Ch.3028 – Best Friends

“How did you two even become friends?”

“Hmm, good question? Jihye, do you remember?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot…?”

“Aaaahhhh owww Jihye, don’t be upset! I’m sorry!”

Han Seo-ri and Ma Ji-hye were a famous duo even at Cephiron Academy.

They did everything together from arrival to departure, and while they bickered daily, they were so close that no one had ever seen them actually fight.

Han Seo-ri, the troublemaker of Cephiron Academy.

She had a distinctive appearance even among the many foreigners and mixed-race students at the academy. With blonde hair inherited from her Swedish mother and mesmerizing blue eyes that seemed to pull you in, there wasn’t a single person at the academy who didn’t know her.

Seo-ri, who was responsible for a significant portion of the numerous incidents that occurred at the academy each year, was always included on the teachers’ watch list.

However, despite her mischievous nature, she was surprisingly among the top 10 first-year students academically, possessing both exceptional magical talent and intelligence.

And her best friend, Ma Ji-hye.

Jihye was born and raised in Korea, where the concept of noble families didn’t even exist. She was the child of an ordinary middle-class family with no connections to famous clans or wealthy conglomerates.

In some ways, it would be harder to find similarities between her and Seo-ri.

While Seo-ri was sociable and energetic, Jihye was quiet and shy.

Most of her conversations at school were with Seo-ri.

With her neatly cut short black hair and cute glasses, she fit the position of the typical model student you’d find in any class. But unlike Seo-ri, she surprisingly didn’t show confidence in her studies.

So her grades were average, in the middle range.

But there was one subject she was confident in.

[Is she really a first-year? She just defeated a third-year in physical combat!]

That was aura-enhanced physical combat.

Her father was a detective working in Seoul’s Violent Crimes Unit 2.

Simply wanting to raise his seemingly weak and fragile daughter to be strong, he taught her combat skills from a young age. Perhaps he had underestimated her talent.

Jihye was already unrivaled among her peers in her ability to utilize aura.

It wasn’t entirely unfounded that rumors spread that if you saw a first-year with red-tinged eyes during the sports festival, you should run away immediately.

Jihye, who had difficulty adapting to the academy, was naturally drawn to Seo-ri, who had become the center of the class. Seo-ri was likewise captivated by Jihye’s serious yet surprising nature.

The occasion when they officially became close friends was probably during the sports festival, but they had been drawn to each other even before that.

On a typical walk home from school.

Jihye suggested going to the playground together to cheer up Seo-ri, who was sulking after being disrespected by a transfer student.

But then they got into an altercation after seeing older students bullying a child who wasn’t even in elementary school yet.

Seo-ri thought that even if the conversation went south, she could handle a fight with Jihye by her side, but she never imagined Jihye would rush in so recklessly.

“No, Jihye! Look behind you!”

Jihye was in danger.

Her body froze and wouldn’t move.

Jihye still seemed unaware of the approaching threat.

If that wooden club hit her head wrong, then…

“Cast: Friction Coefficient Adjustment”

Seo-ri detected a strange flow of magical current behind her.

[4th Circle Joint Cast: Gravity Coefficient Adjustment]

Seo-ri realized that the source was the mysterious transfer student they had met earlier at the school’s back gate.

Without moving a finger, she created two magic circles and one counter-resonance circle.

The mana flowing around her was so abundant that her pigtails were constantly in disarray.

[Composition: Rotational Transformation]

The kid trying to attack Jihye from behind slipped and fell, while the other four became stuck to the ground.

When NoName instantly subdued the group of older students, both Seo-ri and Jihye, who was at the center of the fight, needed time to understand what had just happened.

“Are you okay?”

NoName helped the young child who was still on the ground to stand up.

The child seemed to have scraped her knee on a sharp stone when she fell, as there was a small bloodstain spreading on her leg.

“Yes…”

“You’re brave, not crying even though it must hurt. Are you going to keep playing at the playground?”

“No… I want to go home.”

“Can you walk?”

“Ah, it hurts…!”

The child, now checking her wound.

Her eyes welled up with tears again.

“Close your eyes for a moment. I’ll heal you quickly.”

NoName reassured the child and sat her on a bench.

[2nd Circle Cast: Tissue Regeneration]

“It might sting a little.”

“Ugh!”

“It’ll be better soon.”

A bright green light flickered in NoName’s hand.

What she was about to use was the wound healing magic commonly used by healers.

It increases the hypoxia adaptation ability of NK cells in a specific area to remove viruses that have entered the wound and promote blood vessel formation.

It also simultaneously promotes mitochondrial metabolism of macrophages to resolve inflammation and rebuild tissue.

Whether that big-chested saint knew this when she used it or did it instinctively remained an unsolved mystery to NoName.

“What’s your name?”

“Laura. Aurora.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“What’s your name, big sister?”

“I’m No Na-me. There, all done. Look, it’s all healed, right?”

“Huh? Wooooow.”

The girl marveled at her cleanly healed knee after NoName removed her hands.

“It doesn’t hurt at all! I can walk by myself!”

“Your energy hasn’t fully recovered yet. I’ll take you home.”

Aurora said she lived in Guryong Town across the main road.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Um… transfer student?”

While Aurora was preciously holding NoName’s hand, Seo-ri and Jihye called out to NoName, stopping them.

“Thank you for saving us. Because of me, Jihye almost got hurt…”

Seo-ri’s hesitant attitude.

But her demeanor didn’t seem to make a bad impression on NoName.

“You were both brave too, though a bit reckless.”

When NoName awkwardly complimented them, Seo-ri’s expression brightened.

“Thank you for saving me too, big sisters…!”

“Aurora, right? Nice to meet you! My name is Han Seo-ri, and this sister who was fighting 1-on-5 is Ma Ji-hye!”

“What do you mean 1-on-5! Don’t embarrass me like that.”

“No, you were so cool!”

“Look at how she talks! Our Laura is so cute! Want to be my little sister?”

Seo-ri and Jihye quickly became friends with Laura.

Their chatter didn’t stop even as they left the playground and reached the main road.

“Laura, did you see the transfer student’s magic earlier? Those older kids just went ‘aaack’ and collapsed in an instant.”

“I saw…! NoName sister is so strong…!”

“I didn’t even feel someone casting magic in our direction. How did she do it…”

Jihye agreed with Seo-ri’s opinion.

Magic activated in a split second.

They instinctively understood that it was beyond the level of someone in their grade.

But NoName was embarrassed by their unconditional praise.

“Why are you two following us? Aren’t you going home?”

“That’s mean! We clearly helped Laura too! You said so yourself. So we can also take Laura home.”

As they crossed the intersection, the scenery changed completely.

The high-rise buildings and beautifully decorated tree-lined streets were gone, replaced by utility poles that looked like they belonged 50 or 100 years ago.

Illegal debt collection flyers saying “We’ll recover your unpaid debts” littered the streets.

This scenery wasn’t unfamiliar to NoName.

Long ago, in NoName’s memory, there was a crippled boy. Living in a semi-basement, it was an abyss without a shred of hope.

Laura’s current situation overlapped exactly with that state.

Seo-ri, on the other hand, found this scenery fascinating.

She tried not to show it too obviously for fear of hurting Laura’s feelings, but she had no idea that such a slum still existed in Seoul, right next to an apartment complex.

A flimsy house with no security devices to be found.

Laura lived in one of those houses.

“Thank you for bringing me home.”

“Is no one home? Where’s your mother?”

Jihye asks out of concern.

“My grandmother is in the room, and my mom doesn’t come home often… They said if I wait at the playground, I might see my dad someday… but I think that’s just a lie.”

NoName realized that Laura’s family also had some complicated circumstances.

Everyone in the world lives with their own pain.

But the degree to which people feel pain differs from person to person.

Some fail an exam they prepared for a year, feel frustrated, then drink with friends and look forward to the next attempt. Others fail their one lifetime opportunity and give up on their dreams forever.

Because they need to survive right now

They abandon even the passion that remains in a corner of their heart.

NoName’s chest still ached whenever she saw children like Laura.

“I should visit often.”

Seo-ri mutters suddenly.

“To see Laura?”

“Yeah. It’s fun to play together, right?”

But sparks of hope truly appear unexpectedly.

NoName smiled at their words, silently wishing that Laura would continue to meet good people like them.

“By the way, NoName… do you also live in Parthenon Apartments?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, which building? I’m in Building 101.”

“…Building 102.”

“That’s right next door! We’re neighbors, nice to meet you, hehe. From now on, Jihye, NoName, and I can go to school together. Jihye’s house is in that complex over there, so we take the same route!”

Jihye nods in agreement.

“I’m not so sure… That’s only if I pass the transfer exam.”

“What do you mean?”

“No matter how I think about it, I’ll probably fail to get into the academy.”

“Why? If you’re not qualified to attend the academy, we should have been expelled long ago.”

“Seo-ri’s right. What you showed today, even Si-hoo in our class couldn’t have done if we asked him to.”

But the last expressions and gazes NoName saw from the admissions officers only gave her the feeling that they viewed her negatively.

“Then let’s meet at the entrance ceremony if you pass! Promise you’ll commute with us then?”

“Thank you so much for today! I won’t forget it!”

They were truly willful children.

But NoName didn’t dislike their innocence.

Seo-ri and Jihye saw NoName off until she entered the elevator.

Only after they disappeared did NoName recall the breathless events of the past month in order.

[39th floor. Going up.]

She took the final exam for her magic studies course, which had been one of the few pleasures in this life.

[5th floor]

She took public transportation to Korea University to check her grades, and had a seizure due to not taking her potion, resulting in hospitalization.

[10th floor]

Somehow she was adopted by Professor Cheon Kyu-jin. Every day she ate warm meals and had evening discussions about the latest magical theories.

[15th floor]

She did a week-long streaming collaboration with Sia to pay off the debt from a belated bill from Korea Magical Power Corporation.

[20th floor]

She visited the columbarium again with Professor Cheon to see her precious mother, Seol-ah.

[25th floor]

Despite trying to secretly pay off her debt, Professor Cheon found out due to Sia’s text message mistake. But it became an opportunity to get a debit card in her name.

[30th floor]

He recommended she apply to Cephiron Academy, and she spent another two weeks diligently preparing for the interview.

[35th floor]

And today, she met some unusual but kind academy friends, and saw a little girl with a cute smile.

[39th floor, we have arrived]

After all that,

“I’m home.”

She arrived at a place she could call home.

“Oh, NoName, you’re back! That took a while. Did the interview just end?”

“No, I met some interesting friends on the way.”

“Friends? Oh, you’ve made friends already?”

It took a long time,

Maybe now I can rest a bit.

“Yes, they were nice kids.”