Ch.3936 – The Spy Next Seat

“Kim Han-sol.”

“Yes.”

“Na Ye-ji.”

“Yes.”

“NoName.”

“…”

“NoName? Is NoName not in class?”

* * *

“Ha Ji-won.”

“Yes.”

Why aren’t they calling my name?

All twenty students had been called, but my turn never came.

I counted the children sitting in the classroom—twenty-one including me, but the roster only had twenty names.

Since there were classes from A to D, I had entered the classroom that looked least crowded from the hallway, assuming that would probably be mine.

But I hadn’t considered that some students might be returning from the bathroom, so my guess had failed.

I raised my hand and decided to ask the Class D homeroom teacher honestly.

“I think I came to the wrong class. Could you tell me which class I’m in?”

“What’s your name?”

“NoName.”

“Let me see.”

The teacher checked the entire grade roster on the electronic device connected to the podium.

“Not in Class A… Not in Class B either. Then Class C… no? Could you tell me your name again?”

“No. Name.”

I pronounced each syllable clearly, but the teacher still tilted his head in confusion.

“That’s strange… Could it be a system error? I can’t find you anywhere. Do you remember your entrance exam number?”

“Entrance exam? I transferred in.”

What was this about an exam number?

“Which grade are you in?”

“Second year… Isn’t this the right classroom?”

“This is First Year Class D.”

Silence fell.

I glanced at the girl next to me who had been sniffling until just now, then at the boy behind me who had been playing an eraser-eating game by himself.

Right, this didn’t make sense.

These are supposed to be second-years like me…?

I almost found myself missing Professor Cheon, with whom I’d been discussing the consistency of Peano’s axioms and Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory just yesterday.

These students must have been selected through rigorous screening as elites in their own right, so I suppose I shouldn’t worry too much about the future of the nation.

I quickly shouldered my bag and asked about the class I was supposed to be in.

“You’re in Second Year Class A. It’s in the opposite building, so you’ll need to take the skybridge. Can you find it on your own?”

“Just give me general directions.”

Having to climb up and down floors and navigate through different buildings with my already poor physical condition left me breathless, as expected.

I sat down on the stairs for a moment and took a sip from the potion I had carefully stored in my bag to wet my throat.

“Hah.”

Si-hoo, was it?

He must have thought I was a first-year.

I appreciated his help, but I never imagined I’d end up in this predicament.

[Second Year Class A]

After much struggle, the sign marking my destination swayed gently in the breeze.

A chilly March wind was sweeping through the corridor, so I closed the window.

I hope I’ve found the right place this time.

Clack, clack, clatter.

Why are electronic devices and transportation so cutting-edge while classroom doors are still sliding doors?

The creaking door got stuck halfway and rattled.

My plan to quietly enter and sit in an empty seat vanished as all eyes suddenly turned to me.

“Student NoName?”

“Yes.”

“You’re very late.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Please take any empty seat for now.”

Already 15 minutes late, I didn’t bother making excuses.

Though it wasn’t entirely my fault since they called attendance late in the first-year classroom.

A familiar figure by the window waved at me.

“Hey hey! Name, hi!”

Seo-ri blinked her bright blue deer-like eyes.

She must have been very happy to see me again after so long.

But since another student was already occupying the seat next to her, I had to look for another empty seat.

* * *

“Hello?”

“Oh… yeah, hi.”

Si-hoo responded awkwardly to Name’s greeting.

Si-hoo had thought he’d fulfilled his role as an exemplary senior by arriving to class on time and not ignoring an underclassman in distress.

[I’ve never heard that name before?]

[NoName? Must be a transfer student! She’s in our class!]

[Ohh, really?]

But when the homeroom teacher called her name, he realized his mistake.

She wasn’t a first-year but a second-year like him.

When he saw her again after 15 minutes, she looked even more haggard than before.

“Can you tell me what announcements I missed?”

“Oh, I wrote them down here…”

“Thanks.”

Si-hoo showed her his notebook containing his notes.

While Name copied the content, Si-hoo glanced at her curiously.

Before spring break began, Si-hoo was one of those who had heard about the transfer student’s identity from Seo-ri.

Stories like how she had knocked down all the upperclassmen with a single gesture, or how she had implemented 4th-circle level magic through direct casting rather than written casting.

He wondered how much of these outlandish stories could possibly be true.

She looked so small and fragile.

Given Han Seo-ri’s personality, he thought there was a 90%, no, 95% chance it was all exaggeration.

A second-grade elementary school student using 4th-circle magic was as absurd as the rumor that the transfer student was a spy raised by an anti-government criminal organization.

What era did they think this was?

“Here, I’m done.”

Name finished writing and returned the notebook to Si-hoo.

She had finished copying quickly despite the considerable amount of content.

“You write really fast, huh?”

“Stenography is a magician’s lifeline. A slow-handed mage is the first to die on the battlefield.”

“Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

Dying because your hands are slow?

Wouldn’t that be too unfair a cause of death to put on a tombstone?

“Do you really think so? I’ve seen it plenty of times.”

“…?”

“People usually draw magic circles with their fingers, right? Human peripheral vision is only about 140 degrees. It narrows even more when concentrating, like when drawing a magic circle.”

“And?”

“Before you finish casting, someone sneaks behind you and strangles you with a rope, like this.”

With a cute squeak, the girl stuck out her tongue.

Si-hoo denied her words, saying it was an absurd fantasy.

“If a mage sensed an attack, they’d stop casting.”

“Then you just make the incomplete magic circle go haywire. With 3rd-circle or higher, that’s at least a second-degree burn.”

Their face would melt with a pop.

What a gruesome thing to say.

Si-hoo decided to stop paying attention to the girl.

Discussions about combat magic were pointless anyway.

It was the area where theory and practice differed the most, so there was nothing particularly useful to gain from such talk.

The homeroom teacher was enthusiastically announcing the second-year class schedule.

Most of the important information like textbook distribution methods, locker locations, midterm and final exam schedules were things he already knew.

The second-year curriculum barely exceeded elementary school level anyway, so it wouldn’t be much different from first year.

There wasn’t much proper magic practice time except during creative activities or club hours.

But Name must have found the general announcements about second-year academy life boring, as the sound of her tapping her pencil on her notebook was quite irritating.

‘Is she doodling?’

Drawn by the persistent sound, Si-hoo couldn’t help but glance at her notebook, only to doubt his own eyes.

[Academy Invasion Route]

Her hand was clearly circling the word ‘invasion,’

[Kidnapping]

And the word ‘kidnapping’ next to it couldn’t be ignored either.

“What?”

“Nothing! Sorry.”

Si-hoo hurriedly averted his eyes from Name.

‘Really? Was it real?’

Is this child actually a spy from a criminal organization?

How else would you explain what I just saw?

Invading the academy, kidnapping someone.

He began to suspect that her seemingly weak appearance might also be a disguise.

“And today, we have a transfer student in our Second Year Class A. Name, could you come to the front?”

Name naturally closed the notebook where she had been scribbling and stood up.

Her footsteps were light.

No, more than that—they were completely silent.

Come to think of it, it was strange that she was wearing dress shoes, not sneakers, yet there wasn’t a single creak or click sound.

“Could you introduce yourself to your Class A friends here?”

The homeroom teacher looked at Name with a pleased expression.

The girl began.

“Hello, I’m NoName, transferred from Arabyul Elementary School.”

After briefly scanning the classroom, she continued quite calmly.

“I hope we can all have a fun school life together.”

* * *

‘Next time, should I clear it alone?’

While playing LoL with Lora, I suddenly hit a roadblock in the story progression. It turned out that entering ‘Nightmare’ difficulty triggered an age restriction of 15 years.

Since I wasn’t using an officially registered account, these restrictions didn’t affect me, but Lora was completely blocked from entering the story.

In other words, we’d have to start over.

‘Should I just push through all the main quests myself and only do side quests with Lora?’

We hadn’t been playing with the goal of clearing the game anyway—we started it to teach Lora about magic.

But once we got into it, the story was quite interesting, so we’d been poking around everywhere without direction. I hadn’t expected to hit this kind of obstacle.

“I guess it’s better to go solo.”