Chapter 20 : Adventure Level 10 (3)

Midterm exams were approaching.
Middle school exams weren’t particularly important, but apparently, that wasn’t the case for Do Yugeon or his parents.

He was sitting in front of me right now, diligently solving math problems.
He seemed to really feel the weight of the larger scope compared to the first semester; he was truly focused.
He should have started earlier.

As he began studying, he dragged me along to the library too. When I asked why, he said this:
“Studying together is better, isn’t it?”
What more did he want me to do when I had already finished everything?
Review? Ugh, do that again?

I thought it was standard practice to finish middle and high school material before even entering, wasn’t it?
Finishing middle school content before middle school and high school content before high school seemed normal.
When I mentioned this thought to Yu Mina before, she said this:
“You’re the weird one.”
“Then you didn’t finish all of middle school?”
“I did finish.”

Sometimes I think Yu Mina is a bit strange too.
Instead of always calling me weird, I wish she’d engage in some self-criticism.

I closed the book I had been merely staring at and checked the library clock.
Not lunchtime yet.
After being dragged to the library, I did review for a bit, but doing more was truly a pointless waste of mental energy, so now I was reading a book.
But I wasn’t really enjoying it.

Normally, reading would be enjoyable, but not now.
Reading is only fun when you feel like doing it.
If it were always fun, there wouldn’t be piles of unread books I’d bought.
A yawn escaped.
Come to think of it, I have many books I ordered but haven’t read. I need to read them, but I don’t know when.
Definitely not now.

Isn’t there a good way to catch up on reading?
Not speed reading, but something, something magical.
I wanted an easy and fast method that just poof gets it done.
If worse comes to worst, I wish someone would read the books for me.
Ah, when will science advance?
I want to directly back up book content into my brain.

While spacing out, my phone vibrated.
A game notification.

[Stamina has been recharged.]

I see.
Mine was bottomed out. How enviable.
“I’m going to wash my hands.”
Do Yugeon nodded, his head buried in his worksheet.
I left the general reading room and sat on a chair indoors.

I clearly remember vowing shortly after becoming aware of my past life that I wouldn’t touch mobile games, yet here I was, playing one.
Not diligently, but still.
In my past life, I assumed I only played mobile games despite buying console and Steam games because my stamina was low, but now, as a middle schooler, I was still doing it. Maybe mobile games were actually my preference?
It hurt my pride, but it was a plausible guess.

After using up all the stamina, I stood up.
Stretching, I headed back, and Do Yugeon came out of the general reading room.
“What took you so long washing your hands?”
“Was doing something else. Anyway, where are you going?”
“Was thinking of getting lunch soon, so I came out looking for you.”
“Lunch sounds good. I was just feeling a calorie deficit with all these random thoughts popping up.”
“What kind of thoughts?”
“Various thoughts.”

He started heading toward the library cafeteria, but I grabbed his sleeve to stop him.
“Let’s eat a lunchbox today instead of the cafeteria. I brought one.”
We went down the stairs.
“If you brought a lunchbox, shouldn’t we go back?”
“I left it in the Preparation Room.”
“We’re eating in the Preparation Room?”
“No. I don’t have a mat right now. It seems better to just eat at a table outside the library.”

He nodded and stretched.
“Ugh! How come the workload isn’t decreasing? At this rate, I’ll take the test without finishing the scope.”
“Did you finish studying everything before? Wasn’t that not the case?”
“I couldn’t study perfectly. Two weeks wasn’t enough.”
“Then with less than two weeks now, isn’t this the natural course?”
It’s amazing his grades are maintained this way.

“It’ll work out somehow.”
“Your attendance at cram school is on the line, and you’re just brushing it off like this?”
“You’re right. Ugh…”
He ruffled his own hair.
“You actually like cram school, don’t you?”
“Don’t tease me. I’m really distressed right now.”
“Don’t worry too much. Cram school is no big deal.”
“Comfort from a young lady who’ll never see the inside of a cram school in her life is meaningless. You just hire tutors.”
I never told him, but he knows.

“That’s not true.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Unlike someone, I’m good at studying.”
“I see. Then please share your study secrets.”
“Didn’t I tell you once before?”
“You did. That bogus method.”
“It’s not bogus.”
“How do you study Korean?”
“Memorization.”
“Math?”
“Memorization.”
“English?”
“This one is definitely memorization.”
“That’s not what studying is.”

Or so he says.
“If you want to raise your grades, this is right.”
“Where’s the critical and creative thinking?”
“Let me tell you about an interesting research result. They divided students at a prestigious university into two groups based on their study methods and tracked their college grades. One group summarized lecture content in their own way, while the other wrote down the professor’s words verbatim and memorized them exactly—”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Suit yourself.”

I sat down at a table chair.
I briefly Logged in and retrieved the lunchbox I had left in the Preparation Room.
It was a three-tiered lunchbox made by my grandfather’s chef.
Because I requested a lunchbox that looked like it could have been bought outside, the chef seemed to have put considerable thought into making it.
“I carefully selected the lunchbox company, but tell me if it doesn’t suit your taste. I’ll switch companies.”

He looked at the lunchbox and commented.
“Don’t lunchboxes these days use plastic? This is unusual.”
Needlessly sharp.
“It’s an eco-friendly company. They collect the lunchbox containers after you finish eating. Hurry up and try it.”
He ate some bulgogi.
“Wow, delicious. You said it was instead of delivery food, so I expected it to be bland, but it’s delicious.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“How much sodium is in this per serving?”
I didn’t decide on that setting.

I thought for a moment and replied.
“36 percent of the daily recommended value.”
“Oh…… Impressive, the company. They managed to hit the ratio perfectly.”

As I filled my stomach with the lunchbox and waited for him to finish eating, a thought occurred to me.
This guy was definitely conscious of me, but surely not to the point of confessing, right?
That would be troublesome.
“Do Yugeon. Can I ask you a very awkward question?”
“If it’s an awkward question, shouldn’t you not ask it?”
“I see. Then look at me.”

He looked over, puzzled.
I did nothing but maintain eye contact.
He lowered his head and continued eating.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Me.”
“Right, but you’re not doing anything, so what am I looking at?”
“Just look. Can’t you even do that?”
“I can. But you’re not doing anything.”
“I see.”

I leaned forward and continued.
“Then, Do Yugeon. By any chance, do you like me?”
Frozen for a moment, he glanced sideways at me.
“I like you. Would I dislike you then?”
“That’s not what I mean—”
“Ah. I know, I know. Our young lady has become self-conscious and is worried her childhood friend might confess to her. Sigh…”
He shook his head slowly.
You’re the self-conscious one.
I almost blurted out the thought.
How absurd.
Who was the one constantly striking poses?

“I’m a middle schooler, so what about it?”
“What’s so special about being a middle schooler? You always say you’re a middle schooler.”
“Because I am a middle schooler?”
“Right, who said otherwise?”
Ah, this, ugh…… A sudden wave of embarrassment washed over me, and I rubbed my face dryly.
I am a middle schooler, why am I embarrassed?

I calmed my flushed face for a moment and said to him.
“Just hurry up and eat your food.”
“I am eating. You’re the one who started talking in the first place.”
“Aren’t you going to study?”
“I will. Miss Cha Haneul, middle schooler.”
No……

I took the midterm exams.
As expected, they were easy.
Middle school exams are like that.
But apparently, it wasn’t the same for Do Yugeon.
Coming back from the first day of exams, Do Yugeon immediately launched into a tirade on the subway about how difficult the test was and how tons of friends agreed with him.
On the second day, he raged about how ridiculously large the scope of the second-semester midterms was compared to the first semester.
On the final day, he became abruptly depressed and awkward to talk to.

Wondering what kind of test could put him in such a state, I obtained the exam papers and tried them myself.
They were easy.
To check if it was just me, I asked Yu Mina to try them too, and she also said they were easy.
I knew our school gave difficult exams, but I didn’t realize the difference would be this big.

The exam wasn’t particularly difficult, but I still consoled Do Yugeon.
“Don’t worry too much. If the exam was hard, only your score will drop, not your rank.”
“That’s true, right?”
“Right. You wouldn’t possibly go to cram school, right?”

Famous last words.
Do Yugeon’s grades were surprisingly good enough to maintain his standing, but not enough to capture the hearts of his parents.
Do Yugeon and his parents argued back and forth, locked in a tug-of-war, until the decision was sealed with the single phrase, “The cram school fee has already been paid.”
He vented his frustration, but that’s life.

I asked the dazed boy, “Want me to walk you to the front of the cram school?”
After seriously considering for a moment, he said, “No, it’s okay. I’ll go by myself.”
Then silence.
Don’t act all pathetic on your first day of cram school. It’s really no big deal—stop making me worry.

He got off, so I followed.
“Why are you getting off?”
“It’s not hard to walk together, so I’ll just come along. You don’t mind?”
“No. I like it.”

As we trudged toward the cram school, following the map, he spoke.
“Now that I’m attending cram school, my leveling up will be hindered.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve already fallen behind the top levelers, haah…… It’ll get worse.”
What’s with this end-of-the-world mood?

“Right.”
“What do you mean, right? We’re only leveling up twice a month anyway.”
He chuckled softly.
He complains even when I sympathize.
We made idle chit-chat as I walked him to the cram school stairs.
Thankfully, he seemed in a better mood by the end.

I stretched at the top of the stairs.
Should I go home and take a nap now?

[Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage―ON]

What the.
The spellbook popped out of thin air.
Its pages fluttered.
―Hello, Master! Are you enjoying playing house?
I didn’t turn this on.
―It’s so mean of you to have fun without me.
“Deactivate Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage.”
―Wha—?!

[Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage―OFF]

The spellbook tumbled down the stairs.
Startled me.
Popping out unexpectedly like that.
What kind of AI activates on its own?
An uncontrollable AI is horror itself.
Still, the fact that deactivation worked suggests the Mage’s Encyclopedia can’t transcend the System.
That’s certainly a relief.

Feeling like I had sorted my emotions, I went down the stairs and picked up the spellbook.
Looking inside, it was indeed my spellbook.
Thankfully, the spellbook seemed magically treated and sturdy.
No damage anywhere.
I took the spellbook home and Logged in.
I didn’t know what the crazy Mage’s Encyclopedia was thinking, but should I establish dominance first?

“Activate Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage.”

[Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage―ON]

―That’s really too mu—
I deactivated it, then activated it again.
―What’s—
Repeated.
―Why are you—
―Mast—
―Talk—
―Hey—
―Sor—
Ah. I cut that off by mistake.

“Activate Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage.”

[Mage’s Encyclopedia for the Apprentice Mage―ON]

―I’m sorry.
“For what?”
―For startling you.
“Is that all?”
―And for activating on my own. I’m really sorry.
“Alright. Don’t do it again.”
―That’s impossible, though.
“Apprentice Mag—”
―This! Is an unforeseen incident. My very reason for existence is to protect the Apprentice Mage. If Master is in danger, I inevitably have to step in.

So it has the authority to come out on its own?
But you said you couldn’t use magic.
“……Really?”
―Yes. Because Master is weak. You need protection.
“That’s true. So, was this time a dangerous situation?”
―No.

I see.
Well, it apologized, so is it okay?
“Then be careful next time. I detest uncontrollable situations.”
―Is Do Yugeon controllable?
Why is he coming up now?
“Do Yugeon is a middle schooler. He’s an exception. More importantly, explain why you popped out.”
―To ask you to give me even a fraction of the affection you give Do Yugeon. No, no. I’ll tell you now.

The spellbook fluttered, and a fanfare sounded.
What kind of magic was that?
―A system update is ready. It involves banning military weapons from the Preparation Room and adding new items.