Tuesday, 8:30 a.m.
From early in the morning, the students were checking the team list posted on their smart student notebooks.
━━
[Team A]
<Captain> Kim Chang-hyun (3rd year, 1st place)
Lee Hyun-joo (2nd year, 4th place), Yoon Hayoung (2nd year, 22nd place)
Jeon Min-gi (1st year, 2nd place)
……
━━
[Team B]
<Captain> Lee Seo-jun (2nd year, 1st place)
Jang Soo-yeon (3rd year, 2nd place)
Kim Sunwoo (2nd year, 9th place)
……
━━
[Team C]
<Captain> Choi Seo-yoon (1st year, 1st place)
Yoo Ara (2nd year, 2nd place), Shin Young-joon (2nd year, 3rd place), Park Inhwan (2nd year, 5th place)
……
━━
“The team balance looks pretty even.”
“Looks like they picked the top student from each grade as the captain.”
“Then wouldn’t Choi Seo-yoon’s team be at a disadvantage? She’s only a first-year.”
“Yeah, but her team is stacked with top-ranked second-years. Idiot.”
At that moment, the classroom door slid open and Yoo Ara walked in.
As she sat down, Shin Young-joon approached her with a smile.
“Hey, Yoo Ara. You’re on Team C with me, right?”
Yoo Ara nodded at his words.
“Yeah. I was a little worried since there are a lot of manifestation-type mages on our team, but I’m glad you’re in it.”
Team C, Yoo Ara’s team, had many manifestation-type mages.
Of course, since the upcoming battle would involve over a hundred participants, having more mages capable of large-scale area attacks was definitely advantageous.
But Yoo Ara’s team had too many of them.
Among the top-tier students in Team C—Yoo Ara, Choi Seo-yoon, and Park Inhwan—all three were manifestation-types.
“We do have a lot of manifestation-types, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. We can reduce the enemy numbers quickly. And look at Team B—their balance is a total mess.”
Team B.
The team that included Lee Seo-jun and Kim Sunwoo—whom Yoo Ara was the most wary of.
She hadn’t expected those two to end up on the same team, which made her even more uneasy.
The only silver lining was, as Shin Young-joon had said, their team’s balance was a disaster.
In Team B, the top students were Lee Seo-jun and Jang Soo-yeon, both enhancement-type mages.
And while Kim Sunwoo was a manifestation-type, his combat style didn’t suit large-scale battles.
He specialized more in one-on-one fights, unlike typical manifestation mages.
“Still, we can’t underestimate them. Both Lee Seo-jun and Kim Sunwoo are the kind of guys you can’t read the limits of.”
“True. Lee Seo-jun’s a complete lunatic. And Kim Sunwoo—he’s been on a crazy streak lately.”
Shin Young-joon muttered as he glanced at Kim Sunwoo’s empty seat.
“Hey, when are we having the Team C strategy meeting?”
Park Inhwan interjected between Yoo Ara and Shin Young-joon.
“What’s gotten into you, Inhwan? Since when are you so proactive?”
Shin Young-joon said mockingly, and Park Inhwan frowned.
“Why do you think? It’s an exam—I’m serious about it.”
“Oh, I get it. You saw that article, didn’t you? Heh.”
Shin Young-joon chuckled, and Park Inhwan’s frown deepened in irritation.
Not understanding what they were talking about, Yoo Ara looked at them curiously.
Shin Young-joon pulled up an article on his smart student notebook and showed it to her.
[16 Days Until the Korean Mage Academy’s Final Exams. Will Rising Star Kim Sunwoo Overtake Park Inhwan to Join the Sacred Martial Festival?]
“…Ah.”
Seeing the article, Yoo Ara immediately understood.
After the finals, the participants for next year’s Sacred Martial Festival would be confirmed.
The top four had already secured their spots with overwhelming scores.
The remaining spot was the 5th rank—currently held by Park Inhwan.
Depending on the results of this exam, the final participant could very well change.
“So that’s why you’re suddenly so proactive—you’re afraid of losing your 5th place?”
“L-Lose? No way I’m losing it! Just watch. I’m keeping that spot no matter what!”
Park Inhwan shouted. Shin Young-joon gave a small laugh and said:
“But what rank is Kim Sunwoo now for an article like that to even come out? I doubt he’s in the top ten.”
“Ninth.”
Yoo Ara’s answer made Shin Young-joon’s eyes widen in shock.
“Whoa. He’s ninth? Wasn’t he like 150th last semester? That rise is insane.”
Shin Young-joon shook his head in disbelief.
“Still, getting to fifth will be tough. Jumping from ninth to fifth isn’t something you can do just by having your team win.”
“Winning is the bare minimum. He’ll need to rack up a massive personal score too.”
“But can he really do that? He’s not like you—he’s not specialized in large-scale combat. And he’s not even the team leader, so he won’t get those bonus points either. I don’t think he’s got a shot this time.”
Yoo Ara nodded, agreeing with Shin Young-joon’s negative outlook.
The odds were definitely against him.
Climbing from 50th to 10th was one thing—but going from 9th to 5th was several times harder.
And this team battle format placed Kim Sunwoo at a disadvantage in almost every way.
“…Still. If it’s Kim Sunwoo, you never know.”
Yoo Ara whispered quietly.
He was someone who had always defied expectations and created twists even in the worst conditions.
Just like before, he might pull off another miracle and break into the top five.
Slide—
Just then, the door opened, and Kim Sunwoo entered the classroom.
Behind him were Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo.
It looked like they’d run into each other on the way to school.
Yoo Ara sat still, staring at Kim Sunwoo.
As if sensing her gaze, Kim Sunwoo met her eyes.
Then, with a faint smirk, he turned his gaze out the window.
“…What the heck.”
Was that a provocation?
Yoo Ara clenched her fist tightly.
She wouldn’t lose. No matter what, she wouldn’t lose.
Yoo Ara’s determination burned even more.
“So, which team do you think will take first place this time?”
Lunch time.
The teachers, having finished their meals, were gathered in one spot, enjoying drinks and taking a break.
The topic of conversation, of course, was the upcoming final exam’s “All-Year Combined Captain’s Match.”
It had long been a tradition in the Mage Academy’s faculty office to place bets on the team rankings of the second semester’s final exam.
“I’m going with Team A.”
“Same here.”
Two teachers put slips with their names into the glass box labelled [Team A].
Seeing that, several other teachers followed suit and dropped their slips into the [Team A] box as well.
“Lots of votes for Team A, as expected. Heh.”
“They’re the safe bet.”
The reason most teachers chose Team A was simple.
It had the best balance, with mages from various classes of magic.
And Kim Chang-hyun, the top third-year student, was part of it too.
“There’s some anticipation around Seo-jun and Sunwoo, but third-years experience and composure are hard to beat.”
“I heard Chang-hyun is really fired up this time. It’s his final exam before graduation, after all.”
Kim Chang-hyun.
Currently the undisputed number one third-year student, he had never lost the top spot in test scores since entering the academy.
In fact, Lee Seo-jun was also expected to maintain a similar undefeated record, but in the last Captain’s Match, he was narrowly beaten by Yoo Ara and Kim Sunwoo’s team and came in second.
“A match-up between Chang-hyun and Seo-jun, huh. That’s definitely exciting. Normally, I’d bet on the third-year, but Seo-jun’s special, isn’t he?”
“Even so, it might be tough for Seo-jun this time. His team has a lot of close-combat mages, and as a reinforcement-type himself—and the ‘captain’—he won’t be able to participate in fights easily.”
A teacher who had been quietly listening finally spoke up.
“The highest-ranking student being revealed as the ‘captain’—that’s a bad move for Team B.”
“In the end, it all comes down to this—can a team overcome its weakness?”
Team weaknesses.
At a glance, the teams looked balanced, but a closer look revealed fatal flaws in each.
Team A had strong top-tier students, but their lower-tier members were generally weaker than average.
Team B leaned too heavily into close-combat.
Team C leaned too much into long-range combat.
The team that overcame its weakness would take first place.
“When you consider all that, Team B definitely has it the hardest. Not being able to do area of effect attacks in multi-member battles is a big handicap.”
“Exactly. That’s why I think Team C—with Yoo Ara—is guaranteed to win.”
One teacher said this while placing a slip into the [Team C] box.
“Me too. In this kind of test, Yoo Ara’s basically a cheat code.”
Another teacher added their vote to Team C. The glass boxes for Teams A and C steadily filled up with slips.
In contrast, Team B’s glass box remained empty.
Then, Lee Hee-young, who had been quietly listening, put her slip into Team B’s box.
“I’m still voting for Team B!”
The teachers turned to Hee-young in surprise at her unexpected move.
“Classic Hee-young. Voting out of pure Sunwoo bias.”
“Ahem! I voted with cold, objective judgment, thank you very much.”
“Come on. Team B’s in a tough spot. Sunwoo’s impressive, sure, but he’s pretty much specialized for one-on-one battles…”
Hee-young let out a small laugh.
“Sunwoo and Seo-jun are on the same team and you’re not voting for them? You guys are still naive. Half baked analysis doesn’t mean anything, folks.”
There was a strong note of confidence in Hee-young’s voice.
Afternoon, after all classes had ended.
I was sitting in the classroom with Lee Seo-jun, talking about the necromancy notes we found in the “research journal” yesterday.
“You need six Mysteries to use necromancy. Two of them are known to be in someone else’s possession.”
I explained to Seo-jun what I’d learned from my own research and from the original story.
He nodded along, listening to me.
“The biggest problem is the ‘Dreamcatcher Mana Crystal.’ It’s owned by the French National Museum, and from what I found, they don’t do loans.”
Seo-jun nodded seriously at my words.
“Hmm… owned by a museum, huh. That’s definitely going to be tricky.”
“There are two ways. Either we find a substitute item, or we offer something of equal or greater value in trade.”
Seo-jun crossed his arms and fell into deep thought. Then he glanced at me.
“…You really did a lot of research in just one day. You seem more driven than me.”
I flinched slightly.
It was all stuff we’d have to go through eventually.
I just figured it’d be easier if I prepared in advance rather than waste time fumbling later. But I guess from Seo-jun’s point of view, I might look a little strange.
“I didn’t have much else to do. And I’ve always been interested in Mysteries anyway.”
Seo-jun nodded. Mages being interested in Mysteries wasn’t unusual, so he didn’t seem too suspicious.
“Yeah, it shows. You know quite a bit, surprisingly. But don’t get too deep into it. You know how dangerous it is.”
“Don’t worry about that. Anyway, with the Dreamcatcher, a substitute’s not really viable, so let’s focus on negotiating a trade.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the better route too. A trade gives us way more options. So, when do we start collecting the Mysteries?”
“With finals right around the corner, let’s wait until the exam’s over.”
Seo-jun nodded.
“Okay. Oh, right. By the way, Sunwoo—are you aiming for the Holy Warrior title this time?”
I fell silent for a moment at Seo-jun’s question. Then I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Really? I looked at the team lineups, and it seems like you’ve got a tough road ahead.”
I quickly realized what he was getting at.
I’d already heard the talk among the students—that Team B had the worst odds.
The reason? Lack of area of effect magic.
In large-scale battles, the absence of AOE spells is definitely a disadvantage.
Even I’d been thinking about it just last night.
But not anymore.
“It’s because of the AOE magic, right?”
“Yeah. That’s the main thing I need to figure out…”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“Huh?”
Seo-jun looked at me with a puzzled expression. I smiled confidently.
“I’ll handle the AOE combat part.”
I already knew exactly where to spend my points.
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