EP.57 Can you solve it? (4)
“What is this?”
Everyone blinks blankly.
The students looking at the bulletin board are young. Although they are young, they are also wizards. When faced with something unknown, it is the magician’s job to figure it out.
Students calmly understand the situation.
Like a wizard, I summarize the situation.
‘What is in front of you now?’
It’s a test paper.
And that’s the midterm exam to be taken next week.
‘Then why is this attached here?’
I ask the question several times, but no answer comes.
‘I can not know.’
Even after thinking about it carefully, it was impossible to infer the reason why the test paper was stuck on the bulletin board.
“·····.”
Blink your eyes.
There is silence among the students.
Squeak.
Then someone stretched out a hand.
Then he tears off a sheet of test paper. The students who were looking at him soon reached out and started tearing off their test papers.
This is a test paper that has been ordered so that only one sheet can be taken per person. Soon, the students looked at the test papers they each held in their hands.
“·····.”
Upon closer inspection, not all problems are disclosed. Out of a total of eight issues, only three have been made public.
Numbers 6, 7, and 8.
The three problems are derived from one circuit.
The first thing that catches your eye is the circuitry that fills one side. The moment students see the circuit, they are speechless. Any doubts I had until just now are completely cleared away.
beautiful.
It was also my first time seeing such a sophisticated circuit.
It was different from the circuit they had drawn.
‘It’s not a circuit drawn with the overall shape.’
While the circuit the students drew was a tower made by carving out a large block, this is a tower built up step by step, starting from very small bricks.
The difference lies in its sophistication.
A circuit completed without missing a single detail is like a work of art. Students remain silent before the beauty that comes from perfection.
However, that silence is short-lived.
“uh?”
Someone raises a questioning voice. Then, I read out loud the questions written on the back of the test paper.
“···Find the error in this circuit?”
Everyone stiffens at that one word.
Students turn over to look at the problem, then look at the circuit again.
‘Find the error here?’
What you see before your eyes is a circuit that reaches the realm of art. No matter how much I blink and look again, I cannot find even a small flaw in the circuit.
But, is there an error here?
Finding that is a test question?
Students stare blankly at their test papers. Even though looking doesn’t give you the answer, everyone is doing it.
Plop, plod.
Then I hear someone’s footsteps.
The sound of shoes hitting the floor of the hallway is unusually loud in the silence.
“·····.”
Students turn around at the sound of steady footsteps. And then, I make eye contact with the owner of the footsteps.
Gray hair is flowing.
Squinted blue eyes look at the students.
Rania van Trias.
This professor is gaining notoriety, saying he is Aplia’s new nightmare.
She was dressed in a suit as always, but today there was no cape draped over her shoulders. Is it because the weather is starting to get warmer? She had taken off her cape and rolled up her sleeves.
“huh?”
She looks at the students gathered and tilts her head. Her gray hair flows down her head.
“What are you doing gathered here?”
At those words, the students’ eyes naturally turn to the paper they are holding in their hands.
“ah.”
Professor Rania nods as if she has a general understanding.
“Were you looking at the bachelor’s notice?”
The students also nod their heads in unison.
Someone among them opens his mouth.
“Hey, Professor Rania. This···.”
“Yes, it’s part of the midterms. “These will be the three questions with the highest scores.”
“Well, why is this in the academic bulletin board…?”
Professor Rania laughed bitterly.
“There are a lot of stories like this that say it won’t be difficult for you to solve, so we decided to make it public in advance.”
…Wouldn’t that usually change the problem?
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Although such questions rose up to their throats, the students listened to the professor in silence.
“Oh, it would be nice for you to try to solve it yourself, but I’m thinking of going into more detail in the next class. “If I tell you how to solve the problem, wouldn’t it be easier to solve the problem on the day of the midterm exam?”
“···yes?”
“The reason I gave out the test papers in advance was because I wanted students to take it at least once and then come to class.”
And then he smiles faintly.
“Wouldn’t it be helpful to you?”
The smile leaves the students speechless.
What does this mean? Not only would you hand it out in advance, but you would even explain it to me?
‘Do they usually go that far?’
I really appreciate your words, but to the students’ ears, they sound a little different.
Why were the exam questions made public in advance?
Why would you explain the solution?
Even if we do that, we are confident that this issue will have discriminatory power. In other words, it is a problem with an insane level of difficulty.
“······.”
Students look at the test paper in silence.
There is no embarrassment that I felt just a moment ago.
The letters written on the test paper look different to students.
-I will kill you.
It seemed like it was written exactly like that on the test paper.
“Then let’s see in the next class.”
With those words, Professor Rania leisurely leaves. The gait is as constant as always. Her gray hair flutters in the blowing wind.
The students look at the back.
Someone said, slapping their forehead.
“This is an assignment, right?”
Where is the professor who gives midterm exams as assignments?
There was a surprise. now. Here.
2.
“I want to climb a mountain.”
Lark, who is from the north, loves training.
Although he was talented in magic and entered the Magic Academy, he trained his body every day.
-Muscles will never betray you, Master.
-Strong muscles! Thick arms! A grip strong enough to crush a troll’s skull! For a warrior, muscles are his first and oldest friend.
That’s why I learned that from the warriors.
Although it didn’t look bulky on the outside, Lark’s forearms were as hard as cast iron.
Lark felt happy about that.
Having a strong body meant that it could withstand stronger body strengthening magic.
For Lark, training is a joy.
When the body becomes energized, Lark feels fulfilled.
“I want to climb a mountain.”
That kind of thing is now.
“The mountain…”
“Please shut up, Lark.”
I was sitting in a cafe, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It’s been a week since I haven’t trained. My body is itching.
The reason for not being able to train is simple.
The reason is right in front of you.
“·····.”
Lark looks at the table with wide eyes.
There is a pile of paper. All of that was a task that had to be completed within this week.
“···Belnoir.”
Lark calls his rival sitting across from him.
“why.”
“I think I studied hard.”
“so.”
“I did my best. I studied until I went to bed…! I mean, I did my homework. But why isn’t the homework decreasing?”
It’s a voice full of sadness.
Belnoir calmly answered.
“Because you’re stupid.”
“That’s harsh.”
“It’s true.”
“That’s too much, Belnoa…”
Looking at Lark who was sighing, Belnoir shook his head.
‘Why did I come to the cafe with this guy?’
Because they were in the same class and were disciples of a magic tower master, they often got involved. As a result, there were overlapping assignments, and I came to the cafe because of the suggestion that we do it together…
“Uuuuu…”
That barbarian warrior lying limply on the table didn’t seem like he would be of much help.
‘What kind of assignment are you doing?’
Lark glanced at the paper his head was stuck on. Soon, the subject written at the top of the paper comes into view.
Mana Transactions (Basics).
‘···It’s worth it.’
Belnoir nodded silently.
And then I took a sip of the coffee I ordered. Since the caffeine is added, I feel like my head is spinning a bit.
“···Black water.”
Lark, who was watching that scene with hazy eyes, took the coffee cup next to him in his hand.
Jump, jump, jump.
I drank it down in one go. Then, while chewing the dregs at the bottom of the glass, Lark muttered.
“Black water is sweet… it is sweet even without syrup… I just don’t know why…”
Have I become an intellectual?
Only that weak voice echoed in the cafe.
3.
Fourth princess, Ayla.
She looked straight ahead, feeling tired. Her eyes turned to the professor standing in front of the podium.
Rania van Trias.
Her outfit is the first thing that catches your eye.
This is a suit that Ayla designed with great care in collaboration with palace designers.
‘It feels really good to wear it well…’
Lately, she hasn’t been very happy with Professor Rania. She largely blames the insane amount of homework.
‘I slept a few hours yesterday.’
Suddenly, such a question arises.
Ayla spreads her fingers and calculates the time. Seeing the time being counted on one hand, Ayla burst into laughter.
Like most students, Ayla was spending her days shedding tears of blood over her assignments.
‘I didn’t know that I would come to Aplia and experience a restless night’s sleep that I never experienced even in the royal family…’
Ayla slept well despite the fierce power struggle. I also think that perhaps life in Aplia is more intense than in the royal family.
Should I laugh or cry at this?
While thinking about this, Ayla glanced to the side.
“·····.”
Recently, several professors have joined the lectures, and the number of seats has decreased. Because of this, a rare student was sitting next to Ayla.
‘Lesti Eleanor.’
It must have been that name.
The next gray magic tower lord.
Square Square.
She is silently taking notes in her notebook. Ayla glanced at the note. And then he opened his eyes round.
It was a solution.
An explanation of the test paper handed out by Aplia’s nightmare. It was so complicated that I couldn’t tell even by looking at it… but I could tell that it was grass.
“···Miss Resty?”
“yes?”
At that call, Resti looks at Ayla.
“Have you solved all of that?”
“···Is this what you’re talking about?”
“Ah yes. that. “The test questions we gave you this time.”
Resty shook his head.
“I couldn’t solve everything. “I only solved one problem.”
“···You solved it? “That?”
I haven’t been able to solve a single problem in three days?
Ayla looked at Resty with surprised eyes, but Resty himself seemed dissatisfied.
“I had a lot of time, but it’s a shame I couldn’t solve it all. “I was planning on solving it once before listening to the solution…”
It wasn’t just humility, it seemed like he really thought so.
‘Now that I think about it, I was the second chair… and Ms. Resty was the chief…?’
Is this the difference between first and second place?
There was no need to look far. The talent Ayla was looking for for her future was right before her eyes.
Ayla quenched her appetite.
“Miss Resty.”
“···yes?”
“We are friendly.”
That was when Resty tilted his head at the hand he held out.
Dang, daeng.
The bell rings to signal the start of class. Soon, Professor Rania, who was standing on the podium, opened her mouth.
“Let’s start class.”
* * *
Professor Rania kept her promise.
In the last class before the midterm exam, she really gave a lecture about the exam.
“If we do this here…”
The blackboard is filled with solutions to problems. The students blinked blankly.
I heard something.
I did understand something.
The explanation was clear, and the solution to the problem was also clear. When I watch the professor solve a problem with ease, I feel like I can really solve it.
However, that is only for a moment.
Take your eyes off the professor’s explanation and look at the test paper. I tried to imitate what the professor just taught me…
‘···What did they do here?’
It gets clogged quickly.
Students feel helpless about that fact.
It would be better if the problem was just as difficult.
If it’s a problem that really can’t be solved.
If it’s such a ridiculous problem, I don’t even feel helpless.
However, if you listen to Professor Rania’s explanation, you will know everything. The solution does not include anything that has not been learned.
“I’ll stop here.”
If you stay blank like that, class will end before you know it. Students look at the test paper.
There are solutions filled with test papers.
When I took the class, I felt a sense of unity, but now that the class is over, I feel left out on a remote island.
“How are you feeling?”
Professor Rania opens his mouth to such students. She tapped the blackboard full of writing and spoke.
“It’s a problem that requires quite a lot of effort.”
He looks very proud.
“Professor Rossell also said it was a good problem. “I think just solving it once will be of great help to you.”
He says that and smiles beautifully.
That smile is beautiful. Matched with her neat appearance is a gentle smile that makes a flower bloom.
There is no malice in that smile.
I feel a beautiful heart that purely wants to help students.
But as always.
It is difficult for good intentions to be accepted as just good intentions. In the eyes of students, the smile appears completely different.
“Wouldn’t it be possible to solve it this way?”
-If you can solve it, try solving it.
Students feel fear in that smile.
A word from the author (author review)
*Our goal is to publish 5 times a week.
Generally, closed days are Mondays and Thursdays.
