"Today's exam was really hard!"
"Haha, I'll definitely get a high score this time! I must make Mom reward me well when the results come out!"
"Rachel, you're bragging again!"
"I'm telling the truth!"
"I don't believe it, you said the same thing last time."
"Eren, how did you do this time?"
Arthur came back to his senses and then realized that the voice just now was calling him. It had been over four weeks since he entered the instance, and it seemed that the overly relaxed life these days had made his nerves a bit sluggish.
"It was alright."
The education level in this elite orphanage was quite high. However, it was ultimately a test designed for children up to 11 years old to develop their intelligence. Coupled with the fact that the children weren't given formal lessons, the difficulty of these exams simply couldn't compare to the terrifying level of the college entrance exam he experienced in his previous life.
However, for the Reincarnators in this world, the questions were probably still quite difficult. As mentioned at the beginning, schools here had truly become places for compulsory education, and the former rote-learning approach no longer existed at all. After all, any knowledge or ability could be obtained from the Reincarnation Space.
It wasn't that no one had thought of opposing this special method of acquiring knowledge, it was just too convenient. As long as you experienced an instance with a suitable worldview, in just one day, you could gain achievements that even the top scientists in reality would need decades to research.
Under the pressure of this major trend, who could still calmly dedicate themselves to academic research?
This indirectly led to fewer and fewer people in reality receiving high-end education. However, at least before coming here, Arthur had asked Sophia about her grades. Because she had been bedridden for a long time, her family initially forbade her from entering such a dangerous place as the Reincarnation Space. Therefore, she surprisingly maintained a high interest in learning.
And Saeko Busujima was born in a Japan where exam-oriented education is highly valued, so her grades were also quite good. At least for now, the three of them didn't have to worry about being "eliminated" due to poor academic performance.
As for the other Reincarnators, they were in a miserable state. After all, no one had expected that the seemingly meaningless exam… would actually be a test to filter out "defective products."
For the demons who farmed human children, the brain was the ultimate delicacy they were most obsessed with. The smarter the child, the more premium their brain was. Under the same educational environment, children with worse grades would naturally find it harder to survive until the end.
So those Reincarnators who didn't take the exam seriously and answered carelessly… naturally soon received notices that someone was adopting them.
That is, being "shipped."
Idiots had no right to live.
What a cruel reality.
Arthur wasn't worried about his own grades. Over the past few days, he had also gotten in touch with Saeko and the others. However, to be safe, he hadn't made physical contact with them yet.
Anyway, there would be plenty of time in the future.
For now, as long as no one acted recklessly, there wouldn't be any danger, so they might as well live as children and enjoy this carefree life. After all, getting a second chance at youth like this was a pretty rare experience.
He had even heard that some older Reincarnators entered this dungeon on purpose just to relive their younger days.
After the exam came lunchtime. The food in the orphanage was fairly abundant: mostly stews, bacon and eggs, and fresh bread.
Once lunch was over, it was the daily free period. The children could move around however they liked... taking naps in the dorms or running outside to play and chase each other through the surrounding fields and woods. It was easily everyone's favorite time of day.
After all, what kid doesn't love to play?
Arthur was the exception.
He had no interest in forcing himself to act like a child or running around until he was drenched in sweat. Instead, he headed to his usual spot, the place he'd discovered two days earlier: a small hill about two or three meters high.
The hill sat near the edge of the forest, with a sturdy tree rooted at its peak. Its wide canopy cast a large patch of shade over the grass below. The late-summer sun was still intense, which was exactly why Arthur liked this place, it was perfect for avoiding the heat while enjoying a quiet nap.
The sunlight felt warm, while the breeze rolling over the hill was slow and lazy, carrying just a hint of coolness. Maybe it was because autumn was on the way, the tips of the leaves in the nearby forest had already begun to yellow.
For now, though, the grass and trees were still lush and green, flowers blooming in full color. Leaves swayed gently, and petals fluttered softly in the wind.
Arthur closed his eyes.
With his hands folded behind his head, he lay back on the grass beneath the shade of the tree. In that moment, he felt almost as if he had blended into the landscape itself.
If you ignored the darker reality of this world…
…the orphanage was actually a pretty nice place to live.
At least, this was the kind of life most modern people, living year-round in concrete jungles, might never experience even once in their lifetime.
He couldn't help but hum softly. He didn't remember whose song it was, or even if it belonged to anyone at all. Maybe it was just a nameless melody he'd pieced together himself. Still, the tune blended seamlessly with the wind and the rustling leaves, drifting outward from the hill in gentle waves.
(If you want to listen, search 'Home - Matthew Hall')
The children who had been playing nearby gradually wandered over, gathering beneath the shade of the tree one by one before lying down on the grass with dazed, enchanted expressions. By the time Arthur's voice slowly faded into the breeze, the area around the small hill was already filled with children sprawled out in all kinds of crooked sleeping positions. It was a rare sight—kids had endless energy, and getting them to settle down for an afternoon nap was usually close to impossible.
"Eren, good job."
Standing off to the side, Mama, who had been listening to Arthur's singing the entire time, smiled as she praised one of the oldest children in the orphanage. Arthur knew she was thanking him for helping solve the daily struggle of getting the kids to nap, but that hadn't been his intention, so he simply returned her smile without saying a word. Mama was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties.
She had the neat, refined features of an intellectual beauty, the kind of woman who would look perfectly natural wearing glasses. Her shoulder-length black hair and work attire were impeccably tidy every single day, a quiet reflection of her meticulous personality. Although she usually carried a serious expression and rarely smiled, that gentleness would always surface whenever she was with the children.
In the eyes of every child in the orphanage, she was the most ideal, almost perfect, Mama. At this moment, her gaze rested on the black-haired boy surrounded by the others. Compared to the children his age, Eren was far quieter and more reserved, something that, in its own way, gave her peace of mind.
If only this weren't the kind of world they lived in. If it were a more ordinary world… how wonderful it would have been if he were truly her own child.
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Someone guessed right, but I'm not going to say who because the character will be revealed in the next chapter. 😒