Chapter 9 Part 9: Admission test.

I walked straight out of the building.

And I slowly started walking down the sloped path.

As I walked, no one spoke to me.

That was a real relief.

Right now, I didn’t want to talk to anyone else.

I just wanted to go home without being disturbed by anyone.

I’d already had my fill of conversations for the day, and I didn’t want to bother with any more.

So, I kept my distance from the other students and stayed close to the edge.

And as I headed home, I started looking around the academy.

The campus was really bigger than most universities.

No, it wouldn’t be wrong to say it was several times larger.

Just the building I’d come out of could have been split into two main buildings at an ordinary university.

The sports field stretching out in the distance was also very large, and it looked like it would be really fun to play soccer there.

Of course, I don’t know if they even teach soccer here.

“…It’s pretty impressive.”

I said that to myself and continued to look around.

The academy campus was pleasing to the eye just to look at.

You could say it was well designed.

More than anything, it brought back old memories.

Back when I was in college, I wanted to go to a prestigious university.

The university I attended was one of the top three in the region.

But the facilities weren’t that great, so I complained about it the whole time I was there.

Saying that this damn university didn’t even have proper Wi-Fi.

So I always thought I wanted to go to a prestigious university…

And now, as I strolled through the academy, I felt like I was at a prestigious university.

Well, it’s not far from the truth.

The Busan International Academy is a kind of prestigious school.

“That’s…”

Then, I smiled as I spotted something familiar.

A shuttle bus was running on the road.

It really felt like a university.

At lunchtime, I used to take that bus and go around the neighborhood near the university.

“I wonder if there’s a food alley here too?”

I muttered to myself and continued walking.

And I arrived at the intercity bus stop, sat down, and waited for a while.

Then, I took the intercity bus that arrived and went home.

When I got home, the first thing I did was call out to my aunt.

“Auntie, what are you doing? Huh.”

I put my bag in my room, came back out, and looked at my aunt.

Aunt Ailey was working on something at a desk full of papers.

She seemed to be writing a report.

The only time my aunt would spread out papers like that was when she was writing a report.

I looked at the papers for a moment, trying to figure out what it was about.

I saw familiar math formulas.

I also saw colorful graphs.

And there were things like nutritional information written on them.

After seeing that, I couldn’t help but smirk.

My aunt was writing an experiment report.

She doesn’t need to write experiment reports anymore…

But Aunt Ailey always wrote up my test results like a report.

I guess she never got rid of the habit from her researcher days.

“…Is my daughter home?”

“Yes. Were you focused?”

“Yeah. How was the academy? Was it fun?”

“Well, the entrance exam was very unexpected.”

I said that and sat down in front of my aunt.

And I carefully placed my elbow on an empty spot and grumbled.

It was very different from what I had expected.

Aunt Ailey smiled for a moment and said calmly.

“I thought so. Hardly anyone fails the entrance exam anyway.”

“Haa, why didn’t you tell me? I was a little nervous.”

“My instincts are telling me.”

“…What are they telling you?”

“If I had told you, you wouldn’t have taken the entrance exam seriously.”

“…”

“You would have been relieved that it ended with a written test and slacked off on the practical.”

“Tch.”

I wanted to argue.

How could she be so sure when she hadn’t even come with me to the entrance exam?

But I had nothing to say.

Because I probably would have done that.

“You were like that when you were a test subject too.”

“I know. No, I don’t. I’ll forget it.”

“If there’s no need to produce results, you don’t give it your all. Did you think I’d forget?”

“Hey, why are you bringing up something from so long ago?”

I laughed as I said that.

That was a story from at least five years ago.

And I couldn’t understand why she was still harping on it.

So I grumbled briefly and then said to my aunt.

“Thanks, Aunt Ailey.”

“Hm?”

“I would have been in big trouble if I hadn’t brought the painkillers you gave me.”

“It’s no big deal. But did you take it?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of test was it that you had to use it?”

“It’s a long story.”

I said that and smiled.

I still felt like I was walking through a maze.

The feeling of hitting the Invisible Man was still vivid.

So I started talking excitedly.

“Well, I was sitting in the auditorium, and it was all a hallucination.”

“Was it?”

“And the decorations and chairs in the auditorium became walls, and the Invisible Man was a villain.”

“That must have been tough.”

“But I found him well with the Pit Organ and landed a hit.”

“Did you win?”

“Yeah. I won. He seemed to be going easy on me, but still.”

Aunt nodded slowly.

And she smiled and said to me.

“That guy, he’s quite the showman, isn’t he?”

“Ah? Yeah. He acted like a pro at the very end.”

“He was like that ten years ago too.”

“You knew him?”

“We crossed paths a few times. And every time we crossed paths, it was fun.”

Aunt started with that and told me more about the Invisible Man.

At that time, the Invisible Man was only in his early 20s.

Of course, he wasn’t very seasoned yet, so it felt like looking at a rough gem…

The word ‘rough gem’ that came out of my aunt’s mouth… wasn’t a good thing.

So, I couldn’t just laugh happily.

“Oh, right. Auntie. The vice-principal’s name was Rosena, do you know her?”

“…That girl?”

“You know her? She played a little prank on me.”

“Did she?”

“And… she also offered special management.”

“That’s good news.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. The best jewels need proper management.”

I slowly forced a smile and looked away slightly.

When my aunt says things like that… it reminds me of the past.

Fortunately, my aunt’s expression changed quickly, and I could listen to the story again.

“That girl was like that when she was active too. They say magicians are the ones who prepare, but she never did.”

“I see.”

“She makes decisions on the spot, so you’ll have a headache like me.”

“Ugh. I hate headaches.”

“The real power in the academy… is probably her. Be careful of pranks in the future.”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do. Okay.”

I wanted to say it firmly and clearly.

That I don’t like teachers’ pranks.

But after hearing what my aunt said, I felt like I couldn’t say it so firmly.

I’m not stupid enough to say that to the person who holds the real power in the academy.

But I still felt bad, so I grumbled for a moment.

Then, I remembered that I still had something to say, and I hurriedly called out to my aunt.

“Ah, ah. Right. Auntie.”

“Hm?”

“My homeroom teacher, he really…”

“Haha, did you fall in love with him?”

“No, it’s not like that! It’s just… he looks just like…”

“Yes, yes. I’m listening.”

“He looks like my older brothers. So I had a hard time dealing with him.”

Aunt didn’t answer.

She wasn’t just smiling, she was laughing out loud.

So it seemed like she didn’t have the mind to answer.

Aunt continued to laugh like that for a while.

I watched the paper she was holding shake, and then I emphasized again.

“I’m telling you, he really looks like my young uncles.”

“There’s no way an academy teacher would look like that.”

“…Don’t joke. I’m serious.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a little boring.”

“…You think I’d fall in love with that teacher?”

“Well, you don’t usually judge people by their looks. Even if you did fall in love…”

“I won’t tell you. And I didn’t fall in love.”

“Yeah, yeah. And my daughter.”

“…Hm?”

“Did you forget anything?”

Aunt said that and smiled meaningfully.

I knew why my aunt was asking that question.

“Of course, I didn’t forget. Auntie, did you buy the painkillers?”

“I prepared them. Here.”

“Thanks.”

I grabbed the bottle of painkillers my aunt handed me.

Now, all I had to do was put it in my bag and go to the academy tomorrow and submit it to my homeroom teacher.

It looked exactly like the narcotic painkillers I had taken, so I didn’t think there would be any problems.

After that, my aunt focused her eyes on the paper again for a while.

She probably had a lot of reports to write.

Seeing that she was working on it until I came… that could be the case.

Then, as if she had something to say, my aunt raised her head again.

“So… was there any useful friend?”

It was a really dry question.

It was the kind of question an ordinary parent might ask… but it was completely different.

Usually, when people ask that question, they’re asking if their child has made good friends.

But that wasn’t what my aunt’s question was.

It was something that could be said because she saw people not as people, but as research subjects.

The air froze cold.

It was hard to breathe.

It felt like a glass wall had appeared around me.

For some reason, my vision seemed to lower, and time seemed to go backward.

In that familiar phenomenon, I reflexively felt disgusted.

But I calmed my emotions.

The person in front of me is not Ailey.

It’s Aunt Ailey. She’s like a mother to me.

So I needed to calm down.

So I forced a smile and grumbled.

“Auntie, really, useful to people. What’s that?”

“Ah, ah. I’m sorry. I think the habits from my researcher days are still there.”

“Get rid of that quickly. Every time I hear it, I feel like my heart stops.”

“…Shall we go for a walk?”

I nodded slowly.

There was no reason to refuse.