Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Ones in the Library Room Are Usually Outsiders
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It's mid-April now.
Students who are serious about studying have already started prepping for midterms, and the teachers are beginning to bring up career paths, scaring kids into hitting the books harder.
As a result, the classroom vibe has shifted a bit. Even during breaks or lunch, more students are cracking open books to prepare for midterms.
If you check out the library room during lunch, you'll see it's no longer the ghost town it used to be—kids are showing up with workbooks in hand, actually studying.
But... our school's library room isn't exactly prime study real estate. The conference room next door might be different, but...
Most of the seats in there are sofas, with no desks in front.
There is one big table with about ten chairs around it, but those chairs are uncomfortable, people are constantly wandering by, and the school library is sneakily noisy anyway.
So, the kids hauling workbooks all the way here to study probably don't have much actual study experience under their belts, right?
Maybe they're newbies who've heard about cramming in libraries or reading rooms during exam season and are just trying to get that "studying" vibe going.
On the flip side, now that it's mid-April, club activities are kicking off in earnest.
Korean high schools don't coddle students like in some neighboring country's fiction—no such thing as a "go-home club." Participation is mandatory.
Thankfully, the Ministry of Education knows club activities don't do squat for college admissions, so they've limited it to every other Tuesday, two periods in the afternoon.
...
Yeah. Club time that's just two hours every other week. Unless members carve out their own time outside, it's just wasting air—no real output.
Back in my pre-regression high school days, I joined a science experiment club just to pad my self-intro for college apps.
Looking back now, wouldn't it have been smarter for admissions to join some vague no-effort club and just chill?
From the perspective of a 35-year-old with five years as a hospital researcher, high school science club "experiments" are just kids' play. That's crystal clear.
College profs reading those activity reports from students probably think the same.
So at the start of the semester, I picked the Library Club.
There are clear perks for me:
Basically no actual activities, but it still racks up school volunteer hours.
The club's duties boil down to announcing at the end of lunch, "Lunchtime is over~ Please tidy up your books and head back to class to prep for lessons~"
And occasionally helping straighten up the library room. That's it.
And they count that as volunteer hours. A few blood donations cover the rest easy.
Plus, those biweekly two-hour sessions? Total content-free zone.
The club advisor can't just send us home, so they park us in the conference room next to the library. Done.
Free time, basically—as long as we don't leave the room.
If the Library Club seniors were social butterflies, I'd get dragged into chit-chat and lose time, but... our current seniors are super quiet outsiders. Seriously, nothing to do.
Two second-years, one guy and one girl. Early semester, the male senior tried showing the newbie me the ropes, answering questions and such... but by mid-April? Zilch.
What could a high schooler teach a 35-year-old regressor anyway? I nailed club schedules and book sorting after one listen, no troublemaking... conversations dried up.
The other girl who joined with me bailed at the start of April. Didn't vibe with the club's drab atmosphere, switched to her friends' club.
Ugh... a club with just three silent outsiders.
Isn't this peak youth? Total romance material?
That said, zero activity would leave the advisor nothing to report at staff meetings, so post-exam season, we might read books, write reports, and present sometimes.
But c'mon, at my real age, that's no sweat.
Just rattle off summaries of books these kids would find mind-blowing from my old reads—they'll eat it up.
In a liberal arts high school, barely anyone's cracked university-recommended stuff like Cosmos, Sapiens, or Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Presentations? PowerPoints? I stopped stressing those after my newbie office days...
High school-level prep? Done in an hour.
Plus, kids dread presenting, and these events max out at twice a year.
So today, I'm using club time for exam prep.
...
Wait, weren't you done caring about grades?
Yeah, but... getting outranked by first-years? Kinda hits the pride, y'know? I'm turning 36 soon.
Especially Han Si-a—that girl was middle school just months ago! Mid! Dle! School!
A grad student dropout losing to a middler? That's beast-tier failure. I'd have to apologize to my parents in tears for all the cash they've sunk into me.
So, I'll manage grades just through first-year to set the tone! Then I slack.
.
.
.
Anyway, first-year curriculum? I know like 99% already.
Math? English? Science? Blanking on any and bombing means I'm subhuman. Parents deserve tears and apologies.
Social studies or history? Nail the scope, ID rote-mem sections, cram the day before. Done.
Most social studies is common sense in my head already; history, I know the big flows.
Electives like ethics, tech-home ec, art? Useless for college—ditch 'em.
But teachers straight-up leak exam questions right before, so quick cram then.
So for a regressor like me holding grades, focus differs from normies.
I prep for teacher tricks in questions.
Like:
[Choose the 'most' incorrect from the options]
[Choose the 'most' correct from the options]
Even if strictly two+ right answers:
-It says 'most' incorrect! No wrongs here!
That weird logic shuts down pissed parents.
No need to agonize over difficulty—answer rates drop, discrimination rises. Teachers love it.
For students? Worst question type ever.
Not lit analysis, but guessing the test-maker's intent every item? Mind games.
Regressors powerless here. Study the content? Still at maker's whim for wrong.
So now, my task: Analyze major subjects' past papers from all grades last 2 years. Catalog teachers' trick patterns.
Math/English: Low tricks, skip. Non-majors like ethics/tech/art: No need for hard mode, low tricks. Pass.
2 years Korean, science, social: 22 sets per subject minus 3rd-year 2nd-sem final. Total 66.
Volume's hefty, but no need full solves. Scan for ['most' incorrect], ['most' correct].
Found 'em? Snip with scissors, scrapbook. Read: messy with 2-answer look, but check key for maker's pick—nail tendencies.
Avg 5 per paper; by club end, ~330 items secured.
.
.
.
Wrapping up, catching breath—seniors peeking curiously at my prep method.
What? Wanna watch a junior study? Just stare then. Acting like I'm up to no good...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After school. Library Club senior's POV.
It was early April when that woman approached us.
She introduced herself as a first-year girl's mom.
Honestly, she looked too young for a high school mom—made us wary.
Plus, the club girl later spilled: her outfit and bag? Insanely pricey luxury brands.
So we figured:
'Dunno who, but some first-year's from serious money.'
After that, we kept bumping into this young mom. Heard she's on some scholarship foundation board...? Comes to school often.
Each time, gifts.
Club girl got fancy cosmetics, idol concert tickets. Me? High-end game vouchers, bags.
Too pricey—we refused hard. But she insisted: got 'em as gifts herself, no use, toss if we don't take. Forced 'em on us.
Rich folks get so much swag they trash it? Jealous.
First time, awkward. But after a few? Numb to it. Can't buy with pocket money, but "toss otherwise"? Fine.
Last time, treated us to dinner at a ritzy spot. No clue why, but she's the gift type—ate well, no thoughts.
Mid-meal, she said:
"Heard you got a junior named Jeong Yi-an in the club? Auntie here's curious about him~ Mind sharing how he studies? Don't tell him... Photos would be great too."
Just scout study habits. Not bullying, stealing—not harming. Just info.
But that day... her usual smile felt off. Kinda creepy.