'Ding~dong~dang~dong'
It was lunchtime, and the students who had finished eating were gathered in the classroom, chatting among themselves.
Jiyoung was sitting at her desk, chin propped on one hand and staring blankly, when one of her friends came over and asked,
"Jiyoung, are you okay?"
"You look really tired."
Jiyoung, who had had an unusual trip to school that morning, sat there with her soul half gone
and answered that it was nothing, that she was just a little worn out.
"Jiyoung~!"
"Who was that guy this morning?"
Then her friend Mina approached with a smile and asked,
and though Jiyoung only answered that he was just a friend she knew,
Mina said she had already seen everything on the way to school and had realized he was an ability user.
Since he had appeared while dropping down from above, there was no room for excuses,
and it seemed rumors had already spread to some extent around the school.
"I overslept and was going to be late, so he carried me here on his back."
"While jumping across rooftops......"
"No wonder you looked so worn out earlier."
Jiyoung said it had been so fast that she was really scared,
and that she would wake up early from now on.
"Why? Isn't that actually nice?"
"Your boyfriend carried you here on his back and all~"
At the joke, Jiyoung’s face turned red as she insisted it wasn’t like that,
and soon the bell for the start of class rang, sending her friends back to their seats.
Jiyoung opened her book while recalling what had happened that morning, but because of the joke her friend had made,
she couldn’t hear a word of the lesson.
===
'Clack'
After finishing my workout and showering, I sat down in the living room and turned on the TV.
The weather forecast said heavy rain would fall nationwide from 2 p.m. today until tomorrow morning,
so I thought I should exercise in the afternoon tomorrow and looked out the window.
When I had gone out to work out earlier, the weather had been fine,
but now dark clouds had gathered before I knew it, and it looked like a shower would start any moment.
"I wonder if everyone brought umbrellas."
The others had probably taken care of it, but I thought of Jiyoung, who had almost been late this morning.
"Hm... it’s probably in her bag, right?"
Thinking she would have one as a spare, I got up from my seat,
and after entering my room, I went over the materials Team Leader Kang Suhyeok had sent me once more.
"The problem is the third test...."
A practical test conducted in virtual reality. That test was the biggest problem.
It wasn’t simply done with VR equipment, but a test where you truly entered a virtual reality,
and under the assumption that you had become one of the Tigers, they observed
how you moved and what decisions you made while rescuing civilians and in combat situations.
"I have two days left.... For that time, I’ll focus only on preparing for the third test."
I took out a notebook and began making plans to prepare for various situations.
Of course, no matter how much I planned, the actual test might unfold differently,
but doing something was better than doing nothing, so I began creating example scenarios myself
and writing down in my notebook how I would respond.
'Swaaaaaaa'
Before I knew it, it was 2 p.m., and just as the forecast had said, rain began to fall.
"..........."
===
After saying goodbye to one another, the students put up their umbrellas and headed home,
but Jiyoung, who had forgotten hers, looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds and let out a sigh.
"Haa...."
With a gloomy expression, just as she was about to use her bag to shield herself and leave,
I came to meet her with an umbrella and said as I looked at Jiyoung,
"You’ll catch a cold like that."
"Huh?..... Suhan?"
She looked completely taken aback, and when she asked why I had come, I held the umbrella over her and answered.
"Why else? You overslept this morning."
"I figured you probably didn’t bring an umbrella, so I came to pick you up."
I had thought she might have a spare, but it had bothered me too much.
"Let’s go."
"Uh.... okay....."
And so, I began walking together with Jiyoung.
I had tried to bring one more umbrella, but unfortunately
there was only one, so we shared it while walking shoulder to shoulder.
Jiyoung apologized, saying I must be busy because of the exam and that she was sorry for making me come pick her up for nothing,
but I told her there was no need to apologize since she had picked out clothes for me last time,
and asked if she had gotten to school safely this morning.
"Thanks to you, I made it without being late."
"The other kids were staring like crazy this morning. Are you okay?"
"I think the rumor’s already spread everywhere. They kept asking if you were my boyfriend."
"Good thing I was wearing a cap."
As we stood in front of the crosswalk waiting for the light, Jiyoung asked me
if my exam preparations were going well.
I answered that I was preparing decently enough, and Jiyoung gave a faint smile
and softly cheered me on, saying she hoped I would do well.
Then the light changed and we began walking again,
and while Jiyoung was telling me about what had happened at school,
a motorcycle sped past beside Jiyoung and me, splashing water.
'Splaaaaash'
'Grab'
"?!"
But I pulled Jiyoung to the other side and took the splashing water in her place,
and because of that, the lower part of my pants ended up completely soaked.
When I asked whether her school uniform had gotten wet, Jiyoung answered in a small voice,
and when she looked at the drenched bottom of my pants and asked if I was okay, I calmly brushed it off, saying I could just wash them.
We started walking again without saying anything,
and Jiyoung, looking embarrassed, said to me,
"You know what you just did was totally boyfriend behavior, right?"
"Really? I don’t know. I just did it instinctively."
"........"
Jiyoung was silent for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Thank you so much for today."
"Thanks to you, I wasn’t late, and my clothes didn’t get wet. When we get back, I’ll wash your pants and shoes for you."
At that, I answered with a smile.
"I’m grateful too. Thanks to you, I got an excellent morning workout."
"..........?"
After understanding what I meant, Jiyoung laughed as if dumbfounded and said,
"Hey! I’m not that heavy!!"
"Who knows~"
"Compared to last time, it feels like you might’ve put on a little weight?"
"What are you talking about~!! I’m on a diet right now!!"
"I lost 3 kilograms last month!!"
I joked that she might need to lose a little more,
and seeing Jiyoung’s face, which had looked gloomy, now filled with laughter,
I found a smile rising on my face without realizing it,
and before we knew it, we had arrived in front of the house.
---
---
---
D-day
Was this how a test-taker felt on the day of the college entrance exam?
As soon as I opened my eyes, my heart began pounding fiercely.
"It’s okay. I can do this."
After reassuring myself and getting dressed,
I stepped outside, and my teacher was waiting for me.
"Shall we get going?"
"Yes."
To ease my nerves even a little, I went together with my teacher,
and we began heading to the exam site by bus and subway.
"You’re very nervous, aren’t you?"
"Yes, I’m incredibly nervous."
My teacher slowly took my hand and encouraged me, saying I would definitely do well.
My condition was fine, but I was still nervous, and when we arrived at the exam site, I became even more tense.
"Those here for the selection exam, please wait over here!"
Before going in for the exam, I checked my phone and saw messages of encouragement the kids had sent.
I didn’t have time to read them all, but even so, it felt like my rapidly beating heart was calming down little by little,
and I turned around and said goodbye to my teacher.
"Then I’ll be going."
"Okay."
"Do your best. I’ll be cheering for you from afar."
After saying goodbye to my teacher, I moved to the waiting area,
turned in my phone, and received the exam schedule to check it.
"Today is going to be exhausting..."
All the tests would be held in a single day.
There were breaks and lunchtime in between,
but the exam continued until evening.
It seemed I would have to sleep in the lodging provided here today,
and when the exam guide said we would be moving, I and the others followed him inside.
There were more people taking the exam than I had expected, and the fact that all of them were ability users like me made the tension that had eased slightly seize up again.
"The ability test will begin shortly!"
"Please change into the clothes you received and wait in order!"
We entered the changing room and began changing into the clothes we had been given.
As I changed, telling myself not to make any mistakes and to do my best,
one man who looked far from ordinary caught my eye.
'Srrrk'
The man gave off such an overwhelming presence that even the people around him became tense.
Rough-looking silver hair, sharp eyes, a muscular body, and even a huge scar crossing his back.
'Gulp'
The scar looked like claw marks left by some enormous beast,
and I instinctively knew that man would absolutely pass this exam.
"Those who have finished changing, please sit in the seat with your number on it!!"
"The exam begins in 10 minutes!"
After finishing changing, I sat in seat number 23 and waited.
"We will now begin the first test."
"Examinee number 1, please enter slowly."
When the announcement sounded, a man stood up and slowly entered the testing area,
and the rest of us and I watched him on the monitor.
"When the test begins, targets will come out from the walls and floor."
"You simply need to destroy all targets that appear."
"Then we will begin the test."
At the signal to start, target robots began emerging from the walls and floor.
The man used his ability to create fist-sized spikes on his arm and swung it,
and the flying spikes struck the targets, leaving large holes behind.
'Wiiiiing'
As the targets continued to appear, he fired spikes at the targets farther away,
and for the nearby targets, he created small spikes on his fist in the shape of knuckles,
then struck out powerfully and shattered them to pieces.
'Beeeeep'
"The test has ended."
When the man destroyed all the targets, I became even more nervous.
I took deep breaths to keep myself from getting tense and waited for my turn,
and after some time, when the turn of the silver-haired man who had looked extraordinary drew near,
everyone’s gazes focused on him.
"Then we will begin the test."
Targets emerged with the signal to start,
but for some reason, even though they kept coming out, he did not take any action.
Time continued to pass, and the moment the target robots surrounded him on all sides,
the man slowly moved and took a stance.
Then, when he used his ability, the monitor screen went out along with a tremendous vibration,
and an enormous roar resounded from inside the testing area.
'Kwaaaaang!!!!!'
"!!"
The vibration could be felt even outside. What on earth had happened?
As the exam staff radioed in and asked about the situation, the monitor screen that had gone out
slowly returned, and the rest of us and I broke into a cold sweat at the sight on the screen.
"(What the hell happened....?)"
The inside of the testing area had been devastated as if a typhoon had passed through.
Naturally, the targets had been smashed to pieces so badly that their shapes were impossible to recognize,
and only the spot where he stood remained intact. The test had ended in just one minute.
"The next turn will proceed after restoration work is completed."
In the end, the next turn would take place after the testing area was restored,
and when the silver-haired man came outside, none of us could take our eyes off him.