Chapter 25: Shifting Futures

The midterm exams were just around the corner.

“I’ll tell you the exam scope. Pages 25 to 28, page 30, page 32.....”

The teacher looked through the textbook and announced the exam range.

“Hey, if it’s going to be like this, wouldn’t it be better to just memorize everything? If the entire book is the exam scope, what’s the point of this?”

The students in the class voiced their complaints at the teacher’s announcement of the exam scope.

Just memorizing all the pages was necessary to score a perfect 100.

They were setting 25 questions, yet the exam coverage was so extensive that the kids glared resentfully at the teacher’s retreating back as he left the classroom.

Their eyes were filled with nothing but bitterness.

“Seunghyun, let’s study together at the study room.”

Friends I was close to in class approached and suggested we study at the study room.

But I knew their true intentions very well.

They said “study,” but in reality, they planned to go to the PC café to play Blizzard games.

The game was called “Beginner 3:3,” a room full of players where no true beginners existed.

I recalled that place where there were no real beginners, just stagnant veterans swarming everywhere.

“No, Seunghyun, you have to go to the academy with me.”

At that moment, a sharp, clear voice came from beside me, and everyone’s gaze fixed on that side.

“What? Are you guys really dating?”

“What? The two of you? Seriously?!”

One kid’s voice caused the surrounding students to exchange surprised looks.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you know that Yua and I go to the same academy?”

I had the urge to go to the PC café with the kids, recalling old memories, but it was better to suppress such trivial desires.

I looked at their surprised faces with an amused gaze and shook my head side to side.

“If you get ahead of yourself, it’s a nuisance for Yua. She has someone she likes.”

I remembered Yua was dating a guy from another class. I think it was around this time of year.

How do I remember that?

A guy nursing a one-sided crush remembers these things very well.

Of course, I had no feelings anymore.

I just saw her as a cute and pretty friend, not as a girl in a romantic sense.

“......... Who said that?”

“Huh?”

“You said you have someone you like?”

But Yua’s voice, which had been quietly listening, was very cold.

“Huh? Wasn’t it true? Isn’t there someone at the academy who talks to you?”

Yua was very popular even at the academy.

Guys, including high school seniors, would come by from time to time, ask for her number, or confess.

She even met one of those boys.

“No, that’s not true.”

“Hmm, isn’t it one of the guys who go to the academy?”

Since it was an important matter, I probed a bit.

According to history, Yua and that guy should have been dating.

But if not?

Is she hiding it out of embarrassment?

Was she that kind of person?

Hmmm, I couldn’t tell.

“That’s nonsense. He’s just a friend. I don’t have a guy I like at the academy.”

That was strange. Strange indeed.

Why was she getting so worked up and giving such a long speech?

‘Hmm, did history change a little because of me?’

Thinking about it, that might be true.

Originally, Yua used to come and go with her boyfriend at the academy, but now she went with me.

‘Could it be that Yua likes me?’

I ran through the possibilities, but there was no reason for Yua to like me.

“I guess I misunderstood. Sorry.”

That was my mistake for jumping to conclusions.

I apologized.

“Hmph.”

Yua turned her head sharply and stood up from her seat.

“Anyway, because of this, stop making weird assumptions. You guys go to the study room. I’m going to the academy. See you tomorrow.”

I told my friends who stood there dumbfounded and followed Yua out of the classroom.

“Hey, Kim Yua. You’re usually slow at running, but why are you walking so fast today?”

I was a bit taken aback by Yua’s behavior, which looked like a girl upset about something.

“Hey, you.”

Suddenly, Yua stopped walking.

She gave me a sharp look, moved her lips, and said.

“Buy me ice cream.”

She wanted me to buy her ice cream.

Yua was behaving in a strangely obedient way.

“......”

At the convenience store, she quietly picked out ice cream and blushed, which was pretty cute.

“Don’t you have someone you like?”

Then she suddenly asked if I had someone I liked.

But any expectation written on her face was probably just my imagination, right?

“No.”

But I crushed Yua’s hopes cleanly.

“Really none?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyone you’re interested in?”

“Interested? Hmm, well......”

If I was asked about someone I was interested in, honestly there was only one.

My one-sided love from my previous life and now just a friend, Kim Yua.

‘But if I say that, it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.’

Right now, I wanted to avoid ruining a good relationship.

“No, I don’t.”

I didn’t know what she was hoping for by asking, but this time I decided not to answer honestly.

“Don’t lie. I’ll keep it a secret.”

She was unusually persistent today.

“I really don’t.”

“Ah, come on.”

“No, really.”

“Are you serious?”

“Even if I say no.”

“......”

“We’re here. Let’s do well on this exam.”

Between our bickering, we arrived at the academy.

I didn’t know why she was acting like this, but I ignored it and changed the subject.

Yua stuck out her lips, glared at me, and went into the classroom.

“Hmph, girls are hard to understand.”

If you have complaints, just say why you have them.

I clicked my tongue in frustration.

“Ugh, it’s over!”

The time of blood, sweat, and tears that was the midterm exams finally ended, bringing peace to us.

The students burst into cheers and savored their joy.

“If I hadn’t gone to the academy, I’d have been in big trouble.”

English, Chinese classics, social studies, and Korean could be managed by memorizing somehow, but math wasn’t a subject you could boost scores in just by memorizing.

If I hadn’t gone to the academy, I wouldn’t have even gotten 30 points, since I wouldn’t have understood how to apply formulas.

I expected about 75 points.

That was a decent performance.

In my previous life, I sometimes got scores as low as 4 points, like a lottery, but that kind of thing was gone this life.

“Let’s keep it like this. If I do this, I can get into the high school near home.”

As long as I averaged over 70 points, I had a good chance.

Just need a little more effort.

“By the way, what’s your next project going to be?”

After exams, my thoughts immediately went to the next project.

I had been putting it off using the exam as an excuse, but now my mind was filled with ideas for the next work.

But no inspiration was coming clearly.

“Ah, I wish I had a good memory and excelled at mental math.”

At that moment, Godae-sik’s voice sounded.

“Then all the numbers would be magically clear to you.”

Godae-sik was jealous of the protagonist’s abilities in ‘A Genius Adopted by a Chaebol Family.’

“Hm? Memory, mental math, magic?!”

Then a sudden idea flashed through my mind.

“Ah! The Lord of the Smartphone!!”

A novel concept came to me.

A lord who manages his territory with just a smartphone.

A man living in 2025 dies due to God’s mistake.

God admits His error and gives the protagonist a special gift.

What happens next quickly took shape.

“That’d be fun. Things that happen with a smartphone in the future.”

Smartphones didn’t exist in this era at all.

How about calling the story ‘The Lord of the Smartphone’?

I had a good feeling that interesting things would happen.

“What’s with that creepy smile? What are you thinking about?”

“Hey, TaehO, you here?”

TaehO from the other class entered and approached.

I stopped my creative flow and fixed my gaze on TaehO.

“That might happen. What’s up?”

TaehO rarely came into other classrooms, but today, for some reason, he had come inside even though it wasn’t his class.

“Your fifth period is P.E., right? Lend me your gym clothes.”

“Oh, your next period is P.E.? Sure, take them.”

Right, we used to borrow gym clothes from each other at this time.

I was taller but rather skinny, so the gym pants fit me well.

Though it would be ridiculous 20 years later.

Remembering my 30-something-year-old body, I took out the gym clothes from my shopping bag and lent them to TaehO.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“No need to thank me. Just wear them freely and give them back later.”

TaehO loved sports.

Especially soccer, which he was amazingly good at.

He was fast-footed and often represented the class in relay races.

“Alrighty.”

TaehO said thanks a few times and left the classroom.

“Kim TaehO, wait up. I’ll get you a good present soon.”

Now we were in different classes, living slightly different lives from the past life, so I couldn’t spend much time with TaehO like before.

He stayed with his 8th-grade friends, I with my 7th-grade friends, then headed to the academy with Yua.

I felt sorry I couldn’t take better care of him.

So for TaehO’s upcoming birthday, I planned to buy him a game console with the money he earned from handing out flyers.

I remembered the current price was about 100,000 won.

“Hope TaehO likes it.”

Though I couldn’t do much to help, I wanted to give what I could, one by one.

I wished for happiness not only for my family but also for my friend TaehO.

In this life, I would do my best so that not only my family but also TaehO could secure a bright future.

No matter what hardships lie ahead, I would break through them cleanly.

I silently made this firm vow and prepared for the next class.

Soon, the bell rang, and the teacher entered the classroom.