ReLife Player

[Unintentional Intentions]

All elementary school students were required to learn basic mana usage starting in fourth grade.

So, Eunha had to endure the boring hours of delving academically into the power she could handle freely.

This year was no different.

The children, now able to sense the presence of mana, were learning how to manifest it within their bodies.

Eunha looked around at the fifth graders gathered in the great hall.

Spaced at regular intervals, they were trying to feel the presence of mana flowing through their bodies.

«Mana is not something you think about with your head, it’s something you feel with your heart. Let go of distractions and focus on your body rhythm.»

Im Dohon walked past the children with their eyes closed and gave them a tip.

You can’t live without mana.

Mana is always rooted in the heart of an organism.

Just like people unconsciously breathe and live without knowing how many heartbeats they have in a day, mana circulates inside the body even if you’re not aware of its presence.

To become aware of the mana in one’s body, one must be able to reflect on the things one takes for granted, just as one breathes consciously and knows how many times one’s heart beats in a day.

«No Eunha, you should…. self-study.»

«Yes.»

Looking over the children, Im Dohon spotted Eunha standing in the distance.

He attempted to say something but made a noise and passed by him.

Eunha, who had been given permission to study on his own, slipped away from the midst of the closed-eyed children.

«Teacher, why is No Eunha the only one with free time!»

«That’s right, that’s right, give us free time too!»

Protesting with a grumbling voice was Kim Minji, a 12-year-old.

Minji, who knew how to manifest mana, raised her voice while holding Eunhyuk.

Im Dohon frowned.

Of course, Eunha did too.

«You’re still far from it. Don’t underestimate it as too easy.»

«Learn it step by step while you’re relearning.»

The basics are important.

If you don’t learn them, you’ll waste your life.

Eunha shrugged his shoulders. He kicked a soccer ball he had taken out of the warehouse, spending his time.

Everyone is working hard.

Raising the ball with the instep, he received it between his forehead and the bridge of his nose.

Eunha watched the kids wrestle with the mana coursing through their bodies as he maintained his balance to prevent the ball from falling.

The children were diligent.

Until last year, these kids used to hate even sensing mana absorbed into the atmosphere. Seeing them eagerly trying to feel the mana inside their bodies was quite surprising.

Well, there was no other way.

The incident at the training camp last year must have left unforgettable memories for the kids.

They felt the fear of monsters and didn’t hesitate to trample over someone to survive. Since that day, the kids had started to act tough towards each other.

Even with the change in grades, nothing had changed.

Starting from that day, they had internally matured. They set up fences to protect themselves, learning methods to keep a distance from others.

Most of all, they realized that without power, they couldn’t survive in this damn world.

Perhaps this is why they are so eager to learn.

«…She’s good.»

Eunha couldn’t take his eyes off Hayang’s mana manifestation.

She was controlling the mana she released so it wouldn’t touch the other children.

After undergoing an inspection with Im Dohon, she carefully folded away the liberated mana as if folding clothes.

She refined the mana effortlessly, flowing it like water, to the point where it was hard to believe that she had released vast amounts of mana.

On top of that, she was deploying resistance magic so that no one else could see the mana in her body, while at the same time, she was weaving a disguise spell so that her technique wouldn’t look unnatural.

Why is she…I didn’t teach her, and she’s doing dual casting or something on her own?

Eunha clicked his tongue.

Although he had seen and felt the magic she had created at the training camp, Hayang had excellent qualities in handling magic.

«Hey, Hayang, can you teach me too?»

«Can you teach me a bit?»

«Huh? Yeah, sure. Where are you stuck?»

As time passed, there were many children who had difficulty detecting the mana in their bodies.

They cautiously approached the girl who was praised by Im Dohon.

«Eunhyuk, how do you do it? Please show me!»

«Yeah, it’s hard, isn’t it? I thought I was going to die at first.»

«Hey, Minji-ya…. Can you help me?»

«It’s hard because it’s your first time. I’ll help you.»

Some children approached Eunhyuk and Minji.

Eunhyuk and Minji, who had been working on a separate assignment from Im Dohon, greeted the children as they approached.

They were secretly procrastinating the assignment.

«Seona, are you done?»

«I finished first with Hayang.»

None of the kids came to her.

They didn’t ignore her, but they didn’t approach her any closer than necessary.

Seona was familiar with this atmosphere.

Eunha passed the ball he had been playing with using his instep to Seona.

«What about the assignment? Didn’t the teacher give you an assignment?»

«Manifesting mana evenly throughout the body for 10 minutes. I’m done.»

Seona replied casually.

After Hayang, she was the only one who was good at manipulating mana.

«Then try it on a soccer ball.»

«What? How do I do that?»

«You can do it.»

Eunha bounced the soccer ball with his knee and handed it to Seona.

Balancing on a soccer ball was merely a basic exercise for walking on walls and surfaces.

For her, who had excellent motor nerves, learning how to balance on a soccer ball would be accomplished within the day.

«Don’t just try to balance with your body, use your mana.»

«That means I need to concentrate on one… no, two areas… How do I do this?»

Seona quickly balanced on the soccer ball.

She rolled the soccer ball around like a circus act and then fell on her butt while manifesting her mana.

Eunha decided not to pay too much attention to Seona’s grumbling.

Jin Seona was just overreacting; she was doing well as instructed.

Seona was quiet and diligent.

On the outside, Minji may seem more mature, but she’s the more mature one among his friends.

Leave her alone and she’ll take care of herself.

«Eunha, can you teach me?»

«How did you do it?»

«What do you mean, like, feel your heartbeat?»

So Eunha decided to deal with the children who had gathered around him first.

It would be hard to send them away in a reasonable manner when they had gathered to learn about mana.

«First, breathe.»

«Breathe?»

«Breathe consciously. Until you can do it consciously and naturally.»

Eunha told the gathered children to breathe.

They breathed in and out in confusion. It was uncomfortable to breathe consciously.

«Hey, Eunha, is this right?»

«Good. Keep it up.»

Some children succeeded in releasing mana.

But it was only a small amount, and they couldn’t keep it up for long.

Eunha encouraged them, remembering how he had taught his friends.

Eventually, one boy caught Eunha’s eye. He was among the kids who closed their eyes and focused, and he was a boy who had been observing them, seemingly sizing them up.

«Seona, who’s that guy?»

«Who? Him?»

To Eunha, it seemed like the boy wasn’t really focused. Moreover, he kept glancing around, as if trying to gauge something.

«You mean the boy who goes to school with Jae-jin?»

«Jae-jin? Who is he?»

«…Jae-jin, he’s in the same class this year.»

«Really? I didn’t know that. So who is he?»

«Ham Chan-wook. Eunha, you’ve been with us for a month now…, no, you’ve always been like that.»

«Why? What’s that supposed to mean?»

Seona, who had come down from the soccer ball, was utterly perplexed.

Taking his eyes off her, Eunha looked at a boy named Ham Chan-wook.

Their eyes met just in time.

Han Chan-wook was startled, turned his head suddenly, then awkwardly approached, wearing a forced smile.

«Hey, Eunha.»

«What?»

«Can you teach me too?»

«…Sure.»

Eunha replied to Han Chan-wook, who seemed extremely uneasy. The boy seemed to be avoiding eye contact as if fearing something.

What’s with him? Why is he acting like this?

Eunha couldn’t understand.

Chan-wook, who was breathing evenly to manifest his mana, was afraid of himself.

Though he could tell he hadn’t done anything worthy of fear.

As Eunha maintained his guard due to Chan-wook emotions being so transparent—

«—Hey!»

Suddenly, Han Chan-wook grabbed his wrist.

«What are you doing?»

He was manifesting mana in his body.

Eunha’s reaction was immediate.

He increased his resistance to prevent the mana from touching his body, simultaneously pushing his hand away with mana-infused force.

«Eunha!»

«──!!!»

Struck on the elbow, Han Chan-wook flew without making a sound, rolling on the ground several times before collapsing with a thud.

«What the hell are you doing?»

«Hey, Eunha, what are you doing right now?»

Seona rushed forward.

Eunha shook off Seona’s grip on his wrist and walked over to Ham Chan-wook, whose whole body was twitching.

The body can only accept internal mana generated by the heart and mana dissolved in the atmosphere.

Taking other people’s mana into the body would disrupt the circuitry and cause a mana runaway.

That’s why Im Dohon made sure the children kept their distance.

Just in case.

«Eunha, stop this. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but please endure it for a little longer!»

«Let go of me. I need to ask him something.»

Dragging Seona, who clung to him, Eunha moved forward.

Ham Chan-wook deliberately tried to inject mana into his body.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held his hand and tried to manifest his mana.

«Hey! Choi Eun-hyuk, stop No Eunha! Jung Ha-yang, you go protect Chan-wook!»

«Captain! Calm down! Let’s talk it out!»

The kids in the auditorium witnessed Han Chan-wook rolling on the floor and colliding with a stand.

So did Minji and Eunhyuk.

Only when they heard Seona stopping Eunha did they come to their senses and rush to stop him.

Seona clung to him from behind, while Eunhyuk and Minji hugged him from the front.

«…Chan-wook, Chan-wook, wake up!»

As the children fended him off, Hayang deployed a barrier to protect Ham Chan-wook. She grabbed his shoulders, shook him, and called out his name.

However, Han Chan-wook didn’t come to his senses.

«Hey, get out of the way.»

«Eunha, please. We’ll listen to you, so don’t do this.»

«Hey, No Eunha, don’t you realize what you’ve done? Can’t you see the other kids are looking at you right now?»

«That’s right, captain, this is not a joke!»

The clinging kids shouted.

Finally, Eunha looked around.

«I, I didn’t see anything….»

«…Ah….»

The kids he made eye contact with stumbled backward.

«No…, Mom, help me!»

«I’m sorry, I didn’t step on it, I didn’t….I didn’t»

The kids recalled trauma and clutched their heads, hesitating.

There were even kids who suddenly started vomiting.

«…Hey, what did he do?»

«I thought he just hit Chan-wook.»

«He’s always acting like he knows how to handle mana in class.»

«Maybe he hit Chan-wook because he’s being cocky again.»

Eunha turned his head in the direction of the voices.

Some kids were whispering to each other.

«Eunha, stop….»

«…Hey, hold on.»

«Captain….»

Sniffles could be heard.

His friends clinging to him were crying.

Hayang was also shedding thick tears.

«…No Eunha.»

After checking on Ham Chan-wook’s condition, Im Do-hon walked through the space where the children were huddled.

«We will discuss what happened in the staff room. First, get yourself together, and refine your mana.»

Im Do-hon said calmly.

Eunha opened his mouth to say something, but shut it.

The kids were scared, and Han Chanwook had lost consciousness.

Reacting emotionally wouldn’t improve the situation. It would only create unnecessary confusion and fear.

Resignedly, he dissipated the mana he had gathered.

Only then did his friends clinging to him let go, releasing their grip on their hands.

«…Sorry. I really scared you all, didn’t I?»

«»…….»»

They just shook their heads and sobbed.

Hayang, who was handing over Ham Chan-wook to Im Do-hon, also had tears rolling down her cheeks.

«That’s it for today, everyone go back to your classes, Eunha, follow me.»

Im Do-hon gestured for him to follow.

Leaving his friends in the auditorium, Eunha followed him out.

☆

That day, Eunha had to serve his punishment in the school office until after dismissal time.

After hearing the situation, Im Do-hon scolded him for using force against a child who couldn’t handle his mana.

He was glad that Ham Chan-wook hadn’t been seriously injured, but it could have gotten him killed.

Eunha agreed. He admitted that he had acted reflexively, but that he had gone too far.

After regaining consciousness, Ham Chan-wook also admitted his wrongdoing.

Thus, it ended with the two of them writing reflection essays.

«─Who dare to hit my son!?»

Ham Chan-wook’s mother came with fury to the school with the intention of turning the school upside down.

HB BB!! you are so old now! Well, be happy…and save me some cake. (I’m serious you better save me some) btw R’s birthday was yesterday, you guys are something else.