Ch.273268 – Night Watch

Anyone who wrote posts online insulting NoName would quickly find themselves buried in backlash.

Beyond her adorable appearance that triggered adults’ protective instincts, her globally recognized talent, mature personality, and voluntary charity work gave her more than enough goodwill to spare.

Except for her unpredictable streaming schedule that kept viewers anxiously waiting, NoName herself was practically untouchable – a “sacred territory.”

However, her position within the Academy was somewhat delicate.

Children from elementary through middle school belonged to a generation that didn’t remember the Walpurgis serial kidnapping case and Bangho Bridge disaster that once shocked Korea.

So no matter how well parents tried to explain NoName’s significance, the children couldn’t really relate to it.

Additionally, the Academy’s 6th graders were currently going through a sensitive period before their middle school entrance exams.

With parents constantly mentioning NoName as a comparison, her tragic past was forgotten, and she became merely an annoying presence to them.

But NoName’s magical abilities were undeniably exceptional.

She not only perfectly replicated Sung Eun-byeol’s arc discharge spell but matched its power without falling short.

Facing NoName, Namgong Jin actually felt competitive excitement.

So he decided not to back down and face her magic head-on, just as he had with Sung Eun-byeol.

“Are you okay, senior? That must have hurt. I’ll count for you, so please get up now. Aren’t you embarrassed with so many people watching?”

And this was the result.

“Whoa. Whoooa.”

Namgong Jin regained consciousness, jumped up, and shook his head from side to side.

“HAHAHA! Namgong Jin, did you seriously get knocked out in one hit by this kid’s magic? BWAHAHA! My stomach hurts from laughing… hehehe.”

“No, that… that can’t be right?”

“What do you mean it can’t be right? Anyone can see you passed out! God, how embarrassing.”

He had been confident he could face Sung Eun-byeol’s maximum-power lightning magic head-on.

Getting knocked out by an 8-year-old’s magic while having an aura barrier? Impossible.

“Come here. Let me help ground you – it’s not good to have electrical mana particles remaining in your body.”

NoName spread her arms wide and hugged Namgong Jin from behind.

The feeling of a tiny being clinging to his back.

‘She’s too cute!’

Only then did Namgong Jin understand why the girls in his class made such a fuss about meeting NoName at the school store.

This was otherworldly cuteness.

“I won’t apologize since I didn’t do anything wrong. But please don’t dislike me so much – I definitely wasn’t looking down on my seniors.”

NoName spoke while fidgeting with her small mouth.

Namgong Jin didn’t need to turn around to imagine what expression the child was making.

He nodded awkwardly, accepting her apology as his earlier irritation melted away at her voice.

“I don’t dislike you. I guess I’ve been sensitive lately. I’m really sorry for misunderstanding you based on rumors.”

“Rumors? What rumors?”

“Ah. Actually, there’s been talk among us that you look down on your seniors. That you gossip behind our backs. But seeing you now, you’re clearly not that kind of person.”

“Ah, I see… That’s also a misunderstanding, yes.”

NoName subtly averted her eyes.

She guessed that her habit of deliberately turning away and pretending not to see seniors in the hallway had been misinterpreted.

Despite being eight years old, her mental age was well beyond adulthood.

It often created awkward situations when she encountered seniors at the cafeteria or school store.

Who was NoName, after all?

She had lived 25 years as a man in her first life, 25 years as a woman in her second life, plus 8 more years now.

Looking at her previous life alone, even though she was called “witch,” “cursed woman,” “traitor,” and “immoral” behind her back, to her face she was always addressed with extreme honorifics like “Princess” and “Savior.”

So naturally, having to call others “sis” or “bro” several times a day felt like denying everything she had built up since her previous life, from gender to age.

“Hey friend! How did you break through the aura barrier with arc discharge? I can never break through no matter what I try. Can’t you share your secret?”

Fortunately, Sung Eun-byeol’s interruption saved NoName from having to explain herself.

“I actually have a special technique. If you learn the trick, you could do it in just one day, sis.”

“In one day? How?”

Sung Eun-byeol’s ears perked up.

Could it be a new circuit formula not introduced in textbooks?

Or perhaps some effective method of mana injection?

But NoName’s answer was truly something else.

“Just eat electric eel dishes three times a day.”

* * *

The stars in the night sky were devoured by neon lights, leaving only the lonely full moon hanging in the sky.

At 11 PM, I escorted the sleepy children, who kept rubbing their eyes, back to their rooms.

Meanwhile, I brought the 6th graders up to the hotel’s rooftop terrace.

“NoName, I actually have a weak stomach, so I don’t think I could ever eat something like eel…”

“What are you talking about? It’s not like eating ice makes you better at ice magic.”

“Huh? It doesn’t?”

“Of course not.”

That’s just superstition on par with hexagonal water, germanium bracelets, or fan death myths.

Even in a world where magic exists, such supernatural and absurd rules don’t apply.

“Actually, there were people watching us earlier.”

“At the dueling grounds?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

It must have been from Altair Academy.

They were trying to capture every little detail of our squabbles.

There was even someone suspected of being a young teacher disguised among the uniformed students.

“We haven’t done anything wrong, so why are they watching us?”

“They’re probably disguising themselves as students to analyze our weaknesses while watching our duels.”

“Huh? That’s cheating!”

“There’s no rule saying they can’t watch, so it’s not exactly cheating… but it’s not fair play either.”

Just as the student council president testified, information about our academy students was secretly leaking out in places beyond the teachers’ sight.

“But is that really such a big problem? We’ll have rehearsals once a week anyway, and they’ll roughly know how we fight then.”

“Unlike rehearsals, these private duels reveal our usual habits, so they’re completely different.”

Watching a duel through a student’s eyes versus a teacher’s eyes was like comparing heaven and earth.

The kids don’t seem to understand what a serious penalty we’re starting with.

“Let me give you an example. If other students came to watch, they might just think, ‘Sister Eun-byeol mainly uses lightning magic, so I should be careful when using water-based magic.'”

“Yeah, and?”

“But with a teacher’s annotations, how would it change? The plan becomes: ‘Avoid Argen-type magic, use Sutra-type earth magic to neutralize her spells, quickly take her down with a single-leg tackle, then use an elbow attack to neutralize her particle barrier.’ Do you understand?”

Of course, not every student can immediately apply this in practice just by hearing it.

But considering Altair Academy’s overwhelming performance over the past 10 years, it must have led to meaningful changes in win rates.

“You… you…”

“Anyway, everyone should remember that this is Altair Academy’s home ground—”

“How on earth do you know all this?!”

Sung Eun-byeol’s expression turned to shock.

Beside her, Namgong Jin also gaped and took out his phone to contact someone.

“Hey guys. Quick, come up to the rooftop right now. NoName is just… insane! No, this isn’t the time for your game! Hurry up!”

Click-

He shoved his phone roughly into his pocket and grabbed my hand, his eyes sparkling.

“Hey, I mean, Miss NoName! Can you keep telling us more? What other weaknesses does Sung Eun-byeol have?”

“I’ve only seen her use arc discharge, so I can’t give you a definitive answer…”

“I’ll… I’ll buy you an ice cream for each thing you tell me!”

“Really?”

“Promise, promise!”

“Like I said earlier, Sister Eun-byeol’s weakness is that she always insists on using series circuits, which are completely neutralized by Sutra-type magic. Actually, they can also be nullified using Maben-type dispelling formulas.”

“What else?”

“She also has a habit of calculating synthetic resistance at the very end, making her magic circle’s security vulnerable. So you don’t even need to dispel everything completely—”

“Stop! Aaaahh stooooop!”

Sung Eun-byeol screamed.

“This is the real cheating! That was my secret! Huh?”

Why did you know but leave it alone until now?

“If you knew about it, you should have tried to fix it. How long were you planning to keep it a secret, sis? Everything I’m saying isn’t even difficult – it’s just middle school level.”

“Ugh… fine. After this, tell us all of Namgong Jin’s weaknesses too. That’s only fair.”

“Sure, why not. I didn’t have anything else to say anyway. But you can tell you’ve learned magic properly—oh!”

“What? There’s more? What is it?”

This is a bit awkward. Should I say this?

I hesitated, letting my words trail off.

“What! Say it! Tell me everything! I’ll fix it all before the competition!”

Fortunately, Sung Eun-byeol gave permission first.

Well, this is just advice between girls, so it should be fine. I’m literally a child, so there’s no worry about breaking any laws.

“You keep pulling at the back of your t-shirt while moving. If it’s because of sweat making it stick uncomfortably, I’d advise wearing a sports bra.”

“…”

“Or if your bra is slipping down, it might simply be the wrong size…”

Suddenly, a chilly wind blew, giving me goosebumps.

It really felt like autumn now.

“Namgong Jin. Could you give me and NoName some space to talk?”

Sung Eun-byeol commanded in a cold voice.

“Huh? Um… I hope you two resolve things well! Sorry, NoName! Pikachu, take it easy!”

Meanwhile, Namgong Jin showed his back as he hurriedly fled.

“NoName.”

“Yes?”

“You shouldn’t say such things in front of others.”

Sung Eun-byeol, her face red as a radish, pinched my cheek.

“Buh yuh gabe permishun.” (But you gave permission.)

“Yes, I gave permission! Thanks to you, I can fix it quickly! I’m tearfully grateful, really…!”

“That’s good. Actually, that was the most important advice I gave today, so thank you for listening.”

People might think it’s nothing, but the human brain can only process a limited number of commands at once.

Feeling uncomfortable means our body is experiencing significant discomfort.

Pro gamers obsessively adjusting their settings and athletes performing troublesome routines are all trying to focus entirely on one element.

In that sense, my advice was probably the most effective feedback for the girl.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to take my advice lightly.

“Sigh… NoName, those critiques you just gave me. You’ll have to do the same for the others too. Got it?”

“I was planning to do that today anyway. From 2nd to 6th grade, all of them.”

Everyone will have their own schedules from tomorrow morning until the end of the competition, so tonight is the last free time.

There’s still plenty of time until dawn.

“6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd. If I spend an hour per grade, I should be able to finish before sunrise.”

This feels like being on guard duty.

The problem was that I wouldn’t get any sleep, but someone had to step up and do it.