The Cost of Criticism

That night, I made my second investment of the evening from under my dormitory blanket.

Another cup of lukewarm water filled my body. Mana 10. It was certainly higher than the zero of the unawakened, but by academy cadet standards, it was still rock-bottom. A miserable number, but the fact that it had risen by two points in two days mattered.

'At this rate... no, this rate won’t cut it.'

I ran the numbers. The E-rank cutoff was 12. Just two steps away. But above that lay D, C, B, and A ranks stacked like floors in a tower, and my deadline was a mere two years. On top of that, every time I earned points, I was growing more infamous. Three rumors had already reached my ears in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hallway that day alone.

"Who’s that? The guy who lectured Yoo Arin?"

"He even guessed she’d pulled an all-nighter for swordsmanship class."

"They say he’s hiding his rank. An F-rank? How could anyone see that?"

It didn’t make sense. I knew it. Every morning I stared in the mirror and thought the same thing. I pulled the blanket over my head.

'Starting tomorrow, I’ll live quietly. Like a wall. Like air. For points... I’ll just pick on some easy target when no one’s around and earn a little through gossip. One point at a time. A mountain of dust.'

Looking back, such resolutions had never once been kept.

The next afternoon. Basic Magic Practical Class. A required course for all first-years, regardless of whether they specialized in swordsmanship or not, which meant the second practical hall was teeming with nearly a hundred cadets. For me, that was a blessing. The more people, the easier it was to disappear.

I settled into a perfect blind spot behind the supply staff’s staff rack against the wall. Using yesterday’s experience of being ambushed by Yoo Arin from a pillar’s shadow as a lesson, today I hid behind a massive object. From the front, only my shin would be visible between the rack’s legs. Perfect.

"Today we’re measuring long-range output. Line up in order in front of the target."

The magic instructor flipped through the attendance sheet, then paused at the top of the list, her expression softening.

"Ah, before we begin. Cha Sion. Would you like to give a demonstration?"

The hall buzzed.

"Cha Sion?"

"Top scorer in theory nationwide. Never seen her do practicals before."

"Did you see her at the entrance ceremony? Looked like she stepped out of a photo shoot."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The cadets parted automatically, forming a path. Down its center walked a blonde girl. Her wavy golden hair shimmered under the hall’s lights, and the gold ear cuff on her left ear glinted. She stood before the target, wearing the crowd’s gazes like a second skin she’d been born in.

"What’s the distance?"

"Fifty meters. Standard target."

"Eh."

Cha Sion smiled.

"Instructor. You asked me to demonstrate. If I show you the standard, everyone will be disappointed."

"...Eighty meters. Reinforced target."

"That’s fine."

She raised her right hand. Five golden lines traced through the air. Five layers of magic circles stacked upward from her fingertips, each rotating at different speeds, interlocking as golden particles cascaded like a waterfall with every turn.

"Multiple incantations? Five layers at once...?"

"A first-year doing that?"

Someone’s swallow was audible. Cha Sion flicked her finger lightly, carrying all the awe on her shoulders.

Light erupted.

The mana barrage piercing through the five circles struck the reinforced target eighty meters away. It didn’t hold. There was no cracking process—just disintegration into dust that scattered into the air.

For a second, silence reigned. Then the hall exploded.

"WOOOAH!"

"Insane! Insane!"

"A reinforced target in one shot?!"

Applause and cheers poured out. Cha Sion blew the remaining golden particles from her fingertips and turned, a lazy smile on her lips as if the applause was her birthright.

"Well, that’s about it."

And from behind the rack, I watched, my stomach aching again.

'B-rank. B-rank at eighteen. Top scorer in magic theory nationwide. Heir to a major clan. Pretty face, and one finger flick gets a hundred people clapping.'

What was I? A guy who’d celebrated in bed last night over a cup of water’s worth of mana. The mana she’d used during that finger flick was probably more than my entire fortune. I was jealous. So jealous it made me crazy. Why was the world designed so unfairly?

Over the afterimage of the magic circles in the air, a translucent overlay revealed the misaligned mana flow. Five layers of circles. Only three were actually amplifying mana. The first, second, and fourth circles did their job. The third and fifth contributed nothing to the output. All they did was spin and scatter golden particles.

Not only that—the circles’ diameter was nearly double what was necessary. Larger circles were more flashy, but the wider the edge, the more mana leaked from the perimeter. At least thirty percent of the mana poured into that one shot had evaporated pointlessly as light and sound. In a real battle? That long incantation time, that blinding glare—it was like sending a polite notice to a monster eighty meters away: "I’m about to shoot here now." The target had just stood there and taken it because it was stupid.

'...I showed it.'

Once shown, the next step was set. My point balance was 1.

'Don’t say it. Please hold back. I haven’t even cleaned up yesterday’s mess. If I open my mouth again, I’ll become the whole school’s obsession.'

My head warned me, but my empty account balance argued back. In two years, would I become an obsession in front of the things crawling out of the abyss, or a corpse?

The applause still rang out. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cha Sion waved casually in response.

"For the audience."

A few nearby cadets turned, startled. Since I’d already said it, I had to finish to get the points.

"Only three of the five layers actually work. The other two are just lighting. The circles are drawn twice as big as needed, wasting thirty percent of your mana as advertising costs in the air."

My voice spread with unnatural clarity. I could feel the cheers dying down.

"The target just stood there and took it. In a real fight, what monster would wait around for that fireworks show? Wasteful. With that mana, you could’ve fired another shot while you were lighting things up."

When I finished, the hall was plunged into complete silence. I hadn’t realized a hundred people’s silence could feel so heavy. Where the applause had cut off, only my heartbeat pounded loudly.

'It’s in! 10 points! Finally, one stat point!'

The joy lasted exactly 0.5 seconds.

"Hey, that guy... that’s the one. From swordsmanship class."

"The one who lectured Yoo Arin?"

"And now Cha Sion...?"

Whispers spread like a wave. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Only then did my body fully grasp what I’d done. At the target, Cha Sion was slowly turning her head toward me.

In Cha Sion’s eighteen years of life, a sound like that had never existed before. Applause, awe, praise, and reverence. Those were the only sounds that followed her magic. The clan elders when she was young, the middle school teachers, and the hundred people gathered in this hall today.

For the audience.

Those four words wouldn’t leave her ears. At first, she couldn’t understand. She thought she’d misheard. But the air, where the awe had suddenly cooled, proved she hadn’t.

Her brow furrowed. Three out of five layers worked? Ridiculous. Simultaneously deploying five layers was a technique few could manage even among second and third-years, let alone first-years. Circle size? Drawing them large was her style. Cha Clan magic was always big, bright, and overwhelming.

But... Why had it needed to be big and bright?

Her thoughts stalled. For output? If output was the goal, she, the theory top scorer, knew circles should be small and dense. So why? Since when had it been five layers? Since when had they been this big?

Tracing her memory, the answer came quickly. Age twelve. The clan’s regular demonstration. The day when deploying five layers earned twice the applause of three. After that, her circles became five layers, growing slightly bigger and brighter each year. And for all those years, not a single person had pointed it out.

A hot rush of something between anger and shame surged up. 'No. I don’t know yet. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong. Some nobody pretending to know...!'

She glared fiercely toward where the voice had come from. In the corner of the hall, behind the staff rack, a messy-haired male cadet stood half-hidden. A face that blended into any background, unremarkable in every way. Yet he stared at her with an arrogant look, as if about to yawn.

While a hundred people clapped, that guy hadn’t.

The smile vanished from Cha Sion’s face. She began to walk slowly.

'She’s coming. She’s really coming this way.'

As Cha Sion started walking, no one spoke. A hundred people held their breath, watching the distance between her footsteps and me shrink.

Click. Click.

'Why’s she coming? She could just laugh it off. Wasn’t she a genius and a magnanimous person? Why get worked up over some F-rank’s words—.'

I retreated half a step as naturally as possible, using the rack as a shield, calculating the route to the side door at a snail’s pace. I’d always succeeded at running. It was my only specialty.

The moment I moved, golden light flashed before my eyes. A small magic circle appeared and vanished in the air, and suddenly Cha Sion stood in front of me.

'Short-range teleport? Using that here? Don’t you care about mana?'

"Where are you going?"

Cha Sion’s voice was low, cold, and devoid of the casual tone from earlier. I stopped retreating. The nationwide top scorer’s presence cut off all escape routes. Her golden eyes locked onto mine. The ear cuff on her left ear glowed faintly, resonating with her mana. Up close, it was clear: beneath her icy face, she was boiling inside.

A hundred gazes pinned us. Cha Sion crossed her arms, lifted her chin slightly, and spoke clearly.

"What you just said. Say it again. In front of me."