Unbelievable Even With My Own Eyes
Even seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn't believe it. Haboyoung, the homeroom teacher of Class 3, Year 1 at the Magical Girl Academy, thought to herself. No matter which year she taught, there was always a genius. That was what she had realized after four years as an instructor at the Academy. Every single year, a genius existed at the Academy, claiming the top spot and astonishing the teachers. Sometimes their skills were so advanced it wouldn't have been strange to deploy them in the field immediately. If not that, then there were students whose growth rate was abnormally fast, turning them into completely different people by graduation. At times only one such genius appeared per year, while other years saw multiple students showcasing their brilliance against each other. There had never been a year without at least one genius.
She didn't know about other magical girl institutions, but at least the Magical Girl Academy was like this. The reason was obvious. The Magical Girl Academy boasted the highest standards among South Korea's magical girl educational institutions. It was the most difficult place to enter, the one every student attending a mandatory magical girl education institution dreamed of attending. That was the Academy. When demand was high but supply limited, competition naturally arose. Because the Academy maintained the highest admission competition rate every year, the level of new students inevitably rose as well. It was only natural that geniuses would emerge from a school that gathered the most talented magical girl candidates from across the nation.
She had thought she was used to it after four years.
"This isn't... ordinary genius at all......"
She looked out at the training grounds. Two students stood there, trading magic and swinging weapons at each other. She had hoped her prized student, Lee Yesol, would be among them. Even if they had been conserving strength as part of their strategy, she had wanted them to crush the noses of the other class's students. Especially the Class 1 homeroom teacher, Eun Chaekyung, who always subtly bragged about her student's growth, and the Class 2 homeroom teacher, Cha Seoyeon, who pretended to have no interest while providing all kinds of support behind the scenes. She had wanted to dent their pride as well. But watching the current match made her realize just how absurd her expectations had been.
"That's beyond standard.... At the very least, this is a match at the level of graduates."
The application of elemental magic, the sense for hand-to-hand combat, and the stability of their magical techniques were all far beyond what new students should be capable of. Until the midterms, she had thought people were overpraising them by calling them prodigies, but now she saw otherwise. The student from Class 1 possessed skills worthy of her title. Honestly, even this student alone surpassed any genius she had seen before. Yet there was another student matching her, perhaps even surpassing her by another dimension. With cherry blossom-colored hair fluttering, the student traced silver trajectories with her hands. Haboyoung felt not just awe, but fear.
"That child is...... a monster."
How had Class 2 raised such a monster? It was insane. She could only describe it as madness. That was a monster who turned surrounding geniuses into mediocrities. She had once prided herself on having all kinds of experiences on the front lines against magical beasts. She had witnessed various magics, and even after coming to the Academy she never neglected her studies. She had believed there were no magics she didn't know, unless they belonged to A-class magical girls. That common sense had just been shattered.
Just what kind of manipulation had stopped the opponent's magic? What kind of trick had stolen control of the magic? And what kind of sorcery had altered the magic at will? It was beyond comprehension, to the point of shaking the very foundation of her experience as a magical girl. The magic circle she drew was densely packed with all kinds of patterns and characters. It was so complex it resembled a maze, impossible to decipher. The more complex a magic circle became, the greater the risk of losing control and going berserk. Yet she drew such a circle in an instant and controlled it perfectly. Even bringing in the most skilled active magical girls wouldn't make this possible. She had even considered whether the A-class magical girls she knew could do it, but reached the conclusion that only the first Association President might manage it.
Now she finally understood why the student had introduced herself as an orthodox magical girl during the midterms. But that didn't mean she lacked talent in close combat either.
"Nakhoe (Falling Return)."
The waterwheel wrapped in electricity falling carried such destructive power that even spectators in the stands felt chills. The unique weapon, which looked like nothing more than a construction-site steel pipe at a glance, had seemed to lack any power. Yet the movements shown in the training grounds produced results that put most weapons to shame. It was as if she had mastered the staff she held in her hand.
Haboyoung recalled the earlier match. The one where her student Lee Yesol had been toyed with. The arrogant attitude of yawning and calling it boring now made sense. To that child, it had truly been a low-level match unworthy of her skills. With this level of ability, there was no way she could have been satisfied. This was probably her true strength that she had been hiding. And for Haboyoung, and for Lee Yesol, this was a tremendous opportunity. Although they had suffered a humiliating defeat in the selection match, they had at least achieved their goal of gathering information. Like a gambler raising the stakes to learn more, she kept her eyes wide open, engraving every single movement into her memory. Of course, she didn't take her eyes off the prodigy from Class 1 either.
Kwaang.
The explosion sent both of them rolling across the ground. The one who regained her stance first began to sing something. Haboyoung couldn't understand what the song meant, but she could tell something extraordinary was coming.
"I shall prove my brightness to the stars floating in the night sky."
⟨ Sunrise ⟩
"Ah. This is definitely..."
"Unique... magic? The magic that only A-class magical girls can use... coming from a mere new student?"
Once again, an internal notion shattered and crumbled. Unique Magic, whose very existence was unknown except to A-class magical girls, was being manifested by a new student. A gentle sun filled with light began to rise from the horizon. That light, carrying fragments of stars, completely dominated the training grounds. Dawn had descended.
If she had been the opponent, how would she have dealt with this magic? The answer didn't come easily. Unlike ordinary magic, Unique Magic was a phenomenon free from all existing common sense and concepts. Since nothing more was known about it, there was no way to counter it. She had fought magical beasts to the point of exhaustion, but she wasn't accustomed to fighting other magical girls. Just how would that child deal with Unique Magic? While harboring that expectant thought, a shout rang out.
"Everyone get close to the training grounds! The barrier magic can't hold!"
Cha Seoyeon's roar snapped her back to attention.
"Everyone, gather up!"
All the teachers present placed their hands on the gemstones at the corners of the training grounds. Even though they were outside the stage, they could feel the vast energy and were momentarily flustered, but the Academy's teaching staff was not to be underestimated. They successfully reinforced the barrier magic. Just as she was about to catch her breath while looking at the now-safe training grounds—
"Halo System, on."
An angel appeared. Though she had no wings, a pale pink angel with an angelic ring above her head. Was that... magic? Or was it that child's Unique Magic? No, was it even a phenomenon that could be called magic in the first place? Thinking she was the only one making a fuss, she looked around and saw the other teachers wearing similar expressions. Especially Class 1's teacher Eun Chaekyung's face was a sight to behold.
"What is that now...?"
Whether the words came from her own mouth or Eun Chaekyung's, she didn't know, but genuine admiration burst from the teachers. And just as their shock and anticipation peaked, the angel's ring began to activate. It devoured everything about the Unique Magic. The ring grew larger, feeding on the sun's light and energy. The density of the light and energy it emitted pressed down on everyone present. A complete mana tank. In the end, it consumed the sun itself.
"As expected...... you're amazing, big sis......"
With those words, the Class 1 student collapsed. Judging by the fact that her transformation had also been released, she had pushed her mana to its limits. With that, the winner was decided. However, the child who should have been overjoyed at achieving victory in such a fierce match simply let out a big yawn and collapsed on the spot. Everyone was worried at the sight, but only one person reacted differently. Thwack. Only Cha Seoyeon, standing nearby, clutched her forehead and groaned.
✮✮✮
She felt both happy and sorry. There was no room for negative emotions like frustration or inferiority stemming from defeat. No matter what, she had given everything she had, so she felt proud and satisfied. At the same time, guilt and remorse welled up at the fact that she had put Jihye unni to sleep. Jihye unni had said "It's okay" before collapsing, but that didn't erase her own mistake. What if Jihye unni didn't wake up for a while because of her? Forget the seniors' visit event next week—what if she didn't wake up even for the final exams...? Just imagining it was terrifying. Had she unnecessarily asked her to play along? Had she acted too much like a child? To become the magical girl she aspired to be, she needed to become an adult like her unni. While she was at a loss from guilt, she noticed something strange. Even though she had clearly fallen asleep, the ring that had been present since the match was still floating above her unni's head. Just what was going on?