Prologue Story

Joo Min-hee was completely sulking right now.

Sure, Yoo Eun-ha had always been diligent, but that was expected of her.

But what was with Han-soo Park going off for training too?

『Sender: Han-soo♧

I’ve thought about it, and I’m going.』

Joo Min-hee pouted her lips.

If Han-soo Park went, surely Kang In-ha, who adored Yoo Eun-ha more than anyone in the world, would want to follow as well.

With a firm resolve to keep Kang In-ha from going, Min-hee was tightly holding onto her arm.

‘Ugh. Should I just save him as “Plant Maniac” in my contacts?’

For the record, this nickname was one she had tried to use before but got caught and had to give up.

On the other hand, Kang In-ha was sitting uneasily, grinding her teeth inwardly at Han-soo Park.

‘How dare he go to Eun-ha alone…!’

If she had known this would happen, she would have gone out for training herself.

Agreeing that it would be exhausting had led to this situation.

Kang In-ha sighed deeply.

Truly, her friend was unbelievably diligent.

Even after finishing training with seniors, Yoo Eun-ha would go home and train again.

Anyone would be left stunned by such dedication.

Kang In-ha understood now that they had outgrown the age where they shared everything with each other.

She no longer got irrationally angry like in their first year if Eun-ha trained alone.

Even their teachers had said as much.

‘Even if you’re friends, you shouldn’t show all your trump cards. Everyone needs to keep their ace hidden. No matter how close you are, it’s impossible to fully know another person’s magic since you’re not them.’

Kang In-ha now understood what those words meant.

Even Eun-ha couldn’t know all of Kang In-ha’s magic.

It was only natural at their age.

Yet, Kang In-ha still depended on and clung to Eun-ha a lot.

It was an incurable habit as her best friend.

Even Yoo Eun-ha, who was awkward with physical affection, hugged Kang In-ha daily, so there was no helping it.

“Min-hee, why are you sulking?”

Yoon Shia, who had been sitting and sipping juice with a straw, tilted his head curiously.

Not knowing what was going on, Shia had been dragged along by Min-hee Joo, who had called him out, and was now seated across from her.

Min-hee lit up.

“Listen to this! Eun-ha is way too diligent, you know? Every single day, she trains with our seniors and Han-soo’s group. It’s got to be exhausting, but she still refuses to skip even one day! Ugh, she could take a break for just one day, right? But no, she went off training alone. And Han-soo followed her.”

Kang In-ha turned her face away with a sulky expression.

I see…

Yoon Shia looked awkward.

Han Yoo-jung chuckled.

“Eun-ha is really diligent. She works so hard.”

“She looks so ordinary at first glance, but when you train with her, you realize she’s the best at magic… Sometimes it’s astonishing.”

“That’s definitely true about Eun-ha. Isn’t that what they call ‘unexpected talent’?”

Kim Hyun-ho agreed with Choi In-ho’s comment.

But Kang In-ha did not.

To In-ha, Eun-ha had always been the best and most special.

Yoon Shia asked, “Does Eun-ha train that hard?”

Min-hee Joo pouted her lips but nodded enthusiastically.

“Yup! Super hard! I mean, I think it’s amazing.”

“Is training that tough?”

“It is! I have to shoot my unique magic all day long. Even if I destroy stone targets, they complain that my power isn’t strong enough. So much nagging! They say if I try a little harder, I can increase my power. But controlling mana while dodging attacks is no easy feat! My assigned senior is so strict. There’s this senior named Kim Yoora.”

“Ah… The next vice president?”

“Yeah, and she’s really, really strict. What about you, In-ha? You’re with Chunho Oppa, right?”

Kang In-ha stopped suppressing her anger for a moment and raised her head with a detached expression.

Her indifferent gaze briefly passed over Yoon Shia, and Shia instinctively clenched his fists, shrinking under the icy look.

“…It’s hard. They don’t hold back during training.”

“Exactly. I train with Chunho too, and even when In-ha and I attack together, nothing works. They said our magic compatibility was supposed to be good, though.”

“Yeah.”

Kim Hyun-ho grumbled, and Kang In-ha gave a single nod, her face still impassive.

For a while, their conversation revolved around training.

The kids vented their complaints about the training as much as they wanted.

Before long, the discussion shifted to comments and praises about the seniors’ skills.

Eventually, it turned into boasting.

Even though the training had been tough, they couldn’t help but acknowledge how amazing the seniors were.

“Senior Seojun’s swordsmanship is no joke when you face it directly.”

“Right! He’s incredible! Inho Oppa must struggle against him too~. Haha, but sometimes we switch partners! I managed to land a hit on Senior Seojun last time.”

“Min-hee, you’re amazing!”

“But Oppa only spars with Eun-ha, you know why? Because if it’s not someone with Eun-ha’s level of mana control, things could go horribly wrong if he loses control. The gap between C-rank and B-rank must be enormous.”

Hearing this new information from Min-hee, everyone except Yoon Shia nodded fervently.

“Well, Eun-ha’s mana control is well-known, after all.”

“Yeah, she’s amazing.”

“Seriously. I faced Senior Kim Yoora directly, and her magic skills, attack power—everything was incredible! But somehow, Eun-ha managed to block her attack.”

Min-hee frowned and sipped her juice.

The kids nodded again.

This time, Han Yoo-jung brought up Park Han-soo.

“But don’t you think Han-soo and Senior Joon-sung’s duels are really unique? It’s like they’re eating away at each other’s magic.”

“They’re not very compatible, are they?”

“But still, it’s flashy. Swish!”

“And then, boom!”

“Yeah.”

If Han-soo Park had been there, he would have undoubtedly protested indignantly.

The kids continued chatting animatedly, boasting about their magic.

“……”

Amid the lively conversation, Yoon Shia remained silent.

Lowering his head, he clenched his fists tightly on his knees.

☆

On Monday morning, Min-hee, as expected, let out her frustrations on me with a bit of snappiness.

The real trouble had been the day before yesterday, on Saturday, when In-ha grumbled at me while picking a fight with Han-soo.

It had been exhausting trying to calm her down.

Min-hee returned to her usual cheerful self and dragged Han-soo along to chat with us.

In-ha picked fights with Han-soo just as much as she had pestered me.

The two of them bickered as usual.

Suddenly, a classmate burst into the room, shouting.

“Guys, big news! Kang Ye-seul created her unique magic!”

Startled by the sudden news, we all turned our heads in surprise.

The kids swarmed toward the classmate near the door to hear the details.

“What? Really?”

“She created a unique magic? Who?”

“Kang Ye-seul!”

“Oh, if it’s Ye-seul, that makes sense.”

“Yeah, she’s the most talented among us.”

Kang Ye-seul—an all-too-familiar name.

It wasn’t hard to recall who she was.

‘The girl I embarrassed myself with in a fight last year.’

I hadn’t paid her much mind since our classes split.

Come to think of it, she was in the same class as Shia now.

On Monday morning, the news caused a huge commotion not just in our class but across the entire grade.

Even the teachers were whispering about it.

It’s no small feat to develop a unique magic at the age of ten.

Not that we’re in any position to talk, but it definitely requires significant talent.

This incident piqued our interest as well.

So, we decided to find Shia, the closest friend of Kang Ye-seul, who was in Class 1.

Class 1 was crowded, not just with us, but with many other students as well.

The kids, full of curiosity, surrounded Kang Ye-seul noisily.

Ye-seul was speaking confidently to the kids, but when our eyes met, she flinched and froze.

Since that big fight, things had been awkward between me and her.

I didn’t care at all anymore, but it seemed she still did.

She flinched and quickly averted her gaze from me.

I glanced around the room.

The gathered kids were split into two groups.

One group surrounded Kang Ye-seul, while the other stood apart, sneaking glances at her.

Shia belonged to the latter group.

“Shia!”

Min-hee called out to Shia with a wave of her hand.

Shia flinched when he saw us.

He seemed surprised.

After a moment, Shia approached us.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up? We came to check out the story about Kang Ye-seul creating unique magic.”

“Ah….”

Shia glanced behind him briefly.

He seemed to be gauging the classroom atmosphere before leading us out of the room.

We followed him to a quiet corner, away from the others.

After hesitating for a moment, Shia spoke in a small voice.

“I didn’t think you guys would be interested.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well… isn’t creating unique magic no big deal for you guys?”

Min-hee blinked in surprise, glancing at us briefly.

Hmm, Hyun-ho clasped his hands behind his head.

Min-hee, Hyun-ho, and I spoke almost simultaneously.

“Well, true.”

“That’s not wrong.”

“Why not?”

Each response was from Min-hee, Hyun-ho, and me, respectively.

Everyone looked at me with surprised faces.

Huh? What’s so surprising?

“I mean, come on, developing unique magic at ten is amazing, right? Of course, we’d be interested.”

Shia’s eyes went blank for a moment as he looked at me.

He stared at me quietly before slowly lowering his head, hiding his expression.

“True… but I thought Eun-ha would purposely ignore Ye-seul’s achievement…”

“Huh… why?”

“Well, you fought with Ye-seul last year, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that. I don’t care about it anymore.”

It’s all in the past.

Dwelling on it would do me no good.

Sure, there’s still a slight awkwardness, but that’s it.

This time, Shia’s expression twisted slightly.

“I… see.”

For some reason, Shia seemed visibly unsettled.

I tilted my head, puzzled, as I looked at him.

Min-hee, oblivious to this, asked, “So? What kind of magic did she create?”

“Um… she called it ‘Form Infusion Magic.’”

“‘Form Infusion Magic’?”

“Yeah. It’s a magic that creates objects and infuses them with magic to activate them. She showed one earlier… a butterfly flew to a destination and then burst into flames. The magic was small, but… everyone was amazed.”

Wow. That’s an interesting magic.

It’s not exactly common.

But it’s not super rare either.

“What was her magic attribute again?”

“I heard it’s light and plants.”

“Interesting. That’s a fun magic.”

I seemed to be the only one reacting enthusiastically.

The others just seemed indifferent.

But I was intrigued.

That’s because I could ‘use’ that magic.

With an application of my own magic, it wouldn’t be difficult.

“Maybe I should try using something like that…”

I muttered quietly, and In-ha reacted.

“What?”

I replied in a low voice.

Even though all eyes were on Kang Ye-seul, you never know.

“Hiding written magic inside something created with illusions. You can even infuse it with an attribute. That would create a similar effect to her magic. I think I wrote something like that in my magic development notebook…”

“Wow. You can do that too?”

“Probably.”

My friends seemed more interested in my idea than in Kang Ye-seul’s magic.

I was a bit excited about discovering a new way to express magic.

“……”

As a result, I didn’t notice Shia trembling and staring at me with shocked eyes.