Chapter 11 – A Failure In S Class (4)

Note: Some parts of this chapter may seem weird. They are your local jokes/puns which are difficult to translate unless you are familiar with the culture and have a more in-depth knowledge of the language. Since I don’t have both, I can only give a surface translation which might not make sense in that case. However, fortunately, it was all meaningless chatter that have no significance in the story.

When the sun went down in the evening. Hong Bi-yeon and I got ourselves a self-study room with no one else in it and sat at a desk in the center.

Those glaring eyes of hers were so burdensome that I felt like dying.

“…I’m not sure what you hope to learn by paying for the three placement test questions.”

“Everything has a reason; you just have to tell me what it is.”

Oh, I guess so.

“But you only got these three questions wrong. See? You’re smart. I got all the rest of the questions wrong. Aren’t you embarrassed to ask me?”

I was ranked 1,141 in the class rank, and she was a super-elite who shined at 5th rank.

“I’m not embarrassed. Rather, it’s even more embarrassing that I got the question wrong and haven’t found the answer yet. As long as I can find the answer, I can ask anyone a question.”

Oh… It sounds like a model student’s answer. 

But I think you’re looking down on me… 

“First of all… Let’s take a look.”

I put on my copper glasses and looked at the problem again.

Obviously, I didn’t know it when I just solved it, but looking at it again, it was a really absurd problem.

Oh my gosh. To put a magic question on the test with a nonsense question.

‘Okay, can I actually explain this properly?’

I was tempted by the word ‘reward,’ so I accidentally agreed, but I don’t know if it will work out.

I was at a loss. It was literally an impromptu test of creativity, so it was really hard to teach you how to solve it. 

‘How do you actually teach this?’

But the seats had already been set up. If I withdrew from here, I might be bullied by Hong Bi-yeon until graduation. That would be pretty terrifying.

Furthermore.

‘…I wanted to receive the modification of the Terifon in return, and it would be a waste to give it up.’

I have to think about something. Thinking about the character Hong Bi-yeon, I asked her a question to pass time.

“Before I go into the explanation, let me ask you one thing. Why did you ask me?”

It’s not that she didn’t have friends, and she was still a princess, so if she asked anyone a question, there would be plenty of people who would readily answer it, right?

She twisted her hair for a moment, then said coolly, as if she thought there was nothing to fuss about.

“Out of the 1,141 freshmen, there are only three students, including you, who have answered all of the first 3 questions of the devil.”

“What….?”

What do you mean?

“I heard it was a ‘trap problem’ that was put out not to be solved… but Mayu-seong, Fuleim, and you solved it. That’s why I got a little bit of a headache.”

“No, wait. This was a trap problem. Really? Are you telling me it was not meant to be solved?”

“Yes. Didn’t you know that?”

“What a crazy…”

It was then that I realized why I joined S-Class and why Fuleim kept herself on guard around me.

Trap problem. This never existed in the game. Or maybe I didn’t read it.

‘Somehow, when I explained what the 3 questions were, the students’ reactions were strange…!’

I didn’t know the details or the development of the setting in detail. Because I just enjoyed the game itself without seeing the story.

However, the setting of the romance fantasy that Fuleim read was completely different. She doesn’t know the game version of the story, but at least she’s got the storyline and most of the setting in this world quite accurately.

For example, at the entrance ceremony, ‘She knew in advance that there would be three trap questions…’

Fuleim could have easily solved the trap problem with the novel’s knowledge. It was an achievement that only Mayuseong could do, so she might be thinking of emphasizing her ‘specialness’ by adding her own name to it.

A girl who was a different kind of genius compared to Mayu-seong!

But there, an extra that didn’t even exist in the original came out and intervened.

This means that she had become aware of the existence of the character ‘Baek Yu-seol’.

‘What a crazy…’

My spine chilled when I realized what she was thinking of me.

‘Damn, there was a reason to be in check.’

I let out a sigh, but I struggled to hold it in. It was a case that had already been committed.

“You don’t look good?” 

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

Hong Bi-yeon’s expression slightly frowned as if she was not happy with my tone, but Hong Bi-yeon was not particularly afraid of any person, so she just ignored it.

“Before I tell you this, you didn’t forget that you said you’d do me a favor, did you?”

“It’s simple. Do you know this wand?”

“It’s Terifon.”

“Ask the blacksmith of your Adolevit royal family to convert it into a magic spear… No, a magic sword.”

“…….?” 

In an instant, Hong Bi-yeon’s expression changed bizarrely, thinking that she had heard it wrong.

“You heard it right.” 

“…Cold weapons are weapons used by low-level mercenaries. Why are you a wizard trying to use something like that?”

“My taste.”

Hong Bi-yeon was silent in response to my answer. It was a face that I didn’t really understand, but I didn’t intend to explain everything, even the fact that I was a crippled wizard.

“I think this is enough explanation. Do I have to tell you everything about me? Will you turn it into a magic sword or not?”

“Okay, I’ll do it for you. That’s simple.”

The Princess’ network was really the best.

“Then… I will give you a simple way to solve this problem.”

I considered the characteristics of Hong Bi-yeon.

The strongest wizard in the fire world. Genius wizards normally use as few as two or as many as three attributes, but Hong Bi-yeon had risen to the ranks of the best magic warriors by using only one fire magic.

But, was it like that from the beginning?

No.

Hong Bi-yeon during her first year at the academy was strong, but her limitations were clear and she was later beaten by Fuleim.

Her weakness was that her use of magic was too stereotypical.’

In this situation, use this magic, and in that situation, use that magic.

Hong Bi-yeon fought the battle as if she was reading a textbook, and Fuleim, who had grasped these weaknesses, dug into the gaps and achieved victory.

Overcoming this defeat, sophomore Hong Bi-yeon gained a completely different level of strength.

‘A shift in thinking.’

Hong Bi-yeon had always been aware of the fact that she lacked creativity. Because books related to that were piled up in her dormitory.

But that realization came too late in the second year.

‘I can’t give you enlightenment right now… Well, I can give you some plausible advice.’

After turning the test paper in the direction of Hong Bi-yeon, I asked her with a serious expression.

“First of all, do you know that this is a nonsense quiz?”

“…nonsense?”

“Uh. You don’t know?”

“I’ve heard of it…but I don’t know what it is.”

No, you’re that old and don’t know what a nonsense quiz? What have you been doing on a regular basis? At the same time, I was reminded of the fact that she was Hong Bi-yeon.

‘I’m convinced.’

In such a home environment, it was definitely possible.

Rather, I quickly attacked Hong Bi-yeon because I thought it was better.

“What’s between your knees?” 

A random question. But as she sat there, Hong Bi-yeon’s expression hardened seriously, thinking that I would never ask useless questions.

She closed her eyes and tapped her forearm with her fingers, and after thinking about it for a while, she came up with the answer.

“Ham…?” {Ham as in Hamstring – the inside corner of knee}

“Wrong.” 

“Groin?” 

“Not even that.”

She stared at me with an expression as if she was asking what the answer was, so I answered quickly.

“The answer is ‘Guaya.” {The word is ‘과야’ or Guaya which also translates to ‘family’.}

“…why?”

“I told you it was between your knees.”

Hong Bi-yeon opened her lips slightly and looked at me with a terrifying expression.

“No, this is really what this problem feels like? Do you want to solve this problem?”

“Yes.” 

“Look at this problem. It’s made up of formulas and tricks you don’t know. You know that, don’t you?

“Of course.”

“It means that you have to solve it only with your creativity. But, is it possible to memorize that creativity as usual?”

“…no.”

“right?”

I didn’t even give her a chance to argue. Like a rapid-fire cannon, I only fired what I had to say.

“You know what? Wizards of the past developed their magic slowly and gradually. But they put a drop of creativity in that tiny development. Then, at some point, the ‘Tsushima Era’ arrived.”

“That’s… that’s it.”

I read it in a tutorial story, but I never thought I’d use it like this.

“Do you know why? It’s important to know a lot of spells and tricks, but the most important thing for a wizard is to think beyond.”

“Think beyond?” 

“Yes!”

Hong Bi-yeon pricked up her ears to see if a familiar word appeared. Yeah, I guess so. Most of the words I poured out were those that came out when I cleared quests related to Hong Bi-yeon.

In other words, her biggest concerns were coming out of my mouth.

“See the world outside the boundaries of your thinking. History proves that magic can grow explosively even with the smallest changes. But why is your thinking limited to what you see? Is it okay to just memorize a spell and use it away?”

“It’s not… it’s not.”

Hong Bi-yeon listened to me blankly.

“You may be better than me in your ability to think analytically, to judge rationally, and to remember synthetically, but you lack the creativity that is crucially important to a wizard.”

To be honest, it was almost nonsense. Because they were all Hong Bi-yeon’s favorite words attached to the nonsense that I picked up from comic books.

“I used some difficult words, but you’re smart, so I guess you understood everything, right?”

“Of course.”

That’s amazing. Even I didn’t understand what I had just said.

But, as if she had really understood something, her expression became more serious than before. What’s wrong with this girl? She was making me feel quilty having lied to her.. 

“I’m glad you understood. After all, you are a princess, and naturally smart. From now on, I will teach you to ‘change your thinking’. I can explain how to solve this problem, but the next time something like this comes up, you will never be able to solve it that way.”

Hong Bi-yeon immediately nodded her head as if showing that she understood the last words properly.

“Then, let’s get started right away.” Hong Bi-yeon focused on my mouth with an anticipated look on her face when I said I would finally start in earnest, and said, “What if the horse gets angry?”

Her face stiffened as it stood.

After such a lengthy explanation, the question that came up was another nonsense question. Hong Bi-yeon closed her mouth again, but I didn’t stop and attacked again.

“What if a horse gets angry? What is it?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Marijuana.” {T/N: These are inside jokes which only make sense in the local language i.e., korean in this case.} 

Hong Bi-yeon was noticeably agitated, but unlike before, she did not object to me. It was a wonderful effect.

I kept attacking Hong Bi-yeon.

“What if I roll the bed?” 

“…I don’t know.” 

“Badminton.”

“What if you don’t want to let go?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Just give me scissors or a rock.”

Hong Bi-yeon, unable to come to her senses from my rapid-fire attack, got desperate more and more.

It was also quite fun to watch it, and it felt like I’d discovered something new to play.

But unlike before, no one objected to me. It’s a story that was all over the place.

“What if the ground cries? muddy soil. Which plant will cry when pulled? burdock.”

It is interesting. It was so much fun, I was joking around, so I crossed the line without realizing it.

“The look that seagulls like…?”

As I spoke, this was not a nonsense question, but something that was closer to the realm of ‘Daddy’s gag.

‘Oh, no. This is not right.’

Even if I tell her the correct answer, she won’t be convinced. It seems that Hong Bi-yeon noticed that I was talking nonsense, but now what?

But.

“…whisper?”

Hong Bi-yeon got the right answer.

“Huh? Huh?… You got it right.”

When I answered with a bewildered face, there was a slight smile on Hong Bi-yeon’s face. Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen him smile in both games and real life.

“Oh, you are a princess. Your creativity is extraordinary.”

Hong Bi-yeon hardened her expression when I flattered her, but seeing that the corners of her mouth were slowly raised, it seemed like she was feeling good anyway.

“Hmm. Give me the next question.” 

Like that, I gave a ‘special lecture’ to Hong Bi-yeon until late at night.