The sun bid farewell in the evening as the wrinkles of dusk fell upon the horizon.
Hong Bi-Yeon and I got ourselves a SDL room with no one else to bother us. Currently, we were sitting face to face with only a desk between us.
Those squinting eyes of hers were so burdensome that I felt like dying.
"... I'm not sure what you hope to achieve by learning the three placement test questions even at a high cost."
"Everything has a reason; all you have to do is teach me."
I kind of predicted that she would say something like that.
"But you only got these three questions wrong. See? You're smart. I got all the rest of the questions wrong. Aren't you ashamed to learn from me?"
I was ranked 1,141 in the class rank, and she was a super-elite who conquered 5th rank.
"I'm not ashamed. Rather, it's even more embarrassing that I got those questions wrong and haven't found the answer yet. As long as I can find the answer, I can ask anyone a question."
'Oh... A perfect model student's answer.'
'But, somehow it sounds like you're looking down on me...'
"First of all... Let's take a look."
I put on my Sentient Spec and looked at the problem again.
I did not notice it when I just solved it, but looking at it again, it was a really absurd problem.
'Oh my gosh. They arranged a grand magic science test just to put a nonsense question in it.'
'Okay, can I actually explain this properly?'
I was tempted by the word 'pay,' so I accidentally agreed, but I did not know if it would work out.
I was at a loss. It was literally an impromptu test of creativity, so it was really hard to teach someone how to solve it.
'How do you actually teach this?'
'However, since the stage has already been set, if I withdraw from there, I might be bullied by Hong Bi-Yeon until graduation. That will be pretty terrifying.'
'Furthermore.' Chapters fırst released on novelFɪre.net
'... I want to receive the modification of the Argento in return, and it would be a waste to give up the opportunity.'
I had to think about something. Recalling all the information about the character Hong Bi-Yeon, I asked her a question to pass time.
"Before I go into the explanation, let me ask you one thing. Why did you choose to learn from me?"
It was not that she did not have friends, and considering her status as a princess, if she asked anyone a question, there would be plenty of people who would readily answer it, right?
She played with a strand of her fiery hair for a moment, then said coolly, as if she believed there was nothing to fuss about.
"Out of the 1,141 freshmen, there are only three students including you, who have answered all of the first three devil's questions."
"I heard it was a 'trap problem' that was designed to not be solved... but Mayuseong, Edna, and you solved it. That's why I got a little bit of a headache."
"No, wait. This was a trap problem. Really? Are you telling me it was not meant to be solved?"
"Yes. Didn't you know that?"
It was then that I realised why I joined Class S, and why Edna kept herself on guard around me.
Trap problem. They never existed in the game. Or maybe I did not read it.
'Somehow, when I explained the 3 questions, the students' reactions were strange...!'
I did not know the details or the development of the plot in detail. Because, I just enjoyed the game itself without seeing the story.
However, the setting of the romance fantasy novel that Edna read was completely different. She did not know the game version of the story, but at least she got the storyline and most of the setting in this world quite accurately.
For example, at the entrance ceremony, she knew in advance that there would be three trap questions...
Edna easily solved the trap problem with the novel's knowledge. It was an achievement that only Mayuseong could grasp, so she might be thinking of emphasising her uniqueness by adding her own name to it.
A girl who was a different kind of genius compared to Mayuseong!
But there, an extra that did not even exist in the original plot came out and intervened.
This meant that she had become aware of the existence of the character 'Baek Yu-Seol'.
A chill ran down my spine when I imagined the myriad of conclusions she must have drawn about me.
'Damn, I should have hold back.'
I let out a sigh in my heart, struggling to hold it in reality. It was a tragedy that had already been committed.
"You don't look good?"
"You don't have to worry about it."
Hong Bi-Yeon slightly frowned as if she was not happy with my tone, but she was not particularly bothered since she was already dealing with a demon back home, so she just ignored it.
"Before I tell you this, you didn't forget that you said you'd do me a favour, did you?"
"It's simple. Do you know this wand?"
"Request the blacksmith of your royal family to convert it into a magic spear... No, a magic sword."
In an instant, Hong Bi-Yeon's expression changed, thinking that she had heard it wrong.
"You heard it right."
"... Cold weapons are only used by low-level mercenaries. Why do you, a mage, want to use something like that?"
Hong Bi-Yeon was silent in response to my answer. It was a little difficult for me, but I did not intend to explain everything, even the fact that I was a crippled mage.
"I think this is enough explanation. Do I have to tell you everything about me? Will you turn it into a magic sword or not?"
"Okay, I'll do it for you. That's simple."
The Princess' network was really the best.
"Then... I will give you a simple way to solve this problem."
I considered the characteristics of Hong Bi-Yeon.
The strongest mage in the fire world. Genius mages normally used as few as two or as many as three attributes, but Hong Bi-Yeon had risen to the ranks of the best magic warriors by using only one fire attribute.
But, was it like that from the beginning?
During her first year at the academy, she was very strong, but her limitations were clear and she was later beaten by Edna.
Her weakness was that her use of magic was too stereotypical.
She only responded to real life situation according to the textbooks, which was stupid and deadly.
Hong Bi-Yeon fought the battle without her own instincts, and Edna, who had grasped her weaknesses, used the loopholes and achieved victory.
Overcoming this weakness, sophomore Hong Bi-Yeon gained a completely different level of strength.
'A change in thinking.'
Hong Bi-Yeon had always been aware of the fact that she lacked creativity, because books related to that were piled up in her dormitory.
However, the realisation came too late in the second year.
'I can't give you enlightenment right now... But, I can give you some plausible advice.'