The last week of September has started.
Office workers waited for this week as it’s when the Chuseok holiday and National Foundation day will be celebrated.
But the same wasn’t true for students.
Especially for students of Eungwang High, where students barely talked about the upcoming foundation anniversary of the school that was just around the corner.
“It’s a holiday but it’s not a holiday…”
“After the foundation anniversary, it’s going to be the midterm exams next week? Isn’t that crazy.”
“October third is the National Foundation day and also our school’s foundation day, and Chuseok is also just around the corner. Our exams are coming up though so this holiday is useless. And October third is a Saturday anyway.”
Monday Morning, the sound of agony came from all over the Class Zero students.
As soon as the foundation day of Eungwang High, and also of the Hwangmyeong Foundation, was mentioned, the kids looked at Hwang Jiho.
Everyone in our class knew that he was a relative of the Chairman of the foundation.
“…Why was the Hwangmyeong Foundation built on National Foundation Day?”
“Jiho, did the foundation build the school on that day on purpose? To make students study instead of play around?”
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
Hani and Saeum’s questions were answered with hearty laughter.
It’s obvious why the foundation was established on that day.
That’s when the Son of God from the Myth of Gaecheon went down from the heavens and on to Eungwang District.
“If you want to rest a little during Chuseok, we should study some more in advance. Let’s cheer up!”
Kim Yuri soothed the kids.
She had been meeting her relatives less these days in fear of her light skill exploding.
‘I hope she gets to spend time with her family this time.’
Thanks to Yuri’s encouragement, the other kids got a grip on themselves and accepted reality.
“Hmm… Well, we can’t change the date of Chuseok or exams anyway.”
“Jiikhoe gave out some snacks. Let’s eat these together! They gave me a lot and we dorm students can’t finish them all.”
Until the midterm exams, time went by day by day towards a holiday that wouldn’t feel like a holiday at all.
Before we knew it, it was already Chuseok.
It was only four of us left studying in the dorm’s study room.
“Are we the only ones staying in the dorms during the holiday?”
“Yep. You, me, VP, and her.”
Maeng Hyodon said, pointing to me, Mok Wooram, and Kwon Lena who remained in the dormitory.
Hani and Saeum went to celebrate Chuseok outside.
Hani was with the people at the nursery, and Saeum is with his family.
She had excellent grades and Saeum had competent ones, so they had time to relax.
‘I thought Kwon Lena would spend time with Kwon Jein. What could the Lake of Eternity Team be up to?’
Kwon Lena remained in the dorms.
Perhaps because Saeum isn’t around, she seemed to be a little energized.
“I heard that Chuseok specials will be available for students who are left in the dorms. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yeah, they say it’s a buffet this time.”
“Really?! That exceeded my expectations.”
The mention of Chuseok food made Kwon Lena speak too.
It can’t be since she’s never been absent, but it feels like it’s been a long time since I heard her voice.
“Hmm… It’s Chuseok and also the exams next week, so I hope they bring out moon rabbit rice cake like last time.”
“Oh, that was delicious.”
“Moon rabbit rice cake? Is it a rice cake made by the Rabbit Clan?”
The other kids gulped when they saw a limited edition set of non-glutinous rice and songpyeon on the website that sells moon rabbit rice cake.
Unlike the broke Mok Wooram, Kwon Lena and Maeng Hyodon had saved some money.
They tried to buy a set of moon rabbit rice cakes, but they were disappointed as it was already sold out.
Fortunately, I was able to showcase my role as this class’ vice president.
“I bought some for Chuseok. Let’s eat this together.”
“Heol, VP, did you plan this?”
“Euishin-ah…!”
A few weeks ago, Ok Toyeon sent a lot of messages saying she’ll send me her best songpyeon set for Chuseok.
She said it would be delivered the day before Chuseok, so I planned to eat it with the kids who will remain in the dorms for the holiday.
“Alright, let’s study hard today.”
“Yes! Lena-nim, let’s hang in there!”
“You memorized all the formulas I asked you yesterday, right?”
With my and Mok Wooram’s words, Kwon Lena looked withered and Maeng Hyodon’s eyes seemed to have lost focus.
“Yeah…”
“…Oh.”
I hate seeing my playable characters suffer like this, but I hardened my heart for the two.
I was worried about Mok Wooram tutoring Kwon Lena because not only was she struggling, I think he’s greatly overestimating her.
I took my time and exerted effort to study in my spare time so that I could help these kids.
Dingdong.
A message arrived from the guy who’s set to get forty points in all the exams on the midterm.
[Hwang Jiho] Come to my house. It’s Chuseok.
[Me] Busy.
[Hwang Jiho] (Photo)
Hwang Jiho sent me a photo
‘Impossible! This is…!’
The photo showed several small-sized hanboks.
[Hwang Jiho] The descendants and Shinsoo will be wearing chuseokbim. It’ll be a shame if you don’t come and see them.
(T/N: Chuseokbm are new clothes and shoes worn during Chuseok.)
Olmu and the descendants are wearing new clothes and waiting for me?!
I can’t not go.
I’ll stop by even just for a while.
I answered right away.
[Me] I’m coming.
* * *
Tak Geosan temporarily suspended his fierce training ahead of the midterm exam period.
He insisted at first that his students could study and train at the same time, but Ham Geunhyung, Maeng Hyodon’s homeroom teacher, stopped him with a harsh face.
— If you care about Hyodon’s future, you can’t do this.
— That kid won’t be doing work that uses his brains anyway. Does he need good grades?
Ham Geunhyung then showed Maeng Hyodon’s previous math test results.
In addition to Maeng Hyodon’s scores, the other children’s scores were also indicated in the table.
Where other students scored an average of 80, Maeng Hyodon scored 20 or 30.
‘Wow, he’s a real stone head.’
Bang Yoonseob’s scores weren’t that good either, but he wasn’t as bad as this.
Tak Geosan was surprised.
He coughed several times and tried to be his student’s shield.
— Oho… Seeing that there are correct answer frequencies marked here, it seems like the exam has multiple-choice-type questions. Guessing wouldn’t get you twenty points, right? My student’s guessing skills are top-notch it seems like!
Tak Geosan tried to be optimistic, but Ham Geunhyung shook his head and showed Maeng Hyodon’s test paper.
It showed that Maeng Hyodon truly and sincerely tried.
— He got twenty points even after trying to solve everything.
Ham Geunhyung’s fact bombs absolutely destroyed the shield that Tak Geosan tried to put up.
Tak Geosan groaned.
— …Maybe it won’t make a difference even if he studies!
— At this rate, Maeng Hyodon will fail. After he fails, he’ll need to retake an examination. And if he fails that too, he’ll be suspended. Are you trying to make that happen to Maeng Hyodon?
Tak Geosan’s heart was broken.
He graduated from Eungwang High and had always hoped that his students would graduate safely from the same school.
— …I will suspend our training until the end of the midterm exams.
— Thank you for understanding, sir.
Bang Yoonseob, who watched as Ham Geunhyung negotiated with Tak Geosan, felt greatly relieved.
It’s true that he doesn’t want to train hard, but he also needed the extra time to study.
His case isn’t as disastrous as Maeng Hyodon’s, but his written exam scores were almost at the bottom.
And so, with a gloomy face, he decided to go back to school and study even before Chuseok.
On these fine autumn days, students from Korea’s most prestigious high school immersed in studying walked the halls busily.
Bang Yoonseob only had one thought in his head.
‘Oh, I hate studying so much.’
He hates Tak Geosan’s training, but he also hates studying.
He brought his uncle’s electronic cigarette, and he unknowingly tried to use it after seeing Maeng Hyodon which obviously made him angry.
But he failed again.
He looked around to find a secluded place, his pent-up urge to smoke making him do so.
He met a student with curly hair who was hanging from a branch just above Bang Yoonseob’s head and looking at him.
“Euh-ak!”
Bang Yoonseob screamed unknowingly.
The good-looking curly-haired boy jumped from the tree.
Looking closely, he realized the boy on the tree was his acquaintance.
“Hello.”
“W-what the! You! What are you doing!”
“I’m Mok Wooram of Class Zero and I’m currently doing a sideline while resting from our group study session.”
“Sideline? You mean a part-time job? What sort of part-time job are you doing in here!”
Mok Wooram flatly denied the other’s words.
The words that followed only made Bang Yoonseob go crazy.
“It’s not a part-time job. Those are suspended completely two weeks before the exam. I’m currently doing the sideline of detecting Bang Yoonseob’s smoking.”
“What did you say?! Why in the world would you do that!”
“As punishment, our class’ vice president needs to receive bread from you.”
Class Zero, which consist of four students at the beginning, suddenly became ten.
The recent addition, Mok Wooram, was a pushover, but he’s also a crazy guy with a few screws in his head missing here and there.
Bang Yoonseob was appalled at the dork in front of him.
“You haven’t been smoking lately. It’s a shame. Please make sure to call me when you get the urge to smoke.”
“What?! Get lost!”
“Ah, our break time is over so I must go. Alright, see you next time.”
Hwik!
Mok Wooram lightly jumped up onto the tree again and ran toward Jiik Hall.
It was a swift movement that Bang Yoonseob knew was very skillful, and the guy could catch up with him easily if he ran away.
Bang Yoonseob hid the electronic cigarette deeper in his school uniform’s pockets.
He felt anxious as he knew that Mok Wooram might pop up out of nowhere again.
‘Ah, what now?’
While walking to the library, he saw some people he didn’t want to encounter.
Eungwang High’s two geniuses, Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain.
The two met by chance and were studying sitting face to face at a table.
The occasional subtle glance at each other was affectionate, and all the expressions and gestures poured out on the table.
Still, the two haven’t noticed each other’s feelings yet, and they’re still not dating.
‘How playful.
Those two geniuses would still be at the top of the rankings even if they’re playing around.
Jo Euishin of Class Zero is close behind those two in the rankings, but they never lost their position.
Bang Yoonseob somehow felt angry at this and he headed to a corner where the two wouldn’t be visible.
However, today, there were so many talented people everywhere in the library that there was no place for Bang Yoonseob to sit comfortably.
‘Ah, I should’ve just studied at home.’
However, Bang Yoonseob knows very well that he wouldn’t be able to study if he were at his house.
He can easily imagine being kicked in the back and out of the house while sleeping after stealing and eating the fruits that his mother peeled.
Bang Yoonseob kept walking away from people.
‘…Has the library always been this big? Well, they do need a lot of space to keep all those books.’
With the advent of devices that can read holographic books, the number of people using traditional paper books decreased.
However, they still exist and books are still published in papers every day around the world.
The library at Eungwang High was famous for its fast growth.
There’s a strange rumor though that Eungwang High’s principal buys rare books and old books hidden around the world, which makes the library expand even further.
In order to store the huge amount of books, Eungwang High’s library was constantly expanded.
The central library here was also scheduled to be expanded later in the year.
‘I don’t think there’s anyone here. Should I look at the library map?’
Bang Yoonseob got lost while walking thoughtlessly.
The main task of the library department was to hold regular library tours and guide lost students in the library.
Today, it so happened that Bang Yoonseob is the lost child.
He wandered around the pile of books, huffing to find the way on his own.
After wandering around the bookshelves for almost thirty minutes, he finally found another person.
‘Is there a reading seat in a place like this?’
On the old wooden floor, there was a table and a chair that could accommodate four people, and a sofa that one person could lie down on.
There was a female student sitting at the table.
The average-looking girl looked tired.
‘She came all the way here to study? Is she lost too? Oh, wait, I think I’ve seen her before.’
Bang Yoonseob recalled an incident.
There was a time when the school was overturned when students lost their abilities and energy waves.
There was a student who was caught up in this case and unintentionally entered the school illegally.
The lonely-looking child studying over there was the victim.
‘…I heard the top 50% were allowed to enter again.’
Bang Yoonseob felt upset.
No wonder, it didn’t feel good to see a child studying all alone in a place where he was lost.
On impulse, he opened his bag and sat diagonally opposite to the female student.
It was quite noisy as he took out his notes and pens roughly, but the other person only glanced at Bang Yoonseob once and said nothing.
