Despite the rather loud noise, surprisingly, no one seemed startled.

Not only the students of Eunkwang High but even the cadets stationed nearby at the military academy reacted quite indifferently.

“Probably class 0 did something again.”

“They say they caused trouble last year too?”

It all sounded accurate, so no one argued.

But upon checking, there was one thing wrong.

It wasn’t class 0 who caused the incident.

The explosion came from where the first-year juniors were gathered, with Cha Seok-won at the center.

The culprit was Cha Seok-won from first-year class 1.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. Eunho immediately deployed a defensive item.”

Cha Seok-won spoke brightly, pointing at Eunho.

Eunho stood there, bundled carefully in a duffle coat, scarf, and gloves — maybe remembering my advice to dress warmly on the chilly college entrance exam day.

Though Eunho is a noble and could dress lightly, I was grateful she listened as a junior.

More than that, I was proud she protected her fellow juniors from potential danger.

A disposable net-shaped defensive barrier, hastily created and deployed, lay tattered on the floor, but with a wave of Eunho’s hand, it was quickly retracted.

“Thank our class vice president!”

“Yeah! We were cheering nicely, so why cause trouble when you’re not even class 0?”

Eun Iho and Eun Seoho boasted.

They weren’t alone — other class 0 juniors echoed similar sentiments, shouting things like “Right!”, “We cheered nicely!”, “Soon we’ll take Cha Seok-won’s seat!”

Though it seemed like they were speaking to Cha Seok-won, oddly, their gazes fixed on me.

They looked eager for praise for their good cheering, so I returned their sincere compliments.

‘Compared to the antics of class 0 seniors, these juniors really are well-behaved.’

Seeing their joy made me feel proud.

But since debris from the explosion still littered around, it wasn’t easy to wrap this up warmly.

“Good thing no one got hurt, but what exactly exploded?”

“A new invention I made blew up. I’ve been researching the ground recently and tried to raise the geothermal heat of this area since it’s cold today! But maybe because I lacked strength, it exploded.”

I understood what he tried to do, but not how he planned to do it.

Raising geothermal heat from frozen ground near freezing temperatures was impossible for most players.

Even a fire mage like Yeom Jun-yeol would have to dig and put flames underground, consuming an enormous amount of ability power.

Hwang Ji-ho, watching with interest nearby, said:

“Unless you use Earth Power, that’s impossible.” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“Exactly, I tried to use the earth’s power! There’s a difference between healthy and unhealthy ground. That was the idea behind it.”

Cha Seok-won’s words reminded me of his ongoing research.

In both Plumago and this world, Cha Seok-won devoted himself to various studies.

After the military academy exchange match, influenced by that incident, he began studying the ground.

Having befriended the cadets, he cooperated to compare the soil at the academy and Eunkwang High, digging pits and conducting countless experiments.

Thinking about that, I realized what he had tried and failed to do.

‘He realized the power in the soil was different. Though primitive and crude due to limited time «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» and resources, he succeeded in creating something like an Earth Power terminal.’

It was impressive, but for students and cadets unfamiliar with earth power operation, it was far too difficult a task.

Failure was inevitable.

I wondered why Cha Seok-won risked such a reckless act on exam day, knowing all this.

I hardened my heart and spoke sternly.

“Today is an important day for the third-year seniors’ futures. You mustn’t make dangerous attempts like this. At least consult the faculty or me before proceeding.”

My voice softened, filled with concern for my junior.

While I was serious, the white tiger who had been lazily following and watching chimed in with useless remarks.

“Jo Yi-shin thinks he’s being harsh and stern to his junior.”

“For just that?”

“Yi-shin, that’s not true at all!”

“No, if that were the case, you wouldn’t speak so kindly.”

Apparently, more of our classmates had gathered to watch than I thought.

I didn’t mind the spectators, but I wished they wouldn’t listen to the white tiger’s nonsense.

His words themselves were mild but too harsh for such good juniors.

Cha Seok-won didn’t seem upset by my stern words and smiled.

“In fact, I anticipated failure but had a solid backup plan. Besides, Eunha stopped it early so it didn’t escalate.”

“Backup plan? Did you have an item or something?”

“Yes!”

As he spoke, Cha Seok-won pulled out several item cards.

The cards showed dirt on their surfaces.

Like the water item cards the Eternal Lake team carries to sprinkle before Kwon Jae-in’s Guanglim activation in waterless areas, these were dirt item cards.

Lowering his voice so only I could hear, he spoke like a dog cautiously showing its treasured toy to its owner.

“This is soil collected near the site of the military academy incident.”

Getting soil from around the problematic lab even with cadet help wouldn’t have been easy — impressive.

Though carrying that around seemed strange, considering Cha Seok-won’s research, it made sense.

He once said:

―“I made friends at the academy during the exchange match. The soil on their grounds looked unhealthy, and my friend agreed.”

Showing soil from unhealthy ground, he said:

“Ability power cannot penetrate this soil. So, even if problems arise using ability powers, covering it with this soil quickly fixes things.”

So the completely dried-up soil had that effect.

Everything Cha Seok-won revealed and researched was groundbreaking and astonishing.

Having uncovered such a huge secret quickly explained why the Plumago black operatives targeted him.

I admired his abilities, but his reckless pursuit of knowledge was worrisome.

Honestly, I worried more about him than the laid-back class 0 juniors preparing cheers.

“Yuri sunbae is handing out canned coffee at the student council booth, anyone want some?”

“Me! But can I have two?”

“Since Yi-shin is busy scolding Cha Seok-won, let’s bring his coffee too.”

Compared to the kind, peaceful juniors of class 0, there were some who weren’t so.

“...You all have your exam soon, why are you cheering here? Wouldn’t it be better to go inside the exam hall earlier?”

“Should only non-exam takers cheer? We’ll guard the cheering spot with Jegal sunbae!”

“This time, the Jegal Jaegul statue isn’t here. So it’s better we cheer ourselves.”

The third-year class 0 seniors preparing to take the exam had set up camp.

Even seniors who hadn’t planned to come were persuaded by Jegal Jaegul to at least watch, so the cheering went beyond just exam support.

Student council officials, relieved to finally have a cheering event without the troublemakers, suffered greatly.

Unprepared, they asked Jegal Jaegul to prevent disasters before any ambushes.

Thanks to that, the troublemakers caused no major accidents, just goofing around beside Jegal Jaegul doing who knows what.

“I heard from Baekho. Since earth power is involved this time, I’ll personally check it out.”

Meanwhile, Hwang Ji-ho, informed by the white tiger of Cha Seok-won’s discovery, decided to act.

Hearing the explanation, since Cha Seok-won’s experiment dried the earth power in the soil completely, making it impenetrable to ability power, it was better to have someone from the nobles who knew how to handle earth power verify.

After telling Cha Seok-won to stop his dangerous experiments, I resumed cheering.

One by one, examinees entered.

Every time I saw Eunkwang seniors, I greeted and handed out prepared gifts.

‘This time, the military academy also prepared thoroughly for exam cheering. Jang Nam-uk did well.’

Busy working, I only briefly exchanged greetings but saw Jang Nam-uk giving instructions to cadets.

Though their budget was limited compared to Eunkwang’s abundant resources, their timing and practice for cheers were far ahead.

When about half the examinees had entered, someone appeared leading a cloud of people.

Warmth radiated around them, so I immediately recognized who it was.

‘It’s Yeom Jun-yeol.’

His family guarded him, and fans followed at a distance.

As part of fan service, Hongryong was summoned to hover low nearby, filling the area with warmth.

Because of that, even those who weren’t Yeom Jun-yeol’s fans walked close behind him.

Seeing me, Yeom Jun-yeol quickly approached.

“Yi-shin, I thought I wouldn’t see you. So you were here. Thanks for coming to cheer. It’s really cold, huh?”

Yeom Jun-yeol smiled brightly.

Though he should be nervous about the exam, his first concern was for me — truly a great senior.

“It’s okay. Compared to the hardships of the test-takers, this is nothing. I have some hot packs and chocolates I prepared personally...”

Yeom Jun-yeol was already carrying a lot.

A red lunch box embossed with a dragon and lion made by the red lion and dragon tribes for today, a support box from fan representatives, and a bag with his study notes.

I wasn’t sure if my gifts would help; hot packs were useless for him, and he already had more expensive snacks than my chocolates.

“Thanks! I really wanted to get what you gave me! Thanks to your support, I think I’ll get a perfect score.”

But noticing my hesitation, Yeom Jun-yeol reached out and took them himself.

I truly hoped he would get that perfect score.

Maybe because he said that, a long line formed behind me.

Seniors who had just passed by wanted gifts too, probably because Yeom Jun-yeol, the top student, said such things.

Thankfully, I prepared plenty.

“I’m aiming for a perfect score too. I’ll take one.”

Cheon Dong-ha joked as he greeted and took one.

He seemed confident he’d really get a perfect score.

When everyone took the exam and did their self-assessments, Eunkwang High expected two perfect scorers: Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol.