Chapter 102: The Disqualified Trio, Each in Their Own Positions
The review committee was thrown into disarray by this unprecedented incident.
"So you're saying the simulation ether engine exploded? A 7th-level creation spell that can roughly block even a nuclear blast?"
One of the examiners on the committee took off his glasses as if it wasn't even worth considering.
"What nonsense is this? The simulation can't have any issues."
He glared at me once with the eye freed from his magnifying glasses.
"It's that kid with a grudge against the Mage Association, right? Probably thought she could catch us in a slip-up just because some recorded data glitched."
Stroking his thin mustache, he smirked.
"The simulation is flawless. Disqualified is disqualified. No reversals possible."
At the thin-mustached old man's words, the other two examiners fell into thought.
"Still, we should verify it. Setting this precedent isn't good, Mr. Oh Kyung-cheol."
"That's exactly what I want to say. Examiner Park Myeong-jeong. What more do you want to give this kid who's already gotten special treatment building her own tower?"
"Even so, pushing it through without procedure or verification..."
"Hmph! Procedure is the Association's prerogative, not an obligation!"
"Even so, this is too reckless. Tsk."
"What are you blabbering about now? Disqualified is disqualified! The Association has never once overturned a decision!"
Watching the two old men bicker was a truly pathetic sight.
Judging by their age, they must be either non-mages or low-level ones.
I listened quietly before speaking up.
"If you process it as disqualification, I'll accept it as is."
The examiners' eyes turned to me at my words.
"What polite speech."
I shrugged at Mr. Oh Kyung-cheol's sneering remark.
"What can I do? I've lived my whole life like this; it doesn't change easily."
"Your whole life? That's just eight years, isn't it? Not trying to insult the examiners, are you?"
I chuckled at his words.
"If I wanted to insult you, I'd hardly do it with my speech."
Mr. Oh Kyung-cheol's brow furrowed sharply at my response. Given his longevity, he seemed to grasp my implication that a low-level mage like him shouldn't even be judging.
"Y-You insolent brat! We should bar her from the loser's bracket advancement too—expel her completely!"
"That's beyond our authority."
"Indeed. Follow procedure, Examiner Oh Kyung-cheol."
The one called Park Myeong-jeong spoke coldly as she looked at me. She wasn't defending me out of fondness either.
"We've heard your side. The prelim wave stage resulted in disqualification, so off you go."
I gave a wry smile and left the review room.
I didn't expect them to disqualify me without even verifying.
I'd assumed they'd at least give me a chance to verify, but apparently not.
People said the Mage Association hates me, and it looks like it's true.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. The brilliant mages who ushered in the Miracle Age had all met early ends, leaving only opportunists and egoists behind.
Fools who believe pro mages' vested interests come from roster limits—small wonder.
Remembering that cold reception and dismissal, I stepped out to see Monica's face.
"What did they say?"
"Forget verification—they fought over how an insolent brat like me shouldn't even get the advancement bracket."
"Heavens?! For real? Aigoo..."
Monica pressed her forehead.
"So the result...? They must've at least verified it."
"They flat-out said the simulation's fine, so no verification needed—prelims disqualification, period."
I spoke calmly. Monica groaned at that.
"That's trouble.... The loser's advancement to finals is pure luck-of-the-draw."
I chuckled at Monica's words. I already had a plan.
"It's fine. That one's the same simulation anyway, right? That 7th-level creation spell."
"Ah?"
"The Mage Association is done for."
I curled my lips and headed to the losers' waiting room.
"Ah."
Lee Sera turned her eyes from the path filled with quiet, weary footsteps—mages heading from the simulation to the losers' waiting room—and looked at the bench.
It was a seat for the waiting participants along one edge of the arena. Lee Sera walked over in a daze and sat down.
Through the massive hole in the arena's ceiling, a clear blue sky stretched out. A typical winter sky, cloudless despite it being early March. Despite the early spring date, the wintry chill made her clasp her cold hands tightly.
I knew it would end like this.
Lee Sera steeled her resolve. Without becoming a star, her poor family would struggle to survive. Without stardom, she couldn't have paid off her father's business debts. Without it...
Yoo Eunha, Seong Ji-ho, Hong Ji-yeon, the ding-dong-dang classroom supervisor, her current coach, Monica—none of those connections, nor the countless others.
But even choosing the path of a flashing supernova, I couldn't surpass you....
Recalling Yoo Eunha's face, she chuckled bitterly. All that remained of her brilliant junior league supernova explosion was the pathetic aftermath: sooty cosmic dust and a lukewarm neutron star. That was the meaning of her nickname, Supernova.
Ah~ Maybe I should switch to entertainment.
She'd take some flak, but survival wouldn't be an issue. As she stared blankly at the sky, a sharp voice cut in.
"Hey, prelim dropout, right?"
A shrill, raspy voice—definitely.
Kang Seo-hee sunbae....
Turning silently, she saw Kang Seo-hee smirking openly in mockery.
"The media hyped you up huge, but it was all hot air, huh?"
"......"
As Lee Sera didn't respond, Kang Seo-hee's expression hardened.
"Already tucking tail to run?"
She leaned in close and whispered.
"If you're gonna reek of loser, get out of the magic world. There are plenty of stars besides you."
Unable to retort, Lee Sera sat frozen on the bench when—
"Lee Sera, what are you doing there?"
A voice with a distinctive manner of speaking rang out.
"Ah~ What's this? Another bubble? All that Maou this and that, and prelim dropout...."
Yoo Eunha ignored Kang Seo-hee and approached Lee Sera.
"What are you doing? Hurry and get out there to prep for the advancement bracket."
"Huh?"
"It's next week, they say. Today's over, so time to head home."
Ignored, sparks flew from Kang Seo-hee's eyes.
How dare she ignore me?
Her expression screamed it. Worried for Yoo Eunha, Lee Sera poked her arm.
Yoo Eunha turned at Lee Sera's action.
"Ah~ Finally giving me a look? That's the problem with kids—immature, socially...."
"You've been telling me to scram and calling me a kid since earlier; you're a poor child with terrible word choice."
"Wha...?"
"At your age, you might not grasp the terror of image. You're not living in your own world alone."
Kang Seo-hee's eyebrow slashed like a diagonal line at Yoo Eunha's words. She wanted to retort but nothing came to mind.
"When you view the world from a cage, you miss so much. Little one, you need to broaden your horizons."
"What're you talking about?"
Yoo Eunha beamed at that.
"It means read books and study."
Kang Seo-hee's face flushed red.
"Y-You!! J-Just wait till finals! You're... you'll see!"
Her purple tentacles bristling in threat at Yoo Eunha, she vanished toward the waiting room.
"What was that just now?"
At Lee Sera's question, Yoo Eunha pouted before replying.
"Looks like she was trying to 'encourage' in her own way. But she should've chosen her words better."
Monica giggled at Yoo Eunha's words.
"Right? How'd you see through it?"
"Huh? Encourage? From Kang Seo-hee sunbae just now?"
As Lee Sera's eyes widened, Monica elaborated.
"She meant don't mope, buck up."
"No way you interpret it like that...."
"That girl's just like you."
Monica glanced in the direction Kang Seo-hee had gone.
"First it was Park Seong-jun, before that Kang Seo-hee. Rising stars making waves in the tower alliance. Well, they got crushed in their first ranking war and tumbled to 3rd Army."
"Uh.... Hold on."
Lee Sera's eyes shook.
"Don't tell me... she overcame her fundamentals deficiency and is in 2nd Army now?"
"Yep."
"She didn't start in 2nd Army...?"
"Well, 3rd Army doesn't get broadcasts, so most folks don't know."
"Even so, isn't junior league the only watchable one? Hardly anyone in Korea watches it."
Monica shook her head at Lee Sera's words.
"Nah? Junior league might actually have more fans."
"......?"
"3rd Army has no hype or hope."
"Ah."
"Climbing from 3rd to 2nd is rare."
"......"
At Monica's words, Yoo Eunha pursed her lips.
"Means they lack grit."
"Pfft~ You haven't seen 3rd Army. It has that vibe—sticky defeat atmosphere?"
"......?"
"Only way to overcome it and rise is to toughen up hard."
3rd Army mage Park Yu-hye let out a strange laugh through eyes ringed with dark circles.
"Yuhehehe, f-finally my time. My ace spell...."
She swept back her grease-matted hair and cackled.
"Th-this'll get me through advancement. Th-then I can pay off debts with the Toto prize money."
Stuck at late 3rd level, she'd never dreamed of reaching 2nd Army. Passing wave stage required iron will and mental fortitude? No chance.
So Park Yu-hye forfeited the moment wave stage started, drawing everyone's scorn.
But! She had her own ambitions and plan.
She wasn't aiming for wave stage—but advancement.
"Finals advancement bracket. Special spell for that madhouse. Yuhehehehehe."
What she'd prepared was malicious magic far from beginner stuff like Eun-byeol's Ether Drain.
Everyone will kneel before Yu-hye.
And she'd pay debts with Toto winnings, then splurge at the host bar. Seduce her prince, Su-yeon young master, shove a million won in his hands.
"F-fall into the bog, you d-damned star brats."
She was once a flashing supernova that drew eyes—now evolved into a black hole of greed and sloth.