Cleo could feel the piercing gaze of the female professor standing at the front of the room. This was the written test. This was what Cleo was good at. The hours of the examination passed quickly. Soon the test was over, and the results were posted on the scoreboard in the atrium. A crowd had already gathered in front of the board.
"Are you really not going to check your score, Cecil?"
"Why would I? I obviously outscored you anyways." Cecil replied, giving his friend, Theo, a cocky grin. "Oh well, might as well go take a look to see how bad you did."
Theo sighed. "Still the same as ever. You really don't change, do you?"
Cecil smirked and walked off.
The scoreboard was swarmed with people hoping that they did well, and groans and cheers could be heard everywhere. Rosa pushed through the crowd. She looked up at the scoreboard. This was different.
Cecil was staring as the scores. Something was wrong. This was not how it was supposed to go. It was not like this last time...
Last time?
Cecil blinked. What was he talking about? What last time?
He looked around, and spotted Cleo.
Cleo glanced up at the scoreboard that was proudly displaying her name at the very top, with a perfect score, no less. Rosa was eighth? And Cecil was third? Did the original plot change because of Cleodora's survival? Cleo read the scoreboard again...
"Get out of my way!" someone screamed, as they pushed their way towards Cleo.
Who was in second?
"You good for nothing...do you know who I am?" that person was next to Cleo now. "I am-"
Second place was...
"Marianne du Ciel!"
Cleo looked up. She blinked innocently.
"You will regret this day! I will remember you!" Marianne was annoyed. She was the best. There was no way this country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere had beat her.
"I won, didn't I?" Cleo said.
"You didn't win anything. You've just won yourself an enemy for the rest of your life!"
And she stormed off.
***
The great hall was filled with students. Some of which were here to watch the entrance exam, while others were simply here because they had nothing better to do. The examinees filed into the room, and took their seats to wait for the mana test. A professor announced the beginning of the examination, and the students began to go up to the stage one by one, each placing their hands on the magic orb that would detect their mana level.
Cecil placed his hand on the orb. The orb lit up brighter than ever before.
"Cecil Lumen. Level 78."
The crowd gasped. That was a new record. Nobody had ever achieved such a high score on the Eldritch Academy mana test. The students cheered for Cecil.
Cleo sighed happily. It was amazing to watch her favorite character. But now it was Cleo's turn. She walked up to the stage, not expecting much, and put her hand on the magic orb. A blindingly bright light enveloped the entire great hall. After the light dimmed a bit, the professor blinked, adjusted his glasses, and blinked again. Cleo looked around. What was wrong?
"C-c-cleo Sinclair. L-level 99."
Cleo looked at the orb. A bright set of digits smiled back at her. 99? That had to be wrong. There was no way...
Cleo could not...
But Cleodora could.
Just then, Cleo realized that the entire room had gone silent. Awkwardly, she made her way off the stage, and bumped headfirst into Cecil, who had paused in the aisle between the rows of benches to watch her test. He was frozen in shock.
"S-sorry." Cleo stammered, too embarrassed to face her favorite character.
Cecil blinked. He stared at her.
Suddenly, and loud shout echoed through the room.
"That thing is faulty! No way anyone could have mana level 99!"
It was Marianne.
Cleo looked around the room. It seemed that the majority of students was agreeing with her. She shrunk into herself, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone else, especially Cecil.
"Hey, are you okay-" Cecil asked.
A tear fell down Cleo's cheek and dripped onto the floor. She rubbed her eyes, and finally looked up to meet Cecil's concerned eyes. Cleo wiped her eyes and ran out of the room. Why did everything have to be against her? In the real world and now this one. She had simply tried her best. Why did people hate her for it? She had done nothing wrong. Why could she never do something good, something nice, something cool and be appreciated for it? Cleo found a dark corner and slid down to the floor, and started bawling her eyes out. Once the tears came, they would not stop. She sat there, crumpled in a ball, crying away the rest of the test.
Cecil watched as Cleo ran out of the room. He wanted to chase after her and ask her what was wrong, but something in his mind refused to let him run after her. His body forced him to sit down to wait out the rest of the examination.
And whatever had made him stay, it was not himself.