“Shinwoo! What were those last two techniques!!”
“Master! Why did you learn the Clerical Festival all by yourself!”
“Husband… When did you become that strong?”
After finishing the exam, Hyeji, Jeong Ahyeon, and Elcia were there.
Hyeji and Jeong Ahyeon approached me with surprised expressions, as if asking me to explain the techniques I just used.
On the other hand, Elcia was biting her nails with a very dark expression.
I was about to ask if something was wrong, but I heard Elcia mumbling before I could open my mouth.
“…Damn. This is different from before. It’ll be hard to kidnap you like this.”
‘……Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear that.’
[…..Just do that.]
I decided to pretend I didn’t hear it.
Instead, I asked Elcia why such a precious A-Dak (a rare item) came to the exam hall, in this shabby gold rank.
Because the exam wasn’t over yet.
[……Isn’t that somewhat contradictory?]
‘Do you think Elcia fits in with the word precious?’
[Aah…]
“Elcia, why are you here? What about the exam?”
“Oh my! I’m actually capable! I finished the exam already!”
Elcia proudly crossed her arms.
Of course, because of that action, her huge chest became even more prominent, which made Hyeji grind her teeth from behind.
“I swear I might just rip her chest off.”
“……”
Hyeji’s comment made Elcia’s expression stiffen slightly.
Then Elcia looked at my face, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
“Husband! Why is your left eye red?”
“It’s true! Shinwoo, what happened?”
“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you? It’s already been episode 8.”
“I thought Master had transplanted the red eyes of the Kurta tribe.”
“Man, damn, Kurapika is gonna come to pluck them out.”
[Are they only gonna pluck one eye? Probably just die.]
‘It’s not like they’d actually kill me, being from the Illusion Brigade or anything.’
Then Hyeji and Jeong Ahyeon returned to their original question.
“Shinwoo, so what was that explosion earlier?”
“I adapted it from the time I bragged about wrapping aura around my weapon and blew it up, and also improved what I used to block Cheonma’s attack.”
“You’re already following my lead on explosions. I need to try harder.”
“……What more are you going to try? Are you trying to be a little boy or something?”
“Are you calling me a little boy right now?”
“Ah, damn.”
I hurried to calm down Hyeji, who was about to lose her reason.
Then a thought popped into my head.
“By the way, were you all watching my exam?”
“Only the last part was broadcast; the middle part wasn’t shown.”
“The professor didn’t play it back?”
“…The professor cut the broadcast after getting furious from watching students mate in the middle.”
“Well, it’s not like you could watch making babies during an exam.”
Definitely an embarrassing sight.
The professor probably would have been furious that she wasn’t focused on the exam.
“Professor Park Mi-ran yelled, ‘Are you the only ones doing this!’ before cutting it off.”
“……”
“So the only part broadcast again was right when the Master used the Clerical Festival.”
It seemed it wasn’t about my focus but rather that she cut it off due to getting furious.
‘Stupid Park Mi-ran. Serves her right.’
[You also haven’t experienced sex, have you?]
‘Shut up, please.’
Right now, Professor Mi-ran was gathering the other students who took the exam with me and scolding them fiercely.
It was definitely deserved.
They were doing something she couldn’t do with calmness.
Still, some students were passionately voicing their opinions.
“What do you think this exam is, everyone! Do you have any idea how jealous I was! Or how idiotic I felt!”
“Hey, there was an incident where the dungeons merged! Plus, someone threw Molotov cocktails and grenades!”
“I already said it! A Hunter is someone who immediately responds to any incident! Plus, it was said we could use whatever means necessary!”
“Then is there a reason for us to get scolded?!”
“Sex isn’t a method of hunting monsters, you crazy bastards!!!!”
Due to her violent rage, Professor Mi-ran’s makeup-covered wrinkles started to deepen.
It felt like she was aging in real-time.
Afraid she might point at me, I had already hidden the grenades and Molotov cocktails.
[Still, I’m glad the video was cut off in the middle.]
‘Thanks to them filming Animal Kingdom, the fragging didn’t get caught.’
In the end, I was the only one who fully completed the mid-term exam.
The others would receive the lowest scores.
“I’m not happy about it, but this exam will only give the top score to Shinwoo student.”
“…Would it be too much to cut out the part before that?”
“It’s true I’m not happy about it, but what’s the problem? Should I dock points?”
“…No, that’s fine.”
‘You’ll regret it later, you idiot.’
[Now I understand why you couldn’t get married.]
Thus, my mid-term exam came to an end.
*
In Jeong Ahyeon’s case, nothing went wrong during her exam.
She simply caught a single boss mob effortlessly and came out.
“Why are you breezing through this?”
“It’s because the Master’s usual conduct is bad. Reflect on it.”
Hyeji’s situation was a bit different from Jeong Ahyeon.
Just like when I took the exam, the dungeons integrated.
The only difference was.
“Come in, you asshole!”
Hyeji didn’t budge from her spot from the start to the end of the exam.
While other students were fleeing, Hyeji stood her ground, and the boss mobs found and charged at her.
Various types of boss mobs.
However, Hyeji classified them into three categories.
Burning them.
Tearing them apart.
Turning them into rags.
In the end, unlike when I took the exam, the hidden students might not have received high scores, but they could earn decent points.
As the exam ended, someone approached Hyeji.
It was a single male student from the hiding students.
As Hyeji looked at the male student with a sulky expression.
He kneeled down and cautiously offered something on his hands to Hyeji.
“What is it?”
“Great deity of war, this is a small offering from us.”
What the male student handed over was none other than a chest pad.
Seeing it, Hyeji’s expression turned dark in real-time.
Soon after, she began shooting at the male student with her handgun.
The terrified male student quickly hid back into the group of students.
As the target disappeared, Hyeji carefully put the chest pad she received into her pocket.
[……And she’s collecting that in the meantime.]
‘So what if it’s fake; it’s precious. Though it’s not like it’ll grow any bigger.’
– Bang!!
At that moment, Hyeji shot a bullet my way.
The bullet grazed my ear, exploding the drink can Elcia was holding next to me.
“……Did I do something to get shot?”
“I felt like you were having impure thoughts.”
“……No way.”
‘Sharp-eyed one, aren’t you?’
[…How on earth did you notice?]
Then I remembered something Jeong Ahyeon had said earlier and spoke to her.
“Hey, Jeong Ahyeon. You said earlier that such incidents happen because of bad conduct?”
“…Be quiet.”
Jeong Ahyeon averted her gaze from me.
As if to say don’t say anything more.
“Looks like Hyeji’s conduct isn’t great either? Should I tell her?”
“Hyeji’s case is just a simple handicap! Please don’t say that!”
“This is just this once.”
Jeong Ahyeon’s pleading expression seemed tidier and more organized than before.
It seemed like she had learned from the Martial Artist Concept Guild.
While I was satisfied with that appearance, I recalled the drink that Hyeji had shot at Elcia and looked beside me.
But Elcia was nowhere to be seen.
Only the punctured can and signs of spilled drink remained.
Before checking where she went, I saw Elcia in the distance, holding a bunch of drinks in her arms.
“Elcia? Did you earn some coins? Why did you buy so many drinks?”
“No! I got all of these for free!”
“Got them for free? From whom?”
“When I said your name to the animals, they all gave them to me!”
“Crazy girl! Why did you take the animals’ snacks!”
I smacked Elcia on the head and moved to return the drinks behind the cafeteria.
When we got there, what we saw were the animals, who had stopped eating and were frowning.
I quickly apologized to the animals and started returning the drinks that Elcia had taken.
As I was doing that, Jeong Ahyeon suddenly spoke to me.
“Master, I know it’s strange to ask now, but I’m curious.”
“What is it?”
“……Is it okay to give drinks to animals?”
“Isn’t that animal discrimination? Can’t they drink soft drinks? My Choco Hyung at home drinks protein these days.”
“Shinwoo, what flavor of protein does it like?”
“It likes chocolate flavor. It says it gets a thrill every time it drinks.”
‘If only my account were opened, I’d buy one as a gift, that’s a shame.’
[……Isn’t the name of the dog slightly problematic?]
However, Jeong Ahyeon didn’t seem satisfied with the answer she got.
Shortly after, she started pointing at the animals.
“No! Think about it! Why are they naturally opening the cans!”
“Because the drinks are in cans, of course, they have to open them to drink.”
“That’s not what I was asking!!!”
Jeong Ahyeon seemed perplexed as she grabbed her head and stomped her feet.
As a result, not only us but also the animals began to stare at Jeong Ahyeon with pity as they sipped their drinks.
She was a friend who was supposed to have learned enough, so it was odd that she was fussing over something so trivial about opening cans.
“Seems like she might be sick after taking the exam.”
“True. Shinwoo, how many drinks do we have left?”
“We have exactly four left for us to drink.”
“One for you to give to your husband, and three for me to drink!”
“Where do you think you’re going, you crazy girl?”
I blocked Elcia’s hand that was trying to swipe three drinks in one go and distributed drinks one by one.
Then, I handed over my share to Elcia.
“Elcia, you drink this. You look hungry.”
“Really? Husband! Thank you!”
Elcia received the drink with a bright smile.
“I don’t like grape flavor but I’ll drink it especially this time!”
“Why are you making a face that shows that you’re being generous? It’s annoying.”
“Just kidding! Anyway, thank you so much!”
Then Elcia suddenly made a captivating smile.
“And I can eat and drink anything that you give me, Husband!”
“Really? So if there’s bean rice, I can give you beans too?”
“Of course! Anything is possible!”
Soon after, Elcia looked at me with mouth watering.
More precisely, she was looking at my lower half.
“Anything at all.”
“Uh, uh…”
For some reason, that gaze was terrifying, forcing me to retreat involuntarily.
At that moment, Elcia seemed to remember something and approached me.
“Ah, right! Husband! Do you have any plans after this 2nd semester ends?”
“I don’t have any for now.”
“Great! There’s a place I need you to go with me!”
“Where is it?”
Soon, Elcia held my hand lightly.
While smiling at me, she replied.
“I’ll let you know later!”
However, for some reason, Elcia’s hand felt shaky.
And in her eyes.
There seemed to be a strange longing.
