Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
14. Mid-term exams (1)
Eungwang School residential zone.
1st year dormitory building, 10th floor, one of the dormitory rooms.
The owner of that room trembled wrapped in a blanket.
If she didn’t obscure her sight, she saw red stains, black stains, black-red stains, stains…
Black-red stains started to cover her everyday life.
‘Why, why…!’
At first she thought it was simply a symptom of a problem with her eyes.
She made every medical check she could.
Eyesight test, intraocular pressure test, dyschromatopsia test, retinography, corneal topography, etc.
First time at the central zone infirmary no. 1, second time at the clinic most famous for the ophthalmology department, third time at the University Hospital.
However, all three times results were nothing but normal.
‘Now it’s not only the eyes, but ears too…’
When wearing earring type devices, she started to hear non stop buzzing.
Unnerving, quiet buzzing, at a certain moment grew stronger until it became difficult to endure.
She thought it was simply a problem with the device and applied for a replacement.
When she received the new device she paid for…
[Uhuhuhuhu, hahahah! Kuukukuku! Kikiki, huhu, huuahaahahaha!]
The moment she wore the device, she heard bizarre laughter.
She had no chance to scream as she snatched the device and threw it inside the desk drawer, never trying to open it afterwards.
Thankfully, during the exam period, there were many students who stayed away from the devices which could cause distraction, so not wearing an earring wasn’t anything weird.
‘Perhaps I was possessed by the Bewitching category Enemy.’
She thought like this, but didn’t open her mouth.
Bewitching Enemy pierced Eungwang School’s protection barrier and attacked the mind of an elite Player from the most prestigious highschool in Korea?
What would it sound like?
Saying she went crazy had more persuasive power.
‘No.. I’ll be treated like a lunatic. I don’t want to…’
She thought about her parents more often these days.
The last time she saw them was when taking a commemorative photo during the entrance ceremony in the center of the main auditorium, Hall of Third Sacred Terrestrial Branch. She didn’t see her parents’ faces afterwards.
She was living her life at the Eungwang School she dreamed of, so recently she pretended she couldn’t use the device and put it on ‘don’t disturb’.
‘Let’s just hear mom’s voice and disconnect…! Just for a moment, a very short moment.’
She barely came out of the bed wrapped in a blanket.
Step after step.
She approached closer to the desk
And when she opened the desk’s drawer…
“Kyeeek!”
Blood.
The inside of the desk drawer was filled with red blood.
Everything inside was covered in blood.
And the amount of that blood gradually increased, spilling out of the drawer…
Knock knock.
“It’s me, Dain.”
Outside of the room, An Dain.
An Dain who sat beside her during the dormitory orientation, and was allocated the room close to her.
She was not a best friend like Kim Yuri, but they became quite close too.
‘Dain…!’
She hurriedly opened the door.
“I heard a loud noise. Did a bug come in?”
An Dain held three categories of the bug eradication spray in her hands.
Even the most prestigious highschool’s immaculate security and disinfection service management couldn’t block flying bugs from the Heavenly Wings Mountain, so the sprays were necessary consumables for dormitory students.
“…No.”
Something much scarier than a bug came in.
When she glanced back, she saw that her room returned to normal at some point.
She didn’t see black-red stains, which she usually saw in corners.
Whenever she was beside An Dain, the top of Eungwang School and a superhuman among elite generations of students, nothing strange happened.
“… Did something happen in the School Magazine Editorial Club? You had a hard time before.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“You look very tired… Do you want to go to the infirmary?”
“I’m fine…”
“Are you really fine?”
“I said I’m fine!”
She shouted unknowingly to even herself.
These days she was always on edge and her mood went up and down as if she went crazy.
An Dain came to help, so she was grateful, but why did she yell?
She immediately regretted it, but it was impossible to take back what was already said.
“… I’m sorry, Dain.”
“It’s okay. I asked and pushed you too much, so I’m also sorry. Then go rest.”
An Dain replied softly.
She could see, anyone could see, that she vented her anger on someone who came running to her because she was worried about her.
She felt like an unredeemable trash.
Click.
Then An Dain was left outside her room.
And the door closed.
The black-red stains obscured her vision again.
***
Next week, after the end of the 12 Zodiac Alliance meeting.
Monday.
The mid-term exams were next week.
In other words, there was but a week remaining until the mid-term exams.
‘The diligent kids would study in advance.’
Though there were guys like the Eungwang School and Military Academy Basketball Club 1st years, who played a massive basketball match on the previous Saturday and had a splendid after-party.
It was usual to prepare 2~3 weeks before the mid-term exams.
‘The club activities are suspended from today.’
Even the Broadcasting Club prepared all class bells in advance and ceased their activities.
“I’m an idiot, a lunatic, a fool. Yes, I AM the fool, stupid fool…”
“3.14159265358979323846264338327950… Haa, why can I only memorize well the things that have nothing to do with even one of my exams?”
“I didn’t choose Korean as one of my subjects, but yesterday night I memorized the entire ‘Gwangdong-byeolgok’[1]. So fun. 강湖호애 病병이 깁퍼 竹듁林님의 누엇더니. 關관東동八팔百ᄇᆡᆨ 里니에 方방面면을 맛디시니…”
“Stop, you crazy bastards!”
The dormitory cafeteria was already filled with students who went mad from exam stress.
‘Freedom always comes with a price.’
Eungwang School valued freedom.
It was the most free highschool in the country, in which the attendance rate didn’t even reflect on the school records.
But worthy of the most prestigious highschool, Eungwang School was famous for the cruel, regular exams with a viciously high level of difficulty.
Those regular exams were mid-term exams and final exams for each semester.
It was possible to graduate from the Eungwang School even without attending the school through the entire three years, but that possibility had to be paid with passing four exams every year.
If you receive a failing grade, you receive supplementary classes and wait for an additional exam. If you fail to get the score even with that, you fail the year.
‘Because the mini-like-tests taken during the classes didn’t reflect on the grades… Usually even if you’re good, if you don’t get through regular exam, it’s the end.’
In addition, the students who couldn’t attend the school, could take a remote exam.
However, to take a remote exam you have to wear a headgear with dozens of anti-cheat enchantments.
‘In the game, Maeng Hyodon was pushed to receive grades that barely avoided failing. And Sawol Seeum, who was reported to be missing, was still failing a year, so when he was rescued, he had to start attending school from the 1st year.’
I organized thoughts like this on my way to school.
The cherry blossoms on the flowery orchard on the road to school were blooming, but the students were dying.
The students were checking topics to memorize with the devices while moving.
The guys who were mumbling something as if they were chanting prayers.
Seeing those kids, I could feel that exams were not far off.
‘Even so, the best exam atmosphere formed around the party recruitment board.’
The speciality of the Eungwang School’s exam period, study parties.
Opening the party recruitment board with a device, I saw it was filled with all kinds of study parties recruitment notices.
[Autonomous self-study party. Full study-time(including classes) more than 12 hours. If we detect cheating during study time, you gonna get stuffed on the general bulletin board! (9/10)]
[Player law II, perfect memorization party for every law clause within test range. 80% of correct answers on the morning test guaranteed (8/10)]
[※3rd year limited※ Iceberg maze conquest practice lesson. Five simulation turns. One dealer and supporter assigned. (6/10)]
[Introduction to Enemy Studies… AAHH…. Teacher-nim is kind, but the exam scope is not… Survival party (4/10)]
[♫Composition Club♫ Let’s study while listening to the music we composed until now! You’re welcomed even if you’re not in the Composition Club if you have manners (8/10)]
[Pyeondeuk, let’s walk on a flowery(hellfire) road[2] for our entire life! Hardworking study party while cursing most wanted Choe Pyeondeuk (10/10)]
[Choe Pyeondeuk Curse Party2 (10/10)]
[ChP cp3 (9/10)]
There were so many I wanted to participate in.
Especially the last few study parties.
I couldn’t join those delightful Choe Pyeondeuk subjugations parties, so at least those cursing parties…
However, before the mid-term exams the time and resources are limited, so I had to be careful with my choices.
‘Let’s check the mood in our class and then join a study party.’
I hated having an exam repeater in our class.
***
The 1st year class 0 classroom.
As I expected, the mood in the classroom was darker than usual.
“What will I do if I have to repeat the year…”
Lee Lena said while looking at the organized notes with tidy handwriting with a terrified face.
Kim Yuri stuck beside Lee Lena, encouraging her.
“I’ll help you with the subjects that overlap with mine! I’m not a dormitory student, so I can’t look after you when I’m not at school, but…”
Among the men, Hwang Jiho… there was probably no need to worry about that guy.
Even so, let’s try asking first.
“Hwang Jiho, what are you going to do about exams?”
“I’ll avoid falling.”
Do you mean you are going to take the very bottom?
Thankfully he isn’t trying to commit manslaughter and shatter the mentality of the Eungwang School students.
Good job, Hwang Jiho!
‘Sawol Seeum… He missed one month worth of lessons, so he would have to work hard as he had a lot to learn, but there is no reason to worry about him failing.’
The one I was worried about the most was Maeng Hyodon.
Maeng Hyodon was a person born with a top talent and stats, who possessed damn cheat skills and power. But he was a musclehead character which put everything into his physical strength.
Right now he was frozen staring at the textbook.
“Heroes don’t care about studying…”
What was that crazy thing?
He was talking nonsense.
“The black one is text, the white one is the page…”
I had to stop Maeng Hyodon before he once again crossed the river of no return.
He was rescued in March, so he had a chance to change subjects.
He probably reselected all the classes at the time to focusing on practical skills.
But he could do nothing about common subjects.
“You have a writing test only for ‘Player Combat Theory 1’ this time, right? It is almost all based on the movements used in real battles, so if you memorize a few terms…”
I couldn’t continue my words.
Maeng Hyodon wasn’t holding the text book to Player Combat Theory 1 in his hands.
“Is that math? Did you really choose math?”
I hoped I saw it wrong.
“Then what does it look like, vice president?”
Maeng Hyodon spread out a math textbook before my eyes.
Unit: Polynomial.
Topic: Polynomial operations.
I saw that rather big writing and seriously clean textbook and then realized.
‘You didn’t even finish unit 1!’
The study party I’ll join has been decided.
“Who among dormitory students wants to gather to study at night?”
Maeng Hyodon’s participation is compulsory.
***
After classes, Wings Hall.
In the lobby, I saw people from the Wings Club assigning study rooms.
The Wings Club president, Seong Siwan saw me and seemed to recognize me straight away.
“Ah, Uisin, you came! Five kids from the 1st year class 0… all dormitory students are going to participate in the study group, right?”
“Yes. Do you have a study room for us?”
“Yeah! For you, Uisin… Wings Hall study room on the 2nd floor, no. 210. The code lock is set to 0000. Change it to anything you want before the end of mid-term exams.”
Seong Siwan looked at the hologram and then guided us to the study room.
“Good luck with your first mid-term exams. Hyodon, Seeum, Hani[3], Lena, tell me straight away if you need anything.”
“Hey, here, snacks.”
“This year’s class 0 kids are too nice, so we specially packed more!”
The Wings Club members, who stood beside Seong Siwan, handed us a box filled with food.
Nuts, dried fruits, boiled eggs, snacks filled with cocoa, chocolate, low fat yogurts, soybean milk…
It was full of snacks which wouldn’t damage health, but would appease hunger.
The sugar maniac, Han Yi immediately received a box from the side.
“Thank you!”
With me as the leader, the dormitory students in our class, Maeng Hyodon, Sawol Seeum, Han Yi and Lee Lena, thanked them and then we moved together towards the study room.
“Whoa, this is the first time I see the study room, it’s very nice!”
Study room no. 210.
The wallpaper in a darker tone, which didn’t tire the eyes, felt comfortable.
Around the table for up to ten people were ergonomic chairs designed to keep the waist from straining even when sitting for long hours.
In the corner was a sofa big enough for one person to lay down, in consideration of the students who stayed here overnight.
The place was well prepared for the students to gather here and study.
“Han Yi, I’m really sorry…”
“It’s okay, I can study even when teaching.”
Han Yi sat beside Lee Lena and began to calmly explain the concepts.
Listening for a moment, the descriptions had a clean logic and pinpointed key points.
‘Worthy of Gong Cheong-hwon’s student.’
Because Gong Cheong-hwon’s Introduction to Enemy Studies was truly an excellent class, if only not for the not so kind range of the exam.
“In the past I wasn’t thinking about attending university, but directly joining a professional team or helping with family business. So I can’t help you as I didn’t choose math.”
Sawol Seeum had an apologetic expression.
No, what are you sorry for?
Maeng Hyodon made a crazy choice by himself, where are you at fault here?
“What is the reason for you to choose math?”
“It just turned out like this.”
Maeng Hyodon spat out bluntly at Sawol Seeum’s question.
What ‘turned out like this’?
There is no way that Ham Geun-hyeong, who obviously knew that Maeng Hyodon was admitted through the special screening process, recommended that.
‘Anyway, there is no one but me to help him.’
In any case, I roughly finished studying for the scope of my exams.
Let’s try to help with Maeng Hyodon’s new challenge.
“On which unit you finished? Honestly.”
“…Factorization.”
Oh? That’s a surprise.
That would correspond to the three parts of the polynomials.
Then you did finish unit 1?
“In middle school I learned factorization perfectly.”
Completely ruined.
You’re talking not about the factorization you learn in the first year of highschool, but the factorization you learn in the 3rd year, 1st semester of middle school!
***
Hours gradually passed while Maeng Hyodon continued his desperate fight with math.
It was Wednesday. Not much time remaining until mid-term exams.
It was a national public holiday while Korea’s National Assembly election and general election was held.
That said, there is no way we could rest even during holidays.
A day without lessons was one more day for self-studying.
“Hahaha… The chemistry periodic table memorization song I once heard during the club activities keeps playing in my head. I didn’t even take chemistry!”
Lee Lena had a truly haunted expression.
Sawol Seeum, who was completely exhausted by all the studying he had to do, because he missed a month of lessons, weakly said:
“Last year, someone played a forbidden exam song as a joke…”
Forbidden exam song.
Forbidden song means you can’t simply forget it if you hear it and it will keep disturbing your concentration.
Are you saying someone played something like this during an exam period?
‘… I don’t know who it was, but I think there is a high chance it was some bastard from the current 2nd year class 0.’
On the side was an unresponsive Maeng Hyodon, looking at the workbook with a soulless expression.
I saw his hand move sometimes, so at least he seemed alive.
In the 1st year class 0 dormitory student study group, the only ones still looking human were me and Han Yi.
Even when me and Han Yi tried to console other kids, it wasn’t much of a help for their spirits.
***
The five of us spent the entire holidays together.
We ate dinner together and then immediately studied until late at night.
I drank sicklepod tea given to us in the Wings Club to protect our eyes while I checked the hologram.
‘That person was elected as in the game story.’
As I remembered, beside the Playable Character’s name, the ‘election certain’ was written.
The close investigation and vote counting was still ongoing, but if it was like this, it was as good as saying he would be just elected.
“Should I wake them up or if not, should I bring a blanket?”
Han Yi suddenly spoke up.
I closed a hologram and turned around to look at the sofa where Sawol Seeum and Lee Lena were sleeping.
I checked the textbooks the two of them were sleeping on.
“Looking at the pages, it seems they didn’t finish their learning goals for today. Let them sleep for a bit and then wake them up.”
“I’ll bring blankets from the Wings Club room. I need to wake up.”
Han Yi left the study room in soundless footsteps to not wake up the two people.
OP only in physical strength, Maeng Hyodon couldn’t sleep and desperately fought against numbers and concepts.
I had no idea why he chose this thorny path.
“Why did you choose math? It doesn’t seem to be a choice out of passion.”
In the game, when Maeng Hyodon joined the Eungwang School in the 2nd year, he didn’t select math.
There was no description of him suffering such hardships during mid-term exams.
Tok.
I heard the quiet sound of the mechanical pencil’s lead Maeng Hyodon was holding, breaking.
“Because it’s my homeroom teacher-nim’s subject.”
Ham Geun-hyeong wasn’t a math teacher.
“My 3rd year middle school teacher is a mathematician, so I wanted to learn it.”
Ah… It was the subject that Maeng Hyodon’s 3rd year middle school homeroom teacher was in charge of, huh?
In the game, Maeng Hyodon talked about him sometimes to Ju Su-hyeok.
And that if not for his 3rd middle school homeroom teacher, he wouldn’t be able to go to Eungwang School.
‘What would happen to Maeng Hyodon if he couldn’t come to Eungwang School?’
He would definitely drift at the bottom, doing dangerous jobs.
Because other Player special highschools don’t have so conventional special screening process like Eungwang School.
Maeng Hyodon who didn’t have a study bone in his body, wouldn’t be able to go the Player special highschool and the general highschool which don’t require tuition or sundry expenses at all were rare.
Maeng Hyodon may have spent his entire life as a middle school graduate.
“When I was in middle school, there wasn’t even one teacher-like bastard. In that school, the only one teacher-nim, the only one worthy of being called a teacher-nim, was the math guy.”
Maeng Hyodon didn’t explain in detail.
Even so, I could roughly guess what happend.
“I thought there would be some way if I do it from the 1st year of highschool, but… It’s clearly fucking dogshit. And I can’t decide whether this is a math textbook or dog barking.”
Maeng Hyodon put a pen lead on the empty mechanical pencil again as he spoke.
He probably studied math like this, even as a middle student, with troublesome paper books and mechanical pencils.
And in the game he probably gave up as he started to attend from the 2nd year and didn’t select math.
Maeng Hyodon was talking like this, but I couldn’t just tell him to give up on math.
“Hey, first perfectly memorize the definitions. Stop at the problem solving process and then mark what this mark means and what this word means first. Next solve the problem.”
So the math hell continued.
Maeng Hyodon had a stonehead, but they say what was once engraved in a stone cannot be erased.
Stay strong, Maeng Hyodon.
While looking at that guy who was dying memorizing definitions, I once again recalled what he said.
‘The only person worthy of being called a teacher-nim…’
There were people who attached a great meaning to the word ‘teacher-nim’.
The faint feeling of the incongruity I felt in the past raised for a moment and then disappeared.
***
The first day of the mid-term exams.
First exam ‘Player’s combat theory 1’.
Out of the common subjects, it was the only subject all 1st year class 0 members had to take.
It was an exam day, so everyone from the seven people came to school early.
“Guys, let’s work hard!”
Kim Yuri spoke as she stretched out towards us what I guessed were self-wrapped peppermint candies bags.
Inside the transparent, fist sized bag were several diamond shaped peppermint candies.
The kids thanked Kim Yuri as they received the candies.
I was the last one to receive it.
“Thank you. You still have many remaining. Are they for friends in other classes?”
“No. All for our class. I didn’t know if someone perhaps won’t come, so I prepared sixteen of them…”
Kim Yuri’s expression dropped as she looked down at the candy bags inside the shopping bag.
‘It’s a mid-term exam, so perhaps someone may come to take the test’, I guess she thought like this and prepared all of them.
Looking at the current situation, there is no way someone will come. What should I say to console her…
Swish—.
At that moment.
The classroom’s automatic door opened and a female student wearing a hood jacket zipped up till chin, entered the classroom.
She had messy hair, and she was wearing a hat and horn-rimmed glasses, so her face couldn’t be seen properly.
“… What, what? I heard that the attendance rate was low!”
It’s low.
Other classes with 50 people almost always reached 100%, while we here with 16 people had less than 50%.
“Too many people. I’m going home! Teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim is a liaaar!”
As if she was performing a one-person drama, the female student spit out one liners and then turned around.
Clang!
The unknown female student forcibly closed the doors.
Tatatata!
I heard the sound of hitting the floor of the corridor outside of the classroom and sprinting away.
It was clear that she was an owner of tremendous leg strength.
While the seven 1st year class 0 members stared at the closed door with dumbfounded expressions.
The door opened again.
Did that kid come back, perhaps? I hoped, but…
What appeared was a disappointed face of Ham Geun-hyeong.
“… I heard that today one more person will come to school. Did she still not come?”
That one person…
She was here, but now isn’t.
“Ah… I should have given her candies…”
Kim Yuri, who realized the situation too late, looked down at the peppermint candy bag with a regretful face.
On the first of mid-term exams.
The 1st year class 0’s attendance rate didn’t reach 50%.
It seemed that this kid really went home, so one additional test was confirmed.
*~*~*
[1] Gwangdong-byeolgok — A poem by An-chuk, Korean title ‘관동별곡 ‘. It’s a description of a scenery in different provinces, basically a travel log. (Now, let’s pray there is no some lost korean literature maniac here that is going to kill me for this description.)
[2] Let’s walk a flowery road! — idiom meaning: Best wishes for the future
[3] Hani — I’m not sure if Seong Siwan meant to say ‘Han’ (which is, I remind you, her surname) here or a full version of her name Han Yi… In his defense. It’s pretty hard to use just her name (which is simply ‘i’).
*After considering it, I’ll use ‘Hani’ when characters use just names and Han Yi when characters use both a surname and name.
Translator’s note: … Why does this novel make me care about every little extra…
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