Chapter 65: I Will Forge My Own Destiny
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65: I Will Forge My Own Destiny
Some might say that studying should be easy in a second life, but since this world’s curriculum was a mix of science and mana—half of which was geeky jargon I’d never heard of—I actually had to start from scratch.
These people were truly wicked. Instead of calling it elementary school, they called it a "Basic Education Institute," and you all have to listen to this atrocity: the exam period lasted for five whole days.
For someone like me, who used to take exams every week while juggling twenty-one credits in college, this was an absolute outrage.
With three or four subjects scheduled every day for five days, this wasn't something you could just cram for. It was a system designed with malicious persistence, ensuring that only those who studied consistently every single day could get a decent grade.
"I really hope our Yong-hwan takes first place this time."
It was to the point where my homeroom teacher kept me after school to personally supervise my studies!
"...I don't want to lose, Teacher. I want to study!"
"Right, if there's anything you don't understand, just ask."
Perhaps because of her promise to let me see Alicia again, the teacher stayed behind with me, and we studied one-on-one in the classroom.
I could ignore Alicia’s schedule. If I called, she was the one who should come running; why should I be the one worrying about her?
Anyway.
These damn exams required a mountain of memorization. As if to signal that students were considered adults starting from the intermediate schools, the sheer volume of study material was staggering.
The midterm exams had covered a "cute" amount of material in comparison. I had to spend my time as efficiently as possible, self-studying the basic lessons I hadn't properly finished because I’d been too busy focusing on Imperial University-level material.
Of course, when I say it was hard, I’m talking about the memorization. Calculations and proofs were incredibly easy. My skills in mathematics, science, and magitech calculations were at least on par with Iris’s, if not higher.
The problem was Im Su-yeon. I had to crush her with overwhelming grades to wash away the humiliation of the dodgeball tournament. Both she and I were guaranteed perfect scores in math and calculations anyway.
The memorization subjects.
Those would be the tiebreakers.
When Alicia clung to me, telling me to take it easy and play with her, I punched her in the chest to drive her away.
I was dead serious.
Im Su-yeon was forced to study during every break because she didn't get along with the other kids, but I lacked that balance because my classmates kept pestering me to play—making me do "hamburger stacks," leapfrog, and racing.
Ah, you might not have known, but Im Su-yeon was an outcast.
It wasn't that she naturally lacked friends because the kind, cute, and handsome second-place student in the school went to her class, grabbed everyone who hung out with her, and shoved them into his own playgroup every recess.
No, it seemed she was being ostracized because she was too much of a show-off. I heard there were a few bullies, but after they were dragged away during recess and beaten, those incidents completely vanished.
Of course, I felt a sense of camaraderie with the kids who got beaten like dogs by Im Su-yeon, so I did let them join my group of playthings.
Anyway.
Compared to Im Su-yeon, I had to study under incredibly disadvantageous conditions. I was busy playing during recess, busy playing with Grasha at home, busy meeting Yuseoha after school to learn the violin, busy going to the gym to play with my pets and concubines, busy giving the Dragon sister’s womb a good pounding whenever she visited, and busy dealing with the King Milk Cow who had developed a taste for masturbating while breastfeeding me twice a month. And when Mom came home, I had to spend all day replenishing her "son-deficiency."
With so many distractions, it might have been natural for me to lose, but this time—this time, I had to win.
The day of the decisive battle was just around the corner.
Mom, who had finally returned home after a long business trip, had received a month-long vacation. For the past few days, she’d been stuck in a cycle of eating and going right back to sleep.
Alicia looked like she wanted to stay at the house a bit longer, but three days ago, Mom had ruthlessly kicked the third-generation chaebol vampire sister out, saying the kids wouldn't learn anything good by watching a jobless bum lounge around.
"Wow! We have a student from our class participating in the Science Olympiad! It’s none other than... our Yong-hwan!"
While I was agonizing over my report card with a sour expression, the homeroom teacher was sharing useless information with the little runts.
Everyone clapped and said it was amazing, but it was pointless talk. This was my Plan B. It was a plan I’d made just in case I happened to lose to Im Su-yeon on the exams.
However, after hearing that the faculty meeting decided that since the second-place student was going to the Olympiad, the first-place student should go too, I found out Im Su-yeon was participating as well. I just hated the world.
For the record, there were many competitions for magic, science, and magitech. However, magitech was a field where the Imperial University and the United Kingdom labs split the pie, and I couldn't enter the Magic Olympiad due to age restrictions.
That’s why I applied for the Science Olympiad, where I could compete fairly with the other kids, but those bastards in the faculty meeting screwed me over.
No, actually, it was a good opportunity. Unlike Im Su-yeon, who was in an environment where she had no choice but to study, I was a poor soul with almost no time to study. It was a tilted playing field.
But if I could overcome this irrational and tilted world and win, wouldn't that be a true human victory?
It would prove that my efforts finally reached the heavens, thwarted the Goddess’s schemes, and overcame the world’s discrimination.
First, we took the school representative qualifying exam.
"Wow~ This is the first time I've seen a lower-grade student win."
I wanted to call it my victory, but...
"They are all such outstanding talents."
Because of the tie with Im Su-yeon, the luster of my effort faded. Of course, three people were selected, so it didn't really matter.
Next, we went to the Olympiad for the small-to-medium administrative district. This stupid world didn't seem to understand that science is divided into physics, chemistry, and biology.
Under the label of "Science," it included the three subjects mentioned above plus a pseudo-science called planetary science, which was utterly meaningless.
I was originally a science major, but since I didn't consider Earth Science—which is bundled into the core and general curriculum—to be "real" science, I could have been at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, since this was a planet with two moons located outside the Goldilocks Zone, there wasn't much content to it. It was just a matter of rote memorization, so it wasn't difficult.
Ah, come to think of it, Earth Science is all about memorization anyway, so I guess there wasn't much difference.
Anyway, in my common sense, it should have been divided into a Biology Olympiad, Chemistry Olympiad, and Physics Olympiad, but these crazy otherworld fantasy people lumped them all together under the word "Science."
Of course, for someone like me who had mastered the existing Introduction to Magitech and was now self-studying Magitech I, the difficulty wasn't that high.
"A joint perfect score! That’s incredible. Jeong Yong-hwan, and Su-yeon. It’s a joy to have such wonderful students attending our school."
The principal’s eyes grew moist as she beamed. I just thought it was impressive how she could march around in high heels at her age.
More importantly, I couldn't understand what kind of girl Im Su-yeon was to get the same score as me. Over 90% of the content wasn't even in the school curriculum; I was dying to know how she got them all right.
She’s good at studying, good at sports, and reasonably pretty... I was just sad about my own life, wondering what Im Su-yeon did in her past life to be so blessed.
Lately, I often thought it might be a problem with Mom’s inferior genes, which failed to pass down anything useful except for my looks. I wanted titles like Genius Scholar, Genius Athlete, Talent Prodigy, Fighting Genius, or Strategic Genius—I didn't want some weird, useless nickname like "Face Genius."
I know I’m incredibly pretty and handsome, but in a place with a 1:20 male-to-female ratio, looking average would have been plenty. Most likely, the stat points were allocated all wrong.
By Mom!
Anyway, Mom, who hadn't put in a lick of effort herself and did nothing but give me a pretty face and a huge dick, started calling her friends to brag.
"Our Yong-hwan did...!" "Yong-hwan, you see...!" "Can you believe it!"
Usually, bragging to friends like that should make your reputation plummet, but...
[★CONGRATS★ Jeong Yong-hwan advances to the Aslan United Kingdom Science Olympiad Basic Finals] — Morian Siador
[★CONGRATS★ Jeong Yong-hwan advances to the Aslan United Kingdom Science Olympiad Basic Finals] — Camel Sirian
[★CONGRATS★ Jeong Yong-hwan advances to the Aslan United Kingdom Science Olympiad Basic Finals] — Hindel Dun Vurdia
[★CONGRATS★ Jeong Yong-hwan advances to the Aslan United Kingdom Science Olympiad Basic Finals] — Yuseoha.
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I seriously started to wonder if these lunatics sent these things knowing exactly how I’d react. Or did they think I only got mad last time because of the food?
"Teacher, I want to drop out."
"...They have good intentions, so try to understand."
Even so, the silver lining was that because I’d become the middle-aged homeroom teacher’s favorite class president, Mom wasn't summoned over such trivial matters.
If Mom had come to apologize again and the police sisters had brought wreaths full of fresh flowers, I would have had no choice but to start acting like a thug. Fortunately, no such disaster occurred.
By the way, Mom said she recycled the wreaths brought at the beginning of the semester by just changing the names and text whenever her acquaintances got promoted.
"My little cutie~! I heard you did something big this time? Oh, you’re so precious. Smart, kind, and cute. As expected, my investments are always the best!"
The Snow Woman, who acted like she’d done everything after giving me a single Ice Essence, was waiting for me at home before Mom.
"Let go of me~!"
Perhaps because the weather was cool, she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that couldn't be considered exhibitionist, which made me angry. If she’d been wearing a few scraps of cloth while shaking her tits and ass, I would have clung to her shouting "Big Sis~!", but as the "Purple Pot" proprietress, she didn't offer me much of an incentive.
"My little cutie, I heard you’re entering a competition? Big Sis prepared an ama~zing gift for you. Don't you want it?"
Still, being rich was a huge merit.
"You always buy me expensive things, that’s why I hate it! You should eat delicious things and buy what you want, but you can't because of me!"
"This little cutie! Cutie! I love you so much! How can you be so—aaah~!"
As Morian buried her face in my stomach, she began to consume oxygen at her own whim. So easy.
"It’s not that expensive, and it’s so our Yong-hwan can win the competition! I’ve prepared some tutors!"
"...Tutors?"
"Yeah, yeah. I brought in a few people who were on the exam committee last year and the year before. If you study with them for a few days... Ah, ack! Don't, don't bite! Why, why...!?"
Morian was trying to cross the line.
"I! Want to beat! Im Su-yeon! Fair and square! I hate cheating like that! It’s the worst! You’re not even a Big Sis! You’re an Auntie! A Snow Woman Auntie! An Auntie with a huge butt and chest! An exhibitionist sow!"
I left the Snow Woman behind and locked my bedroom door.
In this battle of destiny, I didn't need help from anyone else.