NOVEL NEXT Chapter 222
“I once wished that my mom and dad were rather evil people.”
That was the reason Ni-el couldn’t sever ties with her parents.
Even if the love they sent her was distorted, they were paradoxically the only ones who had always treated Ni-el sincerely.
Her father, who would gather all his money to send her pocket money so she wouldn’t feel inferior among her friends.
Though the money was also for her to buy a variety of clothes, she actually wore the same work uniform every day.
And her mother, who came all the way to the teacher’s office when Ni-el was bullied, wrapping her in protection and eventually transferring the bullies.
Even though she had hated her so much, at that moment, she felt that her mother was the only one on her side in the world.
When exactly, from where, did her life start to go wrong?
“Was it that I couldn’t clearly tell my dad he was about to be scammed? After failing out of Yale? Or was it wrong to have fallen in love with the violin? If it’s none of those, was it just a mistake that I was born?”
Negative thoughts keep spiraling endlessly.
To forget the suffocating current suffering, her consciousness shifts to the brilliant past.
“A genius in sight-reading.”
It was a nickname given by fans she met in ‘Maestro’ for her ability to play any score she saw for the first time.
Young Daniel enjoyed those small compliments that her mother never gave her.
She shortened it to ‘super genius,’ which was such a cool nickname. It suited an elementary schooler perfectly.
At the same time, the current Ni-el was in awe of Na-me’s skills.
She thought the phrase from ‘Tree Wiki,’ claiming Na-me was a genius who would never again appear in human history, might really be true.
“Only a year into playing the violin? Isn’t that actually a super genius?”
Even if Ni-el forced her university classmates to sight-read Walton’s piece, it wouldn’t be easy to exceed 99% accuracy.
Unlike Ni-el, whose fingers had stiffened, Na-me was still young.
Even if she was winning by 100% now, Ni-el couldn’t shake the feeling that she had already lost.
At that moment, Ni-el’s scoreboard wobbled.
[Scoreboard]
[#1 Jūdex: Accuracy 99.87%]
[#2 NoName: Accuracy 99.32%]
Slowly, slowly, the accuracy begins to drop.
“What’s the problem? I did it right. Could it be…?”
Ni-el had experienced this before.
The violin notes had suddenly begun to shift microscopically to the side.
She could definitely tell when she tried to add vibrato with her fourth finger.
The strings of the arcade violin were about to snap any moment now.
“Na-me, can we pause for a moment and restart the game…?”
Ni-el tried to speak to Na-me, but it seemed she couldn’t hear him because she was concentrating on playing.
Her tiny fingers desperately gripped the strings.
“Wait… why do I need to win this? And why was I even making this bet?”
It was pride.
The pride of one who devoted their life to the violin.
An argument against Professor Pi Su-jeong’s words that said she was inferior to Na-me could not possibly be true.
If she played carefully from now on, the strings wouldn’t break, and this match would end with Ni-el’s perfect victory.
But Na-me, even now, seemed to be playing without knowing her fingers were tearing as she hoped to apologize personally to her group members.
[If that’s what’s needed, I think it’s right to do it.]
In that moment, Ni-el’s head went blank.
It indeed felt right to go apologize directly as Na-me said.
After that, her contemplation wasn’t long.
Ni-el swung the bow dramatically.
The fluffy white bow hair rubbed against the strings without restraint.
With a ding sound, the strings soared into the air before crashing back down as if it had been caught by its hair.
Na-me’s eyes widened in shock.
“You won, NoName.”
What a mature child for her age.
During the four performances, Daniel was inspired by Na-me’s efforts.
Thus, it was only reasonable for NoName to win in this match.
“Are you okay, Ni-el? Did you hurt your hand?”
“Uh? I’m fine. Strings often break while playing, you know.”
“But isn’t it our turn to pay for this?”
“… Oh no! What should I do?”
In the end, Na-me ended up paying.
This was Daniel, who had lost even her pride as an adult.
*
“I’m truly sorry for everything…”
Daniel bowed over 90 degrees.
It seemed that her head might just touch the ground with just a little more lean.
Contrary to Ni-el’s worries, the mood in the room was very good.
There was also the touch of being moved by the serious apology, but it was mainly due to the killer move she had prepared being extremely effective.
“This is a summary that only includes the scope for the upcoming final exam? Can we use something that you worked hard to create?”
“Yes, I compiled everything from the past five years of documents that the professor uploaded, so just looking at this will help you get most of the questions right.”
“Then what about Ni-el missing group study last time?”
“I meant to contact you via email regarding that, but since you don’t get penalized for missing up to three times, it’s fine.”
“Ah, I see.”
“This is amazing! If I study just one day, I’ll get an A+! Thank you, Daniel!”
The liberal arts class, ‘Psychology of Relationships,’ mainly revolved around group study, but grades were ultimately determined by the final exam.
The score difference on the final report could at most be 1 to 2 points.
Getting just one more question right on the final could easily make up for such minor scores.
Since it was her graduation semester and grades were important, Woo Da-yeon felt bad for reacting so strongly to Daniel and also apologized.
Ni-el’s apology ended amid a warm atmosphere.
Asking for forgiveness wasn’t as grand a thing as she thought.
On the contrary, it was so easy it felt embarrassing. That made Ni-el lament why she hadn’t spoken until now.
“But why did Na-me come early today? It’s still before class starts.”
Woo Da-yeon, who was sitting behind, placed both hands on my shoulders and asked.
It was currently 2:50 PM.
The professor’s class, which would last about 45 minutes, had to end before group study started.
“I thought I’d check in since class ended a bit early. I heard that attendance is free.”
In truth, the class was just an excuse.
She had personal matters to discuss with Daniel, and so she had no choice but to wait until class was over.
“What’s the story?”
Da-yeon continued to pry.
“It’s sensitive business information, so I can’t just tell anyone.”
“Hahaha, I got it, I won’t ask!”
“I’m serious.”
But did Ni-el like animals? A lion, a leopard, or maybe a king cobra?
We found random spots in the classroom filled with long six-person desks and set our things roughly in the empty center.
On the left was Daniel, and on the right was Woo Da-yeon, who opened her laptop, serving as a solid support against the whispers of other university students.
By ‘other students,’ I meant those who were whispering about her.
“Na-me, you really are popular. You could just go up there and teach the class.”
“I’m just going to sit quietly until it’s over.”
“Why don’t you just enroll in Korea University? You totally deserve a free pass.”
“I don’t know.”
She genuinely didn’t know because she wasn’t yet interested in the country’s education system.
“What’s this class like? What kind of professor do you have?”
“Really great, or rather perfect! Handsome, great voice, and the class is super fun, plus he gives good grades with just a final exam!”
“What? There’s no midterm then?”
“Yeah. That’s why it’s rumored to be an easy course.”
“Weren’t there originally supposed to be three tests…?”
Two midterms and one final.
“Who said that?”
“Professor Cheon. Oh, so there’s a quiz instead?”
“No quizzes either.”
“Then there’s no discriminating evaluation.”
“We can all do well together; does someone always have to fail?”
“No… not necessarily.”
I felt like my entire value system was being shaken.
Had I been brainwashed by Professor Cheon all this time?
Suddenly, a tall middle-aged professor entered through the front door.
“Even though today is Monday, everyone seems so lively. Did something good happen?”
As the whispers ceased, the piercing gazes began to shoot from all directions.
It was overwhelming. I should have just waited outside.
What would it feel like to attend a university class for the first time in my life across two lives?
Little did I know these people had no sense of restraint.
As I shifted slightly forward in my chair, my vision lowered gradually.
Just by moving a little more, my head would almost drop below the desk.
And then, I ended up locking eyes with the professor.
“Oh!”
“Wa-hahahahaha!”
As the professor let out a brief exclamation, the students burst into laughter as if they had been waiting for it.
What followed was even more ridiculous.
“Isn’t this the legendary Pokémon NoName, who is said to appear only at Korea University? To think that someone more famous than the current president would choose our class, this is an enormous honor! In that spirit, let’s all give a big round of applause!”
Oh please, don’t do that.
“Hehe.”
I don’t know what was so funny, but beside me, Daniel was laughing so hard she was almost gasping for breath.
Eventually, I hid my face under the desk.
*
Daniel was in Kariri’s Safari World? No, it was Safari Dream, right?
There was a reason why she was marked as a candidate for the first batch of Safari Dream.
First, she had a long-standing career in Maestro that made her well-versed in anime songs, Vocaloid, and utaite culture.
In other words, she was an otaku.
The application designed for the popularization of classical music ultimately couldn’t escape the fate of rhythm games, being plastered with Japanese songs.
Since she spoke Japanese and English fluently at a native level, she earned extra points.
Secondly, she possessed unparalleled skills in one field, ensuring that the main content was secured.
If news broke that a mysterious amateur who had gone missing years ago in Maestro returned as a virtual YouTuber, her initial popularity would be guaranteed.
Of course, I was merely making suggestions; the rest was up to Kariri and Daniel to negotiate.
It had to appeal more to Kariri than me.
“Ni-el, you said you enjoy playing the violin the most. When exactly is it the most enjoyable?”
She said she didn’t know.
After living instinctively due to her mother, Daniel had no time to ponder what she liked or what she was interested in, as she had no leisure.
“I hope you think it over sometime. Do you really want to give the best performance on the violin, or do you just enjoy the cheers of the crowds? If it’s the latter, then becoming a virtual YouTuber could be a good choice.”
The fact that she had been uploading videos every day since childhood suggested that she already had enough tendencies to be in the spotlight.
Having lived a difficult life, her personality appeared to have become more introverted, but it was unpredictable how a person would change if they gained some leisure.
If she thought about trying out as a virtual YouTuber, I promised I would help her overcome her claustrophobia.
“That’s a bit rude to ask, but… how much does Kariri earn?”
“About 5,000,000 won? Not that I asked in detail.”
“Wow, 50 million a year? It seemed like things had been quiet for a while, but looks like the virtual YouTuber market is booming again. I had no idea…”
“What are you talking about? That’s 5,000 a month.”
“…?”
“…?”
“Why am I doing classical music?”