Exam Preparations

Mun Su-rin trudged back to her lodgings after seeing Lee Ho-yeon off.

Cadets at Victoria Academy were expected to live in the dormitories as a matter of course, but you could request to live off-campus if you asked. Mun Su-rin had found her own place because she couldn't stand the dorms, where she was constantly running into other cadets.

"Haa...."

She didn't shower. She didn't take off her makeup. She just peeled her clothes off in a heap and let herself fall onto the bed.

"I should wash up...."

She always hated moving at times like this. If she could just stay like this forever — wrapped in that languid warmth, the soft mattress catching every inch of her — that would be perfect.

But time refused to leave Mun Su-rin alone.

She dragged her exhausted body up and shuffled toward the shower. She washed herself clean from head to toe and scrubbed the makeup from her face. By the time she'd even finished a light skincare routine, it was already past eleven.

The thought of repeating another irritating day starting first thing tomorrow morning piled more stress onto her shoulders.

"I wonder if he texted me back."

Still, dinner with Lee Ho-yeon — even if they'd met for work — had been thoroughly worthwhile. She'd gotten so absorbed in chatting that they'd run an hour over, cutting into her sleep, but it had been worth it.

Lee Ho-yeon really was her healing, her sanctuary. Someone she absolutely could not let slip away.

He was more helpful than her father, who was who-knows-where, or her grandfather, who spent his days loafing around in the chairman's office.

"He replied right away."

The list she'd given Lee Ho-yeon. She'd compiled every elixir the Academy could prepare on short notice and sent it over.

Of course that list fell far short as compensation. She was planning to get him artifacts or something else on top of it.

She'd told Ho-yeon to let her know if he needed anything else, so he must have looked at the list and told her what was missing.

"Huh...?"

What was that supposed to mean? The Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng would be enough?

Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was an elixir that expanded your mana pool.

Elixirs that increased mana capacity were wildly popular, because a person's mana pool was fixed from birth and the only other way to grow it was time. Even the single catty the Academy possessed had only been obtainable because it was the Academy — any other guild would never have gotten their hands on it.

...Is he being serious right now?

A catty of Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. For an ordinary person — or even most hunters — it was an elixir you couldn't even dream of.

But it didn't begin to compare to the achievement of bringing the Saintess to the Academy. With the benefits that would yield, you could buy elixirs like that a hundred times over.

Mun Su-rin turned the reason over and over in her mind.

No matter how decent a person someone was, there was no way they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would just walk away from elixirs like those. In cash, they were worth tens of millions of dollars — no, hundreds of millions.

Of course, if she held those back, her own bargaining position in the Academy's negotiations with Lee Ho-yeon would get stronger, but.... Wait.

Hold on....

Mun Su-rin replayed the conversation they'd had at the restaurant.

Like I said, the Saintess coming to the Academy is thanks to you.... So we decided we should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠show you our gratitude.

I did it all for you, noona. If you're going to compensate me on top of that, I'd be grateful.

"D-don't tell me...?"

He really did it for me...?

"N-no. There's no way."

Mun Su-rin shook her head hard, trying to snap herself out of it.

No. She was just reading too much into it.

She gathered her thoughts and, with trembling fingers, started typing a reply.

"A catty of Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. That's a jackpot. A complete jackpot."

An elixir that went for tens of millions of dollars a catty. The other elixirs on the list had been tempting too, but what I needed most was mana capacity.

So I'd picked the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, the one that expanded your mana pool.

Ding!

A reply from Su-rin noona.

I already told her I don't need anything else. Why does this noona keep trying to pile more on me?

Her affection must have climbed high enough that she was trying to give me even her own share. That wouldn't do.

I packed the reply with as many kind words as I could.

Mun Su-rin seemed satisfied with the sincerity.

"Heh... I'm A-class husband material at this point."

Pleased with my own people skills, I closed my eyes in bed.

"Haa...."

At that same hour, Elise was clutching her head over her studies.

She'd been sucking down coffee and working through the remaining chapters of Modern Hunter Studies when a headache crept in, and she paused to stretch and loosen up her body.

"Ugh, my head. And why hasn't Dad gotten back to me?"

He'd definitely said he'd give her a commission ticket after receiving her aegyo text, but there hadn't been a word since.

"He's the kind of person who's always awake at night. This is weird."

Given that her father slept during the day and got up at night, there was no chance he was in bed. Did he still have work left?

He wouldn't just take the aegyo and run... would he?

Elise sent her father a text.

Her hands were cringing so hard they felt like they were turning inside out, but this was what you had to do if you wanted something from a man like her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠father.

That was how you doubled the effect.

"No, please don't call...."

Riiing—

Contrary to Elise's wishes, the phone rang with relentless enthusiasm.

The thought of having to push that aegyo out of her actual mouth made her whole body tremble, but there was no getting around it.

Keeping a promise was a matter of pride.

"Hewwooo?"

A voice big enough to start a fire blasted out of the receiver. Elise squinted one eye and forced her tongue to curl around the baby talk.

"Daddy, why haven't you sent the commission ticket you promised~?"

"Ahh~ you don't have to rush or anything, so take your tiiime~."

She'd never said when he had to give it to her, so a slow delivery was fine.

Of course, using an excuse like that to not give it to her at all was something Elise's pride would never allow.

"Mmm... Elise really needs it~. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Just once, pleeease..."

"Thank you, Daddy! I wuv you~!"

"Okaaay~. I'm hanging up now, Daddy. Bye-bye~."

Beep.

"That's more than enough of that. Ugh...."

Elise rubbed the goosebumps from both arms with her palms and brought the coffee back to her lips.

Dad had been persistent about asking who she was giving it to, but luckily she'd managed to dodge it with aegyo.

"Lee Ho-yeon... I have to beat him on this exam."

Using the aegyo she'd just inflicted on herself as fuel, Elise set her will blazing and went back to studying.

"You not getting up? You've got an exam today, don't you?"

I woke to the sight of Liliana poking me with her foot on the bed.

"...What time is it?"

I hadn't even gone to bed that late, but my body felt strangely wrecked.

"7:50."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

The moment I heard the time, my foggy head snapped wide awake. I kicked the blanket off and grabbed my cadet uniform.

"Yaaawn. Heading out already?"

Liliana saw me off with a yawn of her own, like she'd only just gotten up too.

"It starts at eight — of course I have to run!"

"At least wash your face. You've got sleep in your eyes."

"...Thanks."

I splashed water on my face and left the dorm with my hair still a greasy mess.

7:52.

I concentrated mana through my body.

Never thought I'd be using Acceleration on the way to class. See? Everything you learn comes in handy eventually.

I tore across the Academy with the wind shearing past my face. There wasn't a single other person heading to class around me, which really drove home how late I was.

The first-year lecture building slid into view.

7:58.

Thud-thud-thud. Rattle—

I sprinted the rest of the way and threw open the door to Class A.

Every cadet in the lecture hall pinned their eyes on me, and Professor Kim Jin-hyeok's icy gaze swung my way.

"So you made it."

"Hah, hah, I-I'm sorry...."

"I won't mark you late, so sit down. I was just explaining the exams."

"Thank you."

I dropped into a seat next to Lucy and Rumi as fast as I could.

Yesterday's eight straight spars must have taken a hidden toll on my stamina. My mana pool had been running on fumes.

I needed to eat that Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and get my capacity up, fast.

"Hey, did you sleep in? What's with your hair."

"Yeah. I woke up and it was 7:50."

"Th-that's amazing. Were you studying until last night?"

Rumi's admiring voice drifted in from the side. Her eyes were sparkling like she was looking at something incredible.

"No, that's not what happened...."

"Yeah, that's it. You pulled an all-nighter studying, didn't you?"

"I said that's not it...."

Why do these two never believe a word I say?

The kids behind us were shooting me wary looks too. Whatever. Think what you want.

"That's enough chatter. Focus."

Professor Kim Jin-hyeok said it while looking straight at me.

Okay, why is it only me?

I wasn't even doing anything and the attention still funneled my way. A protagonist's life was exhausting.

"You've all seen it on Everyday, but midterms run all the way through next week."

Aaaah—...

A chorus of groans filled the lecture hall. Professor Kim Jin-hyeok ignored them with the ease of long practice and moved on to the rest of the announcements.

"Today will be the written exams. Tomorrow is the group exam and the live monster practical. Friday is the one-on-one duels, run as a tournament. We'll also be holding preliminaries in whatever time is left today and tomorrow, so keep that in mind."

Written exams today, then.

The written exams covered a lot of ground. Memorization subjects like Modern Hunter Studies, and problem-solving subjects like cipher decryption and inverse calculation.

If the whole day was written exams, that meant we'd be testing straight through the morning and afternoon.

"More than a few cadets have prepared only for the practicals, gotten tripped up by the written exams, and cried bitter tears over it. I know the practicals are more fun, but don't neglect the written work either. Of course, since the exam is today, that advice is already too late."

"Yes, sir~."

Me, I wasn't worried about the written exams at all.

Sorry, Elise, but I was going to take first place and stoke a little jealousy.

"I'll announce next week's schedule next week. Now, proceed to your respective exam halls."

Professor Kim Jin-hyeok finished the announcements and walked out of the lecture hall.

If we were being told to move to the exam halls, it probably meant we'd take the exams for our own specializations in the morning and the common exams in the afternoon.

"Lucy, where's the exam hall?"

"You didn't even check your exam hall before coming? How much of a rush were you in?"

"Sorry, sorry. It's the same place anyway, so let's just go together. Rumi, you're in the same one too, right?"

"Yes. I'm taking the mage written exam as well."

"Let's go, let's go~."

I followed Lucy and Rumi out and transferred to another lecture hall.

We stepped into the mage classroom in the first-year lecture building.

Elise was already sitting there.

So she'd come to take the mage exam too.

While Lucy and Rumi went to the bathroom together, I walked over to say hello.

"Elise, did you study a lot?"

"...Looks like you pulled an all-nighter."

Elise eyed me warily with dark circles under her eyes.

She's the one who stayed up all night. Why is she looking at me like that?

"I told you I didn't...."

Maybe it was the competitive streak, but the kids were being extra hostile just because I'd shown up without washing for a day.

I'd just slept in.

"Anyway, do your best. Fighting."

"...Just you wait. I'm taking first place for sure."

Elise frowned and turned her face back to her book.

I'd been planning to cheer her on with a clean conscience today, too....

Sebas Chan? Who's that supposed to be.

Some personal matter, maybe? Anyway.

I shrugged and went back to my seat.