Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Exam
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The exam was over. The test papers vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing around King Sejong to float lazily in the air.
[Grading time.]
King Sejong, who had been rolling his eyes furiously, broke into a wide grin.
[You fool! It's not 'jjajangmyeon', it's 'jajangmyeon'!]
"Your Majesty, the National Institute of the Korean Language officially recognized 'jjajangmyeon' as standard Korean as of August 31, 2011."
[......Is that so?]
King Sejong fell silent.
[You fool! It's not 'taekgyeon', it's 'taekkyeon'!]
"Your Majesty, the National Institute of the Korean Language officially recognized 'taekgyeon' as a dual standard term as of August 31, 2011."
[......Ah! That's it! It should be 'sonnabal', not 'sonnabal'!]
"'Sonnabal' was revised in the third quarter of 2014, so now 'sonnabal' is the standard term. It's not a dual standard, so only 'sonnabal' is accepted!"
King Sejong's ordeal continued after that.
"'Infant malnutrition' has been changed to 'infant malnutrition syndrome' as a compound word."
"'Frame composition' is now spaced out as 'frame composition'."
"'Wheel spoke' is now standardized as 'wheel rim'."
"'General term' is now spaced as 'general term'."
Entities sometimes played word games.
They tricked people with grammar or vocabulary traps, so the first training for agents was mastering the dispatched country's language. Thanks to that, all agents were dictation masters.
"These are the official positions of the National Institute of the Korean Language, which handles Hangul spelling, so this is the standard."
[......Please stop changing things!]
The defeated King Sejong cried out and collapsed.
The agents sighed in relief as the entity froze back into a statue.
"Thank goodness. It wasn't the real King Sejong, so it ended easily."
『Yeah. Born from students' ghost stories, it couldn't be the real King Sejong.』
"If it were real, there'd be no spaces, it'd use obsolete jamo, and the words would all be medieval Korean."
"That sounds horrifying just to imagine."
『Good thing this is a high school. If it were a liberal arts college with history, Korean lit, and history departments, we'd have a 'medieval King Sejong' close to the real thing.』
"Ugh! Don't say creepy stuff like that!"
The solution had been easier than expected, so the tension among the agents eased.
Just then, the sports field speakers crackled to life.
[♬♪♬♩]
[Class will now begin. Students on the sports field, please return to your classrooms.]
[Students who don't will be personally disciplined by the Student Affairs teacher.]
A cheerful tune accompanied the broadcast.
"Entities born from informational bodies often issue warnings to enforce their anomalies."
"Ignoring the warnings usually triggers their peculiarities. Come on, let's head in."
Kim Go-deuk led the way toward the main building.
But a massive statue blocked their path.
[Ahh, not many pages left in this book.]
It was a white girl statue reading a book.
The statue turned the pages with a sad face, shedding genuine tears of pity each time.
[Once I finish this book, any students who haven't graduated by then will all die. Sob sob! So sad! It's sad, but I have to read! There's nothing else I can do alone but read books!]
They couldn't just leave this entity be.
Before anyone could speak, the announcement blared again.
[1 minute remaining. Students, please hurry to your classrooms.]
[59, 58, 57, 56......]
Kim Go-deuk shoved the agents onward.
"Everyone, get inside."
"Yes? What about you, Master!?"
"I have to deal with that thing. Who knows what peculiarity it'll trigger if we leave it? It might kill everyone left in the school who hasn't 'graduated'."
"But! If that's the case, we all stay and handle it together!"
"You must've dozed off in training. Didn't I say every entity has a countermeasure? Find it. And disciple, you talk like I'm definitely going to die?"
He bared his teeth in a grin. His pristine white teeth, treated since becoming an agent, gleamed assertively.
"Not going to class won't kill you. Just a little discipline—and a martial artist should handle that easily."
"......You have to stay alive. We'll finish quick."
"Kehkeh! Of course! No martial artist charges into battle expecting defeat!"
『Teacher Go-deuk! We'll wrap it up fast and come back!』
The other agents entered the main building.
Kim Go-deuk waved them off, then assumed his stance.
"But we steel ourselves for death to seize victory."
[What? You'll play with me? Yay! Let's play tag!]
"Sure, that's what you want?"
[Yeah! If you don't catch me in over a minute, I'll read my book!]
"I'll play as long as you want."
[Here we go!]
The reading girl bolted away. Fortunately, her speed wasn't too fast.
'I mustn't catch her. Just keep chasing.'
The worrying part was the broadcast.
[4, 3, 2, 1, time's up.]
[The Student Affairs teacher sleeping in the student council room has awakened.]
More precisely, the 'Student Affairs teacher' was the concern, but it hadn't appeared yet.
'Still manageable!'
He kept a moderate distance while chasing the reading girl when suddenly something entered his vision.
[I think, therefore I am.]
A deep teal statue, chin propped in thought, addressed Kim Go-deuk.
[Think with me. Grasp the truths of the world and become a philosopher.]
"Sorry, but this isn't the time to cultivate inner arts. I refuse."
[No, you must.]
The thinking statue rose, its over-5-meter frame lumbering after Kim Go-deuk.
[I'll force those who won't think to think!]
"This is insane."
Considering the King Sejong statue's peculiarity, getting caught by the thinking statue would likely force him into a thinking pose and halt him.
[Kyahaha! This is fun! No urge to read now!]
That would mean failing to play with the reading girl, endangering the agents' lives.
'No time to hold back.'
Kim Go-deuk unleashed a technique.
"Fire Dragon Shatters the Heavens—Palm!"
Like a dragon swimming through a river of fire, shattering the sky.
His form sliced through the wind and seized the reading girl.
[Eek! Caught! Okay, new rule!]
In that instant, the reading girl vanished.
[Catch me in 3 minutes or I read! Won't go inside buildings, so no worries!]
Damn, teleportation?
Now tag had evolved into hide-and-seek too.
'Difficulty spiked.'
But that wasn't the end.
[O-re-wa!]
Far off, an armored Yi Sun-sin statue with glowing eyes approached, sword in hand.
[Yi Sun-sinmu—Death!]
It swung, leaving a long gash on the sports field.
Kim Go-deuk barely dodged, but seeing his hem sliced off, he gave a wry smile.
"A school founded by traitors?"
『Is Grandpa okay?』
"He'll be fine. Master's tougher and more tenacious than you can imagine."
The agents who entered the main building searched the surroundings.
Their search turned up the solution in the public notices.
[Pass 6 exams]
[Subjects: History (Not Taken) / PE (Not Taken) / Art (Not Taken) / Math (Not Taken) / Music (Not Taken) / Science (Not Taken)]
[Pass status shared by all students.]
[All six passed: entire grade graduates.]
"Pass six subjects to graduate, huh."
『Seems targeted at every student.』
"High school assumes whole grades graduate together. 'Graduation' probably means release from the entity."
『Context suggests high odds.』
Kim Mi-ri suggested splitting up.
"Before Master tires more, divide into two teams to clear subjects fast. Not sure if it counts him in our grade, but graduation might halt the entity."
『Let's do it.』
Six agents centered on Kim Mi-ri.
Five on Shin Young-moon.
"See you later."
『Later.』
No exam locations listed, so the split teams moved separately to find them.
"That room looks suspicious."
The only clean classroom in the near-ruin school.
"Let's go in."
Kim Mi-ri scanned inside the moment she entered.
Janitor's closet at the back.
Old wooden desks and chairs, green blackboard with chalk.
Posters on the bulletin board: 'We're a water-scarce nation—conserve water!' and 'Drive out the Communists!'
"Super old-school vibe. Did 80s or 90s kids study in places like this?"
"Brings back memories. Fifty desks means pre-90s maybe. Baby boomer era, classrooms were packed."
The 1991-born agent helpfully explained.
"Hard to imagine nowadays."
"That's why discipline was harsh back then. Too many kids—had to be strict or no control. Group punishments were common. Once, our whole class ranked last, so the hockey stick to our asses..."
The agent trailed off.
Then gestured to shut up and pointed to the blackboard corner.
[Chatterbox]
[Hong Sung-woo 一]
Chalk moved on its own, writing on the board.
[History exam starting now.]
The agents took their seats.
Test papers appeared instantly.
[10 questions total. Pass with 5+ correct.]
[One passer ends the exam.]
The agents checked the first question.
[1. Become a Korean Independence Army member and alter history. 50%+ alteration counts as correct.]
The moment they read it all, the world changed.
"Chun-ja! You're awake!"
"Oh heavens! Thank you!"
"?"
People suddenly wailing while staring at her.
The startled Kim Mi-ri asked,
"Who are you?"
"You brat! Don't you recognize your own parents!?"
"Oh no! Our daughter's lost her memory!"
After talking with her so-called parents, Kim Mi-ri grasped the situation.
'So it's August 29, 1910?'
She had become Park Chun-ja, born in Korea at the start of Japanese colonial rule.
A bright full moon lit the late evening.
Just past midnight on a Sunday, a group arrived at the silent abandoned school.
"Ugh, dragged here like water ghosts. What is this?"
"Scared of ghosts? A Marine afraid of ghosts!?"
"Ah, I'm not scared!"
"Everyone, hi-hi! We ended up here anyway! There were supposed to be separate losers for the penalty, but why do we feel dragged into it too? Am I imagining?"
About six people started filming with their gear.
Among them, the shortest stepped forward.
"Ttwe......"
She shuddered at the eerie abandoned school.
"Ttweoji......"
BJ Ttweoji.
Real name Lee So-hee inwardly cursed her past self.
'Damn! Shoulda just not bet!'
Her broadcast persona was tough guy.
Of course, she could only say "ttweoji," and her cute girl looks created a huge gap that fueled her popularity.
Plus mismatched talents like:
Insane physical prowess.
Drawing like a pro.
Singing with pro vocals despite ttweoji speech.
Making killer music.
Gamer god.
Acting on point despite ttweoji lines.
Her near-genius versatility made her a beloved streamer, but she had a weakness.
"Our Ttweoji's scared, huh?"
"Told ya not to bet. That 'Hell Paradise Drop' faint is still all over the net."
She was a massive scaredy-cat.
Her new body had zero horror immunity, and recently at Love Land amusement park for a penalty, pretending tough got her an extra one.
"Our So-hee scared? Want sis to hug you?"
Her manager and next-door older sis, Lee Ye-seul, approached with a smirk.
A beauty unimaginable in her male days, but now just a wicked teasing elder.
"Ttweoji!"
She protested.
Ghosts exist—what if real ones show?
"So-hee, no such thing as ghosts. Ahaha! Why so cute?"
Having experienced man-to-woman miracle, he figured ghosts existed too—but no one got it.
"Heading right in? That's our Ttweoji!"
"But why're we here?"
"Pretend to tag along, leech views."
"You punk, say it outright!"
Then, a mechanical chime from someone's smartphone.
[Ttweoji is love]
[1,000 won donation]
[Hey, isn't that police tape? Saw it just now?]
They zoomed the camera on the back entrance per the message.
"Nothing there?"
"Nah, Ttweoji's just spooking us?"
"Ttweoji crying?"
"Ttweottweo!"
Fuming, Lee So-hee stomped forward.
'Wrap this quick and rest.'
The other five followed her through the back into the school.
[Ttweoji is love: No, I really saw it.]
Moments later.
[Stream has ended.]
Their broadcast cut off.