Even if the academy’s exam had a notorious reputation, the Elementary Division was still just the Elementary Division.
The subjects for the exam were limited to just seven: for the magic section, there was ‘Magic Infusion,’ ‘Rune Language – Type A,’ ‘Basics of Alchemy,’ along with the typical subjects of Korean, Math, Social Studies, and Science, similar to other schools.
Of course, the first three were overwhelmingly important, and starting from 2nd grade, all subjects except for magic were graded on an absolute scale, so the students were all busy drawing magic circles.
Right now, the kids in our class each had a notebook, sitting around where I and Si-hoo were, creating a little circle.
To avoid disrupting us, someone had even pushed the surrounding desks to one side of the classroom.
“Si-hoo, you’ve been taking this role since last year? Impressive.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Okay, next. Se-bin, what didn’t you understand?”
“Uh, this part.”
This was the so-called last-minute sprint right before the midterms.
“It’s about first-order infusion. If there are any kids who don’t understand this, come up here, okay? I’m not going to explain the same thing twice later.”
At that, three or four students stood up and moved right next to me.
Sitting down and holding the textbook from a higher vantage point than the kids, I started the supplementary explanation.
In an academy where academically gifted students enroll, and where only the top 25% can be in Class A, it’s not surprising that not all students can keep up with the homeroom teacher’s lessons.
Some kids yawned, already knowing the material, while others just blinked, totally lost.
Yet, all the kids had a strong desire to learn, and until last year, Yoon Si-hoo had gathered their classmates together to study before exams.
The fact that his efforts hadn’t gone to waste could be seen by the current members of the 2nd Grade A class, as nearly half of them were from Si-hoo’s 1st Grade A class.
This year, I decided to help Si-hoo with the kids’ midterm study sessions too.
“This textbook shows the optimal infusion graph all curvy, right? If Se-bin infuses mana into this magic circle at the same strength, what do you think will happen?”
“Uh… I’m not sure.”
“See that part that’s sticking out? This much mana will all fly away. Keep watching, because the exam question will likely come out like this: first, draw a straight line here.”
“Yes, yes.”
“But if you draw it straight like that, too much mana gets wasted, right? So, we’ll rotate that line counterclockwise. Like this.”
Assuming the 15cm ruler was the infusion equivalent line, I tilted it against the textbook.
“Now it looks much cleaner, doesn’t it? At this point, a question might ask for the area of that bulging part, or the starting and ending points. Here’s how to figure that out…”
This should have normally been a lesson covering functions and linear regression first.
But here, they skipped it all and jumped straight to applications, meaning that kids who lacked a foundation might not understand what was going on.
You should learn math first and take things step by step, but whoever designed this curriculum must have been in a hurry to skip everything and just plow through magic studies.
What good is it if a problem can be solved without knowing functions? In the end, they don’t understand and move on to the next unit.
Why do people always emphasize results over everything else?
I could only feel disappointed that I couldn’t explain any better than this.
“Phew, that should about do it.”
“Na-me, this too!”
Suddenly, Seori yelled loudly, flipping open her rune book that she had just grabbed.
“Rune language?”
“Yes, I can’t memorize it well.”
“I can’t help you with that…”
“Ahhh, make me memorize it! My head feels like it’s going to explode!”
Memorization is something each person has to do.
Seori sulked and shuffled away, but it couldn’t be helped.
Si-hoo stretched and rotated his body, indicating he was done cleaning up too.
“Hey, don’t you plan on skipping a grade, Yoon Si-hoo? It looks too easy for you right now.”
At my question, Si-hoo tilted his head.
“…? I’m going to the 4th grade next year.”
“Oh really? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Did you seriously not apply for acceleration? It was due last week!”
“Was it?”
“Whoa.”
I didn’t know that was a thing.
“It’s okay; I wasn’t really planning on advancing anyways.”
Whether I learned elementary or high school content, I didn’t feel like I was gaining much knowledge anyway.
The kids might not realize it, but living life according to your age could be a surprisingly good way to go about things.
The academy isn’t just a place to learn, and if you’re curious, these days it’s convenient to look things up yourself on the internet.
Professor Cheon, an authority in Korean magic studies, is at home too.
“Why? I think you could adjust perfectly well in Middle School Division right now.”
“Middle School Division?”
I instantly wrapped my arms around Si-hoo’s neck and squeezed tightly.
“Do I really look like I’m only at the Middle School level? I’m a bit disappointed!”
“No, the kids in High School Division learn really tough stuff!”
“High School Division? Just High School?”
“What kind of answer do you want from me?”
“Well, I guess you just need to think about it.”
Not being able to use real magic at will is a life-long regret.
If it were my past life, I would have definitely shown off some Hellfire on the sports field right now. Of course, with this body, I might not have enough mana to manage that, but still.
“Si-hoo, if you go to 4th grade alone, what will Yuna do? Isn’t that a bit sad?”
“…I can’t help it; my mom wants me to graduate from Elementary Division quickly.”
“Hang in there; first loves usually don’t come true.”
“Ugh, please, say it isn’t so!”
His flustered reaction was strangely cute. I thought it would be best not to tease him further, so I decided to end things with a word of encouragement for the upcoming midterms.
“Anyway, do well on the exam.”
“Oh right, Na-me, you too…”
Why are you opening your eyes so wide? Why does Si-hoo dislike me so much?
I called Yuna, who was busy intensely reciting rune language while spinning her chair around.
“Yuna! Si-hoo says to do well on the exam.”
“Huh? Me…?”
“Hey, when did I say that?! I didn’t actually say that!”
“Didn’t you think it would be bad if Yuna didn’t do well on the exam?”
“That’s not it…”
“Then, let’s all fight on.”
*
The participants for the Tak-gak-dae reveal on May 17th, Wednesday.
Over the next three weeks or so, I needed to familiarize myself with the rules of Wagal.
After story mode, just seeing the name Wagal made my head throb, so I hadn’t played the game or streamed. I played a bit of League of Legends, though.
Had I not posted an update on the community, there would surely have been someone trying to barge into my house using all sorts of tricks, just as Shia said.
[Private Room]
“Hey, Adella. What were you up to?”
“Uheheh. Heheh. Oh, big sis! Did you do well on your exam?”
As soon as I entered the private room, the first thing I saw was a cat scratching its thigh, fully glued to the bed.
“What’s up?”
“Web drama! Right at the kissing scene, oh, you shouldn’t watch this! You’re only seven, right?”
“I don’t really care.”
“Does big sis only have documentaries in your playlist? I don’t know what’s fun about watching stuff like ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’…”
“It’s interesting!”
Isn’t she adapting a bit too quickly?
After saving her from a life-or-death situation, Adella has now perfectly evolved into a bona fide NEET who’s just wasting in-game currency.
“Why did you change the decoration again?”
“The room feels too dull! I like it bright, especially yellow and pink!”
“That’s my money, you know.”
“Come on, everyone knows you’re rich now, right? I watched it all on V-tube. Whoa…! It’s happening! I can’t watch the lip lock! Aaaaah!”
How is this AI even human?
The adaptability of humans is truly terrifying. I need to get her doing something productive; otherwise, she’ll become a useless human in no time.
Today, however, I didn’t log into the virtual reality just to fuss at her.
“I’m going to start the stream now; is that okay?”
“Oh, now? Uh-huh, it’s fine, go ahead and start.”
“What’s okay? Who says it’s fine to throw underwear on the floor?”
“Ah, when did this fall here?”
The space that started at three pyeong had expanded to ten pyeong, but now that a family member was added, it didn’t look so empty anymore.
It somehow smelled more like a person, which might be an improvement… but I wasn’t sure.
[Starting the stream: 0:00:01 – NoName]
[World of Arseria – Placement]
[Broadcasting Time – 0:00:01]
[Number of Viewers – 1]
Today, I waited for viewers to join without playing any music.
Instead, I took out the whiteboard from my inventory, which I was now familiar with, and wrote a formula in front of the camera.
[x! + 1 = y^2]
I had stumbled across this formula by chance on V-tube, and it seemed like a good brain teaser before the game, so I brought it up.
Viewers trickling in without any prior stream announcement felt a bit slow, but their enthusiasm was still as strong as ever.
-How many days has the stream been on break!
-I missed youㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Super Name! Mega Name! Ultra Mega Name! Godimax Name!
-Please do a daily stream; we’ll give you lots of money.
-Middle Schooler Challenge! Middle Schooler Challenge! Middle Schooler Challenge!
-Is this guy a challenger? He’s still unranked, though?
└ They said he was busy playing Legacy of Legends during the break instead of Wagal.
└ Why on Earthㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If not for Wagal, why play LoL?
-Don’t need to communicate; just turn on the stream when you play, please!!!!!
“Hello, it feels like it’s been a while, right?”
“Yay! I’m glad to see you all!”
In response to my greeting, Adella’s alluring voice followed suit, waving one hand casually while still focusing on the screen.
-Long time no see, teacher!
-I thought I was going to die missing you^^
-Of course, it’s only Adella.
-Wow, aahh.
-Adella in dolphin shorts, ooh!
-This is the stream; this is Yasji!
-What’s so funny?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Really, your posture screams NEET with over a decade of experienceㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Why the sudden math problem? Are you lecturing again, teacher?
└ A female middle school student giving a lecture, wow!
-Why are there so many foreigners here~ 30%?
└ I’m not foreign.
└ Me neither and I also love kimchi.
└ Sorry, actually, I’m from Ukraine~
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
“Do you guys want to try solving it too? The answer is easy.”
-44444444
-Are they all integers?
-Yeah, x is 4, right?
-x could also be 5; y could be 11!
└ No way, incredible mental math ㄷㄷ
-How many answers are there?
“By the way, x can be 4, 5, or 7.”
-Ah, spoiler!
-Cheaty!
-Oooh, 7 works too!
-So that’s it?
-What’s this? What’s this symbol?
“It’s not just about finding integer solutions; it’s a question proving there are no other integer solutions besides those three.”
-Deep integer theory!
-Looks really easy at first glance.
-NoName, can you prove this?
-A middle schooler knows about integer theory? That’s impressive ㄷㄷ
└ Dealing with integers = Integer theory!
-But why are there more letters than numbers, teacher…?
[Broadcasting Time – 0:10:19]
[Number of Viewers – 1803]
“Umm… this is taking longer than I thought.”
I filled the whiteboard, but it felt like I was still only halfway through.
Though the image seemed easy to solve in my head,
“I guess I’ll need to divide the cases into two.”
I wiped the board clean and added strokes with a black marker on the fresh white canvas.
“Let’s define non-zero coprime integers A, B, and C, and when we split them like this, ahah.”
Since I was writing everything by hand, it took a bit longer than using the magic circle, but once I got going, things were smooth.
I just had to transcribe the equations I had already calculated.
[Broadcasting Time – 0:19:37]
[Number of Viewers – 4913]
“With this, we solved the problem without using the Stirling approximation, right? It turns out that besides 4, 5, and 7, there are none.”
[‘Good Morning’ donated 10,000 won!]
“Teacher, please hurry and get back to the game; I feel like I’m going to go crazy with anticipation!”
“I was actually thinking of starting rank games today, too. I do need to do the placement matches.”
Five matches to determine tiers.
My exam was just about to begin.
