“Zeno, wait!” Eli exclaimed as the taller man dragged him away from the accounting office.
Eli clicked his tongue and tried taking his arm away. However, he couldn’t get it out.
Since then, Eli had been the weakest man in their friend group. However, he was the most intelligent, so that made up for it.
“Where are you taking me?” he exclaimed.
Zeno didn’t answer and continued pulling him toward a department that Eli hadn’t even thought of visiting during his stay at Y Unversity—the engineering department grounds.
“There they are,” Zeno said, turning to Eli.
Eli frowned when he saw a group of students on the grounds. Above them was a tarpaulin with the words,’ Math Olympics: Beat the Engineering Champions!’
Zeno saw the registration table and was about to head toward it, but Eli used his entire body to stop him.
“What are you doing?” he whisper-shouted.
“We’re signing up,” Zeno nonchalantly said. “It says here that it’s open for everyone. We just have to beat the engineering champions in one question.”
Eli sighed. “Zeno, this is ridiculous. Why are you doing all of this?”
Zeno stopped for a while. That was a valid question. Why was he doing all of this? Aside from his mission to come to good terms with Eli, it did seem pretty excessive.
However, he felt that this was one way to convince Eli to just accept his help.
“Because I want to,” Zeno bluntly said, causing Eli to halt. This was different from Zeno.
After seeing Zeno play a passive role in his career, Eli thought Zeno was still the same, frustrating person after his accident.
However, was he mistaken?
“I’ve already written our names,” Zeno said after a while, causing Eli to snap out of his thoughts.
“What?” Eli muttered, still out of it.
Then, Zeno dragged him to the crowd once more.
There were two tables on the podium, one that housed the challengers and the other one with the champions.
Zeno focused his gaze on the champions, his eyebrows slightly raised when he saw the man who smelled of mildew at the accounting office sitting at the very middle.
So, he was a mathematics champion, huh?
Then, he glanced at his opponents, who were quickly being destroyed.
“Answer the last question!” the host exclaimed, and the two teams were given one minute each to answer it.
Eli looked at the myriad of numbers and felt bile rise through his throat.
He liked studying, but math has always been his weakness. That was also one of the reasons why he took up medicine in the first place.
The freshmen, who had ‘Mathematics’ lanyards, appeared frustrated as they couldn’t quite get the answer.
Then, at the forty-second mark, the engineering team rang the bell with smug smirks.
“It’s right,” Zeno muttered, capturing Eli’s attention. It was only then that he realized he was in a daze.
The judges, who were the professors of their department, checked their answers before raising a thumb.
“With Byungho on the team, they have become unbeatable!” the host chuckled.
“Hey,” one of the men in the champion team chuckled. “We’ve been killing it since this morning even without Byungho.”
“Who else would like to take on the challenge?”
Zeno was about to raise his hand when Eli stopped him.
“That team over there!” the host exclaimed, pointing to the group of people beside them.
Zeno glanced at the team and saw their ‘Department of Physics’ lanyard. Along with that, the number of people around them seemed to increase.
“It’s Physics vs. Engineering!” some exclaimed.
“It’s the God of Physics, Taek Lee,” another said.
Zeno didn’t mind their conversation, only focusing his gaze on Eli.
“Why did you stop me?” he asked. “It’s an easy way to get 500,000 won.”
“Are you insane?” Eli asked. “We can’t hold a light to those dudes. Your math skills are average at best, and I can’t even understand the symbols within those equations.”
“This is getting too far,” Eli continued. “You’re distracting me so that I won’t get a refund, huh?”
“Yes,” Zeno honestly said. “But it’s also because you need allowance for the midterms week.”
“You’re being so honest,” Eli deadpaned.
“Anyway, it does not matter. Are you not aware of who that guy is?” Eli asked.
“Who? Mildew guy?”
Eli frowned. “Mildew—what are you even talking about?”
“Mildew,” Zeno explained. “The type of fungus or mold. It usually forms on humans when they don’t shower or when they don’t let their clothes fully dry.”
“I know what mildew is!” Eli exclaimed. “I’m asking—why did you just call Byungho Kim mildew?”
“Because he smells like it,” Zeno honestly said.
“How do you even know?” Eli muttered. “Anyway,” he continued. “Even if he does smell like mildew, he’s famous in the university for being a math prodigy.”
“He is the son of the Dean of Engineering, and he is sent to compete with the top universities in the country… and even the world!”
“In this university, your status is based on your intelligence.”
“They’re holding this event to raise funds for their department’s university week. They’re milking money for the registration, knowing nobody would be able to beat Byungho at this level.”
“Aside from that, since his father has a high status in the university, nobody dares to mess with him,” Eli continued.
Zeno clicked his tongue. “People still care about that in college?”
“That guy on the stage is Taek Lee, another genius in this university. The two are rivals in mathematics competitions, but Byungho won over him multiple times. We can’t even compete with Taek, but you want to beat Byungho? You’re just giving them free money for registering!”
Zeno shrugged and focused his gaze on the stage once more. Taek and Byungho were still dueling it out, answering the questions by the end of the timer.
Those watching held their breaths in anticipation. It had been neck-in-neck since earlier, and it was hard to guess who would win.
On the third question, they still got it at the same time, causing the two of them to turn to each other with a glare.
The crowd had gotten larger now. As expected from a school that highly valued grades. Watching these competitions was the most fun for them.
The tie-breaker question was written on the board, and Taek and Byungho had already begun solving it mentally.
Meanwhile, Zeno scrutinized the question, tilting his head to the side.
The question… was easy.