First of all, humans are fundamentally biased beings.
What could be the reason for forgiving a violent husband or an unfaithful wife?
It’s probably because they tend to view themselves or their acquaintances through a subjective and emotional lens.
Secondly, to realize ignorance, it’s important to recognize what one does not know.
No matter how many times you solve basic arithmetic, you can’t solve calculus problems.
To improve your skills, you need to learn what you don’t know.
“Now, let’s have an unlimited discussion on the topic of why Monica Ricci won’t win the European Super Cup starting now.”
“Wowwww.”
It’s called cramming for the match.
Ideally, one should gradually compensate for weaknesses and strengthen strengths as the match day approaches to enhance competitiveness.
But Monica Ricci had no time to try something new due to an injury.
At most, she can just practice casting, right?
Therefore, we will thoroughly target Monica’s weaknesses and transform her into a perfect Magic Battle player by the match day.
– Public kill event ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
– That’s too cruel, lol.
– Won’t it expose her weaknesses instead?
– NoName ← Seems like Monica is just getting addicted to the bashing, lol.
– So today is the day of Italy’s doom~~~ Smash the pasta!
“By the way, I have already gotten permission from the Italian coaching staff.”
“Wait, I didn’t hear that…! Why are you tormenting me like this! I can’t accept actions that tarnish the Ricci family’s honor!”
“Didn’t you hear? Let me explain it again. First, humans are fundamentally biased beings—”
“Ughhh, boohoo.”
What if it’s already a bloodbath before it even starts?
I resolved to suppress my instincts to bully nobles as much as possible.
The first speaker was Giselle Fischer, who knocked Monica out of the National Exchange Tournament.
“Um, can I start?”
“Go ahead.”
Giselle took the microphone and climbed to the center of the Magic Battle Arena.
Monica crossed her arms and glared, as if to say, “Say whatever, I’m listening.”
“Just in case, let me say this: luck won’t work on me again when cutting off Mana Stream with just senses. I won’t even bother acknowledging such ridiculous scenarios.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter because we won’t be opponents anymore. Indeed, while luck played a role in my victory over you, I believe recognizing your magic patterns in the first half was key to my win.”
“Can you explain that in detail?”
Curiosity piqued, I immediately replayed the match from the National Exchange Tournament.
Giselle recited the data painstakingly extracted by the Argentina coaching staff.
“Among Ricci’s magic, the most frequently used one is Plasma Manipulation.”
Monica Ricci, the Alpha and Omega.
She can be considered the best wizard in the world at handling Plasma Manipulation magic.
Controlling intangible beams of light to concentrate and fire them like lasers, or transforming them into plasma blades for close combat.
“Since it’s a spell she’s so used to, she always ends up doubling or tripling her casts. Did you know that Plasma Manipulation sometimes reveals other spells?”
“N-no way!”
Monica shouted in surprise.
There’s no greater humiliation for a wizard than having their casting exposed early.
But it makes sense she’d be taken aback before casting.
“That’s not because there’s a problem with the magic circle…”
I recalled the situation while processing Giselle’s words and suddenly realized its meaning.
“Then why don’t you guess what magic I’m using? What nonsense are you talking about?”
Monica immediately climbed up to the training arena.
[Cast: Plasma Manipulation]
A blue and purple light spread widely above her head.
In that state, Monica cast one more new spell.
The magic circle was layered thickly with Rune replacements, circuit formations, and encryption.
[Cast: Ignis Rii-]
“Ignis Lichtenberg.”
“Ignis Lichtenberg.”
Giselle and I answered simultaneously.
“Oh, I see! The shape of Plasma Manipulation has changed, hasn’t it?”
Cecilia quickly slapped her fist and realized.
[Cast: Ignis Rihitenberg@&$]
“No way…”
The spell shattered in the air, unable to complete its casting.
I pointed to the spot above Monica’s head.
“Giselle was right. You were optimizing your Plasma due to double-casting.”
To minimize the decrease in efficiency from double casting, she unconsciously altered her Plasma magic.
“Monica, for 11 minutes in the second half, you whittled down Giselle’s barrier by just 27%. Based solely on performance, there’s no doubt you lost.”
“…”
Upsets don’t happen for no reason.
In the end, it was only because Giselle Fisher managed to endure the second half based on data that this luck was possible.
With a shocked Monica in the background, the next person continued to press her.
“I’m not sure if someone like me, who fell in the preliminaries, should say this.”
“It’s okay, Everett, go ahead…”
“I usually rate Lady Ricci’s skills very highly, but looking at this again, a few questions come to mind. You insist on hand casting Plasma Manipulation instead of wand casting; if someone like Germany’s Aaron Krüger interferes with your Mana field, is there a way for you to switch to wand casting?”
Aside from revealing other magic, Monica was constructing her magic circle in a very complex manner.
While it wasn’t a pressing issue by any means,
“No, I can’t do that…”
Since she had never been countered in the National Exchange Tournament, she had no idea how.
Monica, who was critiqued for her Aura usage skills, was now being publicly pointed out for her magic issues.
Cecilia mentioned that Monica’s encryption method could decipher the latest counter theories.
Ruohan and Mei analyzed that her hovering time in close combat was excessively long, while Hiroyuki pointed out that Monica gets fooled by bluffing too often.
“You have a tendency to reject luck too much. If you repeat a 1% chance 100 times, it skyrockets to 63.4%.”
Whoooooosh-
Emika created spinning aura blades.
The blades on her palm spun at high speed, continuously disturbing the Mana in the air.
Clang-!
The Mana supply for the Plasma Manipulation Monica had been casting was interrupted.
Emika had further developed the method she used against Love Kim in the National Exchange Tournament.
“I see now. While everyone is progressing forward, I kept thinking only about the National Exchange Tournament… Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom for a moment.”
Monica bit her lips tightly and hastily fled the training arena.
Her expression while running didn’t look good at all.
Gasp
Wow, is she cryingㅠㅠㅠㅠ
This doesn’t look good. She didn’t even notice her magic being spoiled.
It’s always awkward for the coaching staff of Argentina to know something that Germany or Switzerland doesn’t.
Seriously, this is more about blaming the Italian coach rather than the players.
Is Italy really finished? 😭😭😭😭
Winning the Europa League was probably just because they couldn’t gather data on Monica.
The perspective of the players is completely different.
Of course, they’re all GOATs in their respective fields, right?
Not a peep from NoName yet.
Shrrrr-
I scrolled down the holographic feedback filled with viewers’ emotions, keeping an eye on them.
The height of the holographic screen was slightly taller than my height.
“What should I do? But I have to say something—”
“No! Hold on, NoName!”
“How could you have so many things to say, lol.”
“If you say everything, Monica will 100% be found cold as a corpse tomorrow.”
“Did everyone suggest having a feedback time just to avoid awkwardness if someone spoke alone?”
Ah, this was the point, lol.
NoName is a genius, wow!
Clearly, if her form has been in decline all year, and now with an injury, it’s definitely the end.
It’s not something that can be fixed in just a week.
To make a girl cry at 10 years old is impressive.
NoName, please stop!ㅠㅠ
Based on the viewers’ sentiments, I decided to temporarily leave the broadcast and head to the bathroom.
I found Monica washing her face.
Her cosmetics pouch was scattered all over the washbasin.
She looked up, blinking with bloodshot eyes.
“I just saw a glimpse of the broadcast. You have a lot to say too. This is just too much, really.”
When did she even catch that?
I nodded slightly.
“If I can fix everything within a week, I can win, right?”
Her slightly choked voice betrayed her pain.
“Are you feeling anxious? Afraid the results won’t come out as you want?”
“…”
“If you really gave up, you wouldn’t be anxious at all. I believe you can definitely win, even if you fix just a fraction of it. Or even if you fix nothing at all, luck might still lead you to victory.”
Even if her weaknesses were exposed, that doesn’t mean the other players could target them easily.
It would be better to receive feedback moderately without compromising her own fighting style.
“No, what I want is a definite victory. I’m fine, so push me harshly. This is Monica Ricci, and I will follow diligently.”
A girl who had just been hurt by her peers’ feedback.
A girl who chose to train regardless of her fans’ harsh remarks.
What would be her true self? There was no need to contemplate; both represented Monica Ricci.
Both infinitely fragile and infinitely strong.
Feeling a sense of pride, I brushed back Monica’s damp, abundant hair behind her shoulder.
“Hey? What’s that mark on your neck?”
The concealer applied to her skin had run down with the water, revealing a reddish line.
A scar, faintly spreading like branches around a solid line that encircled her neck, showed traces of healing—a scar that seemed quite old appeared painful just by looking at it.
“Nothing at all!”
Monica swiftly covered her neck with her hair.
“…”
What kind of injury could that be?
I continued to gaze at her with serious eyes until she spilled the beans first.
“This is, um… you know… when someone gets distracted by middle school disease and has strange thoughts. Out of curiosity, I tried to mess around a bit… Ah, maybe Na-me doesn’t know what that feels like.”
A suicide attempt? There was no way that scar came from hanging herself.
She was definitely sleepy, but unusually, burn marks overlapped.
“Actually, there was just one thing I wished I could fix before the match.”
“Oh really…! What is it, NoName? Hurry up and tell me so I can fix it.”
“When looking at all the matches, it felt like Monica was oddly aware of attacks aimed at her head. Typically, you should either defend or evade with your aura, but trying to do both like an amateur seemed strange to me.”
The head and neck are critical points.
Therefore, it would be normal for a person to defend and evade simultaneously.
But as a Magic Battle player, it’s a habit that could be eliminated with just a week of training.
“Exactly! When I absorbed erosion, I also moved my aura excessively to the top, resulting in much worse damage.”
Compared to aura monsters like Emika or Giselle, Monica’s level was lacking. But even so, considering the volume of her aura, she still possessed an inhumanly high spec.
“Do you perhaps have a hint too?”
Silence was affirmative.
“Can I take a quick look?”
“Don’t worry about it since seeing scars isn’t my thing.”
“I just want to take a quick look. I’m aware it’s rude to ask.”
In the mirror, my eyes were a bright blue.
[Greed – Varitia]
The blue aura shimmered on my right index finger.
Like swiftly wiping away the sauce stains on my face, I pressed her neck gently with my finger and slowly traced it.
I erased the mark she had longed to hide.
Grrrrrrr-
Monica looked at the mirror, quickly displaying shock.
“How… how on earth…!”
“With this, I’ve cleared my debt.”
Honestly, I felt quite sorry for having hurt her.
