NOVPUBAlthough Cheon Seongheon probably didn’t recognize me, I had seen him making the pledge during the entrance ceremony.
Many others, like myself, would remember Cheon Seongheon standing on the podium as the top-ranking student, representing the new students.
Nowadays, the entrance examination process has become more diverse and complicated, making it difficult to determine who the top student is. But in my time, the regular entrance exam selected the largest number of students.
So, it was relatively simple to pick the top student and name them as the representative of the new students, giving them a scholarship.
‘When the rumors about entrance bribery and cheating started to surface later, I couldn’t believe it.’
Such scandals typically happen covertly.
They don’t place the top student so blatantly in the spotlight like that.
The one who started those rumors was Cheon Seongheon himself, but it was surprising that some people within the school believed them, distancing themselves from him and treating him like an illegal entrant.
If anyone had ever been in a class with Cheon Seongheon, there would be no way they’d suspect him.
Of course, some may have avoided him because they knew about his family problems, even if they knew he was innocent.
‘But still, did they really have to treat their fellow student like that?’
While Cheon Seongheon was trying to destroy his family, all I could do was continue on as I had before.
Even though my situation wasn’t great and I couldn’t take care of him as much as I wanted to, he always expressed gratitude, and I felt sorry about that.
I was surprised when Cheon Seongheon, after completing his duties, decided to live peacefully and became the head of a gosiwon (small student dormitory), but his face had become much gentler than before, so I was relieved.
‘But even while working, he was studying in his spare time.’
Cheon Seongheon was always studying, whether during the time when he was tearing down his family or when he worked as a gosiwon manager.
He never let on that he was studying, but after spending time with him, I realized it.
An overwhelming academic background can be a powerful weapon.
Cheon Seongheon understood that power well, and even now, as Eunho, it seemed the same.
‘The new students at Eungwang High will have a hard time becoming number one.’
Unless there’s a reason not to be the top student, it’s only natural to aim for that position.
No matter how young or weak someone is, if they have the title of "number one" among their peers, they can’t be easily dismissed.
Eunho’s position in TC may be helped by this.
I felt sorry for Eunseoho and Euniho, who were aiming for co-valedictorian, but it was hard to tell Eunho to purposely lose.
There are people like Hwang Jiho, who deliberately aim for a 40-point score in all subjects, but there are also those like Eunho who try their best.
"Uishin-hyung, we didn’t make it to first place..."
"This year, first place is a perfect score including the practical exams..."
The news that they missed the top spot reached Eunseoho and Euniho as well.
They looked deflated, expressing their disappointment.
‘Eunho really isn’t giving them a chance. A perfect score in both written and practical exams...’
I had thought that Eunho might be weak in practical exams, but it seemed I was wrong.
After all, he had defeated Hwang Jiho in the mythical era, so it seemed that he was also good at handling force when the conditions were right.
Eunseoho and Euniho, both looking downcast, asked Hwang Jiho.
"Hwangho, so what rank did we get?"
"Did we get co-valedictorian? Right?"
Hwang Jiho hesitated before answering.
Seeing him falter, it seemed that they were not even co-valedictorians.
After a moment of hesitation, Hwang Jiho spoke.
"The co-valedictorian is another student. You two are ranked 3rd and 4th."
Upon hearing this, Eunseoho and Euniho slumped into the sofa, defeated.
Just then, the angel who had been walking around came by to comfort them, but the shock was so great that they couldn’t seem to snap out of it.
The mountain spirit who had accompanied them during the walk stood by, glaring at Hwang Jiho, as if blaming him for the situation.
Despite the glare, Hwang Jiho continued without any concern, telling them that Euniho was 3rd and Eunseoho was 4th.
After hearing this, Eunseoho, the first-born, became even more despondent, while Euniho regained a bit of her energy.
‘So, the co-valedictorian, is that my playable character?’
According to what I had seen in the Plmag game, the playable character was supposed to be first in the rankings.
This character, with a free-spirited personality, wasn’t the type to care much about grades or events. Right before the entrance ceremony, this character had been so free-spirited that they nearly missed their entrance pledge.
Given the chaotic situation, there was even a rumor that the top-ranking student had disappeared just before the ceremony, and people said they fled from Eungwang High.
‘Wait, does that mean all the top 4 spots are from Class 0?’
My playable character was a new student in Class 0.
While it wasn’t a problem that the highest-ranking students were from Class 0, the teachers would probably be nervous about it.
In our grade, everyone was well-behaved, so there was no issue, but it would be like having Do Wonwoo and Yeom Junyeol from the group of Wookihwan and Geum Chanwangchan in our senior year.
If all of them belonged to Class 0 without anyone in other classes to stop them, it would surely be overwhelming for the teachers.
I decided to ask.
"Which class is the co-valedictorian from?"
"They’re assigned to Class 1."
"Not Class 0?"
"It seems you thought it was Class 0. The interviewers debated a lot, but they decided it was fine to place the student in a regular class."
Hwang Jiho seemed to realize that I was comparing the situation with Plmag and added,
"It’s been a particularly unusual year with so many unique students. They decided that Class 0 would be limited to about twenty students because managing more would be difficult, so they sent the more well-behaved student to a regular class."
Even though there were more than twenty students, shouldn’t they have sent them all to Class 0?
Although I used the term "unique students," it seemed that there were students coming in with problems so big that they would be difficult to manage if their numbers grew.
After all, based on how Eunho’s grandparents behaved during the interview, it made sense they would think that way.
Eunseoho and Euniho suddenly perked up at this.
"Wow, so the competition for Class 0 was fierce!"
"Even though we lost the co-valedictorian, we got into Class 0!"
I honestly didn’t understand why they were so happy, but I was glad they regained their spirits.
Eunseoho and Euniho smiled brightly, celebrating their success in getting into Class 0, and even the tigers seemed happy.
I congratulated them in a daze.
In my mind, I kept thinking about the situation in Plmag.
‘In Plmag, there wasn’t anything like this with the new Class 0 students...’
Unlike back then, this year’s Class 0 will include Eunho, Eunseoho, and Euniho.
But even though only three students were added, the interviewers were clearly troubled enough to send the co-valedictorian to a regular class, which seemed odd.
That only left one conclusion.
‘It seems that the eccentric ones who didn’t choose Eungwang High in Plmag are the ones who’ve enrolled this year.’
In Plmag, Eungwang High had become chaotic, embroiled in incidents, and tainted by corrupt teachers, but it was still one of Korea’s top schools.
Every year, more applicants than the available spots arrived, and excellent, conscientious teachers held their ground.
However, some people may have avoided Eungwang High due to the ominous events and torture, leading them not to choose this school.
‘Now that everything has been resolved, more talented students will gather at Eungwang High.’
Though the increase in eccentric students was a bit concerning, I was happy that more good students were joining Eungwang High.
The preparations for the entrance ceremony went much more smoothly than the graduation ceremony.
Perhaps it was because there were fewer tasks to handle compared to the graduation ceremony, or maybe it was due to the fact that, with the new semester approaching, fewer people were causing trouble, making the process smoother.
‘Is Jeongal Jaegyeol doing okay?’
Geum Chanwangchan’s group had allowed the graduating students to approach Jeongal Jaegyeol during the graduation ceremony, but they had decided to go on a trip before school started.
It was said that they had set a date and traveled across the country to attend various festivals.
The senior group went to festivals like the trout festival, clam festival, and snow flower festival, attending overlapping events over two days and one night.
Because several photos of them were posted on the staff’s SNS accounts, rumors spread that they had been hired as part-timers to liven up the festival atmosphere.
There were also group trips.
The group of Kim Shinrok and Andain was one of them.
‘As soon as Kim Shinrok’s favorite food was mentioned, they immediately planned that trip. As expected, the title heroine Andain is on top of everything.’
They went to Gyeongsangbuk-do, Sangju, famous for its dried persimmons.
It was clearly a trip organized for Kim Shinrok.
They went to a village where 90% of the residents were engaged in persimmon production and participated in experiential and volunteer activities.
During the trip, Andain sent me a few photos, and in them, Kim Shinrok looked embarrassed but was happily eating persimmon dishes.
Andain had sent the photos to Jeokho as well, causing Jeokho to brag about how close his son was with his disciple, which he had to listen to the entire time.
‘The dried persimmon travel photos are great, but I want the photos from the spar with Joo Su-hyeok...’
After Joo Su-hyeok’s sparring request, the two had met several times before the start of the semester to spar.
The results, of course, showed Andain’s overwhelming victory.
Joo Su-hyeok had been slowly closing the gap, but during one sparring session, he had become mentally distracted.
It happened when the Ho-jok couple came to watch the sparring to pack lunch for their daughter.
‘It’s understandable; he must have been nervous to meet the parents of the person he likes unexpectedly.’
Moreover, the Ho-jok couple and Andain’s appearance were quite similar.
Just by looking at the couple’s faces, Joo Su-hyeok must have lost his focus thinking about Andain.
The Ho-jok couple, who had observed the sparring, had this to say.
"Wow, our kid’s friend fights really well. There were a lot of mistakes, but for his age, he did well. He seems to have excellent talent."
"He’s neat, kind, and has the kind of talent that makes him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our kid... It’s easy to understand why our kid has feelings for him."
Although they praised Joo Su-hyeok, the Ho-jok couple’s words had a tinge of disappointment.
What exactly was disappointing about Joo Su-hyeok?
Was it because he showed weakness compared to Andain?
But the reason for that disappointment wasn’t what I expected.
"Actually, when we didn’t know our kid’s heart, we hoped you would become part of our family."
When I understood what that meant, I was shocked.
Could they have wanted me to end up with Andain?
That didn’t make any sense.
Hadn’t Andain already had her heart set on the perfect title hero?
I was starting to wonder whether I needed to keep an appropriate distance from both of them, considering Joo Su-hyeok’s misunderstanding.
"Our class will all be advancing to 2nd year Class 0," I heard.
While there were some confusing moments, there was also some good news.
Our class would all be moving to 2nd year Class 0 without anyone transferring out.
The homeroom teacher, the assistant homeroom teacher, the school refusal students, and anyone else who should be in a different class had all stayed.
It was a bit unfortunate that not everyone would be attending, though.
Not long after hearing the news from Hwang Jiho, I received a message from Ong Gil-dong and Gu Seul-bi, who were on a journey to find the school refusal students.
[Ong Gil-dong] "Thanks for the info! As soon as I passed along what you said, they chose to return to Korea."
[Gu Seul-bi] "He’s here in Korea now."
It seemed that the school refusal student they had been looking for had finally arrived in the Korean Peninsula.
