Chapter 46
Midterm exams were held for four days.
The first day.
From the first day, a straggler came out of 1st-grade class 0.
Not long ago, he had a cool thought, thinking that he would hate to see a straggler in his class, but he probably thought that because of his mood.
It’s because of the mood.
It was important, so he thought about it twice.
“We already got students that need to take additional exams?”
Ham Geun-hyung, who heard the news of the female student’s skipping of the tests, looked sorrowful.
It couldn’t be helped.
She was a kid saying that seven kids were too much.
Even if she was forced to sit down and take the test, she would not have been able to demonstrate her skills properly.
“Teacher, the kids who don’t come…… do they even take the exams?”
“Yeah. Eight people applied for remote testing in advance.”
Ham Geun-hyung nodded to Kim Yu-ri’s question.
He guessed everyone was still alive after all.
He thought that they at least wanted to get promoted.
Although there was an incident before the exam, the midterm exam start time was approaching quickly.
“Everyone get ready. When the class bell rings, the exam will begin immediately.”
In the end, the bag of peppermint candy that Kim Yuri had brought was distributed to the seven classmates of Class 0 and Ham Geun Hyung.
* * *
The second day.
In the midst of the ongoing suffering of the silver light students, a news that pleased the students started going around.
“Hey! Is it true that the moon rabbit rice cake will be sold in the school cafeteria throughout the midterm exams?”
“It’s true. All the kids who didn’t eat at school yesterday are regretting it.”
“It was my first time trying it but as soon as I chewed it, it literally melted in my mouth. The sakura-leaved rice cake was really delicious.”
Was this the result of Hwang Ji-ho’s bet with Ok To-yeon?
He wondered whether Ok To-yeon was killed by her Jin tribe older sister To-yoon like she said she would.
‘Hwang Ji-ho has a good sense. To think he would serve the moon rabbit rice cakes during the midterm exams.’
Their chairman has changed.
Considering the chairman’s actions so far, this was an amazing development.
‘It was also the cherry blossom leaved rice cake among many rice cakes. Whoever chose it, chose well.’
The flower language of cherry blossoms has various meanings like fleetingness, the beauty of life, fine beauty, mental beauty, wealth, culture, and prosperity.
Another flower language for cherry blossoms in Korea was “midterm”.
In particular, in the case of high school, they were notorious because it bloomed during the period when it was necessary to prepare for midterm exams and then wilted right before the exams started.
After the exams, it was common to see only greenish leaves.
But······.
“Why doesn’t the cherry blossoms fall? Last year it bloomed for a bit then, immediately fell.”
“In areas other than the Silver Light district, cherry blossoms are all gone. I guess they’re crazy too.”
“This year’s exams are also totally crazy. The new teachers that got hired in place of the fired Choi Pyeon Deuk are crazy.”
“Yeah…… They just seemed to know how to squeeze you to the limit. Ah, it’s so tough!”
“Cherry blossoms, students, and teachers are all going crazy.”
All of the reviews of the students who took a break from studying for a while and blankly stared at the cherry blossoms on the promenade were consistent.
“The kids who finished their exams early can probably go to the cherry blossom viewing.”
“I envy them. My schedule is full until the last day.”
“If you’re lucky, you can go even if you finish late. I hope it keeps blooming like this.”
In the other regions, all the cherry blossoms were falling, but Silver Light cherry blossoms were not.
Moon Sae-ron being excited about investigating it, was talking all about it in the freshmen’s newspaper club group message chatroom.
It looked like her grades weren’t so bad to the point she needed to think about failing, so he guessed she must have some breathing room.
[Moon Sae-ron] All areas that can be reached with an air board were checked! Whenever you guys are free you should go check too. Make sure to call me if you find anything unusual as well!
Moon Sae-ron sent a map of where the cherry blossoms bloomed in the area around Silver Light high school in the chatroom.
It seemed that Moon Sae-ron went around the whole school already.
‘The game’s Silver Light high school’s cherry blossom quickly fell.’
When he saw the map sent by Moon Sae-ron, he got a sense of the cause.
‘The closer they are to Cheonik Mountain, the longer the cherry blossoms seem to last.’
The Heavenly Beast Snare was gradually recovering its health, and the broken ley lines were slowly being restored under the command of Hwang Ji-ho. Perhaps the resurrected earthly powers had an effect on this. Mysterious phenomenon took place even outside of school.
[Eun Seoho] Cho Eui-shin hyung, Hwangho-nim, cherry blossoms are continuing to bloom in the maze garden. Here is a picture![Eun Leeho] According to Shinrok oppa, he said it was because of the Heavenly Beast’s influence! He was saying it was its wish to see it keep blooming.
In the group message room with the three descendants of Eunho, a picture of the cherry blossom path in one of the maze gardens was uploaded.
Seeing a mat and a lunch box in the corner of the picture, it seems they came out to view the cherry blossoms in front of the garden.
These children were sternly ordered not to go outside Hwang Myung-ho’s mansion, so he thought they are doing this to change their mood.
‘……But did she call him Shinrok oppa just now?’
It wouldn’t be strange for them to call him that way when he thought about the children’s positions, but when he thought of the dreary school supplies show he put on, the feeling of discomfort was huge.
It’s a good thing the descendants get along well though.
[Eun Jae-ho] The Heavenly Beast is sleeping now.
During the bloody recollection, the youngest sibling provided some healing.
In the photo sent by the youngest, Snare was sleeping under a cherry tree with a smile on his face.
He was crouching with a happy face as if he was having a good dream.
A few cherry blossom leaves had fallen above the downy body.
‘Let’s save it!’
The two photos were renamed and saved, and one was set as the startup screen that appeared when the device was started.
‘I wish they would take pictures of Snare often to me.’
There was no way Hwang Ji-ho or Baek-hogun could do this extraordinary thing.
Jeok-ho was busy, and Kim Shin-rok is a little…… He lives in the faculty’s residence building and he will be busy, probably.
He decided, for the future, he will have to get closer to Eunho’s descendants.
Since he got a picture of Snare and all, he decided to do what he needed to do today.
‘Let’s see how that event had changed.’
On the first day of the midterm exam, the two illegally admitted students poisons Cotton Ball to shake Andain’s mentality.
On the second day of the midterm exam, Andain finds a dead Cotton Ball after completing the exam.
Joo Soo-hyuk meets Andain, who was crying in a place where people were scarce.
Joo Soo-hyuk, who usually has great social skills and communication skills, didn’t know what to do, so he couldn’t comfort her and so he turned around and left to investigate the case.
‘The students who entered the school illegally was expelled from the school, and Cotton Ball was sleeping well like this now…nothing might actually happen.’
Still, wanting to see how the event had changed was a sad habit the veteran of the national trash game had.
‘A little remote trail that leads toward Cheonik Mountain. It’s also far from the central area or the 1st-grade area, and I remember there was a description in the game stating ‘the side where people don’t come because the road is rough.’
This trail was also mentioned by Sawol Seum once before.
He didn’t know if he can find it properly.
While checking the school map through the hologram, he saw Andain walking in the distance.
‘I guess I came to the right place.’
He didn’t want to be seen, so he hid.
The usage was great, but there was an appropriate Gwanglim for this situation.
There will be no other big events during the midterm exams, so it didn’t matter if the time available for the player’s trajectory was significantly reduced.
〈Gwanglim, Activating ‘The player’s trajectory’.〉
The character that was used was the strongest when it came to stealth.
It was ‘Jeon Moo-young, the Colorless’.
If he hadn’t used this level of power, he would have been caught by Andain, the superwoman.
〈Activating the target character’s Gwanglim, ‘Time without Shadow’.〉
When the Gwanglim was activated, his presence became extremely thin.
While in use, his presence will not be discovered by the human eye, recording devices, or detection-related skills.
He quietly walked along Andain towards a less crowded place.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a dead end.
At the end of the road, there was a giant cherry tree and an old bench.
And······.
There was a person sitting on the bench.
“Uh, uh…… Dain?”
It was Joo Soo-hyuk sitting on the bench.
With a faintly red face, whether he was thinking of Andain, he had a face like he was asking if this is a dream or reality.
Even though he had a face that would look stupid when made by ordinary people he looked handsome, so he felt the unfairness of this world.
“······Hi.”
As if she hadn’t expected Joo Soo-hyuk to be there, Andain greeted quietly after she hadn’t spoken for a very long time.
He expected that maybe the two would meet, but he didn’t know that Joo Soo-hyuk would be here first, waiting.
It seems that the fate of the title hero and the title heroine was strongly applied even without the corresponding skills.
“Yes, hi! So······.”
Joo Soo-hyuk hesitated when he replied to Andain’s greeting.
Why does his strong communication ability become like that in front of Andain?
“……Would you like to sit here?”
Did he hesitate that much just to say that?
His speech was stiff, and he also looked very nervous.
Andain replied after hesitating for a while.
“······Can I do that?”
“Of course!”
Andain sat down a little away from Joo Soo-hyuk.
It wasn’t smooth, but sparsely, the two began to have a conversation.
Conversation about tests, cherry blossoms, moon rabbit rice cake at the restaurant…
It was a refreshing conversation that would be comparable to a conversation between a male and a female elementary school student.
It seems there was a long way to go for the two to be together.
‘Ah, I’ve been here for too long.’
The two were more likely to sit there and continue the conversation, but he decided to leave.
While trying to see how the event had changed, he ended up just being salty.
He felt like a tickle near his heart.
‘I did something rude to both of them… I shouldn’t have come.’
As a result, it was he took a peek and overheard of the stories of the two.
He felt sorry for Joo Soo hyuk, and Andain.
Still, he sincerely supported his playable characters.
There are many trials that the two will have to overcome in the future, but…he wished them luck.
* * *
The third day.
They arrived at Study Room 210 of the Intellectual Hall after completing the exam.
The introductory test for Enemy Studies, which covered a very wide range, was over.
He and Han-Yi, who took the same subject, were checking each other’s answers.
“I chose number 1 for question 1.”
“Me too. Number 5 for question 2?”
“Yeah. The answer to question 3 is ‘similarity between the psychic Enemy’.”
“I wrote “Phantom ghost species, demon species Enemy”. Would that be correct as well?”
“I do not know. Since intangible species of Enemies would fit that question as well if you put it that way.”
“Ah… that’s true. Mr. Gong Cheong-Hwon is strict, so that answer will probably be treated as a wrong answer. I think it was a mistake to answer it with broad terms.”
Han-Yi, who was looking for a perfect score, sighed.
However, when they compared all the remaining problems and scored themselves, Han-Yi came out 1 point higher than him.
It was him and Han, who continued to compete for the lead during the mini-tests.
Perhaps the first place in this class will be Han-yi.
“······Aren’t your grades too good?”
Maeng Hyo-don was in an extremely nervous state ahead of tomorrow’s math test.
He was so nervous that he broke five mechanical pencils while solving the problems, and was holding onto his sixth.
“Yeah, they both had perfect scores in the common subjects, right? It’s nice to have a study meeting with Han-Yi and Eui-shin.”
“Yes. It was really helpful.”
Irena and Sawol Seum were able to afford some breathing room because they successfully completed the exam for a subject they were not confident in.
Still, it was too early to be thankful.
“Let’s do our best tomorrow for the final exam.”
He hoped the absolute best for Maeng Hyo-don.
* * *
The last day.
All the exams were over, but the first-grade class 0, who had a study meeting at the Intellectual Center, all gathered together.
Today’s big event, Maeng Hyo-don’s math test results presentation, was held after everyone gathered.
“Hey, Vice-President. Tell me quickly. How many points?”
Maeng Hyo-don’s face was dark because he had studied without sleeping.
The result of pre-scoring his test paper.
“I can’t believe it.”
“What, what is it?”
Maeng Hyo-don’s score was literally unbelievable.
The method they chose was choice and concentration.
It was considered impossible to cover the entire range of the things that will be on the exam, so it was a tactic to master half of the range perfectly.
40 points was the cutoff point of failing.
It’s wasn’t the best if you’re aiming for 50 points, but it wasn’t the worst strategy either.
But the score of Maeng Hyo-don was.
“63 points.”
“Ahhhhhhhhh! Yes!”
He clenched his fist and shouted.
According to the old grading method, Su, Wu, Mi, Yang, Ga, Su being the highest, Ga, being the lowest, this score was equivalent to “Yang”.
Maeng Hyo-don was probably the last place among the students who chose mathematics.
Still, it was like a miracle when he thought of that desperate study period.
Maeng Hyo-don, the guy who had a stone for his head, at this very moment was someone who deserved all the glory.
“You got 44 points for getting almost all the stuff you studied right and 19 points for multiple choice guesses. Well done, Maeng Hyo-don.”
It seemed that the god of mathematics empowered Maeng Hyo-don.
“It feels like the midterms are finally over.”
“Yes, I’m glad Hyodon passed safely!”
“Hyodon, guys, you guys did an extremely good job.”
The kids who watched the process of scoring with nervous faces sighed with relief.
Of all participants of the dormitory study meeting, no one had failing scores.
Kim Yu-ri and Hwang Ji-ho had nothing to worry about, so the first-grade class 0 actually passed safely.
Let’s take that escapee as an exception. He will forget about her.
“Cheers!”
Sawol Seum shouted brightly with a bottle.
It was a carbonated drink that was banned during the exam period because it made the stomach feel uncomfortable if drunk incorrectly.
Now that the exams were over, the ban was lifted.
They poured soda into a paper cup and toasted lightly.
Everyone was tired of the exams, so they couldn’t have a big party.
They disbanded after a simple test wrap-up party.
Leaving the study room was somewhat regrettable.
* * *
The midterm exams were over, and the post-test parties were over.
The exams were done, but a great ordeal remained for him.
It was something that would be more painful and would hurt his mentality more than the exams.
‘I rather prefer to take another exam.’
He left the device provided by the school in case Hwang Ji-ho would track it and find him.
He was the guardian of the territory, and if he used his powers, he can check everything that happens in the Silver Light district in real-time.
‘If he could use that without any penalties, he wouldn’t have tracked my device on April Fool’s Day.’
So it will be fine.
Perhaps.
Ding Dong.
A message had arrived.
He came without the device that was provided by the school, but thanks to the linking of the message function, it was possible for him to check new messages.
The sender of the message was Kim Yuri.
[Kim Yuri] Eui Shin, I sent the class management materials in preparation for the first quarter student representative meeting tomorrow, so please read it!
After the midterm exam, the first quarter student representative meeting was held.
The class president and vice president of each class.
The school’s four major student organizations, student associations, leadership team, intellectual society, and general club associations.
It is a student representative conference where more than 100 students participated.
It seemed that Kim Yuri, who was good at working, had already prepared the materials meticulously.
‘I’ll have to give it a read after finishing this job.’
He can do it.
He can hold on.
He self-suggested, self-indoctrinated repeatedly.
“Hello.”
Closed area without any recording devices.
A classroom in the old school building.
The person he called out spoke first.
“That crow mask, I’ve seen it before. You are also the one that cleansed the Silver Light district educational environment protection area.”
He guessed he had investigated all the incidents that occurred in the district.
It was a picture in a very small and quickly buried article.
“The face and physique seen behind the mask. It all looks like me. I think it’s a little older than me, however. I couldn’t believe it because I felt the burnt marks on the invitations you sent, the energy left behind by Red Dragon, but it was really you…”
In the end, Yeom Jun-yeol spits out that word.
“Red Phantom Thief!”
It came out.
Red Phantom Thief.
He was prepared, but when he heard it from Yeom Jun-yeol, he felt very clingy.
His playable character gave him such a shame!
With the player’s trajectory, he transformed into the version of Yeom Jun-Yeol, which was used at the illusion auction.
He desperately pretended to be composed.
“Yes, I am…the Red, Phantom Thief….!”
He wanted to go back to his house, his dorm room.