Chapter 57: Perfect CSAT Score
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"Oppa, did you really think I'd be interested in you just because we ate a few meals together??"
A line I'd heard so many times it had become familiar. I realized I was dreaming. Her icy gaze pierced through me from head to toe. Without my control, my dream self bowed his head low.
Kim Hyeonseo's eyes brimmed with disgust at the very idea that an ordinary guy like me could see any chance of success with her. The bouquet in my hand—the confession gift I'd bought by scrimping and saving enough money for two full days of lavish meals—dropped limply to the ground.
"Bringing a bouquet for a confession? Give me a break. This isn't the '80s anymore. It's downright rude to the other person—rude."
I hadn't known. Back then, my head was filled with nothing but entrance exam prep for years. Plus, I'd been dead certain she'd say yes. The vibe between Kim Hyeonseo and me over the past few months had been perfect.
'A fool's delusion from a shy bookworm who only studied.' Watching the dream scene, a bitter smile crept over me.
Hyeonseo was the idol of the cram school I attended. The prettiest face in the academy. Warm words and actions that contrasted her beauty. She was more than enough to set the hearts of boys chained to another year of cram school and self-study rooms ablaze, sacrificing their dreams of college life.
Of course, I didn't have the confidence to confess to her without any basis. Even then, I knew a stunner like Kim Hyeonseo wouldn't go for a nobody third-year repeater like me.
Originally, Hyeonseo and I were no more than strangers. We'd exchange greetings if our eyes met, but that was it—no contact outside of class.
But then Kim Hyeonseo approached me first.
"Oppa! Do you know how to solve this problem?"
Our relationship exploded from there thanks to her initiative. We went beyond chatting in class to grabbing meals after. By the third meal, we'd dropped formal speech; by the seventh, we watched a movie alone.
So I'd thought: Hyeonseo's into me too. She must've seen something in me I never knew. To me, who'd evolved from high school C-lister to cram school B-player. Kim Hyeonseo was the star-level role who'd approached me for the first time in my life.
My initial wariness melted away in the sweetness of time with her. Even as my grueling third-year prep turned harsher to meet her demands, every day felt joyful.
A dream I'd had countless times. Next up would be my confession, right on cue. Sure enough, there I was in the dream, preparing to confess.
'Hmm? What's this? Never seen it before.'
A black aura rippled above my head.
'I get it now... That curse made me confess without knowing my place.'
The curse from my past life had bound me, manipulating me into deeper despair.
"You're lucky no one was around. If you'd done it with everyone watching, you'd have died of embarrassment. I almost got to experience that 'confession prank' thing I'd only heard about."
The feelings I'd harbored back then narrated in my mind.
—Yeah. No twist, as expected.
My dream self closed his eyes quietly.
—Yeah. No plot twist in my life.
Knowing that, the curse had still stirred my heart to make me confess.
A man entered through the door. Kim Gangchan. Handsome and good at studies, he was popular with the girls at the academy and often chatted with Hyeonseo. A supporting role at minimum.
Kim Gangchan shoved my shoulder.
"I can't stand listening to this. Know your place, hyung. As if you'd ever land Hyeonseo."
Kim Hyeonseo grabbed Kim Gangchan's hand.
"Ugh, why do you have to butt in?"
"Let go. You're my girl—can't you handle this much?"
At his words, my dream self squeezed his eyes shut.
—Kim Gangchan was Hyeonseo's boyfriend.
—So why did she... to me...
Back then, I was so pure... no, pathetically clueless.
Their voices faded away.
"That's why I told you not to eat with other guys."
"What was I supposed to do, I was broke. But are you mad at me right now?"
"Ah, no, that's not it, Hyeonseo..."
The dream dragged on.
'If it'd ended as a simple mishap, I might've pulled myself together back then.'
Reality was harsher. Days later, Kim Gangchan, resentful that I'd confessed to his girlfriend, spread rumors. Soon, the whole academy buzzed.
The clueless guy who bought a bouquet after a few meals and confessed.
That was me in the rumors.
—That's the guy.
—Oh, the confession prank one?
—Yeah. People like that still exist? Thought it was just in novels.
The price for an extra dreaming of romance with the lead actress. I could see the black aura amplifying my frustration and stirring impulses deep inside.
In the end, my past self quit the academy like a coward.
'Even back then, I thought: If I just brushed this off... I could've changed my fate. But I gave up way too easily.'
I'd clawed my way to near top grades in my second year. If I'd kept the pace through third year, I could've escaped my scripted role.
But despite knowing that, I couldn't endure it. Oddly, I crumbled easily—me, who'd known my place since early childhood memories I barely recalled.
'It was all the curse.'
The dream ended with my failed self fleeing to the military.
The user's desire strongly reacts to the frustration of the first possibility of change ever harbored.
I woke from the dream.
'Haven't had one like this since getting the Desire Fulfillment App. Why now?'
A moment's thought revealed the reason.
'The CSAT's right around the corner.'
[Quest: First Trophy to Make Me Shine]
📍 Complete CSAT registration and submit university applications, then take the CSAT.
🎁 Reward: Function update to achieve desires.
I'd applied for university entrance the moment registration and CSAT signup opened, then forgotten about it. Now the test was nearly here.
'Saw on Kim Hyeonseo's profile back then that she's at Seoral University. That's why the dream.'
I'd brushed it off at the time, but the subconscious shock must've been huge.
'If I get the power to enter Seoral University as the quest says... I'll end up meeting Kim Hyeonseo there.'
Seoral University. The first dream I ever dared to dream. The goal of the first woman I ever wanted. And home to the woman who first crushed me.
I slapped my cheeks to shake off the lingering drowsiness. At the same time, I thought of the CSAT.
The CSAT. Hell for some, a lifeline for others. The test I'd seen as my one shot became hellish despair after three failures.
After bombing entrance exams, I'd dismissed college as a factory for society's cogs and pivoted to civil service exams.
'Looking back, sour grapes. I belittled it because I couldn't reach it.'
The grapes I'd slaved for but never tasted. To protect my self-esteem and mental health, I'd unconsciously downplayed college's value.
"The CSAT... the CSAT..."
Checking the date, it was a week away. CSAT D-7. When high schoolers across the nation stop cramming new info and focus on peak condition.
A day of huge meaning to my past self too.
Opening the internet, a news article on CSAT rules popped up.
On the day before the exam, get plenty of sleep for optimal condition. Pulling an all-nighter is fatal...
"Acted like breaking this would be the end of the world."
But now? Irrelevant. Instead, I sent the article link to Eunseo, urging her to manage her condition well.
CSAT D-1 arrived.
'Entrance season had me so tense I thought I'd lose my mind.'
In a country where no college means no real respect, fierce competition rages yearly among test-takers. To win, you must shake off nerves and perform.
'Knew that, but man, the anxiety.'
My past self knew but still pulled all-nighters staring at the ceiling.
I checked Eunseo's status message. Despite the confidence boost from my earlier pep talk, she was anxious on the eve.
I listened and soothed her until calm returned. Her affection rose by 1 in the process.
Finally, CSAT D-DAY. The CSAT! Officially the College Scholastic Ability Test. The festival marking the end of education from elementary to high school—or a death sentence!
Every November, news fills with perfect scorers' interviews and suicides from failures.
Heading out, I reaffirmed my desire once more.
Today, I would claim the title of Seoral University student that all would envy.
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