That Mood-Wrecking Thing Called Midterms (1)
Once the school festival—which had been so lively and fulfilling I never could’ve imagined it back in my gloomy days—came to an end…
Along came the midterm exams for the second semester, hitting us with all the tact of a brick through a window.
The lingering excitement from the class-wide festival hype, the slight progress I thought I’d made with someone special—
All of it was brutally ignored by the relentless schedule, leaving many students in tears.
“Damn, this is getting ridiculous. I’m starting to feel guilty for being such a cheat…”
Thanks to the divine blessing of the goddess Athena, I cruised through it all without breaking a sweat.
High school-level academics were child’s play—I could grasp anything instantly, and once I learned something, I rarely forgot it.
Unlike my usual routine of pulling an all-nighter cramming the night before exams, this time I didn’t do any of that.
Because I didn’t need to.
Honestly, I didn’t even need to review or prep.
The moment the textbook opened in class, everything just clicked.
So yeah, I breezed through the second semester midterms without a shred of anxiety.
If I had to point out one worry, just one…
(I might actually score a perfect 100 in every subject. If I’m not careful, people might start suspecting I cheated—like I stole the test questions in advance or used my phone to sneak answers.)
But that concern had absolutely nothing to do with the test content itself.
……
…
And just like that, the post-festival midterm exams came to an end.
Starting from the very first period today, they began handing the tests back.
“Ugh, test returns start today, huh? I hate this…”
In the morning classroom, Hasumin groaned, slumping over her desk in a rather unladylike fashion.
She’d come off so bold during the after-party, but after that, it was like she’d flipped a switch—back to treating me the same as always.
(So that really was just the atmosphere of the after-party getting to her. I’m glad I didn’t get the wrong idea and start thinking Hasumin liked me or anything.)
One of the typical traits of an introvert: A girl’s nice to you and suddenly you think she’s into you.
Pathetic. Seriously.
To everyone else, I wasn’t some hero who’d defeated the Demon Lord after five years of battle in another world. I was just some mystery ex-introvert who’d suddenly had a late-blooming glow-up in second semester.
I needed to keep that gap in perception—between who I was and how I was seen—very clear in my own head.
Otherwise, I’d just end up as another cringey delusional guy.
Not that I really cared if people did think that. My mental armor’s thick enough to brush that off by now.
But it’s not like I enjoy being misunderstood either. If I can avoid being seen in a bad light, then obviously that’s better.
“Wait, didn’t you say right after the test that it went pretty well, Hasumin?”
That’s why I treated Hasumin just like before—like a close classmate—without ever bringing up the after-party again.
“Yeah, I thought it went well… but once I got home and started checking the stuff I wasn’t sure about, I kinda started feeling like maybe it was more meh than I realized.”
“Ah yeah, I get that. If all your borderline answers happen to be right, you’ll get a great score. But if not, it ends up just average.”
“Exactly! That’s exactly it. And this time I had way too many of those borderline answers.”
“But didn’t you make the top 20 in the first semester? I’m pretty sure I saw your name on the list—faint memory, but I’m almost certain. You’re probably doing better than you think.”
I vaguely recalled thinking how unfair it was that someone as pretty and charismatic as Hasumin—not to mention the leader of the popular girls—also had the grades to match. Total winner.
Though to be fair, first semester of first year felt like a lifetime ago—subjectively speaking, at least five years have passed for me—so the details were fuzzy.
“Ehehe, you mean the end-of-term exams in the first semester, right? Back then, I took a gamble and focused my studying on a few key topics—and every single one of them showed up on the test. While I was answering, I was like, ‘This is it—I’ve totally got this!’”
“Ah, so that’s how it went. But even if things didn’t go perfectly this time, it’s not like you totally bombed or anything, right?”
“Well, I did study a fair bit, so unless I misaligned all my answers or something, I should at least be above average.”
“Then you probably don’t need to stress too much. I mean, yeah, getting a high score is nice and all, but it’s still just second semester of first year. If this were second semester of third year right before college entrance exams, then yeah, freaking out would make sense.”
“True… we are still just first-years, huh. —Wait, hang on. You’re acting all calm and relaxed, but aren’t you the one radiating ‘return my test anytime, I’m ready’ vibes?”
As she said that, Hasumin pushed herself up from her desk and turned to face me.