Bonus Mission
The reward for this bonus mission had been so vaguely worded that I never expected it to deliver the most meaningful change out of everything I’d received so far. Well, aside from my father’s health issues.
“English words are sticking this easily?”
I couldn’t quantify my memorization ability, but there was a clear difference in how it felt. Some words used to lodge in my brain almost instantly, while others refused to stick no matter what. The stubborn ones would take two or three days of constant repetition before they finally stayed, only to slip away again after a few more days. My old routine was brutal: read it once, then cover the meaning and read it again, repeating until I could recall it without looking. That counted as one round of memorization. The next day I’d review everything from the day before, and by the end of the week I’d go over the entire set. That mindless grind was how I’d always done it… until now.
Now, a single read-through was enough for the words to flow out naturally.
“Social studies concepts, cleared.”
I closed the Su-Teuk workbook and muttered to myself. It wasn’t just English vocabulary; I could memorize social studies concepts without any trouble either. Application and past exam questions were another story, but at least I wouldn’t get tripped up on basic definitions anymore.
“This is insane.”
Only three days had passed since I completed the fifth mission, and I was already realizing just how powerful the whiteboard’s rewards truly were. The way it had healed my father’s condition overnight must have been the same kind of miracle. I finally understood why Seo Jian was so obsessed with the whiteboard. If I played along a few more times, maybe she’d finally stop… or so I thought.
But what if the next rewards were on a completely different scale? What if they offered an absurd amount of money, perfect health for our parents, or even something that could directly affect our CSAT scores? Would I really be able to walk away from the missions then? How far would I go with Jian? And how far had Jian already resolved herself to go?
After that day, neither of us ever mentioned what happened in the rest area. We simply returned to our usual routine at the reading room. There was no teasing, no playful jabs. Jian had gone straight back to the study hall without saying a word and buried herself in her books. The last mission had basically been like watching a movie together, so it would’ve made sense to share our thoughts about it. Her screams, the tears, the way she’d trembled with a deathly pale face… those images were still burned vividly into my mind.
Come to think of it… even these memories were sticking with unnatural clarity.
That was when my phone buzzed.
I immediately heard the sound of a chair scraping back from the seat across from me.
===
“Haaa… so refreshing…”
“Hey, you’re gonna tip over backward. Be careful.”
“Thanks for the concern, but I’ve gotten way lighter. I’m not falling over from something like this, mister.”
Seo Jian leaned all the way back in the plastic chair, stretching out. She looked exactly like her usual self. The same dull gray hoodie she always wore, paired with black track pants. If I asked whether she owned anything else, the answer would be that the outfits changed in tiny details every day—different brands, different prints. The only constant was that gray-and-black color scheme.
And as for conversation topics two repeat examinees might actually discuss… just like she’d said when we first made the contract, Jian had never once brought up what happened in that room. So I didn’t bring it up either. When we stepped out for fresh air or grabbed a meal, we usually talked about studying. Jian wasn’t the type to play games anyway. Stuff like “I studied hard today,” “The questions were brutal today,” or “I just couldn’t focus at all today.” That kind of thing.
That was exactly why I brought up social studies.
“I finished all the social studies concepts today.”
“…For real?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the concepts locked down. I can answer anything from the workbook without hesitation. I read through every single sentence starting yesterday. No exceptions.”
“Reading through doesn’t mean you actually remember it. Dude, your memory can’t possibly be that—”
Jian cut herself off mid-sentence. She frowned, then spoke again.
“Is this… about that reward from back then?”
“Ah, yeah. That reward. It was that reward, right…? Anyway, I could feel the difference right away even with English vocab, so it was pretty amazing. Didn’t you notice anything?”
“……”
Output only comes with input, but when the output is this strong, the input naturally increases too. Lately I’d been feeling the strongest study motivation of my entire life.
“I don’t really feel much of a difference.”
Jian scratched her cheek and mumbled.
“You sure you actually studied? There’s no way you wouldn’t notice if you tried memorizing stuff.”
“…My memory was already good to begin with! Unlike you!”
“……”
Was it really that big a gap? It was hard to argue with that. Yeah, the difference between going from 50 to 100 and from 90 to 100 would feel completely different.
“Memory improves significantly,” I recalled.
Jian muttered the words around the straw in her mouth, then added in a low voice,
“Maybe… I should do it after all.”
“…Do what?”
“Ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”
Slurp—
Jian downed the rest of her coffee in one go and shot up from her seat.
“I’m getting ice cream too.”
“Get me a hard bar. I’ll send you the money.”
I shamelessly pointed at her with my index finger.
“Am I your delivery guy or something? The convenience store’s right there… Fine, but don’t complain no matter what flavor I get, got it?”
“Just so you know, I like vanilla.”
“You’re so picky. Seriously.”
Jian shook her head and headed into the store. I watched her back and let out a small sigh.
“…So, is she going to do the bonus mission or not?”
===
Three hard bars for a thousand won! Jian wondered whether she should just buy exactly two or go for three to make it even. First, one chocolate hard bar for herself. One vanilla hard bar for Kim Hanbin. Then, with the corner of her mouth curling up, she grabbed one more—black sesame flavor.
As she headed to the counter, her eyes landed on a display shelf. Pure coincidence. Out of all the products, a box of condoms caught her attention. Jian froze mid-step.
Participant Seo Jian must go to the convenience store across from the Happy Reading Room and purchase condoms. Payment must be made by you personally. Whether this mission is cleared may affect the content of the next mission.
It was the bonus mission she’d seen before. The fact that she could recall every single word without error proved that Hanbin had been right—her memory really had improved significantly.
Jian glanced through the glass window at the outdoor table. Kim Hanbin was sitting crookedly in a plastic chair, quietly sipping a cola. His gaze seemed fixed on some faraway place in the distance. She had no idea what he was thinking about.
‘…Why hasn’t he brought up the bonus mission?’
That was what she was really feeling. She had been waiting for him to mention it first. She didn’t want to be the one to bring up buying condoms. It was that simple. The reward was only fifty thousand won, but the additional line had been too unsettling to ignore.
Whether this mission is cleared may affect the content of the next mission.
What exactly did that mean? Could the condoms become required items for the next mission? That would be the worst-case scenario. What else would you use condoms for? Obviously for contraception. So if she entered that room without any…?
Even with condoms it would be impossible, but without them it would be even worse. No, just imagining something like that was already the worst part. She wasn’t mentally prepared at all. No matter how many millions of won or miraculous rewards they offered, could she really do that with Kim Hanbin? And if doing that would completely cure Hanbin’s father, could she still say no? Especially if there weren’t even any condoms.
Jian scratched her head. The ice creams in her arms felt freezing cold.
“Ugh. My head hurts.”
She sighed and trudged over to the counter, placing the ice creams down. The part-timer (who looked to be in his mid-twenties) began scanning the barcodes with a blank expression.
“That’ll be one thousand won. Do you need a bag?”
“W-wait a second!”
She blurted it out in a panic and hurried back to the display. Without thinking, she grabbed the first box of condoms she saw. She had zero intention of comparing ultra-thin, dotted, or any of those embarrassing terms. She slid the condom box next to the three ice creams.
“T-this too…”
Her face burned bright red. All sorts of wild thoughts flooded Jian’s mind. What if the cashier got the wrong idea? After seeing her face for over a month at this reading room, he definitely knew she was a repeat examinee. What if he thought she was some shameless slut buying condoms to have sex? She didn’t dare lift her head, staring holes into the tiled floor as she repeated to herself in her mind.
‘It’s not for that. It’s absolutely not for that.’
‘I’m only buying it because of the mission.’
But there was no way he’d believe such a ridiculous excuse. He might not even be thinking anything at all. Her heart was pounding. She just wanted him to finish the transaction quickly… but then the part-timer spoke.
“These are buy-one-get-one-free. You can grab another one if you want.”
“Huh? Huh? Huh?”
“…Or should I just ring up the one?”
“Ah, um… j-just a second!”
Her mind went completely blank. At this point her body moved before she could decide what was right or wrong. She went back, grabbed another condom box, and returned to the counter.
However—
“Sorry, these are a completely different product so the promotion doesn’t apply.”
“W-what did I grab?”
The box the part-timer held up read: Good Thought Perfect Fit 3P Non-Tip Type.
“D-do I have to get the exact same one to get the promotion…?”
“…I can still ring it up as is. Should I just charge you for one?”
“Y-yes! J-just that one is fine!”
In the end, Seo Jian bought one box of condoms. A random buy-one-get-one-free condom deal like this was proving far more difficult than expected.