Chapter 121
The new technology at Ardel Academy: an automatic grading machine that instantly calculates scores as soon as you insert your answer sheet.
Of course, such a thing didn’t exist.
Instead, the graduate students—or rather, the teaching assistants—quickly began grading the exams. Thanks to their combined efforts, the results were ready within a few minutes.
Selene, one of the assistant professors, received the results and began flipping through them slowly.
All eyes were on her; this was an important and challenging exam, and everyone was anxious to know how they had performed.
The professors, adjusting their horn-rimmed glasses, waited for Selene to speak.
“The average score is 48 points. Once again, it seems that less than half the students managed to pass,” she announced.
“Huh…?”
The students began murmuring amongst themselves.
“See, I told you it was hard.”
“I couldn’t even finish half of it.”
“Well, at least we won’t be the only ones who didn’t make it.”
“This is bad. Do you think our group is okay?”
“Alright, everyone, quiet down!” Selene called out, calming the rising noise before turning another page.
“The group with the highest score among the second-year students is….”
In that brief moment, Selene’s eyes widened.
“Uh… well….”
Typically, the identity of the top-scoring student wasn’t the most important thing. The real focus of this exam was whether you would be promoted or not.
But this score… was shocking.
“Um… there’s a group that got a perfect score?”
“What?”
“Excuse me?”
This time, it was the professors who began to murmur.
Professor Ernst frowned, muttering under his breath.
“What are you talking about?”
“A perfect score on this exam is nearly impossible, isn’t it?”
“No one’s ever gotten a perfect score before.”
In the history of Ardel Academy, the highest score ever achieved was 90 points.
Honestly, that was already an impressive feat. Every group usually has at least one weak link, and even among the top students, it’s nearly impossible to write down every answer correctly in such a short time.
But now…
Selene’s expression was unusually serious.
“There really was a perfect score.”
Selene’s gaze shifted toward where Han Siha was standing.
“Han Siha, Yoon Haul, Creek, Fabian… could you please come forward?”
Suddenly, a heavy silence fell over the auditorium.
Han Siha and Yoon Haul were both top students, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that their group would take first place.
It was a bit unexpected that they had beaten out the powerful group of Lee Han, Solia, and Adela, but not entirely shocking.
However, that wasn’t why everyone was so stunned.
“Didn’t… didn’t Han Siha solve almost everything by himself?”
Many remembered seeing Han Siha essentially working alone in the center of the auditorium, while Creek and Fabian floundered.
It was assumed that he was just trying to salvage what he could to avoid failing the promotion exam.
But not only had he solved all the problems—he had scored a perfect score.
“How is that even possible?”
Lee Han couldn’t help but exclaim.
“There’s no way it should be possible.”
“Wow… he managed to do that with that group?”
Even other students from different groups were shocked, so those in the winning group were likely beside themselves with joy.
“Please, come forward,” Selene repeated.
Realizing what had happened, Creek jumped up.
“We… we’re first?”
“Really? We’re really first?”
“Ahhhh! We’re first place!”
Fabian, who would have ended up with a failing grade if not for Han Siha, clamped his hands over his mouth, silently screaming in disbelief.
Creek, next to him, let out a loud scream.
He was suddenly filled with humility.
“Thank you! Thank you, oh great coachman!”
“How did I… get first?”
Yoon Haul was puzzled.
He had only solved about 300 problems, which was a significant amount, but nothing compared to Han Siha.
Han Siha had said he would handle everything on his own—and he actually did it.
Yoon Haul scratched his head as he followed Han Siha to the front.
“Who… are you?”
In his mind, Yoon Haul knew he wasn’t someone to be underestimated in terms of intellect. But this guy… where did he even come from?
“Are you really not only handsome but also a genius?”
Han Siha was used to Yoon Haul’s unabashedly admiring gaze and responded nonchalantly.
“You just figured that out?”
“…And you’re shameless on top of it!”
“Enough chatting, students. Please line up over here!” Selene called out.
“Yes, ma’am!” they responded.
Han Siha stood in the center of the auditorium as instructed, with a clear view of the shocked faces of Lee Han and Adela.
Yoon Haul, still dazed, stood beside him.
“I was worried, so I was going to help with an extra hundred questions….”
Yoon Haul had been ready to take on more questions, even if it meant making a few mistakes, but Han Siha had stopped him.
He had insisted that he could handle it on his own.
It seemed like a bluff at the time.
But it wasn’t.
“You’re amazing….”
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
Han Siha smirked and leaned over to whisper in Yoon Haul’s ear.
“See? That’s how you take them for a ride.”
“…!”
* * *
A week after the promotion exam, Han Siha was lounging comfortably in a chair, legs crossed.
“Yeah, that barbecue place we went to last time was good.”
“Expensive places are usually worth it.”
“Yeah, get ready to go again.”
It was definitely good, but not worth paying for out of his own pocket—those kinds of places.
Han Siha had been happily draining Creek’s wallet for the past week.
Creek, eyes sparkling, asked Han Siha eagerly.
“Anywhere else you want to eat?”
“Well, I noticed a place behind the market….”
“Yes?”
“They had spicy squid hot pot and abalone noodles.”
“…?”
“This cold weather calls for something warm and hearty. Why don’t you check it out?”
Was there such a place behind the market?
Creek scratched his head but nodded in agreement.
“Your taste is kinda unique… but I’ll look into it!”
Indeed, Creek was in no position to refuse anything Han Siha asked for.
If it weren’t for Han Siha, Creek would have been headed straight for failure in the promotion exam.
He wasn’t good at rote memorization, and his performance in the second semester finals had been dismal.
Han Siha had saved him from flunking, so the least he could do was buy a few meals.
Any resentment Creek had felt at the start of the semester had completely melted away.
The bitterness of being called an idiot had vanished, thanks to the report card.
Of course, Creek couldn’t expect another miracle like this in the future.
There was another reason Creek was buying Han Siha meals and trying to read his mood.
He subtly tried to butter Han Siha up as he asked his question.
“Hey, about the exam… you know, the way you memorized everything,” Creek began, his voice tinged with curiosity.
“Hm? What about it?” Han Siha replied, tilting his head slightly.
“How did you manage to memorize all of it on your own? You must have a special method or something.”
There wasn’t much time, and essentially, it was a last-minute cramming session. For Han Siha to have pulled it off… it couldn’t have been just because he was smart, right?
Han Siha clapped his hands as if he just remembered something and nodded.
“Oh, there is a method.”
“What is it?” Creek asked eagerly, leaning in.
“Well, I just kept telling myself, ‘If I don’t memorize this… I’ll have to repeat the year.’ That’s the mindset.”
“Huh?”
“Think about it—how much is the tuition for another year? What’s the rent like if you’re living off-campus? You can practically hear the money burning away. And that’s not all; I’d have to retake all the courses I’ve already done. Imagine all the time I’d waste!”
“…?”
“You’re only fifteen, so you can’t fully grasp it yet. But back in my day, time was gold!”
“Uh…?”
“Ha, ten years from now, you’ll understand what I mean….”
Creek didn’t fully grasp what Han Siha was saying, but he got the gist that it was some kind of intense motivational talk.
“If you live on the edge, it sticks right away. If you can’t memorize it, start cramming the night before. Just think about how much money is in your bank account, and you’ll memorize it instantly.”
“…”
Creek felt dizzy.
Fortunately, Han Siha’s next words snapped him back to reality.
“Hey, by the way.”
“Yeah?”
Han Siha stretched and glanced around.
“Where’s that bird-brained noble kid?”
Fabian, the guy who was somehow even dumber than a bird, was nowhere to be seen.
Creek, finally snapping out of his daze, lowered his voice. He had a general idea of where Fabian might be.
“Uh, I’m not entirely sure, but there’s a big event in the Empire today, right? Something about a Sound Teleport system launch. I think he went to oversee the event with the prince.”
“Sound Teleport…?”
“They’re launching the first unit at the Academy today. Didn’t you hear? It’s been the talk of the town since this morning.”
Oh, right.
Han Siha vaguely remembered Won babbling about it early that morning.
Something about a new concept in magic communication, allowing people to send messages to distant locations without needing the old-fashioned pigeons. It sounded convenient.
“If you carry the portable communication device, it makes a sound when you get a message.”
“A pager?”
“What? How did you know? Yeah, it makes a sound like that! Isn’t it amazing?”
It’s a pager.
Han Siha frowned slightly and muttered under his breath.
“Man, even I’m not from that generation….”
Then again, in a world where steam locomotives exist instead of high-speed trains, what more could he expect?
No cars, but there are steam engines and holograms. And they make a pager-like telephone?
Looks like the author didn’t just quit halfway—they blew up the world-building and disappeared.
How does any of this make scientific sense…?
Han Siha sighed, rubbing his throbbing head.
“Well, I guess I’ll go check out this ‘pager’ thing.”
It seemed like it could be useful if the need arose.
—
“Ardel Academy’s Front Plaza”
The plaza was packed with not only key figures from the Empire but also students and citizens who had come to witness the unveiling of the new technology. There was barely any room to move.
“Han Siha!”
A familiar face waved at him from within the crowd—it was Adela.
“Over there… that must be it?”
Adela, who usually wasn’t easily excited, seemed unusually thrilled today, her voice filled with anticipation.
Something that looked like a telephone booth was covered with a black cloth.
Han Siha leaned forward slightly to get a better look at what Adela was pointing to.
“Wow, it really is a pager.”
“What’s that? You already came up with a nickname for it?”
“Just something like that.”
At that moment, a professor from the Natural Sciences Department stepped forward slowly.
He was dressed in a black suit and wore his hat low over his eyes. His voice was deep and resonant.
“This is the Sound Teleport System, being unveiled for the first time in the Ardel Empire.”
“Wooooow!”
“We have integrated the existing communication magic into a circuit that all citizens of the Empire can use. And this, in my hand…!”
“Oooooh!”
“…is a portable communication device.”
The middle-aged professor discreetly wiped a tear from his eye.
“By recording your message through the circuit, you can transmit your voice even over great distances. No more pigeons, no more owls. No need for high-level communication magic!”
“Gasp….”
“Anyone in Ardel can now use this revolutionary Sound Teleport system!”
“This is a historic moment! Woooooo!”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty the Emperor, who made this incredible innovation possible.”
“Ardel! Ardel! Ardel!”
So, to sum it up.
Oh, it’s a telephone.
Was that the long-winded explanation for this?
Han Siha blinked, scratching his head.
After all the fuss, he was slightly disappointed to find that the technology was even more old-fashioned than he had anticipated.
It could receive calls anywhere, but you could only send them from a phone booth.
A half-baked telephone.
Unlike Han Siha, who was underwhelmed, the plaza was buzzing with excitement from the students and citizens.
“Ardel! Ardel! Ardel!”
“Wooooooo!”
Han Siha clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.
“Everyone’s losing it.”
If they’re so amazed by a pager, they’re going to faint when they learn that you can watch videos and shop with a cell phone in the future.
Han Siha glanced at Adela and asked gruffly.
“Hey, are you impressed by this too…?”
“Wow… this is so amazing! Really, it’s incredible!”
Adela, who had been so serious these past few days because of her plans for revenge and the Crusaders, now had a bright smile on her face.
Even though it was cold, she left her reddened ears exposed as she stood there, too busy marveling to notice the chill.
“How do they even make something like that? The professors in the Natural Sciences Department must be geniuses!”
A genuine smile.
Han Siha didn’t mind seeing that.
Without realizing it, he found himself smiling along with her.
“Yeah, well, as long as you like it… that’s all that matters.”
A moment ago, he thought it was just plain old, but now that he thought about it, it was kind of impressive.
Han Siha shoved his cold hands into his pockets and casually asked Adela.
“Should I make you something even better?”
“You… Can you do that?”
“Do you think I could?”
He had spent his life enjoying things, not making them.
Adela frowned at him, her expression saying, ‘As if you could.’
Han Siha added playfully.
“Should I give it a shot? You did say I’m smart, right? Huh? Didn’t you?”
“…It would be nice if you could.”
But there was no way he could.
Adela firmly dismissed the idea and changed the subject.
“Never mind that, just use this one for now.”
“That old-fashioned phone?”
“They said anyone in Ardel can use it. It’s super expensive, though. So, when you get your first call, make it to me.”
Adela breathed in the cold air and spoke calmly.
“There’s no one to call me, but still… I want to experience it.”
It wasn’t much of a request.
Han Siha nodded at her words.
“Sure, why not.”
Just then.
“Huh?”
Whistle—
Han Siha thought he recognized a familiar face in the crowd filling the plaza.
His brow furrowed.
“Why is that person… here?”
TL Note: Rate us on NOVEL UPDATES