Chapter 270

The Academy对抗赛 is structured over a total of two weeks.

The main match showcased on the broadcast will take place during the second week.

During the first week, the academy participants from both sides will participate in joint training sessions to gauge each other’s strengths.

Students will check whether they are using any dangerous magic and participate in informal battles while working with the faculty to strategize against their foes’ weaknesses.

This year’s event will be held at the Altair Foundation’s Stadium.

Thus, students from elementary to high school gathered one by one at the central Assembly Hall of the foundation to catch the bus heading north.

“Look over there! Those second-year students aren’t even greeting us and are just huddled together, gossiping. I could never imagine that when I was in school!”

One sixth-grade elementary student squinted and grumbled.

“Aren’t the fourth and fifth graders supposed to manage the second and third graders?”

A female student next to her sighed quietly.

“Let it be. Let’s just see how long they’ll keep that up.”

“We never did that back in our day…”

“Well then, could you older brothers and sisters come over here and line up properly?”

““Huh?””

The twelve-year-olds turned their heads toward me simultaneously at my cautiously uttered words.

[Seviron Academy Elementary Division]

I plastered a calm expression on my face while carrying the heavy signboard on my shoulder.

Unlike the cute and trivial chick drawing on the sign, the material itself was made of stainless steel, making it quite heavy.

“Wow, it’s No Name!”

“Unspecified Gender, you’re participating in the Academy对抗赛 too!”

“Wow, those second-graders have already secured a victory. So envious, so envious.”

“Ugh, that must be heavy. Why did you bring that all the way here? Let me help. Oof!”

“Oh, thanks.”

Why are the kids nowadays so tall?

From the second to fifth grades, they were gathered together, but I couldn’t find the final participant from the sixth grade and wandered the gym for quite a while.

It turned out that the group I had passed by, thinking they were middle schoolers, was all sixth graders.

With boys and girls over 160 cm tall, it was no wonder I got confused.

In fact, the first-year middle school students looked more like elementary school kids.

“Unspecified Gender, but what’s that name tag you’re wearing?”

One boy pointed at my name tag necklace and asked.

Unlike the yellow chick name tag of the elementary division, mine had a green lizard design representing the middle school division.

“Oh, this? It means I’m a senior of the older brothers and sisters from the training period until the end of the tournament.”

At that moment.

Bang—!

The door next to the platform swung open violently.

Three students neatly dressed in Seviron Academy uniforms walked out.

All the kids froze in place.

“It’s the high school student council…”

A boy gulped down his dry saliva.

The earlier annoying boy had turned into a frightened young deer witnessing a ferocious beast.

“Ah, Seviron Academy students.”

The chatter began to quiet down.

However, there were still local broadcasts lingering in various spots.

The student holding the microphone suddenly made a serious face and scanned us thoroughly.

“Quiet.”

“…”

“Are we going on a field trip now? Hmm?”

A low drawl made its way through, as if mimicking a training instructor.

“Each of you students here represents the face of our academy, so please engrave that deeply in your heart. Maintain silence indoors and move orderly according to the student council’s guidance. That’s all.”

“Starting from the second graders in elementary, please follow me in order!”

After the dignified guidance from the graduating students, we boarded the buses waiting outside the gym in turn.

Excluding the candidates, the total number of participants in the Academy对抗赛 is 50.

Events that gather all students from second grade in elementary to second year in high school happen only a few times a year.

The gazes of young students looking up to their seniors with longing, and the curious eyes of boys and girls scanning their juniors, crossed paths.

“Huh?”

Just before getting on the bus, some students were waving at me vigorously.

The second-grade friends, Yuna and Haru.

“Unspecified Gender! Aren’t you getting on?”

“The bus is about to leave!”

“Guys, hurry up and get on. We’re waiting for people.”

Following the guidelines of the student council seniors, they ended up boarding the elementary bus without hearing my reply.

Vroom—

The bus carrying the elementary students departed, and the chattering children vanished.

In the meantime, I enjoyed the cool autumn breeze, admiring their disappearing figures.

They are really energetic kids. I hope that energy continues until the tournament.

“Ah.”

While scratching my head, a hairpin decoration flew off in the wind and fell to the ground.

“Hey, you dropped this. Here.”

I heard a vaguely familiar voice from behind.

It seemed to belong to the high school student council president who had held the microphone earlier.

Turning my head, I saw a rather handsome young man with slicked-back hair extending a hand towards me.

His younger sibling was slightly taller. Looking up at him made my neck hurt.

“Thank you. You’re Shin Yeon Ho, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Do you know me?”

With an expression of surprise, the young man tilted his head.

Of course, I do.

In April, he reached the round of 16 in the National Sports Tournament. The current top strength of Seviron Academy and a core member of the Raon Clan. And…

“Are you the younger sibling of Shin Yeon Ho from Korea University’s Department of Theoretical Magic?”

“Yes.”

What? Is that all there is to his response?

I tried to engage in conversation through acquaintances, but his one-word reply cut off the dialogue abruptly.

“The bus will be leaving soon. I’ve also prepared your seat.”

“Ah, okay.”

The stoic man led me to the middle and high school bus.

By the way, the older brother is from Altar, but the younger sibling is at Seviron.

It felt a bit awkward to ask if they fought a lot while growing up, so I kept my lips tightly pressed together.

“Wait… What do you mean you prepared my seat?”

A sudden sense of unease caused my legs to stiffen.

To my question, Shin Yeon Ho walked a few steps forward and answered dully.

“Car seat.”

* * *

Peeking through the curtain, a vast view of the Han River unfolded outside.

The sunlight absorbed into the water made it sparkle like the Milky Way, flowing beautifully.

To prevent the bright sunlight from disturbing the sleepy youths of our academy, I blocked the rays with the curtain and leaned back once more into the child-sized car seat.

I should never ride a charter bus again.

“The law is ridiculous. If they’re going to apply it, they should apply it consistently by age. Or categorize it by type of transportation. There’s no consistency.”

“Hehe, is it really that uncomfortable? We’re almost there, so our brave Unspecified Gender just needs to endure a bit longer!”

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. Ugh… Done.”

A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

I never knew that I had to be in a car seat at my age in Korea.

It turns out that charter buses using highways are required to use car seats for anyone under 130 cm in height.

Anyway, with the Road Traffic Act and the Passenger Transport Business Act, the only thing I could do was to maximize my spirit of compliance.

All safety regulations were likely written in blood, so I could only guess that similar fatal accidents occurred in the past.

No wonder the friends who waved at me earlier seemed to sit quite tall.

It seems that their bus had car seats prepared for the second graders.

“When I heard you were participating as a candidate from the middle school division, I was quite surprised. I heard you were selected through an informal preliminary round?”

Before long, Shin Yeon Ho, who had woken up, unfolded his arms and joined our conversation.

“Whoa, when did you wake up? And it’s not like we’re going to war, why say participating?”

“War? This is a war. Look at the kids in front of you.”

Sitting in the back row with the student council, I looked where he was pointing.

While some children were comfortably leaning against the window and sleeping, there were various expressions such as kids pulling their hair, tapping their feet, or biting their nails.

“What are you thinking?”

“Overall, it seems gloomy. They look somewhat repressed.”

“I think the same.”

“So, what do you want to say?”

At my direct question, Shin Yeon Ho hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“We were in the last participant in 2050 last year.”

That would make sense. The president and vice president of the student council were both in their third year of high school, the time to prepare for entrance exams.

“I and the vice president, Eun Byeol, have experienced all ten Academy对抗赛.”

“You’ve really spent a long time at the academy.”

Ten years—considering from first grade in elementary to now being in third year of high school, it’s a total of 12 years at the academy.

They really have invested their entire lives in the academy.

“How many times do you think we won out of those ten? Do you know the historical records of the past Academy对抗赛?”

“No, I don’t really look into the old ones.”

“Our grade won 7 out of 10 times. But the overall record is 2 wins, 1 draw, and 7 losses. Pathetic, right?”

“Seems like the upperclassmen and underclassmen didn’t have much luck.”

“Many think that way. A lot of friends still do. But after losing three times, we don’t have the right to say such things.”

“Indeed, since we’re all bound together as a family at the academy, it doesn’t seem good to blame each other. But isn’t the process more important than the results?”

“That’s right. But this is the result. The last time we won was eight years ago. Almost no students now remember that.”

“Ah…”

His words made my eyes widen in surprise.

Eight years ago means that the current elementary and middle school children have no experience of winning at all?

“Hey, Shin Yeon Ho. Why are you being so serious with the kids?”

“No Name, you’re a genius, right?”

“Excuse me?”

This student council president looks like Shin Yeon Ho but has a personality completely like Ban So Wol—fourth-dimensional.

I was nervously on edge, unsure of what might come out of his mouth.

“I think the level difference between Seviron and Altar students is practically negligible. So why have we been losing continuously? I’ve been pondering that.”

“What do you think, senior?”

“I concluded that the cause lies in the negligence of the student council and the operating committee. So I became the student council president to try and win this darn tournament at least once before I graduate.”

“Well, do you really think such a large gap could develop over just a week of preparation?”

“…”

I roughly understand now.

They probably couldn’t find a clear answer, so they sought reasons to try something different.

“Please, go on.”

“Once a defeatist mentality takes root, it can corrupt the entire academy. The culture where upperclassmen feedback supports and lowerclassmen back them up is also essential, but there’s absolutely none of that in our Seviron Academy.”

“In short, you’re saying there’s a strong inclination toward individualism.”

“That’s right. So, No Name, I have a heartfelt request for you in this Academy对抗赛.”

“What is it?”

“Come here.”

Shin Yeon Ho whispered his plan in my ear.

Meanwhile, the vice president, Choi Eun Jung, was shaking her head vehemently.

“Of course.”

“How about it? Can you do it?”

“Historically, fighting is my specialty.”

“What? Hey, Shin Yeon Ho! What did you just say to Unspecified Gender?”

“I didn’t say to hit! I didn’t ask for that!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll train the students from Seviron Academy well.”

Somehow, I had a strong feeling that this Academy对抗赛 was going to be exciting.