Ch.274269 – Sleepyhead

From the first day of the training camp, the rooftop dueling arena of the hotel was constantly packed since dawn.

“Haaah…”

Name’s sigh cut through the silent atmosphere.

The elementary school students examined Name’s face illuminated by moonlight with frightened eyes.

Name handed each of them a stone tablet and emphasized:

“I want you all to memorize the rotational motion circuit formula by tomorrow. Since understanding the concept of moment of inertia would be too difficult for you now, just memorize the magic circle pattern exactly as it is.”

“By… by tomorrow?”

“Yes. The fourth-grade seniors will check if you’ve done it properly. You know what happens if you don’t complete it by tomorrow, right?”

“What happens…?”

“Your school life will become really, very, extremely uncomfortable. Even if you greet the seniors first, they’ll completely ignore you, and when there’s delicious sausage stir-fry at lunch, you’ll only get one piece of sausage. No, you might even get served just broccoli without any sausage.”

Name snorted, as if to say, ‘Scary, isn’t it?’

“Eeeek! I’ll do it!”

“*yawn* Good work. Now could you bring the second-graders? They should be in rooms 711, 713, and 715.”

After an hour-long lesson, the third-graders finally managed to escape from this brutal hazing session.

At the academy, the existence of seniors is absolute.

Since students typically progress through academies within the same foundation consecutively, maintaining good relationships is crucial as they’ll be interacting for years until graduating from high school.

So after Name firmly took control of the sixth-graders, everything went smoothly.

The sixth-graders naturally pressured the fifth-graders, who in turn pressured the fourth-graders below them.

And the children at the very bottom of the food chain pyramid had just received the baton.

“Huaaah… why did we have to wake up so early?”

“Wow, I didn’t know there was a dueling arena on the rooftop too. So what’s this special training we’re doing today?”

Ji-hye and Si-hoo each added a comment.

Unlike Yu-na who normally needs little sleep, the other children were constantly rubbing their heavy eyelids.

“It’s only 5 AM! What’s going on? I was so surprised when those third-grade girls suddenly came to our room!”

Ha-ru in particular grabbed Name’s shoulders and shook her back and forth, demanding to know why they were woken up at this ungodly hour.

“This instructor is very disappointed in all of you.”

Name muttered with her eyes half-closed.

“What… what?”

“Is she sleep-talking?”

“Everyone sit in your places. Now.”

“Now…!”

Ma Ji-hye, conditioned by her strict father, reflexively responded first and crouched down on the floor.

“From now on, you’re going to release all the aura from your bodies.”

Yu-na tilted her head at this sudden instruction.

“How?”

“Why are you asking me? Whether you do push-ups or jump rope, it’s your body so figure it out yourselves. We don’t have time, so I’ll give you five minutes. Start.”

Name sat down in a chair in the corner, closed her eyes, folded her arms quietly, and started counting backward from 300.

“By the way, the last person to empty their aura will get an electric massage to wake them up.”

[Simple Casting: Static Electricity Induction]

Crackle-pop!

Small sparks flew around Name.

“Hey, you’re just joking… right?”

“Hmm?”

When Name opened her eyes, revealing dark circles, everyone flinched.

“Ouch! That stings!”

Feeling the electric shock, Yoon Si-hoo jumped up and frantically shook his hands. Yellow mana particles sparkled brightly.

“Still think I’m joking? Kids, time is ticking. You’d better hurry up.”

Everyone stared at each other with their mouths tightly shut.

Meanwhile, the magic circle Name had cast was growing larger.

‘Getting hit by that would be serious trouble…!’

Having just tasted the static attack, Yoon Si-hoo quickly dropped to the floor and assumed a plank position.

His body suddenly became heavier as he surrounded himself with aura.

By stimulating his aura heart in the most inefficient way, aura began pouring out in chunks.

Not to be outdone, the other children followed suit, doing handstands or push-ups.

Name opened one eye slightly, looked at the children sweating profusely, and smiled with satisfaction.

“If aura remains in your body, you’ll unnecessarily waste your internal aura when casting magic. But if you empty all your aura like this, we can easily identify what magic you’re ‘really’ good at. That means you should be able to cast magic with just a tiny bit of mana.”

“Ughhhh this is so hard!”

“If you’ve emptied it all, try casting your best magic on this stone tablet. Today, we’re going to identify two spells each of you will use in the competition. Ha-ru, you have the most aura left. Want to feel the shock too?”

“Waaah! I’ve never heard of this kind of training before! This is totally Spider training, isn’t it?”

“You mean Spartan training, you idiot Ha-ru…!”

“Hey, Kim Han-gyeol, I wasn’t asking you! Blehhh-“

Name was focusing on efficient training rather than just effective training.

‘Even if I meticulously expose their weaknesses, children will ultimately tend to fight in ways they’re comfortable with.’

Once a habit is ingrained, it doesn’t easily disappear.

‘As much as I’d like to completely overhaul everything and teach them from scratch…’

The students she had seen before also had many sloppy movements.

Name was itching to point these out, but deliberately chose not to.

That would only lead to an eternal swamp of suffering for both teacher and student.

[Nothing special. I just hated my master. Sometimes I loathed him. I thought several times a day that I would have to kill my master to end these painful days. But in the end, nothing changed. Even if I take one step toward you, you move much further away. This is the pathetic and insignificant reason why I’m leaving my master.]

Name nodded off, pressing her temples firmly to fight drowsiness.

Without Name, the hero Klaus would never have existed.

But now she suddenly wondered:

Did Klaus himself truly want to become a hero?

[I’m stepping away from this parallel line of master and disciple. Then someday, won’t there come a day when we face each other and smile, rather than me always following behind? Until that day comes, I will live my life atoning to you forever, Master.]

“Stop being so dramatic…”

“…?”

Name’s head drooped to the floor.

Soon, regular breathing sounds could be heard.

The children who had been quietly watching this put their index fingers to their lips as if they had planned it beforehand, with mischievous smiles.

“Shhhh…!”

* * *

“Hello everyone, this is commentator Kim Jae-sung. With only five days left until the opening ceremony of the Seoul Regional Academy Competition! We’re currently at Altair Academy in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. I can hear students cheering from the hotel in the distance—the atmosphere is really heating up! The passion is overflowing! Today KBS is the main broadcaster, so we’ll bring you interesting interviews from both academies. Let’s hear from announcer Lim Se-bin as well.”

“Dream together! Just like this year’s slogan from the Altair Foundation, I’m both nervous and excited about meeting the students who will take the stage of their dreams. I’ve been covering the Academy Competition for the past five years, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what great matches will unfold this year.”

“We’ve just received word that all rehearsal preparations at the academy have been completed. We’ll first introduce you to the academy principals and representatives of the organizing committee, and then we’ll return with interviews from the participants shortly!”

Wednesday was the day when students from both Cephiron and Altair Academies gathered to watch the rehearsal duels.

While these rehearsals were originally conducted just for practice in the early days of the competition, they’re now treated as an important part of the event for establishing psychological dominance.

Unlike the main Academy Competition where matches are held in 5v5 format by grade level, the rehearsal features one-on-one duels between grade representatives with simplified rules.

Though the matches wouldn’t start for quite some time, viewers were already unable to contain their excitement.

During the boring commercials, they logged into various community forums to share updates.

[NoName can’t participate in the competition -> lol she’s under 120cm tall]

-Is this for real?

└ Yeah, apparently all academies have that rule

-This is hilarious lmao

└ Without NoName there’s no reason to watch…

└ I’ve lost my will to live

└ Just die already

[My sibling goes to Altair Academy and saw NoName at the dueling arena?]

-Turns out it was high-level bluffing lol

-Disaster is coming…

-Can she participate normally when it’s been less than 4 months since her aura heart surgery?

└ The aura heart isn’t the actual heart. Once the surgery is successful, you’re just like a normal person.

└ But they still cut open your abdomen. It’s honestly a bit risky.

[Experts are saying Altair has the advantage again this year, does Cephiron really have no chance…]

-Always “good fight even though you lost” lol They’re just premium supporting actors

-Elementary division is boring as hell, just change it to a cuteness contest

└ No, actually the underdog fights are more entertaining.

└ In 5 years those kids would be too scared to make a peep if you met them on the street lol

└ For real, they’re just keyboard warriors

-Fact: NoName taught a prank YouTuber a lesson on the street.

└ Really? When?

└ I remember that TikToker lol this is famous

Due to students often returning to compete in subsequent years, there were three matches that people particularly focused on.

First, the second-year high school division matches, which had the highest viewership.

These participants had a high probability of competing in the National Physical Arts Tournament held in April the following year, so people could gauge their abilities in advance.

Second, the first-year middle school division matches.

This was where there was a major turnover from elementary school, with students selected more for their abilities than their parents’ wealth.

The level of magic wasn’t too advanced for ordinary people to understand, nor was it boring, so some people actually preferred middle school matches over high school ones.

Finally, the second-year elementary school division matches.

There was no grand reason—they were just adorable to watch.

[I wonder how many of the little ones will cry lol]

-The match where ratings are higher after it ends than during it lol

-They’re so cuuuute

-Am I trash for hoping to see Name cry?

└ Yes you’re trash, but I understand the feeling lol

-If I dropped 10 Royal Strawberry Cream Crepes on the ground in front of NoName, would she cry?

└ You’d get beaten to a pulp.

-Hot take: I think Name is stronger than me.

└ Is there really an 8-year-old who throws punches first when there’s trouble on the street?

└ Why is this actually true lol

[Get rid of that student council president guy or whatever and show us NoName already!]

-Shin Jin-ho was last year’s Academy Competition MVP, that’s too harsh~

└ Why am I hearing this for the first time?

└ He got eliminated in the Round of 16 at Nationals. If you didn’t follow closely, you probably wouldn’t know.

-An MVP who only made it to the Round of 16? The National Physical Arts Tournament is truly legendary…

-I want to see Ban So-wol again

└ Calling someone born in 2032 “noona” lol

└ Wow, people were born in the 30s?

└ Name was born in 2043, you know?

└ Whoa…!

-That student council president Shin Jin-ho is the younger brother of Shin Yeon-ho who faced Ban So-wol in the quarterfinals.

└ Elite family, damn

The academy rehearsal broadcast was currently showing an interview with Student Council President Shin Jin-ho.

“Many viewers have left questions in real-time. There’s someone quite famous at Cephiron Academy, isn’t there?”

At the reporter’s question, Shin Jin-ho raised the corner of his mouth.

He seemed to have anticipated this.

“You mean Name from the elementary division, right?”

“Yes! Everyone is really curious whether NoName, or rather, No Na-me will be participating in this competition!”

“Would you like me to take you to her directly?”

“Excuse me?”

“She should be in our waiting room right now. Follow me.”

“Yes, yes! Thank you so much!”

Shin Jin-ho, who had already charmed female fans, was now earning enthusiastic applause from male fans as well.

-Niceeee lol

-This guy gets it~

-Smooth move lol

-NoName’s participation officially confirmed lol Altair guys are all dead lol

The hotel basement and the main dueling arena were connected by a long corridor.

Walking down the hallway adorned with chrysanthemum-shaped chandeliers, they eventually reached somewhat dreary cement walls that contrasted with the hotel’s atmosphere.

Click-

Shin Jin-ho passed by the elementary division participants’ waiting room and opened the middle school division waiting room door.

It happened so naturally that neither the reporter nor anyone else really noticed.

“Huh? Where did she go? Hi kids.”

“Hello, Student Council President!”

There were only a few middle school children playing in front of a mirror.

“Do you know where Name is?”

“Name? She’s over there!”

The student council president’s gaze and the camera behind him moved simultaneously in the direction the children were pointing.

“Where?”

There was nobody where the children had pointed.

“There, over there.”

“Where? The closet?”

When Shin Jin-ho asked again, the children nodded cheerfully.

The small closet, which would be full with just three or four coats hanging in it, was firmly locked with an external padlock.

“Name is in there?”

“Yes.”

This was the moment when Shin Jin-ho’s poker face, solid as a fortress, began to crack.

He slowly turned around and stared at the reporter.

The reporter was momentarily flustered and stammered:

“Surely… this isn’t a case of school violence, is it…?”

-Emergency! Broadcasting accident! Emergency! Broadcasting accident!

-Stop school violence!

-Someone’s actually in there?

-Open it quickly…!

-But we’re talking about NoName here, so no way lol