Chapter 46: Midterm Exam (1)
Teaching Anastasia felt like preaching to a cow.
I was well aware that learning and teaching were two entirely different things.
Even during tutoring sessions, I’d often freeze up because I didn’t know how to explain what was in my head. Sure, the student’s lack of motivation was the main issue, but I couldn’t deny my own share of the blame.
About 30% of it, maybe. If I had taught more clearly, things might have been different. Then again, even when I spoon-fed them everything, most of them were still hopeless cases, so I didn’t feel too guilty about it.
Still, maybe I helped them get at least one question right on their college entrance exam.
They were kids from families wealthy enough to afford private tutoring, so they’d probably do just fine in life anyway.
Back to the point. Anastasia’s problem was serious. I feared I might have to start by teaching her multiplication and division, but fortunately, it didn’t come to that.
However, her level of knowledge wasn’t far from it. Basic arithmetic.
Things like exponents, unknown variables, greatest common divisors, and least common multiples could be taught in a day. The problem came after that.
It took an entire week to get her to understand the concept of square roots. I was on the verge of giving up and just hanging out with Dogeon instead, but since I was the one who volunteered to teach her, I couldn’t abandon her halfway through.
Looking back, I think I pushed myself to teach her because there were only about three weeks left until the exam.
“…If (x + 2)^2 – 5 = 3, what is the value of x?”
I wondered if this problem was really nerve-wracking enough to warrant so much tension, but I couldn’t help gripping my pen tighter.
Since I had heard her confidently claim she didn’t know the order of operations for multiplication and addition, I was afraid all the effort and time I’d poured into teaching her had been in vain.
“Um, so… after moving it to the other side, flipping the sign, and calculating inside the parentheses…”
Her hesitation made me feel uneasy. But then, the answer she gave me filled me with joy.
“x is… -2 ± 2√2… I think? Hoyeon, is that right…?”
Correct. Absolutely correct. All the time and effort I’d invested weren’t wasted after all.
“Hoyeon?!”
Overcome with emotion, I pulled Anastasia into a tight hug. It was both a celebration of her achievement and a reward for my own hard work.
Through our clothes, I could clearly feel two soft cushions pressing against me.
As expected—big and soft. No wonder every R-rated chapter had a scene where someone had to grab them with their hands.
Since I’d deliberately chosen a floor filled with upperclassmen who had voluntarily enslaved themselves to teach others, there was no need to worry about anyone watching us.
I also didn’t have to worry about noise. Several layers of mana-based soundproofing were in place.
It was like a soundproof wall or a barrier. If it weren’t, I would have been told to “shut up” during the very first lesson on this floor.
After hugging her and rubbing against her for a while, I finally let go.
Dogeon was there, watching.
I wished that guy would at least try to control his facial expressions.
He was pretending to act composed, but his eyes were glued to her chest.
I knew he was a guy, and it was understandable, but it still didn’t sit well with me.
Speaking of Dogeon, he’d made decent progress through our lessons as well.
Though I spent less time with him because I was busy preparing study materials for both Anastasia and him, as long as he got good scores, that was fine.
Since he barely showed up on weekends except during lunch and dinner, I had this absurd suspicion that he might be hanging out with some other girl.
Surely, he wasn’t running around with another girl while I was busy making his study materials, right?
“Correct. Seriously… you’ve worked so hard. You really did a great job…”
The first part was directed at her, and the second part was something I was saying to myself.
Honestly, I couldn’t even count how much energy and patience it took to teach this beast-like girl. Her face was pretty, sure, but that only distracted from her studies.
“I even did all the homework you assigned, Hoyeon! I tried my best! Do you think I’ll do well on the math test?!”
“That would be… difficult.”
She looked up at me with the eyes of a puppy seeking praise. I felt bad for her, but I didn’t want to give her false hope.
If she wanted to see a proper improvement in her grades, she’d have to think long-term — probably until second year. Right now, we were just barely managing to catch her up to her grade level.
“…I can’t?”
“Not a chance.”
If she had a tail, it would have drooped pitifully. Since I couldn’t hold her forever, I took the opportunity to release her as she grew more subdued.
“Alright, let’s wrap it up for today. The exam starts tomorrow, so get plenty of rest.”
The mood was just right to end the lesson. I felt a little guilty, as if I’d cursed her by pointing out her hopeless situation, but facts were facts.
She’d be lucky if she could even solve the problems on page one.
Her back looked a little lonely as she left.
“Well then, Dogeon… should we head out too?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
I silently wished for Anastasia to make friends like Dogeon as soon as possible.
“Hey, did you prepare for the exam?”
“Thanks to you, I think I’ll do well on the math test. How about you?”
I was glad to hear I’d been helpful.
“…Thanks for asking, but you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve got it all under control, so I had time to teach you guys.”
In truth, I’d already finished studying all the memorization-based subjects a week ago.
Ethics was a bit tricky since it had so many concepts I didn’t understand, but since it was a different continent, I figured their ethics could be different too.
But I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that they worshiped gods without offering any kind of tribute.
Unlike me, who could call on the gods whenever I wanted and get an immediate response, other people had to offer tributes depending on the god’s nature.
Money, food, dead animals, even humans sometimes.
As long as you offered something, you could meet a god, but apparently, that wasn’t the case on this continent.
Here, if someone with divine power simply prayed, the gods would help them free of charge.
It didn’t sit right with me. If they were siphoning off divine power and ley lines like that, the gods wouldn’t just sit still and allow it.
“By the way, Professor Georg mentioned that this physical education test is going to be something special.”
“…Why are you bringing up that professor?”
“Well, it’s kind of supposed to be a secret, but he’s the one overseeing the test.”
I knew that the devil of a professor had been giving Dogeon one-on-one training, but I didn’t expect him to spill details like this.
More than that, though, I had a feeling this test was going to be unique. It was a school-life adventure, after all.
“…Can you tell me what it is?”
I had a hunch it would be some kind of duel.
“See that mountain? You team up in groups and survive there for five days.”
“…What?”
They were going to dump us on a mountain and make us survive for five days?
Was this a joke?
“Isn’t that dangerous…?”
“Apparently, there’s nothing to worry about. They’ve got all kinds of safety measures in place. They said even if you want to die, you won’t be able to.”
Why did I feel so uneasy? I thought it’d be something like a sparring match, but survival in the wild? Seriously?
Not that knowing about it would change anything…
“…Thanks for the heads-up.”
It was good to know. Knowing stuff like this was what having a good friend was all about.
Since I’d been teaching them even after dinner, it was already bedtime.
“Well then… good night!”
“You too.”
We exchanged goodnight wishes and went to our respective rooms.
***
After parting ways with Hoyeon, I sat in my room, reflecting on what I’d done so far.
Anastasia had started avoiding me for some reason. Iris was still at the “acquaintance” level.
Camilla and Exipri stuck together like glue, and Camilla made it her mission to keep me away from them.
Camilla once said, “Never trust men who give you sweets,” while glaring at me like I was her mortal enemy.
I sighed. This world was way too different from the original story.
I don’t think they outright disliked me.
Was it because of Hoyeon? I wasn’t sure about Camilla or Exipri, but after Anya asked Hoyeon some kind of mysterious question, she started giving me sharp, unfriendly looks.
It wasn’t impossible to resolve, but it didn’t seem like something I could fix directly.
Of course, there was no need to force a “favorability route” at this point either.
In the end, if I progressed with the main event, everything would naturally fall into place.
But just sitting around and doing nothing felt like a waste of time, so I ended up trying different things here and there.
In the end, it all amounted to nothing. Looking back, it was a pointless waste of effort.
I had been steadily building my friendship with Hoyeon, but there hadn’t been any decisive moments that could change the nature of our relationship.
It always felt like she was about to cross that line, only for her to immediately label it as “just friends” and create this weird, intangible distance. So, for now, we were still just close friends.
Honestly, expecting her to cross that line so soon would have been strange.
The fact that I was even thinking about “clearing” her route in under a month was already weird in itself.
As I mulled it over, I started thinking about the upcoming event in two days.
The survival test in the mountains.
Unlike typical exams in academy stories, no one died or suffered major injuries.
Well, that was only true in hindsight.
The key to its “safety” was a magical tool.
It was a high-performance magical device that would instantly teleport the wearer to a field hospital near the mountain if their life was in danger.
There would also be priests and even Georg himself on standby, so no one would die, no matter how bad the situation got.
Even if a wild animal attacked someone and bit into their neck to the point where their spine was exposed, or if they fell down a cliff and broke their legs, they’d be instantly healed before they could die.
I tried to recall what had happened in the original story.
Camilla had missed her chance to part ways with the protagonist, a commoner, and ended up having no choice but to stick with him. Thanks to the protagonist, she overcame the dangers of the test and even scored a perfect mark on her practical exam.
She didn’t know which water was safe to drink or how to start a fire, but she managed to survive solely thanks to the protagonist, which became the catalyst for her growing feelings for him.
But for some reason, she didn’t seem to like me very much in this version of events.
Still, I decided that this upcoming event would be my chance to take the first step toward the harem route.
With that resolve in mind, I drifted off to sleep.
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