The Duke's Worthless Daughter Awakens an SSS+ Guide Core

The silence that followed the simulation’s sudden conclusion lingered heavily throughout the expansive examination arena.

One by one, the complex holographic terminals dissolved into small streams of blue light before completely disappearing from the platforms. The heavy metallic structures slowly descended into the polished floor plates, returning the stadium to its original spacious configuration.

The surviving applicants stood quietly where they were on the floor, each waiting with bated breath for the academy’s final judgment. Some appeared entirely exhausted from the intense mental exertion of the multi-phase tactical trial.

Others looked visually defeated, their slouched postures revealing the devastating impact of their high simulated casualty counts. A few students still stared blankly at the empty air where their failed simulations had just vanished, completely unable to accept the harsh outcome of their choices.

Merianah simply stood in place with her hands folded neatly behind her back, her posture remaining perfectly straight. The long examination was officially over, leaving nothing left for her to actively analyze or calculate.

A low, resonant mechanical hum echoed across the stadium walls, drawing every eye toward the ceiling. The enormous holographic display suspended high above the center of the arena flickered to life once more with a bright flash. Large silver letters materialized across the surface of the screen, signaling the transition to the grading results.

[Qualification Examination Complete.]

[Finalizing Performance Metrics.]

Immediately afterward, long rows of names and candidate numbers began scrolling downward as the academy’s central data system finalized the official rankings. A sudden ripple of nervous whispers spread rapidly through the remaining cluster of applicants.

"They are releasing the official scores already," one noble student muttered, rubbing his sweaty palms together.

"I just hope that my score was high enough to pass the baseline threshold," another applicant whispered nervously to his companion.

"I only lost six virtual soldiers during the initial skirmish, so my ranking should be decent," a confident young man asserted nearby.

"My simulation ended before the extraction phase even began, so I am completely doomed," a voice lamented from the back of the group.

Everyone watched the enormous overhead display with tense anticipation, their breathing shallow as the names blurred past. After several seconds of rapid scrolling, the movement abruptly stopped to reveal the top tier of the results. The final rankings appeared in bold lettering at the absolute peak of the leaderboard.

[Nexus Military Academy Qualification Examination]

[First Place: Candidate No. 27]

[Name: Merianah Emperion]

[Overall Evaluation: Outstanding]

The massive stadium fell completely silent the moment the text stabilized on the monitor. Not a single voice could be heard across the entire testing floor, creating an almost suffocating atmosphere.

Every applicant instinctively searched the crowd until their eyes collectively settled upon the silver-haired young woman standing quietly near the center of the arena.

"Did she actually place first over all the elite applicants?" a noble candidate asked, blinking repeatedly in pure disbelief.

"She ranked first out of hundreds of experienced students," he whispered to the person next to him.

"That should be mathematically impossible for a disgraced house exile," another candidate argued, his voice laced with venom.

Another student shook his head slowly, looking at the pristine data display with a mixture of respect and awe.

"She was not even the strongest fighter during the physical phase," he noted.

"Nor was she the fastest strategist to input her commands into the terminal."

A quiet voice from the very back of the group countered his observation with a hard truth.

"I do not think she was ever trying to be the fastest or the strongest," the speaker muttered.

The murmurs spread rapidly across the arena as the reality of her performance began to sink into their minds.

"Wasn’t she the leader who finished the entire tactical simulation without losing a single man?" one applicant asked.

"I heard she completed the final extraction phase with absolutely zero casualties," another student confirmed.

"They are saying she managed to bypass the entire enemy garrison without fighting them directly," a third added.

Merianah ignored every single word circulating through the crowd, remaining entirely detached from their sudden shift in opinion.

She knew from years of experience that public opinion had never won a single battle on a real front line. Only concrete results mattered in the end, and she had just delivered a flawless set of metrics to the evaluation board.

Colonel Serena stepped onto the central elevated platform once more, her boots clicking sharply against the metal.

The widespread murmuring instantly ceased as the candidates snapped to attention under her commanding presence. She allowed the heavy silence to settle over the room for a long moment before she finally began to speak.

"The qualification examination has officially concluded for the day," her voice echoed powerfully throughout the enormous stadium. "Many of you mistakenly believe that today’s comprehensive assessment was designed to measure your raw physical strength."

She slowly shook her head, her sharp gaze cutting through the ranks of the remaining candidates.

"It did not measure your physical prowess or your family lineage," she corrected firmly. "It measured the exact quality of your tactical judgment under extreme stress."

She paused briefly, letting her words resonate with the students who had failed the exercise.

"The modern battlefield does not reward the strongest soldier who charges blindly into the fray," she lectured. "It rewards the calculated commander who makes the correct decision based on logic rather than emotion."

Several noble applicants lowered their heads in deep shame as her words hit their mark. Only now did they fully realize why so many of their aggressive, offense-heavy strategies had failed so miserably against the adaptive artificial intelligence.

Serena turned her body slightly toward the center of the room, her eyes locking onto Merianah’s calm face.

"For today’s highest-ranked candidate, the evaluation system recorded something entirely unprecedented in our academy’s history," she announced.

The massive holographic screen behind her changed once again, displaying a detailed summary of Merianah’s specific run.

[Candidate No. 27: Detailed Combat Summary]

[Civilians Rescued: 32 / 32]

[Friendly Casualties: 0]

[Mission Success Rate: 100%]

[Operational Efficiency: 98.7%]

A collective gasp swept through the arena as the numbers were laid bare for everyone to see. Zero casualties was a statistic that many believed to be a structural glitch within the software. Not a single soldier had fallen, and not a single civilian had been clipped by a stray round.

Even many of the senior instructors standing along the perimeter wall exchanged deeply surprised glances with one another.

"I have personally reviewed hundreds of admission examinations over the past decade," one veteran officer quietly stated, folding his arms. "I have never once seen a first-time applicant preserve every single unit under their command."

Another instructor nodded in agreement, adjusting his uniform collar as he looked at the report.

"Most candidates become utterly obsessed with defeating the enemy units to boost their score," he observed. "She, however, never forgot the true parameters of the mission she was assigned."

Serena looked toward Merianah with a look of calm, undeniable approval in her eyes.

"The fundamental purpose of military power in this empire is not wanton destruction," the colonel declared. "It is the absolute protection of our people and our territory from harm."

"Candidate Twenty-Seven understood that core tenet better than anyone else present in this room today," she concluded.

Merianah inclined her head slightly in a polite, standard military bow to acknowledge the praise.

"I simply completed the assigned objective to the best of my ability," she responded smoothly. "Nothing more and nothing less was required to pass the examination."

Her indifferent, completely level answer left the surrounding applicants entirely speechless once again.

She had just earned the coveted first place spot in the elite military academy, yet there was no visible excitement on her face. There was no childish pride, no arrogant triumph, and no desire to boast about her achievement.

She possessed only the quiet, unshakable composure of someone who had already walked through real blood-soaked battlefields. Those memories were far crueler than any digital simulation this modern academy could ever hope to create.

Far above the arena floor, hidden behind a darkened observation window reserved exclusively for senior academy officials, several silent figures continued watching the silver-haired young woman. None of them spoke immediately, their faces obscured by the deep shadows of the secure viewing box.

However, every single one of them had already reached the exact same definitive conclusion regarding her future potential. Nexus Military Academy had just admitted someone unlike any student it had ever seen before in its long history, and the political landscape of the empire was about to shift.