Volume 5 Chapter 17 Interlude - Intelligence Mode
After finishing their hands-on training in the dungeon, Randy and the others returned to their peaceful school life... or so they thought.
Because starting tomorrow, the midterm exams would begin.
They got back from the dungeon training on Sunday morning, and the midterms started on Thursday. The fact that there were only 3 days left before the test reminded Randy of the worst times.
Those hellish days of staying up all night to finish assignments.
He had no choice but to comply. Forced back into the death march, Randy walked through the school on Monday with a face like a zombie, holding a reference book.
Of course, Liz was right next to him, also holding the same reference book.
On the terrace.
At the classroom desks.
On the benches along the way.
Everywhere, Liz could be seen giving lectures to Randy while holding a reference book.
Randy managed to get through that Monday, but by Tuesday, his face had turned a sickly green, looking like a zombie. He stared blankly at Liz as she continued her lectures, no matter where they were. After just 2 days of looking like a dead person, people started to whisper, "Is Miss Elizabeth going to bring a coffin for him tomorrow?"
And today, after surviving 2 days of the death march, Randy showed up at school on Wednesday morning... surprising everyone with a healthy, rosy face and a straight posture.
He looked more energetic than usual, and even his uniform seemed crisp and fresh, which was strange. He walked around with a reference book in hand, looking surprisingly good.
Just like the day before, Randy opened his reference book on a bench, with Liz sitting next to him as usual.
"Alright, let's start with question one. This one is pretty easy."
Liz said with a smile, pointing to the first question in the reference book.
Randy, adjusting his imaginary glasses with a "hmm," lowered his gaze to the problem statement.
'Question one: An experiment is being conducted to measure the magical power flowing through a magic tool. The magical power flow M(t) at time t is given by the following function.
M(t) = 5t²e^(-t)
(1) Find the time when the biggest magical power flow happens.'
"Hint: Calculate the derivative of M(t) and check the extreme values..."
Liz looks up at Randy with a smile, but...
"The shape is a product of polynomial and exponential functions... so we use the product rule for differentiation──."
Randy, already in his trance state, starts mumbling and calculating. Suddenly, he scratches formulas on the ground with chalk, looking definitely like a madman.
"The answer is 2."
"Correct!"
Liz's face shines, and Randy, with bloodshot eyes, exclaims, "I can see it, I can see the formulas!" The students watch the two of them from a distance, clearly thinking they've lost it.
"Honestly... what are you two doing?"
Cecilia, unable to watch any longer, appears with a look of disbelief. Behind her is Luke, also looking exasperated. But Liz, happy as can be, grabs Cecilia's hand and sparkles with excitement.
"Randy has finally awakened!"
With a joyful face, Liz turns back, and in her eyes, there's Randy, slightly bloodshot, saying, "I can see it... I can see it."
"Miss Cecilia... Luke... the quadratic function with a negative coefficient, having your heads as the peak──."
Mumbling, Randy suddenly shouts, "Ah! A problem just dropped!" and starts writing the problem on the ground with chalk.
'Consider the following 2 quadratic functions f(x) and g(x):
f(x) = -2x^2 + 4x + 1, g(x) = -x^2 + 2x + 3
(1) Find the coordinates of the intersection points of the two parabolas f(x) and g(x).
(2) Find the area of the region enclosed by the two parabolas.
(3) Determine which function, f(x) or g(x), has the higher maximum value, and calculate that maximum value.'
"I can see it, I can see it!"
Muttering this, Randy writes on the floor again, "To intersect means f(x) = g(x)."
"The answer is (1 + √3, 4 + 2√3), (1 - √3, 4 - 2√3)."
"Wow! Correct!"
Randy pushes up his glasses, while Liz hops around excitedly. They both look completely silly.
"What's going on with Sir Randolph?"
"Who knows?"
Cecilia turns around with a confused look, and Luke can only shrug. He's known Randy for a long time, but he's never seen him like this.
"Luke... don't be jealous. Unlike you, I've moved on to the next stage."
Luke snorts at Randy with his glasses. "What do you mean 'next stage,' you fool?"
Luke frowns, and Randy places his hands on Luke's shoulders with a mischievous grin. "Let me teach you something good, you idiot."
"I don't need it."
"Don't hold back. If you differentiate sinθ, you get cosθ. Pretty cool, right?"
"I already know that!"
Randy raises an eyebrow in surprise at Luke's unexpected "I know" response.
"What? Are you making fun of me? I know that much!"
"Come on, don't force it. You're the type who just stared at the ceiling during class, right?"
Randy grimaces, and Luke swats his hand away.
"Well, if you want to show off, try proving the Gaussian integral."
Luke snorts, and Randy furrows his brow. "Gau? Gau... what?" Steam-like wisps rise from Randy's shoulders, and among the steam, something that looks like a formula can be seen.
"What? You don't even know about the Gaussian integral?"
Luke teases, but Cecilia rolls her eyes. "You only know the name, don't you?"
"Looks like your true self is showing, Luke..."
Randy grins, and he doesn't seem smart at all anymore.
"You're the fool. I'm studying hard every day as a knight for the lady."
"Stop joking. All you can do is chase girls and come up with cringy names for your moves."
That mischievous grin is unmistakably Randy's usual self.
"Do you want to get killed, Gorilla Randy?"
"Who's the gorilla? I'll kill you!"
The two glare at each other. In this world, there are very few who can stop these two powerful people... but luckily, there are 2 rare individuals here who can.
"Luke, stop it."
"And you too, Randy."
They both hear voices from behind and, with a "tch," they step back while still glaring at each other.
"Since we're here, how about a math challenge? Right now, Sir Randolph can join in, can't he?"
Cecilia teases, and Randy snaps his fingers, saying, "Not just now, I've always been better." He's not really in a position to solve equations, but no one points that out.
"Then, how about we see who can solve problem number 2 that Randy wrote, the fastest?"
Liz suggests, and Cecilia nods, saying, "Sounds good," as she hands Luke a pen and paper. By the way, Randy is a bit confused, saying, "Huh? I wrote that?" but everyone ignores him.
"Okay, 'For the functions f(x) = -2x^2 + 4x + 1, g(x) = -x^2 + 2x + 3, find the area enclosed by the two parabolas.' Ready, set, go!"
At Cecilia's signal, Luke faces the paper, and Randy faces the ground. But...
"What the heck is this? I can't understand anything. Did I really write this? ...Can't I just do it in Japanese?"
It seems that the intelligence mode has worn off for Randy, and this is a bit too tough for him. He doesn't even realize he wrote the problem.
Meanwhile, Luke moves his pen smoothly, laughing, "Ha ha! You fool." His pen moves confidently, and he even glances at Randy, saying, "You're weak."
"Snap!"
With veins popping, Randy turns back to the problem.
"This is my problem... I should have the answer inside me."
Randy closes his eyes, focusing, while Luke shows a sly smile, asking, "Have you given up?" Then Luke stops his pen.
"I'm done!"
Cecilia and Liz carefully check the paper that Luke proudly held up.
"Sir Luke..."
"Sorry, but you made a mistake in your calculations."
With a bitter look on their faces, Luke muttered, "Huh?" and glanced down at the paper.
"Stupid, so stupid!"
Randy teased Luke, but his own floor was not just white, it was pitch black.
"You didn't even write the formula!"
"Fool. When you reach my level, you don't need to show the steps."
Randy leaned back, snorting, "Hmph."
"The answer is... (4√3)/3."
Randy confidently answered, and Cecilia and Liz exchanged surprised looks, saying, "...That's correct." "Yes."
The 3 were shocked that Randy solved it without showing any steps...
"Huh? Seriously?"
...But the most surprised was actually Randy.
"That was just a guess, you gorilla."
"Even if it was a guess, a correct answer is still a correct answer."
As the two glared at each other again, Cecilia and Liz intervened.
"For now, let's call it a tie."
"Yeah."
Ignoring the dissatisfaction of the two, Liz and the others settled on a tie. There was a reason they reached this conclusion quickly.
"Luke. I told you to be careful about careless mistakes, right?"
"Randy. Should we go back and study the basics again? It's okay. I'll help you out."
The two girls smiled, but the pressure from their smiles made Randy and the others choke out, "Ugh."
"O, oh ladies. Today isn't a training day──."
"Ms. Liz... I don't want to see any more numbers."
Their pleas went unheard... and both Randy and Luke were dragged into an empty classroom.
The next day... on test day, Luke, with a warrior's face, pushed up his air glasses and gave a thumbs up to Randy, who also wore air glasses.
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