Reincarnated as a Novel's Villain: Creator of Curses and Blessings-Chapter 35: Unfairness?

Pretty soon, a vast place with no visible end materialized in front of him. Other candidates also began to appear one by one.

Then, runes quickly formed before Hector.

[By getting through the mana barrier, you can officially start the exam.]

Hector blinked while studying the runes. The next moment, a student’s voice rang out in the middle of the crowd.

"Look at that! That’s probably the barrier we have to step through."

Hector glanced at the massive barrier standing ahead. Soon, he saw someone step through it without the slightest hesitation.

Of course, he knew who that was.

Violet.

She always acted so fast, as if every challenge were just a childish game to her. And honestly, he had no right to question that—she was strong enough to back up that confidence in any situation.

Looking through the barrier, he could already see her on the other side. Well, she had passed it perfectly.

The other students soon began stepping through the massive barrier themselves.

However, Hector chose to wait a few more minutes, carefully observing how they got through. Either way, he had no information about this exam at all. Things were already different from the novel. Besides, he didn’t think he could pass through as easily as Violet.

Sure enough, just as he thought, some students started yelling in pain after trying to step through the massive barrier.

"What the fuck is this?" one student shouted in anger as he failed to step into the barrier.

More students began to complain. But they quickly realized it was part of the exam, so they forced themselves to keep trying, even if it meant getting hurt.

At that moment, Hector began to notice runes appearing above the heads of those trying to pass through the barrier—their runes read: 39/100%.

Not only that, the percentages kept increasing whenever they were hurt by the barrier.

Until it reached 100/100%. Finally, one of the students collapsed and then dissipated.

"Holy shit." Hector scowled. He had no idea what the fuck was happening. Several other students clearly felt the same.

But the strangest thing was that some students could pass through the barrier without any trouble at all.

The runes above their heads remained at: 100/100%.

After watching a few students as examples, he could tell the runes represented the accumulated damage they had taken. Once it reached 100%, they would fail for sure.

Some of the smarter students realized this as well. They stopped acting recklessly and began discussing a safer way to get through the barrier.

Over time, they gradually showed fear and anxiety as the number of students who passed the barrier increased.

Hector looked at the area on the opposite side of the barrier and thought carefully.

"Well... I see most of the ones who’ve stepped through the barrier successfully had over five mana cores."

"That’s right." A student nodded while glancing around. Now, all the students still here were under five mana cores.

"FUCK! So how are we supposed to get through if we only have four mana cores?" another student groaned in irritation.

Another student let out a sad sigh.

"It seems the academy plans to remove students with low mana counts. Either way, even if we get through the barrier, I don’t think we can pass the next challenges."

"SHUT UP! I’LL NEVER ACCEPT THIS!" another student screamed in rage before lunging at the massive barrier.

However, slamming into the barrier recklessly only led to his death.

He screamed in agony before dissipating.

Just a few seconds later, a rune materialized in front of them.

[Do you want to give up?]

[Yes/No]

Hector scowled in annoyance, while the others began to show despair and hopelessness.

Before long, this place was left with only Hector still thinking. He calculated the best way to get through the barrier without taking any damage, but at this moment, it felt completely hopeless.

"So... this is my only way."

The barrier had five layers, and from what he had seen with the students who failed before, the chance of taking damage rose to one hundred percent once they reached the third layer. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He believed his summon could handle it if he used gravity to shield himself from the pressure of the barrier.

After all, his summon possessed the power equal to an eight–mana-core individual.

Still, he doubted the barrier was stronger than he thought. Passing through something like this without any accumulated damage was extremely difficult.

"Tch." Hector clicked his tongue in annoyance before lunging at the barrier. At the same time, space cracked open, forming a hole in midair.

Gravity blanketed Hector in a thick, invisible layer.

He stepped through the first layer of the barrier without getting hurt. But the moment he entered the domain of the second layer, the gravity armor was instantly crushed into pieces. Pain bit deep into his body.

[0/100%]

[10/100%]

"FUCK! I CURSE WHOEVER MADE THESE DAMN RULES!"

[30/100%]

[50/100%]

[60/100%]

Hector groaned in pain, forcing himself forward. With sheer willpower, he ignored the runes above his head and the stabbing agony tearing through him.

The final layer of the barrier.

[95/100%]

In the end, Hector did make it through the massive barrier completely.

But he had paid a heavy price for it.

Suppressing the pain, he looked up at the runes above his head. His face twisted when he saw the percentage.

It was terrible... which meant that in the next challenge, he couldn’t afford to take even the slightest damage.

One wrong step, and he would fail.

"At least... I’ve passed." Hector let out a deep breath, though bitterness still lingered on his tongue.

Instinctively, he glanced at the one who could be the culprit behind the academy’s damned rules.

Alaric.

That bastard only shrugged and chuckled.

Zoe, standing beside Alaric, clenched her teeth in irritation.

"How did he get through that barrier? That inferior trash should’ve failed."

Alaric nodded.

"Obviously, my uncle adjusted the rules of the final exam. That trash should’ve failed, but it seems he has some kind of trick."

"It’s a shame... If only the principal hadn’t interfered with my uncle’s job, that scum wouldn’t have even been able to attend the exam."

Then, the next moment, he smirked.

"But don’t worry... his accumulated percentage is ninety-five. Now, even a single punch— I’ll make sure he fails."