I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School! - Chapter 29
29 Beginning of final exams and waiting for the results.
It was a sunny and cloudless day. The final exam, which has always been a painful ordeal for many students, is currently being held.
“Refrain from doing anything that might arouse suspicion of cheating! Now… begin!”
The teacher’s voice echoed through the classroom, filled with the sound of test papers being flipped over.
Everyone’s expressions became serious, and the sound of mechanical pencils scratching on paper grew louder.
(All right, I can do this…)
Despite the tense atmosphere, my speed of answering the questions didn’t slow down.
The results of all the efforts and studying I’ve done in this present life are being shown to the fullest.
(Oh, the test is so… no, I’ve studied, fair enough…)
As I was working through the questions, such thoughts crossed my mind in the corner of my consciousness.
Of course, there is a difference in the speed of leveling up and their overall performance. It depends on the person, but just like in RPG games, the more effort you put in, the better your performance will be.
And that effort will lead to happiness in the future.
Yes, that’s what I’ve been dreaming of during my days as a company slave, a faraway utopia… where I can reach the legendary white company that exists somewhere in this world!
(Besides, it feels good to be able to solve problems like this, doesn’t it?)
It was quite exhilarating to utilize my accumulated academic skills to defeat my adversaries one after another, and the test, which used to be a time of agony in my previous life, became something fun to do.
In the midst of the anguish and tension of many students, I kept moving my hands in an extremely relaxed state, and my momentum never stopped.
…….
“I feel so light! It feels so refreshing after the exam, doesn’t it!”
Fumihashi, the athletic girl, said loudly as she raised her hands in the air.
She looked refreshingly cheerful and radiant.
“No, Fumihashi-san, how many times have you been saying that? The test was already over last week.”
“Ha ha ha! I wanna keep saying it over and over again! Now I can focus on my club activities without worrying about the test now!
Fumihashi responds to my tsukkomi with a smirk.
Yes, our final exam ended last week without any problems.
The whole second grade, freed from studying, is filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
“But by the looks of it, I guess you did well?”
“Hmmm, don’t let your eyes fool you, Nihama-kun. There is no such thing as a stupid, athletic girl who’s crazy for exercise in real life!”
“Hahaha, I don’t have that kind of prejudice.”
“Well, I’m usually bad at it!”
“Yeah, you should really stop doing that!”
Oh, by the way, this fella was a regular snoozer in class…
“But it’s okay, the test is over! I can forget about studying for a while!”
“But, Fumihashi-san. Today is the day when test results are posted in the hallway.
“What?”
Suddenly, the girl with glasses, Kazamihara, interrupted her, and Fumihashi froze.
“Ka-Kazamihara-san! Why do you have to say that now? Just when I had already forgotten about it!”
“Please stop sounding seriously heartbroken. The fact is, even without me saying it now, reality will confront you in the form of the cruel rankings like a guillotine.”
“Gee, don’t assume it will be like a guillotine! It may possibly be a miraculous fanfare!”
“How was the result of your self-scoring? Can you see any fanfares?”
“Ugg…”
It was so brutal that Fumihashi sank without even making a sound.
Poor thing…
“Kazamihara-san …Please don’t bully Fumihashi-san…”
“I didn’t intend to do so, but I was amused by how… honestly Fumihashi-san expressed her emotions.”
This glasses-wearing girl with mid-length hair is going at her own pace as usual.
There is no impatience or anxiety on her face about the announcement of the test results.
“How about you, Kazamihara-san? You looked pretty confident with your test results.”
When I asked her this, Kazamihara widened the edges of her mouth and smiled fearlessly, which was unusual for her.
“It’s only an illusion that girls with… glasses have excellent grades. If you have an average score, then hooray for me, so what?”
“I mean, why do you have to look so smug?”
The girl who had been working with me at the festival and who was no longer afraid of losing her cool, suddenly asked me.
“Why do Japanese people need English in the first place? Let’s just close off the country. If that doesn’t work, let’s turn the whole world into Japanese Empire and make Japanese the official language. Why do foreigners who are visiting Japan always ask in English for directions?”
“Don’t talk like that with a straight face! You’re scaring me!”
She looks calm, but she’s actually full of resentment.
But English is one of the most useful high school subjects for the future.
“Hmm…?”
When I turned my gaze to look at him, I noticed that Ginji was staring at me.
Is that supposed to mean something like, “It seems you can afford to have some fun with girls…?”
“Hey, hey! How was Yamahira-kun?”
“Funhyi!?”
Ginji let out a surprised voice when the revived Fumihashi-san suddenly asked him.
Ah, the reaction is so nostalgic.
It’s the typical reaction of a gloomy high school boy when a cheerful girl talks to him.
That’s exactly how I was in my previous life.
“You don’t need to be nervous because Fumihashi-san is kind.”
“I’m not nervous!”
I whispered to him, and he whispered back to me.
His reaction, a blushing face alongside a stammering voice, is kinda funny.
Well, that’s usually the case when you’re not used to talking with a girl, isn’t it?
“Oh, I don’t think it’s good… rather it’s quite bad”
“Alright! We’re the same then! Let’s get our necks cut off by a real-life guillotine together!”
Ginji responded like a virgin when he was patted on the shoulder by Fumihashi, who was in a good mood after finding a companion.
No, I’m a virgin too, so I can’t really speak for others.
“So, Nihama-kun… any idea about this current condition of Shijoin-san?”
“Eh…? What? What’s wrong, Shijoin-san?”
When I turned my gaze to Shijoin-san’s seat, I saw the beautiful girl with long black hair trembling in a prayer pose with her hands folded, looking terribly anxious.
“Oh, Nihama-kun… and everyone else, I was getting restless when I thought that… the test result would be posted soon”
Not only the top 100 rankings, but also the average score of the grade will be posted in the hallway.
So even if you don’t see your name in the top 100, you can get a rough idea of your rank by comparing your self scored test with the average score.
“But you said that you did pretty well in your self-scoring. You don’t have to be so worried…”
“I know, but I can’t trust myself, I’m not sure if I made a lot of careless mistakes, or if I filled in the answer sheets incorrectly…!”
“Oh, I know what you mean. When I was about to write down the answer to the last question and realized that I was missing one answer column, I felt like my *ss was on fire.”
Kazamihara! You have a pretty face, but please stop saying “*ss” without hesitation!
Don’t destroy the fantasy boys have of girls!
“I know right! And then when the time is almost up, you’ll start to panic and the only thing you can feel is despair!”
“If you know that despair, then you probably… done it, haven’t you, Fumihashi-san?”
“Ugh…”
In response to Ginji’s mumbling, Fumihashi-san agonizes as if an old wound has been gouged out.
“Ugh… I’m going to go buy a drink to calm down a bit. Waiting for the results is hard for my stomach…”
Shijoin-san gets up from her seat and walks out of the classroom, looking very nervous.
Hmmm… I don’t think you need to worry so much…
(But I like these after test interactions asking “how did you do” or declaring, “I didn’t do well this time.” In my previous life, I could only do this with Ginji, but it’s fun when you talk in a group..)
It would be really peaceful if it weren’t for Mitsurugi’s foolishness.
“But Nihama… you look so calm despite having a game to win.”
Ginji whispered quietly so the girls wouldn’t hear.
“Yeah, well, like I said before, the game is just something Mitsurugi decided on his own. There’s no reason to be nervous.”
Well, that guy is definitely going to come here to compare our scores, so I’m a little depressed about that. …
“But I studied hard for the test itself, and according to my self-scoring–“
“Hey! The results of the final exam have been posted in the hallway!”
Suddenly, someone’s voice echoes from outside the classroom, and the hallway suddenly becomes noisy.
The students began pushing,shoving, and crowding each other, and the hallway was soon filled with noise.
“It’s time for the guillotine, Fumihashi-san. Shall we go to the execution table together?”
“Wait, wait, wait! I’m not mentally prepared for this!”
It seems that Fumihashi and Kazamihara are going to see the spectacle together, but Fumihashi is not ready yet. Well–
“I’m going to go see it then. What about you, Ginji?”
“Okay, here we go! I’m pretty sure I’m not among the top 100 in the rankings, but I have to check the average grade score!”
Ginji left his seat with a determined look on his face.
“Besides, having one of your friends around will give you a bit of a breakwater when you have to deal with Mitsurugi’s nonsense. I’m not letting you go alone!”
“You… are such a good guy. I want to go out for a drink with you again.”
“What about drinking…? And again?”
“Oh, no, I made a mistake. I meant to say I’d like to have a drink with you next time.”
My mouth slipped when I suddenly recalled a memory of drinking with him in my previous life.
Drinking sake with my boss makes it taste disgusting, but drinking sake with this guy was always… delicious.
“Well, then, let’s go…”
I’m not nervous or overwhelmed.
I stepped out with Ginji into the hallway where a clear result in the form of a number awaited us.
