Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: 14. Terror
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Crash!
A slight sense of floating washed over me as my body hit the floor. My heart throbbed wildly in pain. My lungs tightened, and my breath came in gasps. Clutching my chest, I panted desperately. Nausea roiled in my stomach, and I dry-heaved while staring at the floor.
Crash!
A slight sense of floating washed over me as my body hit the floor. My heart throbbed wildly in pain. My lungs tightened, and my breath came in gasps. Clutching my chest, I panted desperately. Nausea roiled in my stomach, and I dry-heaved while staring at the floor.
“Ugh…… Urk…!”
“Eunha!”
“Hey, Yoo Eunha!”
Nothing came up but air, but at least I felt a bit better. I hacked and coughed steadily.
Only after heaving out several breaths did I finally come back to my senses. The first thing I did upon regaining my wits was check my surroundings. I could see the fourth-graders scattered around the spacious living room, standing or sitting here and there. The familiar sight of the room confirmed that the teleport had succeeded. I let out a sigh of relief.
‘Did it work…?’
Then I dispelled the barrier still holding its shape in the distance. As I sat there, exhausted and just breathing, someone patted my back. It felt like a cool rush of air cleared my chest.
“Ah, thank you…”
When I looked up to express my gratitude, I froze in place. A young woman with black curly hair tied up in a single ponytail gazed down at me. Her overbearing aura reminded me of my teacher, but she was clearly different. Hansu called out to her.
“Mom!”
“It’s mana depletion. She’ll be fine in a bit.”
With that, she coolly scanned the surroundings. The kids recognized her face and started murmuring. Lee Yuyeong, ranked 7th among Korean mages. For real? That’s Hansu’s mom? Ignoring the chatter, she turned a cold gaze on Hansu.
“So, what’s all this commotion?”
“Well! Our school’s under attack by some weirdos right now…!”
“Terror at the Daehyeon Association?”
She frowned slightly at Hansu’s words. Her eyes grew even colder than usual.
Oh, right. That’s it! Only then did I remember something and raised my arm—specifically, bringing my student ID on my wrist up to my face. I pressed the orb firmly and connected a call to Eunhee Sister. But all that came from the orb was static.
“Eunha. What’re you doing?”
“Trying to let Eunhee Sister know what’s happening… But it’s not working, huh… What do we do?”
At my words, Minhee quickly pulled out her phone. But the phone was no better—no connection.
“Ugh, phone’s dead too! Seriously… We gotta let them know fast…”
I fidgeted anxiously. Then, I suddenly recalled the communication spell Mom used to use.
After a moment’s hesitation, I drew a line with my finger. I could feel the kids’ eyes pretending not to watch, focusing instead on me and Hansu’s mom, but whatever—everything was out in the open now. After the extreme situation we’d just escaped, I didn’t care anymore.
First, I drew a simple rectangle. A screen. Then I wrote above it: 『Video Call: Lee Eunhee』. Hansu looked worried as he saw it.
“Hey! How long ago did you start using magic, and you’re casting again?”
“It’s fine. Your mom replenished my mana earlier, so I’m good.”
“Still…”
I activated the spell. Moments later, a 『…』 connection indicator appeared, and the magic took effect. I regretted not learning communication spells sooner.
‘Interference barrier blocked it inside… But from out here, maybe communication magic works…?’
I waited desperately for the connection. Soon, a voice came through, and Eunhee Sister’s face appeared.
[Huh? What’s this? …Eunha?]
[What?! It really is Eunha. What is this? Eunha’s magic?]
“Eunhee Sister! Inho Brother!”
“Oh, Brother’s here too…”
[…Minhee? Why’re you crying??]
The kids murmured. Even feeling that, I spoke to them. After the intense tension we’d just been through, nothing fazed me anymore.
[Right! Something huge’s happening at school right now… Have you all evacuated properly…?]
“Eunhee Sister! Communications between organization members aren’t working right now, are they?”
[Yeah! Exactly. We were super worried about it…]
“Then head to the elementary division!”
Her face twisted in confusion at my urgent plea. Recalling what had happened, I explained bit by bit.
“Those people are targeting the elementary students. The first attack hit our building, and right after, they came to kidnap us.”
[What?! Kidnap?!]
“And those guys—they said they used signal-jamming magic! They took control of the program! They’re tracking us through student IDs, blocking communications…! They put up interference barriers so we can’t teleport! The barriers block pretty much everything…”
[What about you all? You escaped okay?!]
Eunhee Sister cut in, shouting urgently. I nodded. Je-hyeon Brother frowned with worry.
[Escaped…? To where…? They’re tracking, you said…]
“We’re at Hansu’s house right now. Hansu’s mom—Lee Yuyeong, who’s in the world rankings—is here too, so we’re safe.”
[Hansu’s house?]
[How’d you get all the way there?]
“…We teleported.”
[How? You just said teleport didn’t work… We can’t teleport either, so we’re running…]
Eunhee Sister looked puzzled. I swallowed hard and spoke.
“It’s thanks to my barrier.”
[Your barrier?]
I explained in detail how we’d managed to teleport here—namely, the special properties of my barrier. After hearing me out, all three stared at me in shock.
[So… you can teleport inside your barrier?]
“My barrier is my ‘domain.’ A ‘world’ where outside logic doesn’t apply.”
I suddenly recalled the first time I’d conceived of space-time magic. ‘Create my own world’—that was the origin of my space-time magic. Starting from barriers, it had grown tremendously by fourth grade. Now my gates could move people. I could even create space inside gates. I’d succeeded in entering the ‘gaps’ between spaces. My gates were essentially spells that opened entrances to those spatial gaps.
[…]
Eunhee Sister pondered, hand on her chin. Even as she thought, she leaped through the sky, taking down every enemy in sight. Suddenly, she spoke.
[Then I have a favor to ask. Could you use that barrier of yours to move all the remaining elementary kids at school to a safe place?]
Her words made my eyes widen.
“How…?”
[I don’t know… Could you put a new barrier over the entire school?]
I grimaced.
“No way.”
[Why not?]
“Too big. And I have to cast from here, so the distance is already an issue…”
[Oh… Right. Yeah, no way you could. I forgot you’re just a kid for a second.]
Then… As Eunhee Sister agonized, Je-hyeon Brother spoke up.
[What about putting barriers just on the elementary kids? Then move them to safety.]
I scowled at that. It was more feasible than before. But even just the elementary students numbered over 500. Even excluding the hundred or so here, it was the same. All of them?
‘No… A body-enveloping barrier might be doable… But the distance is too far. I’ve already burned through so much mana. Plus… how do I target just the elementary kids from here? No way I can do that precise detection magic…’
Muttering to myself, I glanced at the holographic image before me. Specifically, the slightly wavy rectangular border projecting it.
‘Maybe with text magic…’
But I shook my head. To mark them, the student IDs needed to function first. I needed a ‘map’ to tag people. Or could I mark on a normal map with text magic? But…
The biggest issue was ‘moving’ them. Before, they’d all used teleport badges. Even if I enveloped students in barriers, relocating them was…
‘…Wait. If I connect the barriers…’
Covering my mouth with my hand, I pondered furiously. That would definitely use less mana. Between my barriers, there was a special worldview where only my magic connected.
But… could I pull it off?
“Ugh…… Mana……”
Clutching my head with both hands, I glanced at the Guard Trio. They watched me gravely. Meaning, even they had no good plan to evacuate the kids right now.
‘A full barrier takes too long. But body-only barriers might slip by unnoticed. Some kids might already be kidnapped, trapped somewhere magic doesn’t work. No mana-sealing cuffs? Even so, my teleport success rate would be…’
I gritted my teeth. If I was the only one who could do it, then I had to. Especially since I was safe now.
“Alright, I’ll do what I can. Sorry, but this’ll take a ton of mana, so I’m cutting the call!”
[Really?]
[Got it.]
[Yeah! You got this!]
I shattered the spell in an instant. Haah… Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing and checked my internal mana.
‘Hansu’s mom topped me up, but it’s still only about a fifth of normal.’
I breathed out, in, out, in. Deep breaths… short meditation. A stopgap to recover mana.
‘Can I do this? No time to fully recover.’
Breathing steadily, I drew in mana. I gathered it meticulously in one spot in my body. It felt like wind sucking into a point in my body. Like floating high in the sky. Moments later, I opened my eyes and forced my mind to icy calm.
I’d always had this side. Even genuinely laughing or flustered, a corner of my mind coldly observed myself and my surroundings from deep within. This was that amplified. With a deep breath, I turned to the lady of the house—Hansu’s mom.
“Um! Do you have a map of Daehyeon School? Even a pamphlet’s fine…”
“Got one.”
She’d been watching me quietly and summoned something above her hand. She handed it over. Ah, the Daehyeon School pamphlet! It had a full school map—holographic, too. Thanking her, I opened it immediately and tried a spell. I noticed her checking her phone and calling someone, but no time to care.
First, I conjured an illusory pen with hallucination magic and wrote beside the hologram:
『Mark everyone currently at Daehyeon School.』
Light-green people icons appeared on the hologram. I felt my mana drain sharply and scowled. Ignoring my quickening breath, I cast the next spell.
『Mark elementary students in red.』
The icons split by color. Non-elementary in black, elementary in red. I wrote beside them: 『Elementary students—Number:』. 532 appeared. I swallowed a groan and continued.
『Draw a body-enveloping barrier (limited to body only) over every spot the pen passes where there are elementary students. Thick checkmark (∨) for each barrier cast on an elementary student. Number checked:』
I started dragging the pen from the most visible red icons. Each checkmark spiked my mana drain. Cold sweat beaded. The room felt deathly quiet—probably just my imagination.
One, two… Single digits became double, double became triple quickly. But triples were tough. 200, 300—my breath grew labored as numbers climbed. Mid-stroke, I heard something snap.
『Magic disrupted.』
『This student cannot have magic cast currently.』
Huff, huff. Some students’ spells failed midway. I examined them closely. The unbarriered kids were clustered together. For now, I circled the spot—unrelated to magic—for later.
I skipped those kids. …It took over 30 minutes to barrier nearly 500 kids.
Huff, huff. The active magic kept draining my mana. Propping myself on the floor, I muttered.
“A place to teleport them to……”
“Kid. Over here.”
As I wrung out my heart like a rag, she supported me and pointed somewhere. My gaze passed the kids to where she indicated. Straight ahead, an open door.
“Spatial expansion magic. …Sorry, I’m no good at special magic, so I can’t help with what you’re doing.”
“…No.”
Panting, I shook my head. I pressed on. First, checked unbarriered students: 52. More than expected.
‘Can’t maintain this longer… Teleport who I can first.’
Teleport is extremely hard and dangerous magic. Botch it, and your body disintegrates at the molecular level. But connecting my barriers changed that. No ‘danger.’ If I held the barriers, a passage would definitely link.
I raised my trembling arms and filled the room with a tight barrier. It felt incomplete, so I switched: a barrier enveloping the whole room. That worked properly.
“Hup…… Hoo……”
Burning mana, I continuously drew more into my body. It felt like wind swirled around me. Actually, mana ripples made my body glow, hair floating. Mana rushed toward me sharply.
The magic activated in a flash. Through the barriers, students’ bodies teleported. Red icons vanished one by one from the map. Right after teleporting nearly 500 people, I collapsed.
“Eunha!”
“Hey, you okay?!”
“She’s not. Mana depletion. Hansu. Cast a spell. Recovery Tree.”
“Right!”
Something sprouted beside me instantly. The refreshing feel made me open my eyes: a small conifer tree. Mana dust fell from it onto me. Each speck eased me, calming my mind.
Then, kids emerged from the barrier-covered room. All looked bewildered. Some injured, some tear-streaked. Seeing them, I relaxed briefly—but forced myself up.
“Hey! Don’t get up yet!”
“No……52……still left.”
“What?!”
“Seems like they’ve got some magic on them…… Same barrier style won’t work, but if I envelop the whole area around them……”
The remaining 52 clustered together. I raised the pen to the red-packed map spot. Mentally connected the line. A rectangular barrier formed around the kids. I felt it expand.
“Connect…… Teleport……”
Select people inside the barrier. Only elementary kids…… Using text magic…… Connect barriers…… Teleport. Destination: that room. Noisy voices, startled cries…… All kinds filled the room. Only then did I relax fully. Lying back, I covered my eyes.
“I’m gonna die……”
The rest was up to the seniors and whoever else remained at school. I’d done everything I could.
‘Probably impossible with just my mana.’
I peeked at my hand by lifting the covering one slightly.
Purely my innate mana? Definitely impossible. But… As I cast spells, feeling my body’s mana deplete, I sensed something else. Surrounding mana surging, drawn into me…
‘Mana resonance,’ maybe? Never pulled in ambient mana this strongly before.
“Good work.”
Someone stroked my head. I fully removed my hand. Hansu’s mom smiled at me. She offered a glass of water.
“Drink. Your throat must be dry.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I sat up slowly and took it. Gulp, gulp—the water tasted oddly sweet. Only then did I realize how exhausted I was. She smiled.
“You’ll become a great mage.”
I flinched, looking at her. I’d visited Hansu’s house a few times, but this was the first time I’d seen her smile.
“I guarantee it.”
Good or bad? As I pondered, she tsked at the noisy surroundings.
“Space’ll run out here soon. We’ll house the kids till things settle, so… time to expand.”
With that, she moved her mana. I watched with sudden clarity.
Because I’d resonated so deeply with ambient mana? My senses sharpened—every breath crystal clear. Everything slowed. I saw her hand, the mana, even its path clearly. The flow itself.
As she gestured, the house’s space expanded, objects shifting apart accordingly. Watching, a thought struck me.
‘I wanna learn that. Last year, my mana wasn’t enough to succeed, huh?’
Spatial expansion is advanced magic. I watched her mana flow intently.
‘If I follow that path exactly, could I cast it too?’
Silly thought. Not easy. Impossible, even. I closed my eyes with such notions. My mind drifted far away.
