Chapter 348

“Technical skills used by Na-me are so overpowered. Isn’t it honestly unfair?”

“Why are you like this, Ji Hye? I bought you ice cream for that reason. Stop being mad already.”

“Hmm… Gur.”

Lunch was provided in the form of sandwiches instead of the usual school lunch.

I bit into a tuna sandwich while chatting with my classmates on a picnic mat.

“Our class has won tug-of-war and the tunnel running, but the white team is still losing.”

“That doesn’t really matter. The result between the blue team and the white team will be decided in the final relay anyway.”

“Oh right, I forgot. We only need to care about our class.”

“No Name. How can I use aura like you do? Is there a separate learning stage?”

Iharu asked with interest.

“Stage? Stages…”

Unlike magic, which is established through systematic study, aura does not have defined stages.

It’s a really rare case, but there are instances like Adella who can manifest it suddenly from the start.

Of course, she could not bring out aura in any other way.

I gathered my thoughts and spoke.

“First of all, the easiest thing is to stimulate the aura heart, right? You all can do that.”

“Yeah.”

Calling this a talent is a bit awkward; it’s more of a difference between those who can move their ears and those who can’t.

Research shows that there’s a strong correlation above 0.8 between mana sensitivity and the stage of stimulating the aura heart.

Most students who entered the academy could handle aura at a certain level.

“What’s next?”

“Next, like you often do, it’s about temporarily relieving muscle fatigue or enhancing muscular endurance. The one-dimensional will of ‘I can do it’ is usually realized that way.”

“Like Ji Hye’s really fast feet?”

“Right. I think Ji Hye’s will is at an excellent level even at our academy.”

I praised Ji Hye, petting her head.

If effort can also be seen as a talent, then Yuna and Ji Hye would probably be the top two.

Just then, Yuna and Si Hoo approached our class, holding hands amicably.

“Oh, Shin Si Hoo, it’s been a while!”

“Been a while? We saw each other this morning.”

“Hehe, I secretly brought Si Hoo from the 4th grade. By the way, what were you guys talking about?”

“Now, the next step is about strengthening the body’s surface. Si Hoo, can you shake hands with me for a moment?”

“Shake hands?”

I snatched Si Hoo’s hand from Yuna.

I concentrated aura in my hand and squeezed his hand tightly.

“Ahhh! No Name, it hurts! This is aaah!”

“Where do you dare to act all lovey-dovey in front of adults? Anyway, this is how we strengthen certain body parts. If we strengthen the muscle in our fingers, it would be easier to climb in rough terrains, right?”

This third step is truly tricky.

But those who can do well can do just fine, so awakening it is just a matter of time.

The reason I dropped Klaus off a cliff was also to awaken this ability.

It’s definitely not because I’m a psychopath.

“Ugh, I thought I was going to die…”

“Si Hoo, are you okay? Do you want me to help?”

“Ah, no! Seoyuna, let’s sit down quickly.”

“No Name was explaining how to use aura.”

“Oh really? I want to hear it too!”

My friends sat around me in a circle.

The boys playing with a soccer ball also started coming one by one upon hearing the news, and the circle grew larger.

“Technically, if we divide it in detail, it’s endless, but if we summarize it roughly, there’s the ‘I’ stage and the ‘you’ stage for awakening aura.”

“‘I’, ‘you’, when we include ‘us’?”

“Yeah. And the final step of the ‘I’ stage is regulating the body’s interior. You can make yourself sweat, or help digestion. At a higher level, you could even stop your own heart.”

“Hyack! If your heart stops, you die!”

“No way! How is that possible?”

“Don’t believe me? Yuna, can you give me your hand?”

As I reached for Yuna’s hand, Si Hoo interrupted.

“No Name, what are you trying to do to Yuna?”

“What’s wrong? I was just going to let her feel my heartbeat.”

“Ah… I’m sorry, I misunderstood.”

Yuna placed her tiny hand near my chest.

“Ohh, I can feel it! Na-me, your heart is racing.”

“Right? Now I’ll try to stop my heart for a moment.”

You shouldn’t block the heart’s pathway all at once.

I surrounded my heart with aura, gradually slowing my pulse and limiting the heart’s movement.

Yuna was startled and grabbed my shoulder, shaking me vigorously.

“Your heart isn’t beating! Na-me, make it beat again quickly! Something big will happen if you don’t!”

“Is this enough?”

“Is it beating again? Phew, that’s a relief… No matter how I think about it, this feels too dangerous.”

“It can hurt a little if you don’t know the knack at first. But this won’t kill you. Yuna, do you want to try holding your breath?”

“Hold my breath? Like this?”

“Yeah. So what happens now?”

“…Puhah. I can’t hold it anymore.”

“See? In the end, you’ll start breathing again. The driving force behind moving aura is willpower. Human will cannot overcome the instinct for survival.”

Just like asphyxiation always means murder in that context.

Even if someone were to harm themselves, consciousness would be lost before they could continue the pressure and thus suicide is impossible.

This applies the same even if we substitute aura for hands.

The kids seemed increasingly gloomy as they whispered among themselves.

“It’s really too hard. Especially the final stage, I feel like I can’t do it at all…”

I corrected Yuna’s misunderstanding.

“Who said it was the final stage? This is just the beginning.”

“This is just the beginning?”

“Yeah. In my personal opinion, I think the difficulty of external manifestation is much higher than this.”

I glossed over the explanation about the ‘you’ stage.

From here on, it involves concepts from logical positivism, existentialism, as well as theology and philosophical concepts in science, which would be hard to understand without background knowledge.

“The important thing is to make the opposition believe what I think. To be convinced of what the other party believes. You have to constantly think about problems like infinite series to finally realize external manifestation.”

In fact, it’s not an easy concept to explain to middle and high school students either.

The kids, who were having a brain overload, began to lie down on the picnic mat one by one.

“So, did the senior Joseon Yeon from Altear Academy go through such a process too?”

“Who? The cardinal’s niece who makes halos above her head?”

“Yeah, the senior who faced off against you in 3rd grade.”

“That’s likely. But this is just difficult; it’s not as great as it sounds. If you’re going to practice this, it’s better to learn another spell.”

I am an extreme pragmatist.

What good is it to barely succeed in external manifestation after 80 years of training?

When I can use extreme coordinate systems to wield techniques?

The world is not kind enough to reward effort.

[All 16 participants in the 3rd grade trampoline match, please gather at the central grass field.]

“Alright. Let’s go. When else can we play like this? I’ll show you a double jump in midair.”

“Huh! Guys, Na-me is going to show a triple jump!”

“What? Is she going to show a quintuple jump?”

“Na-me is going to perform the legendary decuple jump?”

“Let’s goooo!”

The kids rushed out in a flurry, and I still wasn’t prepared.

I smirked at how quickly the truth could warp.

I hastily stuffed my shoes on and quickly ran toward where the kids headed.

This is why I can’t quit the academy.

“I definitely said double jump! Don’t get your hopes up and be disappointed!”

—

The 6th-grade broadcasting club members at Seviron Academy gathered video sources from various matches.

“We have to cover all of Na-me’s matches!”

I was a bit puzzled when I first heard she would participate in the trampoline event.

I couldn’t find a reason to leave the high-scoring two-legged three-legged race out.

But from the moment Na-me soared up to 10 meters in the air, no explanation was needed.

She was cloaked in red aura on both hands and blue aura on her feet, spinning a full five laps.

Everyone was captivated by the acrobatics reminiscent of a human firework.

This was not the end.

The higher you extend your original technique, the more energy you lose, and the height inevitably decreases.

But at the last moment, she created huge bat wings of golden aura and flapped strongly from the highest point.

Wheeew—

As sharp winds scattered across the artificial turf, Na-me soared even higher.

“For a moment, I flew!”

“Wow, that’s so amazing!”

She curled into a ball like a hedgehog, adding more rotation.

Na-me, who landed safely in the center of the trampoline, withdrew all her aura and laughed joyfully.

“Ahaha. It was so much fun!”

It was the moment I captured the smile of Na-me, which can only be seen after accumulating immense virtue.

“This will definitely go viral…!”

“Don’t edit it, just upload it straight to the Insta VTube account!”

“Quickly! It has to be uploaded faster than other people!”

[Seviron Academy Trampoline Legend (3rd Grade No Name)]

[Comments]

-What is this upload one minute ago? Algorithm is insane.

-(2:43) Laughing sound of No Name

└ Who are you to already be watching 2-minutes?

└ Wow, legendary legendary legendary lol.

└ VTube algorithm, is he really a god?

-No seriously, Na-me laughs like a baby lol.

└ I thought I was going to have a heart attack listening to this.

└ Someone please make it into a 24-hour loop.

-Why is this the end…?

└ Give me more! If not, make it!

-Human Mario No Name.

└ She does double jumps so creatively lol.

-(1:39) Taegukgi.

└ Oh.

└ Wow.

-If I go to the academy now, can I see Na-me? Pleaseㅠㅠㅠ.

└ Yes, they say there’s a police station’s meeting.

-Immediately turn on a live with No Name. This is indeed a threat.

└ From all Altear Academy graduates.

└ You still haven’t come to your senses, huh lol.

[Seviron Academy Elementary Physical Education Competition Relay Live][872 viewers live]

[Real-time chat]

-Wow, what is this?

-You said to turn it on and you really turned on a live?

-Student council brats are so annoying lol.

-(Manager): This is an account of the academy teacher.

-Oh.

-Teacher, quickly show us Na-me! I’m getting dizzy!

-If she’s excited to do the relay challenge, No Name is hilarious lol.

The black screen lifted.

Under the bright sunlight, hundreds of students were arranged in a circle around the track.

In the center stood the players participating in the relay.

Six grades, 24 classes.

The blue team’s 12 members faced off against the white team’s 12 in a 12-lap, 5 km race.

The camera sequentially shows elementary students warming up with serious expressions.

Especially, the last blue team 6th-grade boy looked taller than the teacher by a head.

-Wow, that physique is insane (literally insane).

-How is this a 6th grader…?

-He looks nearly 190 cm tall! Is this balanced? lol.

-He probably runs one step when others take two or three steps lol.

The much-anticipated white team was also very eager for victory, just like the blue team.

After a plethora of matches, the scores were tallied closely.

Ultimately, this one relay would decide the winner.

Clack—

Clatter—

Every time the upper-grade students hopped in place, gold bracelets and anklets jingled.

-What’s that?

-Is it some kind of magical tool?

-Weight?

The teacher watching the chat answered their questions.

“It’s a magical tool with a parachute shape built-in. Every time you use aura, a small parachute pops out behind you, like this.”

As the teacher shook a golden ring from his pocket, a transparent parachute fluttered out.

Since this is an academy, they won’t prohibit the use of aura, but there would be slight penalties.

Therefore, each player had to have a clear strategy on when to use their aura.

“Isn’t it a penalty just to wear this much? This is heavy enough as is.”

“Why isn’t this mana zeroing out? Is it broken?”

Na-me’s voice could finally be heard on screen.

At last, the academy’s superstar appeared on screen.

“If even 50 grams, when combined, becomes 2 kg. That’s already a tenth of my body weight.”

“I see. Since it’s a delicate product, I’d prefer you not break it.”

“Yes!”

Na-me came out wearing ten rings on each arm and leg, totaling 40 rings.

-Are you Cleopatra? lol.

-No Name is shin-skin!

-I thought it was some kind of arm sleeves at first lol.

-This isn’t it, teachers!

-No Name, end discrimination!

-It looks hard just to run like that, right?

-So many internal sabotaging forces.

-Well done, Kim No Name, may you bring destruction to the academy with your hands.

She was going to race as the ace of the white team, the last runner.

The meaningful smile on her lips faded away, swallowed by the spring breeze.