoints,

  there was a path filled with traps to test reflexes.

  And a suspended chain bridge enchanted with magic-disrupting arrays to test mana control.

  A checkpoint that continuously drained mana.

  A checkpoint that interfered with one’s will...

  In short, the entire Gauntlet Run was an extremely arduous journey.

  Every step forward required students to expend massive amounts of physical strength, mana, and mental energy.

  Thus, most people arrived at the finish line exhausted to the point of disorientation.

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  Only the top few students remained in relatively good condition upon reaching the end...

  “Haha! I’m the first to reach the finish line!”

  A student shouted excitedly.

  But his smile quickly faded when he saw over a dozen people who had arrived before him...

  “......”

  Finally, the student awkwardly shrank into a corner away from the crowd.

  “......Is that guy here for a joke?”

  From the back of the crowd, Miko said without mercy.

  “Miko, that’s too harsh. He probably just has a huge gap in strength with the others and couldn’t see their figures, so he misunderstood.”

  “Uh......”

  Hearing this, Alicia’s expression turned rather odd.

  “Hulim...... I think what you said is even crueler. You must never say that to his face!”

  “......Is it?”

  “......”

  “Alright, alright—let’s stop talking about irrelevant people. Hulim, what’s your rank in the historical records~?”

  Irrelevant......

  Though it was the truth,

  Alicia silently felt sorry for that “irrelevant” classmate.

  “My rank......”

  Hulim recalled the scene when she’d first arrived at the finish line.

  ...

  Several teachers sat at the finish line, chatting leisurely.

  “I wonder how the students will perform this year.”

  “I think this batch is excellent—their overall level is the best in a decade.”

  “Hm, I agree. Besides, this year we have that super prodigy, Hulim Heyerar!”

  “Speaking of Miss Hulim, what record do you think she’ll set in the Gauntlet Run?”

  “She should break the century-old record, right?”

  “No, no—not just the century-old record. After all, she’s the greatest prodigy in a millennium. I think she’ll definitely break into the top ten of the historical records!”

  “Top ten? You’re being too conservative. I say top five!”

  “No, top five is impossible. You know those who made it to the top of the historical records were almost all top-tier prodigies who’d spent years honing their skills. They were already adults when they took the assessment.”

  “While Miss Hulim’s talent is unquestionable, she’s still lacking in age and experience compared to them. Beating their records would be difficult—”

  “Hey! Look at that!!”

  A teacher’s exclamation cut off the discussion.

  The teachers all turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

  In the distance, a cloud of dust was rapidly approaching.

  “What on earth is that......”

  Before the teachers could react,

  the dust cloud reached them and came to a halt.

  Then a figure stepped out.

  “Teachers, I’ve reached the finish line. Could you register my results?”

  Hulim spoke up.

  “......”

  However, all she got in response was a group of dumbfounded teachers......

  “......Teachers? Hello?”

  After Hulim called out several times,

  the teachers finally seemed to reboot and react.

  “Wait a minute! This can’t be right?!”

  “Miss Hulim, why are you here! Did you not participate in the Gauntlet Run?”

  “That won’t do! Hurry back to the starting line—with your strength, it’s still not too late......”

  The teachers chattered, offering advice one after another.

  “Um...... Teachers, I did start from the starting line. I’ve already reached the finish line now.”

  As she spoke, Hulim pulled out the magic item that recorded her Gauntlet Run data.

  Only after seeing the data did the teachers finally dare to believe that the person in front of them had truly started from the beginning and passed all checkpoints to reach here!

  But......

  How much time had passed?!

  How could she be this fast?!

  At this time, everyone else hadn’t even reached the first checkpoint yet!

  The teachers felt their worldviews being violently shaken.

  They couldn’t believe their eyes and checked Hulim’s clearance records over and over again.

  Travel time between checkpoints wasn’t specifically recorded by the magic item, but the details of each checkpoint’s completion were documented in full......

  At the first checkpoint:

  Based on past experience, there was still plenty of time before students would arrive, so the monitoring teachers nearby were relatively relaxed.

  Boom——!

  But suddenly, a deafening crash echoed throughout the entire valley.

  The monitoring teachers jolted awake and quickly stood up to check what had happened.

  They then saw that all the magical barriers in the valley had shattered in an instant and were now slowly regenerating.

  Yet the culprit who’d destroyed all the barriers was nowhere to be seen.

  “What...... what’s going on here?”

  The teachers stared in bewilderment.

  ...