Chapter 81
Chapter 81
The atmosphere was heavy and tense.
The judges’ cold gazes were fixed on them.
Adela, under immense pressure, was swiftly solving the problem.
Han Siha was busy trying to recall his memories.
Thanks to the long night spent worrying about this, he seemed to remember some of it, but he felt he needed to hear the solutions from the others to be more certain.
“It’s in the fourth box.”
“Are you sure?”
“Based on probability, yes.”
With Adela’s firm words, Won and Natalie focused and moved on to the next problem.
There was no way to be 100% sure. They could only choose what had the highest probability.
Thanks to spending the last week poring over every book on divination, they had managed to significantly improve their accuracy.
The key was time.
The clock hands were ticking rapidly.
Natalie spoke up, sounding as if she was in deep thought.
“It seems like it’s in a warm color range.”
“I think it’s yellow. Han Siha, what do you think?”
Compared to Natalie, Won identified the color more accurately.
If it’s yellow…
Han Siha rolled his eyes and muttered quietly.
“I think it had a yellow snake.”
“A… snake?”
“In that box?”
Obviously, there was no way to remember this scene in detail out of nowhere.
At least if he could tell them the color, they could match it to something. Fortunately, Han Siha had an exceptionally good memory.
“It seems like a snake.”
Han Siha muttered again with conviction. He recalled the scene where a snake jumped out of the box, causing some students to scream and back away, tripping over each other. It was probably correct.
Adela swallowed and nodded.
“Alright, if everyone feels confident, at least two of them should be right.”
“Let’s go for it.”
“Writing the answer? Should I?”
Ding!
With a loud alarm sound, the time limit ended. Adela quickly held up a small board. A judge with a stern face walked toward the center of the testing area.
“Please.”
“It has to be the fourth one.”
“No, it’s the fifth.”
They even had differing opinions on the position. Fortunately, the judge’s steps stopped in front of the fourth box. There was a mix of gasps and sighs.
What’s inside…
Screech—.
As soon as the box was opened, a scream erupted from the corner.
“Ahhh!”
“What the heck? Why is that inside the box!”
Some students, startled, backed away, tripping over each other. Just as Han Siha had seen in the original work.
Hissss.
As it flicked its tongue, the yellow snake fell to the floor, exactly as Han Siha had predicted. Its glistening scales reflected the light in a chilling manner. Adela’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“We got it.”
“Those who got it wrong, please step down.”
Rumble.
More than half the students were eliminated from the first problem alone, indicating a high level of difficulty.
Even if they managed to guess the position, it was no easy task to correctly identify the object and color inside, which was the result everyone expected.
“Oh.”
“Didn’t I tell you it was yellow?”
“You didn’t expect it to be a snake, though!”
However, the scene that followed was something no one had anticipated.
“Next problem.”
“There should be a glass of water. Since it’s transparent, that’s likely.”
“Is it just like that? Does it just come to mind?”
Han Siha nodded absentmindedly, acting as if he had suddenly become a master of intuition. While he scribbled down random numbers on the paper to avoid suspicion, Han Siha’s calculation speed was incomparable to Adela’s.
Naturally, because he wasn’t actually calculating anything—just pretending.
After all, he was relying on his memory without any logic, so there was no other way.
The problem was that this gave a different impression to his teammates.
“…Wow.”
“The more I watch, the more amazing it is. I’ve never seen anyone analyze astrology like this.”
There are many ways to analyze astrology. There’s the mathematical method, where you analyze the positions of planets and constellations to judge the energy. That would be the standard method, but there’s also a more intuitive approach.
Han Siha’s method seemed to belong to the latter.
Well, whatever the case, it didn’t matter. Position, color, and objects—all were correct.
“Correct!”
“Correct!”
The impossible had happened: the four students from the Magic Department stood firm in their place. The development was nothing short of astonishing.
In the exam hall, where only Theology students were expected, these Magic Department students were making history. Whispers began to spread that they might even win an award.
“See? I told you we could do it.”
“This is crazy. Is this even possible?”
The remaining students looked at Han Siha’s team with eyes full of awe.
After the first problem, their attention was merely one of surprise. But that changed after many students were eliminated following the second problem.
“Last question.”
When they reached the third problem, the students sitting in the back couldn’t help but gasp.
“Wow, is this real?”
“Are they really going to make it to the finals?”
“Are they going to win?”
Most of the crowd had already left, and in the vast exam hall, only two teams remained.
One was the team led by Yoon Haul, a favorite to win. The other was the four students from the Magic Department.
“What is this?”
“This test was difficult, wasn’t it? I think this is where the winner will be decided.”
“That’s not the issue… It’s those students.”
One of the judges raised an uncomfortable point.
“Aren’t they from the Magic Department?”
“….”
“Where are all the Theology students…?”
The Theology professors awkwardly cleared their throats and drank their water. Professor Supreme pushed his glasses up and clicked his tongue.
“At this point, shouldn’t the Theology Department be reflecting on this?”
“What are you talking about? They’re just doing well. But how did they even get this far?”
“It’s unbelievable.”
Given the extreme difficulty of the second problem, it was expected that many students would drop out. The issue was that the Magic Department students were still standing.
The Theology professors exchanged anxious glances.
“This is unbelievable. There’s no way those students could win, right?”
“Yoon Haul is not someone who would lose easily. The third problem is extremely difficult, so it should be a good decider.”
They pinned their hopes on the difficulty of the third problem and on Yoon Haul.
“Let’s start the third problem.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
Commissioner Han Si-hyuk quietly nodded.
In truth, Lee Han wasn’t paying attention to the competition at all.
The guy sitting in the center, seemingly enjoying the event with a smile on his face.
Han Siha, who was seated in the middle, rolled his eyes as he looked toward the judges’ table.
No, he definitely saw it himself.
But why?
‘Why is he acting so calm?’
Was he also practicing asceticism while pretending to be a prophet?
Han Si-hyuk, one of the judges, frowned at the sight of Han Siha, whose demeanor was entirely different from the way he remembered.
‘I never thought that kid had any talent in astrology.’
Han Si-hyuk muttered under his breath.
Then, at that very moment—
“…Hm?”
He noticed something peculiar.
—
Veeenggggg—
With the sound signaling the start of the third problem, a total of 15 boxes slowly descended from the air.
“Insane.”
Adela involuntarily cursed at the sheer difficulty of the problem and swallowed hard.
On the other hand, Han Siha was confident about this third challenge.
Yoon Haul would be eliminated here anyway. She hadn’t been able to present the final answer for the third problem.
It wasn’t an unsolvable problem, but there hadn’t been enough time for her.
Of course, even after that, she had managed to answer the follow-up questions correctly, which allowed her to take first place, but still.
Regardless, the third question had been so difficult that even Yoon Haul couldn’t solve it.
It was a problem you couldn’t solve unless you had memorized the answer down to the last detail.
…The twist was, there was someone here who had memorized the answer.
Han Siha quickly delegated the parts he couldn’t recall to the others.
“You three, just figure out the positions.”
“The positions only?”
“Can you solve everything else? Time is…”
“Just try.”
In truth, calculating the positions based on astrological coordinates was doable—it just took a lot of time.
The problem was, because so much time had to be spent on that, people often failed to identify the items inside the boxes.
So Han Siha gave them plenty of time.
“I’ll give you 8 minutes.”
“8 minutes? Then you’re saying you’ll figure out the types and colors of the items in the remaining 2 minutes? Is that even possible?”
In order to figure out the items inside the boxes, the positions had to be identified first.
Since solving it within 2 minutes seemed impossible, Adela’s face showed a hint of panic.
Han Siha shrugged and nudged her.
“You’ll find out if you try.”
“…Alright. I’ll do my best to finish with time to spare.”
From then on, calculations at a breakneck pace followed.
Han Siha focused on the clock hands ticking away rapidly. The answer was already set in his mind.
“Huff… huff.”
“Hey, hurry up!”
“It’s… it’s done!”
The three of them managed to produce the result one minute earlier than the time Han Siha had requested.
“3 minutes left. Can you do it?”
“It’s going to be tough. We only need to get one of the two right!”
A box lay there, seemingly abandoned on the right-hand side.
Han Siha had only given them 2 minutes, so 3 minutes was probably their best bet.
Han Siha glanced over at Yoon Haul.
As expected, she was biting her lower lip anxiously, pressured by the time.
“The item inside is a box.”
“What?”
Yoon Haul likely wouldn’t be able to guess this either.
With a look of certainty, Han Siha repeated himself.
“I’m telling you, it’s a blue box.”
“A box inside a box?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
Even though Han Siha’s answer was firm, the three still looked uneasy.
“…Really?”
“Think it over again.”
“Even if I do, it’s the right answer.”
Han Siha pretended to scribble something last-minute, though it was meaningless.
The answer was a box. Yoon Haul might sense that it’s a square-shaped object, but she wouldn’t know there was another box inside. That was the trap.
Most wouldn’t expect there to be a box inside a box.
“Time’s up! Please submit your answers!”
The murmur of the students grew louder as they turned their attention to both sides.
Yoon Haul bit her lip again, her uncertainty clear.
‘This is hard, really hard.’
As Han Siha predicted, Yoon Haul could only guess the outline.
‘A desk clock?’
If not that, maybe a nameplate?
But it didn’t seem to be long in shape.
Even after considering every possibility, there was no clear answer.
In the end, Yoon Haul chose the former.
Professor Supreme slowly compared the answers from both teams.
Both teams had gotten the position and color correct. But their final answers differed.
“A nameplate… and a box?”
“Why would someone answer ‘box’?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they just gave up.”
And then.
Veeengggggg—
The sound of vibration signaled the opening of the box.
The students watched the central box intently, swallowing nervously.
And then.
Thunk.
“What…?”
“No way.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
Just like Han Siha had said, a blue box floated into the air.
“…We lost?”
“Did the Magic Academy win?”
Even the judges were taken aback by the result.
Professor Supreme adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses, blinking in disbelief.
The item inside the box was brought from outside for fairness, so none of the judges knew what it was before it was opened.
For that reason, they felt twice as stunned.
‘I thought it was an impossible answer.’
But there it was—a small blue box, sitting plainly in front of them.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Han Siha! How did you solve it?”
“Kyaa! We won!”
Natalie and Adela hugged each other and screamed in joy.
Han Siha, with a somewhat dazed expression—or more accurately, pretending to be dazed—joined in their celebration.
“…Incredible.”
Yoon Haul shook her head in disbelief.
‘What is that guy?’
The moment she had heard the prophecy of the Star’s Messenger, she had an inkling.
That this guy wasn’t ordinary.
But she thought it had nothing to do with her.
“Wow.”
Yet here they were.
He had defeated her, the genius prophet of the theology department.
Yoon Haul chuckled to herself.
She didn’t feel humiliated.
She had the skills to stand toe-to-toe with anyone, so there was no reason for her to feel that way.
What surprised her was that after such a long time, another genius who could rival her abilities had appeared at Ardel Academy.
Yoon Haul’s eyes gleamed as she stared at Han Siha.
And then.
“Han Siha.”
Cutting through the cheers of the students.
A judge who hadn’t spoken a word until now placed a silver watch on the table.
“Huh?”
All the participants, who had been applauding and cheering for the victor, froze at once.
Paat.
A faint light shone above the man.
A voice laced with eerie authority.
He was dressed all in black, from head to toe, his face familiar to many.
Han Si-hyuk, the astrologer from the Department of Magic.
He was a genius astrologer who had started studying astrology at the age of 12 and had followed an elite course, becoming the greatest prophet in the Ardel Empire.
Han Siha looked up at him calmly.
“Yes?”
“How did you get the right answer?”
Well…
By carefully calculating and analyzing, and interpreting the meaning of the stars, he had reached the correct conclusion.
Just as Han Siha was about to give that textbook answer, he froze at the weight of Han Si-hyuk’s next words.
“You didn’t read the stars.”