Episode 18

Aidel tackled the problems with both hands.

His speed was so astonishing it seemed inhuman. The rustling sound alone was enough to tickle Zelnya’s ears.

‘Ah, shhh.’

Zelnya, turning her head impulsively, nearly dropped her pen.

‘What on earth is that guy doing…?’

Her concentration shattered. Once the immersion broke, all she could see was the white test paper and its black letters.

Zelnya attempted to gather her thoughts.

It was futile.

Aidel’s presence was overwhelmingly distracting. Involuntarily, her gaze kept drifting back to him once she had noticed him.

Aidel wasn’t merely using both hands; he crossed his arms in an X shape, solving the right test paper with his left hand, and the left test paper with his right hand.

His skill was as impressive as that of a seasoned circus performer, making a mockery of the problems with his swift solutions. Zelnya felt as if her mental state was being mocked as well.

Zelnya let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. She glared with wide eyes, turned her head as far away as possible, and buried it in the test paper.

She steadied her mind and focused on the problems. The equations that had blurred started to become clear again. Zelnya had practiced maintaining her focus even in such situations and soon regained her equilibrium.

Ding, ding, ding.

The bell signaling the end of the test rang. Kendra, who had been staring blankly at Aidel, stood up, wiping her drool with her sleeve.

“Stop! Put your pens down now!”

Zelnya finally allowed herself to look directly at Aidel. He had been energetically moving his arms right up until the bell rang.

Despite such intensity, had he failed to finish?

Or was it his meticulous nature that had him checking his work until the very last moment?

No one, Zelnya included, could be certain. One thing was clear: Aidel was an unexpectedly formidable opponent.

“Well, I guess I’ll still be the one in 1st place.”

As soon as the morning test concluded, the students scattered in every direction, eager for lunch. They had one hour.

Aidel’s gaze swept past Zelnya and settled on the back row, where Rustila and Ceti were deep in conversation.

The next moment, Rustila and Aidel’s eyes met. With a weary expression, Rustila waved at him.

‘Starting a romance before even passing? Look at you go.’

Zelnya clicked her tongue in disapproval.

Romance, after all, is a pursuit for the foolish and lowly.

Especially for students, romance is akin to a poisoned chalice. It may shine and glitter on the outside, but at its core, it’s just one of the many elements that hinder success.

However, Zelnya couldn’t fully convince herself. Standing before her, Aidel somehow seemed like he would make it through. Still, information was lacking. At any rate, his note-taking skills were exceptional.

“Sis, what’s wrong?”

Noticing Rustila’s wave, Ceti asked her, tilting her head in confusion. Rustila waved her hand more vigorously, signaling it was nothing.

‘I was thankful for last time.’

In truth, Rustila wanted to express her gratitude.

Rustila remembered an event from a month ago. She had visited the Reinhardt family for a home study session, where she incidentally learned about Aidel.

Despite the ensuing chaos, he proved to be a good person. The only problem was that he was gradually succumbing to madness due to the Outer God that had attached itself to him.

Wasn’t it the same just a short while ago?

Humans cannot use both hands to solve problems simultaneously, akin to a computer capable of parallel processing. Since humans are not machines, it’s certain that the Outer God, known as the ‘Maxwell Legion,’ is eroding his brain.

‘One day, I must save him.’

It was at that moment another reason for Rustila to pass the Stellarium was added.

“Sigh.”

Contrary to that, her handwriting skills were not very good.

“Did you do well in Korean and math?”

Ceti asked.

“No.”

Rustila shook her head.

“The supervisor put a tissue on your desk earlier.”

“It… seems like I messed something up.”

Like other students, Rustila also desperately wanted to pass the Stellarium test. If she passed, she could go to school every morning, doing forward rolls out of joy.

However, despite her efforts, it seemed like she had botched the morning test. While solving the Korean language passages, she felt dizzy. Perhaps that was why she cried.

But Rustila came to a realization after Ceti’s next words.

“Come to think of it, there was that story in today’s literature test. About soldiers buying time to evacuate citizens from a planet that is nearly eroded.”

“…Ah.”

She realized the true reason for her tears.

“It was indeed sad. Honestly, if I were Merilda, I would have fled. How could she not lose the will to fight even after being torn apart by monsters?”

“…Because that’s what was necessary to save the citizens.”

“I find that admirable. Even though it’s just fiction. It makes me wonder how many soldiers like that would actually exist in a real war.”

Rustila nodded.

That’s right.

She remembered that she had cried after reading that piece.

Because the protagonist in that passage was exactly the kind of soldier she aspired to be. It represented the future she desired. Because, even when faced with adversity, she refused to bow to Outer Gods until the very end.

In her brilliantly blazing figure, she felt both sorrow and admiration at the same time. Rustila too wanted to become such a soldier. To stand at the forefront, to slaughter the monsters, and to become a soldier who protects our beautiful galaxy.

It is still a distant story.

A story that is hard to realize.

That is why all the more, she had no choice but to enter Stellarium.

If only she could pass this academy, her parents would no longer interfere with her life, under the conditions they had set.

‘I need to pass.’

Rustila clenched her fist tightly.

She enjoyed a rare chat with Ceti over lunch. During such times, even the androids monitoring her did not interfere. It was a special day, a rare taste of freedom.

Hoping that this freedom would last, Rustila also finished her afternoon tests.

The afternoon test was relatively easy compared to the one in the morning.

That didn’t mean the time-attack theme disappeared. Comparable to the elective subjects of the college entrance exam, the time pressure was still severe.

Therefore, I had to go beyond a dual-core and achieve a triple-core. It was a torturous process, as if I had become a Bitcoin mining rig myself.

“Ugh.”

My neck was stiff from having my head down for over 2 hours. I unwound and set down the third pen that had been rolled up and fixed it to my headband.

Murmurs directed at me could be heard from around. The proctor, Kendra, was unable to take her eyes off me.

“Student…”

“Yes?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Well, there wasn’t a rule against solving problems with a pen stuck in your headband…”

She chuckled and gathered the test papers before quickly leaving. Judging by her hasty exit, she seemed to be in urgent need of the restroom.

“Sigh.”

At least the written test is over.

The practical and interview tests are still ahead, but that’s a problem for tomorrow’s me. Today, I’m planning to simply hold the sword a few times and take a peaceful rest.

[‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is looking forward to seeing how spectacularly you will fail in the practical test.]

“Tch.”

As I clicked my tongue at the message sent by the Outer God, someone with silver hair approached. It was Zelnya.

“You, you are quite the odd one.”

She spat out just those words and was the first to leave the spot.

Following her, another person with white hair approached me. This time, it was a familiar face. Ceti looked up at me and heaved a deep sigh.

“Did you come here to be on a variety show?”

“What?”

I was puzzled and cocked my head. Ceti glared at me, questioning.

“Didn’t you hear what the proctor said this morning? This entrance test is no joke. She told us to give it our all. And you? Solving problems with a pencil stuck in your hair? Are you completely out of your mind?”

“I had to make use of every possible solution.”

“Do you think everyone else has only one hand and solves it with that one? Seriously, the things you do. You completely shattered my concentration. I nearly made a huge mistake because of you.”

“No, wait. That’s not fair.”

If it had been simply about writing down answers, one hand would have sufficed. However, to aim for not just a high score but a perfect score, or even ‘something more’, one hand isn’t enough. It’s that kind of test. A test where achieving a perfect score is as difficult as plucking stars from the sky.

In other words, there was a different reason for my use of the three-pen technique.

Of course, even if I explained this to Ceti, I’d only receive a response like ‘what are you talking about, idiot’. Unable to justify myself, I just sighed and stepped back.

“Let’s go, sis (unnie).”

“I told you, you don’t have to call me ‘unnie’…”

“Even if it’s a different year by just one month, it’s still a different year, right? So you’re ‘unnie’.”

“Then, does Ceti call this person ‘oppa’ too?”

Ceti made a bewildered face.

“Oh, shit.”

Ceti, heaving with nausea, urged Rustila to leave quickly. However, Rustila did not budge. She gazed at me intently and said,

“…You said your name was Aidel, right?”

Instead of replying, I nodded.

“I might not know about others, but I am aware.”

“…?”

“So, hang in there.”

Only then did Rustila start to walk away. She flashed me a warm smile, as if the goddess of philanthropy herself had manifested.

Caught off guard by the unexpected words, I was momentarily stunned. That’s why I reflexively blurted out,

“You hang in there too.”

Ceti’s expression became dumbfounded once more.

Kendra entered the main office of the examination headquarters with the retrieved answer sheets, gasping for breath. Her colleague, Karlen, asked indifferently,

“What’s the matter?”

“Yah, yah. I just came back from witnessing a huge incident.”

“What incident?”

Unable to contain her nosiness any longer, Kendra frantically extracted three answer sheets. On the first page of each test paper, the following names were written:

[Zelnya von Unt zu Trisha Adelwein.]
[Ceti von Adelwein zu Reinhardt]
[Aidel von Reinhardt]

“The lineup is crazy.”

Taken aback, Karlen burst into peals of laughter.

“Didn’t more than two people pass the final selection where you took the test this time?”

“That’s how it looks to me.”

“Huh? But the last guy, isn’t that him?”

Kendra understood what Karlen was getting at.

Aidel von Reinhardt. A universally acknowledged lunatic and the black sheep of the Reinhardt family. When it was confirmed that the rumors of him applying to Stellarium were true, the examination headquarters briefly buzzed.

“According to his school records, he’s the type who was absent for everything except the bare minimum required hours in middle school. We’ll definitely have to deduct points for the basic documents. That alone should be enough to disqualify him. So, don’t worry about the slim chance of him passing.”

“No, that’s not the issue at hand…”

Kendra’s voice faded.

She was dying of curiosity.

Just how high Aidel’s test score would be.

‘I’ve never seen a madman who solves problems using both hands. Even the solutions were relatively clean… Ah, never mind.’

She fed Aidel’s test paper into the AI analyzer in the grading room. The analyzer devoured the test paper and then spat out the answer key for the multiple-choice questions.

Perfect score on the Korean multiple-choice section.

Perfect score on the Math multiple-choice section.

Perfect score in everything else.

“Crazy.”

After the multiple-choice section came the short answer and essay questions. The short answer questions could also be quickly scored by a machine, but that was not the case for the essay questions. Kendra bypassed the first grading room and headed to the second grading room, exclusively for grading essays.

This place had been a relentless whirlwind of meetings and (questionable) harmony for the 1,200 staff members and 300 professors since the day the written tests concluded.

Kendra sat down with the essay grading guidelines in hand.

“Ah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“This, this…”

Kendra, who was about to tackle the physics essays, turned around and asked for reinforcements.

“Could someone please fetch Professor Feynman from the physics department?”