Closed Beta That Only I Played

Of course, she didn’t understand my point fully.

She responded lightly, “Wow, you know how to crack a joke like that?”

“Hahaha!”

I just smiled at her gentle rejoinder.

But I said, looking into her eyes, “Do you remember what I told you when we were kids?”

“What?”

“You told me we should get married. And I told you I would propose with a beautiful jewel, right?”

“…”

Obviously, she was the one who reminded me when she passed by me to confront the Kuhana rulers even though she knew she would be killed.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten it before she reminded me.

Or I may have forgotten it deliberately back then because she was smarter than me in everything at that time. Perhaps I was overcome with an inferiority complex, and I knew too well that it was just useless to look up at a tree that I could not climb.

She replied, “Sure, I remember.”

As soon as she confirmed it, I added, “I’m going to try to make it come true.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Hehehe! Don’t worry. I’m going to move little by little, so you will not be able to refuse me. Don’t you remember what I’ve told you? I am not going to live a quiet life.” 𝗳𝘳𝐞e𝙬𝙚𝚋𝗻𝚘𝚟𝗲l.𝑐𝑜ｍ

“…”

So I had lunch with her on that day, the next day and the day after.

I’m still in high school right now, so I just led an ordinary daily life.

Some may find ordinary daily lives boring, but to me, it was not because I experienced so many things and exposed myself to lots of situations where I tried my best to survive. So I liked ordinary days at least for the time being.

Moreover, unlike in the past, I was no longer a little mouse looking for a hole to hide at school, and I could always see my father, mother, brother, and sister at home.

Anyway, a month and a half passed quickly, and soon the midterm exam was just around the corner.

[Name: Juyoung Hong.

2nd semester midterm exam.

-Korean: 100 points.

-Mathematics: 100 points.

-English: 100 points.

-Korean history: 100 points.

-Social research: 100 points.

:

:

– Class ranking: 1st place.

-Total ranking: 1st place.]

I scored perfect points in all subjects, which I totally took for granted.

I still don’t know if I looked like a person bound by the shackles of my past, but I’ve changed completely now.

But others could not help but be stunned by my top grades.

I had the midterm and final exams in the first semester too, and at that time, I was almost at the bottom of my class.

No wonder my classmates were stunned.

“Perfect scores in all subjects?”

“Does that make sense?”

“Even in class, he didn’t really pay attention, right?”

“You bet!”

My top scores shocked my classmates.

Even though the students regarded Kyungmoon High School as a place to build networks rather than lead a normal school life, the top students could not help but be sensitive to their grades because they aimed for the top national colleges.

Anyway, it was lunchtime on the day the results of the students’ midterm exam results were announced.

“…”

Someone was just looking at me blankly instead of eating.

It was none other than Bora.

Of course, I knew what her expression meant, but I just ate lunch without caring about it.

She then said, “Great. I admit your top scores are the results of your determination not to hide yourself any longer. But you got perfect scores in all the subjects. Of course, I don’t think you cheated because you would not have gotten away with it if you actually did.”

Instead of responding to her, I just smiled quietly because I expected things like this in advance. And I did it knowingly because when I told her and my family that I would change, I was serious.

***

In the Kyungmoon High School’s registrar’s office at that time.

“Juyoung was the third to last in the first semester. During his middle school days, he was at the bottom of his class all the time, or second from the bottom. How come he got perfect scores all of a sudden?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

When the teaching director pointed it out, the teachers in charge of freshmen could not say anything because they also knew it.

He continued, “Of course, he might have studied very hard during the summer . Since he is a son of the chairman of the Myongjin Group, he might have had tutoring with the best teachers in the field, but I just can’t believe he got A’s in all subjects! Besides, he was at the bottom of his class throughout his middle school days!”

Despite his critical remarks, they could not respond because they agreed with him. They could understand Juyoung’s perfect scores if they had ever seen him getting good grades because he could improve with strong determination. But as the teaching director pointed out, he was at the bottom of his class during his middle school days before he attended high school. All this indicated that Juyoung had no solid basic knowledge that could support his top scores in high school.

The teaching director continued, “Now we have dozens of complaints from other parents. Dozens of complaints! Moreover, some of them are even thinking of leaking to the press tomorrow that our school fabricates students’ grades!”

Anyway, the teaching director kept pointing out the gravity of the situation.

At that moment, math teacher Jiyoung Lee raised her hand with a frown and said.

“Teaching director, we teachers in charge of the freshmen, held a meeting about this matter in advance. At the meeting, we tried to get someone to step forward and admit to giving the exam papers before hand to Juyoung Hong, but nobody did.”

“That’s right.”

“Even if any of us gave the exam paper to him, we would not have given him perfect scores!”

“Moreover, he got perfect scores in all subjects! Teaching director, do you think any of us here have been bought off by Juyoung, or the Myongjin Group?”

As they, who were waiting for the chance to speak up, rebuked him one by one, the teaching director flinched because actually he also took into account the possibility of Myongji buying off the teachers here.

As one of the top five business conglomerates in South Korea, the Myongjin Group could afford to pay each of the teachers here dearly for their tutoring Juyoung, and the teachers would also be tempted if they were offered one billion Korean Won (around 880,000 USD).

But was there any possibility that Myongjin Group would be stupid enough to do such things which would be leaked to public anyway?

The teaching director shook his head after thinking about that possibility briefly.

But he was not yet persuaded that Juyoung had not received the answer sheets from any of them, so he kept discussing with them because he could not find any solution to this question.

At that moment, Principal Sunchoon Jang, who had been listening to their conversation in one corner of the office, opened his mouth gently.

“How about giving him a chance to retake the exams? In other words, have him take the exams again separately. And this time, those teachers in charge of sophomore and senior students will set the exam. Even if they are in charge of sophomore and senior students, they can write test questions for freshmen, right?”

“…”

“…”

“…”