Prologue Story

In the end, we ended up eating lunch with Senior Ji-hyun as our guardian—me, In-ha, Min-hee, and Shia, making five of us in total.

We parted ways with the senior ranked fourth, whom Min-hee called “Chunho Oppa,” midway through.

It seemed he had other errands to attend to.

It turned out that this “Chunho Oppa” was actually Min-hee’s brother’s childhood friend.

I had wondered how she was so close to the fourth-ranked student in our school, but that was the reason.

Apparently, he had been playing with Min-hee since she was little.

In other words, he was like a second older brother to her.

I found myself nodding in understanding.

We walked through the park, debating what to eat.

Then I thought of the school lunch.

Grance Café might be an exception, but suggesting the school lunch felt like ruining the mood, as everyone seemed eager to eat out.

But I hesitantly asked.

“Come to think of it, what was today’s school lunch?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, it’s free.”

“That’s true, but…”

Senior Ji-hyun glanced at me and shook his head.

“You have to buy lunch tickets starting from high school.”

Huh? Is that so?

This was new to me, and I widened my eyes in surprise.

“High schoolers can already earn their own money.”

“Wow.”

I hadn’t known. So that’s how it was for high schoolers.

But it’s still cheaper than elsewhere, right?

We all nodded in agreement with his words.

“But today’s Sports Day, so let’s eat something other than the school lunch! What do you want to eat?”

Since it made sense, I nodded along as I looked at Min-hee.

As we resumed our lively discussion about what to eat, Senior Ji-hyun asked us.

“By the way, do you guys even have money?”

Hmm, well…

“Yes.”

“We get allowances.”

“Ah, I don’t. I don’t carry allowance money.”

One by one, Shia, In-ha, and I each gave different responses.

In-ha and I were both only children from relatively wealthy families.

With our maturity as well, we received a rather generous allowance.

Though we were only first-graders in elementary school, we received about 30,000 won per month.

Even so, our parents bought most of our supplies, so we had plenty left over to save each month.

For reference, In-ha received 50,000 won a month.

But it wasn’t quite the same for Shia.

He received about 2,000 won per week.

“Oppa! You should treat us! What do you expect from us!”

“…That’s true. What was I thinking, expecting elementary first-graders to pay? I’ve just gotten too used to splitting costs. Alright. I’ll treat you, so tell me what you want to eat.”

“Yay! Shia, Eun-ha, In-ha! Let’s order anything we want! My oppa has plenty of money!”

Huh?

I looked at her, feeling a bit flustered.

It’s just that, well, burdening him felt, no, it felt really…yes, really uncomfortable.

Having an adult’s mindset made it even more so.

I’d planned to pay for my share.

I looked up at him awkwardly and spoke.

“Uh, well, I feel like I’d be imposing….”

“Huh….”

Senior Ji-hyun looked down at me with a slightly taken-aback expression.

Huh, why?

As I looked up at him in puzzlement, he crouched down and met my gaze.

His typically cold eyes softened slightly as he looked at me for the first time.

“I thought this earlier too, but you’re really mature, huh? Imposing? Do most eight-year-olds even know that word? Anyway, don’t worry. I’m treating you because I hope you and Min-hee get along well.”

“Oppa, what’s ‘imposing’? Oh, is it that thing here? Around the chest?”

“No, you dummy.”

Standing up again, Senior Ji-hyun chuckled and patted Min-hee’s head as she pointed at her chest.

But, still…

I quietly followed him, feeling reluctant.

It still felt awkward, like I was imposing.

Unlike me, however, the kids accepted Senior Ji-hyun’s offer to buy lunch for us without a second thought.

“Why are you acting like that?”

Shia and In-ha looked at me in confusion, and I let out a sigh in their direction.

Well, I guess it’s because they’re kids…

Then something came to mind, and my expression hardened.

“In-ha, Shia.”

“Huh?”

“It’s fine because he’s Min-hee’s brother’s friend, but if a stranger offers to buy you something or tells you to follow them, you shouldn’t go with them, okay? Never.”

Since I had often heard such warnings from my parents, In-ha nodded solemnly.

Shia, on the other hand, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Min-hee turned around, curious.

“Oh! Oppa has told me that too, but what exactly does that mean?”

“When a stranger offers you something, it usually means they have some hidden motive.”

“Motive…? What’s that?”

“Uh, well….”

How should I explain this?

After a moment of thought, I replied.

“It’s like an intention to do something bad to you.”

Min-hee tilted her head in confusion.

“But if they’re giving something, isn’t that a nice thing? Why would someone give something just to do something bad?”

Hearing her response, Shia nodded in agreement, and I was at a loss for words.

I pressed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on, and In-ha spoke up.

“Since Mom, Dad, and Eun-ha have told me so many times, I know this well, but people like that are all perverts.”

“Perverts?”

“Yeah. They trick innocent little girls into doing strange things to them. There are supposedly some good adult men like that. Anyway, they’re perverts. So if you see someone like that, you should shout ‘pervert!’”

“…”

I found myself speechless.

No, In-ha, that’s not always the case… Ah, seriously! How should I explain this?

As I held my head in a complicated expression, Senior Ji-hyun, who had been watching us with a complex look, sighed.

“Listen to her from now on. When you’re alone, always stick close to each other.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just saying it’s a relief that your friend is mature.”

…And I decided to retract my earlier thoughts about him treating me like a guardian.

Yeah, I need to keep a close watch on these kids…

Because we’d gotten so off track, we hadn’t decided on a place to eat, so we went with Senior Ji-hyun’s recommendation.

We entered a family restaurant in the shopping district.

He said it had almost any kind of food.

Out of guilt, I chose my meal carefully, factoring in the price.

In the end, I went with udon, which was both inexpensive and something I genuinely liked.

Min-hee ordered a hamburger steak set.

After glancing at the menu for a while, Shia ordered omelet rice, and In-ha settled on spaghetti.

Kids really didn’t seem to know how to decline.

A short while later, our food arrived.

After watching us eat for a bit, Senior Ji-hyun casually commented.

“Min-hee, you.”

“…?”

“You made a really good friend, including Shia.”

“Hehehe. Right?”

“Yeah.”

Oh. I blinked.

I didn’t expect to hear compliments right to my face.

I quickly lowered my head, feeling shy.

In-ha didn’t seem fazed at all.

For some reason, this left me feeling slightly awkward.

After a pleasant meal, we returned to the main field.

Before we parted ways, Senior Ji-hyun looked at us with a gentler expression than before and said,

“Well then, let’s do our best together. You’re all on the white team too.”

He gently patted Min-hee’s head and soon walked away.

I found myself a bit surprised.

Since we were first-graders, I thought we wouldn’t participate, but Senior Ji-hyun was surprisingly good at interacting with kids.

We parted from Min-hee and returned to our spots.

Not long after, the afternoon events began.

The first game of the afternoon was an obstacle course race.

Since it was Sports Day, there were many racing events.

In the blink of an eye, the stage transformed completely.

The ground split, filling with water, and channels rose.

Ropes were set up, and tubes floated in the water.

Wow, the magic world truly was something else.

As I watched in awe, the participants entered.

They were our middle and high school seniors.

“Now, let’s see what kind of game this will be! As always, skill matters more than speed in these events, since players can interfere with each other! One of the main events, the obstacle race, begins now! Let’s welcome our representatives from middle and high school!”

As expected, familiar faces appeared, showing the importance of skill levels.

Senior Ji-hyun, the vice president, and even Yoo Chunho, whom Min-hee called her second brother, were there.

“Go, Ji-hyun hyung!”

Shia cheered loudly.

I decided to slightly open the sight that I usually kept closed.

Now I could control it to see only the magic I wanted.

For instance, I could see only one person’s magic among the crowd.

I adjusted my sight to see only the magic of the senior named Yoo Chunho.

If I’d known, I would’ve secretly examined his magic when he was closer.

I narrowed my eyes and focused on observing his magic carefully.

That’s wind…right?

Magic that looked like wind was swirling around him.

Additionally, like me, he had two colors of magic.

Unlike mine, his silver magic had a dusty quality, and green magic pulsed over it.

If the silver magic was wind-like, the green magic was like lightning.

It would appear in zigzag patterns, crackling and vanishing repeatedly.

‘Though magic often reflects the spell itself…’

The sight was fascinating.

I gazed at it in awe.

Then I looked over the middle school seniors.

Compared to the familiar faces of the high school seniors, the middle schoolers were mostly strangers.

But they clearly possessed a significant amount of magic.

It was obvious even when comparing them to other middle school students in the audience.

Of course, they still didn’t quite match up to the high schoolers.

While I couldn’t fully comprehend the magic of those much stronger than me, I could compare differences by observing the color and feel of the magic that naturally radiated around their bodies.

“If our school’s number one in rank…what would their magician rank be?”

“Huh?”

Shia turned to me as I muttered to myself.

I grew curious about the true nature of that calm and settled magic.

Shia replied lightly to my question.

“Ji-hyun hyung is a B-rank magician. Technically, B+.”

“That’s B-rank…”

My eyes widened.

Auntie Suna’s rank was S+, right?

She achieved it a couple of years ago.

Wow, B-rank…

I’d heard that from C-rank onward, the gaps between ranks were significantly wide, and he’d already reached B-rank despite barely being an adult?

“That’s amazing…”

“Right? Reaching B-rank before twenty is a huge deal. Chunho hyung is still at CC+, but he’s determined to hit B-rank next time!”

“But do the seniors’ ranks appear on the student database?”

“Not sure. Maybe they show up for high schoolers. I can’t access that far, though.”

Shia gave a clumsy smile.

I see, so checking the high schoolers’ information was out of reach without sufficient magic.

I opened my student database and briefly examined the high school files.

Oh, here it is.

Looking closely, rank information was indeed listed.

The vice president was B-, and Eun-hee unnie was CCC+.

Hmm, I see.

There were very few magicians who reached C-rank before turning twenty.

As expected of Daehyun students.

I soon closed the student database and refocused on the field below.

While I was checking the database, the obstacle race had already begun.

Middle and high school representatives formed pairs, grabbing the ropes in midair and leaping all at once.

They had to hold onto the same rope, so partners ended up quite close.

The female senior partnered with Senior Ji-hyun blushed throughout the entire race.

She probably liked him.

Even if she didn’t, I would feel the same way in her situation.

Senior Ji-hyun was extremely handsome.

If it came to looks, the vice president was no less impressive, but if I had to compare, Senior Ji-hyun had a more masculine charm, whereas the vice president had a softer appeal.

Chunho was also fairly good-looking, though not exceptionally striking.

But since the vice president was paired with Eun-hee unnie, and Chunho’s partner was a guy, there didn’t seem to be room for any romantic tension.

At that moment, I widened my eyes at the next scene that unfolded.

Senior Ji-hyun reached into the air, and from the empty space, a shadow-like darkness extended.

A weapon materialized from the darkness, or rather, he grabbed the darkness itself and shaped it into a blade that flew toward the vice president.

I covered my mouth in awe.

‘Wow…’

It was incredible.

The black color was so pure that it was hard to believe it was just darkness.

I had never seen such a transparent, beautiful shade before.

That must be… B-rank darkness magic…

In a word, it was mesmerizing.

I watched the match, almost on the verge of tears.

The vice president twisted to dodge the magic flying toward him and cast his own spell.

I squinted in confusion.

I couldn’t tell what spell he’d used.

All I saw was the darkness slowing, shattering into pieces as it hit the ground.

Then, the vice president swung his hand, casting magic toward Chunho.

Chunho flew swiftly like the wind but was struck by the vice president’s magic and fell.

The movement was barely noticeable, as was what he’d launched.

Wow, wow.

Drawn to the sight, I fully opened my vision.

I couldn’t help but marvel.

Their mastery of magic was awe-inspiring, making me feel a touch of envy—if only I could control magic as freely as they did.

It was truly amazing.

How could they wield magic so well?

I wondered how much time it would take for me to reach that level.

This summer vacation, I’d set aside everything else and focus on magic training.

I wanted to be like them.

I wanted to be able to cast bigger barriers, increase my magic power, make my illusions more realistic, and create traps with written magic, and…

They leaped from tubes, smashed through metal climbing paths, soared through the air, and cleared obstacles like a whirlwind, eventually crossing the finish line.

It wasn’t until the race was almost over that I got a rough idea of what the vice president’s magic was.

It was ice magic.

Though I wasn’t entirely sure, he always seemed to throw ice when attacking.

I’d have to confirm later exactly what kind of magic he used.