Episode 34: Midterm Exams (4)
Several more days passed.
The students were abuzz over a newly announced detail—the highlight of the midterm exams: duels. The selection process for opponents was starting today.
Each student would participate in three battles, all following a challenger-based system. If someone chose an opponent, a one-on-one match would be set. Those who neither chose nor were chosen would be assigned an opponent randomly—to keep things fair.
That’s why I wasn’t particularly concerned. I had no one I wanted to challenge, and I doubted anyone would challenge me.
So, my priorities were simple:
First, raising the abilities of key characters.
Second, preparing for the demon attack.
For the first goal, I had two main focus points—Yu Hana and Cheon Yeoul.
Kang Arin was already strong enough. She didn’t need my intervention at the moment. If anything, stepping in unnecessarily might disrupt her natural growth.
As for Sung Siwoo, I had decided to put his development on hold for now.
I had been training Yu Hana in swordsmanship every day, and her progress was rapidly improving.
And right now—
“I refuse! No, I can’t do this!”
“Hey, just read it again slowly. Please.”
It was 11 PM, and I was at a café, bickering with Cheon Yeoul. I had already explained the situation to Yu Hana.
Earlier today, after class, I saw Yeoul struggling with a problem. That was my mistake.
Even after class ended, she remained seated, head down, staring at her notes. Normally, she would have disappeared by now.
‘Ugh… this is so hard.’
This was just like her in the original story.
She was quick to grasp most things but utterly clueless when it came to theory.
Still, watching her struggle so earnestly was kind of endearing, so I solved a few problems for her. Then she practically begged me for help. That’s how I ended up being dragged to this café tonight.
The problem she was stuck on involved designing a low-level Divine Magic Circle.
To be fair, it was more difficult than regular magic circles. Divine Magic required not only mana circuits but also divine power circuits, which had to be configured separately.
“Look, there are two circuits, so there need to be two power sources. If you try to force it through one, they’ll mix and interfere with each other.”
I sketched a simple diagram in my notebook to explain.
Yeoul only frowned at the problem, as if glaring at it would somehow make it easier.
Then suddenly, her eyes widened.
“Oh!”
It seemed she finally understood.
The problem was, it had taken her two hours to get to this point.
‘What am I going to do with her…?’
After finally finishing the problem, Yeoul let out a deep sigh.
“I mean… why do I even have to learn how to draw Divine Magic circles when I can just activate them by reaching out my hand…?”
I looked at her with an expression of disbelief.
That’s because you’re a genius.
Cheon Yeoul had the rare ability to instinctively deploy Divine Magic without going through the design process. But if she learned to structure the divine power flow properly, the effectiveness would increase dramatically.
That’s why I was making her study.
“But… Haein, how do you know all this so well?”
Yeoul gave me a curious look, her eyes narrowing slightly, her gaze tilted just enough to be teasing.
“You even studied Divine Magic?”
Her voice carried a playful tone.
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
‘I studied it… just to teach you.’
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
Instead of answering, I simply reached out—
Smack!
And flicked her forehead.
“Ah!”
With a clear sound, Cheon Yeoul’s head bounced slightly.
“What are you going to do with that information?”
Cheon Yeoul clutched her head, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes sparkling.
Something about her reaction made me want to tease her even more.
“Please, just solve it quickly so we can go home.”
I absentmindedly flipped through the pages, skimming the problems.
And then—
“…?”
I felt a sharp gaze from somewhere.
Instinctively, I lifted my head and looked ahead.
Soon, the café door swung open, and a man entered, panting.
Yohan.
He was catching his breath while glaring at us.
His gaze was filled with irritation and hostility.
I shifted my gaze slightly.
To the far end of the café, by the window.
‘Well, look at that.’
One of Yohan’s gang members was sneaking glances at us, pretending to be subtle.
Feigning nonchalance, he stirred his coffee as if his gaze had just happened to land on us.
He must have tattled.
‘The saintess is out late at night with another man.’
That was probably the gist of it.
“…Sigh.”
A deep sigh came from beside me.
It was Cheon Yeoul.
She exhaled briefly before leaning closer to me.
We hadn’t been sitting across from each other to begin with—Cheon Yeoul had moved over to sit beside me on the same sofa earlier.
Now, we were practically pressed together.
And the moment Yohan saw that, his expression twisted even further, his breathing turning rough.
“Are you two dating?”
I asked indifferently.
Only then did Cheon Yeoul look at Yohan.
Her expression hardened.
No, it was worse than that.
She looked as if she had just swallowed something rotten, as if she had bitten into a bug.
Then, she answered firmly.
“Are you crazy?”
“Then… a stalker?”
“That’s more accurate.”
Cheon Yeoul’s voice was icy.
She glared at Yohan with a chilling expression.
His face twisted slightly.
“Then why isn’t he coming over and just standing there?”
“I filed for a restraining order.”
“Oh… really?”
So she had already applied for a restraining order against him through the church.
In the past, such a thing would have been unthinkable.
But now, it only meant one thing—Cheon Yeoul’s influence had grown.
The Saintess and the Hero.
Their relationship was… complicated.
Since childhood, heroes and saintesses had been raised under a strict doctrine.
“The hero protects the world, and the saintess serves and obeys the hero.”
That was the long-standing belief passed down to them for generations.
But times had changed.
Even within the church, factions had formed—those who wanted to uphold the old ways and those who sought reform.
And Yohan was still trapped in the past.
He still believed that as a hero, the saintess belonged to him.
That she was meant to stay by his side, always.
I stared at Yohan indifferently.
He was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
He must have been displeased that the saintess he believed was his – was with another man.
In the original story, it would have been Sung Siwoo.
But now, it seemed I had become the target instead.
Yohan ultimately did nothing for several seconds, suppressing his anger before turning away.
‘With this…’
Since his obsession with Cheon Yeoul had surfaced earlier than expected, the choices he could make had also increased.
I felt an instinctive sense of something unfolding.
***
After finishing the one-on-one tutoring session with Cheon Yeoul, I returned to the dormitory.
My index finger ached slightly. I had no idea how many flicks to the forehead I had given her.
‘She’s definitely getting them wrong on purpose.’
I sighed and lay down on my bed, lost in thought.
There were two immediate challenges I had mentioned earlier.
First, the growth of the characters.
That part was progressing much more smoothly than expected.
Then the second—preparing for the upcoming attack by the Demonic Humans.
‘I’ve done enough.’
At this point, I was in a rather relaxed state.
I had already gained insights far earlier than in the original storyline.
Originally, these would have only been acquired in the latter half of the story, after enduring countless hardships.
Of course, the fact that I was the one who had absorbed them was an unexpected variable…
But that was already a done deal.
I had given Yu Hana the Dongbaek Sword and Cheon Yeoul a cross.
On top of that, this upcoming midterm exams would include members of Vanquisher as well.
Even if Gaon faced its first attack, we were highly likely to fend it off much more easily than expected.
Preparations were thorough, and favorable variables had emerged.
And above all—
This attack was nothing more than a tutorial.
‘Demonic Humans.’
They weren’t a singular race.
Their threat level varied drastically depending on the individual.
Even among those labeled as Demonic Humans, many were nothing more than weaklings.
The ones attacking Gaon this time were of that kind.
It was merely a staged incident to demonstrate that Gaon was not a safe zone.
There would be no high-ranking Demonic Human officers directly involved in this attack.
It wasn’t the stage where they would recklessly engage in an all-out war against the forces stationed in Gaon.
However, the problem was that—to ensure complete chaos—they would unleash the monsters they had been keeping imprisoned.
And stopping those creatures would essentially be the key to this whole event.
I opened an auction app on my smartwatch.
The stone sickle—no, the Harpe—was set to arrive tomorrow.
With that, my preparations against the monsters were complete.
I turned off the smartwatch and lay back comfortably.
—Beep.
Just then, a notification sound I had never heard before echoed from the watch.
‘What now?’
I moved my finger to open the notification panel.
And then, I let out a dry chuckle.
“Heh… well, would you look at that.”
[Duel Challenge Notification]
[Rank 2 – Yohan] → [Unknown – Jung Haein]
[Duel Challenge Notification]
[Rank 42 – Sung Siwoo] → [Unknown – Jung Haein]
It seemed my expectation—that I wouldn’t get involved—
Had been completely off the mark.