Academy Midterm Test: Facing Class 1's Magical Girl Prodigy?!
“You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes?”
“There’s no other way.”
Those were the words Kim Jiah heard in the emergency ward run by the Magical Girl Association.
“Ever since I first examined the patient six months ago, I’ve known modern medicine can’t fix this. We can’t even identify the real cause. Honestly… I never dreamed I’d confront the limits of a magical girl doctor in a place like this.”
A girl removed her oversized metal-framed glasses that looked comically large on her face and sighed. She wore a white coat, but unlike a typical doctor’s neat uniform, hers was made of silk with frills at the chest and various ornaments tucked into the shoulders and pockets. Even her jet-black hair had waves, cascading over the luxurious gown like scattered ink. The elegant white attire and dark hair created a striking contrast—simple yet ornate.
The girl glanced at the medical chart with her bare eyes for a moment, then set it down on the desk, apparently unable to find the information she wanted.
“So, just like you’ve been doing, the guardian—your senior—can take care of her at home.”
“Even so, isn’t there really nothing else we can do?”
“Senior…”
At the sight of Jiah’s desperate expression, the girl gently took her hand.
“We’re researching this as hard as we can. For your family. So… please wait just a little longer. One day, we’ll find a solution.”
“…”
The girl knew her words hadn’t reached Jiah. Still, as a magical girl in the medical field and as a doctor, this was the best she could offer. Anything else would have been meaningless.
That day. The day the beast appeared during the cherry blossom viewing. Jiah’s older brother had been active as a magical girl and had been asleep ever since. For three long weeks.
“The midterm test is tomorrow.”
“Y-yeah… that’s right.”
It was the last Tuesday of April. The day before the Magical Girl Academy’s midterm test, which would begin on Wednesday.
“…I wonder if Jihye can make it.”
Seyeol was worried. The test was one of the most important events at the Academy, and the midterm was tomorrow, yet Jihye still hadn’t shown up. Of course, with Jihye’s skill she would easily score high—if she could actually attend. Both Seyeol and Miju felt uneasy leaving Jihye, who hadn’t been to school for three weeks since that day. Seyeol especially so.
‘You worked hard, Class Rep.’
Those words of comfort, spoken while saving her right before the Lycanthrope’s attack, still lingered in her mind. Jihye had been so dependable, so effortlessly taking down the beasts, that it was hard to accept she had collapsed.
When they visited her in the hospital, Jiah had said, ‘Jihye is just exhausted and sleeping, that’s all.’ But who in the world could sleep for three weeks straight just from being tired? At this point, it clearly wasn’t a simple case of hypersomnia.
It seemed Seyeol wasn’t the only one who had realized this. Lately, Jihye’s condition had become a major topic of conversation in class.
“I thought it was hypersomnia, but… I guess not.”
“Right. I heard she hasn’t woken up in three weeks.”
“That sounds really serious. So all that time Jihye was just sleeping… she was actually in pain. And I didn’t even know.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like you knew everything.”
“So what exactly is wrong with her? Have you heard anything, Class Rep?”
“Uh… no. They said they don’t even know the name of the illness yet. They haven’t even confirmed if it’s an illness at all.”
“Oh no… poor Jihye.”
“I hope she comes back soon.”
Seyeol found it difficult to adjust to the changed atmosphere in class. Just a month ago, everyone had been badmouthing and disliking Jihye. But the moment their homeroom teacher mentioned Jihye wouldn’t be able to attend the Academy for a while due to illness, the mood had completely flipped. Little by little, voices of sympathy for Jihye had begun to appear. Now, three weeks into her absence, it was as if no one had ever disliked her—everyone was worried about her.
“Just a moment…”
Seyeol made an excuse and slipped out of the classroom. She felt slightly dizzy. She genuinely wanted everyone to recognize Jihye’s charm. That feeling hadn’t changed. But—
“Haa… Still, this is… just cheap pity. This isn’t what I wanted.”
Perhaps what made Seyeol uncomfortable was the possessive desire she felt toward Jihye deep inside. Even so, she couldn’t shake off the unpleasant feeling.
“S-Seyeol…”
“Miju… So you felt the same.”
Miju had also left the classroom—apparently even earlier than Seyeol.
“When did you come out?”
“About a minute… before you?”
“You’re quick. I didn’t notice even though you were right next to me earlier.”
“R-really? Hehe…”
Miju smiled awkwardly, then her lips quickly drooped. She spoke to Seyeol with a worried tone.
“She’ll… wake up soon, right?”
“Yeah. She’ll definitely wake up soon. Of course she will. So let’s work hard enough to make Jihye proud when she wakes up. Are you confident about the midterm?”
“Yeah. I… worked really hard.”
Miju spoke with confidence. During the three weeks Jihye had been asleep, Miju and Seyeol had trained diligently together. They practiced magic at the training grounds before morning classes, pored over textbooks during lunch, and returned to the training grounds after school until bedtime. Sometimes they sparred, asked teachers questions, and even received lessons from Jiah. Thanks to all that effort, Baek Miju could say “I’m confident” without hesitation.
Seyeol felt the same.
“I think I could take down a Lycanthrope easily now.”
“M-me too. I won’t… hold you back like last time.”
There were many reasons they had been able to work so hard, but the biggest factor was probably the experience of crossing the line between life and death. After a short recovery period of less than a day, the two returned to the Academy and were awarded scholarships and badges in recognition of their bravery in protecting citizens and fighting the beasts to the end. The badges now adorned the collars of Seyeol’s and Miju’s uniforms—star-shaped badges painted in platinum. At the Academy, they were called Astra. It was a badge and title given to glorious magical girls, and rumor had it that graduates who possessed an Astra were guaranteed scouting offers from the Association.
Seyeol’s parents had been thrilled by the news, but Seyeol herself was not. It felt as though the star badge on her chest kept whispering to her. The terrible reality that might have unfolded if she had been even slightly less capable. She kept imagining it. Thanks to that, she never grew arrogant or lazy because of the Astra. No matter how grueling the training, she could endure it. Training was far better than dying—or than the pain she had felt back then.
“Miju, let’s do a mock battle after afternoon classes.”
“Okay. Today I… won’t lose, so you’d better be on guard.”
“The midterm is tomorrow. Shouldn’t we take it easy?”
“That’s exactly why I’m going to work even harder.”
“Fine. Then I won’t go easy on you either. Ready?”
Seyeol and Miju both chuckled at the same time. Then, at the same time, they grew bitter. They wanted to show someone how much they had grown in less than a month. Even after earning the Astra, even after training hard to build their skills—the person they most wanted to show it to still hadn’t woken up.
Still, they couldn’t just sit around feeling sad. Jihye would never want to see them stuck in place, falling behind.
Before they knew it, the bell signaling the end of lunch echoed through the Academy. The two headed toward the training room for afternoon classes.
“Kooorr…”
A girl let out a tiny snore. Every time she snored, the blanket rose and fell slightly. But because of her small frame, the movement wasn’t very noticeable.
“Eheh… mnya…”
Soon she began tossing and turning, then scrunched up her face as if displeased.
“Mmm… ehuuu…”
After making several babbling sounds like a baby, about ten minutes later, the girl’s eyes snapped open.
“Hwaaah.”
She stretched and stared blankly at the ceiling for a long while. Then, as if coming to her senses, she kicked off the blanket.
“Whew… Haven’t slept that well in ages.”
With her pink hair fluttering, the girl scratched her stomach and got up. The girl who had woken from her three-week slumber was named Kim Jihye.
The day of the Academy Midterm Test. Thirty minutes remaining until the test.