NOVPUBAfter a short preparation period, the final exams officially began.
The first test was the practical exam for a common subject.
Since it was a mandatory course, all the class members attending school gathered together.
The gymnasium, where the practical exam was held, was kept at a comfortable temperature, but it was hot outside, so they prepared cherry granada as a snack.
The students, tired from the walk, used the bowls of granada to cool off by placing them on their cheeks or foreheads.
"Eui-shin even brought enough for the ones who didn't come! Who wants more?"
"...Me."
"Me too."
At Kim Yu-ri's words, the gourmet Maeng Hyo-don and the sweet-toothed Han-i raised their hands first.
Even though eating something cold quickly made their heads throb, those two endured it well.
The last to finish their granada was Kwon Re-na, who asked:
"How did you all take the practical exam when you didn’t come to school?"
"I remotely checked my basic athletic abilities needed for the exam and got the lowest score."
"Anyone who cared about their grade would've come to school for the exam, right? I didn’t though."
"So did I."
The students who had refused to attend answered in turn.
Mok Woo-ram, Dokgo Miro, and Jin Jeong-muk seemed to have received the lowest score in the practical exam so far.
Due to the nature of the practical exam, which required facilities and supervision, a heavy penalty was imposed on those who took the exam remotely. Yet, the resolve of those who didn't come to school and endured was impressive.
‘Although it’s called "basic athletic ability," the standard required will likely be above the average level of Eungwang High. If they take the exam this way, half of the class will probably fail.’
Kwon Re-na, who was unsure of both written and practical exams, trailed off.
"So those who didn’t come to school got the lowest score in the practical exam. But what about the class rankings...?"
Our class’s lowest ranking was always fixed with Hwang Ji-ho, but just above that was a fierce competition.
While Maeng Hyo-don, who barely passed the written test, made up for it with the practical exam, Kwon Re-na, who didn’t excel in any particular subject, was often in competition for that spot just above last place.
This competition didn’t include the school absentees.
‘The absentees must have been good enough to make up for the lowest scores in the practical exams with their written scores.’
Kwon Re-na hadn’t come to our class because of her potential problems, but because of her excellence.
To put it bluntly, Eungwang High took a gamble by admitting Kwon Re-na, but she wasn’t an extraordinary student.
She had passed the entrance exam through sheer luck and, although not her intention, attending the Huimong auction revealed that her placement in Class 0 was finalized.
Had the Huimong Gate been exposed to the public before the acceptance results, Kwon Re-na surely wouldn’t have passed.
If not for Je-gal Jae-gul's sacrifice, Eungwang High would have almost lost out on a valuable talent with abilities in handling magical instruments.
Though exams have limitations in evaluating students, finding alternatives is difficult due to fairness, objectivity, time, and cost issues.
"So, has everyone been getting the same score as Ji-ho? I bet the attendance rate went up, so our class average must have improved!"
Sa Wol-se-eum tried to change the mood by speaking brightly.
Even though I knew that our teacher, Ham Geun-hyeong, would be happier with the improvement in attendance than with the class average...
Anyway, Sa Wol-se-eum, with good intentions, made a comment that caused Kwon Re-na, who had been thinking negatively about the exam, to quickly apologize.
"Guys, I’m sorry. I’ve been lowering the class average..."
"Uh, uh... me too..."
"...I’m also below average."
"Wait, did Jeong-muk really care about his grades? For someone who chose those subjects..."
Following Kwon Re-na’s apology, Maeng Hyo-don and Jin Jeong-muk, who had many things to feel guilty about, also apologized in turn.
It was surprising that Jin Jeong-muk, of all people, was concerned about his grades.
While Sa Wol-se-eum was embarrassed, Song Dae-seok interjected with a grumble.
"Isn’t it obvious that half of the class is going to drag the average down unless we all have the same score? Who’s giving a reward for being first in the class average anyway? Why apologize?"
"Dae-seok’s right!"
His tone was sharp, but his point was well-meaning.
Min Green, understanding the meaning, reacted brightly.
"Look, even the person who got 40 in every subject is just laughing it off."
"Hahaha!"
As Dokgo Miro said, Hwang Ji-ho, who had significantly contributed to dragging down the class average, just laughed.
Then the bell rang, signaling the start of the test—it was a perfect song for the exam period.
The piece played to mark the start of the final exams was "Mars" from Holst’s The Planets, a piece recorded by the wind and string sections before entering the exam period.
With the subtitle "The Bringer of War," this piece effectively conveyed the tension and fear of war.
As the bell rang, Ham Geun-hyeong entered the room and declared:
"After checking attendance, I will explain the practical exam."
The first subject was one of the common subjects for the second-year first semester: "Player Combat Practice 1."
For this subject, both the class and exam monitoring were handled by the homeroom teacher.
When the class goes on an otherworldly expedition, the homeroom teacher plays the role of commander, so this system was introduced to assess the students’ combat abilities.
‘If the first exam is one of Ham Geun-hyeong’s subjects, the kids will probably be less nervous.’
Ham Geun-hyeong’s face was as grim as usual, but no one seemed scared or nervous.
The students who had been attending school for a while were used to it, and Jin Jeong-muk, who had only recently come back, remained unaffected by Ham Geun-hyeong’s demeanor, showing his martial arts spirit.
"The theme of this exam is escape and survival. You learned how to use the 'Emergency Escape Items' in the first year, but you probably haven’t had the chance to use them in practice yet."
When Ham Geun-hyeong mentioned the 'Emergency Escape Items,' Kwon Re-na and Sa Wol-se-eum exchanged looks. 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Last year, they had gone on an expedition to another world and ended up in a dangerous situation when they encountered a Floor Master, and only remembered the escape items too late.
‘That’s when we met Sidelenthium in the otherworld.’
At an unexpected moment, the Guardian and Silent Crow Demon King, Sidelenthium, appeared in the Labyrinth-shaped otherworld and tested me by questioning my reasoning and motivations.
Sidelenthium, as the Silent Crow, spoke silently, moving only his lips, saying:
―I want you to clear this labyrinth right now, as the greatest contributor to the expedition.
―This path leads to the next floor, where the boss enemy awaits, and this path leads to a place with the most vulnerable people in the labyrinth.
―What will you do?
The 'most vulnerable people' referred to Kwon Re-na and Sa Wol-se-eum.
To secure the 'Guide of the Demon World,' I had to make a deal, but I couldn’t abandon them. I sent Hong-ryong to them and proceeded to the boss room.
Although Hong-ryong didn’t last long, fortunately, Yongje-geon and the class arrived just in time to avert the crisis.
Ham Geun-hyeong seemed to still remember that dangerous situation.
‘Still, if things had gone wrong, they could have been seriously hurt.’
The deal with Sidelenthium had been successfully completed, gaining crucial information and a strong ally, but looking back on that time, it couldn’t be seen entirely in a positive light.
That’s probably why I’ve been casually using honorifics when talking about the Demon King.
"This exam will be conducted using an otherworld simulator. The goal is escape, not conquest. I’ll send the detailed overview via hologram, so please check it."
As expected, the theme of this exam was related to survival.
In the first year, students learned what a player is and what they can do, while in the second year, they learn what is necessary to live as a player.
The most important thing is survival, so the theme of the second-year first semester practical exam was decided to be survival unless something unexpected happened.
"Thank goodness it’s escape. If it were ‘survive for 15 minutes’ like the year before last, it would take forever."
"I think we’ll do well with the maze!"
"Re-na, we practiced that topic yesterday. Lucky for us."
"Dae-seok would have been better at the survival theme."
The year before last, when U Gi-hwan and his group were in their second year, they suffered muscle loss after surviving for 15 minutes, causing a huge complaint to the school. Therefore, the survival theme hasn’t been chosen in recent years.
Even though it’s not featured in the exam, it’s still part of the curriculum, so avoiding it completely isn’t possible.
Anyway, most of the class seemed happy with the escape theme.
"Every time you get hit directly, you lose 5 points, and if you exceed the time limit, you lose 5 points per minute. If we’re going to exceed the time, we should just get hit and escape quickly."
Hwang Ji-ho, who was seriously looking at the hologram, muttered to himself.
Hwang Ji-ho worked hard to get 40 points in the practical exam.
It’s probably harder than getting 100 points, but he was very meticulous.
I almost thought it would be fine if the old tiger had a mishap and failed once, but I doubt that will happen.
‘It’s not a difficult topic, so I don’t have to worry too much. If I follow what I’ve learned, there’s no reason to lose points. I just have to avoid doing anything noticeable and getting unnecessary bonus points.’
With that thought, I closed the hologram and decided to watch my classmates take the test.
The order of the test was based on attendance numbers.
The attendance number was assigned alphabetically, regardless of gender, so Kim Yu-ri, who was number 2, took the test first.
‘If we used the real surname order, Kwon Re-na would be number 2, but for now, she’s still ‘I-re-na’ at school. My turn is a little far off, though, as I’m number 13.’
I was number 13 out of the 16 total students.
Right behind me were Jin Jeong-muk, Han-i, and Hwang Ji-ho.
"See you later!"
"Yu-ri, do well!"
Kim Yu-ri smiled and entered the simulator’s active range while receiving her classmates’ cheers.
Since revealing the scene of the test would give an advantage to later participants, there was no live broadcast, but from the time and expressions, I could roughly guess what happened.
Kim Yu-ri came out smiling within the given time.
"The study session practice really helped!"
Kim Yu-ri made a comment, not quite cheating, but offering some encouragement, as she gave a hint.
It was clear that the kids who were unsure about the practical exam tried hard to recall what they had practiced during the study session.
Next, as expected, Dokgo Miro escaped quickly, and Maeng Hyo-don seemed to have gotten caught up in the fighting rather than escaping, taking a bit longer, but avoiding any penalties.
Meanwhile, Mok Woo-ram almost gave too much of a hint, but was stopped by Ham Geun-hyeong, and Min Green, after some thought, left behind a hint-like message.
"I think you need to be careful not to narrow your vision."
After Min Green, Sa Wol-se-eum was the next to go. After escaping, she left a message saying, "I’m so glad I could fly!" which didn’t seem to indicate much help from the hint.
Then, Song Dae-seok, before finishing his words of “This is easy,” was hit by Min Green’s flying kick.
Naturally, it was Kwon Re-na’s turn next.
"I think I passed...!"
Kwon Re-na, who finished the test after Song Dae-seok, visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
She took a little longer, but Kwon Re-na completed the test safely.
Now, it was my turn.
