Chapter 19
Only a few days left until the midterm exams.
At this point, everyone starts to lose their sanity.
Even those who studied diligently began to feel a bit tense.
But where is this place?
It’s the god-awful hellhole of a classroom.
Most of the students here looked a bit… off.
These days, it’s so common to see students who say they’ll finish the midterms in a day and then just goof off.
Some students wasted a whole day just attempting gratitude rituals in the name of studying, while others rushed off to some abandoned house to receive divine powers.
There was even one student chanting some spell with his eyes rolled back.
“Om-…”
“Hey, what’s up with that guy?”
“I heard he got a spell from a shaman to make him smarter?”
“But he looks better than usual. I want to try that too.”
Truly, they were a diverse bunch of nutcases.
Of course, neither Hyeji nor I was much different.
“Shinwoo, don’t make a big deal out of just one exam.”
“Your current search history says ‘How to get rid of professors.’ Can you delete that first?”
“I need to remove the professor since he’s the one giving the exam.”
“True supporter, Karazim. That’s you.”
Then, all of a sudden, Hyeji extended her fist towards me.
“Shinwoo, be my Professor Punch!”
“…I’ll be your Professor Punch.”
He’s a god!
The god of Ada!
After lunch, we moved to the sparring ground for practical training.
“Hyeji, how do we handle the practical part of the midterm?”
“I told you during the last practical training. How can you forget so easily—”
“I left early that time.”
“Well, that happens sometimes.”
Back then, with all the stress of being called the god of Ada and the sympathy award, I had left early.
Was that when it was explained? I had no clue.
As those nightmares resurfaced, my expression quickly darkened.
“I’m officially the god of Ada, for crying out loud.”
“I think that’s not so bad. In fact, it’s kinda cool.”
Hyeji said this with an oddly pleasant expression, trying to comfort me.
Then she continued explaining.
“Anyway, for the midterm practical, you have to designate a higher-tier student to spar with.”
“What if the designated person refuses?”
“Well, what, you think they’d refuse out of fear of a lower tier?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to get embarrassed either.”
Would anyone refuse a one-on-one when said like that?
Really, they’d just end up being mocked for life.
“Hey, it’s not like I didn’t do it that day. Just really busy.”
“Yeah, next time, the coward will run because he feels he can’t win.”
“Just say, ‘Sorry, I’m too scared to fight, big bro.’”
Every time we meet, those three lines would repeat.
It could happen at a drinking party or, worse, a funeral.
That’s how deep the world of mid-1v1s really is.
“And those who don’t designate anyone will be matched randomly.”
“Who are you picking?”
“I’m going for Jeong Ahyeon. My abilities have improved, so it’s time for revenge.”
“She’s a mess, so think about what to tease her with.”
“Memo: The spirit king of water is Ifrit.”
While we chatted, we soon arrived at the sparring ground.
The weapons we’d use today were a shotgun and a speed loader.
And the hand axe that’s gotten hot lately at the academy.
Honestly, I hadn’t used an axe much before.
The way it looked just didn’t sit well with me.
But after seeing a very popular recent novel, my perspective began to change.
“To convey feelings through an axe? That’s so moving!”
A perfect example of expressing emotions through action, not words.
My role model.
So I gathered my weapons and dragged a sparring partner along.
The guy I pulled along was one of the dudes who said my main weapon wouldn’t work last time.
“Are you really going to kill me?”
“I’ll let you live.”
Though, even if he lives, it won’t be much of a life.
After I deal with him, I plan to bring others around in turns.
His turn will come around again soon.
“I haven’t used it even once. Just maintain them daily, damn it.”
Just then, I spotted Hyeji a bit further off.
Like me, she was dragging a student by the collar.
The same student who made that unholy comment about dressing a guy in a skirt last time.
Good job, Hyeji.
Take care of those who push cross-dressing men as heroines.
I was just about to start punishing when Professor Miran entered the sparring ground with a group of people.
“These are Japanese students who will be observing the academy until the practical midterm is over. They’ve received some level of Korean education, so communication shouldn’t be a problem. Today, they’ll be observing the practical training. Please treat them kindly.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the observers dispersed in an orderly fashion.
Most of the observers behaved quite similarly.
Running around the sparring ground to watch others spar or chatting in groups with academy students.
However, a handful seemed to observe the sparring facilities, judging their size and dimensions.
I had a hunch.
‘Seems mostly high schoolers with a few planted there to snoop.’
Those snoopers quickly took out notebooks from their pockets and started jotting down something intensely.
They were probably taking notes on what they confirmed firsthand.
But honestly, it wasn’t my business.
Even if they wrote it all down, it wouldn’t matter.
Given the closed-off atmosphere of the Japanese academy, no improvement would be made.
The Japanese academy is undoubtedly the pinnacle of idiocy.
Cards don’t work, and only cash payments are allowed.
Gaining access to dormitories requires manual entries instead of ID tags, a primitive system indeed.
And yet they advertise themselves as a state-of-the-art academy.
‘They haven’t escaped their medieval junk world, those idiots.’
While I was lost in thought, one of the Japanese observers timidly approached.
Probably here to watch the sparring.
Sent by Professor Miran?
The splatter genre isn’t good for kids’ morale, though.
Still, since they came, I approached to introduce myself.
At that moment, the Japanese female student spoke up.
“Chirp……..”
“……What?”
Her hands were shaking slightly.
I couldn’t grasp this sudden hint of racial discrimination.
‘Chirp? Chirp? Did I hear that wrong? Chirp? Chirp?’
I was done for.
This is self-defense.
Annoyed, I marched towards the student observer.
As soon as I did, she screamed in a voice close to tears.
“Chirp don’t shot me! I no understand Korean! Please don’t hurt me!”
“……Huh?”
“Please don’t hit me!!”
“Hey, fuck wait a second.”
Before I could stop her, the Japanese observer quickly bolted.
The problem was the direction she ran in—right toward Hyeji’s sparring area.
“Please don’t hurt me! That person is trying to kill me!!”
The student was crying, holding onto Hyeji while pointing a finger at me.
Hyeji, following the direction of her finger, met my eyes.
Her expression rapidly soured.
‘No, this is so unfair.’
“Hey! Why are you making a bystander cry!!”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“You didn’t say anything, but she’s crying? Make that make sense! Apologize quickly!”
“…….I’m so confused.”
In the end, without being able to explain myself, I returned to the sparring ground after apologizing.
As I returned with an upset expression, my opponent was waiting and spoke to me.
“Shinwoo? Or Shinwoo-yah? I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s something I want to say.”
“Go ahead.”
“Physical flaws aren’t that important. And nowadays, even dildos are well made, so don’t worry.”
“Shut up.”
The axe whooshed through the air and hit his head.
Clean cut.
With that, I began rotating through the cycles of destroying those pushing the Shinwoo-god narrative.
During all this, I realized something.
‘The thrill of axe chopping is off the charts. A must-have at the academy.’
While I took a breather, I glanced in Hyeji’s direction.
The Japanese student who had been crying was now talking and laughing with Hyeji.
Okay.
They both seemed happy.
Nothing wrong here.
“Kyoukyou, you really talk funnily.”
“This guy is pretty wwwww funny wwwww.”
….Everything should be fine.
I hope.
*
Only two days until the midterm.
The students here were hard to call normal.
By now, classes held little significance anyway.
Knowing this, the professors ordered the students to self-study.
Of course, the students looked nothing but separated from the concept of self-study.
“If I use the power of a giant, would it make the exam disappear?”
“This is a trial. Consider it a trial to overcome the exam.”
“Jesus Kingdom. Unfaithful Hell.”
“Om mani padme hum, om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum.”
“The only salvation. Euthanasia for the professor.”
“If I botch the exam, I’ll turn the academy into an apocalypse.”
…’Old lady’ is definitely not part of it, you damn fool.
The last damn fool was reported as a potential terrorist.
Soon after, staff members came to the classroom to detain the potential terrorist.
And they tried to catch me.
I’m innocent.
I merely carried a thermos bomb for the professor as a gift.
After a series of convoluted events, as the suspected terrorist was dragged out of the classroom, silence fell over the room.
That silence felt like it would last forever.
Unless someone suddenly appeared.
‘Who is it?’
The front classroom door abruptly opened, and first to step in was a man.
Flowing golden hair. A white outfit fluttering adorned with various gold patterns.
Golden jewelry lavishly displayed all over his body.
But what stood out more was the three things.
First.
Ears significantly longer than a human’s.
‘Looks like a goblin.’
Indeed.
The male student who entered was none other than an elf.
He had a fair amount of good looks to confirm he was definitely an elf.
Second.
The earrings dangling from his remarkably long right ear.
The ornaments on the earrings were a little unusual.
A blue crumpled circle and tiny green embellishments inside.
They looked vintage and beautiful, yet somehow appeared dangerous and gruesome.
Lastly, the number above his head.
Close to 9000, but the red number displayed 7000, which isn’t a small number at all.
It seemed to show that while one may regress many times, not experiencing improvement was also possible.
‘What a waste of life.’
It was evident just by looking.
He was an idiot.
As soon as the male student entered, about twenty female students followed him in a wave.
The female students ranged from humans to elves, and even beast-folk.
They were quite the mixed bag.
Of course, seeing that made my heart heavy.
All I have following me are annoying mosquitoes and the unicorns I met last time.
“Fuck, some people have dozens of unicorns following them…”
I don’t miss them at all.
I never want to see them again.
Suddenly, a thought struck me and made my heart skip a beat.
At that moment, the elf gazed around before speaking.
“Is there a girl named Hyeji, who defeated Jeong Ahyeon, here?”
His words reeked of dignity, yet sounded very arrogant.
Words from someone used to looking down on others.
That statement spread softly throughout the silent classroom.
Then the girls trailing behind him began twisting and turning in a dizzy state as if in rapture.
“Your words are always so divine!”
“Ahh! It’s already the tenth time today.”
“That Hyeji girl. What’s she doing? Doesn’t she want to keep our master waiting?”
“Come out! Let’s all be happy together!”
As if something were spilling out from between their legs.
This was ridiculous, for real.
‘This isn’t a fish market, stop stinking, you idiots.’
I felt a serious concern.
It wasn’t the girls’ heads that I was worried about.
They were already beyond saving.
What concerned me was my classmates.
The students who had been getting along with Hyeji were now right beside her.
Especially Kyoukyou, who had been getting along with Hyeji the day before.
That would definitely not be a pleasant sight for the students.
‘They have to be protected with care.’
As no one answered, the elf was about to speak again.
Probably to prevent that, Hyeji shot back with a displeased tone.
“Why are you looking for me? If you’re just idling around, get lost.”
But the elf didn’t seem offended at all.
In fact, he turned towards Hyeji and approached her.
Reaching Hyeji, the elf suddenly extended his right hand towards her face.
“I have nothing to say, so just go away.”
Hyeji raised her left hand to swat the elf’s approaching hand away.
However, he promptly extended his hand again and grabbed her wrist.
“You’re indeed a woman after all. Good! You’re qualified to be my wife.”
“Get your hands off me, you fucker.”
At that moment, the number above the elf’s head went up by one.
Then he smiled and muttered ‘lightweight’ under his breath, leaning his face closer to Hyeji.
No.
He was about to.
Until my fist landed heavily against the elf’s face.
– Pwoof!!!!
“Gah!”
With a solid impact, the red number above the elf’s head increased by one.
Seeing that, the female students screamed in shock.
“Ahhhh! Master!!!”
“Master was attacked!!!”
“Why did you attack the master!!!”
“What the hell, those bitches! You think it’s not okay to punch a goblin in the face?”
My fists were born to punch, what can I say?
You think of only your master.
You’re all so annoyingly selfish. ;ㅅ;