episode_0107

“Ugh…”

Elia, who was sitting next to me, let out a rare sigh.

Then he even went so far as to flop down on the table.

His warm-looking yellow hair hung down, his large chest pressed against the table, and an unexpected sigh escaped him again.

An emotional expression full of fatigue.

This is a rare reaction from Elia, who was always positive.

But I didn’t think of him as unusual.

I took a sip of cocoa, which was sold at a price that I still couldn’t get used to, and listened to the sounds around me.

– Oh my, shit…

– Is this really true? The average has been cut to pieces?

– Who solved the wavelength proof for dungeon attack question 39…?

In the cafe, which had a nice atmosphere thanks to the soft glow of the sunset shining through the window, the gloomy sound of music was in full swing.

“It’s so difficult…”

Elia sighed deeply and complained, as if the pressure on her chest was uncomfortable.

“This test was definitely difficult in general. I also didn’t have enough time, so I solved it as if I was being chased.”

The person who answered Elia’s complaint was Baek A-rin, who was sitting at the table across from her and sipping coffee.

Even Baek Arin, who took the top spot in the entrance exam, said it was difficult.

…However, according to the original work, I remember Baek Ah-rin maintaining her senior position this time with perfect written and perfect scores in practical skills.

“Not in general, just all of them were crazy? Some of them are so bad that I can’t even think about them.”

“That’s Yeonhwa, if you studied normally… no.”

“Well, why. What do I do? No, you said almost everything, but then you pretend to gloss over it?”

Hong Yeon-hwa, who was sitting next to him, also had her head stuck on the table.

The end time of the first day of midterm evaluation.

We just got together at the same cafe to check out the preliminary list for the tournament that will be announced shortly.

“Basic magic, magic interpretation, dungeon mechanics, dungeon strategy… nothing is easy…”

Hong Yeon-hwa, rubbing her head on the table, muttered.

I nodded inwardly at the words full of complaints.

The notoriety of assessments conducted in poetry cradle is widespread.

As the level of education was high, there were many lectures that were difficult to keep up with, and regular evaluations were also very difficult.

Also, the mid-term evaluation notes are particularly notorious.

The practical skills aren’t crazy difficult as I have some talent and I’ve been working hard for almost my whole life… but the writing is particularly difficult.

There is no multiple choice.

Most of the problems are descriptive and require complex procedures.

Since time is short, if you hesitate and think for a long time, you will not have time to solve the later problems.

Only by thinking and writing down the answer at the same time was I able to meet the time limit.

I heard that grading also takes quite a bit of time.

Numerous slaves… no, it took a lot of time to mobilize administrative staff, assistants, and even magic. If the correction period is included, the period becomes even longer.

Thanks to this, professors are said to be busy during midterm evaluations without even having time to dry their wet hair.

The same goes for Professor Liana, who once complained that she was tired from teaching elemental arts to Elia and I while also preparing for public lectures and mid-term evaluations.

Moreover, the written evaluation has not yet been completed.

Although I completed more than half of today’s written evaluation schedule, there were still some subjects that I had not yet taken.

and…

“No, it was especially difficult this time…”

This written evaluation was particularly difficult.

Since I was discharged from the hospital, I was desperately trying to catch up with my progress and steadily solving genealogy and past exam questions, so I was feeling him.

It feels like the overall difficulty has gone up one level.

“I think they raised the difficulty level considering the level of first graders.”

“Huh?”

“Why… Isn’t it famous that Poetry Yoram sets questions according to grade level? But I heard that this first year’s class is of a high standard and the level of evaluation has also been raised.”

“Ebande. Why are you making such a fuss by making it so high… My head hurts so much…”

Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been complaining about Baek A-rin’s answer, let out a loud sigh and rubbed her head on the table again.

Hong Yeon-hwa was a typical practical person who abandoned written skills and chose practical skills.

To be exact, the type that has good brains but doesn’t necessarily use them.

That’s why you’re complaining that the evaluation was so bad, but if you actually take a look at the test paper, you’ll probably get a pretty high score.

If my writing skills had been poor in the first place, I would never have been able to get the second seat.

Looking like a deceiver, Hong Yeon-hwa hit her head on the table and started shaking.

Her ruby-colored hair moved here and there as she nodded.

Hong Yeon-hwa doesn’t seem to care much about him.

Elia, leaning her head across from them, and Baek Arin, tapping her smartwatch and concentrating on something.

“……”

I was nervous.

As I was examining him with the power of observation, my fingers naturally began to twitch.

I was very concerned about my hair being disheveled like that. If I had to be honest, it’s on the uncomfortable side.

Of course, Hong Yeon-hwa’s hair was beautiful even when it was disheveled, but it would have looked better if it had been organized… It just felt a little uncomfortable to have it tangled.

After thinking about it for a while, I slowly reached out my hand and straightened up my messy hair.

In the process, I was amazed by the soft feel of my fingers.

Was this what the hair of nobles who maintained their skin and hair with perfumed oil felt like this?

Although I usually control it, I felt the softness much better when I touched it, which was much more stiff than usual.

But when I thought about it, Hong Yeon-hwa was already one of the most noble among nobles.

Does Hong Yeon-hwa also take care of her hair in various ways?

Considering the time and hassle it takes, I think Hong Yeon-hwa would hate such troublesome things due to her personality.

“……!”

Hong Yeon-hwa’s shoulder, which had been absent-mindedly rubbing her cheek on the table, suddenly shook violently. Soon his body started shaking as if there had been an earthquake, and he turned his head.

Moist red eyes stared at me. I almost missed the embarrassment etched in those eyes.

[ah]

[Sorry for any inconvenience]

“No! no it’s okay. It wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”

Just as he was about to apologize and take his hand away.

Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been blinking blankly, shook her head with her cheek pressed against the table as if nothing had happened.

I felt a little reassured by that and even arranged my hair according to its texture.

[It’s very soft]

“…Thank you.”

Hong Yeon-hwa raised her upper body, rubbing her neatly organized hair with her fingertips.

As usual… or even more so, I felt a small sense of pride in my neatly organized hair.

It would have been better to clean it up with the portable comb I usually carry, but it was a bit too much to take out that.

“……”

“?”

A strange emotion flickered in Hong Yeon-hwa’s red eyes. It was different from the embarrassment just now.

How should I express that? It felt like I was forcibly suppressing some impulse.

When I tilted my head to see something, a scene similar to that of a wild animal about to be slaughtered suddenly appeared in my mind.

It was an imagination that I could not understand. I couldn’t understand why this scene came to mind.

– T-ring

– Tiring, tiring, tiring!

As Hong Yeon-hwa took on a strange look, alarms rang on the smartwatches of the cadets sitting in the cafe.

“Oh, I guess it has already been assigned.”

Elia, who was blinking her half-closed eyes, suddenly raised her upper body.

In the process, the compressed chest regained its original size, and it was as if I was peeking into the mystery of the human body.

In that way, not only Elia, but also Baek A-rin and Hong Yeon-hwa tapped their smartwatches to check the tournament preliminaries.

– T-ring

The hologram projector I was carrying also set off an alarm.

As I played with the projector around my neck, a hologram appeared.

‘Who am I going to be with…’

There is a practical evaluation from the afternoon of the 3rd day to the morning of the 4th day, but if it is conducted as announced in advance, I will probably be close to an easy win.

Of course, that didn’t stop me from letting down my guard, but I couldn’t help but want to focus my energy on the tournament.

This tournament in particular has a tight schedule.

On the afternoon of the 4th day, the tournament preliminaries will be held to determine who will advance to the finals.

The fifth day will be held without stopping except for a short break in between, and the winner will be selected that day.

It’s a pretty tight schedule. Because the break time is quite short, if you invest too much energy in one game, an unfortunate situation arises that makes it difficult to proceed with the next game.

But there was no opposition from the cadets. In the first place, this tournament structure is one of the traditions that has been continued since the early days of Siyoram’s founding.

In practice, it is extremely rare to be given as much rest time as you want at the moment you want.

Because the attacking monsters, enemies and the environment have no reason to take advantage of external enemies.

As a reflection of this, it was explained that by limiting the amount of rest between tournament matches, cadets are encouraged to place more emphasis on managing their physical strength.

‘It would be an easy game if an easy opponent got caught, but I guess there would be nothing to gain…’

To be honest, I don’t think it’s possible to win, but I still want to rank as high as possible.

The final matches of the tournament are broadcast externally.

The content of the game will be widely transmitted through the Internet, which is made up of the power of coordination.

Also, officials from various factions and clans will be watching the game.

There is a little bit of pressure on him.

There is also a small concern about what will happen if we advance to the finals and lose badly.

Of course, I don’t have any pride, and I don’t care that much about reputation, but…

What worries me is the teacher who is teaching me.

He even overcame the wounds caused by losing a disciple in the past and considered me, a poor disciple, to be his disciple.

And since that day, he has been training me with great care.

In the meantime, if your student loses in an ugly way, it will definitely not be a pleasant feeling.

I’m not concerned about my pride or reputation, I’m just concerned about Master’s feelings.

In other words, even out of respect for my teacher, I have no intention of being satisfied with half-baked results.

Anyway, we advance to the finals. And there, you must show a good performance so that the teacher will not be disappointed.

With that promise, I opened the bracket file that had finished loading.

[Tournament Preliminary Bracket (Group 3)]

⑴ Emily Ramos │ Daria Rostanova

⑵ Ha Yeon-jae │ Haruka Fujiwara

…

⑹ Lee Ha-yul │ Aiden Reynolds

‘hmm…’

After checking the first person, I sighed inwardly.

Aiden Reynolds.

He was a person who often got involved in many ways.

The person who sparred with me when I was inexperienced during the swordsmanship class.

Also, we are in the same group for dungeon practice, and since we are in the same freshman class, we also take common lectures together.

There are no hard feelings whatsoever. They also said that they didn’t argue with bad feelings during the sparring.

In the dungeon, there was talk from the other side.

There is no particular malicious intent here either.

[plural?]

…No malice.

I just remember a little bit how I was upset by apologizing for something I didn’t particularly care about during dungeon practice.

* * *

A cafe.

Aiden, who was unable to recover from the shock that ruined his first day of writing, flinched when he saw the first opponent of the tournament he received.

[Tournament Preliminary Bracket (Group 3)]

…

⑹ Lee Ha-yul │ Aiden Reynolds

…

Lee Ha-yul.

Aiden’s eyes wavered as he saw the three letters of the name. The coffee cup in my hand also shook.

– plod along

“The bracket is already out. Who are you dealing with?”

Attila, who put the piece of cake he received from the counter on the table, came up behind Aiden and took a peek at the match list.

And then I saw the name Lee Ha-yul.

With the name ‘Aiden Reynolds’ engraved next to it.

“……”

Sharp cat-like eyes blinked.

Attila was about to open his mouth, but closed his mouth for a moment to gather his thoughts.

A brief cleanup has been completed.

After organizing his thoughts, Attila opened his mouth.

“Good work.”

Thinking about it, there wasn’t really anything else to say other than this.