Chapter 273

Those who wrote degrading posts about Name online were likely to face immediate backlash.

Setting aside her cute appearance that triggers the protective instincts of adults, her exceptional talents, which have gained worldwide attention, along with her mature personality and her voluntary participation in charity work, make her practically untouchable.

Except for her erratic broadcast times that leave her viewers in suspense, Name was, by her mere existence, a ‘sanctuary.’

However, her position within the Academy was somewhat delicate.

The children from elementary to middle school were too young to remember the series of kidnappings by Walpurgis that had once taken Korea by storm or the Bafwadai Bridge disaster.

Therefore, no matter how much their parents explained about Name, the children found it hard to relate.

Additionally, the 6th graders at the Academy were going through a sensitive period as they prepared for their impending middle school entrance exams.

As parents continued to mention Name as a point of comparison, the kids had long set aside any feelings of pity for her past and could only see her as an annoying presence.

Yet, there was no doubt that Name’s magic skills were outstanding.

Not only could she replicate the Arc Lightning spell cast by Seong Eunbyeol but her power was not lacking either.

Regarding his confrontation with Name, Namgung Jin felt rather competitive.

So, he decided to face Name’s magic head-on, just as he had with Seong Eunbyeol, without backing down.

“Are you okay, senior? That must have hurt a lot. I’ll help you up, so you can get up now. There are too many eyes watching; aren’t you embarrassed?”

And this is the result.

“Whoa. Whoa.”

Namgung Jin shook his head as he regained consciousness.

“Puhaha! Namgung Jin, did you seriously faint from her magic? Haha, it’s so funny it hurts… Heheh.”

“No, that… that can’t be true?”

“What do you mean it can’t be true? It’s obvious you fainted! Ugh, so embarrassing.”

He was confident he could face the electric magic that Seong Eunbyeol unleashed at full power.

There was no way he would fall from the magic of an 8-year-old child when they had the Aura Barrier.

“Come here. It’s bad for your body to have electric magic residuals in you, so let me help ground you.”

Name opened her arms wide and hugged Namgung Jin from behind.

The feeling of a tiny being sticking to his back.

‘She’s too cute!’

At this moment, Namgung Jin could somewhat understand why the girls in his class were so excited after meeting Name at the snack bar.

This isn’t ordinary cuteness.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, so I won’t apologize. But please don’t hate me too much just because I said something that might seem disrespectful to the older siblings.”

Name spoke with her small mouth.

Namgung Jin could predict what kind of expression the child had without needing to turn around.

Even his slightly spiteful feelings melted away at her voice, so he nodded awkwardly and accepted her apology.

“I don’t dislike you. I guess I’ve been a bit sensitive lately. I’m really sorry for misunderstanding based on rumors.”

“Rumors? What rumors?”

“Oh. Actually, there was a rumor among us that you looked down on your seniors. That you were gossiping behind their backs. But seeing you now, you don’t seem like that kind of friend.”

“Ah, I see… that’s also a misunderstanding, yes.”

Name awkwardly avoided his gaze.

She speculated that the times she deliberately turned away when encountering seniors in the hallway had been misconstrued.

Even if her physical age was only eight years, her mental age exceeded that of an adult by far.

There were often situations where it felt awkward to greet seniors when passing by the cafeteria or the snack bar.

Who is Name, after all?

In her first life, she lived as a man for 25 years, and in her second life, she lived as a woman for 25 years, plus eight more years.

Especially considering her previous life, though she might be called “witch,” “cursed girl,” “traitor,” or “deviant child” behind her back, she was always addressed as “Your Highness” and “Savior” with utmost respect in front of her.

But being called “older sister” and “brother” several times a day made her feel as if she were denying everything she had built up regarding her gender and age since her past life.

“Hey, friend! But how did you break the Aura Barrier with Arc Lightning? I couldn’t break it no matter what. Can you tell me your secret?”

Fortunately, Seong Eunbyeol’s sudden interruption spared Name from having to clarify.

“Actually, I have my own secret. If you learn the trick, you could probably do it in a day.”

“In a day? How?”

Seong Eunbyeol perked up.

Could it be a new magic circuit not introduced in textbooks?

Or was there an effective method to channel mana?

But Name’s answer was simply ludicrous.

“You just need to eat electric eel dishes three times a day.”

* * *

The stars in the night sky were consumed by neon signs, leaving only the lonely full moon behind.

At 11 PM, it was quite late, so I took the sleepy children back to their dorms.

In the meantime, I had guided the 6th graders to the Roof Terrace of the hotel.

“Name, I actually have a weak stomach, so I don’t think I could eat something like eel…”

“What are you saying? Eating ice doesn’t make you good at ice magic.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Of course not.”

Such beliefs are mere superstitions on par with hexagonal water, germanium bracelets, and fan legends.

Even in a world where magic exists, such supernatural and absurd rules do not hold sway.

“Actually, there were some people watching us earlier.”

“At the Training Hall?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

It was likely from Altear.

They seemed intent on gathering every little detail of our trivial interactions.

There might even have been a young teacher disguised among the students in their uniforms.

“Why are they watching us when we didn’t do anything wrong?”

“They were probably disguising themselves as students on purpose to observe our training and analyze our weaknesses.”

“Eh? That’s unfair.”

“Well, there’s no rule against it, so it’s not technically cheating… but it’s not fair play either.”

According to the student council president’s testimony, secret information about our Academy was being leaked unknowingly from places where teachers couldn’t see.

“But is that such a big problem? We’re rehearsing once this week anyway, so we’re going to know how to fight by that time.”

“Unlike a rehearsal, personal duels retain the habits that we show in daily life.”

There was a world of difference between observing a duel through a student’s eyes and a teacher’s eyes.

It seemed the kids might not realize how severe of a penalty they were starting with.

“I’ll give you an example. If other students had come to watch, it could have ended with something like, ‘Seong Eunbyeol primarily uses electric magic, so I need to be cautious when handling water magic.’”

“Okay, but?”

“But what if a teacher’s input is involved? Then it becomes something like, ‘Avoid Argen-type magic, use water-type magic to nullify their spells, swiftly tackle them with a single-leg takedown, followed by an elbow attack to nullify their debris barrier.’ Do you see the difference?”

Of course, just hearing this wouldn’t mean every student could apply it directly in practice.

However, considering how Altear Academy had been able to achieve overwhelming results over the last decade, significant changes in win percentages could have been achieved.

“You… you…”

“Anyway, don’t forget that this is the main base of Altear Academy-”

“How do you know all this!”

Seong Eunbyeol’s expression was filled with shock.

Namgung Jin also dropped his phone, his mouth agape, and began to contact someone.

“Hey, guys. Come up to the rooftop quickly. It’s really not Name… It’s insane! No, it’s not the time to look at the Mark? Hurry up!”

Click—

He carelessly shoved his phone into his pocket and grabbed my hand with shining eyes.

“Hey, Name! Can you keep telling me? What other weaknesses does Seong Eunbyeol have?”

“I haven’t seen anything besides Arc Lightning, so I can’t give solid answers just yet…”

“I’ll buy you an ice cream every time you tell me something!”

“Really?”

“Promise, promise!”

“As I mentioned, Seong Eunbyeol’s weakness is that she always sticks to series circuits, leading to her being nullified by water-type magics, but she can actually also be nullified with subversion spells from the Maven type.”

“Another one?”

“Also, she has a habit of always calculating compound resistance at the end, which means the security of the magic circle itself is weak. So, you don’t have to nullify everything—”

“Stop! Aaaah, just stop!”

Seong Eunbyeol screamed.

“This is truly unfair! That was my secret! Huh?”

Why had she left it unaddressed while knowing all along?

“If you knew, you should’ve thought about fixing it! How long were you planning to keep that a secret? Everything I said is not complex and perfectly understandable at the middle school level.”

“Ugh… fine. After this, tell me all the weaknesses about Namgung Jin too. That way, it’ll be fair.”

“Sounds reasonable. Besides this, there’s really nothing more to say. But you can tell you learned magic correctly… Ah!”

“Why? Is there more? What is it?”

This is a bit ambiguous. I wonder if I can say this.

I hesitated, my words trailing off.

“Come on! Just say it! I’ll fix everything before the match!”

Fortunately, Seong Eunbyeol granted me permission first.

Well, it’s just advice between girls, so this should be okay. I’m just a child; there’s no concern about violating child protection laws.

“I noticed you habitually pull your T-shirt behind you while moving. If it’s sweaty and bothersome, I’d recommend wearing a sports bra.”

“…”

“If perhaps it’s slipping off, that might just mean the size doesn’t fit…”

A sudden cold breeze brushed by, sending goosebumps up my arms.

It really felt like autumn now.

“Namgung Jin. Could you step aside for a moment so I can talk with Name?”

Seong Eunbyeol commanded in a chilly voice.

“Uh? Uh… I hope you two can resolve this well…! Name, I’m sorry! Pikachu, you also tone it down!”

In contrast, Namgung Jin hurriedly scampered away.

“Name.”

“Yes?”

“You shouldn’t say such things in front of others.”

With a face as red as a beet, Seong Eunbyeol pinched my cheek.

“Wheh (you allowed it).”

“Yeah, I did allow it! Thanks to that, I can fix things quickly! I’m really, really grateful…!”

“I’m glad. Actually, it was the most important advice I provided today, so thank you for listening.”

While it may seem trivial, the human brain has limits to how many commands it can process at once.

Feeling bothered implies that our body senses a significant discomfort.

Professional gamers obsessively adjust their settings; athletes follow annoying routines, all to focus entirely on one element.

In that sense, the feedback I provided can be deemed the most effective advice for a girl.

Fortunately, it seemed she didn’t take my advice lightly.

“Ugh… Name, you need to give that same feedback to the other kids as well. Got it?”

“I was actually planning to do that today. For everyone from 2nd grade to 6th grade.”

Tomorrow morning, until the match is over, everyone will have their own schedules, so today marks the last of their free time.

Anyway, there’s still plenty of time until dawn.

“6, 5, 4, 3, 2. If we do one hour for each grade, we should be finished by sunrise.”

This makes me feel like a watchman.

The real problem is that I’ll hardly get a wink of sleep, but someone has to step up and take care of it.