The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 317: Tenth Attempt [2]

Chapter 317: Tenth Attempt [2]

The exam room was quiet. The Espers taking the exam were spread around, set aside far enough so that they wouldn’t be able to look at each other’s papers. There were even screens set up between them, blocking the view. Some of them might be high-rankers, after all, with their superior senses, they might be able to see more than a regular person would be capable of.

Naturally, the screens only blocked them from the sides and the back. The front was left open, so that the examiner could see them well. And he watched them well, like a hawk... His watery blue eyes flashed with a yellowish glow as soon as he sat back down after handing the exam papers. It was his ability, that allowed him to pick up every move in the whole room, observing everyone at once...

Lane really had bad luck this time. With this guy around, it would be even harder for him to make a move. Although the man was only a D-ranker, this ability of his was not bad. He used to be a competent scout in the past, until he lost his leg. He was vigilant and sharp. Of course, with his rank, he wouldn’t be able to resist Lane’s hypnosis... Still, it would be a risky move, and there was too much that could go wrong. Unless an opportunity arrived...

For now, Lane could only let out a quiet sigh, and work on the test, while keeping an eye on his surroundings. If he got a chance to cheat somehow, then he would naturally take it, and if not... It was better to at least try to get through it on his own. Some questions he would be able to answer, as for the rest... Who knows? Maybe if he got lucky, he might be able to get a passing score by guessing the answers?

He flipped the exams papers open, and took a look at the questions.

The first part was something he was good at. When it came to the knowledge of monsters, abilities, and dungeons, there were probably not many who could compete with him, at least not among the exam takers - most of them were only newbies, after all! None of them had worked in the field before, at most they might have learned about it out of pure interest, or in hopes it might be useful in the future. As for Lane, it was the knowledge he had accumulated from his years of experience. His answers might not be entirely aligned with the textbook knowledge taught at the Basic Esper Training, but they were accurate enough to score him a lot of points. In some cases, his answers even surpassed what was expected of the exam takers...

But it didn’t matter. With his family background, no one would be surprised if he had extensive knowledge, even if he hadn’t worked in the field. Even his parents wouldn’t be able to find it suspicious - Lane’s best friend was Ava, after all, he might have heard a lot about the monsters from her! So, he didn’t hold back, and filled all the answers diligently, both the multiple-choice, as well as the open questions.

If it were just this, then Lane would have easily passed the test. Unfortunately, the first part wasn’t even worth half the points...

Because while the knowledge about the monsters and the dungeons was far more useful for the Espers, especially those working in the field, what the Association cared about more were their stupid laws and regulations. Especially when it came to the Espers, they wanted to make sure that all the Awakened knew the restrictions they had to follow by heart...

Which was stupid, in Lane’s opinion. Just because someone had the laws memorized, it didn’t mean that they would follow them.

Take the Allens, for example. Did his parents not know that unauthorized use of abilities was illegal? Or that the discovery of every Gate had to be reported? That any guiding session had to be recorded in the system?

Of course they did! But did it stop them from doing whatever they wanted?

Of course not!

And Lane was the same. Although he didn’t bother to learn the laws, he knew very well that a lot of the things he did were illegal. He wasn’t so ignorant as to not realize that.

No matter how he felt about it, though, it wasn’t the time to complain about the stupidity of the test. He had glanced around the room every now and then, but the opportunity he had been waiting for still didn’t arrive...

Which meant that he had no choice but to carry on on his own. He let out a sigh, and looked at the first question of the second part...

[Under what circumstances is a licensed Esper allowed to use his abilities outside a dungeon?]

Lane read the options listed below. As far as he was concerned, all the options seemed logical... But he was aware that it probably wasn’t the case from the legal point of view. The Association liked to restrict the Espers as much as possible, to the point that they couldn’t even always legally defend themselves, even if their life was in danger... Such was the disadvantage of having abilities in their current system. Lane knew that much, but when it came to the specific instances as to when the ability use was and wasn’t allowed...

He had no clue. He was just about to mark a random answer that seemed reasonable...

When all of a sudden, he recalled Damien’s low, calm voice, reading the notes in his ear. He paused with his pen pressed to the paper...

Then, he suddenly changed his mind, and marked two different options.

He moved through the questions one by one. Slowly, taking his time. Usually he sped through the test, guessing randomly, but this time, for a change, he sat quietly in his spot, playing with Damien’s pen, as he tried to recall Damien’s voice...