Prologue Story

We focused on clapping and cheering.

Although I usually felt lazy about everything, I put in my best effort when it came to cheering.

Because everyone else was doing it.

Shia was part of the model student group.

He cheered enthusiastically for our team next to me.

Even In-ha, who initially seemed a bit reluctant, soon joined in clapping.

In-ha wasn’t really that enthusiastic about it, though.

There were quite a few events.

While the cheering squad and the item relay were scheduled for the afternoon, the relay race was set for the morning.

The current game was a tug-of-war match between the older students from middle school.

The relay race would follow afterward.

And at the end of the morning session was a quiz competition…according to the schedule…wait.

Huh? Next to the quiz competition, the grade level is marked with a ‘??’. What’s that about?

“Why? Is there something you’re curious about?”

“Yeah. Next to the quiz competition, only question marks are listed in the grade column. What’s up with that?”

“Who knows?”

In-ha tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“Where, where?” Shia, expressing his curiosity, also glanced at the sports day schedule, but he soon shook his head, equally uncertain.

Suddenly, In-ha mumbled,

“I’m thirsty…”

“Really? Should I go buy something?”

“Huh? It’s okay. I’ll go get it.”

“No, the place is crowded. I’ll go get it.”

In-ha hesitated for a moment, her expression thoughtful after hearing my words.

While In-ha wasn’t bad at finding her way around, as a child, her attention span was still somewhat lacking.

Unaware of this, In-ha believed I had an excellent sense of direction.

Just as In-ha seemed to make up her mind and suggested we go together, our homeroom teacher approached us, carrying a box filled with water bottles.

“Kids, it’s hot, right? I brought some drinks, so each of you grab a bottle!”

“Wow!”

“Teacher, you’re the best!”

“Haha, glad I saved you the trouble of going.”

“Yeah.”

At Shia’s words, I nodded.

Although a friend and somewhat mature, In-ha still felt like a child who needed protection in my eyes.

Even In-ha, who acted so grown-up, displayed childlike traits when closely observed.

If In-ha was like that, then to me, Min-hee, Hyun-ho, Shia, and Han-soo really weren’t much different from little kids.

Of course, they were mature enough to be comfortable friends, but that and this are entirely different matters.

The maturity of a child and the maturity of an adult are entirely different things.

Though both are about mental growth, the latter stems from the experience of age.

My friends still had a lot to learn, things they weren’t yet skilled at.

Oh, maybe that’s why they unknowingly treat me like their protector.

My friends always came to me when they had questions about things they didn’t know.

We drank water to cool down.

I had draped the cardigan I’d tied around my waist over my shoulders to avoid getting sunburned.

While the kids made a fuss over the drinks, the relay race finally began.

The winner of the three-way tug-of-war was the Red Team, where everyone used magic to pull on the rope.

Honestly… I never wanted to participate in that.

‘Even tug-of-war isn’t purely a contest of strength. Really….’

Obviously, the relay wouldn’t be a purely physical competition either.

Since relays involved running, I’d heard that teleportation or any kind of spatial magic was prohibited….

I kept a close watch on those lined up below.

The relay began with the first graders in elementary school, with each grade running in order.

In other words, Min-hee was the first runner for the Red Team.

“…In this case, who are we supposed to cheer for?”

In-ha and Shia tilted their heads with uncertain expressions as well.

I was conflicted too.

The first runner on our side was someone I wasn’t very close to.

And our uncertainty was soon dispelled by a voice we heard afterward.

[Min-hee! You can do it!]

[Wait a second, Senior! You’re on the White Team!]

[Who cares? My sister’s first!]

[Hey! Are you really the next president?]

[Eun-hee, it’s sports day; that stuff doesn’t matter!]

[Sigh…]

[Seonghu, instead of sighing, can you say something?]

Huh? Is that the top-ranked student, the middle school president, the high school president, and the vice president?

Listening to the kids’ chatter, I let out a small laugh.

It was her older brother! Her big brother~! Min-hee beamed with excitement, and the top-ranked student, her brother, grew even more animated watching her.

“Might as well cheer for our team since Min-hee winning doesn’t mean the Red Team wins overall.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“I mean, we can’t cheer for Min-hee unless we’re on the same team… like Ji-hyun.”

That meant it’d be okay to cheer for Min-hee, but for young In-ha and Shia, they couldn’t grasp it that far.

Bang!

With the start signal, the runners sprinted off.

Using magic to enhance her body, Min-hee ran incredibly well.

Now that I looked, that was the technique she learned from me.

Focusing magic on her heels. Doing that gives an explosive start.

“Can a first-grader control magic like that…?!”

“Hey, think about it. She’s Ji-hyun’s sister.”

“True…”

Hearing the older students murmuring, I showed a slightly troubled expression.

“At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before her skills are exposed.”

“Hmm.”

“Haha.”

In-ha nodded indifferently, while Shia chuckled with an awkward expression.

Min-hee quickly pulled ahead of the other runners.

The cheering atmosphere intensified around us, creating a wave of excitement.

The relay race, where boys and girls ran together, continued from first grade, and then…

Wait, was that…?

“Isn’t that In-ho running for the second grade?”

“Oh, you’re right.”

At my words, Shia also checked and saw In-ho’s face, his expression one of surprise.

Being in the same level class, we frequently bumped into In-ho and You-jung at school, so even Shia was familiar with them.

Ah… but since In-ho was also on the Red Team, this would create a considerable gap from the others.

However, In-ho ran at a more moderate pace than expected.

I could tell from my perspective that he was carefully managing his magic.

Even so, he managed to create the necessary lead over the other kids.

As we moved up through the third grade, fourth grade, and so on, the way they ran changed.

In addition to spells, unique magic began to appear.

“Wow, look at that!”

Someone leaped a ridiculous distance in a single bound.

That wasn’t spatial magic, since that was prohibited, but perhaps it was something like a displacement spell?

“They’re using wind magic over there!”

By middle school, it had practically become a magical duel.

With several people relying on magic to race, there was no certainty of victory with a single advantage.

However… the gap between our team and the Red Team was quite significant.

The Blue Team was a lap behind us, and we were two laps behind the Red Team.

“There’s the sixth-ranked student!”

“It’s Senior Kim Juyeon!”

“She widened the gap by speeding up her own time!”

“On our side, it’s Senior Injoo! Ranked fifth! Using fire to boost her speed!”

They’re practically flying… Thanks for the commentary next to me! It makes things so much easier to follow!

I kept my gaze on Senior Kim Juyeon rather than my teammate, Senior Injoo.

It was because the magic she used was related to the space-time magic I was trying to develop.

Accelerating her own time… I had looked up her magic before.

I’d accessed the information through her student ID.

All magic listed in the public database was widely known.

Magic that its owner kept hidden wouldn’t appear in that information.

Since all high school seniors were adults, this was not due to the Confidentiality Policy but rather a “rule” observed among magicians.

In this world, with its variety of magic types, hiding one’s abilities to some extent could be advantageous.

Because of that, not only at our school, but all public information about magicians only contained widely known details.

Through the student ID, I’d confirmed that her main magic was time manipulation!

Moving objects through time or altering others’ perception of time—it was named to reflect its ability to control not only physical time but even the senses of time.

This magic was deeply related not only to my “space-time magic” but also to my “illusion magic.”

After the relay race ended, the rankings were announced.

The relay race rankings were: 1st place – Red Team, 2nd place – White Team, 3rd place – Blue Team.

Overall standings: 1st place – White Team, 2nd place – Red Team, 3rd place – Blue Team.

But since it was a magic-based sports day, predicting the final outcome was still difficult.

「Next up, it’s a break-time event~! The OX Quiz Competition! Participation is open! It’s a wisdom contest for elementary, middle, and high school students, with no magic allowed! Of course, using magic or devices to look up answers is forbidden! We’ll send out interference signals if you come down!」

“Wow! It’s a quiz competition!”

「The team with the most remaining participants gets extra points! Now, I’ll give you ten minutes, so anyone who wants to participate, come on down!」

My eyes sparkled.

A knowledge-based wisdom contest with no need for magic!

While In-ha and Shia looked bored and disinterested, I got excited and stood up from my seat.

Although I disliked drawing attention, there were times I wanted to step forward and experience something new.

Even I found this trait in myself peculiar.

“In-ha, Shia, I’ll be back in a bit.”

I prepared to head down and rose from my seat.

The two of them, startled, looked at me in surprise.

One after another, Shia and In-ha asked, puzzled.

“What? Are you actually going? Don’t you dislike things like that?”

“Right. You usually avoid events that draw attention.”

“It’s not like I’m going alone, and I’ll be blending in with the crowd. Events like this are fun.”

I grinned and turned to leave.

In-ha, flustered, stood up and grabbed my hand.

“Wait, if you’re going, then I’ll go too.”

“Oh, me too.”

“Alright, then?”

In-ha nodded and immediately followed me, taking hold of my hand.

Shia also got up.

We made our way down to the field through the bustling crowd.

Seeing us arrive, Min-hee, who was already there, waved her hand excitedly.

“In-ha! Eun-ha! Shia! You all came too~! Awesome. Han-soo, let’s stick with Eun-ha!”

“Right… among us, she does know the most.”

“Yeah. Eun-ha’s here too.”

I glanced around and spotted Han-soo, Hyun-ho, Yoo-jung unnie, and even In-ho oppa.

Everyone from Class I had come down.

Min-hee and Hyun-ho were probably here for fun, Han-soo must have been dragged along, but why were Yoo-jung unnie and In-ho oppa here?

“You can participate without using magic.”

Ah, so they had the same mindset as me.

At that moment, someone approached from behind Min-hee.

“Min-hee.”

“Oh, oppa!”

“Geh.”

It was Min-hee’s brother.

Standing opposite us with Ji-hyun’s back to him, Han-soo made an uncomfortable face upon hearing his voice and quickly hid behind me, while Min-hee reacted with joy.

Uh, hey? I looked at Han-soo with a bewildered expression.

You’re not really treating me as your mom or sister, right?

“Han-soo, Shia, and Hyun-ho are here too.”

“Yeah, hi.”

“Yo! Long time no see, Ji-hyun!”

Shia greeted Ji-hyun shyly, while Hyun-ho waved enthusiastically.

A soft warmth flashed in Ji-hyun’s gaze as he lightly patted Hyun-ho’s head and turned his eyes toward us.

Indeed, as Eun-hee unnie had said, he seemed completely indifferent when looking at me and In-ha.

“And… huh, Min-hee, you’ve got lots of friends. I don’t know these kids, so could you introduce us?”

“Sure!”

Saying so, he completely ignored me and In-ha, even In-ha’s appearance, naturally skipping over us and turning to In-ho oppa with a slight smile.

What? Did he just naturally disregard In-ha’s looks?

At last, I understood Eun-hee unnie’s words.

‘Ignoring In-ha’s looks, how could he?!’

Indeed, Eun-hee unnie was right—this senior was definitely an odd one.

I looked at him with an awkward feeling.

Then In-ha gave me a puzzled look.

Han-soo, after seeing Ji-hyun’s smile, clutched my shirt tighter, gripping it so hard he practically pulled me close, leaving me slightly stunned.

In-ha, seeing this, scowled furiously.

“Let go of her hand, will you?”

“Oh, come on, just let it slide this once. That guy makes me uncomfortable.”

“Let go and go hide behind Min-hee, then.”

“I don’t want to do that either!”

As the two squabbled with me in the middle, Min-hee introduced us all.

My friend, In-ha and I, as well as the older, friendly seniors Yoo-jung unnie and In-ho oppa.

Only then did Senior Ji-hyun finally turn toward us.

When they started squabbling, I, treating the situation as routine, simply stood by, looking around.

Finally, my eyes met Senior Ji-hyun’s.

Blink, blink. I blinked as I stared at him, then opened my eyes wide.

Between the flickers of my gaze, his magic’s color seeped into view.

Such a beautiful… magic color.

I had expected a deep hue from afar but hadn’t realized it would be this stunning.

Despite its pure black shade, it looked somehow transparent, a mysterious, dark color.

It was entirely different from Min-hee’s yellow-green magic.

The difference wasn’t just in color; the attributes and depth were worlds apart.

I recognized that sharp aura—it was familiar.

Since I possessed that attribute myself, I was sure of it.

That was undoubtedly the magic of “darkness.”

Come to think of it, I had only shown interest in magic related to my own powers and had never looked closely into the abilities of our school’s top-ranking seniors.

Seeing his magic firsthand ignited a strong curiosity about the powers of the other ranked seniors.

‘Especially the person with the magic of time—I wonder what that magic looks like up close?’

A new curiosity bubbled up inside me. But before I could even continue my thoughts, the quiz competition began.