After our morning classes, everyone except me hurried toward the school cafeteria. I knew it would be too busy to join the crowd, so I stayed back to study. As I got ready, Jung In-Ah approached me.

“You’re not eating lunch?”

“I will.”

“Then come on, let’s go.” We had agreed beforehand that we would eat lunch together.

This was unexpected. We made our way out of the classroom and headed to the cafeteria. Jung In-Ah waved at everyone she knew she bumped into. I constantly turned away awkwardly, pretending not to be part of the interaction.

Jung In-Ah had a lot of friends, guys and girls alike. I counted tens of them just by observing the ones we had met in the hallways. Jung In-Ah didn’t seem tired at all, even though she had exchanged greetings with everyone. She was very different from me.

“Every time I see this place, I’m shocked by how many trees there are,” Jung In-Ah remarked as we crossed the field to get to the cafeteria.

As she had said, there were a lot of trees. It seemed that the ground left over after the buildings were built was used to grow trees. The air was always fresh, thanks to the vast number of trees.

“Is that a pine tree? Look at that Japanese Wisteria over there. And… do you know what kind of tree that one is?” Jung In-Ah asked.

“That’s a king cherry tree,” I replied.

“Oh, it’s a cherry tree. I’ve never seen them without the flowers.” Jung In Ah smiled as if she were embarrassed.

Flower buds filled the flowerless cherry tree.

“So what’s the difference between a king cherry tree and a regular cherry tree?” Jung In-Ah asked.

“There’s not that big of a difference. The flower petals are a different color.”

“... Do you want to be a botanist when you grow up? I’m amazed by your knowledge.”

I smiled without saying a word. One of the Loa was highly related to plants. The Loa was very graceful, and their power could be used to grow seedlings into giant trees in a flash. Of course, their power came with an extreme consequence.

Thanks to them, I had a lot of plant knowledge.

“I wonder when the cherry blossoms will bloom this year,” Jung In-Ah said suddenly, staring at the sky. Although it seemed like a harmless thought spoken out loud, her eyes seemed to stare at something in the distance, or something in the past. Her eyes were drooping, and she clasped her lips.

It was a sad expression. “Why do you want to go see the flowers?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to go this year. I think I’ll be too busy.”

“Does that mean you used to go every year?”

[Using what you’ve learned from your dad, I see.]

Before he passed away, my father trained me in many fields, including psychology and speech. He believed that a religious man ought to be good with his words and excel in figuring out what different people were thinking.

His lessons were filled with hard terms like backtracking and regression, but I powered through and absorbed his teachings. I had almost no experience talking with women, yet here I was, talking to Jung In-Ah without fault. My ability to talk to Jung In-Ah without any prior experience talking to women was all thanks to my dad.

“Yeah. I used to go there every year. I love cherry blossoms.”

“Really? Where’s your go-to place?”

“Sometimes I go to the place by the Han River. Have you seen the small river in front of the school? The walkway next to it is good too.”

I responded appropriately and sometimes dropped a few questions to further the conversation. As we continued talking, Jung In-Ah’s sad face lit up, and her sadness was less visible. I continued using the conversation skills I had learned from my father.

“You must have gone there last year as well.”

“Last year? Yeah, I went with my sibling. Back then, they were still with me.”

Alas, her face suddenly turned dark. She still had a smile, but it was clearly forced.

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

I had used my father’s techniques to lighten the mood, but it seemed that I had just made matters worse.

“There’s no need to be sorry! My sibling isn’t dead, and I’ll find them soon.”

Jung In-Ah’s forced smile reminded me that I might be responsible for her sibling’s kidnapping. That thought made me feel uneasy.

“You’re right. They’ll be back soon.”

I could only offer her bland words of consolation. As I was talking with Jung In-Ah, someone waiting in front of the line started to wave their hands while making their way toward us.

“This is a new combination. Are you guys eating together?”

“Eh, why are you acting all friendly suddenly?”

“Why, I can’t even talk to you guys?”

Jung In-Ah and Koo Jun-Hyuk fussed with me in the middle. Their conversations weren’t awkward at all—they seemed to know each other from before high school.

“Why eat with us? Don’t you have other friends to eat with?” Koo Jun-Hyuk laughed cheekily at Jung In-Ah’s blunt question.

“Eh, whatever. I bet me eating with you guys would be better than eating with each other.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Jung In-Ah furrowed her eyebrows.

I understood what Koo Jun-Hyuk meant right away, but it seemed like Jun In-Ah didn’t understand. He was right. It would look more natural for him to eat with us than if it was just me and Jung In-Ah. After all, people my age could fret over anything.

“Today’s lunch is nice,” Koo Jun-Hyuk said as he ate.

The food at F.A. was delicious. Expensive private schools sure did their money’s worth with the exquisite cafeteria food quality. It was to the extent that it made all the food I had from other schools feel like animal feed. After lunch, Koo Jun-Hyuk took a big stretch as he got up.

“Ha~ Why is there a test when we’re only three days into the school year? Kinda pisses me off.”

“Why, you didn’t study for it?” Jung In-Ah smirked.

“Of course. I’m not the studious type, you know?”

“Wow, good for you.”

Their conversation confused me. Test? What test? Wait, I did remember a test that was set at the beginning of the semester. I had completely forgotten.

“Did you study Do Sun-Woo? You seemed to be pretty studious this morning,” Koo Jun-Hyuk asked blatantly.

“Uh, what test was it again?”

“Huh? Wait, you didn’t know we had a test? Dang, I can’t believe there was a person in a worse situation than me!” Koo Jun-Hyuk beamed. His laughs seemed to stem from relief rather than to make fun of me.

Jung In-Ah looked at me with worried eyes. “We have the freshmen evaluations today. You didn’t know? The lecturer talked about it on the day of the entrance ceremony.”

“This guy took a nap, remember?”

“Ah,” Jung In-Ah sighed. She seemed to feel bad for me.

How could I have forgotten about the freshman evaluations?

I felt my mind go blank while my vision started to darken. My paradoxical state seemed to show just how much shock I was in.

“Hey, don’t worry about it too much. It’s not like your life depends on it or anything,” Koo Jun-Hyuk said. His comment just further ruined my mood.

***

The freshmen evaluations were a traditional test taken every year. It had no ‘direct’ effect on grades, but this meant it could have an ‘indirect’ effect on the school year.

The test results would be displayed on a poster in front of the main building. The teachers used the test results to gauge the skill levels of the freshmen. They also used the information to silently support the students with higher marks by funneling school awards to them.

Getting good marks on the evaluations would better my chances of becoming a prelate, so I was going to try my best. I didn’t know how well I would fare, given that I hadn’t studied.

“Yo, what letter are you going to guess for the answers? I’m guessing B.”

“I’m not guessing any questions,” I said.

“Nah, bro, you should guess. If you guess the same choice throughout the test, you’ll get at least a fifth of them right.” Koo Jun-Hyuk laughed.

“Good luck with the evaluation!” Jung In-Ah said in encouragement. It was out of courtesy, but it helped. We said goodbye and parted ways.

The evaluations took place in the grand auditorium. It seemed like ‘grand’ was placed in front of the name for a reason; the auditorium was big enough to hold a thousand people.

All seven classes were named after the seven holy virtues assembled in the auditorium. Hundreds of people were in the same place, so the auditorium was very noisy and chaotic. I was wondering if we could take a test here.

Out of the many desks stretched along the auditorium, I found the desk that had my number and name. There were still five minutes before the test, and I used that time to make sure I had all my stationery and to cram in some last-minute studying.

At that moment, I saw someone with a distinguished look walking toward me from far away. I couldn’t help but stare.

[I advise you to stop staring. She’s nothing but trouble.] Legba said in a low voice, but my eyes were still glued to her.

The saying ‘white as snow' was not enough to describe her flawless skin. Her pure white hair hung down to her waist while her eyes were a deep dark black. The contrast between her features seemed to orchestrate a mystical atmosphere. Her beauty awed and attracted the attention of everyone.

Sung Ha-Yeon.

She was one of the seven freshman representatives, the holder of the Holy Name of Chastity. She was very popular because of her mesmerizing looks.

I, on the other hand, hated her. I couldn’t like her if I tried. There were two reasons why I couldn’t stand her.

Tap.

“Ah.”

First of all, she had a bad attitude.

As she was walking, she tripped over a chair and fell. She bumped into me while she was falling. Then, after letting out a single shout, she got up and dusted off her knees, and made eye contact with me. Her eyes were furrowed as she looked down.

“Ah, oops.” She left with an insincere apology. Her disgust looked as if she didn’t want to spend even a second with the likes of me.

She was diagnosed with albinism. Maybe it was because of her illness, but she had a severe case of mysophobia and a very cold-hearted attitude. She also hated talking to men.

Secondly, her dad was an inquisitor. An inquisitor was a cardinal-level clergyman, a high prelate everyone revered. Sung Ha-Yeon grew up under her inquisitor father without wanting for anything. What was important was that her father was the person that was responsible for my parent's death.

He was one of the leaders of the Holy War, the one who had burned my father alive, and the one who had put my mother in the Holy See headquarters underground jail. He was an enemy of the Voodooists, someone we could not forgive. And Sung Ha-Yeon was his daughter.

Although I knew her father had done wrong, and she wasn’t to blame, I couldn’t get myself to like her.

[You should stop. Focus on studying.]

Legba helped me wake up from the thoughts of rage. Finally, I returned to my senses and focused on my studying.

As I studied, I was reminded of the unpleasant memories with her from middle school. I shook my head in an attempt to shake off the thoughts.

“We will start handing out the test sheets shortly. Please remove your Holy Books and textbooks from the desk and put them into your bags. You will be given sixty minutes to solve forty questions. All forty questions test your understanding of the holy book. We warn that anyone caught in academic dishonesty will be given a zero.”

The test supervisor’s explanation echoed throughout the speakers. As soon as instructors handed out the test sheets, everyone went into a laser focus. We all knew that this test would have a significant impact on our life.

I started solving my questions, my pen moving at a vigorous pace. The first question was not just pretty hard, but was dreadfully difficult.

Question: In the following passage, we see a conversation between students about ‘this person.’ Choose the correct answer that relates to ‘this person.’ However, one of the students is telling a lie.

Ga-Young: He was born as a Nazirite and became a judge. 

Na-Ru: He did not have a good relationship with the Philistines, but he fell in love with a Philistine woman.

Da-Jun: He made a boat out of fir and saved the people from the flood.

It was a nerve-cringingly tricky question. On most tests, the first question would be an easy problem that could be solved with common sense, but not in F.A.

I tried to harness my shaken mind and continued to solve the questions. Finally, after four minutes of intense thinking, I concluded that the answer was B.

[Khmm, oh, D, hmm, ark, D, hmm…]

I changed my answer to D.

Legba was well-versed in the study of history and religious studies. Not only did he have the Holy Book of Voodooists memorized, but he knew all the Holy Books of other religions by heart. He also knew most of humanity's history since the rise of civilization.

If he said the answer was D, then the answer was probably D.

[Oooh, I feel a connection with E, but don’t worry about me.]

[Ah, ah, CHOICE C! Oh my, what a weird sneeze.]

I solved all the questions till number 30 with Legba’s aid.

I would get full marks if this continued, but I couldn’t help feeling guilty. This was cheating.

[What is there to feel guilty about? It is your talent to harness the Loa and get their help.]

Legba tried to ease my guilt, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling. With an uncomfortable feeling in my gut, I diverted my attention to the Question 31 on my test sheet.

Question 31.) Seven years ago, there was a Holy War between the Voodooists and the Romanicans. Select the following that is not true.

The difficulty of the questions had dropped from the ones from before.

Questions 1 through 30 required high levels of memorization and critical thinking, but the questions from number 31 onward were so easy that anyone who could read could get it right. To be more precise, anyone who thought like a Romanican could solve the questions with ease.

In other words, the questions were hard to solve for someone with a Voodooist philosophy like Legba.

[Why is the answer D? That needs a sound argument to back it up.]

[No, no. The Voodooists did not kill that person. The accident was tampered by the Holy See to look that way.]

[The answer is B. Why on earth would you select C as the answer?]

Legba sounded exasperated. I ignored their clamor and resumed solving the questions while thinking like a Romanican. I felt uneasy solving questions obviously filled with information that favored the Romanicans, but this was not the time to argue about these things.

***

The next day, the evaluation results were displayed in front of the main building.

All seven hundred freshmen came over to check their exam marks. Students were sitting on dirt, dismayed by their scores, and some headed to the school staff to complain about their results. All the teachers tried to calm the uproar, but it was impossible to control all seven hundred students at once.

Unfortunately, a student put an end to the chaos.

“Ha-Yeon, did you do well on the test?”

“I would have gotten everything right because I knew everything.”

It was like seeing the miracle of Moses. The sea of students parted as Sung Ha-Yeon crossed the crowd. Sung Ha-Yeon walked through the paved path with a pompous and elegant attitude that seemed to be engraved in her.

“That’s the inquisitor’s daughter, right? The one who’s part of the House of Purification.”

“Yeah, she placed first in the written entrance exam.”

The students were gossiping about Sung Ha-Yeon. They whispered about the stories of her father, her bloodline, and her scores. Some people looked up to her while some people were jealous of her. However, if there was one thing that these people shared, it was the fact that Sung Ha-Yeon had no interest in any of them.

The only thing she was interested in was the results of her evaluation.

Sung Ha-Yeon’s face seemed stiff as soon as she saw her marks on the poster.

Sung Ha-Yeon (195.8/200)

She thought she had gotten a perfect score. However, she had gotten one question wrong.

“Woah, you only got one question wrong? Wow, that’s amazing!”

“I thought I had gotten all of them right. That’s a shame.”

“Regardless, doesn’t this mean you’re in the first place? What are your secrets to studying? Hm?”

Sung Ha-Yeon’s friends were fangirling. Although she seemed ashamed of her score, 195.8 points were more than enough to secure first place.

“I just tried a bit more than most,” she said casually to her friends asking for study tips. It was an arrogant answer, but no one objected. Sung Ha-Yeon could back up her arrogance with results.

However, Sung Ha-Yeon’s face suddenly turned to stone.

Second Place—Sung Ha-Yeon

She was not in first place, but rather second place.

First Place—Do Sun-Woo

She thought she was obviously going to get first place, but there was a name she had never heard before.

Do Sun-Woo? Who in the world was he?

Amidst the buzzing crowd, a low and gruff voice filled the square in front of the main building.

“Wait, Do Sun-Woo, why are you in first place? Didn’t you say you didn’t study?!”

As soon as the crowd heard the name Do Sun-Woo, they turned their heads in the direction of the voice. At the source of the voice stood Koo Jun-Hyuk and Do Sun-Woo. The low and gruff voice was Koo Jun-Hyuk’s.

Sung Ha-Yeon eyed Do Sun-Woo. The name was unfamiliar to her, but she recognized his face. He was the person who had fallen asleep during the lecture during the entrance ceremony. She remembered his face because of how stupid he looked.

Yet, that dimwit took first place? Was it a computational error? She could not—no, she would not believe it. What drove the confused Sung Ha-Yeon crazy were the words that came out of Do Sun-Woo’s mouth.

“I was lucky, I guess.”

He showed humility by accounting his score to luck. The overboard humility made him seem arrogant, but he could back up his arrogance with results. So, Sung Ha-Yeon stayed silent.