The training arena on the hotel rooftop was packed from the early dawn of the first day of boot camp.
Huuuuu…
Na-me’s sigh pierced through the silence.
The elementary division students, with terrified eyes, looked at Na-me’s face illuminated by the moonlight.
Na-me handed a slate to each of them and spoke firmly.
“By tomorrow, you have to memorize all the rotational motion circuit formulas. It’s probably too much to grasp the concept of inertia right now, so just memorize the magic circle shape as it is.”
“By… tomorrow?!”
“Yes. Whether you’ve done it properly or not will be checked by the 4th-grade senior girls. You know what happens if you don’t finish by tomorrow, right?”
“What happens…?”
“School life will become really, really, extremely inconvenient. Even if you greet the seniors first, they will absolutely ignore you, and when delicious stir-fried sausage and vegetables are served in the cafeteria, you’ll only get a single piece of sausage. Or even worse, you might just get broccoli!”
How scary is that? Na-me snorted.
“Eeek! I’ll do it!”
“Good. Now, can you bring the 2nd graders? They should be in rooms 711, 713, and 715.”
After about an hour of intense class, the 3rd-grade kids barely managed to escape the horrific embarrassment.
In the academy, the presence of seniors was absolute.
Due to the nature of continuously entering academies under the same foundation, maintaining good relationships was crucial since they would be stuck together for years until graduation from high school.
So once Na-me firmly took control of the 6th graders, everything went smoothly.
The 6th graders started pressuring the 5th graders, and the 5th graders hassled the 4th graders below them.
And now the kids at the very bottom of the food chain had just received the baton.
Huaaaaam… Why on earth are we waking up this early?
“Wow, there’s a training arena on the rooftop! So what’s today’s special training?”
Ji-hye and Si-hoo chimed in.
While Yuna typically had little sleep, the other kids were rubbing their heavy eyelids.
“It’s only 5 o’clock! What the heck is happening? The 3rd-grade girls suddenly came to our room and surprised us!”
Especially, Ha-ru shook Na-me’s shoulders and asked why she woke them up at this dark hour.
“I am very disappointed in you all.”
Na-me muttered with half-closed eyes.
“Wha… what?!”
“Are you sleep-talking?”
“Everyone, sit down. Begin.”
“Begin…!”
Due to the strict influence of her father, Ji-hye instinctively squatted down to the ground.
“From now on, you will release all your aura from your body.”
At the unexpected command, Yuna tilted her head.
“How?”
“Why are you asking me? It’s your body, just do it however you like, whether you do push-ups or jump rope. Ok, time’s ticking, I’m giving you 5 minutes, start now.”
Na-me sat in one corner, closed her eyes, and quietly crossed her arms, counting down from 300.
“By the way, the last person to empty their aura will get an electric warm-up to wake them up.”
Krack-
Tiny sparks popped around Na-me.
Pazi-jik!
“Hey, you’re kidding, right?”
“Yeah?”
As Na-me opened her dark-circled eyes, everyone jumped slightly.
“Ouch!”
Feeling a jolt, Yoon Si-hoo hopped up and shook his hands. Yellow mana glimmered brightly.
“Think this is a joke? Time’s still passing, you better hurry up!”
Everyone quietly stared at each other with tightly shut mouths.
Meanwhile, the magic circle Na-me had conjured was getting bigger and bigger.
If that hits, we’re in big trouble…!
Having just experienced the static shock, Yoon Si-hoo quickly dropped to the floor and assumed a plank position.
He wrapped his aura around him, making his body suddenly heavy.
Stimulating the aura heart in the most inefficient way, big chunks of aura burst forth.
Seeing this, other kids quickly started doing handstands or push-ups.
With one eye slightly open, Na-me observed the kids sweating and smiled satisfactorily.
“If you have aura left in your body, it will waste the aura inside whenever you use magic unnecessarily. But if you empty all the aura, you can easily filter out what magic you really use well. This means you can cast magic with just a tiny bit of mana.”
Guhh, it’s so hard!
“Once you’ve emptied it, show which magic you’re confident with and cast it on this slate. We will select two types of spells for each of you to use in today’s competition. Ha-ru, you have the most left. Do you want to feel the jolt too?”
“Ah! This is the first training I’ve ever had! Isn’t it totally like Spider Training?”
“It’s more like Sparta Training, you fool Ha-ru!”
“Eh, Kim Han-gyeol, I didn’t ask you! Beep!”
Na-me was aiming for efficient training rather than effective training.
Even if I explain the opponent’s weaknesses in detail, the kids tend to fight as they feel comfortable.
Once a habit is ingrained, it doesn’t disappear easily.
If it were up to me, I’d turn everything upside down and start from scratch…
The students she had seen before also had many clumsy movements.
Na-me’s mouth twitched, but she didn’t point it out.
That would only trap both the teacher and the student in a never-ending pit of agony.
It’s nothing special. I just hated my teacher. Sometimes I thought it was hateful. I thought that if I killed my teacher, these painful days would end. How many times a day did I think that? But in the end, nothing changed. Even if I took a step closer, they moved much farther away from me. This is a stupid and silly reason for me to leave my teacher.
Na-me nodded off, pressing her temple.
Without Na-me, the hero Klaus wouldn’t exist either.
But suddenly, a thought struck her.
Did Klaus really want to be a hero himself?
I think I should step back now from the parallel lines of master and student. Then one day, won’t we meet face to face and smile at each other rather than behind? Until that day comes, I will live my life in penance for my teacher.
“Stop with the moaning…”
…?
Na-me’s head drooped down.
Then, softly and regularly, a rhythmic breathing was heard.
Watching the scene silently, the kids put their index fingers to their lips with mischievous smiles as if they’d made a pact.
“Shhh…!”
*
“Hello everyone, this is caster Kim Jae-sung. There are only five days left until the opening ceremony of the Seoul Regional Academy Competition! Currently, we are at the Altair Academy in Yongsan, Seoul. You can hear the students’ cheers from afar, and it’s truly exhilarating! There’s so much passion! Since KBS is the sponsoring broadcaster today, we plan to deliver entertaining interviews from both academies. Announcer Lim Se-bin, would you like to say a few words?”
“Dream together! Just like the phrase introduced by the Altair Foundation this year, I’m excited and a little nervous to meet the students who will step onto this dreamlike stage. Having followed the Academy Competition for the past five years, I’m really looking forward to what kind of spectacular match will unfold this year.”
“We’ve just received news that all rehearsal preparations at the academy have been completed. First, we will introduce the resolve of the academy principals and the representatives of the organizing committee, and then we will return shortly with interviews of the participants!”
Wednesday was the day for the students of Sephiron and Altair Academy to gather and observe rehearsal duels.
In the early days of the competition, it really was just a ‘rehearsal’ for the parties involved; now, it was considered an important day to assert dominance as part of the competition.
Unlike the academy competition, which is held 5 vs. 5 by grade, the rehearsal features representatives from each grade coming out one-on-one with simplified rules.
The match hadn’t even started yet, but the viewers couldn’t contain their nervous hearts.
During the boring commercials, they all logged into their communities to share updates.
[No Na-me cannot participate EU -> Can’t be 120 cm tall, lolololol]
– Is this real?
└ Yeah yeah, there’s a clause like that in every academy.
– That’s hilarious, lololololol.
└ If No Na-me isn’t there, there’s no reason to watch…
└ I have no reason to live,ㅠㅠㅠ.
└ Just die.
[My brother attends Altair Academy and he said he saw No Na-me in the training arena?]
– Turns out it was high-level bluffing, lol.
– A calamity is descending…
– It’s less than four months since the aura heart surgery, can they really participate normally?
└ The aura heart isn’t a heart. As long as the surgery goes well, they’re just like anyone else.
└ But the belly is still the same! Honestly, it could be a little dangerous.
[Experts are saying Altair has the upper hand again this year, is Sephiron really hopeless…?]
– Always losing but doing well, lol, they’re just luxury supporting characters.
– The elementary division is just a terrible performance; they should turn it into a cuteness contest.
└ No, originally the crap fights are more fun.
└ If they grow up in five years, they wouldn’t dare to say a word on the street, lol.
└ For real, they’re like Room Fortress Warriors level, lol.
– Fact: No Na-me schooled a stalker who tried to pick a fight on the street.
└ For real? When?
└ I remember that TikToker, lol, that’s famous, lololol.
Once students have participated in an event once, it was typical for them to return the following year, leading people to focus on three particular matches.
First and foremost, the match of the high school 2nd graders, which had the highest viewership.
The participants there had a very high probability of competing in the national skills competition held the following April, so it was a good chance to gauge their skills beforehand.
The second was the middle school 1st-grade match.
In the middle school division, many elementary division students were replaced, and instead of the wealth of their parents, students with outstanding abilities were gathered.
The level of magic might not be something ordinary people could comprehend, but the matches themselves weren’t boring, leading many people to prefer middle school matches over high school matches.
Lastly, was the elementary division 2nd grade match.
There was no grand reason; it was just cute!
[How many of the little ones will cry? I’m looking forward to it, lolololol.]
– The viewership is higher after the match is over than during the match itself, lololol.
– They’re so cute, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.
– If No Na-me cries, does that make me a horrible person?
└ Yeah, you’re a garbage person, but I understand your feelings, lol.
– If I drop ten royal strawberry cream crepes on the street in front of No Na-me, is that possible to make her cry?
└ You might get really beaten up.
– Honest opinion: Honestly, I think Na-me is stronger than me.
└ Is there an 8-year-old who throws the first punch in a street fight?
└ Why is this for real, lol?
[That student council president or whatever, get him out of the way and show No Name already!]
– Shin Jin-ho, the student council president, was last year’s MVP of the academy competition, but that’s too much…
└ Why haven’t I heard of this before?
└ He got knocked out in the round of 16 in the national skills competition, so unless you were paying attention, you wouldn’t know.
– The MVP of the competition only made it to the round of 16? The national skills competition is legendary…
– I want to see Ban So-wool again, ㅠㅠㅠ.
└ Talking about someone born in ’32 is ridiculous, lol.
└ Wow, people were being born in the ’30s?
└ Na-me was born in ’43!
└ Huh…!
– Shin Jin-ho, the student council president, is the younger brother of Shin Yeon-ho, who was Ban So-wool’s quarter-final opponent.
└ Elite family, d*mn.
During the academy rehearsal broadcast, Shin Jin-ho’s interview was on the air.
“A lot of viewers have left questions in real time. Isn’t there a very famous person in Sephiron Academy?”
At the reporter’s question, Shin Jin-ho smirked.
He seemed to have anticipated this.
“Are you talking about Na-me from the elementary division?”
“Yes! Everyone is really curious if the student No Name, or No Na-me, will participate in this competition!”
“Shall I guide you directly?”
“Uh?”
“She’s probably in our waiting room. Follow me.”
“Yes! Thank you so much!”
Having already captured the hearts of female fans, Shin Jin-ho even received applause from male fans.
Haha, lolololol!
– No Na-me’s participation confirmed, lol, all those Altair kids are dead meat, lololol.
The underground of the hotel was connected to the main training arena by a long corridor.
Walking down a hallway adorned with a chrysanthemum chandelier, they soon reached a somewhat dull cement wall, contrasting with the hotel atmosphere.
Click-
Shin Jin-ho opened the door to the middle school waiting room, passing by the elementary participants’ waiting room.
It was so natural that no one, including the reporter, noticed.
“Uh? Where did she go? Hey, kids.”
“”Hello, Student Council President!””
A few middle school kids were just frolicking in front of the mirror.
“Do you happen to know where Na-me is?”
“Na-me? She’s over there!”
Following where the kids pointed, both Shin Jin-ho’s gaze and the camera behind him moved simultaneously.
“Where?”
The spot the kids pointed to was empty.
“Over there, over there.”
“Where exactly? In the closet?”
When Shin Jin-ho asked again, the kids nodded cheerfully.
The small closet, which looked like it could barely fit a few coats, was heavily locked from the outside.
“Are you saying Na-me is in there?”
“Yes.”
That was the moment when the fortress of Shin Jin-ho’s poker face cracked.
Slowly turning back, he fixed his gaze on the reporter.
The reporter stuttered, caught off guard, and spoke.
“Isn’t this… the scene of school bullying…?”
Emergency! Broadcasting accident! Emergency! Broadcasting accident! Emergency! Broadcasting accident! Emergency! Broadcasting accident!
– Stop the school bullying!
– Did someone get inside there?
– Hurry, open it up…!
– No way, it’s No Na-me, right? Lol.
