Became a Human Rights Advocate

51 – Episode 11. Midterm exam.

＜0＞

In life, there are times when unexpected moments come.

No, it wasn’t unexpected, maybe it was just running away from reality.

Hints were everywhere.

It might have been a problem that could have been overcome if we had taken one step at a time without turning a blind eye to the task at hand.

But it’s already too late.

All I can do is curse my indolent past for eternity in the future.

What kind of nonsense are you talking about?

… Yeah, as for how this happened-

＜1＞

After I stopped ignorantly risking my life every night to develop abilities, the fatigue that weighed down my body disappeared as if it had melted snow.

If I were still doing that routine, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with last week’s busy schedule.

Anyway, everything has been going well lately.

Thanks to Nicola’s advice and cooperation, we are seeing results in our ability development.

I was half-forced to attend the cherry blossom festival at Edelweiss Academy, but thanks to that, I managed to get a really hard-to-find item. Obtaining food recipes that increase stamina is also meaningful in its own way.

Joo Ju-yeong’s hypnosis treatment seemed to have gone smoothly without any problems. The week after her treatment, Si-young’s expression looked noticeably darker than hers, but that’s her job now.

It was an unexpected event for her to meet Ast. Fortunately, nothing happened, so it didn’t develop into a big problem.

After such a fruitful week, it’s Monday again.

I went to school with a light heart.

Until last week, I still had inertia, so I slept through class, but this week I am in very good condition.

Since the midterm exams aren’t far away, I thought I’d focus on my classes from today.

If you fail even one subject, you will be taken to supplementary classes.

If you are caught up in school after school, you will miss all the important events.

Well, this is a what-if story.

Anyway, it’s just a high school course.

About two weeks is enough time, so even if you study moderately, there is no way that will happen.

And after a while, the first period.

I was sweating profusely as I stared at the screen with alien words written on it.

“The answer to question 3 is number 5. To give a brief explanation-.”

Kate, her homeroom teacher and math teacher, writes something on her screen with a tablet pen.

I try hard to add explanations, but I don’t understand a single word of them.

“-Well, this is a basic problem. I will only do this much for an explanation. Now, let’s move on to the next one.”

A basic problem? What is that?

Looking at the faces of the guys around me, it seems like a really basic problem, just like Kate said.

This is an unexpected situation.

Maybe something big happened.

… I didn’t know.

No… I knew the truth.

I was just running away from reality.

Yes.

Lee Si-hyeok was actually a science student.

I, who possessed it, am a liberal arts student to the core.

＜2＞

After school, special department office.

“It’s comfortable to give up, Lee Si-hyeok.”

Alex listened to my concerns and laughed with his arms crossed.

“… Okay?”

“It’s a b*tch, isn’t it enough if you delay?”

From noble mtl dot com

That’s very helpful.

I was a fool for asking advice from a guy who doesn’t even go to school properly.

I took my eyes off Alex, who was babbling, and then turned my attention to Makina, who was staring blankly at the ceiling.

“… Makina.”

“What is it, Sihyuk Lee?”

“Are you good at math?”

At my question, Makina stretched out her chest, placing her hands on her waist.

This is the posture Makina takes when expressing her proud feelings.

“For Machina, mathematics is a subject that is as close to breathing as possible.”

“… Oh oh.”

“Let’s bring a problem. Makina will release them all.”

I handed over last year’s midterm exam paper that I had drawn out in advance to Makina.

“Is it printed on paper? That’s the classic way. Does Sihyuk Lee not use a tablet?”

“It doesn’t really matter.”

I think this is more comfortable. For me, studying on a tablet is limited to watching online lectures.

“So, what’s the problem? Makina asks, tilting her head.”

“All.”

“… You mean everything?”

I nodded her head and Makina looked back and forth between her test paper and my face.

“Machina was talking to the ape.”

“Puhahahaha. Did you hear that, Sihyuk Lee? You look like an ape.”

“Are you glad you found a mate, Alex?”

“What man?”

I sighed deeply when I saw the two of them bickering.

“Because it’s okay to be an ape… Please tell me.”

“Okay. Let’s begin. The answer to question 1 is 3, the answer to question 2 is 2, and the answer to question 3 is-.”

“Wait!”

At my desperate cry, Makina tilted her head.

“Machina. I don’t need an answer, I need a detailed explanation.”

“I feel sorry for Makina. It is clear that Lee Si-hyeok has lost some of his brain functions.”

“Why does that happen?”

“A problem of this level should be taken for granted, like breathing. As a machina, I can only judge that you have been injured somewhere when you have lost that natural function.”

… Are you kidding me?

No, it might be natural for Makina to really think that way.

Machina is an artificial life form created by Plato, the chairman of the board, and is like a biometric calculator.

Even if it’s a fairly difficult problem, high school level math can answer it in seconds.

But a calculator is just a calculator.

Because getting the correct answer right and telling the process of getting the correct answer are two different things.

“Anyway, Lee Si-hyeok, I thought you were a criminal. I can’t believe it’s the same fruit line as me.”

“Don’t put me in one category with you. All I have to do is solve the math.”

“hahahahaha. Everyone says that at first.”

Alex has been laughing single-singly since a while ago.

Why did she start to look at me with a compassionate gaze? Makina.

… It was wrong

It’s my fault for expecting something from these two.

“I am going.”

“What is it, Lee Si-hyeok, are you mad at me for making fun of that?”

“Lee Si-hyeok, there is no need to be discouraged. Even if it’s an ape, step by step-“

– Bang.

I ignored the two chattering and left the office of the Special Division.

There must have been a reason that Nicola and Suisei said they wouldn’t be able to come to the special department for a while from today.

The place where Makina and Alex live is not a good place to study.

“… Shall we go to a cafe?”

I now have enough time to buy coffee at a cafe.

Thanks to the beanie girl and Suisei, the amount I was aiming for has already been met a long time ago.

The bazaar will be held two weeks after the midterm exam. In the meantime, unless you spend a lot of money, you will never run out of money.

However, if you take supplementary classes, all your preparations so far will be in vain.

The bazaar is a three-day event. In order to find the object he was aiming for, he needed to wander all over the academia for three days.

It’s virtually impossible to skip make-up classes for three days in a row, so you have to avoid failing somehow.

… I don’t have an answer.

I arrived at the main street with my shoulders drooping and went into the first cafe in sight.

“Sorry, it’s full right now, so there’s only take-out.”

“There are no seats right now.

“It’s nothing but packaging. We ask for your understanding!”

Everywhere I went, the seats were full.

Coming to think of it, all cafes during the exam period were usually like this.

In Academia, where most of the members are students, this is a natural thing.

And if the cafe is in this situation, the library will already be full.

There is a way to go back to the dormitory, but my room right now is hardly an environment suitable for studying.

My room was kept tidy because Baek So-so stopped by from time to time to clean it up.

Now that Baek So-so is also busy with the exam period, the condition of the room is a mess.

“… Shall we eat some rice?”

After wandering around for a while looking for a seat, I got hungry.

I happened to see a fast food restaurant, XDonald’s nearby, so I went inside as if bewitched.

It’s not ‘X Donald’, it’s ‘X Donald’.

A multinational company that occupies the position of ‘X Donald’ in the world of Legend of Academia.

Should I call this a play on words or say the developer’s insincereness?

For reference, this is the name of the representative menu.

“One Big X set.”

… Maybe it’s okay to be insincere.

“Yes, I received an order for a Big X set. Are you going to eat?”

“Do you have a seat?”

“There are probably a few seats left on the second floor.”

“I’ll go eat then.”

Befitting a fast food restaurant, the food came out in less than 5 minutes, and I took the tray and went straight to the second floor.

However, contrary to what the employee said, there were no vacancies left.

It was full of guys studying in all directions.

Please go home and study! Not what I’m talking about!

I need to go back downstairs to pack—and as I turned around, I spotted a woman with a familiar face somewhere.

“… Ugh.”

She was solving a problem with a pile of her fries, and as soon as her eyes met mine, she immediately looked away.

But I trudged toward her, like her predator that had already captured her prey.

“Long time no see!”

“… Ha.”

A deep sigh returned instead of a greeting.

It was obviously meant to mean ‘go away’, but I put a steel plate over her face and put her ass on the seat in front of her.

“Can I sit down?”

“I have already sat down… ha, that’s okay Alright, eat quickly and leave.”

Chaehee Rin frowned and muttered.