The Academy's Time Looper-Chapter 45: My Turn!

As the expression on the students’ faces immediately transformed from happiness to pure and unadulterated anger, Athen sighed and looked back at his plate.

They had done all of that work...just to not pass.

Seemed like getting carried by Kai in this challenge wouldn’t work...

Slowly shifting his gaze away, Athen glanced to the left at the second teacher he had spotted from up here.

However...unlike the other teachers, who had massive crowds surrounding them, this one didn’t have an entourage...not one single student.

With his long black hair tied into a short ponytail, the male professor simply stood still, scanning the plaza with his onyx-black eyes.

"Surely, they can see him, right?"

As if proving his point, a student suddenly made eye contact with the teacher before immediately walking in the opposite direction, acting as if he had never seen the teacher.

"Well, his test must be hard."

For students to avoid him, even on the first day, when they had over ten more attempts at a professor’s approval, his test must have been impossible.

Shrugging his shoulders, Athen focused on the delicious plate of pasta in front of him and leaned forward in his chair.

Seeing the tens of people sitting by him, Athen calmly grabbed a napkin and placed it below his neck, covering the nametag on his collared shirt.

Placing his fork full of pasta in his mouth, he basked in its luxurious flavor, created by the mixture of parmesan cheese, velvety-red pasta sauce, and creamy butter.

...

...

...

After thanking the servers and washing his hands, he reluctantly left the restaurant and rejoined the crowds of students in the plaza.

Using his hand to shield his face from the sun, Athen sighed before glancing around at the three teachers he had spotted.

He didn’t want to spend all day under the scorching sun, so that left him with two choices.

Athen could either take one of the professors’ tests now and then return to his dorm or leave the plaza and search the other areas of the academy for more professors.

Maybe it was the fact that he had just eaten one of the best meals in his life, but Athen felt exhausted.

Rather than walking around the massive academy to scout out professor tests, Athen wanted to head back to his dorm and began tinkering with his crossbow.

And, out of the three professors in the plaza, Athen was yet to see one.

Athen knew he could not pass the chair-moving challenge or the knock-me-over challenge from the first two professors anyway, so he easily decided to take on the mysterious professor.

Who knows?

Maybe he could actually pass!

Thus, with his mind full of hope, he made his way toward the left side of the plaza, which was by far the least crowded area.

As Athen approached the lone teacher’s figure, various students, coming out of the woodwork, suddenly began crowding the area, eager to observe the professor’s test.

With his hand over the name tag on a shirt, Athen walked forward until he was a step away from the teacher and said.

"I would like to take your test."

Professor Caldris, seeing the familiar figure in front of him, remained silent for a few moments, contemplating his next move.

He had bet on this student to pass the entrance, so he obviously wanted him to win.

However, Caldris was confident that no student, not even the top-ranked ones, would pass his test.

This was, of course, intentional.

Could he just deny the student by lying and saying he was busy?

Alas, Caldris let his morals get the better of him and nodded his head before replying.

"The challenge is simple. Hide and Seek. You hide, I seek. If you survive for two minutes without being found, you win."

Without waiting for Athen’s response, Caldris took out his wand and pointed at Athen’s shoes.

As the wand began to glow a dark purple, the professor gathered up his mana, released it into his wand, and muttered.

"Imaginaria Spatium Manifestatio."

The next second, as Athen reopened his eyes, he was shocked to see that the plaza and crowds of students were gone.

Instead...he was in a makeshift arena.

The area around him was completely flat, and massive walls formed a circle around him.

And, above him, Athen could spot over ten thousand empty chairs, all meant for spectating.

Why was he in a coliseum..?

Readying his mind, the student glanced around, attempting to find any form of cover, but the arena... was an arena.

It was simply a flat area with a gate on each side that led out of the arena and presumably into the spectator stands.

"Ten seconds left to hide."

As those words, seemingly coming from the sky, echoed throughout the massive and empty coliseum, the two gates suddenly opened, revealing a large hallway.

Not skipping a beat, Athen frantically sprinted towards the gate nearest to him and ran down the hall.

Stepping on the royal red carpet below him, he was met with his first decision as he went deeper into the hallway: turn right, continue straight, or turn left.

Going forward would lead him out of the coliseum, and that would be just as bad as the arena as there would be nowhere to hide.

Right or left?

"Five seconds."

At those words, Athen abruptly turned right and sprinted down the path, which was lit by countless fire lamps hanging from the brick walls.

As Athen spotted another intersection, he didn’t even halt and continued straight.

Turning left would take him back into the arena, and turning right would take him outside, so straight was the only option.

"Three."

Increasing his pace, he frantically searched for a staircase that might lead to the spectator stands, but instead, he found another intersection.

Once again, the path split into three with the same options.

His right led out of the coliseum while his left led deeper into the coliseum, presumably into the flat arena he had started out in.

Shaking his head, Athen sprinted straight forward...but then suddenly halted.

How could there be three intersections?

There were only two entrances into the arena, yet all three intersections had paths leading inward.