145 - Academy Midterms

No matter how infamous the academy's exams were, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠elementary division was still just the elementary division. There were exactly seven subjects: the magic-related ones like Mana Injection, Runes Type-A, and Basics of Transmutation, plus the standard ones like Korean, math, social studies, and science, same as any other school.

Of course, those first three carried the overwhelming weight, and starting from second grade, everything except magic was absolute evaluation anyway. So all the kids were laser-focused on drawing magic circles.

Right now, the kids in our class each had a notebook in hand and were sitting in a circle around where Si-hu and I were. Someone had even pushed the surrounding desks to one side of the room so we wouldn't be disturbed.

"Si-hu, you've been doing this since last year? Impressive."

"It's nothing..."

"Okay, next. Se-bin, what part don't you get?"

"Yeah, this."

It was the classic pre-midterm cram session.

"That's primary injection content. Anyone else who doesn't know this, come over here. I won't explain it twice later."

Three or four kids got up and sat right next to us. I picked up the textbook, sitting taller than them in my chair, and started the supplemental lesson from a higher vantage point.

Even in an academy that only admitted top academic performers—and in A-Class, where only the top 25% could enter—not every kid could keep up with the homeroom teacher's lessons. Some who already knew it all were yawning or zoning out, while others blinked blankly, not understanding a thing.

Still, the kids had strong drive to learn. Si-hu had told me he'd gathered his class last year for study sessions before every exam. The results spoke for themselves: half of our current second-year A-Class came from his first-year A-Class.

This year, I'd decided to help Si-hu with the kids' midterm prep too.

"The textbook shows the optimal injection graph all wiggly like this, right? If Se-bin injected mana at the exact same strength into this magic circle, what would happen?"

"Um... no idea."

"See this part sticking out? That much mana just flies off. Look closely—the exam question will probably be like this. If you're given a graph like that, first draw a straight line right here."

"Got it."

"But drawing it straight wastes too much mana, right? So we'll curve it counterclockwise. Like thiiiis."

I took a 15cm ruler, assuming it was the injection equivalence line, and rotated it diagonally over the textbook.

"Much cleaner than before, yeah? They might ask for the area of that protrusion, or the start and end points. Here's how you calculate it..."

This was originally a unit that required learning functions and linear regression first. But they skipped all that and jumped straight to applications, which could trip up kids short on basics.

Math should build step by step, but whoever designed this curriculum was in such a rush they skipped everything for nonstop magic theory progress.

So what if you could solve it without functions? You still wouldn't understand, and they'd move on. Why did people always obsess over results?

I felt bad that even I, teaching it, couldn't explain beyond this.

"Phew, about done."

"Nami! This too!"

Han Se-ri came running late with her runes book open, calling out loudly.

"Runes?"

"Yeah, I can't memorize them."

"Can't help you there..."

"Aaaah, make me memorize! My head's gonna explode!"

Memorization was on them. Se-ri trudged off, looking dejected. Not much I could do.

Si-hu finished up too, stretching with arms up and twisting side to side.

"No plans for grade-skipping, Yoon Si-hu? Seems too easy for you."

He tilted his head at my question.

"...? I'm going to fourth grade next year."

"For real? Why didn't you say?"

"You didn't apply for grade-skipping? Deadline was last week."

"Was it?"

"Whoa."

News to me.

"It's fine. Wasn't planning to anyway."

Elementary or high school content—didn't matter. I wasn't learning much either way. Kids might not get it, but living age-appropriately could be a decent life hack.

Academies weren't just for learning. With the internet these days, you could look up anything. And Professor Cheon, Korea's magic authority, was right at home.

"Why not? You could handle middle school easy."

"Middle school?"

I immediately wrapped my arm around Si-hu's neck and squeezed.

"I only look middle-school level to you? Kinda disappointing."

"No, high schoolers learn super hard stuff!"

"High school? Just high school?"

"What answer do you want?!"

"Figure it out yourself."

Not being able to use magic freely was my eternal regret. In my past life, I'd have lit up the playground with a hellfire show. This body lacked mana capacity, but still.

"Si-hu, if you skip to fourth alone, what about Yuna? She'd be left behind. Don't you feel bad?"

"...Mom wants me to graduate elementary fast."

"Hang in there. First loves usually don't work out."

"Ugh, stop, it's not like that...!"

His flustered face was kinda cute. Better wrap up with encouragement before midterms.

"Anyway, good luck on the exams."

"Yeah, you too, NoName..."

Why's he glaring? Does Si-hu hate me or something?

I spun my chair toward Yuna, who was diligently memorizing runes.

"Yuna. Si-hu says good luck on your exam."

"Huh? Me...?"

"Hey, when did I say that? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I never said it!"

"Never? So you want Yuna to fail?"

"No, that's not...!"

"Alright, everyone, fighting!"

The Ddagade tournament participant reveal was May 17th, Wednesday. With about three weeks left, I needed to get a grip on World of Arceria's rules.

After story mode, just seeing WoA's icon gave me a headache, so I hadn't touched the game or streamed. Did some Legacy of Legend, though.

If I hadn't posted updates on Trgedder, someone might've broken in using every trick, like Sia warned.

"Hey, Adella. What're you up to?"

"Ehehe. Hehe. Ooh, sis! Hiya! How'd the exam go?"

Entering the private room, the first thing I saw was a catgirl scratching her thighs vigorously, plastered to the bed.

"Whatcha watching?"

"Web drama! Right at the kiss scene—wait, sis can't see this! You're only seven!"

"Not interested."

"Your playlist's all docs? Fermat's Last Theorem? What's fun about that..."

"It's fun."

Adapting too fast? After I saved her from deletion, she'd evolved into a full-on NEET burning in-game currency.

"Why'd you change the interior again?"

"Room was too drab! I like bright colors. Yellow and pink especially!"

"My money."

"C'mon, everyone knows you're loaded now. Saw it on VTube. Eek...! Yes, yes! Nooo, can't watch the lip-lock, kyaa!"

How's this an AI? More human than human. Their adaptability is terrifying. Had to give her work soon, or she'd turn into dead weight.

Wasn't here to scold her today, though.

"Gonna start streaming. Cool?"

"Now? Yeah, go for it."

"Then why's there underwear on the floor?"

"Ack, when'd this fall here?!"

The 3-pyeong space had expanded to 10, and with one more family member, it didn't feel empty. Kinda smelled like people now... maybe. Hard to say.

I skipped the music today, waiting for viewers. Instead, I pulled out my familiar whiteboard from inventory and wrote an equation in front of the camera.

Saw it randomly on VTube. Looked good as a pre-game brain teaser.

No advance notice, so viewers trickled in slow—but the firepower was the same as ever.

"Hey everyone, been a while, right?"

"Yay! Me too, kids!"

Adella's sultry voice chimed in after mine. I kept eyes on the screen, casually raising one hand in greeting.

"Wanna try solving it? Answer's easy."

"Oh, and x=4,5,7 btw."

"It's not just finding integer solutions—it's proving no others exist besides those three."

"Hmm... taking longer than expected."

The board was full, but only halfway done. It felt simple in my head.

"Gotta split into cases."

I erased everything and started fresh on the white expanse, black marker flying.

"Define coprime integers A, B, C not zero, split like this. Aha."

Handwriting magic circles took time, but after setup, it flowed. Just transcribe pre-calculated formulas.

"Solved without Stirling's approximation. Yep, only 4, 5, 7."

"Was planning ranked games today anyway. Gotta do placement."

Five placement matches to determine tier. My exam was just starting.