Chapter 290

The news about the Seoul region Academy対抗赛 caused a huge stir as soon as the closing ceremony ended.

Working professionals, overcoming their Monday blues, checked the news plastered all over portal sites.

“Did you hear? This year, Seviron Academy won!”

“They always talk about changing generations. It must feel refreshing to break the losing streak.”

“But I heard they had a forfeited match in the middle school division?”

“Really? Why was that?”

Lee Jae-hwan, who cast a banned spell during the competition, could not escape public criticism.

Due to the swift action of him and his parents, who immediately shut down their social media, it seemed the controversy would quiet down, but…

[2051/10/21]

[For this day, I prepared to learn real magic. Did I overdo it during the rehearsal?]

[Haha, really? Are you seriously going to use that? You’ll get penalized later!]

[If it passed the management committee, there’s no problem, right?]

A 15-second short video posted anonymously on VTube reignited the controversy as conversations among Altear Academy students were leaked, suggesting they all knew about it beforehand.

Being aware that Noname had the entire recording as leverage, they couldn’t hastily publish a clarification for fear of provoking her.

In an increasingly oppressive atmosphere, they declared they would never participate in the competition again and uploaded a public apology before going into hiding.

However, this controversy was nothing compared to the news that Na-me had single-handedly defeated five middle school students.

“Did she beat a third-year student? An upperclassman?”

“No! She beat a 15-year-old in the 3rd year! There’s a seven-year gap!”

“Come on, stop joking. Noname looked like an absolute baby on TV; that doesn’t make sense.”

“Here.

[“The Republic of Korea is now a ‘Noname’ holding country! The young demon lord descends in 1vs5!” Full watch of the 2051 Seoul region Academy対抗赛 middle school division third-year blowout.]

[Views: 3,970,000]

It’s a story that sounds like a lie.

Yet, over 4 million people have already watched it.

An 8-year-old managing high-level magic?

Theoretically, it is possible, given they possess enough intelligence to understand the world.

An 8-year-old manifesting aura and performing martial arts?

This too is theoretically possible if they have a blessed Aura Heart from the world.

However, when low probabilities accumulate in one girl’s body, people call it impossible.

It was only natural that the entire community was ablaze with discussions about Na-me.

[I said it over and over, didn’t I? Noname is undeniably as talented as an Army Mage level! LOL]

Does the 10/10/10 achievement in No Name’s story mode seem like a joke?

Even active mages are sweating bullets about Bally Benavins.

They managed to see the loopholes between the open-world and magic system and cleared it using a polarized arrangement.

Examining the Mephistopheles battle, it seems they have some knowledge of 5th circle magic.

If Aura Heart continues to grow as is, I believe she could reach the top 0.01% in Korea, or even become the world’s number one mage.

[Comments]

-I usually avoid nationalistic feelings, but this is crazy.

└ Did she really wipe out her competition at 8 years old? Who could do that? LOL

-Noname was that good? I’ll rewatch the video.

-Virtual reality training methods are wild.

└ That’s pushing it a bit;

└ Didn’t she say she studied online while trapped in the capsule? Isn’t that what I’m saying?

[Thank you so much, Noname, for staying in Korea.]

Thinking back, Switzerland offering billions seems pitiful now.

[Comments]

-Not 10 billion, but wasn’t it 30 billion?

└ No, it was 100 trillion.

└ No, I heard they offered 1000 trillion?

└ Isn’t it 1 quadrillion?

└ You guys are ridiculous! LOL

-Switzerland’s Great Jenner or whatever ending up second was honestly really annoying. If there’s an 8-year-old who can wipe the floor with top-tier middle school monsters, let them come out.

└ The first place wasn’t even impressive. I got my electric engineering certification in America when I was a kid.

└ That itself is impressive, but compared to Noname, it feels so insignificant. LOL

[Still, those willing to buy the Demon Lord’s horn are well appreciated! LOL]

Honestly, it doesn’t seem like she won entirely due to the Demon Lord’s horn but rather her individual abilities… still, it would be hilarious if there are fools willing to be duped by that.

[Comments]

-Lol, does Na-me dislike reporters? Her interview responses were hilarious.

└ Would you like being slandered daily?

-If you donate, you get free magic passes; how can you resist?!

└ That’s an innovative idea.

└ That guy is insane! LOL

└ This person has become Noname’s broth. WWW

-Hurry up and take my money! Now!

└ Okay~ The first pre-order is already full!

└ There were only 10,000 spots! Already?

└ There were only 10,000? LOL They were all gone in 10 minutes.

In the past, it was said that words without feet could travel a thousand miles, but in the information age, news about Na-me was spiraling around the globe in mere seconds.

As everyone grew curious about Na-me’s future move,

her broadcast turned on late that night.

With a meaningful room title.

[NoName]

[Just Chatting – Thinking Room (Thank you so much to everyone who cheered for me in today’s competition.)]

[Broadcast Time – 0:01:49]

[Viewer Count – 8,332]

***

The Academy対抗赛 wrapped up at sunset around 6 PM after going through countless small schedules like interviews and a closing ceremony.

I collapsed into a deep sleep in the passenger seat and returned home after a week.

Professor Cheon prepared a steak with butter, thyme, and garlic for dinner.

The herb’s unique refreshing pine scent harmonized perfectly with the ruby-red meat and created a fantastic dish that could even melt the guilt of vegans.

While enjoying the joy of consuming calories, I didn’t notice that Professor Cheon was unusually quiet that day.

I merely thought he must be tired after sitting in one place for so long…

“Na-me. Come here and sit.”

They say children are much more sensitive to ominous vibes. I think my body is similar.

And a lengthy sermon lasted two hours.

Starting with asking about my mood, he scolded me for my actions during the duel when I drew my arm and preached about the value of our bodies. It became a loop.

No matter how many fifteen-year-old boys and girls I knocked down outside, all I could do here was respond with ‘Yes, yes.’

There were moments I wanted to retort out of an unjust feeling while listening, but this only backfired and extended the sermon for another 30 minutes, as if it were karaoke encore time.

Just when it seemed our emotions might escalate, Professor Cheon sent me to the ‘Thinking Room.’

Just a regular room of mine with nothing special.

-There’s no opening today, headmaster… *sigh*

-The universe briefly went dark.

-Noname! Na-me! Noname! Na-me!

-Turn on the screen now!

-The donation is turned off…

-Didn’t you have an after-party?

-The world’s strongest 8-year-old!!!

-Please share some stories about the competition!

With nothing to do, I habitually turned on the broadcast.

Until this week, the Academy対抗赛 tag was still active, so viewers poured in, knocking on the door.

I placed my phone momentarily on the bedside stand and opened the desk drawer.

Clatter—

-???

-Na-me, hurry up! I can’t wait!

-You’re not leaving it like this? Please tell me you’re broadcasting today!

-I pre-ordered the Demon Lord’s horn!

-Can’t resist the Demon Lord’s nose! LOL

-Did you just come home?

I took out a cool aloe mask pack to cool my flushed face and placed it on.

“Phew.”

And then, I jumped onto my soft bed and lay down.

The moment the broadcast turned on, my masked face was broadcasted live.

-Whoa, that startled me!

-Wow, I thought you were a ghost!

-What’s with the mask pack? LOL

-Ah, so cute! LOL

-You look too harmless!

-Harmless (I’ll perform a spinning kick if you touch!)

-Cosmetics sponsors, please contact me!

“Honestly, turning it on feels burdensome. Should I just turn off the screen?”

-No, no, no, no, no!

-We’re okay!

-The kid feels pressured!

-I feel like I want to bite the cute cheeks!

-Your face is so small that the mask pack looks huge and covers all the way to your neck! LOL

“Earlier, someone asked me to share my stories about the competition, so today, I’ll share some highlights. Where should I start? Ah.”

I brought the hologram to my head and showed the photos taken at the hotel to my viewers.

“This is the Aquila Hotel where we stayed. The bed was really softer than I expected, and I slept so well.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the bed’s softness or me staying up all night.

Even while flipping through the photos laterally, there seemed to be no end in sight. Most were likely the pictures taken with Iharu and Kim Han-gyeol alternating.

“This is the unmanned soft-serve ice cream vending machine in the hotel basement. Ah, what’s this.”

When a picture of me with ice cream smeared on my mouth appeared, I hastily flipped past it. When on earth was this taken?

-LOL

-Why! Show us more!

-You had this much ice cream in a place without adults?

-Really a paradise, a paradise.

I love taking pictures but don’t particularly enjoy being photographed.

“I went as a substitute for a third-year student because the senior who was supposed to go got a tummy ache from eating ice cream. Since the rehearsal day, they hardly let us take any pictures due to security, so this is all I can show you. Let’s reminisce about the rehearsal.”

Yoon Si-hoo, the representative from the second grade of elementary school, participated in the rehearsal tournament.

In fact, I was caught by reporters and interviewed in the closet, so I couldn’t watch the match properly.

-Wow, is she really 8?

-The casting speed is insane.

-You’d have to perform at this level to be number one in the academy, huh?

-Talents are frightening.

Watching Yoon Si-hoo’s match on VTube with the viewers, I pointed out the parts I felt were lacking.

“The liquid helium forming method was well established, but the rapid cooling was a bit disappointing. This cooling system is called a Stirling cycle, and increasing the operating pressure here can greatly enhance the efficiency, you know? Although Si-hoo practiced a lot, it seems some habits remained.”

-Spot-on tutoring!

-It makes sense now. One side of the magic circle is slightly dim.

-Teacher Na-me, your progression is so fast!

-Even doing this well isn’t enough.

-Let’s see Na-me fight soon!

-But how did the forfeiture happen?

“Several banned spells were designated during the duel, and the opponent broke that rule and was dealt a forfeiture penalty. Actually, I found out after the tournament ended. I was so drowsy during the rules explanation.”

-That was a pretty sleepy time.

-Noname is too cute that I can’t help but smile.

-How can her eyes be so pretty?

-How long will you keep the mask pack on?

Finally, the last match I participated in.

Honestly, I had a lot to say about that match.

There were many things I wanted to tell the viewers, and it was hard to know what judgment I made at each moment without the explainers present.

“For those wondering how I could come out fine after getting hit directly by an ice hammer, I’m sure many are curious.”

-Yeah, right?

-I was shocked when that demon lord’s hand popped up suddenly!

-Real horror movie vibes! LOL

-Do you just endure it with a shout?

“To cut to the chase, I prepared a dispelling spell here too. When thinking of dispelling spells in ice magic, everyone usually thinks of raising the temperature to melt the ice, but in this case, I borrowed the sublimation method to change it much like dry ice. A dispelling spell doesn’t always need to directly correspond one-to-one.”

-Wow

-What the heck?! LOL

-You actually used a dispelling spell in that situation?

-You’re just a combat genius.

-Your face doesn’t match that brilliance, Na-me!ㅠㅠㅠ

-Squeak squeak (sound of bones breaking)

└ LOL

-Isn’t external manifestation practically the youngest record?

└ Wasn’t the Dalai Lama around 10 years old too?

└ Noname’s life is basically a speedrun!

“Adjusting the natural frequency. This is quite common, as distilling the resonance principle magnifies the impact power of collisions. The commentary team explains it well.”

When the previous two participants were eliminated, Jo Soo-yeon and Lee Jae-hwan entered, and sharp reactions emerged among the viewers.

After all, they were students who had committed wrongdoings and didn’t generally display good behavior.

I resolved to focus on the duels without making any comments about the participants.

“The Lance of Longinus. This is a double overlapping chain magic circle, right? Later, when you find yourself in conflict on the street, make sure to distinguish these trap magic circles well. Otherwise, you might lose internal organs in the blink of an eye from a follow-up blow.”

-Nobody’s gonna use a double overlapping chain magic circle on the street! LOL

-Brazil or Mexico wouldn’t do that either! LOL

-Na-me, who could distinguish it right away, is much scarier…

-Magic is really diverse. That’s why middle school division is more fun than high school division.

“Then, I also cast Adella’s 20 consecutive spells for promotional purposes. For a 1st circle magic, it’s quite powerful, right? Since it’s a magic with great potential, those learning Kendo here in Korea should give it a try.”

-It’s about to show up. The problematic scene.

-The scene that got flagged by the VTube algorithm…

-Are you okay, Na-me?ㅠㅠㅠ

-That was seriously scary…

I discarded the mask pack into the trash and turned my head to check the broadcasting time.

[NoName]

[Just Chatting – Thinking Room (Thank you so much to everyone who cheered for me in today’s competition.)]

[Broadcast Time – 0:45:30]

[Viewer Count – 31,928]

The viewer count has now surpassed 30,000.

Since there were so many people, I limited the chat to subscribers, but the excitement didn’t fade.

At this point, I paused the competition video and spoke to the viewers in a serious tone.

“The reason why the room title is ‘Thinking Room.’ Actually, when I got home today… I got scolded a bit by my father. Yes, for the reason you all think. It wasn’t for fighting; it was more that he worried about me a lot. Since both of us are not good at talking, we decided to think it over for a while and then talk again.”

In short, my argument was that as it’s a substance made by magic, there’s no risk of tetanus, and using regenerative magic would wipe out the pain so what’s the problem?

Moreover, it was reported in this world as a type of therapy to release nerve-affecting magic beasts.

“It’s not much different from getting a shot or donating blood, is it?”

To persuade Professor Cheon, it seemed my limited thinking needed the viewers’ help.

-???????????

-No, no, no, no! What do you mean, Na-me, Na-me?!?!?!

-Do you truly think that?

-Our bodies aren’t game characters!ㅠㅠㅠ

-Phoosh! And then *whoosh* and wow! It’s different!

-Thinking Room (+1 hour)

-Thinking Chair (+1 hour)

-Really, the insanity is here…

-Dad, now I understand… raising Na-me is no joke…ㅠㅠ

-What if my daughter does habitual self-harm later…? Oh, shoot…!

Despite my decision to believe in the power of collective intelligence, I was thoroughly betrayed by them.

“There’s no one on my side in this world.”

I puffed out my cheeks and turned away from the camera, lying down.