Academy Midterm Test: Facing Class 1's Magical Girl Prodigy?! (7)
“…What the hell just happened?”
“Are you okayyy?”
Yun Yuri clutched her splitting headache as she forced herself upright. The dull, throbbing pain radiating through her skull felt incredibly unpleasant. She brushed aside her jet-black hair and pressed a hand to her scalp, feeling a lukewarm heat and a swollen lump. It was as if she’d been struck by a blunt weapon.
And then she realized it.
…She had lost the spar.
“Round Eyes… Did I… lose?”
“Yes… You got hit once and passed out right awayyy.”
“For real… I… lost?”
“Miss Yuri, are you crying right nowww?”
“I… *hic*. Lost…? *Hup!*”
Once the pain subsided a little and the reality of defeat sank in, emotions surged over her like a tidal wave.
“Waaaaah! I lost! I worked so hard… I really gave it my all this whole time. Waaaaah!”
Frustration. Betrayal. Defeat. Humiliation. No matter how outstanding her skills were, Yun Yuri was only fourteen. She was a girl in the throes of puberty, right in the middle of that stormy phase.
“Huuuuh… *hic*! *Hup*…”
It wasn’t as if she had only ever known victory. She had lost before. She had shed angry tears. But she had never broken down and wailed like this.
To Round Eyes, today’s loss seemed to have shattered the emotional dam Yun Yuri had been barely holding together. Just enduring it all this long was impressive. From Round Eyes’ perspective, Yun Yuri had always looked dangerously fragile.
Even though she was still a child, she had killed off all the emotions a girl her age should have been allowed to feel, all in her desperate attempt to become an adult. She had poured every last feeling into the single-minded goal of becoming the greatest magical girl.
And today, when that goal had been brutally shattered, Yuri was finally expressing emotions appropriate for her age.
‘Maybe… losing was for the best…’
Sometimes people grow more from a devastating defeat than from an expensive victory. This loss was incredibly painful and heartbreaking, but at the same time, it would likely become the biggest cornerstone in Yun Yuri’s growth as a person.
That was what Round Eyes believed.
Still, she couldn’t just leave her crying like this forever. Round Eyes cleared her throat with a small cough.
“Miss Yuri. It’s okayyy.”
“What’s okayyyy. *Hic*. I’m not okay. I already lost. Waaaaah!”
Even with Round Eyes’ comfort, Yun Yuri wouldn’t stop crying. But Round Eyes hadn’t spent her career as a magical girl mascot in vain. She already knew exactly how to soothe emotionally sensitive children.
“It’s a double-elimination tournament anywayyy, right? That means we still have one more chanceee!”
“*Sniff*… Is that… true…?”
“Yes it isss! If you win the losers’ bracket, you get another shot at the championship! Let’s make sure we don’t let our guard down this timeee!”
“…Got it… I’ll do my best.”
Yun Yuri wiped away her tears and stood up. The way she tried so hard to look dignified was utterly adorable in Round Eyes’ eyes.
“Next time, I absolutely won’t let my guard down like today. I’m going to win no matter what. Without fail!”
Her fighting spirit was fully ignited. She actually looked even more motivated than before the loss. Yun Yuri had grown. She had stepped over the bitter memory of defeat and gained the strength to move forward.
Having learned a lesson from this experience, Yun Yuri would never forget it. As her mascot whose job was to help magical girls grow, what could be more fulfilling than this?
She had felt it many times before, but watching her assigned magical girl grow as a person filled her heart with overwhelming pride.
Yet even as joy and delight should have filled her to the brim, a single thought kept twisting around inside Round Eyes’ head.
A fact that only Round Eyes knew.
Something no one else could possibly notice.
And that was…
‘Why… Just why…… is Cosmo-nim here?!?!’
In the world of Magica where Round Eyes originally belonged, the legendary magical girl Cosmo had appeared at the academy as a student—and as Yun Yuri’s opponent, no less.
Round Eyes thought… everything was completely ruined.
“Haaam. Maybe I went a little too hard.”
Looking back, I might have put in a bit too much power. I had adjusted my strength to stay within the limits the teacher set, but I guess I ended up using slightly more force than I intended.
Why, though? Now that the spar was over, thinking about it carefully, I realized I had felt something strange from my opponent. A familiar yet intimate energy that was nevertheless completely alien to Earth. Or maybe it was a sensation.
It was a shame my body couldn’t pick up on it clearly. All my senses were dulled right now, after all.
But I didn’t have the luxury of getting lost in those thoughts. The moment the spar ended, two people came rushing toward me with incredible momentum.
“Jihye… You’re really okay, right?”
“A-are you okay?”
Maybe it was because of the mess I’d shown them that morning. The class president and Miju friend approached me with genuinely worried voices.
Of course, I still had no idea what exactly I had done that morning. I could only guess that since everyone’s reactions had been so weird, the half-asleep me must have done something crazy. Something bad enough to make them react this strongly.
“I’m fine. The spar ended really quickly too… *yawn*.”
“You’re not feeling all hazy like before?”
“Or maybe… you’re not sure if this is a dream or reality…”
It looked like they had already told the kids about my condition. But did you really have to tell them all that, Jiah?
“I’m fine. I’m awake now. …Though I’m still sleepy as usual. *Yawn*.”
“Miju… Does she look okay to you?”
“She definitely seems better. Earlier her eyes weren’t focusing properly.”
Miju friend bent down to peer closely at my eyes. I was first shocked that she was staring so intently at my face, then felt the sorrow of my short stature when she had to bend over just to look at me properly.
“…Was it that bad?”
“Yeah. It felt like you were staring at something far away… somewhere that wasn’t here.”
“Looking at her now, she really does seem fine. It’s the usual Jihye.”
“‘Usual me’? Just how exactly do you two see me on a daily basis?”
“Sleepyhead?”
“A sleep… sleepwalker.”
Aha. So that’s how you two have been looking at me, huh? I felt a little annoyed, but since they weren’t exactly wrong, I couldn’t argue back. After all, I was the one who had dragged a mountain of sleep aids to the academy.
…Now that I think about it, that was a bit excessive. From now on I should probably just bring an eye mask and a neck pillow.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay. So how was it when you fought Yun Yuri earlier?”
“Yun… Yuri?”
“The girl you sparred against.”
“Oh…”
So that was her name. Before the match started she had confidently introduced herself with her magical girl name, so when she asked for my real name I didn’t connect the two at all. She was quite the bold kid. Full of confidence and seemed skilled too.
“She was a decent opponent.”
“…Really?”
I didn’t mention that I had sensed something strange around her.
“As expected, even the academy’s top student is no match for Jihye.”
“O-of course! Jihye is way stronger. She took out not just the lycanthrope but every single monster there in one hit!”
“That’s right. The first time I saw it, I thought an angel had descended. The way she came down from the sky carrying that disc looked so sacred.”
“Um… Can you all stop now, please?”
The sudden praise made me feel all ticklish and awkward. If you thought about it, what I had done was basically a massacre of civilians. So contrary to the kids’ intentions, I ended up feeling intense shame. Extremely intense shame.
“Oh… Jihye’s getting embarrassed.”
“She really is…”
“Why are you all staring at my face like that! Stop it!”
“E-eek!”
“I see. So Jihye’s face turns red when she gets shy?”
What? Me? My face is red? There was no mirror in front of me so I couldn’t check.
“Should we stop teasing Jihye now? Let’s head back to the classroom.”
“Y-yeah! Let’s do that. The other kids are all waiting.”
The other kids are waiting…? I had no idea what that meant, but it probably had nothing to do with me.
Without thinking much about it, I let the class president take my hand and lead me to our class’s reserved seating area. And there, something completely unexpected was happening.
“Jihye, congratulations.”
“I watched. You were amazing as always.”
“Our Class 2’s ace!”
The sudden flood of warm welcomes nearly made me lose consciousness. I remembered the class atmosphere being nothing like this. What on earth happened while I was gone?
“Uh… J-Jihye. Sorry for saying rude things to you before. I didn’t know you were sick…”
“I’m sorry too. I should have cheered you on for coming to the academy even though you were hurting.”
Who were these kids again? They were definitely from the same class. This bizarre situation where a large group of students had surrounded me, showering me with praise, cheers, apologies, and self-reflection.
How was I supposed to process this?
The attention from over twenty people was mentally exhausting me at an alarming rate. This was the kind of scene that only happened in anime or novels, wasn’t it? I wake up and suddenly I’m the popular kid in class? …This can’t be right.
My mental age was completely at odds with this environment, so while part of me felt a headache coming on, another part of me was rationalizing it with well, good is good.
At some point the class president and Miju friend had stepped back and were now watching me get surrounded by our classmates.
Hey. What are you two doing? Save me. I’m feeling way too much pressure here.
When I was about to reach my limit, the class president stepped in to organize the crowd, and I was finally able to escape.
Somehow, without my knowledge or consent, I had become friends with all my classmates.
Just for the record, my opinion was not considered at all.
Before long it was Friday. The final day of the sparring exams had arrived.
During that time, Baek Miju unfortunately lost to a close-combat fighter from Class 3 who used a fist-based weapon. She hadn’t been able to perfectly snipe the opponent who kept closing in with rapid weaving movements.
Shin Seyeol had made it to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals but lost when she faced Kim Jihye. Jihye had praised her, saying her attacks had become much sharper and calmer than before.
After many matches had taken place, the grand finale that would mark the end of the first-year sparring exams was about to begin. The two of them met once again.
It was the rematch between Yun Yuri and Kim Jihye.