The next morning, Eternal Meteor—yawning nonstop, dark circles hanging under her eyes—was sprawled face-down on her desk again.
Last night, just cleaning up all the blood she'd left behind had dragged on until 4:30 a.m.
Standing out in the freezing wind with a hose, spraying down the track… she really ought to be grateful she was hard to catch a cold. Otherwise, by the time she'd finished—soaked head to toe—getting out of bed today would've been a dream.
As for the clothes that had basically turned into a shredded rag, she tore them into thin strips before stuffing them into a plastic bag and throwing them out. But to keep from smearing fresh blood all over the bed when she returned, she saved a few strips to use as makeshift bandages. After grabbing a fresh set of clothes from the trainer's storage, showering, and wrapping herself up, she went back to the dorm to sleep—
…or rather, she only managed to close her eyes for a little while.
And after pushing herself to the brink for the sake of her Domain, Eternal Meteor forgot one very important detail:
There was a makeup exam during the day.
Up at the podium, Air Groove was speaking—but Eternal Meteor saw double, like there were two of her. Not a single sentence made it into her brain. Every neuron was screaming the same command:
Sleep.
Just as her head was about to kiss the exam paper, Eternal Meteor dug her fingernail into a scabbed-over wound and tore it open hard, using pain to shock herself awake.
"You… aren't you basically a masochist?" X said. "That's brutal, even for you."
"Just waking myself up," she muttered.
Otherwise she'd really sleep from the first minute of the test to the last.
Still… she couldn't shake the feeling that someone's terrifying stare was locked onto her. Following her instincts, she glanced left.
She'd thought she'd offended someone again.
Nope—just Gold Ship.
Gold Ship's expression looked like she wanted to commit murder, so Eternal Meteor smiled and waved at her sweetly.
Instant happiness.
"…So why are you two even here?" she asked.
While she was looking at Gold Ship, she caught sight—out of the corner of her eye—of Tokai Teio and Maruzensky sitting in the very back row.
"I, Teio, am the commentator!" Teio announced brightly. "And Maruzensky is the guest commentator!"
"So this is the make—"
"Begin the exam," Air Groove said, cutting her off.
Eternal Meteor hadn't even finished her question before the test started. She stared at Air Groove with deep suspicion.
Air Groove's eyes darted away, clearly refusing to meet her gaze.
In her head, Eternal Meteor grumbled: You're really just letting Teio do whatever she wants, huh.
And then the "commentary" began.
"Alright! First, let's introduce our contestants!" Teio proclaimed. "Lane one: Eternal Meteor! She missed classes because she was hospitalized, and wow—she looks like she didn't sleep at all!"
"Good luck, little Meteor!"
Eternal Meteor could only think: This is loud. Isn't this basically a prank show?
"Lane two: Special Week! Why does she look even sleepier than Eternal Meteor? Did she seriously not learn anything from last time? Didn't she already fail a makeup exam before because she crammed at the last second?"
"Looks like she pulled an all-nighter."
Unlike Eternal Meteor—who'd at least managed to jolt herself awake—Special Week's head kept bobbing up and down like she was about to pass out. Even the pencil in her hand was trembling.
"Lane three: Gold Ship. Her previous score was voided for stealing the answers, which honestly makes you question her earlier grades too."
"That's absolutely a forbidden act."
Hearing them talk, Gold Ship looked like she might snap her pencil in half. She'd never messed up before.
"Oh! Gold Ship is writing like her life depends on it—turning humiliation into motivation! The tip hasn't stopped for even a second!"
"But Eternal Meteor is right on her heels—looks like she studied seriously too! Go, Meteor!"
"Little Meteor, I'm betting on you."
"And Special Week—uh—Special Week is face-down on the desk and about to fall asleep."
Gold Ship internally screamed: Hey! Why is nobody cheering for me?! That's blatant favoritism! Teio, aren't you supposed to be on my side?!
If she could've turned around, she would've demanded answers right then and there.
Eternal Meteor filled in the questions she'd memorized while continuing—inside her head—to harass X relentlessly. Eventually, she annoyed him so badly he had no choice but to help her, and only then did she finally relax.
"What?! Special Week is suddenly accelerating at full speed!" Teio narrating like a race. "But why is she still using that Fukurai-senpai trait dice pencil? Where did last night's studying go?!"
"Luck is part of strength," Special Week mumbled.
Hearing the dice pencil, Eternal Meteor stole a glance at the pencil on Special Week's desk—then stared at her own pencil in confusion.
Hold on. A dice has six faces. Multiple-choice has four options. No matter how you map it, it doesn't line up… how are you matching answers with that thing?!
"Special Week has reached the long-answer section! How will she respond?!"
"You can't rely on luck alone," Maruzensky added. "You need real ability too."
At this point, the text on the paper was almost blurry to Special Week. She was basically scribbling nonsense without even reading the questions.
Meanwhile, Gold Ship maintained the exact same speed from start to finish. Even when she hit the long answers, she didn't slow down at all.
"Eternal Meteor is finished!" Teio shouted. "Congratulations—she takes first place!"
With X's help, Eternal Meteor's speed increased exponentially. She blew past the other two and finished first in one decisive burst.
Even in an exam, she had to win by a wide margin.
"Gold Ship is finished too!" Teio announced. "And Special Week… well, Special Week is asleep."
Before Special Week's drool could soak the paper, Air Groove hurriedly collected it. Then, over the sound of Special Week snoring, she began grading.
"Eternal Meteor… pass."
"As expected of Meteor!" Teio cheered.
Even before the words were fully out of Air Groove's mouth, Tokai Teio threw her arms up in celebration—flashing a V-sign—and immediately wrapped Eternal Meteor in a tight hug.
"Gold Ship… pass."
"Huh?" Teio blurted.
Still clinging to Eternal Meteor, Teio twisted her head toward Gold Ship with a completely stunned expression.
Gold Ship glared. "What's with that face? I've wanted to ask this for a while—Teio, are you even on our team?"
"Blehh~!" Teio stuck out her tongue at Gold Ship.
In Eternal Meteor's deadpan silence, Teio hugged her even tighter.
"Special Week… fail."
Special Week—already muttering that she couldn't eat anymore—looked exactly like everyone expected. There wasn't even a hint of surprise among the four of them.
After they left the classroom, Eternal Meteor dragged Tokai Teio along (Teio was basically hanging off her like extra weight) and asked Gold Ship:
"By the way… you can obviously pass. So why'd you steal the answers?"
Gold Ship shrugged. "For fun, I guess? But you've got some nerve asking—if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to come in the first place."
"Then I'll treat you to cake later."
"Hell yeah!"
"I want some too!"
Tokai Teio—still on Eternal Meteor's back—and Maruzensky up ahead spoke at the exact same time.
"Fine, fine—everyone gets cake," Eternal Meteor sighed.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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