Ch.344339 – Cheon Saetbyeol

[The fifth round ends like this! Olivia Kim’s magical strike!]

[Wow, that wasn’t easy! Cephiron Academy faced a high wall in the quarterfinals again this year! The dark horse Olivia Kim from Sejong Mirinae Academy has completely sunk Cephiron Academy after a bloody battle in the 5th round!]

[They said Busan would dominate, but instead Sejong advanced three competitors to the quarterfinals?]

[Yes, it’s quite the upset. Additionally, two from Busan Aspen, one from Gangbuk Altair, one from Gyeonggi Rohert, and one from Incheon Heritage have secured their spots. Please stay tuned for the upcoming bracket draw.]

“Oh my. The principal is going to get an earful from the foundation again.”

Professor Cheon clicked his tongue as he leaned back on the sofa, looking at the devastating results.

“They couldn’t do anything. It’s understandable though – when Olivia tanks damage like that, there’s not much they can do. Their strategic options were too limited.”

I sat right next to him, analyzing the match while eating corn chips one by one.

“Wasn’t Kim Young-woo the guy who crushed his opponent in the first round during qualifiers? Why is he fighting so poorly now?”

Meanwhile, Adella, suffering from menstrual cramps for the second day, spoke in an irritated tone.

She looks really comfortable lying on her stomach on a warm electric pad with a pillow underneath.

“He tried too many different strategies and ended up accomplishing nothing. Magic didn’t work so he switched to aura, but when aura didn’t break through, he went back to magic. And he didn’t even commit to an endurance battle.”

They say there’s always someone better, don’t they?

Senior Kim Young-woo was skilled enough to hold his own against Altair in last year’s academy competition.

But the world of competition is merciless – even a small difference in skill doesn’t allow for close matches.

“So he just lacked persistence.”

“Honestly, even if he’d stuck with one approach, I don’t think the result would have changed much. The skill gap was just too wide.”

On this relaxed weekend, our family of three gathered cozily around the TV to watch the first round of the National Martial Arts Tournament.

“So today they’re just doing the round of 16, and tomorrow they’ll go straight through from quarterfinals to finals?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, that sounds really tough.”

“In my day, we did everything from the round of 16 in a single day. Only the preliminaries were held separately.”

Professor Cheon proudly brought up stories from his past.

“Wow, Father, you competed in tournaments back then too?”

“Of course. Come to think of it, kids these days have it easy. They get rest periods, and there are more foul categories. In our time, we fought for 30 minutes straight without breaks.”

“But you still got knocked out in the semifinals, Dad.”

“Given who my opponent was… I was lucky not to get KO’d.”

“What should I search online to find it? I want to see too.”

While the athletes’ interviews continued on TV, I lay down next to Adella and played a weathered video for her.

“Wow, 2013? They had cameras back then?”

Adella genuinely marveled at what was essentially a 40-year-old relic.

Professor Cheon cleared his throat behind us, but Adella wasn’t one to notice such hints.

When Ham Cho-rong stepped onto the platform, a huge, crackling roar of cheers erupted.

She didn’t have the long hair we’re familiar with now, but rather what was called a “beggar-style” medium-length cut.

Despite all the visual debuffs – dry hair and bare, unadorned skin – she couldn’t hide her cute impression.

“So when do you appear in this, Father?”

“I’m standing right there on the opposite side.”

“Huh? Whaaaat?”

Adella hurriedly turned to look at Professor Cheon.

She snatched my phone and compared the two faces.

“Time is cruel, isn’t it?”

Professor Cheon shrugged his shoulders.

“Without exaggeration, I seriously thought you were an idol! Wow, that’s amazing!”

“Make sure you always wear sunscreen when you go out. UV rays are really devastating for your skin.”

The match itself wasn’t particularly exciting.

Adella quickly skimmed through, watching only the highlights.

When two competitors are evenly matched, a match becomes either extremely thrilling or extremely boring. This one was clearly the latter.

“But is she really that strong? I can’t really tell from just watching this.”

Adella asked, tilting her head.

Professor Cheon leaned forward with a serious expression.

“Believe it or not, this young lady was the champion of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tournaments. The National Martial Arts Tournament became officially sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sports thanks to Ham Cho-rong’s achievements.”

“Haha, I see…”

“And listen to this. Back in our day, this was so unimaginable that-“

Professor Cheon wasn’t usually talkative, but occasionally he would become quite chatty.

Adella moved on to the next final video before her ears started bleeding.

[(2013) 4th National Martial Arts Tournament High School Division Finals: Ham Cho-rong vs. Gu On-yu]

“Oh? Isn’t this the principal of your sister’s academy?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, so everyone was connected like this. That’s interesting. This video is shorter so it should be watchable.”

Compared to the 30-minute semifinal, the final was only 4 minutes and 30 seconds long.

But the density of action in that time was completely different.

Adella held her breath watching the intense, even cruel attacks that followed.

Choking the opponent’s neck was just the beginning; even when a shoulder was dislocated, they would crack their own bones back into place and continue.

The match didn’t end even when both women’s particle barriers were broken.

Heterogeneous auras clashed and blood sprayed in all directions.

Skin tore, and blood-stained fists were swung without mercy.

After a chaotic battle, it seemed like the match would end with Gu On-yu driving her fist into Ham Cho-rong’s face, but—

KWAAANG-!

Ham Cho-rong slammed her opponent’s head into the ground, once again demonstrating the dignity of a champion.

Adella clutched her stomach and shuddered.

“Ugh… Wouldn’t she be dead from that? Her forehead must be shattered!”

“We did fight a bit aggressively back then.”

Professor Cheon nodded with his eyes closed.

“Those were romantic times. Though it does seem a bit bland, I have to say.”

“Huh?”

“NoName, what did you just say?”

Adella and Professor Cheon both looked at me with shocked expressions.

“I mean, nobody died or got their stomach pierced or limbs cut off. These kinds of scratches just need a few months of rest in the hospital—”

“Sis, you’re seriously crazy!”

“NoName, come to my study for a moment, would you?”

“But why…”

Professor Cheon bit his lip tightly and headed to his room with a serious expression.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Go get your mental education from Father. Shoo, shoo.”

Adella shooed me away from the living room as if she was disgusted.

‘How old am I to be getting lectured…’

I trudged reluctantly toward the study.

* * *

After an hour of lectures about how hospitals aren’t respawn points and similar topics, I was finally able to escape.

[I think I need to seriously reconsider letting you watch UFC.]

Annoyed at Adella who was rolling around watching dramas in the living room, I firmly stepped on her butt with my foot.

“Aaack!”

“Adella, change your clothes. Let’s go out.”

“Out where? For what?”

“To the training hall. I’ll teach you how to use aura, so come with me.”

“Oh, really?”

Seeing kids sparring after so long made me feel restless.

I should train her diligently and make her my sparring partner as soon as possible.

With our consistent nightly exercise, both of us should have improved our stamina.

On this slightly cloudy, gloomy day, I went out wearing the same tracksuit set as Adella.

“Why are you wearing the same thing as me?”

“This is the only tracksuit I have at home. If you didn’t like it, you should have worn something different.”

We walked to the Gaepo-dong Citizen’s Training Hall, about a bus stop away, and checked into the facility I had reserved in advance.

It wasn’t as large as the training hall at Altair Academy, but it was still about the size of a tennis court.

The lack of a ceiling made it feel less cramped.

Adella stretched her long limbs.

“We won’t be doing anything intense today anyway. The first priority is opening your aura heart.”

The aura heart is actually an imaginary concept.

In reality, it’s a region where concentrated capillaries called aura heart bundles naturally create a structure where mana accumulates.

It was apparently accepted as an actual organ in the human body until Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius established anatomy.

Of course, even in the 21st century, quite a few people still misunderstand it.

“What is aura?”

“What is aura, Teacher NoName!”

Adella raised her hand brightly.

“Nobody knows.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. Since aura itself hasn’t been defined yet, it’s been difficult to establish a unified educational system worldwide.”

Historically speaking, that’s true.

“Frankly, if an Aztec cannibal claimed that eating five people would awaken aura, we’d have to accept it. Because abilities might actually awaken that way.”

“No, that’s a bit…”

“Still, there have been several attempts to define it. Mana-derived probability superposition material, controllable artificial hormone, mana field conversion brainwave receptor. You probably don’t understand any of that, right?”

Her eyes were already losing focus.

This is problematic when we haven’t even started.

“You don’t need to know any of that. Even five-year-olds can handle aura.”

Some call this talent.

That’s why Seori and Jihye could run faster by infusing aura into their legs at the playground last year.

They naturally learned how to handle aura from a young age.

But I prefer to call it a difference in temperament rather than talent.

It’s just that this temperament works advantageously within human-established norms, which is why it’s called talent.

To explain simply, if a world-class basketball player had been born in 10th century Goryeo, no one would have heard of any talent besides their strength.

Fortunately, no specific temperament is needed to use aura.

“Aura is both a tool and a means of communication that allows you to impose your will on the laws of the world.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll explain it simply. To use magic, you don’t need intense will. Knowledge, physique, and technique are everything. If you have the right knowledge, a body suitable for mana operation, and learn how to manipulate mana on circuit formulas, that’s it. Just thinking about making light magic stronger doesn’t affect the magic. You need to infuse more mana at the injection stage.”

“I think I understand so far.”

“If magic moves the world from an absolute law that exists outside the world, aura is the opposite – it’s like exploring dark regions from within the world. We call this worldview, or in East Asian cultures, it’s mainly called the mental world.”

“Aaagh! Wait, I think my brain is melting!”

“Is this difficult?”

I sighed deeply.

“First, sit cross-legged.”

Then I sat behind Adella, stretching my legs out, and brought my hands together near her navel.

“Eep!”

“What?”

“It’s suddenly cold.”

“I’ll infuse my aura so you can feel how it flows. Closing your eyes might help.”

“Oh, I can feel it. It’s like warm, sparkling starlight spreading.”

“How is it spreading?”

“It seems to gather when I inhale and disperse when I exhale?”

“That’s exactly what an image is. The reason aura feels that way is because you associate your body primarily with the image of breathing. Now, try holding your breath once.”

“Hup.”

Her stomach, which had been moving back and forth, calmed down.

“How does it feel?”

“It spreads throughout my body with each heartbeat. It circles around my body extremely fast.”

“Right, the way you operate it changes depending on the image you associate with it. I’ll hold your hand, so try standing up with your eyes still closed. You can breathe now.”

“Phew.”

The world is generous to humans.

If physical laws existed as exact equations, for humans they seem to be given as ranges with inequalities on both sides.

“The next thing to imagine is a trampoline. This is how to infuse aura into your legs. Imagine there’s a trampoline on the floor and try jumping up and down.”

“Like this? Like this?”

Adella bounced up and down in place.

At the same time, I infused aura into her legs in sync with her movements.

“Starlight is gathering in my legs!”

“Yes. I’m deliberately syncing it with your rhythm. Try to imagine with more rhythm.”

Adella’s body became lighter, as if gravity was weakening.

30cm, 40cm, 50cm.

When Adella’s body rose to a height of 2 meters, like a sergeant jump, I told her to open her eyes.

“Wow, it’s working!”

It was a height that would have scared ordinary people by now, but Adella seemed excited, probably thanks to her experience in games.

When I withdrew my aura, her body returned to normal.

“Get it? This is what it feels like to handle aura. Now you need to learn how to draw aura from your aura heart in your own way.”

“How?”

“Just… skillfully? I’ve rented the training hall until tomorrow, so there’s no need to rush. Your talent is more than sufficient.”

“Wait, wait, you rented it until tomorrow? Sis, did you come here planning to stay up all night?”

“Why would I stay up? I’m going home at dinner time.”

Enlightenment is something you gain on your own.

* * *

NoName loyally stayed with Adella for about three hours.

But when she left as soon as dinner time came, Adella felt deeply betrayed.

“Fine, I’ll master this aura thing! Who has more determination than me!”

She clenched her fist and recalled NoName’s advice.

[Redefine your existence.]

NoName said that establishing a worldview was a prerequisite.

‘What on earth is this worldview thing? The only worldviews I know are from movies and dramas.’

After two hours of sitting cross-legged, focusing on her breathing and pulse, she had little to show for it.

Wondering if pushing her body would make a difference, she ran 100 laps around the training hall and even did handstands until her head nearly burst.

“Why! Why isn’t it working! Why!”

She was so worked up that sleep wouldn’t come.

If NoName came the next morning and found her unsuccessful, she couldn’t bear to face that mocking expression.

“What do you think? Isn’t NoName totally irresponsible?”

“Right, how could she abandon her only sister!”

Following the advice to redefine herself, Adella spent the early morning hours playing both parts of a conversation.

Eventually exhausted, she sprawled out in the middle of the training hall.

“If I sleep on this cold floor, my face might get paralyzed… but I’m so tired.”

NoName’s aura felt like warm starlight circling through every corner of her body.

‘You can barely see stars in Seoul…’

Adella reached her hand toward the sky.

The dim night was enough to stimulate the girl’s emotions.

She gently closed her eyes and recalled her past.

In truth, Adella didn’t have much of a proper past.

She wasn’t much different from someone who had lost all childhood memories due to amnesia.

But what scared Adella even more was something else.

‘What if I wasn’t me but another Adella…’

Adella had existed countless times in World of Arsheria.

‘They all must have died, died, and died again just like me, without exception.’

And only the Adella who met NoName was uniquely selected to inherit the algorithm of entity bfa41d67c7 and rescued to NoName’s private room.

‘Even if it wasn’t me but another Adella, wouldn’t they act exactly the same as I do now?’

If NoName had deleted the save file and rescued another Adella, there would have been almost no difference from who she was now.

Then what makes me exist as me?

Adella breathed heavily.

Something seemed to be on the verge of revelation, but she ultimately couldn’t find the answer.

Adella briefly left the training hall and wandered through the empty park.

The black veil that had adorned the sky gradually regained its blue hue and vitality.

In the eastern sky, a reddish life force gradually expanded its territory.

Unlike the invisible stars, the waning crescent moon of dawn steadfastly maintained its position.

But on that day, what caught Adella’s eye was the twinkling morning star beside it.

The morning star, or Venus.

Despite being a planet that doesn’t emit its own light, it shines brighter than other stars.

A being that merely reflects the light emitted by the sun.

Yet throughout history, many people must have taken that morning star as their companion.

Suddenly, Adella felt a refreshing clarity in her mind.

‘Maybe it doesn’t matter even if I’m fake.’

The dawn landscapes she had seen.

Adella still couldn’t forget the scenery she saw when she defeated the mid-boss and escaped the eternal loop.

Even if all 18 years of her memories were fake, she could build new, real experiences over the next 18 years.

Always by NoName’s side, who shines brightly like the sun, just like that morning star.

“What are you doing here? Can you handle aura already?”

Startled by the familiar, sweet voice, Adella turned around.

NoName had come looking for Adella in the early dawn.

She was holding a tuna sandwich in her hand.

Though they had been apart for barely half a day, Adella felt happy to see her first.

“Well, I was worried for nothing.”

“Huh?”

“The aura. It’s circulating well inside your body right now.”

NoName pointed at Adella’s body.

With a warm energy encompassing her entire body, Adella smiled and said:

“Sis, I think I’ve decided on the name I’ll use from now on. It’s—”