Then Come Visit My House!
Unlike first grade, when most of their time went to watching and playing around, second grade was when students began taking a more active part in school events.
In May, during Children's Month, they helped prepare a festival for the first-grade juniors to enjoy and met all sorts of upperclassmen along the way. In June, the village walk had them retracing the path they'd walked the year before, going ahead of the first-graders to secure the route for safety.
And as June drew to a close, with less than a month left until summer vacation, the atmosphere among the second-graders had grown more serious than anything else.
That was because the Inter-Class Tournament was approaching — a competition to decide who would serve as a kind of lifeguard at the Cheongdaram Summer Water Festival the day before summer break, watching over the first-graders and handling any problems that came up.
When the second-graders first heard about it, the kids had hated the idea, complaining about why they had to do something like that instead of just playing. But through the gratitude they received from the first-grade juniors during the May and June events, they'd come to understand the pride of using their abilities for someone else's sake. Now they were even aiming for the honor of being named the strongest class by winning the fierce competition against the other classes.
I couldn't help but marvel at the teachers' way with words — turning kids who weren't even ten years old into such competitive, justice-driven little warriors.
"Hey, Harang! You ready?!"
"Yeah, Little Dragon."
I was currently riding on Kang Ryu-yeong's back in the gymnasium.
Two weeks ago, after fighting Seol-hee unnie in the sparring grounds and losing, Ryu-yeong had acknowledged my observation skills and knowledge. Through several sparring matches against classmates in the gym and against other classes, she'd decided that carrying me on her back and receiving my real-time commands was the most ideal setup.
I'd had experience commanding while riding a horse before, but what I was riding now wasn't a horse — it was a person. So I'd needed some time to adjust. By now, though, I was familiar enough with being on Ryu-yeong's back that I could even advise her on the movements of kids from other classes.
And among all the students I'd given advice to, Ryu-yeong's growth had been the most remarkable.
Unlike before, when she'd fought on pure instinct alone, she now grasped things on her own from my advice without needing extra explanation, and she no longer repeated the same mistakes. She was a genius in the truest sense of the word.
Ryu-yeong, taller than her peers, with me — slightly smaller than average — riding on her back, had earned us the nickname David and Goliath from the other classes. I didn't care for the nickname, but Ryu-yeong liked it so much she kept thumping me on the shoulder.
I wasn't sure whether to marvel at Ryu-yeong's growth — the way she could thump me hard enough to make a sound while still controlling her strength so my shoulder wouldn't break — or feel sorry for myself looking at the various handprints left on my body from her unrestrained hits.
In July, with the sun blazing brightly across the sky, the Inter-Class Tournament began.
Of course, because of the risk of being hit by a stray attack, I couldn't ride on her back during the actual tournament and had to sit in the cheering section. But watching Ryu-yeong charge fearlessly at students from other classes, sweeping through their formations; the other students launching precise attacks into the openings her movements created; and the Physical Type kids blocking the flanking detachments from other classes targeting our side — it was like watching a real battlefield.
Several teachers expressed admiration for our class's tactics and combat, and the PE teacher who'd been teaching me and our class looked on with a proud expression.
In the Inter-Class Tournament, where all six classes fought each other once to determine the final points, our class claimed victory with an overwhelming record of five wins and zero losses.
Since they fought once a day from Monday through Friday, by Friday Class 4 had watched our combat style and chose a strategy of ignoring Ryu-yeong to target the other classmates instead. But thanks to the warning I'd given them before the tournament even started, we were able to win the final match as well.
The other classes had been so focused on Ryu-yeong that they never properly assessed the skills of the other students in our class — that had been the key.
"Hey, Harang!! You're seriously amazing!! Are you a genius? Huh? Are you a genius?!"
"Ah, Yong!! Please put me down!! Aaaah!!"
After beating even Class 4 in the final match, Ryu-yeong ran over to me in the cheering section, tossing me into the air and catching me to express her joy — but all I felt was pure terror.
With this, our class earned the honor of being the strongest second-grade class and the mission of protecting the first-graders.
Of course, all I'd be doing was standing next to the school nurse.
At first, I dismissed that kid's superpower.
Powers that just made you smarter were common enough, and people who went around spouting knowledge only they knew were just annoying.
When I heard the name Battle Coach, I was a little intrigued.
After all, I knew I wasn't using proper technique.
Of course, it wasn't a problem now. The pathetic ones went down just from me grabbing them and tossing them around, and even the ones with some skill couldn't land a single scratch on me.
But from the moment I inherited my superpower, I never forgot what my parents said while looking down on me.
It made me furious.
I'd been destined to lose from the moment I was born.
So I craved power even more — but I refused to bow my head to anyone.
So I decided to use that kid.
When I barked at them and scowled, all they did was smile and never even fight back. I figured they were just some loudmouth show-off — but I was wrong.
Unlike the common Battle Coach ability, that kid explained things in a way that fit me perfectly, and when I moved according to their words, I could feel my body becoming more comfortable.
On top of that, they said that kid had taught Kang Se-ah. They kept denying it, but looking at how much stronger I was getting, it was obvious they'd secretly taught Se-ah.
So while I was following that kid around, I ran into Han Seol-hee.
I didn't even know that kid's older sister was Han Seol-hee.
And I was overwhelmingly defeated.
I'd held the upper hand once in the middle, but in the end, I lost.
For someone who'd never experienced defeat, that first loss was frustrating and stifling at first. But with that kid's help, the moment I felt even briefly what it was like to overwhelm Han Seol-hee — I understood.
This was growth...
With that kid's help, I became certain I could even beat those dragons who swore they'd always defeat me.
After that, I stopped stopping that kid from calling me a dragon.
I actually enjoyed it.
When I moved the way that kid told me to, I always won. And when that kid called me a dragon, it somehow felt like I might actually become one.
And when the Inter-Class Tournament approached, I even trained while carrying that kid on my back.
That kid was a genius — perched on my back, dodging incoming attacks without so much as blinking by just tilting their head, all while giving advice to the other students.
No matter how fast I ran while attacking those other girls, that kid accounted even for the blurred vision from my movements and predicted the other girls' attack positions and next moves.
And when that kid came prepared with tactics and strategies for the Inter-Class Tournament, I even felt the kind of excitement you get watching a war in a game.
It was just a fight between kids like us punching each other around, but that kid classified our positions and roles and clearly taught us what we each needed to do.
And the result came back as an overwhelming victory.
On the last day, when the Class 4 kids ignored me and charged toward our class, Plan B that that kid had mentioned came to mind and a thrill ran through me.
That kid, Han Harang, was incredible.
The Battle Coach ability I'd had people look into wasn't anything like this.
This was something beyond that.
With that kid, I could prove it to my parents.
That I wasn't a loser. That I could be number one.
That I could become a dragon.
The water festival ended without anyone getting hurt, thankfully.
I didn't have a particularly strong body or any superpowers myself, but I soothed the kids who slipped or got hurt near me and looked after them until the school nurse arrived.
The words of thanks I'd heard constantly during my hero days still had a way of tickling my heart even now, hearing them again.
Then summer vacation arrived. With summer break approaching, I found myself thinking again of the valley Se-ah and I had visited last year.
As I gazed up at the soft blue sky with a slightly lonely expression, Kang Ryu-yeong came over and thumped me on the back with a loud smack.
"Harang!! What's wrong?"
"Ow... I don't have any physical abilities, so please hit me gently..."
"You're not dead, are you! Hahaha! So what's the matter? You making a face like that?"
Feeling the sting on my back where Ryu-yeong had struck me, I roughly explained. I told her about going to play with Se-ah last year, and how Se-ah had moved away so I didn't really have any friends to hang out with this year.
Ryu-yeong pointed at me and burst out laughing.
I could only frown at her snide remark that smart kids never have friends — I couldn't even retort. It was true, actually. Aside from Se-ah and Ryu-yeong, the other kids found me oddly hard to approach.
Part of it was that I acted more mature than my age, but it was also because I was the partner of Se-ah and Ryu-yeong, the two strongest.
After glaring at Ryu-yeong and grumbling that it was because a dragon was prowling around that the other kids couldn't come near, I looked back up at the sky. Ryu-yeong threw an arm around my shoulders.
"You little punk! Then this Dragon Lord will hang out with you over summer break."
"You want to come over to my house? Seol-hee unnie hates you, so it'll be tough..."
At my words, Ryu-yeong's eyes lit up with competitive fire as she thought of Seol-hee unnie.
Apparently she'd gone to see her privately a few times since that day and come back subdued every time. But Ryu-yeong claimed she'd grown enough to trade punches with Seol-hee unnie now, and she kept requesting sparring matches whenever she had free time. Seol-hee unnie had even come to me after accepting a few times and begged me to please stop Ryu-yeong.
Ryu-yeong thought for a moment, then looked at me like she'd hit on a brilliant idea.
"Then you come visit my house!"
"No way. My little sister would hate it if I went alone. If we're going, the whole family has to go."
"Yeah? Then just come stay at our family's resort with your family. I'll give you an invitation."
"Visiting your house as a family is one thing, but... a resort..?"
"Yeah, we've got a few resorts down near Busan. I don't usually go, but might as well take a trip for once."
What did I just hear..?