Chapter 496: CSAT cold spell (3)

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Do Wonwoo narrowed his eyes, seemingly blinded by Yoo Sanghee.

He doesn’t have his usual dumb-ugly expression when he sees Yoo Sanghee.

“Hi, Sanghee noona. Is your body alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Good job, Junyeol-ah.”

As the student representative, Yeom Junyeol spoke to Yoo Sanghee and handed her a gift set to cheer her up for the CSAT.

It contained hot packs, coffee, and chocolate, and Yoo Sanghee smiled brightly as she received it.

Yeom Junyeol and Yoo Sanghee talking to each other usually triggered Do Wonwoo’s ugly face, but he didn’t pay attention to them.

He only talked to Ji Myungsoo who had just arrived, not even looking in Yoo Sanghee’s direction.

And after Yoo Sanghee talked with the student association members, she approached DO Wonwoo.

“Good luck on the CSAT, Wonwoo-ah.”

“…Thanks.”

The single-word reply was followed by words that a student representative would say to another student who would take the exam.

At a glance, it seemed like the one-sided nature of their relationship turned to normal civility.

When a hint of an awkward atmosphere came, Ji Myungsoo wrapped it up.

“Let’s have a meal next time. You couldn’t go to the student association dinner since you were busy. Oh, it’s Wonwoo’s treat.”

When Ji Myungsoo lifted the mood and dragged Do Wonwoo to the examination hall, Yoo Sanghee came to me.

Along with Yoo Sanghoon who had a sour look on his face.

“Thanks for cheering me on, Euishin-ah. Also for the moon rabbit rice cake set. The surichwi glutinous rice cake was really delicious.”

“I was gonna order more since it’s so good, but they’re not selling it anymore. Is it a limited edition?”

I sent a moon rabbit rice cake limited edition set to all the high school sunbaes who I knew in this world.

I checked the type of rice cakes included in each set since I ordered them personally, but I don’t remember seeing surichwi rice cakes.

I know the moon rabbit likes surichwi rice cakes, so she must’ve added them to the sets since she’s glad that I ordered a lot.

‘I didn’t eat them though… how should I thank her next time we meet?’

It was nice that Ok Toyeon sent those extra rice cakes even though I didn’t explicitly say that they were gifts for other people.

I should tell her that Yoo Sanghee really enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, Do Sihoo was waving at Yoo Sanghee and Yoo Sanghoon, earning him another beat-up from another cadet.

Does that jerk never learn?

“…I’m always indebted to you, Euishin-ie. It’s the same for our Stupid Sang too. And my work too.”

Yoo Sanghee seemed to realize that I was in the basement of the TC Research Institute that day.

Perhaps the mysterious crow mask that Yoo Sanghoon wore reminded her of me.

Or maybe Akea, a superior being I met before, gave her a heads-up?

I don’t know exactly how, but it was clear that Yoo Sanghee noticed it.

She thanked me with a hushed voice.

Beside her, Yoo Sanghoon was still frowning upon being called “Stupid Sang”, but he didn’t stop Yoo Sanghee from thanking me.

I wanted him to though, but he just stared at me.

‘During Dokgo Miro’s rest time of all things.’

Dokgo Miro has to take short breaks from singing, and it was the cue for us to organize the stage.

There weren’t a lot of test-takers entering now, so the surroundings were quieter than earlier.

While I was thinking of using that excuse to get out of my predicament…

Screech!

The sound of a car hurriedly pulling over from the other side of the examination hall was heard.

Even Yoo Sanghee paused, looking at the player car’s fierce momentum.

It was a black-bodied player car that pulled over.

‘They decided to take the road?’

Because of the possibility of traffic jams, it was surprising that a test-taker would opt to take the road instead of riding an air shuttle or air taxi.

That itself was surprising, but the player car drew more attention.

“That’s a rare player car, right? I heard there’s only five of that sold in the whole world.”

“Heol… I’ve never seen one in person.”

“That kind of car is in Korea?”

Those who saw the car’s body made from smoothed otherworld ores and the emblem engraved with the designer’s signature were greatly impressed.

Based on what people around me were saying, the other four models of that car were driven by team leaders of some of the top 10 professional player teams in the world.

The remaining one was said to be owned by the fourth generation of Korea’s leading player conglomerate.

‘Then that means inside that is…’

A player car owned by a fourth-generation conglomerate arriving at a player-only CSAT site…

That only means one thing.

When the door of the black car opened, with flushed faces, Oh Hyeji and Joo Soohyuk got off.

The driver’s window went down, and Joo Soogyeom was seen.

“…Thanks.”

“Contact me when you’re done.”

“…Yes.”

Joo Soogyeom nodded at Oh Hyeji, smiling slightly with his lips pursed.

Like the car’s superior braking speed, Joo Soogyeom left at a frightening speed, leaving Oh Hyeji unmoving for a few seconds.

She dazedly touched her wrist, and there was that sandpink watch that she wore.

If Joo Soohyuk hadn’t gently gotten her attention, she would’ve stood there all day.

‘Did he make her cry again…!’

I had no idea how things were going, but anyway, I’m sure Joo Soogyeom did something wrong.

Oh Hyeji’s dynamic appearance was also full of questions.

When Joo Soohyuk and Oh Hyeji walked to the Eungwang High students, attention inevitably turned to them.

“Who was that? He looks a lot like Soohyuk.”

“What a car. I wanna ride it too.”

“Good luck with your exam, Hyeji noona!”

Joo Soohyuk approached while Oh Hyeji was exchanging messages of support and receiving gifts.

Joo Soohyuk’s energy waves are up high as if he’s about to go to a battle.

Something really happened.

“What happened?”

“Uhm… something happened so we ended up taking Hyeji noona with us.”

Joo Soohyuk was trailing his words.

Something complicated and difficult to say must’ve happened.

I don’t want to put him on the spot so I didn’t question any further.

When I gave up and decided to find out later, Yoo Sanghee spoke.

“If it was Hyeji, she would’ve come to the site at least an hour earlier. Did she wake up late?”

“No, I didn’t.”

At some point, Oh Hyeji was right beside us.

Yoo Sanghee and Oh Hyeji’s rivalry was as famous as Woo Kihwan and Do Wonwoo’s, and the tension was considerably felt even though they only smiled and looked at each other.

“Did you prepare well for the test? You’re working so hard to prepare for the CSAT that you missed school, so I’m sure you’ll do well.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll do better than you, Hyeji-ah.”

“Wouldn’t that be difficult? There’s no score higher than a perfect score.”

“You got your confidence from perfecting a mock test once? The mock test is different from the real thing, Hyeji-ah.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Oh Hyeji and Yoo Sanghoon laughed afterward, exchanging words that walked the line of good and bad faith.

It’s impossible to tell if they were close or not on the surface, but they seem close enough to say difficult words to each other.

They only had a few scenes in PMH, but they seem to be closer than I thought.

“I was late today ‘cos someone from our house got a fit again.”

“…Hyeji noona.”

“It’s fine. What’s the use of hiding it?”

Oh Hyeji sighed and explained what happened.

“They don’t want me to go to college.”

Oh Hyeji’s family members only said they didn’t want her to go to college.

That doesn’t mean they want her to manage Joo-Oh Group as soon as she graduated or join a player team.

“They wanted me to take bridal classes. They want me to get married soon, so they don’t want me to go to college.”

“Hyeji-ah. What nonsense is that? Your elders really said that?”

“I guess since they don’t have a lot of days ahead of them, my family wants me to get married early and grow our family.”

“That’s what old people tell you? Wow, you endured a lot.”

What the hell did those old Oh family members say to my playable characters!

Just listening to the story made my blood pressure soar.

I knew Yoo Sanghee would give a fierce response, but words much worse than hers came to my mind.

“…I was a little off guard yesterday since it’s the day before CSAT, and they took my weapons away and locked me up in an otherworld ore room. It was hard to break it down without a weapon.”

“So Soohyuk got you out? Good job, Soohyuk-ah.”

Before Oh Hyeji responded, I saw her fiddling with her watch.

Considering why Joo Soogyeom and Joo Soohyuk dropped her off, I immediately guessed what she’d say next.

“Yeah, Soohyuk and… Soogyeom oppa.”

Heat rose up to my head when I heard her say Soogyeom oppa.

I still haven’t forgiven Joo Soogyeom for making Oh Hyeji cry.

It’s highly praiseworthy that the PMH title hero rescued Oh Hyeji, but I was displeased that Joo Soogyeom was involved in the process.

“I was only the distraction. Soogyeom found out that Hyeji noona was trapped and he saved her.”

Joo Soohyuk is even modest.

I know Joo Soogyeom has a similar face and skills to Joo Soohyuk, but Joo Soohyuk is still the best.

Oh Hyeji took her hand off her watch, her face slightly red.

“…Anyway, since this happened, I think I’ll do better on the CSAT.”

“It’s a relief that you’re rescued, Hyeji-ah, but I don’t think so.”

Oh Hyeji and Yoo Sanghee entered together, still bickering on the way.

They really had a good relationship though, seeing that they walked together on their important day.

After that, it became relatively quiet until the end of the check-in time.

Sung Siwan and Im Yeonhwa dragged the Year Three Class Zero students who were almost late because of their morning training at Cheonik Mountain.

In addition, a music club student who is one of Dokgo Miro’s fans in their class tried to escape.

“Miro’s right outside! I gotta go see her!”

“I happen to be one of the proctors, so I’m going in with you guys. Let’s go!”

The rebellion attempt quickly ended thanks to Im Yeonhwa.

She saluted the military cadets once and dragged the music club senior into the examination hall.

Finally, all the test-takers from Eungwang High entered.

I just stood the entire time, but I felt proud as if I’d done something big.

While wrapping up the stage, Kim Yuri suggested something.

“Euishin-ah, we’ll go survey some picnic spots after this. Wanna come with?”

When I heard that it would take less than a few hours, I nodded right away and decided to go with my classmates.

The ones who will go are Kwon Lena, Kim Yuri, Maeng Hyodon, Mok Wooram, Saeum of April, Hwang Jiho, and me.

The seven of us were set to go.

When we finished wrapping up the stage and bidding goodbye to the others, a message arrived on my device.

[Prankster] It seems like Wooram’s out for a long time today?

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