Sleeping Genius

by Outsider · 2026-09-05

Before lunchtime, during break time.

I was lying face down on my desk, casting [Skill: Muscle Recovery (Nap)].

The aftereffects of my early morning workout were just hitting me.

Then someone tapped on my desk.

Lee Min-ji: ...Um, Seol-ah.

I lifted my head to see a short-haired female student with round glasses standing there.

She was holding a thick spiral notebook in her hand, looking hesitant.

I quickly scanned her name tag. Lee Min-ji.

Well, it didn't ring a bell. (Of course not.)

But for some reason, she gave off a kind impression.

I looked at her with a 'What's wrong?' expression.

Lee Min-ji: You didn't come to the winter break supplementary classes. I wanted to give you the notes I took... They say it'll be on this exam.

She held out the notebook.

When I took it, the handwriting was neat, as if printed. It was full of effort.

And there was a yellow Post-it note stuck to the corner of the notebook.

[Seol-ah, don't get sick in second year, fighting!]

Seol-ah: ...

A corner of my heart ached.

To think such a natural monument was hidden in this desolate, jungle-like classroom.

Ah, how cute. I'm touched.

Seol-ah: Thanks. I'll look at it carefully.

Lee Min-ji: Huh...? Oh, yeah.

Min-ji's eyes widened at my straightforward answer.

Seol-ah: Why?

Lee Min-ji: No... Normally, you would have just nodded your head. This is the first time I've heard your voice.

Min-ji adjusted her glasses and smiled cautiously.

Lee Min-ji: You... seem to have changed a bit. Before, you looked like you might disappear at any moment, but today, you look... solid.

Bingo. This friend has a good eye for people.

Seol-ah: After coming back from the brink of death, my mental strength got a bit stronger.

Lee Min-ji: That's a relief. It really is a relief.

Min-ji was genuinely happy.

I had a hunch.

This person would become my [School Life Party Member No. 1].

It was then.

The bell for the third period rang, and the math teacher entered.

An elderly teacher who induced sleep just by looking at him. His nickname was probably 'sleeping pill.'

He was filling the blackboard with formulas.

I rested my chin on my hand and stifled a yawn.

Teacher: Alright, who wants to come up and solve this problem?

The teacher tapped the blackboard.

It was a rather difficult applied calculus problem. Was he trying to set the tone from the beginning of the semester?

The classroom became as quiet as a mouse. Everyone was busy avoiding eye contact.

The teacher scanned the attendance book and called out a number.

Teacher: Number 15?

The male student, number 15, stood up and said confidently.

Male Student: I don't know!~

Wow~

The children laughed.

Hmm, so these days, they just confidently say, 'I don't know.' The world has really changed for the better.

Teacher: Number 9?

Hmm, I wonder if I can solve number 9.

I was thinking that when all the kids looked at me.

Ah, damn it. I guess I'm number 9.

Teacher: Number 9 is Seol-ah. Seol-ah, if you don't know it, you don't have to solve it.

The teacher said so.

It must have been out of consideration for me, who had been absent from school for a while.

The children's eyes seemed to say, 'Of course.'

My pride was hurt, so I stood up.

The teacher's eyes widened. The children whispered.

'Seol-ah doing math? She's the one who sleeps all day.'

'Teacher is too much. To a patient.'

I trudged to the blackboard.

I picked up the chalk.

I quickly scanned the problem.

Hmm? This can be solved by just plugging in the formula, right? It's similar to a physics law?

I solved tougher problems than this all winter break with Mr. Yoon.

[System: 'Science Guy's' brain is activated.]

Click. Click. Click.

The sound of chalk hitting the blackboard echoed cheerfully.

Unhesitating hand movements. A concise solution that skipped intermediate steps and focused only on the core.

Finally, the correct answer.

= 0

I put down the chalk with a thud and dusted my hands.

Seol-ah: ...I'm done.

It's strange, but the handwriting is not mine at all. It must be Seol-ah's handwriting.

Her handwriting is as pretty as her face.

While I was admiring my own handwriting, the classroom was silent.

A hush fell.

The teacher adjusted her glasses and looked back and forth between the blackboard and me.

Teacher: ...That's right. That's right. But Seol-ah, where did these intermediate steps go?

Seol-ah: In my head.

......

Someone in the back of the classroom muttered, "Wow, that's crazy."

That afternoon, I got a nickname.

Sleeping Genius. The kid who wakes up and solves problems.

This 36-year-old ajusshi is slowly gaining recognition at school.

* * *

Today, I was propping my chin on my hand, looking out the window, and yawning widely.

Seol-ah: Yawn...

Except for Min-ji, no one has deliberately approached me to talk yet.

Becoming a 'super popular kid' from 'school-certified outcast' overnight is close to a miracle.

Besides, I'm a 36-year-old man inside, and I can't just jump into a game with kids more than a decade younger than me and say, "Let me join! Hehe!" can I?

So, during breaks, I usually either sleep on my desk (to conserve energy) or stare blankly into the distance (contemplating the futility of life).

But the atmosphere has definitely changed.

Before, kids treated me like an 'invisible person' or avoided me, but now, it's more like... they observe me as if I'm a 'strange creature'.

I can feel their glances, but it's not bad. At least they don't openly ignore me.

Outside, cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and inside the classroom, as the children's spring drowsiness began to bloom.

Creak.

The door opened, and the homeroom teacher entered.

Teacher: Alright, let's have homeroom. Who's on cleaning duty today?

Young-ho, the class president, checked his notebook and stood up abruptly.

Male Student: It's the third row.

The homeroom teacher's gaze rested on the third row, and then on me, sitting by the window.

Teacher: The third row... Seol-ah is weak, so she's exempt from cleaning. Instead, the other students should pay a little more attention. Understood?

The children should have been angry, but they didn't care at all.

It seemed natural for me to be exempt, just like always.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

'Hey, Mr. Teacher. That was the old Baek Seol-ah. The current Baek Seol-ah is probably stronger than you.'

If I quietly backed out here, I'd get stuck with the 'annoying princess' image again.

I raised my hand without hesitation.

Seol-ah: Teacher. I'll do it too.

Teacher: Huh? No, Seol-ah, you...

Seol-ah: I'm strong. You should let me sweep. I'm bored to death.

Teacher: Th-then, alright. But if you get tired, you have to stop anytime.

I ignored the teacher's dissuasion and managed to grab a broom.

The children's eyes widened.

Baek Seol-ah holding a broom, it must be the first time since she entered high school.

Yoo-ri, who belonged to another row, 'coldly' left without waiting.

Hmm, she'll be waiting in the car anyway.

Swish, sweep. Swish, sweep.

I started sweeping the floor from the back of the classroom, lost in thought.

Simple labor, pushing around a cloud of dust. There's nothing like cleaning to clear your mind.

As I was wrestling with the floor, I heard a thumping noise and an annoyed voice from the front of the classroom.

Female Student 1: Oh, what the. Why isn't this moving? Ugh, how annoying!

I stopped sweeping and looked up.

Female Student 1: Hey, where did all the boys go? Did they run off to play soccer?

Female Student 2: Are you serious? They expect us to move this heavy podium?

Three girls were struggling to move the old wooden podium.

The wheels seemed broken, and it wouldn't budge.

I sighed.

'Let's help them. I need to finish quickly so I can go home and eat beef.'

I put down the broom and approached.

Seol-ah: Move aside.

Female Student 2: Huh? Seol-ah, you're not strong, so...

Instead of answering, I grabbed the corner of the podium.

Then I lowered my waist and tensed my lower body.

A deadlift stance.

Huff!

Creak~ Bang!

The podium, which wouldn't budge with one person, moved easily to the side in my hands.

It was almost as if I had lifted and carried it.

Seol-ah: ...

......

The children's mouths hung open.

I dusted off my hands.

Seol-ah: The wheels are broken. Needs some oil.

As I coolly turned around, I heard the children whispering behind me.

Female Student 1: Wow. What is her strength?

Female Student 2: Wow... Isn't Seol-ah kind of cool? Total girl crush.

Female Student 1: Wasn't she just pretending to be weak?

From that day on, I began to be perceived as a 'cool tsundere' by the girls in my class.

If someone was struggling to lift something heavy, I'd casually go and lift it for them. If they couldn't reach something high, I'd casually get it down.

And there was also an incident that became the catalyst for me gradually becoming an insider.

Lee Min-ji: Ah... I don't understand this even after looking at the solution.

When Min-ji, my deskmate and first party member, struggled with a math problem, I would groggily get up and snatch her mechanical pencil.

Seol-ah: Give it to me. It's hard if you only see it as numbers. Think of it as a baseball. When you throw a ball, it makes a parabola, right? Where's the highest point here?

Lee Min-ji: Huh? Here?

Seol-ah: Exactly. That's the point where the derivative is zero. Because that's the moment the ball briefly stops.

It was the school version of the 'hook trajectory' explanation I used with Mr. Yoon. A baseball instead of a right hook for high school girls.

My explanations weren't textbook-like. They were very intuitive and used real-life examples (mostly principles of baseball or fighting).

But somehow, they seemed to stick in the kids' minds.

Lee Min-ji: ...Whoa. Amazing. I get it.

Female Student 2: Hey, tell me too!

Thanks to that, my desk was always piled with offerings (snacks).

Chocolates, jellies, sausages, milk. I accepted them all without hesitation.

The children seemed to feel a strange sense of satisfaction at my hearty eating.

A strange sense of solidarity, like 'we're feeding the sickly Seol-ah'?

I had somehow become the 'funny one' and the 'one not to mess with (strong and smart)' in Class 3, Grade 2.

This ordinary high school girl's daily life was much more colorful and pleasing than my dull gym life in my past life.

Except for one person. Baek Yoo-ri.