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The midterm exams that both students and teachers put their heart and soul into have come to an end.

The students looked relieved and anticipated the upcoming vacation. The teachers only had grading left, so they were already making plans for what to do during the break.

“I’m really looking forward to this department exchange event.”

“It’s a shame that Teacher Claudie isn’t the representative, but Teacher Ethan is no joke either.”

“I only heard stories, but apparently the students really stood out during the demonstration class. The parents praised them a lot too?”

“They said it felt like they were the main characters. It was the first time at the academy.”

“I wish Teacher Ethan would open about ten classes. We’d all attend.”

“If Teacher Ethan heard you say that, he’d try to kill you.”

All the students were feeling refreshed and anticipating the department exchange event to wrap up the semester.

However, there were still some who couldn’t accept Ron and Mason.

“I’m not going to this department exchange event. Students who can’t even get good grades as representatives……”

They were even considering boycotting the event in a small way.

“Huh? The grades are out already?”

“Who got first place in Understanding the Sword Path class?”

“Um…?”

“Mason is first? And Ron is second?”

“Crazy.”

The two students were ranked first and second respectively.

And below them at fifth place was Yuna Garnet.

“Wow… with grades like this, even those who criticized can’t say anything.”

“At this level, they could represent for this semester at least?”

“Impressive. Mason is in the top ranks for other classes besides Teacher Ethan’s too? What did Teacher Ethan even do?”

If they clearly demonstrated their abilities at the department exchange event, there would be no more backlash against making Mason and Ron the representatives.

***

Principal’s Office.

“Roanna can’t participate?”

“I’m sorry, Principal. Given Roanna’s poor physical condition, I thought it would be better for her to rest rather than force her to participate and risk making it worse.”

“Hmm, what a pity. Then, are the other two in good health?”

“Yes, they’re fine. And as Roanna’s replacement, I’ve brought in a skilled student I had my eye on.”

“Very well. Be sure to inform Teacher Ethan as well. We need his permission for the department exchange event to proceed.”

“Understood.”

As he spoke, Duty gritted his teeth inwardly.

Teacher Ethan would definitely give permission.

He might even dance with joy. Their most powerful asset, Roanna, couldn’t participate in the department exchange event – what reason would he have to refuse?

‘Dammit, if the Sky Swordmage shows up, Roanna’s evaluation would soar even higher.’

In that case, victory in the department exchange event would be completely theirs.

‘But it’s okay. It’s not over yet. Even without Roanna, two from the golden age remain.’

Though not as strong as Roanna, those two were also exceptional, worthy of being called the golden age.

“We’ll win no matter what.”

In a way, it was better this way. He knew there were teachers whispering behind his back.

There were even rumors among students that Roanna’s talent was exceptional, but Duty was just riding on her coattails.

This was a good opportunity to prove them wrong. To show that the Magic Department could win the department exchange event even without Roanna.

That the prime contributor in making the Magic Department number one was none other than Duty himself.

***

“Excellent. As expected, the level at Ivecar is high.”

Ethan had finished grading the last parchment, completing the midterm exam grading.

Certainly, the students of Ivecar had outstanding basic abilities and a thirst for improvement.

‘Even students whose names I’m seeing for the first time had their own concerns and grew through taking the exam.’

Looking at their answer sheets, it seemed all they needed was a bit more attention, teaching, and opportunity.

“At this point, Mason and Ron can represent the Swordsmanship Department without issue.”

The two students performed well not just in Understanding the Sword Path, but other classes’ exams too. This was because Ethan had threatened that something terrible would happen if they failed.

“Guess my expectations weren’t too high after all.”

Ethan chuckled as he organized the parchments.

‘Once the department exchange event ends, summer vacation begins. That’s when the events I’m familiar with will unfold.’

Summer vacation.

This was essentially the peak period when the events Ethan knew about would occur.

‘Though it’s still not the beginning of MePan.’

The start of MePan was after the fall of this Ivecar Academy. Timewise, it would be next year, as the collapse would begin this coming winter.

‘Until now, it’s been the past, so I couldn’t act too aggressively.’

With the uncertainty of incomplete information mixed in, he could only passively act on definitive parts of the past he knew.

But now it’s different.

‘From now on, events I’m familiar with will unfold. So I can actively engage with them.’

The war between the Holy Empire and the Demon Empire. And the Followers of the Moon moving amidst it all.

‘The biggest summer vacation event is the clash between the Inquisition and the Followers of the Moon.’

Ethan thought the Sky Swordmage wasn’t simply visiting as a judge at the Principal’s request.

‘They keep losing. The Followers of the Moon are too strong.’

It seemed the Inquisition side wanted to scout usable talents to take with them.

“I need to prepare.”

Having gained a second class to balance offense and defense, he was still in the process of surviving as Ethan Whiskers.

***

[New World]

Several gods frowned as they looked at the ranking list.

With just a single subscription review, the choices of the subscribers were dividing – many gods were clinging to a single subscriber.

“Hmm…”

“Don’t worry.”

The higher-ranking gods did not particularly worry about this situation.

It was the mid-ranking gods who were concerned.

“Heo Jun.”

The once unknown Eastern god had now become a famous deity that few subscribers in the New World did not know.

Matching his reputation, Heo Jun’s influence was rapidly growing stronger.

Even some gods in the middle ranks now had solid subscribers and likes.

The ranking list, which seemed long set in stone without changes, was shaken up because of a single subscriber.

“It won’t last long. Look, there are already other subscribers imitating that subscriber [Only subscribed to the right gods].”

Just as the god said, after [Only subscribed to the right gods] became famous for the subscription review, other subscribers began following suit.

“They’ll eventually come back. It’s certainly an impressive subscription review, but it can’t go on forever. The subscribers and the gods aren’t fools.”

The effect of the subscription review would not strengthen further.

The gods must have verified the effect of the subscription review in their own ways, so they would gather similar subscribers and have them create usable subscription reviews.

Ultimately, that subscriber’s influence would wane.

“Of course, thanks to that, the New World has become more interesting. Remarkable gods who were buried have been newly discovered.”

“It may be good for the subscribers. But from our perspective, it’s not such a good thing.”

A change in the middle ranking order.

That meant mid-ranking gods could fall to the lower ranks.

***

“The training method for Counter-Radiance is tricky, but doing it this way allows me to properly utilize Counter-Radiance in many ways. It’s more efficient than just heading to the ground.”

Ethan visited the New World community board to replenish the large number of likes he had used this time.

He planned to find questions related to Hang Woo on the Question Board, answer them to earn contribution points, and exchange those for likes.

‘A good number of likes were spent subscribing to Hood the Archer.’

In the process, Ethan saw subscribers on the community talking about him.

-It seems many subscribers are imitating [Only subscribed to the right gods].

-Thanks to that, there are more quality subscription reviews which is nice. I learned about a lot of new gods too.

-Then we don’t necessarily need [Only subscribed to the right gods]’s subscription reviews.

-Others seem to write pretty good subscription reviews too, so we can use those as a reference!

‘The atmosphere has changed a bit.’

At one point, everyone sought out Ethan.

By simply following Ethan’s subscription reviews, one could subscribe to great gods without fail.

Additionally, they could also cherry-pick the advantages of the gods they had already subscribed to and learn from them.

However, recently, several subscribers had started writing high-quality subscription reviews.

By benchmarking Ethan’s subscription reviews, they managed to produce quite good reviews of their own, so subscribers no longer had to solely rely on Ethan’s reviews.

And the same was true for the gods.

‘That became the norm.’

In fact, when Ethan thought about it, he hadn’t written particularly impressive subscription reviews. That’s why he had verified the power of his reviews multiple times.

‘I just worked diligently enough. It’s more surprising that I became so popular.’

Even Ethan’s once flashy mailbox had gone quiet at some point.

From the beginning, Ethan had expected this to happen.

‘There was nothing that remarkable about it.’

So he had prepared a way to overcome this situation.

He thought this method would give him an advantage over the existing subscription reviews when negotiating with the gods.

‘The timing is perfect.’

Ethan had put considerable effort into making the subscription review video for Hood the Archer this time.

The experience of making videos while writing subscription reviews had become Ethan’s asset.

With his improved video production skills, he was able to produce a high-quality video.

‘In a slightly different way.’

Previously, he had literally written subscription reviews summarizing the abilities of the subscribed gods.

But now, other subscribers could easily follow suit.

So Ethan added editing to the videos instead.

‘It’s no longer just about writing good subscription reviews. If the subscription review led subscribers to subscribe, then the video should keep them hooked.’

While everyone was still focused on just subscription reviews.

Ethan had thought one step further from the beginning – video editing.

‘The gods’ videos are inadequate. Hood the Archer’s video had pretty good content, but in terms of the video aspect, it was just average.’

Not a single god Ethan had subscribed to had made a proper video.

Most of the deities simply showed their abilities as is.

There were detailed explanations, but they were long-winded and hard to understand.

Ethan’s subscription reviews were well-received because they summarized and briefly explained the video contents of such gods.

‘They just upload raw, unedited videos.’

Most of them upload their videos raw, with no editing involved. That’s why Ethan had immediately bought the skip function as soon as he had the money.

In short, Ethan’s subscription reviews were essentially edited videos.

‘What if I upload these edited videos not as subscription reviews, but just as videos?’

Through making multiple subscription review videos, Ethan had gained a sense of editing and thought about how to have a greater impact on the gods.

‘What subscribers want is simple. As a subscriber myself, I can better understand.’

If he made videos tightly focused on just those elements?

‘Word will spread again. That [Only subscribed to the right gods] directly edited videos that were posted on the gods’ channels. Just by watching those videos, people will understand everything.’

Ethan grinned.

“I should give it a try. See how sharp this new weapon is.”

Author's Thoughts

Want to read ahead of the scheduled release? You can check the Novel page on the website (or press the next chapter button) and buy an advanced chapter with only 20 Honeys! (100 Honeys is only 5$! So you can basically read 5 advanced chapters ahead of schedule!)