Prologue Story

As I was staring at the student ID intently, I heard my mom calling from downstairs.

“Eunha, are you ready?”

“Not yet, just a little longer!”

Only then did I take my eyes off the student ID and check my outfit one more time.

After debating whether to tie my hair up or leave it down, I finally decided to leave it loose.

Since I’d cut it once last year, my hair was now just a little below my shoulders.

Inha’s hair already went down past her waist, didn’t it?

Satisfied with my appearance, I grabbed my bag and ran downstairs.

Mom and Dad were already ready and waiting for me to come out.

“The uniform suits you well! Our daughter looks so cute, doesn’t she, honey?”

“Eunha’s really grown up.”

Dad patted my head with a pleased expression.

I smiled and looked up at Mom and Dad.

“Alright, let’s go. Inha’s probably waiting.”

“Okay.”

I put on my sneakers and stepped out the front door with Mom and Dad.

Mom unlocked the gate and opened it.

Just as Mom said, Auntie Suna, Inha, and Uncle Jungmin were already waiting for us outside.

Inha was wearing a pretty dress as usual today.

When Inha saw me, her eyes widened briefly, and then she frowned.

“…Uniform?”

“Yeah. How does it look? Does it suit me?”

I spun around playfully.

“Oh my, you look adorable! It suits you well!”

Amid Auntie Suna’s enthusiastic praise and Uncle Jungmin’s agreeing compliments, Inha nodded.

“It does suit you… but you didn’t say you’d be wearing a uniform.”

“Huh? Didn’t I?”

I tilted my head, and Inha nodded.

“Well… since we’re free to choose between uniforms and casual clothes, I figured why not?

I picked the uniform because I didn’t want the hassle of changing outfits every day.”

“…Oh.”

If it were just at home, it wouldn’t matter, but going out means you have to change clothes.

Especially when it’s a place like school, where you go every day.

As the years go by, there’s always at least one kid who whispers and compares what others are wearing.

It’s such a hassle.

It’s much easier to wear a uniform every day.

“That’s… true. Did you get the summer uniform too?”

“No, not yet.”

“Hmm…”

Inha nodded absently and grabbed my hand.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

“Okay.”

“Everyone ready? Let’s go.”

When it looked like we were all set, Auntie Suna took out a teleportation item that looked like a compact.

The magic emanating from the compact swirled around us and quickly wrapped over us.

When I blinked, the school I’d seen months before was standing tall in front of us.

“Hmm, there are quite a few people.”

At Auntie Suna’s remark, I looked around at the noisy surroundings and nodded.

Indeed, there were a lot of people.

Many people were entering through the school gate or chatting around it.

Some were even arriving at the school gate via teleportation.

However, there weren’t as many people as I had expected.

I’d heard that only a few children can sense magic as early as kindergarten, so there are actually more transfer students.

For elementary students, there are only 3 to 4 classes per grade, with no more than 30 students per class, according to the club president.

No wonder there weren’t as many people as I’d imagined.

Although, considering that today’s ceremony is only for the elementary school, it might actually be quite a large crowd.

“Today’s entrance ceremony is only for the elementary school, isn’t it…?”

Auntie Suna seemed to think so too, looking a bit puzzled.

But upon closer look, it wasn’t just elementary school freshmen and their families here.

High school upperclassmen and what appeared to be association members were also present.

I noticed this right before a small commotion broke out.

“No cameras or recording devices allowed. You should know this.”

“Oh, come on. Just a little bit is fine, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Tch, stop being so uptight!”

I saw a man, who seemed to be with the school, subdue someone trying to force his way through.

Auntie Suna frowned, looking irritated at the sight.

“What nonsense.”

Muttering that, she quickly ushered us through the gate.

But I saw it.

As she pushed us inside, Auntie Suna swiftly cast a spell and lowered her hand.

The result was the camera froze solid, shattering into pieces like an ice sculpture.

“Oh, oh?! What’s wrong with this camera? This thing was so expensive…!”

‘Wow, Auntie Suna is amazing. But still… it was expensive…’

Even though he was in the wrong, I felt a strange pang of guilt as I looked back at him.

We left the commotion behind and entered through the gate.

Inside, someone verified our status as new students with our student IDs and badges, then gave us a pamphlet with directions to the ceremony hall.

“Let’s see, it’s being held in the sports field… which one…”

Watching Auntie Suna wander around with the pamphlet, I lightly channeled magic into my student ID to pull up the map.

Finding the right field was challenging since there were multiple sports fields.

The grounds were divided into sections for the elementary, middle, and high schools, faculty offices, and places for association members and staff to stay, with one sports field per section…

I set a transparent screen to display the entrance ceremony information on top of the map, comparing the location and map to find the field for the ceremony.

It was a mid-sized field, located near the front of the main building in the elementary school area.

“It’s close. Let’s teleport. Let’s see, the coordinates…”

Auntie Suna immediately began summoning magic from her body.

I watched, eyes wide.

The magic dispersed like a breeze, swirling like silver snowflakes in the air.

It was quite beautiful.

I sensed where the magic was directed and looked in that direction.

Then Auntie Suna glanced at me with a slight smile.

“You really are sensitive, Eunha. Alright, let’s go.”

In an instant, the snowstorm-like magic filled our vision.

Teleporting short distances like this was effortless for Auntie Suna.

I’d heard her maximum teleportation range was around 6,000,000 km.

Truly, a magician ranked within the world’s top 100!

But she can only teleport to locations she knows or has coordinates for.

With that, it took no time for her to teleport us to the sports field.

Auntie Suna carefully moved us to a spot at the back of the field, out of sight.

Moving forward a bit, I saw many people gathered.

Among them were a few students in middle or high school uniforms.

“Hey there, are you freshmen?”

A middle school girl who seemed to notice us approached.

“Guardians can sit on those chairs over there. Which class are you two in?”

“Class 1-1.”

“Both of you?”

“Yes.”

Inha’s answer prompted the girl to nod and point in a direction.

Floating in the air where she pointed was the text “1-1.”

“See it? Over there. Take care on your way.”

“Thank you.”

We both bowed in gratitude.

Turning to our parents, we said,

“Alright, Mom, Dad, we’re off.”

“Okay, do well.”

“Okay!”

“…I’ll be going, too. Dad, don’t get lost.”

“Alright, alright. Your mom will keep an eye on me, so don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

We waved at our parents with bright smiles, then ran towards the spot where the floating sign was.

As we lingered near other kids our age, a woman who seemed to be a teacher approached us.

“What class are you in?”

“Class 1-1.”

Inha answered in her usual indifferent tone.

“Your student IDs?”

“Here.”

“Here…”

In almost perfect unison, Inha and I rolled up our sleeves and showed our student IDs.

She touched the IDs to verify our identities.

“Kang Inha and Yoo Eunha, right? Alright, stand in line at the back there.”

“Yes.”

She was probably a teacher, right?

Following her instructions, we quietly lined up in two rows at the back.

Chatting quietly, we waited for the entrance ceremony to start.

There were about 15 minutes left before the ceremony began.

Someone at the front took the microphone.

[Alright, everyone, please spread out a little to make room for seats. Move back… back… Yes, that’s good. Now, everyone please take a seat.]

Looking around, I saw that chairs had appeared behind us.

Actually, chairs had appeared in front of us as well.

It seemed like chairs appeared for the exact number of people.

I was startled and almost bumped into a chair, but maybe because it was created with magic, I didn’t feel any impact.

I stumbled slightly before plopping down onto the chair.

[Everyone, please wait a little longer. Not all the new students have arrived yet.]

Listening to the voice echoing around the field, I glanced around at the students nearby.

Since this school is renowned and even allows teleportation for commuting, applicants come from all over the country.

It’s certainly rare to sense magic at this young age, but it’s not unheard of, so I’d heard there were kids who applied and didn’t get in.

Apparently, being able to control magic to some degree was a requirement for entry.

Passing the strict entrance requirements wasn’t everything, though.

Although Daehyun’s Confidentiality Policy allowed students to hide their abilities, they still needed to achieve a certain standard on tests.

Only then could they pass the graduation exam and move on to middle school.

Grades are based on an absolute scale, not relative ranking.

So, even though it’s a school with a built-in progression, entry doesn’t guarantee advancement.

In other words, this school isn’t just about protecting young magicians but is committed to cultivating talented children.

Incidentally, I got all this information from the student ID.

Well, Daehyun isn’t the only magic-specialized school, so those who didn’t make it here likely went to other good schools.

Given how rare it is to sense magic at this age, they probably went to a place that matched their abilities.

Still, there were fewer people than I had imagined.

It seemed the limit of 30 students per class with 3-4 classes was accurate since the total number of freshmen appeared to be under 100.

There were even a few kids who looked like foreigners.

Well, Daehyun is a globally renowned school.

The entrance ceremony soon began.

A few latecomers rushed in behind us, forming a line at the back.

Let’s see, how many students are in our class?

I used my detection and clairvoyance abilities to count the kids.

13 boys, 14 girls, totaling 27 students.

The entrance ceremony wasn’t much different from what I’d experienced before.

Instead of pledging to the national flag or singing the anthem, we declared our commitment to the mindset of a magician.

After a few formalities, the director came up to greet us.

Despite his position, the director looked quite young, in his early twenties.

But we couldn’t trust appearances.

High-ranking magicians usually stop aging except under special circumstances.

Next, someone who seemed to be a teacher explained the layout of the elementary school grounds.

Starting with “You should know from looking at the map…” she outlined restricted areas and prohibitions.

She advised us not to practice dangerous magic in the classroom.

Magic practice was to be done in the gym or training rooms.

Then she moved on to explain the facilities beyond the school grounds.

After a few more formalities, the entrance ceremony finally ended.

I stretched as I stood up from my chair.

“Finally, to the classroom.”

“Yeah.”

We followed the line towards the classroom.

As we walked, everyone waved at their parents, so Inha and I turned to wave at ours.

Our parents waved back at us as we headed into the school building.