The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

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Chapter 239: Graduation Ceremony (1)

A lecture hall that now feels strangely unfamiliar.

After a long period of suspension, I finally returned to the classroom, only to be greeted by:

“Alright, everyone, great job this semester.”

“......”

Yes.

It was the graduation ceremony marking the end of the semester.

‘Isn’t this worse than my previous life?’

At least I attended classes in my previous life.

This semester, except for a few classes at the beginning, I hadn’t attended any.

Not to mention, I’d skipped both the midterms and the finals.

“Hm? Who’s that guy over there? Did a second-year cadet mistakenly walk into the wrong classroom?”

“Ugh.”

Despite knowing my situation perfectly well—no, because he knew it better than anyone—Professor Lucas smirked and teased me.

“Well, it’s not a bad idea to familiarize yourself with the third-year lecture hall early. You might be spending the next year here.”

“......”

No way.

It’s bad enough being at the bottom of the class, but failing the year…!

“F-failing is…”

“Come on, have some decency. You missed more than half the classes this semester, and you still want to avoid failing?”

“Ugh.”

What a jerk.

He’s hitting me with cold, hard facts!

“Hahaha! Finally, I won’t have to see your annoying face anymore!”

Professor Lucas burst into laughter, his hands on his hips.

Just as he was getting fired up teasing me—

Knock, knock.

A soft knock echoed through the classroom.

Professor Lucas frowned and strode toward the door.

“Who dares to be late to the sacred graduation ceremony…?”

“It’s me.”

“Gasp! P-professor?”

Click, click.

Professor Elisha entered the room.

She glanced at me, gave a playful wink, and then motioned to Lucas.

“Come out.”

“C-come out?”

“The Principal has a message for you.”

With that, she spun around and left the classroom.

Looking awkward, Professor Lucas quickly followed her out.

We waited for about five minutes.

Creak.

The classroom door opened, and Lucas returned with a dazed expression.

“…Candidate Dale.”

“Yes.”

“Come with me for a moment.”

Tilting my head in confusion, I followed him out of the classroom.

“What on earth have you been doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What did you do to make the ‘Empress’ submit a petition for your advancement?”

“……”

Wait. S

he actually submitted a petition to the school?

“Ha. And on top of that, Principal Lionel even bypassed the formal process to order your advancement.”

Lucas looked at me with an incredulous expression.

After all, two of the five “Masters” had joined forces for a mere cadet’s advancement—it was only natural for him to react this way.

“Well, it must be thanks to my exemplary class behavior and diligence.”

“Bullshit.”

“Hey.”

That was too harsh, even for him.

“Anyway, the final decision has been made. You’re advancing.”

Lucas clicked his tongue in frustration, looking as if he’d bitten into something sour.

“Why do you look so upset? This should be good news for you too, Professor Lucas.”

“What’s good about it? I have to deal with a troublemaker like you for another year.”

“Hmm. That’s odd.”

“What is?”

I crossed my arms and shrugged.

“Weren’t you the one who strongly insisted I should advance during the faculty meeting?”

“H-how do you know that?!”

“Who knows? Who could’ve told me?”

Of course, it was Professor Elisha.

“Darn it! Professor Elisha! She leaked the faculty meeting details?!”

Lucas covered his forehead with his hand, realizing exactly who was behind it.

“I didn’t say anything! She’s lying!”

“Sure~ Sure~.”

Whatever you say.

“Damn it!”

Lucas grumbled and stomped back into the classroom.

‘Honestly.’

Chuckling to myself, I followed him inside.

Back in the classroom, Lucas unfolded a piece of paper and began speaking.

“Now, before the graduation ceremony, I’ll announce the final rankings of the third-year candidates.”

“Ugh.”

“Please…!”

“If I drop below the top 100 this time, I can’t go home!”

The classroom buzzed at the mention of the rankings.

“First, the top candidate in our Class C is… Maurice Jin.”

“Ah, of course, it’s Maurice.”

“But the overall first place is Yuren, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”

“Man. So Maurice is second again?”

All eyes turned to the black-haired candidate sitting at the front of the classroom.

Maurice Jin.

He was always second to Yuren, earning the infamous nickname “Perennial Second Place.”

Clatter!

Maurice shot up from his seat and looked around at the other candidates.

“Second place is still good!!!”

“Oooh!”

“Say it again!”

“Second place is still good!”

“Haha! That’s right!”

The candidates burst into laughter as Maurice shouted like he was having a breakdown.

Though I hadn’t spoken to him before, it seemed Maurice got along well with everyone, as most of the candidates laughed and teased him until his face turned bright red.

“Ugh…”

Maurice scowled at his snickering classmates.

With black hair and black eyes—a rare combination even among the Republic these days—he let out a deep sigh and sat back down.

‘Maurice Jin.’

In my previous life, Maurice Jin maintained second place just below Yuren until graduation.

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‘But… how did he get second place this time?’

I frowned as I turned to look at Camilla and Iris.

Even if they weren’t quite on Yuren’s level, both Camilla and Iris had achieved remarkable growth compared to my past life.

‘In terms of skill, Camilla now should actually be stronger than Yuren back then.’

Yet, Maurice Jin still ranked second overall, just like before.

‘Did one of their party members mess things up during the final exam?’

Since the final exam is graded as a group evaluation, it was a plausible explanation.

‘But come to think of it, I never heard Maurice’s name after graduation in my previous life.’

Despite being the runner-up graduate of the Hero Academy, I couldn’t recall hearing about him at all after that.

‘Well… it’s not uncommon for cadets who excel in school to crash and burn after graduation.’

I sighed deeply and shifted my gaze away from Maurice.

The comprehensive evaluation rankings were being announced from the top down.

Naturally, my name had yet to be mentioned.

“Tsk.”

Well, it’s to be expected.

How could someone who skipped more than half of the second semester’s classes avoid being at the bottom?

‘I’m just lucky to have avoided expulsion.’

Honestly, grades didn’t seem all that important at this point.

‘But still, I really didn’t want to be dead last.’

Was I holding onto some lingering regret from my previous life?

I had desperately wanted to escape the curse of being ranked last.

“Cadet Delton, you’re ranked 418th. Try to aim for a better score next year.”

“…Yes.”

Delton lowered his head dejectedly.

Out of a total of 472 cadets, ranking 418th was a disastrous score, one that couldn’t be bragged about anywhere after graduation.

Delton was probably already wracking his brain, dreading how he’d explain this to his family during the upcoming winter break.

‘Hey, quit that depressing face, idiot. You’re ranked 418th, so what’s with the doom and gloom?’

I glared at Delton and cursed him internally.

For some, a rank like 418 might be worth agonizing over, but for me, it was as unattainable as a flower blooming on a sheer cliff.

“Next, Cadet Dale.”

“……”

Finally, my name was called.

I sighed and lowered my head.

‘Well… I made my peace with it when I decided to take the punishment in Lanez’s place.’

Honestly, I was just relieved to have avoided being held back.

“Cadet Dale’s rank is…”

Professor Lucas continued.

“471st.”

“…Huh?”

What?

Not 472nd… but 471st?

“W-Wait! Did you say 471st?”

“Yes.”

Professor Lucas nodded and added,

“You helped the principal with a few errands during your suspension, didn’t you? You earned some extra points for that.”

“E-Extra points…!”

Oh, right!

I’d forgotten about that!

“…Wait. But didn’t I get three penalties? Doesn’t that automatically mean a zero?”

Last semester, I’d scored well but was given a zero due to penalties, leaving me dead last.

“Normally, yes. But the extra points given by the headmaster are exempt from the penalty rule and factored into the overall ranking.”

“Ohhh!”

Who knew such a rule existed?

I’d never earned any extra points in my previous life, so this was new to me.

“And finally… the cadet ranked 472nd is Lloyd, who was hospitalized in intensive care for three months after the recent monster attack.”

“…Yes.”

At Professor Lucas’s call, Lloyd nodded weakly.

Even after three months of treatment, it seemed his wounds hadn’t fully healed.

Lloyd’s body was wrapped in bandages, making him look like a near-lifeless shell.

“……”

I clenched my fists and forced myself to look away from Lloyd, who coughed weakly.

‘Still… this means I’m not last anymore!’

Yes.

Out of 472 cadets, I was 471st.

Some might sneer and say, “Is there really a difference between 471st and 472nd?” But for someone like me, who had spent a lifetime in last place, this one-rank difference meant everything.

‘Now… there’s someone below me!’

Even if that person was an unfortunate cadet who had missed most of the semester due to severe injuries from a monster attack!

“I’m… not last anymore…!”

Just as I trembled with joy that surged from deep within my chest—

“Oh, by the way, Cadet Lloyd has requested to repeat the year.”

“…What?”

What the hell did he just say?

“Given that he still needs more time to recover and missed most of the semester, the school has accepted his request to repeat the year with full tuition covered.”

“……”

Wait.

Does that mean…

“With Lloyd repeating the year, the total number of third-year cadets is now 471.”

In other words—

“Damn it.”

I’m dead last again?!

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