Chapter 541

[The whistle blows! Remaining barrier 19 to 9! For the first time in history, a No Name player from South Korea steps onto the final stage at the age of 10!]

[With this, South Korea challenges for the national exchange tournament championship after 12 years! Ah, it was truly a long and arduous second half. I’m so glad it didn’t go into overtime.]

[No Name and Giselle Fisher. The players who were not highly anticipated at the start of the tournament have emerged as the most noticeable players in this national exchange tournament, brilliantly lighting up the semifinals! Unfortunately, the myth of Argentina comes to an end here. Now, No Name steps one step closer to the final’s supermoon!]

Cheers are pouring in.

I raised both hands to the sky and received applause from the audience.

Thud—

Giselle, who collapsed on the ground, covered her face with both hands.

I sat beside her with my legs crossed.

“Don’t stay here, go get congratulated by the others.”

“My legs are cramped. I’ll rest a bit on the side.”

“Do as you wish.”

Giselle wiped her face multiple times and turned towards me to ask.

“How was it, Name? You struggled a lot in the second half, right?”

“You fought well. Honestly, I was surprised.”

“How can you be so strong at just 10 years old… Aah, is this a dream, God? I never, for a moment, let my guard down. I guessed you would be much stronger than Nathan Chen.”

“Everyone says I’m strong.”

“No, that’s something only those who have fought against you would know. What others say is all fake strength. They will never understand how strong you are in reality.”

Medical staff rushed in with a first aid kit.

We received simple treatment on the spot and sat side by side on a stretcher.

“Oh right, Giselle, about the prison in Rosario.”

She instantly blushed.

“I’m sorry… I really tried not to use it until the very end. I had terrible manners throughout the match, haha…”

“Huh? What manners? There was no rule against using such magic.”

“You really are strong.”

“This may look like it, but it’s a mind trained through 7 years of capsule hell.”

“Pfft. Ah, no, I’m sorry, that’s definitely not something to laugh about.”

She was a girl with a subtly kind tone yet rude nature.

“Every time I fully manifest my Aura, it feels like I recall that moment. Is that true?”

“Yeah. I don’t really know how my power comes out under what conditions. I can’t seem to find a way other than replicating the same situation in the mental world. With the mindset of wanting to take revenge—”

“That mindset is wrong from the start. What I mean is, regardless of whether it’s good or bad for the mind, it’s a completely wrong method.”

There is neither good nor evil in Aura.

Thus, a warm heart wishing to heal others and a cold heart wanting to kill cannot stimulate the Aura Heart.

Only understanding of the world accompanies it.

“Exceptionality.”

“Huh?”

“Living beings in nature sometimes exhibit exceptionality to effectively adapt to continuously changing environments. Some refer to it as a mutation.”

“What does that mean?!”

“Wow, you startled me.”

“Sorry for shouting. Can you tell me more about it? I’ve been curious about it.”

Giselle stood up suddenly and asked in an excited voice.

“For example, a hedgehog that employs an aggressive defensive strategy, or an octopus that has developed tentacles as multifunctional tools in the marine ecosystem… A four-leaf clover that appears as a mutation, though it has no real significance to survival, can be another example.”

“And so?”

“In our Han character cultural sphere, we don’t directly indicate the concept of exception. Generally, it is referred to as something outside of the example, so in set theory, it would be the complement of the example. There is a concept of difference (異) as well, but its meaning doesn’t perfectly align.”

There’s a word for exception (excepción) in Spanish, but it doesn’t exist separately from the norm (regla).

Because when one image comes to mind, it conjures up other associations.

The Latin prefix ex- also implies absence, making it problematic.

“I don’t know how well we’ve known each other, so I can’t form a definite conclusion, but if I had to guess, I would think Giselle’s Aura Heart would only fully unleash its power in exceptional circumstances.”

“Then that means I’m completely useless…”

Giselle’s voice trembled.

“Why? Meaning is subjective. How do you think I escaped without any harm in the Rosario prison?”

She would likely be curious.

Having a high degree of mental strength doesn’t mean you watch brutal movies well.

In any case, since the caster’s emotions resonate directly, a person’s temperament doesn’t matter.

“The sky was clear.”

“…?”

“It was just an ordinary day—clear skies, a pleasant temperature, and perfect weather for a picnic on a hill.”

“That’s nonsense. Name, you were in front of people…”

She swallowed her words.

“Just because a special day can also be deemed ordinary, it doesn’t mean an ordinary day can’t be special. Everything is a matter of perspective.”

Before we knew it, we had moved outside the training hall.

I got off the stretcher and stood up on my own two feet.

Giselle still seemed to have difficulty gathering herself.

“Can I ask you something too, Giselle?”

“Yeah.”

“In the last reverse illusion barrier magic that I cast, what did you see?”

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

She probably didn’t even know what kind of expression she was making.

“The scene of being selected for the national team…”

“Hmm, I see. I’m jealous.”

“But what was that? It was a magic I had never seen before, No Name.”

“Do you really want to know? You might end up disappointed in yourself.”

I nodded.

I whispered softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s the happiest memory of your life.”

Thus, the semifinals came to an end.

That night, I managed to contact Giselle and chat for a bit.

The first piece of news she shared was that she could use the “mirage” without triggering her trauma.

I didn’t expect her to realize it in just a day; she really was a quick learner.

I also heard about her tragic past.

To fulfill her friend’s dream, Giselle grew strong, and to grow stronger, she recalled her friend.

It seemed like she was forever spinning in this vicious cycle of the past, but in fact, she was gradually moving forward.

Even her subconscious deemed the memory of being chosen for the national team as her happiest moment.

From hearing about it further, it seemed she didn’t really have a friend she got along with that well.

Instead, Hikemina often looked down on and pressured Giselle.

In my personal opinion, the frustration of her desire for social elevation contributed to glorifying her friend.

A nine-year-old child could easily become infatuated with friendship.

Moreover, the so-called “blessing of oblivion” is a trickster passive ability that everyone possesses, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Finally, Giselle Fisher added that she would perform a parade with millions of people and watch the final.

[No Name: Is that necessary? Just watch on TV.]

[Giselle: No Name is not human. You don’t understand human emotions.]

[No Name: Then why were you messing with gangs back then? It was dangerous before the match.]

[Giselle: It was my personal routine to provoke trauma.]

[No Name: So you did that crazy stuff even in Argentina?]

[Giselle: Oh no, when I was back home, I did it legally with usual prisoners from the jail.]

I genuinely don’t understand what’s legal about that.

Anyways, since that’s what the law is there, I guess I’ll try to understand.

—

[‘Nalbaramjwi’ donated 10,000 KRW!]

-Uchiha Nametara: Hahaha… I almost died, you bastard! I, No Name, shall call you the strongest!!!

“Please stop mocking my voice. I’ve never said that. Aiyaiya…!”

The morning after experiencing severe muscle soreness, as soon as I turned on the broadcast, all kinds of bizarre comments flowed in through donations.

There was no need to search for replays.

[Video share – ‘ArabianNamet’ shared with 100,000 KRW!]

[No Name Headscissors Whip Highlights] – ‘2053 France National Exchange Tournament Semifinals, South Korea vs. Argentina’

-This is hilarious, lol.

-Wow

-😲😲😲😲😲

-Is there someone who uses entertaining skills in a real match?

-What do you mean the match is 30 minutes long, but the highlights are 20 minutes long, lol?

-They fought like crazy for 30 minutes.

[‘Reum’ donated 10,000 KRW!]

-How can there be such a difference between the first and second halves? I thought we were going to be overturned!

[‘KDU’ donated 10,000 KRW!]

-I thought other players felt like ‘martial arts duelists,’ but Giselle was the very definition of a ‘human weapon.’

Viewers autonomously produced content and reacted.

Honestly, I wondered if the broadcast would continue well even without me.

The thought of free-riding briefly flashed through my mind, but I participated in the conversation with a sense of professional duty.

“Hey everyone. You say she’s weak, right? Giselle Fisher is the toughest person I’ve ever met.”

-For real, lol

-How is she even the same person as us?

-She’s not human…

-I thought I was fighting an alien the entire match.

-Logically, how can someone who defeated champions from Europe and America be weak, lol?

-Giselle is surprisingly versatile. There’s no area she’s bad at.

-When she used dispel techniques and barrier magic, I really thought it was a variable.

-Guan Yu hiding his intelligence.

Giselle destroyed 51% of the barrier in the second half.

The viewers’ worries ballooned as they witnessed me being so thoroughly overwhelmed for the first time.

[‘Gommungmung’ donated 30,000 KRW!]

-No Name broadcast viewers special: They hype up their opponent, but in the end, it’s always No Name that wins. Yet again, it concludes in Dar Name.

-This broadcast was totally worth it, haha.

-I saw the whole thing, lol.

-So how did you win, lol?

-The greatest of all time in the history of humanity.

-Worshipping Da Name, the ultimate form of life…

[‘Gommungmung’ donated 30,000 KRW!]

-There’s no 10-year-old girl who defeated a monster with 13 tentacles. If you find that person while watching a Vtube, please throw your phone out the window immediately.

[‘PepsiBag’ donated 10,000 KRW!]

-The Namestory ghost stories, whoa.

“Is it fun?”

I shot a serious glare at the viewers.

At first, the ones who typed ‘lol’ in the chat gradually shrank back at the growing serious atmosphere.

As a mood to ask each other to be more cautious emerged.

I smiled slightly and said,

“I’m happy because you all seem to enjoy it. Hehe, don’t be scared.”