The long holiday weekend is over, and the midterm exams are finally set afoot.


    Several incidents urred one after another while we were preparing for the exams.


    Inside the school, the Year Two ss Zero had a conflict with the broadcasting department.


    Meanwhile, a “good incident” urred outside caused by an open party of Eungwang High students.


    Those who gathered and helped bring down Choi Pyeondeuk in the first semester got together again and started a party.


    Sometimes a criminal hunting party and sometimes a study party, those people burned their will to find Choi Pyeondeuk.


    And…


    In the process, they caught another long-lost wanted yer criminal.


    They receivedmendations from the association and the police because the one they caught wasn’t an ordinary felon.


    The guy had a simr crime pattern to Choi Pyeondeuk.


    The incident became a topic of conversation in our ss.


    “But how in the world did they catch him…”


    “They say the party will be organized until they catch Choi Pyeondeuk? At this rate maybe they’d catch a few more wanted criminals.”


    Maeng Hyodon immediately nced at me before turning his head when Choi Pyeondeuk’s name was mentioned.


    I rescued Maeng Hyodon at Choi Pyeondeuk’s birthday party, and his whereabouts were revealed to the world.


    And Maeng Hyodon knows I was there.


    There must be some questions in his mind ever since Choi Pyeondeuk disappeared, but he never asked me anything.


    “Guys, Miro’s here!”


    Kim Yuri shouted brightly as she entered the ssroom.


    Next to her was the pink-haired Dokgo Miro, donned in a mask and a hat that covered her head.


    She seemed to have covered her face to avoid drawing attention, especially since her performance on ylist is increasingly making her well-known.


    Dokgo Miro took off her hat and mask when she entered the room, and she greeted the kids in a friendly manner.


    “Hey! Long time no see. How are you guys? I was nning on going to school earlier, but I didn’t have the time so…”


    Dokgo Miro’s attitude was more natural nowpared to thest time we saw her.


    Among the 11 people who were scheduled to take the midterm exam at school, Dokgo Miro was thest one to join and yet she quickly got along well with the kids


    Dokgo Miro talked with Hani a lot, but Hani’s expression looked subtle all throughout.


    ‘It’s like when she pretends to not hear what Hwang Jiho says.’


    Hwang Jiho, the self-proimed best friend, seemed tough at Hani when she does that even though he knows she’s ignoring him on purpose.


    Dokgo Miro talked with every kid in the ss before hesitating a little and bringing up something.


    “…If I survive this week, I can go perform at the final stage.”


    The ylist will continue to air during our exam period, and the cast gradually decreased as the show is about to reach its end.


    Dokgo Miro survived safely and appeared on a special Chuseok broadcast, and she’s maintaining good scores.


    The live performance gave a slight impression that she’s still a bit awkward, but the sales of her music and the views on her videos continue to rise.


    Thanks to that, Dokgo Miro is considered to be a strong candidate for the winner alongside the Saint of Naejang Mountain.


    “If it’s okay with you guys… Would you like toe to the final stage to watch live? It’s not decided yet, but PD-nim said it’s okay to invite family or friends.”


    The kids were very happy with Dokgo Miro’s suggestion.


    “I’ll go!”


    “I want to go!”


    Saeum and Min Geurin expressed their intention to attend.


    Everyone listens to Dokgo Miro’s songs in their free time, but it seems like they want to hear her perform live again.


    ‘There’s going to be a lot of strangers at the broadcasting station, but she’s voluntarily saying she’d go. Hmm, I guess it’s okay if the majority of our ss wille.’


    It seems like Min Geurin is used to other people enough to go to ces with an unspecified number of people.


    She’s grown so much that she can go to sports stadiums where unfamiliar students would go, and she even had the chance to showcase her ability at one of the ice hockey games recently.


    Even though the shooting for ylist is de at night, everyone said they’d dly go.


    Knock knock.


    While everyone was excitedly making ns, I heard a knock.


    I don’t think it’s Ham Geunhyung since there’s still time before the attendance check.


    “Pleasee in.”


    I spoke on behalf of the ss since I was closest to the door, and the automatic door opened after a few moments.


    In front of the door stood a female student wearing a Year Two nametag.


    There’s a basket with a pink ribbon in her hand, and there were pictures of Dokgo Miro attached here and there.


    ‘I think I’ve seen her somewhere. Oh, is she the fansite who took Miro’s pictures during the opening ceremony of the sports event?’


    The senior, who seemed to be a fan of Dokgo Miro, struggled to find her words as she saw her idol.


    She looked very nervous.


    “Uh, uhm…”


    Dokgo Miro recognized her right away and pleasantly greeted her.


    “Hello! Are you the one who took my pictures duringst time’s filming?”


    The senior looked touched when Dokgo Miro recognized her right away.


    The camera-sensitive Dokgo Miro would surely remember the fansite that takes her pictures.


    When Dokgo Miro thanked her for taking such good pictures, the senior looked shy but happy.


    “…Good luck on the exams, Miro. Good luck with ylist too. I’ll be cheering on you.”


    “Ah, thank you! Good luck with your exams too, sunbaenim!”


    After the senior handed the basket to Dokgo Miro, she ran away as fast as she could.


    Her loud footsteps outside could be heard from the ssroom, and I was worried that she might trip.


    Shortly after the fansite sunbae left the ssroom, the attendance check began and Ham Geunhyung appeared.


    “Today is the start of your midterm exams. I hope everyone does well.”


    Professor Ham Geunhyung encouraged us with brief words.


    As if to give us a little more time to study, the professor did the attendance check earlier than usual.


    Before it ended, Kim Yuri raised her hand and asked a question.


    “Professor! Will the others who don’te to school yet take the exams?”


    “There are five students who will take the test remotely. All of them are freshmen ss Zero.”


    There are a total of sixteen people in our ss.


    Today, there are eleven in the ssroom who will take the exam.


    In other words, the other five who are not here all seem to intend to still be sophomores next year.


    ‘I hope no one in our ss falls behind.’


    I regretted it right after the thought crossed my mind.


    Min Geurin physically stepped back right when I thought it… and it felt ominous for some reason.


    * * *


    The midterm period flew by like an arrow.


    For the General Enemy ss, every student suffered the day before the test since Professor Gong Cheonghwon will cover the entirety of the sybus.


    Hwang Jiho was the most rxed though.


    “Are you double-checking your answers? Do it with me.”


    While we were doing our group study session, this old man suddenly interrupted me and Hani while we wereparing answers.


    I could see Hani thinking “you’re going to get good grades anyway so what’s the point?”


    Hwang Jiho scored forty points as expected, while Hani got every question right except for a few ones.


    Hani faithfully tried to analyze the item she got wrong.


    “Listen to this question. There are more than three methods of attacking when a light-sensitive species of an enemy is in an SR-rank and above otherworld, and if that is the floor-master in a dungeon-type otherworld… How many did you write? I could only think of two.”


    Before I could speak, Hwang Jiho suddenly answered.


    “If you consider what would clear the “world” then there’s only one answer. If you focus on the word “specie” then there are three more answers. And if you think about a floor master in a dungeon-type otherworld, you can think of another answer. Which of the five did you write?”


    “…One is using the fact that the specie of enemies is weak against light, and the other is taking advantage of the secret traps that usually appear in dungeon-type other worlds. Those are the two I wrote.”


    “Then you need to find the answers for the keywords “world” and “specie”


    Hwang Jiho spoke of the theory so well that there was no doubt at all that he can get a perfect score.


    Hani asked additional questions and took notes while listening to Hwang Jiho’s exnation.


    “…Thanks, but I’m angry for some reason.”


    “Hahaha! I’m ttered!”


    Hani and I looked at Hwang Jiho with a simr expression when he began tough heartily.


    He’s essentially cheating on these exams, but everyone else in our ss legitimately studied hard.


    “I want to ask something about “yer’s Battle Theory 2” ss. I don’t really understand how skills and light skills can increase and decrease ording to the number of yers in a party…”


    “It’ll be easier if you look at the example first and then try studying the theory again.”


    “I don’t think I saw any examples in the textbook though… Oh, should I be researching a famous yer’s abilities?”


    “That’s right. Unlike his nickname “Peerless Gukeon”, Sung Gukeon sunbaenim’s skill and light skill aren’t really suitable for solo fighting.”


    * * *


    The midterm exam is over.


    The results were announced the very next day after the examination.


    The top twenty students in each year level remained the same this time too.


    ‘Yeom Junyeol missed the top spot again…’


    It’s impressive enough though that he managed to hold on to his spot even though he was busy with ylist filming and the elections.


    I felt like I should praise my student before he could feel down.


    I contemted long about how I shouldpliment him.


    “I heard someone in our ss failed.”


    “Ahk!”


    My thoughts were interrupted by Kim Yuri’s shocking remarks and Maeng Hyodon’s scream.


    “Ah, Hyodon! Didn’t you say you got over forty points?”


    “I’m sure I got at least 48 points…”


    Maeng Hyodon was sweating profusely, perhaps because he was imagining the worst-case scenarios.


    He could’ve checked the report card sent to his device to know for sure, but he doesn’t seem to n to do that.


    “Even if the name of the failed student doesn’t appear in the re-examination notice, the subject name would be highlighted if you really failed. I think we can immediately tell for sure if Hyodon failed or not.”


    Min Geurin had experienced failing before because she ran away just before the exam started, so she seems to have a knowledge of how this thing works.


    Kim Yuri checked the notice on the bulletin board with Min Geurin’s advice.


    “It’s not Hyodon. He’s not scheduled in any re-examination.”


    “Ah, I survived!”


    Maeng Hyodon raised both fists in the fair.


    The atmosphere in our ss subsided a little.


    “If it’s not him, then I bet it’s one of the kids who took the test remotely.”


    “Yeah, I think so.”


    “Can they take the re-examination remotely too?”


    “I heard that someone failed in a general education subject though.”


    “Ah… That skill and light skill stuff was hard, yeah.”


    Our ss seemed to feel a little relieved at the thought that the kid who failed was someone among those who haven’t gone to school yet.


    Drop.


    At that moment, I heard a bag and a notebook fall to the floor.


    When I looked at the source of the sound, I saw Kwon Lena sitting down.


    Her face over the hologram looked blue.


    ‘Don’t tell me…’


    I couldn’t see the contents of the hologram that Kwon Lena was looking at from where I sat, but when I nced at the top of the page, it seems to be an academic report notice.


    Kwon Lena must’ve been checking her report card on her device.