Selection Match? Going All Out (3)
The selection match was set to take place in two days. Only the student who ultimately won would be granted the chance to spar with four active-duty magical girls. Everyone else received absolutely nothing. I couldn’t understand how such a cruel, winner-takes-all rule had come to exist. I could see where the teachers were coming from, but it still felt excessive. Education shouldn’t revolve around funneling every opportunity to a single student. Their dedication to teaching was admirable, yet it sometimes seemed like they were pushing too hard just to raise their own pupils to greatness.
“…What should I do?”
“What are you even worried about? You’re going to win anyway.”
“Y-yeah! You’ll obviously crush everyone!”
My head itched. I scratched the back of my skull while trying to stifle a yawn. My cherry-blossom pink hair shifted with the motion of my fingers.
“I’m definitely going to get tired… Why don’t you guys just go instead? Why did you have to recommend me? Huaaaam.”
Scratching didn’t make the yawn disappear. In the end, I let out the breath I’d been holding and asked the kids.
“Um… just because?”
“That’s way too half-hearted, Class President. Try again.”
“…Tch. Of course I wanted to do it at first, but when I thought about it, it seemed inefficient.”
“What exactly is inefficient?”
I was curious. I wanted to know what their answer would be. If the reason they’d given up on entering the selection match was simply because they were intimidated by my skill, I was fully prepared to give their butts a thorough spanking.
“I’ve felt this way for a while, but Jihye, I honestly can’t picture you losing even if you spar with pro magical girls.”
“Pfft. You’re overestimating me way too much.”
“…Really? No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t feel like an overestimation… Right, Miju?”
“I-I think so too! The image of Jihye losing just… doesn’t come to mind…? Hehe.”
The way the kids answered, looking a little embarrassed, made it painfully obvious that they didn’t just trust me—they practically worshipped me. Strange. Had I ever told them about my past career? I tried to dig through my foggy memories, but nothing came up. So had this level of faith grown just from the way I’d acted in front of them?
I’ll admit that the knowledge and techniques I’m teaching them now are far beyond what an academy freshman should know. But no matter how you look at it, their opponents would be active-duty magical girls who’ve been through real battles. Even a genius would have almost no chance of winning against them. I wasn’t planning to hide anything in particular, but officially I’m just a first-year student. What exactly were these little chicks believing in when they pinned their expectations on me?
While my head was spinning from the confusion, the class president delivered the finishing blow.
“Rather than sparring with those people, challenging you seems like it would help us way more. I also don’t want to waste energy right before the final sparring exam.”
“That’s too narrow-minded, Class President. The more you spar with different people, the better. Even I have a limited set of magic I can use, and in this body I can’t even bring out a tenth of my original power. If you get too used to only fighting me, that’ll cause problems too… Huk!”
“Huh? What did you just say, Jihye?”
Ah. I’d slipped up. In my haste, I’d let the truth spill out. The class president had caught my verbal slip with terrifying precision.
“You’re saying you used to be stronger than you are now?”
“W-well, that’s…”
“Y-your power is sealed, right? Isn’t it?”
Now even Miju was joining in.
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“Are you holding back because you’re so strong you might accidentally destroy the Earth?”
I was crushed by the disaster I had brought upon myself. This is exactly why people should watch their mouths whether they’re awake or asleep. I couldn’t say a word and simply endured until the barrage of sharp questions finally ended. The kids seemed to find my flustered, helpless state incredibly funny. Their mouths kept curling up as they teased me nonstop.
This is dizzying.
“…Alright, I’ll stop here. It’s rude to pry into things someone clearly doesn’t want to talk about.”
“……Thank you.”
“No need to thank me.”
The class president spoke as if she were doing me a huge favor. I realized today that she’s actually quite the schemer. I’d never noticed because she usually played the role of a good class president who looked after her classmates. She had this surprising hidden side. As for Miju, she just rides whatever wave the mood is on, so that was to be expected. Today I discovered another facet of the class president. I need to be careful not to let her find any weaknesses…
“Huu… I feel a bit dizzy today.”
“It’s just your imagination. Definitely.”
“M-maybe it’s because it’s too hot! Should I lower the air conditioner temperature…?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths. The training room’s air was stuffy, so it wasn’t easy. Strange. The air purifier was definitely running. Anyway, while I was resting like that, the usual latecomer appeared right on schedule. It was the little brat.
“Hello, unnies!”
“Hello, Yuri.”
“You seem especially energetic today…?”
“Of course! I just heard from our homeroom teacher that the selection match is in two days!”
Then she looked straight at me. Her eyes were brimming with fighting spirit.
“I’ve gotten another chance to officially challenge you, Jihye unnie. What could be more fun than that? It feels like I received an unexpected gift.”
Her expression and tone were overflowing with joy. She couldn’t seem to stay still, as if her whole body was itching with excitement. Because of my stamina issues, I hadn’t sparred with the little brat since the mid-term sparring exam. She hadn’t said anything, but it seemed she’d been quite dissatisfied about that. Now that she finally had the chance to have a serious match with me, she was visibly pumped up—loosening her body here and there or practicing magic forms in the air.
“Thank goodness. It would’ve been a disaster if I’d said I was entering.”
“Y-Yuri when she gets in the zone is s-scary…”
“I’m counting on you again this time, unnie! No going easy on me, okay?”
Watching the little brat smile brightly and offer me a handshake, I found myself thinking the exact same thing the other kids had. It really would’ve been a disaster if I’d said I was entering. I took her hand—noticeably larger than before—in mine.
“Of course. I’ll do my best.”
“For real? No taking it back. I’ve prepared a lot for you this time, unnie. I’m going to show you everything, so look forward to it!”
“Got it. I’ll check how much you’ve grown. If I like what I see, I was even thinking of giving you a praise sticker.”
“Yes! I can get a praise sticker too? That’s the best!”
Every time she showed such pure, childlike reactions, I found myself rethinking the little brat’s age. She was still only fourteen. A bit young to be a magical girl. Her current bright smile suited her far better than the sharp, cynical expression she used to wear. Betraying a kid like this by saying my body was too tired just felt wrong. I could finally understand, at least a little, why Salbyeol had formed a contract with her.
“…But you’ll do it with us later too, right?”
“You’re not just going to have fun sparring with Yuri and… ignore us, are you…?”
Good grief. Did they really think I was going to play favorites with the little brat and abandon them? I reassured the class president and Miju, who were clearly feeling anxious and jealous.
“I don’t play favorites with anyone. Don’t worry.”
“Right? That’s our Jihye.”
“I-I believed in you…”
At this rate, my schedule for the coming days might get pretty tight. I’d better stockpile as much mana as possible. And sleep a lot too. Satisfying all these kids was going to be a long road ahead.
In preparation for the selection match, each class’s representatives began their own training regimens.
In Yun Yuri’s case, she spent her time with Seyeol and Miju devising strategies to defeat Kim Jihye. Sometimes she even asked Salbyeol for help, carefully planning which direction to take her attack from. Now that she had awakened her Unique Magic, Yuri’s self-confidence was higher than ever. Still, she didn’t think she could beat Kim Jihye easily, so she remained cautious and meticulous. During that process, her homeroom teacher Eun Chaekyeong offered advice, but Yuri decided to ignore it. The suggestion had been, ‘The final exam is coming up soon, so just show the minimum amount of power and win.’ Yuri knew that holding back against Kim Jihye would be pure arrogance.
As a result, even though she only had two days, she completed every possible preparation she could.
Class 3’s Jeong Dabin was a close-combat magical girl who used fists and kicks. She, too, poured her heart into this selection match. Somehow it had turned into a battle of pride between the teachers, making Jeong Dabin something of a victim. However, she still remembered the bitter pain of her defeat in the previous mid-term exam, so she diligently followed the guidance of her instructor, Ha Boyoung. Ha Boyoung was determined to crush the arrogance of Class 1’s homeroom teacher, Eun Chaekyeong, this time around, and trained Jeong Dabin harshly. Although she was reluctant, she acknowledged that Cha Seoyeon had superior knowledge when it came to martial arts, so she even went to Class 2 and personally asked Cha Seoyeon for help. Cha Seoyeon taught her without any discrimination, and thanks to that sincere instruction, Jeong Dabin gained a valuable opportunity to grow even further.
On the other hand, Class 4’s Lee Yesol was a bit unusual. She had taken up dual swords at her teacher Jeong Eunji’s recommendation, but her proficiency was still too low to use them freely in real combat. Jeong Eunji recognized the problem and prescribed a single remedy: spar nonstop with everyone in Class 4. Lee Yesol would later recall this training method with agony, saying she had nearly crossed the three-way river to the afterlife. Jeong Eunji herself acted as her sparring partner, and after two days of intense matches, the results were surprisingly effective. The awkwardness disappeared, replaced by freedom and endless variation that now flowed through her blades. Who would have thought that Jeong Eunji’s unsystematic, sloppy teaching style would produce such brilliant results? It was growth that even Lee Yesol herself found astonishing.
It had only been two days since the announcement that the selection match would be held. Yet every student, thanks to their teachers’ full support, had raised their skills considerably. Each of them had achieved growth so dramatic they could hardly believe they had become this strong in just two days.
…Except for one person.
“Huaaaam… So today’s the day, huh.”
The one person who didn’t need training. For Kim Jihye, rest was always the best choice over training, analysis, or effort. She headed to the academy today as well, still unable to stop yawning.
“I wonder how much the kids have grown. I’m actually a little excited.”
The final boss, Kim Jihye. The strategy raid was about to begin.