The Mage Who Went to High School: Chapter 8
"...Fine."
That single word, spoken from my lips, instantly froze the air around the bench in front of the library.
Tyler was the first to react. His eyes widened in shock. He had never imagined that the amnesiac transfer student would accept his challenge, especially since he was at least an average student in the school. But the bewilderment on his face quickly turned into a sneer—the sneer of a predator watching a stupid prey walk right into his trap.
"Heh, good. It wouldn't be fun if you just chickened out. You hear that, all of you?"
Tyler, full of himself, shouted to his gang and to the horrified Kevin and Sora.
"If this loser Arcane gets a lower score than me in even one subject on the midterms, I won't let it go. You better get ready to get out of this school."
He shot a final look of contempt at me, then left with a satisfied smirk. His gang followed him, chortling. Their steps were full of arrogance, as if they had already won.
Only after Tyler's gang was completely out of sight did the frozen time begin to flow again.
"A-Arcane! Are you crazy? Why did you accept that?!"
Kevin, who was the first to snap out of it, almost screamed. His face was pale.
"Yeah, Arcane! Tyler might act like a thug, but he's not a bad student! He's an average student in the honors class!"
Sora also spoke, her face crestfallen. In their eyes was a mix of worry—'you're in big trouble now'—and resentment—'what were you thinking?!'
But I, the one at the center of all this, was perfectly calm. I took a sip of my canned drink as if what had just happened was a story from a different world. My quiet demeanor only frustrated them more.
"Dude, are you for real? You're drinking a soda right now?! You have amnesia! You just transferred and haven't even had a proper class yet. How do you expect to ace a test that's in a week?!" Kevin pleaded.
He was right. Logically, it was a more reckless challenge than trying to break a rock with an egg.
I slowly turned to look at them. My eyes, whose depths were unknown, were as calm as a placid lake.
"...Because it was noisy."
"Huh?"
"That person kept hovering around and making a nuisance of himself. If I put him in his place now, he'll be quiet for a while."
A reason so simple, so arrogant. Kevin and Sora were speechless. I didn't seem to grasp how disadvantaged I was. No, it was more like I didn't care.
I stood up.
"I'm going back."
As if I didn't feel the conversation was worth continuing, I started walking toward the library. Kevin and Sora stared blankly at my back for a moment, then scrambled to follow me.
On the way back to the apartment, a heavy silence weighed on the three of us. I was the only one who walked calmly, admiring the scenery around me.
But my inner world, unlike my outer composure, was a swirl of complex thoughts. I hadn't accepted Tyler's challenge just because he was annoying. The moment he confronted us, I had felt a faint energy coming from his body. It was the same energy as the cold, ominous magical ripple I had felt in the library. It was so faint that it was barely a trace, but my senses couldn't be fooled.
'That person is possessed by something, or carrying a dangerous object.'
He wasn't just a simple high school bully. He might be connected to the remnants of the darkness that existed in this world. I had to observe him closely to figure out his identity. The "exam bet" was the perfect excuse to keep him within my sight.
Of course, my pride as an Archmage was also a factor. The fact that a mere mortal boy had looked down on me had grated on my nerves. I decided I needed to show him the difference in our power, using this world's way of "exams." The knowledge and wisdom I had accumulated over 500 years would never lose to the shallow knowledge of a person who had only lived for 17 years. I saw this "exam" as a kind of intellectual duel, similar to the debates of mages in my world.
When we arrived at Kevin's apartment, the atmosphere was still heavy. Kevin went straight to his room and sprawled on his bed. Sora sat on the living room sofa, letting out a deep sigh.
I looked at them for a moment, then went to my corner of Kevin's room and sat at the desk. I pulled out the textbooks and workbooks for all subjects I had borrowed from the library, stacking them up. They formed a small mountain in front of me.
"...Dude, what are you doing?"
Kevin, who was still lying on his bed, raised his head and asked.
"Studying."
"I know that! Are you really going to read all of those?!"
"I must if I'm to take the exam."
My simple answer was so logical it stunned Kevin. Reading all those books in a week was not a task for a human.
Just then, Sora stood up from the sofa and came into the room with a determined look on her face.
"This isn't going to work. We have to take drastic measures."
"...Drastic measures?" Kevin asked.
Sora looked at us with a serious face and declared,
"From today until the day before the exam, we're starting the 'Project: Make Arcane a Top Scorer on the Midterms'!"
"What? A top scorer?"
"Might as well set a big goal! We'll stomp Tyler and create a miracle that will shock the entire school!"
Sora's eyes were burning with motivation. It was a pure passion, beyond just worry, to overcome this impossible-looking challenge together. At her words, a spark of life returned to Kevin's eyes, which had been filled with despair.
"...That sounds fun! Let's do it! This is 'Operation: Create the Arcane Legend'!"
The two of them high-fived, firming their resolve. I silently watched this absurd situation unfold, completely against my will.
And so, a bizarre "study group" was formed, consisting of a former Archmage and two ordinary high school students.
The first subject was literature. Sora opened the literature textbook and pointed to the poetry section.
"Okay, Arcane. The exam will give you a poem like this and ask about its 'implied meaning.' For example, a 'falling petal' here isn't just a petal; it symbolizes 'fading beauty' or a 'descending image,' got it?"
I read the poem for a moment, then tilted my head.
"I don't understand. A petal falling is simply a natural physical phenomenon governed by the law of gravity. Why do you add subjective emotions like fading or descending to it? Was the poet's mental state unstable?"
"...No, that's not it!"
Sora hit her chest in frustration. She explained the concepts of "poetic license" and "metaphor" for over 30 minutes, but I insisted on analyzing everything with logic and cause and effect. To me, literature was just a coded message I had to decipher.
The next subject was history, handled by Kevin.
"Dude, this is something you just have to memorize. Who founded the Joseon Dynasty?"
"King Taejo Yi Seong-gye."
"Bingo! Okay, then who started the Imjin War?"
"Superficially, it was Japan's Toyotomi Hideyoshi. But he was backed by a low-ranking branch of the Shadow Cult, and their true goal was to acquire the 'Dragon's Tear' sealed in the Joseon Dynasty's secret vault…"
"Wait! Hold on, dude! Where did you get that backstory from?"
Kevin cried out, interrupting me. I answered with a serious face.
"That is the truth. Your history books seem to have omitted all the important parts."
"I don't care about the truth! You have to memorize the answers for the test! If you write something about the Dragon's Tear, you'll get a zero!"
Kevin pulled at his hair. He realized the situation was more serious than he had imagined. I hadn't just lost my memory. My mind contained a bizarre and vast knowledge system from an unknown source.
The study group was in trouble from the start. I was the type of person who had to perfectly understand and reconstruct all knowledge within my own logical framework. Their method of simple memorization didn't work on me at all.
Time flew by, and it was already getting dark outside. The three of us took a break and ate the pizza we had ordered for dinner.
"Ugh... this isn't going to work. We're going to die of stress."
Kevin said, chewing on a slice of pizza.
"Are you giving up?" Sora asked.
"No. We just have to change our strategy."
Kevin, looking determined, spoke to me.
"Arcane, let's do it your way. You study however you want to understand it. In return, we'll keep telling you what the 'right answers for the exam' are. You can explore the truth, and we'll help you get the answers right. What do you say?"
It was a truly brilliant compromise. I fell into thought for a moment. It wasn't a bad offer. I could explore the knowledge of this world and at the same time pass the "exam."
"...Fine."
And so, the strange symbiotic study group began again. The night deepened, and the small room was filled with our lively discussions and laughter. I still didn't understand everything. But one thing was clear.
Studying with someone, talking and arguing with them, was much more… fun than reading a book alone. In my heart, the 500-year-old wall of ice was starting to melt, ever so slightly.