I Wished for Non-Face-to-Face Lectures

The morning of the first day of classes, which finally came after a long period of academic leave.

Barely enduring the overwhelming sleepiness, I sat in front of the laptop I had borrowed from Jaehyuk.

“…First period classes are too cruel even for a vampire.”

A vampire’s body becomes energized from 6:30 PM to 6:30 AM.

There seemed to be some variations depending on sunrise and sunset times, but generally, my strength increased from evening when the sun disappears until morning when the sun appears.

Outside of those hours.

“Yaaawn… I feel like I’m going to die from fatigue…”

…Like this, I become so weak I can barely hold my body upright.

Still, thanks to the blackout curtains I had installed on the windows in advance, the room was as dark as night, making it somewhat easier to move around.

If I had installed regular curtains… no, would I have already burned to death from the sunlight leaking through?

Anyway, the first period was too difficult despite being a remote class.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have wished for “remote recorded lectures.”

With a deep sigh, I waited for the remote class that was about to begin.

[Hello, I’m Lee Haeyoung, who will be teaching with you all.]

[This class will be about learning in detail about “trees”…]

[Since this subject requires a lot of practical training, once guidelines come down from the university headquarters, we’ll immediately set dates for practical sessions…]

The first remote class that I encountered after waiting was bland, as expected.

Originally, unless the professor is particularly passionate, the first class tends to end after a simple orientation rather than a full lecture.

The professor in charge of seemed to be included in this majority, as he only gave a brief explanation about the subject to be covered this semester and was about to end the class.

[Since today is the orientation, we’ll end the class here. Does anyone have any questions about the lecture?]

“Excuse me…”

A characteristic of Korean people: checking others’ reactions when asking questions.

If someone else had spoken up first, I would have asked my question a bit more comfortably, but since no one did, I spoke up in the awkward atmosphere.

“I heard there’s a lot of practical training, but are there severe disadvantages if I don’t participate in the practical sessions?”

[What’s your name, student?]

“Han Jiwoo.”

[Ah, yes, Jiwoo. About the disadvantages… well, it would depend on the reason, right? May I ask why you would not be participating in the practical sessions?]

The professor’s polite question.

After briefly contemplating whether to reveal my situation, I slowly opened my mouth, thinking it would be revealed eventually anyway.

It wasn’t something I couldn’t talk about.

Being caught up in a natural disaster wasn’t something to boast about, but it wasn’t a shameful circumstance that I couldn’t speak of either.

To provide more concrete evidence, I turned on my laptop camera and calmly began explaining my situation.

“I’m a victim of the large-scale species transformation incident. Given the nature of our department, practical sessions will likely be held during the day, but I’m a species that can’t go outside during daylight…”

[…]

Although I articulated only the facts, the professor had an expression of disbelief.

What, does it sound like a lie? Have you never seen a species that dies in sunlight? Huh?!

…I guess it would be their first time seeing one, damn it. Well, where else would they see such a pathetic species?

As I quietly waited for a response, the professor soon opened their mouth.

[Then how are you participating in class now?]

“Actually, being a nocturnal species, I’m not in good condition. But I needed to explain my situation, so…”

[Hmm, I understand for now. After ending the lecture, let’s think about the direction of future classes. Do you have any other questions, student Jiwoo?]

“I don’t… Yaaawn, I’m, I’m sorry! Professor!”

[It’s alright, these things happen. Ho ho.]

Hearing the kind laughter, I hurriedly turned off my microphone and camera.

This is really frustrating. No matter how tired I am, what was I thinking, yawning openly?

But the feeling of embarrassment didn’t last long.

The reason was simple.

When I rested my heavy body on the bed for a moment, my vision went completely dark.

In the rapidly fading consciousness.

I set an alarm while thinking about the next class.

Yes, I’m just going to sleep for exactly 1 hour.

Since I’ve set an alarm, there’s no way I won’t wake up, right?

I went to sleep with ease, but when I opened my eyes again.

Dendrology (O)

Environmental Conservation Engineering (X)

Understanding Wildlife (X)

Plants and Environment (X)

An otherworldly attendance record that would make even a passing goblin laugh had been completed.

What the… my attendance record is already ruined?

Damn it.

I’m spilling the tea on how several courses changed to remote recorded lectures thanks to an alien species LOLOLOLOL

Author: Anonymous.

I was cursing because of the 1st period class on the first day of school.

Still, I was planning to take a nap until the next class since they said they’d just do an orientation and end it.

When the professor asked if there were any questions about the lecture, I was thinking “Who cares about that stuff these days?” and praying that no one would ask anything.

But then some jerk throws out a question… when I need to sleep more.

They asked so damn confidently LOL, asking if there are disadvantages for not participating in practical sessions.

I was laughing thinking, “What an out-of-touch girl,” but… that person was an alien species.

They said they’re a species that can’t go outside during the day, and even participating in real-time remote classes is difficult.

After hearing that, the professor said they understood, and three hours after the class ended, a notice was posted.

(Roughly a notice saying they would proceed with remote recorded lectures from now on)

It says it’s only until guidelines come down, but it’s really sweet LOL

The professor must have convinced other professors too because notices for several other courses changing to remote recorded lectures have been posted.

Ah, [Alien Species], they are a god…

Likes 45 Comments 23

– I’m so jealous… We have practical training right in the next class…

– Why are there no alien species in our department? This is discrimination against departments without alien species, damn it

– It must be forest environmental science… That was comedic LOL, the professor’s expression change was really extreme.

– But they were really pretty. Really, they’d put most girl groups to shame? (Author)

– I want… I want recorded lectures too… Damn…

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When I woke up from my nap, many things had changed once again.

Half of the real-time face-to-face lecture courses had become recorded lectures, and a notice had been posted saying that species transformation victims with unavoidable circumstances would not be disadvantaged for not participating in practical sessions.

Extremely good news for me, who finds it difficult to participate in classes and practical training.

I sometimes wonder if they’re being too accommodating for just one person, but well… isn’t it better to accept good things?

“…Since I don’t know what will happen next semester, I should look for other options.”

While this semester may be chaotic due to the species transformation incident having occurred so recently, by the time the next semester comes around, the confusion will have settled and clear guidelines will be in place.

It’s a fact that many people can’t be disadvantaged for the sake of a very small minority, so it was clear that attending university would become more difficult after this semester ends.

The tuition I’ve paid so far and the time I’ve spent is regrettable, but what can I do? It’s not like I can accomplish anything by holding on.

While organizing the clutter in my room, I spoke with a puzzled voice.

“…But, why a vampire, really?”

Come to think of it, since I’m in a nature-related department, wouldn’t becoming a druid or an elf make more sense?

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no connection to vampires, so I paused my organizing and tilted my head in confusion. Just then, Jaehyuk, who had come to help clean the room, smirked and teased me.

“Why? It suits you quite well.”

“…In what way exactly?”

“You like darkness, and you hate moving and going outside. Isn’t that exactly you?”

“You wanna die?”

When I glared at him sharply, he cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.

“Hey, but I have something serious to ask you.”

“…What.”

“Why the hell are you wearing my clothes? Those boxer shorts and that shirt, aren’t those mine?”

“They are.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I continued speaking as if to say, “So what?”

“I didn’t have any clothes to change into, so I just wore these for now. Why, don’t you like it?”

“…”

“If you don’t like it, I can just walk around naked. We’re both men anyway, what’s the big deal.”

As I was about to take off the shirt without much thought, he hurriedly stopped me.

“…Stop.”

“Huh?”

“It’s fine, so just stop, kid! I’ll allow it, so just keep wearing them, okay!”

“Why are you getting angry? What did I do?”

“That’s…! Haah, never mind. It would just hurt my mouth to explain.”

“What is it, really?”

I looked at him with a curious face, but Jaehyuk just shook his head and didn’t give any answer.

The surest way to annoy a Korean: “starting to say something and then stopping.”

Experiencing it after a long time felt annoying, so I pressed him once more, but.

He looked at his watch and performed a quick exit strategy, saying it was time for him to go to work.

“I think I’ve helped enough, can you organize the rest on your own from here?”

“Actually, just giving me a room was enough. As thanks for your help, I’ll buy you a meal later.”

“More than a meal, why don’t you go with Hye-eun and buy some clothes? I think that would be more helpful to me.”

“True, I can’t keep stealing your clothes. It’s also inconvenient because I only have that one set of outerwear I wore yesterday.”

I should go buy clothes tomorrow or the day after when I have time.

I’ll contact Hye-eun and make plans.

While I was briefly pondering what kind of clothes to buy, he had already reached the entrance.

I waved at him with a bright smile, telling him to take care.

“Have a safe trip.”

“…Sure.”

Perhaps because he had helped so enthusiastically with cleaning the room, his face leaving the house was as red as a carrot.

It’s still early spring.

Was it that hot?