LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 30
“How on earth did you two become friends?”
“Hmm, right? Ji-hye, do you remember?”
“Did you forget…?”
“Ahhh, Ji-hye, don’t sulk! It was my fault!”
Han Seori and Ma Ji-hye were a famous duo at Sephiron Academy.
From school to home, they spent all their time together and although they bickered daily, their bond was so tight that no one could witness them fighting.
Han Seori, the troublemaker of Sephiron Academy.
She had a striking appearance, particularly notable among the diverse mix of foreigners and mixed heritage students; her golden hair inherited from her Swedish mother and mesmerizing azure eyes were known to everyone in the academy.
With a significant part in many incidents at the academy each year, Seori was often regarded as a person of interest by the teachers.
However, despite her mischievous nature, she was surprisingly the top of her first grade class, not to mention she possessed excellent magical talent and intelligence.
Then there was her best friend, Ma Ji-hye.
Ji-hye was born and raised in Korea without any notions of aristocratic families, a child of ordinary middle-class parents with no ties to famous clans or high-ranking conglomerates.
In fact, finding common ground with Seori was more complicated.
While Seori was sociable and outgoing, Ji-hye was more reserved and shy.
Most of her conversations at school were with Seori.
With her neatly cut black bob and cute glasses, she was what you’d call the typical studious type, but unlike Seori, she didn’t seem confident about her studies.
Thus, her grades remained average.
But there was one subject she was particularly confident in.
[Is that a first grader? She just took out a third grader with martial arts!]
That was martial arts training using her aura.
Her father worked as a detective in the Violent Crime Investigation Unit in Seoul.
Wishing to raise his weak and fragile daughter into a strong individual, he had taught her martial arts since she was young, but perhaps he had underestimated her talent.
Ji-hye was unmatched among her peers when it came to utilizing aura.
Rumors spread that any child with red eyes seen during the Sports Day should be avoided on sight.
Ji-hye, who had struggled to adapt to the academy, was naturally drawn to Seori, who became the center of their class, and Seori was captivated by Ji-hye’s serious yet unexpected demeanor.
Their friendship truly blossomed during the Sports Day, but they had already gravitated towards each other beforehand.
On a typical school day, Ji-hye suggested they go play at the playground to cheer up Seori, who was feeling down after being ignored by a transfer student.
However, they encountered older students bullying a young child who had yet to start elementary school.
Seori thought that even if they ended up in a confrontation, it would be manageable if she was with Ji-hye. However, she never imagined that Ji-hye would rush in without hesitation.
“Don’t, Ji-hye! Look behind you!”
Ji-hye was in danger.
Her body froze, unable to move.
It seemed she was unaware of the approaching threat.
If she were to get hit in the head with that piece of wood…
“Cast: Friction Coefficient Adjustment!”
Seori sensed a strange flow of mana behind her.
[4th Circle Cooperative Casting: Gravity Coefficient Adjustment]
Seori realized the caster was the mysterious transfer student they had met at the back gate earlier.
Without lifting a finger, she conjured two magic circles and one counter-affinity circle.
The mana swirling around her was so abundant that her two pigtails danced uncontrollably.
[Conjure: Rotational Transformation]
The child trying to hit Ji-hye lost her footing, slipping and the remaining four stuck to the ground.
As NoName swiftly subdued the older students, both Seori and Ji-hye needed a moment to comprehend the unfolding situation.
“Are you okay?”
NoName helped the still-downed young child to her feet.
It seemed she had scraped her knee on a sharp stone when she fell, leaving a bit of blood on her leg.
“Y-yes…”
“You’re brave for not crying even though it must hurt. Do you want to keep playing at the playground?”
“No… I want to go home.”
“Can you walk?”
“Ahh, it hurts…!”
Only now did the child realize her injury.
Her eyes began to well up with tears again.
“Just a moment, close your eyes. I’ll heal you quickly.”
NoName reassured the child and seated her on a bench.
[2nd Circle Casting: Tissue Regeneration]
“It might sting a little.”
“Ugh!”
“You’ll feel better right away.”
Bright green light flickered in NoName’s hands.
She was about to use the healing magic often employed by healers.
It heightened the hypoxic adaptability of NK cells in the specific area, eliminating viruses at the wound site and promoting blood vessel formation.
Additionally, it stimulated the metabolism of macrophages simultaneously, resolving inflammation and reconstructing tissue.
Whether she used this knowledge instinctively or from an understanding of healing, was still a mystery to NoName.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s Laura. Aurora.”
“What a pretty name.”
“What’s your name, unni?”
“I’m NoName. There! Look, all healed!”
“Huh? Wow!”
When NoName lifted her hands, the child marveled at her knee, perfectly healed.
“It doesn’t hurt at all! I can walk by myself!”
“You’re not fully recovered yet. I’ll take you home.”
Aurora mentioned that she lived in Guryong Village across the main road.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Um… transfer student?”
As Aurora held NoName’s hand tightly, Seori and Ji-hye called out her name to stop them.
“Thanks for saving us! I almost got Ji-hye hurt because of me…”
Seori hesitated, yet her expression didn’t seem too displeased towards NoName.
“You were both pretty brave, even foolish.”
NoName complimented awkwardly, and Seori’s face lit up.
“Thank you for saving us, unni…!”
“You said your name was Aurora? It’s great to meet you! My name’s Han Seori, and this is Ma Ji-hye, the one who was fighting 1 against 5!”
“What do you mean 1 against 5? Don’t say stuff like that, it’s embarrassing.”
“No, you were cool!”
“Look at how cute our Laura is! Want to be my little sister?”
Seori and Ji-hye quickly bonded with Laura.
Even as they left the playground and entered a busy street, their chatter didn’t cease.
“Laura, did you see the transfer student’s magic earlier? She took out five older students in an instant.”
“I saw…! Unni Na-me is really strong…!”
“I didn’t even notice someone using magic this way. Just how did she do that…”
Ji-hye agreed with Seori’s sentiment.
The magic activated in a split second.
They instinctively realized that it was a level of skill no one their age should possess.
But NoName felt shy about their unabashed praise.
“Why are you following us? Aren’t you going home?”
“Don’t say that! We helped Laura too! You said it yourself, so we should take Laura home.”
As they crossed the intersection, the scenery shifted 180 degrees.
High-rise buildings and beautifully decorated tree-lined streets were nowhere to be found; instead, utility poles that could have been used 50 or 100 years ago still stood scattered around.
On the street, flyers from illegal debt collection companies saying, “We’ll help you retrieve your money!” littered the ground.
NoName felt familiarity with this scenery.
Long ago, a certain disabled boy popped into her memory. Living in a semi-basement, that was the very essence of hopelessness.
Laura’s current situation mirrored that plight.
Seori, on the other hand, found the scenery truly astonishing.
She couldn’t help but feel nervous about Laura getting hurt, yet she had no idea there would be such a slum in Seoul right next to an apartment complex.
There were no security measures to speak of on the shabby houses.
Laura lived in one of those houses.
“Thank you for walking me home.”
“Is anyone home? Where’s your mother?”
Ji-hye asked with a worried tone.
“There’s my grandma in the room, and my mom doesn’t come home often… They say if I wait at the playground, I might see my dad someday… but I think that’s a lie.”
NoName understood that Laura’s family had some complicated circumstances.
Everyone in the world carries their own pain.
But the degree to which that pain is felt varies from person to person.
Some get discouraged after failing an exam they prepared for a year and drown their sorrows at a pub, promising to try again next time, while others are crushed in their final life-defining challenge and live on forgetting their dreams.
They may even have to abandon the passion lingering in their hearts just to survive.
NoName felt her heart ache whenever she saw kids like Laura.
“I should come by more often.”
Seori blurted out unexpectedly.
“Come visit Laura?”
“Yeah! It would be fun if we all played together!”
Yet, the spark of hope flickered unexpectedly.
NoName smiled at their words, wishing that Laura would meet only good people like them in the future.
“By the way, Na-me… do you live in the Parthenon Apartment?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, which building? I’m in Building 101.”
“… Building 102.”
“That’s right next door! We’re neighbors; please be good to me, hehe. From now on, Ji-hye and Na-me can go to school together. Ji-hye’s house is on the other side of the complex, so the route is the same!”
Ji-hye nodded in agreement.
“Well, you’ll need to pass the transfer exam for that to happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter how I think about it, I feel like I’ll fail at the academy.”
“Why? If you weren’t qualified to attend the academy, we would have been expelled long ago!”
“Seori’s right. After what you showed today, even Si-hoo from our class wouldn’t be able to replicate it.”
But when NoName last saw the expressions and looks of the admission officers, all she felt was their negative judgment towards her.
“Well, if you get accepted later, let’s meet at the entrance ceremony! You must go to school with us then!”
“Really, thank you so much today! I won’t forget it!”
They were truly a handful of kids.
But NoName didn’t mind their innocence at all.
Seori and Ji-hye waved her off until she stepped into the elevator.
Once their figures disappeared, NoName began to recall the whirlwind of events that had transpired over the last month.
[39th floor. Going up.]
I just wrapped up my final exam for the Magic Studies class, which was one of the few joys of my life this time around.
[5th floor]
I took public transport to Korea University to check my grades, ended up in the hospital due to a fit from not having a potion, and…
[10th floor]
Before I knew it, I had been adopted by Professor Cheon Kyu-jin. Every day, I shared warm meals and discussed the latest theories in magic every evening.
[15th floor]
I even had a week-long session with Shia to repay the delayed bill that arrived from Korea Magic Corporation.
[20th floor]
I visited my beloved mother, Seol-ah, at the columbarium with Professor Cheon.
[25th floor]
Eventually, my secret plan to pay off the debt backfired due to a text mishap from Shia, leading Professor Cheon to discover it. Though, it did get me a debit card in my name.
[30th floor]
I was recommended for admission to Sephiron Academy and spent another half month preparing for interviews.
[35th floor]
And today, I met some rather unique yet kind academy friends and got to see the cute little lady who smiles brightly.
[39th floor.]
After all the twists and turns,
“I’m back.”
I arrived at what I could finally call home.
“Oh, Na-me! You’re back! Did it take a long time? Surely your interview just finished?”
“No, I met some fun friends on the way.”
“Friends? Oh, you’ve made friends already?”
Since it took a while,
I should be able to rest now.
“Yes, they were nice kids.”