episode_0007

Episode 7: Saving the 1st Round (1)

The world is really quite dirty.

Perhaps when my Charm stat reached 9, perhaps when it became around average.

Honestly, it’s still lower than average, but.

Thinking back to my incredibly ugly face from before, like the Jar of Greed.

Now, when I look in the mirror while showering, I think I can at least say, ‘Isn’t this much okay?’

But you know.

As my charm increased, my appearance changed, and accordingly, evaluations also changed.

So, something like this happened.

And it’s something that would never have happened if it were me back in the first round.

“Hey.”

When I finished the Good Deed Quest and came back to my seat to rest because I was tired.

Suddenly, a girl I had never seen before talked to me.

No, I’d seen her face.

Since we’re in the same class.

But we were someone who had never once made eye contact or spoken to each other.

“……?”

As far as I confirmed, it wasn’t Han Somi, who I had been paired with once for cleaning duty.

That’s why the words that followed were even more shocking.

“By any chance, do you like karaoke~?”

“……”

What on earth is this?

Do I like karaoke?

Uh, yeah, I like it.

How many songs have I sung going to coin karaoke by myself.

But, that’s probably not what’s important.

Even I’m not some dense protagonist you’d only find in a light novel.

That’s clearly an invitation.

Going to karaoke together as different genders.

She didn’t directly say ‘Let’s go’, but.

It means she’s put it on the table and is testing the waters.

No, damn it, there’s no way that’s true.

How many times have I been screwed over until now.

So, I have to properly confirm.

“Why?”

I had several scenarios in my head.

First of all, the worst scenario.

“You didn’t perhaps lose at Jjokpallida, did you?”

Jjokpallida.

It’s one of the games that were wildly popular around this time, like Dra~gon Ball, Ssae Ssae Ssae~, Bori~ Bori~ Ssal!

It’s a children’s purified version of the drinking game ‘King’s Game’, where the person who loses at rock-paper-scissors follows the winner’s command.

Usually, they order things like 『Spin around 10 times with your hand on your nose like an elephant trunk, Bark like a dog』 right on the spot, but.

『Go flip off So-and-so (the prettiest or most handsome kid in class).』

Or.

Even worse.

『You, go tell him/her (the ugliest outcast in class) that you like them.』

They order very embarrassing things like that, and it’s a rule that you absolutely must do them.

Especially the last one is really painful.

Because I’ve experienced it myself, I know it very well.

Of course, it’s not that I lost at rock-paper-scissors often.

I’ve never even played the Jjokpallida game with kids in the first place. I only watched them do it.

Do you know?

I was just standing still.

The sight of a girl suddenly coming up and saying she liked me, and then right in front of my face, saying ‘Ah, damn, how embarrassing, this is awful’ while gagging.

On top of that, later, walking down the hallway, suddenly hearing 『Hey, there goes your boyfriend lol』 was a bonus.

Simply put, it’s like PTSD.

“Huh? No, no! It’s absolutely not like that!”

Fortunately, judging by her reaction, it doesn’t seem like she came because she lost at Jjokpallida.

“Ah, I thought.”

I nodded, feeling relieved.

At the same time, I lowered my guard, which I had prepared in advance for a sudden acceleration.

“Han Somi asked for the signed parent-teacher communication form, didn’t she?”

I took out the crumpled parent-teacher communication form from my bag, quickly signed it with a ‘shik shik’ sound, and handed it over.

“Pfft. Can you sign like that? I’ll hand it to Somi for now.”

Han Somi, our vice class president, who wasn’t quite bullied outright but was subtly ostracized.

Just recently, she had actually made some friends.

From the start, she was just timid, but she was pretty, so I thought she’d find her group quickly if given the chance.

“So, do you like karaoke~?”

“……”

Huh?

This wasn’t it either?

“I like it.”

There’s no reason to lie or to be cautious.

So, for the second time, I’ll just say it as it is.

“Oh, really? Thanks~”

That cheerful new friend of Han Somi’s smiled and left.

That the smile wasn’t a mocking one.

Even I, someone riddled with PTSD, could tell that much right away.

-Hey, are you crazy?!

-What’s the big deal~ Somi, you said it yourself, that he’s actually not that bad of a kid~

-Right. Besides Somi, he also taught me problems I didn’t know.

-Somi, you’re the one who brought up the karaoke thing~

-Ah, no, but still, if you suddenly do that…

-Anyway, he said he doesn’t dislike karaoke, didn’t he?

-Oh, really…?

Meaningless conversations of middle school girls.

What on earth is it?

That’s strange…

No.

Simply ending it like that wouldn’t do; I had a utterly dumbfounded expression.

I told you.

There’s no such thing as a dense protagonist like in a light novel in reality.

They were truly considering going to karaoke with me.

I had thought in the back of my mind that if I raised my charm, something like this might happen.

Moreover.

[A middle school girl spoke to you first.]

[Popularity stat increases by 4.]

[Popularity stat : 1 → 5]

My Popularity stat also went up.

[Outcast stat decreases by 4.]

[Outcast stat : 58 → 54]

My Outcast stat also went down, so it’s ultimately a huge gain, but.

“……Hoo.”

Why do I feel even more bitter than before?

Did completing the Good Deed Quest really have an effect?

No.

This isn’t because I did good deeds, but because my charm increased.

It’s just because my face changed.

[※Evaluation : 『Scary Kid -Ugly-』 → 『Scary but upright(?) Kid -The boy who, after showering and looking in the mirror, thinks ‘Isn’t this about average?’-』]

That’s how my evaluation changed like this.

And the title, elaborated with those dashes (-), which somehow feels like it hits the nail on the head regarding my past week.

What it suggested was only one thing.

“……As expected, is this world one where looks are everything?”

Well, I knew it was this kind of world from the start, but.

But is it perhaps because the inferiority complex from living as an outcast still remains?

I’ve clearly escaped from being super ugly now and can become even more handsome in the future, so I should just be normally happy, but.

“It’s still a bitter world.”

For some reason, I feel a bit rebellious.

* * *

I’ve decided.

Not to raise charm anymore.

“It’s not like I’m suddenly going to become an idol or anything.”

Whether I’m popular or an outcast, or whatever.

It’s just middle school life at best.

A reason for me to stake my life on it?

There’s none at all.

It’s just that because it said I’d die if my outcast stat reached 100, my life was forcefully on the line.

Moreover, the outcast stat problem has already been resolved to some extent for a long time now.

-Kyungjun, you… no, Kyungjun-hyung… You’re not really a hyung, are you…?

-This punk?

-Ack?!

As I cleared Good Deed Quests, the kids’ wariness decreased.

Even if they were still a bit scared.

I became able to have short chats like this during break time.

Of course, I still don’t have friends to walk home with or hang out with, but.

[Due to improved perception, Outcast stat increase stops.]

Because it was enough to prevent my Outcast stat from increasing.

I finally escaped from the miserable frog’s life, where I was placed in lukewarm boiling water and would die 50 days later.

Even if I still need to manage my Outcast stat.

I no longer need to tremble in fear of death approaching day by day.

“Then that’s enough.”

That’s why there’s even less reason to keep investing in charm.

After things became like this, the Good Deed Quests that popped up frequently have also dried up now.

“I also know now why I dislike it.”

My charm increased, my face changed, and my evaluation also became somewhat decent.

Despite escaping from being a super ugly outcast like that.

The reason I felt somewhat empty rather than happy.

It’s probably like this.

“It’s not my life.”

It’s denying my past self.

It might just be the pride, the remnants from when I was just a pathetic outcast in the first round.

Even if that’s the case.

Just giving up on everything from the past and.

Getting tied up in their league again just to become popular like the kids around me.

I don’t want that anymore.

That’s not my life.

Although it was miserable and hopeless.

The one who tried harder than anyone else.

Because it means denying my entire first-round life, that’s why I dislike it.

I think I shouldn’t do that.

Not avoiding, not running away.

I must thoroughly accept my embarrassing past.

“I am me.”

Whether popular.

Or an outcast.

Or a loser.

No matter what others judge me to be.

I want to become myself.

I want to live like that, and I will continue to live like that.

So, taking one step further.

In this second round, a continuation of the first.

Not just for something as superficial as escaping from being super ugly.

But because there’s meaning in my regression like this.

Because there are lingering regrets.

If there is a goal based on that.

“Studying.”

It must surely be this.

In the first round.

Money, looks, personality, stamina, talent.

In that hellish situation where I had nothing.

I clung solely to studying.

I had no other path.

There was nothing else I could put forward about myself.

So I dedicated everything.

And obtained something called my own ability.

But, that was all my life was.

In the end, including that, I lost everything.

“Because that was the case, the present me exists.”

That’s why, now that I’ve returned as a middle school student, I’m ahead of everyone else.

All of that which I built up by sacrificing almost half my life and barely managed to obtain.

“I must save the 1st round.”

This is a duty.

A right and a privilege.

“Just like before, I’ll dedicate myself to physics in the same way.”

Everyone said.

That in South Korea, there’s no answer except for doctors, judges, and prosecutors.

And that if you do something like physics, you’ll starve and die.

But who on earth decided that?

“Doctor, oriental doctor, judge, prosecutor, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Tell them all to buzz off.”

In this era where physics is looked down upon, where romance is disappearing.

I will enjoy romance more than anyone else.

With only physics, with only studying.

“I will succeed more than anyone else.”

If you study now, your future wife’s face will change.

Whether implicitly, or just words I overheard from people around me.

I will no longer study for such reasons.

“I’m going to make a quantum computer. Solely with my own hands. With my own power. Like that…”

Now, solely for myself.

No longer caring about anyone else’s opinion.

“I will become K-Alan Musk.”

To live the way I want.

[Intelligence : 12]

This is the intelligence for that.

* * *

By raising stamina, I completely blocked bullying at the source.

I blocked the rising Outcast stat with a dam called Charm.

In other words, there are now no elements that can interfere with my studying.

“The studying I did in the 1st round is done. I’m going to fill in the studying I couldn’t do, the studying that was lacking then.”

In the past, I delved into physics.

I really only delved into physics.

That way, I miraculously advanced from a general high school to a gifted science university called KAIST.

After going through the undeclared major track, I chose the Physics department in my second year as I had hoped.

It was the same after that.

I went on to graduate school for the Physics department in a combined Master’s and PhD program.

Obtained my PhD.

And continued straight to a postdoc.

That’s how I was able to reach the position of a professor, surpassing being a KAIST student.

However, that was my limit.

It was nothing more than investing a little talent and countless efforts.

Perhaps above average talent, at best below talented and genius. Or somewhere in between.

That was the maximum I, who had only studied in the first round, could reach.

“It’s all because my math was insufficient. If only I had received proper math tutoring when I was young…”

But now it’s okay.

I have the ability to self-study.

And thanks to regressing, I have time.

“The one I bought when I went to the bookstore last time… it’s here.”

Therefore, I immediately take action.

Sarak.

I immediately opened the book and started studying.

How much time had passed like that?

“Son, let’s go hiking with Dad.”

My father opened the door and came in.

“No, I can’t. I’m busy studying.”

“Studying?”

“Yes. Math.”

“Oh, you’re studying math?”

“Yes. I’m a bit angry because I can’t solve the problems well.”

“Hmm, which one is it?”

“It’s just a probability problem… what is it…”

The father in hiking clothes suddenly clears his throat.

“Let me see. Even if I look like this, this father was once Han Yeong-geun when it came to math, especially when it came to probability…”

The father, stepping up to help.

“……Huh, huh?”

He froze for a moment.