Prologue Story

We had been just quietly looking at each other for a long time.

But one day, Inha took a step closer, and from then on, we became friends.

I was really happy about that.

“You’re feeling stifled too, huh? What exactly do you see in her that makes you hang out with her?”

I thought I could answer that question.

“She’s cool, pretty, and awesome.”

I said it with a calm expression. Inha widened her eyes for a moment. A boy shouted in disbelief.

“She’s not rude?!”

“What are you talking about!”

All the kids around us yelled back at the boy. Not just the girls, but even the boys shouted in anger, pushing his back and shoulders with their hands.

“Eun-ha’s totally right!”

“She’s pretty!”

“And awesome!”

“Right? She’s super pretty, isn’t she?”

“And cool! Totally amazing!”

The boy looked at his classmates, who were blushing and squealing, with an incredulous expression.

Haha. Well, I kind of understand this reaction, but it’s a bit strange too.

I glanced at Inha. Inha looked pleased, her cheeks red from my words.

Though her face was almost expressionless, I could tell there was a shy emotion mixed in her gaze.

“I don’t get it. Sure, she’s way prettier than any of you beanpoles, but still.”

“Pff, well, that’s true!”

“What did you just say?”

“What the—?!”

Then, the kids started splitting into boys and girls, growling and barking at each other.

“What’s going on here? This is fun to watch, so I’m sticking with Han-soo! How dare they say that? Even laughing about it is wrong!”

“Ugh, so annoying! Han-soo, you’re such a pain!”

Two boys and several girls were now wrestling in a half-playful, half-angry clash. It looked like they might even start using magic.

Just then, the school bell rang.

I glanced at the boys and girls who were still fighting. Should I stop them?

Inha quietly shook her head in response to my question.

Isn’t it unnecessary?

Honestly, I don’t think I could stop them even if I tried. It looks too hard to jump in.

Then let’s wait until the teacher arrives.

…Should I?

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?”

We waited calmly, just as the teacher arrived.

At the teacher’s scolding, the boys and girls simultaneously pointed at each other (somehow more boys had joined in by then).

““But they started it!””

…No matter how you look at it, it was that insolent boy who started it.

I rested my chin in my hand, observing with an indifferent attitude.

But, unfortunately for them, it was the boys who bore the brunt of the teacher’s scolding.

As the teacher stopped the two groups from pushing each other again,

“Enough!”

The teacher wrote the names of the students who had been fighting on the digital board.

“You’ll all stay after school today for punishment! It hasn’t even been a week since school started, and already, there’s this much commotion.”

““Ugh…””

After a while, the teacher used telekinesis to seat the sulking students and looked around the classroom from the podium.

“Starting today, we’ll have a rotating class once a week.”

“Rotating class?”

All the kids looked confused.

“Yes. It’s the only time in elementary school we have skill-based classes.”

Skill-based classes!

My eyes sparkled at those words. Finally, they’re here!

“But there’s something everyone needs to remember.”

As I looked at the teacher with sparkling eyes, he spoke to us with a seriousness I’d never seen before.

“During these rotating classes, you’ll be in a fully protected room where no sound can escape. You must not speak to anyone outside about anything from these classes, even to friends in the same school.”

Before and after class, your level-based teachers will cast a spell on you to prevent you from sharing anything about the class.

Everyone began whispering and glancing at each other. Inha and I exchanged confused looks too.

“You all know that the most important rule in this school is to keep the magical abilities of other students or upperclassmen confidential, right?

That means you’re not allowed to mention anything about the other students you’ll be in class with, nor the contents of the class.

Not even to your classmates or your closest friends. That’s what the Confidentiality Policy is for.”

I froze in place at those words. Ah… so that’s what it means.

Most of the kids frowned, finding it strange, but the teacher continued.

“You can talk about what you learned in class, but only about yourself. You must never discuss anything about your classmates.

If you break this rule…”

The teacher looked at us with cold eyes.

“If you break it five times or more, you’ll be suspended. You won’t be allowed to come to school.”

“…!”

“What? Really?”

“Right, that rule was in the handbook…”

Everyone was taken aback by how serious this was. I listened to the teacher’s words intently.

“They’ll place restrictions on you with magic… but be careful not to slip up, even by mistake.”

The kids didn’t look like they fully understood, but not wanting to get punished, they nodded. Inha and I nodded seriously too.

But I thought it was strange.

If they’re placing magical restrictions, is it even possible to speak about it accidentally?

What kind of conditions does that spell have?

Though, from the school’s perspective, they probably can’t cast a complete seal spell on us students.

While I was lost in thought, I lifted my head as the teacher continued.

“Alright, I’ll start calling out names and class sections in order, so listen carefully. If you miss it, raise your hand at the end. Got it?”

The teacher smiled brightly as usual. We all focused on the teacher.

“Alright, starting with number one… Number 1, Kang Sung-woo, Class H. Number 2, Kang Ye-seul, Class G. Number 3, Kang Inha…”

The teacher’s meaningful gaze seemed to land on Inha.

“Class I.”

More names and classes were called out. Soon, it was my turn.

“Number 19, Ahn Do-hee, Class H. Number 20, Yoo Eun-ha, Class I.”

With that, the names were called up to the last, Number 27. The teacher asked if anyone hadn’t heard, and several kids raised their hands. The teacher called their names and classes again.

We whispered excitedly, happy to know we were in the same class for rotating sessions too.

“Now, I’ll tell you where each class is located, so gather with your classmates.”

At the teacher’s words, we looked around at each other.

Class I… who else is in Class I besides us?

“You’re in Class I too, right?”

The girl with pigtails sitting in the front row turned to look at us.

She was one of the girls with a noticeably clear magic aura among our classmates. Her name was Joo Min-hee, I think?

‘…! Ah, could it be…’

Suddenly, I had a hunch and carefully observed the color of her magic aura again.

As usual, the bright greenish-yellow aura surrounded her.

I glanced around.

The magic of other kids looked blurry, like sprayed mist.

But this girl’s aura had a distinctly clean outline.

It wasn’t as clear as Inha’s, but compared to the other kids, it had a standout clarity.

‘So this is based on skill… Could this mean…?’

The boy who had been picking a fight with Inha earlier came closer.

Now that I saw him up close, his magic was quite pronounced too, in a clear dark brown color.

“Ugh, I can hear you whether I want to or not.”

“…”

Inha and the boy glared at each other. I patted Inha on the back.

Inha turned to look at me with a puzzled expression. I whispered in her ear.

If this is skill-based, these kids might be similar to us in skill.

They’re probably at our level, at least.

Inha frowned slightly at my words.

“What are you two whispering about?”

“…”

“What, ignoring me?”

“Huh? What’s this about? Don’t fight!”

I observed the boy, who was getting worked up.

The girl with pigtails next to us tried to calm him down.

We knew that our growth rate wasn’t typical.

We thought we wouldn’t find other kids our age with a similar pace of development.

Though there might be others somewhere, we didn’t expect them to appear in front of us just like that.

But now, seeing this situation, I realized we might have been wrong.

That boy’s magic was distinctively clear, like the girl’s.

It wasn’t as clear as Inha’s, but it was remarkably sharp compared to the others.

I hadn’t noticed until now because I hadn’t thought to compare.

Besides, I usually keep my sight limited.

It’s hard to notice sharpness without deliberately comparing.

…Come to think of it, there was another one with a similar level.

There was another boy standing right next to the first one, with a magic color just as bright.

“Hello.”

It was the boy who had been joking with the first one.

These two usually hung out together, so maybe that’s why I didn’t notice.

This one had a clear blue aura.

I brushed my hair back, pretending not to care, as I observed it.

“It seems everyone’s gathered by class. I’ll guide you alphabetically.

Just so you know, this doesn’t mean stronger classes go first.”

I agreed with the teacher’s words, glancing around.

It seemed like skill and class letters weren’t related.

The letters could be abbreviations or just meaningless.

Of course, this was just my guess.

Looking closely at the magic colors, I could roughly tell which classes had stronger or weaker skills.

Since the groups were together, it was easier.

I should have compared more closely before, even if it was tiring.

You get the hang of it if you keep observing.

Though, maybe I only noticed because my skills had grown.

The visible difference in magic and my awareness of that difference became more definite day by day.

Recently, I’d even started sensing Auntie Suna’s magic, at least partially.

Even that “part” was intense.

It must have been just a trace, a fragment of her stored magic that happened to leak out, but I felt overwhelmed the moment I sensed it.

It was awe-inspiring, pure, clean, and intimidating.

For the first time, I felt what a world-class magician really was.

While I was observing the kids’ magic and they were squabbling, the teacher continued speaking.

Finally, the teacher mentioned the location of our class, Class I’s classroom.

Our class was in Building F, on the first floor of the elementary school.

“It’s pretty far from here, isn’t it?”

“Building F of the elementary school… where is that?”

I naturally turned on my student ID and activated the GPS.

A transparent screen popped up, but it wouldn’t be visible to others since I had set it that way.

I entered the destination and checked the route.

It was quite… far from here.

The boy who had been glaring at Inha asked.

“How far is it?”

“It’ll probably take more than ten minutes to walk.”

“Ugh.”

“Ugh.”

We sighed in unison.

In the meantime, the teacher finished explaining all the class details and gave her final words.

“Alright, you have two hours. Go and enjoy!”

When the teacher finished, the kids began scattering.

With slightly reluctant expressions, we started moving too.

I activated the fast route-finder and followed the map’s instructions.

In the end, I ended up leading the way from start to finish.

After a little over ten minutes, we arrived at the designated building.

When I stopped right in front of it, the boy with the dark brown magic asked.

“This is it?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t help but feel it was a waste of my student ID’s functions.

I could already use the teleportation feature on it.

Honestly, I’d prefer to teleport alone, but it seemed that wouldn’t be polite given our age and manners.

We opened the door and went inside.

As soon as we entered, we felt like we were transported somewhere.

The next moment, we were inside a classroom.

It was a completely enclosed space without a single window, but the air felt even clearer than usual, and breathing wasn’t uncomfortable.

It was probably thanks to magic.

“Seven in total… I see, you must be the last ones.

This year, there are quite a lot, especially for first-years—usually, just having one is impressive.”

In front of us stood three people.

An adult man with slightly long brown hair tied back and black-rimmed glasses, and two children, a boy and a girl around our age.

So, is that man a teacher?

The two kids must be the other students in this skill-based class.

I noticed relatively clear magic in their eyes.

The man gestured us over.

“The second-years are already here. Come stand here, first-years.”

So they’re upperclassmen, huh?

After glancing at each other, we arranged ourselves in line, following the second-years in front of the man who seemed to be a teacher.

The man looked us over, one by one.

He paused briefly on me.

“…?”

“Hmm… this one’s a talent.”

Then he looked at Inha and nodded again.

I fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable.

When he looked at me, I felt like he could see right through me.

…Could he be a magician with sensory abilities like mine?

I watched the teacher cautiously.

I felt anxious.

“Well… some of you may have already guessed.

Or maybe not.

In any case, I’ll tell you now.”

He glanced at us sharply and popped a candy into his mouth.

“Everyone here has ‘developed their own magic.’”