Chapter 44

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t mind me.”

“Did that person eat something wrong? Why are they acting like that?”

Name shrugged her shoulders.

“Who knows?”

“Hey, there’s an empty seat over there, guys. Let’s eat there.”

Ji Hye, who received her meal first, found a vacant spot and sat down, with Seori taking the seat next to her.

Lastly, Name, who followed behind, sat directly opposite Seori.

However, Seoyuna, who had been following their group all along, boldly took the seat next to Name.

But oddly enough, that seat was not opposite Ji Hye; instead, it was on the other side, making for a somewhat bizarre arrangement.

“I told you not to mind me!”

Yuna, with her neck stiff, seemed satisfied just sitting next to Name as she picked up her chopsticks.

“Is it okay, Noname…?”

“Why?”

“Do you usually eat this little for lunch? Did you have a big breakfast?”

“No? I skip breakfast every time.”

Yuna’s mood soured as she looked at the portion of food on Name’s tray.

Because her own tray had the same amount of food on it.

“Two spoonfuls of rice… no soup… three anchovies, one sausage, one piece of mashed potatoes and a strand of spinach…”

Beef seaweed soup, which is my favorite.

Stir-fried pork belly with soy sauce is also not a common dish.

“Yuna, aren’t you going to be hungry eating like that?”

“No? I’m fine, really! This is sufficient for me!”

“Haha…”

Seori shook her head in disbelief.

Yuna had been trailing after Name a lot lately, and it seemed she was mimicking all her actions.

‘But isn’t it a bit extreme to even follow Name’s cafeteria food habits?’

It was expected that Yuna would be the first to finish lunch among the four.

With just five moves of her chopsticks, her tray looked completely empty.

Seori and Ji Hye were busy chatting about stickers sold at the stationery store, while Name picked at her rice grain by grain before finally putting down her chopsticks.

“What, not going to eat more?”

“Yeah, I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“I just can’t believe it.”

Name could not even finish what little she had and simply leaned back in her chair, enjoying Seori and Ji Hye’s talk show.

“Am I copying you to deliberately mess with you?”

Eventually, Yuna couldn’t hold back and exploded first.

“Copying? Ah.”

It was then that Name finally understood the reason for Yuna’s previous behavior.

[Don’t you take notes?]

[Studying is done with your head, not your hands.]

[Hmm…]

The fact that Yuna, who filled textbooks with various fluorescent markers, had not taken out her pencil case since a specific day.

[Noname out!]

[Teacher, I got hit too. I’ll leave now.]

[Oh, really? Alright.]

During dodgeball class, she always stepped where Name did, trailing her closely.

[Seoyuna, if you’re not busy, can you help me with this?]

[Don’t talk to me. I’m really busy right now.]

Every break, Yuna would cross her arms and bow her head to catch some sleep just like Name.

All of these were behaviors imitating Noname.

Seoyuna realized the other day after seeing Name’s magic.

This girl is a genius on a whole different level from Shin Si Hoo.

She felt a gap so wide that even studying 16 hours a day wouldn’t allow her to catch up. Therefore, she came up with a different approach.

She assumed that Name’s intelligence came from some special secret of her own.

If she followed Name’s actions one by one, she thought she might gain some enlightenment.

Thus began the ‘following Name’ routine.

However, while observing her, Yuna couldn’t help but wonder to herself.

Although she wasn’t taking notes, she didn’t seem to be attentively listening during class either.

It seemed she lacked physical ability, participating lazily during gym class or barely contributing.

Moreover, she wasn’t even bringing food to her mouth all day, making Yuna feel like she might faint from dizziness at any moment.

As she held her throbbing head, Noname once again drank the liquid from the flask she always brought.

She spun the flask around like a sommelier savoring wine.

“I have a question. What’s that thing you drink every day?”

Yuna was convinced.

There was definitely a secret to that liquid.

Is it some kind of potion that improves memory? Or maybe a potion that keeps you energized all day without sleep?

“It’s a mana potion, but you can’t drink it.”

“A potion? Like the ones in games? Does that even exist in reality?”

“The effects are roughly similar.”

What is a potion?

It is a drug that replenishes the body’s lacking mana.

But such a convenient thing wouldn’t exist in reality.

If it did, everyone wouldn’t have to strive so hard to increase their mana capacity (Etheric Capacity).

But what if such a potion truly exists?

Magic of 2nd circle or higher was always paid for.

The point in time used for the payment standard was undoubtedly the ‘storage’ stage, where information exchange occurs from the base station at this point.

But if one stops at the 2nd or 3rd stage of magic—either injection or activation—the magic circle has a tendency to revert to an irreversible state, resulting in additional mana loss.

Despite this inefficiency, if mana were infinite, that would mean practicing magic all day could become a reality.

Yuna wouldn’t miss out on such a great opportunity.

“Give me some too. I want to try it.”

“I told you, you can’t drink it.”

“Is it expensive?”

“It’s not that expensive.”

“Then why can’t I? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”

“This isn’t a nutrient supplement; it’s a medicine. You can only take it with a prescription.”

One can’t just eat anything freely; there could be consequences.

Name firmly resisted Yuna’s insistence.

“This is something I really can’t let you drink.”

“How can I get a prescription?”

“I wouldn’t know; I’m not a doctor.”

In the first place, this was a drug designed to revert genetically modified traits from continued exposure to the commoner environment. They couldn’t guarantee what would happen if a normal person continuously drank it.

Of course, no one would dare to drink it sober, but anyway… it simply wasn’t allowed.

“Gee…”

Seori also seemed curious about their conversation, asking about the potion.

“So, Noname, how much do you drink a day?”

“3 liters every day.”

“Ugh, that’s a lot. So that’s why you don’t eat lunch properly.”

Seori clicked her tongue.

It certainly was torture to drink that much every day.

Most people would struggle if told to drink 3 liters of water daily.

“Your spirit is commendable, but I’m not giving you even a single bite, so just give up.”

“Why can’t I? A sip isn’t a big deal.”

“You seem to misunderstand; this isn’t a potion like in games. Yes, mana gets replenished, but it’s not in a usable state, so it’s meaningless.”

“Then why are you drinking it? Isn’t there something good about it?”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

* * *

Only one more step remains to uncover the secret.

During the 5th period break.

Yuna focused on the timing when Name went to wash her flask.

She had four 500ml flasks, and before the 6th period started, she always emptied three and went to wash them in the bathroom.

It seemed she deliberately chose that time because it got too crowded during dismissal.

And for some reason, it was a habit that she continuously kept one remaining flask without drinking it.

‘Just a tiny sip to taste it.’

Yuna took out the flask from Name’s bag and placed it on her lap.

Feeling guilty, she looked around to see if anyone might notice.

‘It just looks like ordinary water.’

Half a liter of liquid sloshed inside the bottle.

But curiously, it didn’t produce any bubbles.

She cautiously opened the flask lid.

‘It doesn’t smell odd at all?’

However, the mana potion was strange.

The initially clear liquid became cloudy and turned into black water as soon as she opened the lid.

‘What is this! What do I do…!’

This was a disaster.

Yuna’s thoughts immediately froze.

She remembered that the remnants in Name’s flask were black whenever she went to wash it.

It changes color when exposed to air.

Eventually, it was only a matter of time before she got caught.

‘Now that it’s like this…!’

Whether it was a drop or a sip, getting caught was already a certainty.

Yuna thought that since she would be disliked anyway, she might as well ensure she figured out the potion’s effects.

Gulp.

“……!!!”

The moment the liquid touched her tongue.

Yuna felt as if all her strength was being drained from her body, as if it were a lie.

“Gah…!”

Clatter.

The flask, losing its balance, fell straight to the floor.

The glass bottle shattered against the dull wooden floor.

“Aah!”

“Whoa, what the heck! Seoyuna? What’s wrong?”

Yuna’s small body collapsed.

Unable to bear the agony, she clutched her throat but couldn’t make a single sound.

“Cough…!”

The liquid tasted beyond simply bitter or sour.

It numbed her very senses, and every cell was screaming for survival.

For the first time experiencing such pain, Yuna felt more fear than agony.

‘I don’t want to… I don’t want to die like this.’

She wanted to cut out her tongue.

She didn’t want to feel this sensation anymore.

But the searing feeling in her throat plunged her deeper into despair.

‘Please, save me…’