Chapter 16

Chapter 16

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 16: Written Test (1).

[Investing additional points in ‘Thought Acceleration’.]

[Congratulations! You’ve reached ‘Thought Acceleration (+1000%)’!]

[You have acquired the derivative skill ‘Parallel Thinking’!]

Hit the nail on the head with 10,000 prons. It’s finally easier to see now.

Today is the long-awaited day of the Stellarium written test. I fiddled with the calming pill—similar to a tranquilizer—that Sonia gave me to soothe my mind and body.

“Little sister, if you don’t come out soon, I will leave without you.”

I flung open Ceti’s room door. Ceti, engrossed in packing and oblivious to everything else, scowled upon seeing me and then threw a pillow at me.

“Get out of my room.”

“Little sister.”

“Just go!”

Hmm.

It didn’t seem like she was angry just because she didn’t like me.

Well, everyone is on edge during test times.

“Still, aside from the serving androids, the only Reinhardts here are you and me. We should be pulling together, yet here we are fighting. How sad our parents must be.”

“Probably less sad than losing 2 trillion credits.”

“Ouch, that hurts.”

Ceti stuffed her notebook into her backpack with force. There was a hint of exhaustion in her eyes. She seemed tired.

She grumbled.

“I couldn’t sleep at all because of you.”

“Why?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Actually, I didn’t really want to know.”

And so, we boarded the spaceship, bickering with each other.

Even if we fight and annoy each other, siblings are still siblings. In the face of a huge obstacle like the entrance test, we end up clinging to each other.

Especially on such an important day, siblings who have parents that don’t even bother to show up, let alone send a text of encouragement, should rely on each other.

“Do you think Mom and Dad even know we have our written test today?”

I didn’t respond.

Since boarding the spaceship, Ceti had been silent. She loosely fastened her seatbelt and hugged her legs.

Her face was filled with worry and anxiety.

This cannot continue.

“About the Black Blossom art section, it’s hard when I look at it again.”

“…”

“How can we understand all of this?”

I said this while rolling my eyes slightly. Ceti, who had been still like a doll with her head buried, lifted her head.

“…Dumb. You just need to memorize everything there.”

Indeed, mentioning the test got a reaction out of her.

Seizing the moment, I continued.

“That’s what I meant, the memorizing is tough.”

“They teach memorization rules at the academy. Ah, you wouldn’t know, right?”

“I’m not good at memorizing. Look.”

I showed her the art history workbook I had read through 10 times.

It was tattered. There were places where it was torn. It had been just three months since I bought it, and it looked like some historical artifact.

“You treat your books horribly.”

“It means I studied that hard.”

“You can’t memorize just those few simple things?”

Ceti chuckled, unbuckled her seatbelt, and stood up. She randomly flipped through the book, then started to read from a section that was particularly heavily underlined.

“As constellation manipulation technology has advanced, among some members of the upper class, the practice of drawing pictures with constellations has emerged. This is referred to as ‘Star Art’, and a notable artist in this field is….”

…While doing so, she taught me the artists I needed to memorize rhythmically. It stuck in my head just like a memorization rule made by a top instructor from a famous academy.

“Thank you. This really works well.”

“I helped you with one, so now you help me with one.”

Ceti frowned and pushed a physics workbook towards me. She fluttered her hands as if she had Parkinson’s disease. It must be quite embarrassing for her to learn something from a troublemaker like Aidel.

“…T-This one, number 157.”

“Is it hard?”

“I tried everything, looking at the solution manual. Still didn’t get it in the end.”

“Rho pi squared divided by epsilon…”

“Yah, you bastard—! Don’t start with the answer!!”

After a long voyage, we arrived at our destination.

“Wow.”

Ceti and I marveled at the view of Stellarium.

It is round.

It is tall and big.

The surface gleams.

The true nature of the Stellarium Academy campus was an artificial celestial body floating in the middle of space.

And the three rocky planets surrounding it.

“That’s all college land.”

If the Academy is where high school students study, the college is the space for university students.

But the size of this university campus is the same as three Earths.

After looking at the college for a while, I shifted my gaze back to the campus.

In the novel, they used all sorts of descriptions and settings to portray it. Something about titanium refined with Ether. About being a third the size of the moon’s radius. About its rotation and revolution speeds. They devoted three pages just for this.

Well, enough with such setting plays.

It just visually resembles the Death Star.

“Insane.”

It was the first time I felt grateful for having transmigrated, as it was such a feast for the eyes.

[Entering the orbit of Stellarium. Passengers are advised to fasten their seatbelts.]

As if being drawn in by the artificial planet’s gravity, I was sucked in and many thoughts crossed my mind.

Ceti’s reason for wanting to enter Stellarium is to solidify her position in the family. To put it more simply, she wants to be loved by her mother and father.

Only then can her situation, born out of a political marriage, improve. Not merely a link between the two families, but as a member of the Reinhardt family, she would be able to wield her influence.

Compared to Ceti’s grand dreams, mine were nothing.

Fuck, I don’t want to get pregnant.

Finally, the difficult landing process ended. I pressed down on the dizzy feelings, fluttered my eyes open, and stepped ahead.

“You forgot your bag.”

“Ah, thank you.”

We checked the test slips and other items we brought once more before moving on. Ceti took the lead, and I followed behind. We moved about 50 cm apart. However, it didn’t look too awkward since androids filled the space between us.

“Re-Reinhardt.”

We heard people whispering upon noticing the color of our eyes.

Now a familiar gaze to us.

We mostly ignored it and moved on.

The written test is common for all, so the seats are assigned based on test numbers. Ceti and I registered almost at the same time, so our test numbers were only two numbers apart.

The difference turned out to be quite significant.

“The line changed.”

Ceti sat in the second to last seat in the 3rd row, and thus, I was in the very first seat of the 4th row. When I looked back, Ceti shrugged and blinked.

And the seat between us was taken up by an unexpected person.

“Uh—sister?”

Ceti hugged the person who was about to sit in the seat behind her, visibly surprised. Even without looking back, the joy in her voice made it clear who it was.

“Is sis Rustila sitting right behind me? My goodness, this is amazing. I might be lucky today.”

“Hello, Ceti. Have you been well?”

“I have been well… no, it has been hard without sis.”

Ceti buried her head in Rustila’s chest. Perhaps because of that, she managed to attract the attention of others at once. At the same time, I could finally understand what the visualization of touch taught in literature meant.

Rustila looked more exhausted than Ceti. Her face was as white as milk, and her eyes looked clouded.

She must have been living under the control of her parents, without a doubt.

It seems that word got out about how I treated Kersil family androids. I only helped Rustila catch her breath for a moment, but it backfired.

Of course, I had thought of all this and then proceeded. At that time, Rustila looked like she was on the verge of losing it. If I could have seen her mental state score, it would have been about 1 out of 100.

This is exactly why she needed to pass Stellarium.

[Upon Success: Unlock SAN parameter.]

Passing Stellarium grants a new parameter as a reward from the Outer God.

By unlocking this SAN parameter, one can see the mental state scores of others in real-time. This makes it possible for me to determine who is under the influence of a Outer God and who needs mental care.

Graviton Bullet cannot be made alone. I need the help of those who will become my comrades in the future. Only I, unaffected by PN count, can take care of their mental health.

Anyway,

“Sis, no, Rustila. Let us stick together.”

“Yes…”

To help those two worn-out-looking girls, I need to save myself first. I repeat that over, but failing here means all is done for me.

It was while I was gathering my thoughts.

“Oh my, to see you here.”

A voice unfamiliar yet somewhat heard before pierced my ears.

I turned my head.

Silver hair in stark contrast to Rustila’s blonde. Eyes the color of violet, reminiscent of amethysts. The girl approached me, tracing a peculiar path. The oppressive aura unique to a prestigious family felt menacing.

“Has it been just a week? Such a coincidence.”

Right, such coincidences do exist.

“You know my name?”

“Zelnya.”

“It feels like a bit of an honor that you remember.”

The girl unpacked her things and plopped down right next to me, that is, in row 3, seat 1. Despite the indoor air being comfortably warm, she didn’t fully unwrap the scarf around her neck.

Zelnya just placed her writing stuff down and crossed her arms. Then, she slightly turned her head to look at me.

“Harassing Ceti… let’s stop that now. It’s not like there was any bad blood to begin with.”

“…”

“Instead, I have taken an interest in you.”

She ended her words with a chilling smile.

“This time, I will properly step on you.”

Wow. Really nice.