I was clearly staring at the hologram, yet my vision felt completely blacked out.

That’s how displeased I was with the results!

But I wasn’t about to just let it slide.

‘None of my playable characters ever gave up. Neither will I.’

There was no need to look into the Player Meister High School further.

Even Yeom Jun-yeol never gave up while fiercely competing with Cheon Dong-ha for top ranks.

No, this wasn’t denial of reality.

I simply refused to give up.

So, I went to the second-year faculty office right away.

“Jo Yi-shin, what brings you to the faculty office?”

“I have a question about my grades. I thought it’d be faster to consult with the responsible teachers directly than to inquire via the school website.”

Mr. Ham Geun-hyeong gave me a thoughtful look.

I rarely visited the faculty office and usually reported exam errors online, so this visit was unexpected.

“Are you here because of the joint second place issue?”

“Yes, that’s right. I think something might be wrong.”

As expected, Mr. Ham knew my mind well.

I really suspected an error or problem, but Mr. Ham’s response was different than expected.

Though his face was stern, his eyes held trust.

“Don’t worry. The joint second places in the second year have subjects that don’t overlap, and teachers reviewed the recorded exam process just in case. We know you didn’t cheat. We can immediately rebut any doubts.”

Did he mistake me for coming to block cheating suspicions?

I was the one wanting to raise doubts, but maybe he said that knowingly.

Several teachers involved in the verification gave me trusting looks.

That wasn’t what I wanted.

I wished they’d share my suspicion that something was wrong with the results, but they just believed me.

“And this isn’t the first case in Class 0. Geum Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol often get tied despite different electives and end up with the same rank. So few teachers find it odd.”

It was obviously strange, but maybe that bizarre trust stemmed from the Class 0 seniors.

Though they had different surnames, the twin souls sometimes got exactly the same scores and appeared side by side on the rankings.

‘The top and second places for the third year were almost always Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol, but below them the ranks often changed.’

Usually Geum Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol shared 3rd place, but sometimes they fell behind Gye Yi-dam or Heo Chae-ah.

Then they dropped together to joint 4th or 5th.

I don’t know how those guys managed it without blessings.

The prejudice caused by those seniors’ actions couldn’t be helped, so I presented the data I had prepared.

“Thank you for trusting me. Still, I want to be thorough and ask you to verify if there are any errors in the questions.”

I submitted the hologram document, and the teachers all checked it together.

“This doesn’t look like the test paper from your subjects...”

“Ah... so Yi-shin too...”

“Yes... it’s Class 0...”

The reaction of Mr. Ham and the other teachers was strange.

I had only raised a dispute about one ambiguous question on the white tiger’s paper. What was the problem?

While puzzled, Mr. Ham revealed a truth I didn’t want to hear.

“Jo Yi-shin, you really are Class 0 material.”

“Huh?”

“When Geum Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol fought last year, they did exactly this. They claimed the same rank was impossible, analyzed the opponent’s elective test, and raised objections to lower the opponent’s rank.”

What did I just hear?

He was saying I was doing what those seniors did...?

‘If I raise White Tiger’s rank, we might tie with Joo Soo-hyuk and Ahn Da-in for first. So we have to lower it, and that’s the same as Geum Chan-wang-chan’s trick!’

Though I was treated like Class 0 simply for tying in rank, so suspicions about blessings didn’t arise, I somehow felt I had lost something more important.

The teachers seemed to be chatting about how we were typical high schoolers and Class 0 material, but I was too shocked to respond properly.

Only Mr. Ham, who knew the tigers’ identities, pitied me and said, “I’ll take this down for now.”

In the end, I left the faculty office empty-handed, trudging out.

Imagining the white tiger laughing while knowing my situation made me feel worse.

‘What? Why is he with Gu Seul-bi?’

Not long after I left, I spotted the white tiger with Gu Seul-bi.

Ong Gil-dong was nowhere to be seen, maybe acting separately now.

From the atmosphere, Gu Seul-bi seemed to be holding back the white tiger, which surprised me.

The attention-seeking duo had grudges against the last student to arrive, the white tiger.

If they wanted to pick a fight, they’d unite as attention seekers, so now it seemed Gu Seul-bi had other business with the white tiger.

Gu Seul-bi said,

“Hey, tell me the secret.”

“What secret?”

“The Vice-Captain tied with him. I want to tie with Gil-dong too!”

Was that why she called him over?

Gu Seul-bi and Ong Gil-dong were both in the top 5%, with similar ranks.

They had partner-level comparable grades, but Gu Seul-bi wanted to match Ong Gil-dong’s rank.

Unfortunately, no human method exists to do that.

Only reawakening to the same mental frequency like Geum Chan-wang-chan or turning into a Jin clan like the white tiger to use ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) blessings for cheating would work.

“I didn’t use any cowardly methods. I just graded according to my skills.”

The white tiger answered, apparently to Gu Seul-bi but also to me.

Isn’t it lazy to read my mind while talking to her?

Since Gu Seul-bi, one of my playable characters, was finally talking with me, I hoped she’d respond sincerely.

Feeling overwhelmed, I hurried back to the dorm.

But since I shared a dorm room with the white tiger, we met again soon.

Not long after, I heard the white tiger announce the results of my proposed objection.

“Some answers in several subjects were corrected.”

As soon as I heard him, I checked the rankings.

But there were no changes in the top ranks.

The white tiger and I were still tied for second.

“Your proposal was accepted, but so was mine. Both our scores changed equally, so we remained joint second.”

That white tiger did the same thing as me!

If the answer corrections were truly warranted, the white tiger wasn’t wrong, but it annoyed me.

Unable to contain my frustration, our grade’s second-place student showed obvious excitement.

“Well then, let’s go to the tiger mansion.”

“You go alone.”

“No.”

The white tiger cut me off.

It was the first weekend after midterms, so where else would I go?

If I had to go, I hoped the white tiger would go alone.

“Our birthday is soon.”

Hearing that softened my mood a little.

The tiger birthday was October 3rd, National Foundation Day.

It was the birthday the Ho clan—uncertain of their exact birthdates—had designated and celebrated.

Additionally, Eungwang High, founded by the tigers, also celebrated October 3rd as its founding anniversary.

‘Usually, midterms happen in early to mid-October. So Eungwang High’s anniversary fell right before midterms, and everyone was busy preparing for exams, making it not a real holiday. But this year, midterms came early, so it became a free day.’

Eungwang students disliked the anniversary.

Since it was a public holiday, students lost a day off, and with midterms near, they had to study instead of rest, which made them angry.

So, due to strong student petitions and protests, midterms were held early.

Though students strongly demanded it, I guessed the tigers’ pressure was involved too.

‘White tiger, Hwang Ji-ho, Cheong-ho, their two heirs, and Eunho are all current students. They must hate missing their birthday to study for midterms.’

Of course, this had downsides.

Early midterms meant wider final exam scopes and more pain later, but for now, students and the Ho clan were happy.

Though I was annoyed at the white tiger’s words, I had to agree this time.

Though briefly annoyed by the white tiger’s provocation, I remembered that unlike others, good and obedient Black Bull had been hinting about his birthday for days.

He knew I was busy and couldn’t outright ask for congratulations, but his childish and poorly hidden excitement reminded me of my younger siblings.

“Shinsu found a new walking trail on Cheoniksan. Black Bull is waiting for you too.”

Mentioning Black Bull gave the white tiger an opening to tease me. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But knowing the good news about kind Olmu and Black Bull, I couldn’t just scold him.

‘Even though I planned to only go on the tiger birthday after staying too long during Chuseok...’

Maybe the white tiger didn’t like my plan and wasn’t done.

“Eunho recently expressed dissatisfaction with my behavior but asked me to tell you something if you hesitated.”

The wisest younger brother, Eunho, was suffering the most from the white tiger’s outbursts.

Just imagining how frustrated he must be made my head spin.

For Eunho to ask the white tiger to relay a message meant it was important.

“What is it?”

“He said, ‘Yi-shin hyung, celebrate for me too.’”

Did the white tiger just say “Yi-shin hyung”?

Even if it was a message, hearing those words from him made me frown.

Though Eunho was five thousand years younger in age, being a celestial being, I didn’t feel awkward hearing him speak.

But my annoyance was brief, soon replaced by the heavy weight of Eunho’s feelings.

‘Eunho probably won’t join the birthday party again this year.’

Eunho would likely spend both Chuseok and this birthday separately.

Despite hating the white tiger, Eunho pushed me from behind, so I couldn’t refuse.

More than my resistance toward the white tiger, the feelings of the angel Olmu, Black Bull, and wise Eunho moved me.

“I’ll go.”

Not wanting to see the white tiger’s smiling face, I turned and left the dorm room first.

I was going to pick up a gift I had reserved, of course leaving the white tiger to carry the luggage.

“Got it. I’m much stronger than you, so I’ll do that much.”

Hearing that made me want to go alone, but the second-ranked student in Eungwang High’s second year followed me and carried my things all the way to the tiger mansion.