Ch.4239 – Inferiority Complex

“Did you seriously lecture the transfer student too?”

“What did I do? And why do you care?”

“I’m saying this for your own good, so please stop talking like that…!”

“You think you’re something just because your grades are better than mine right now. I’ll definitely catch up to you in second year, so leave me alone.”

Sihoo smiled bitterly as he recalled Seo Yu-na walking away without looking back.

Considering how she was at the beginning of the semester, her transformation was astonishing.

The naive country girl who had just moved to the city was nowhere to be found, replaced by a personality as sharp as a well-honed blade.

Sihoo had already warned her about her behavior several times in the past.

[Try to be more considerate of your friends.]

[Why should I consider others?]

[Because if you live like that, no one will stay around you.]

[I do fine on my own.]

But even as she gradually became isolated from her classmates, her school ranking skyrocketed at a frightening pace.

Starting from a somewhat ambiguous rank of 30th in the school, she climbed all the way to 2nd place by the final exams of the second semester.

While no one would defend her methods, absolutely no one could deny Yu-na’s efforts.

Though relationships were said to be as important as grades at the Academy, Yu-na had long since declared her surrender on that front.

Because of this, her classmates tried not to create conflicts with her, and Yu-na didn’t seem to care either.

So Sihoo had decided to stop paying attention to her as well.

But this time was different.

The transfer student, who might have enrolled with bad intentions, had unfortunately been caught on Yu-na’s radar.

It was obvious who would become the first target.

No matter how much he disliked Seo Yu-na, Sihoo couldn’t bring himself to wish for something bad to happen to her.

Somehow, he needed to prevent a collision between Seo Yu-na and NoName.

That was the conclusion Yoon Si-hoo had reached after a day of deep contemplation.

The morning commute to Cephiron Academy was truly chaotic.

It was the day when the aptitude test results would be released for all students from 2nd to 6th grade.

Most students were already pulling their hair out at the main entrance, physically rejecting the future they were about to face.

‘If only Yu-na could get first place in this exam…’

Sihoo quickly shook his head.

Even if Yu-na got first place, she wouldn’t pay more attention to her friends, and that wasn’t reason enough for Sihoo to willingly give up his first place.

Yoon Si-hoo was determined to maintain his first-place position in second grade as well.

After crossing the skybridge, the corridor of the northeast building where the second-grade classrooms were located was already bustling with about 50 children.

All their eyes were fixed on a single bulletin board.

The aptitude test ranking list—a reward for diligent students and a punishment in itself for those who neglected their studies.

Sihoo joined the crowd with a pounding heart.

‘Will I be first? Yu-na definitely couldn’t have finished everything since we ran out of time. Surely it won’t be Kim Han-gyeol or Lee Ha-ru?’

Sihoo could confidently say this was the most difficult test he had ever taken in his life.

“Oh, hey Sihoo.”

“Hi Kyungwon. How did you do on the test?”

“Same as the last final exam. But have you… seen the results?”

“Why?”

Sihoo started reading the list from the top without hesitation.

But when he saw the name written in first place, his expression was clearly bewildered.

[1. NoName (100)]

“I’m… not first?”

And the score was a perfect 100 out of 100.

He gulped nervously.

‘Is this even possible?’

[2. Yoon Si-hoo (84.4)]

[3. Seo Yu-na (82.6)]

The names of Yoon Si-hoo, who had always boasted an overwhelming first place, and Seo Yu-na, who had been chasing him fiercely, now seemed pathetically insignificant.

[4. Lee Ha-ru (79.1)]

[5. Ko Kyung-won (78)]

[6. Kim Han-gyeol (76.5)]

[7. Han Seo-ri (73.3)]

…

[Average: 48.3 points / Standard Deviation: 22.4]

“Is this insane? The transfer student definitely finished in just 15 minutes!”

“Stop lying. The teachers deliberately made it time-constrained, how could anyone finish it all?”

“It’s true! Our whole class saw her turn it in early saying she needed to go to the bathroom.”

“This is the first time Yoon Si-hoo has looked human.”

The students each voiced their thoughts.

But Sihoo was too shocked to participate in the conversation.

And the same was true for another girl who arrived late.

“What is that…”

It was Seo Yu-na.

She threw down her bag and pushed through the crowd to reach the bulletin board.

Unable to accept the results, she kept rubbing her eyes.

“Why… why…”

She trembled all over and punched the bulletin board.

“Let’s go to the classroom. Who knows what might happen if we stay near the crazy girl.”

“Damn, what am I going to tell my mom later?”

It would be impossible to accept.

Yu-na had smirked yesterday when she saw NoName giving up the test early.

Moreover, she had already completed advance studies up to the 6th-grade level during the vacation.

In her first year, she had started from behind others and gone through difficult times, but now she sensed during the test that she was close to reaching Yoon Si-hoo’s level.

Though it was a difficult test, she felt she was doing even better than usual.

But Yoon Si-hoo was still going strong, and now another mountain, one that couldn’t even be compared to him, had been added.

“How… am I supposed to win…”

She couldn’t leave. Her feet wouldn’t move.

Yu-na continued to stand in front of the bulletin board endlessly.

Then she quietly walked to a corner of the empty corridor and wiped away her tears in silence.

* * *

Ah, a perfect score.

Naturally, I wasn’t particularly excited.

It’s embarrassing for a grown adult to be acting like a king among children.

I just felt a bit uncomfortable that the class atmosphere had become unsettled because of me.

“Everyone, we need to do group activities, so please turn your desks to form groups of four by connecting with the students behind you.”

Sihoo and I rotated our desks 90 degrees and greeted the students sitting behind us.

One was a diligent boy named Bae Yo-han, and the other was… well, Seo Yu-na, who was glaring at me intensely.

Is this Korean class or a staring contest?

“As you can see, we all have different thoughts even when reading the same poem. Some of you felt that the line ‘spring rain comes down and sits’ seemed human-like, while others shared that it reminded them of light rainfall.

Now, in your groups, let’s each share an experience where your thoughts differed from those around you.”

A group activity during class.

Unlike other groups where students were already freely expressing their opinions, the atmosphere in our group was extremely gloomy.

Somehow the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked students in the school ended up in the same group.

“If no one has any thoughts… should I start first…?”

Yohan timidly looked around.

It might be difficult for young children to recall experiences where they had differences of opinion or thought.

At best, something like “I hate rain but someone else likes it.”

“I really love snowy days, but my brother always complains that it’s like garbage falling from the sky.”

As expected, right on the nose.

Life is indeed a continuous series of conflicts and confrontations, just as the textbook says.

Because we have different backgrounds, values, and goals, we’re placed in environments where we inevitably face off against countless others throughout our lives.

I thought that if adults had even half the ability of elementary school students to listen to and understand others’ values, many problems could be solved.

Developing these abilities early on is the purpose of educational institutions, but…

“I enjoy playing guitar in my free time, but my father thinks musical instruments are useless, so I always feel uncomfortable about it.”

Sihoo reluctantly contributed to the group activity.

That’s quite a cool hobby.

But suddenly Yu-na crossed her arms and frowned.

“I work my ass off every day, and it’s really fucking annoying when someone who just sits at home wondering what to do for fun tries to lecture me.”

“Hey, Seo Yu-na, stop it. You’re crossing the line.”

“I’m sick of you all debating whether to eat cafeteria food or buy something from the store… I’m sick of you discussing whether to switch to this month’s new phone model… Especially you, transfer student, acting all nonchalant while knowing you’re better than everyone—you’re the worst.”

“Seo Yu-na!”

Sihoo shouted, unable to stand it anymore.

But Yu-na, already overcome with emotion, continued speaking with a voice mixed with tears.

“You have no idea how hard it is to wake up at dawn every day to go to school…”

Her eyes were bloodshot.

Finally, Yu-na pushed her chair away violently and stormed out of the classroom.

“What’s going on?”

Teacher Jackie, who had been organizing materials for the next class, came to our group in surprise.

“She’s stressed about the test. I’ll go check on her.”

“No!”

Sihoo suddenly grabbed my wrist to stop me.

Why is his face so pale?

“She probably went to the girls’ bathroom. Are you going to go in there?”