In a word, the jungle was vast.
Every now and then, snakes as thick as a forearm would suddenly appear from somewhere in the jungle, while monkeys moved from tree to tree, picking and eating fruit.
If I hadn't known this was a training center, I might've thought we were somewhere in the Amazon rainforest.
“Phew. It's hot.”
I muttered quietly.
Right.
Maybe it was only natural that magic had developed so slowly on Earth that it was practically primitive.
If you combined this kind of scientific technology with high-level magic on top of it, that would just be cheating.
“One lost goblin spotted up ahead!”
Yeon Hyebin responded to Ruben's shout.
“I'll handle it!”
Had she said her specialty was infiltration and support?
She rushed toward the goblin with quick movements and threw her dagger with slightly clumsy technique.
“Gweeek!”
Her throwing technique still showed plenty of childish inexperience.
What followed was Yeon Hyebin hacking at the goblin with her dagger.
She was young, but there wasn't the slightest hesitation in her movements.
The goblin already looked quite gaunt, probably from wandering around the jungle for a long time, and it died beneath Yeon Hyebin's blade without putting up any meaningful resistance.
“Okay! Let's move! We probably don't have much farther to go!”
The unspoken leader of our team was Jeon Nayeon.
She had a loud voice and took the initiative, so naturally, we ended up following whatever she told us to do.
So far, none of her orders had been problematic enough to object to, so I quietly followed her lead too.
“I'm exhausted....”
I gritted my teeth.
To be completely honest, just keeping up with them was already pushing me to my limit.
The other three members of my team were from the Martial Arts Department, so they were as nimble as flying squirrels.
Meanwhile, although I trained with Mana Orbit every morning, my stamina still couldn't compare to theirs.
I'd reached the point where I was even burning mana just to keep pace with them.
After we ran for quite a while longer, we found what looked like the site of a battle.
The group stopped there and began examining the area.
Only then was I finally able to rest while gasping for breath.
“Haaah.”
I braced one hand against a nearby tree and repeatedly took deep breaths in and out.
“Are you okay? Come to think of it, I wasn't considering you at all. You're still young, and you're even from the Magic Department, but I made us run at a pace meant for the Martial Arts Department.”
Jeon Nayeon approached me with a worried tone and lightly patted my shoulder.
I wanted to force myself to say I was fine, but I wasn't remotely in a condition to do that, so I simply kept breathing.
“Captain! I can see traces of sorcery over here!”
“Huh? Where?”
Jeon Nayeon reacted to Ruben calling her captain and walked over to him.
As I tried to catch my breath, which had risen all the way to my throat, I thought carefully.
If I'm already this exhausted, haven't the other Magic Department kids collapsed by now?
I was especially worried about Yeowoo and Sia.
They were both young, and they were the children closest to me, so they kept coming to mind.
I hope nothing happened to them.
***
After going through all sorts of hardships, we finally managed to locate the Goblin Shaman's dwelling.
It was a cave that felt strangely cold despite being in a tropical rainforest.
Was this also an effect of sorcery?
I didn't know.
I just wanted to finish this quickly and rest.
“Grrrk!”
The red-eyed Goblin Shaman emerged from the dark cave, radiating murderous intent.
Our team took up their respective positions and prepared for battle.
“Kieeek!”
The Goblin Shaman pointed the staff in its hand toward us.
A group of goblins that had been waiting in the darkness burst out and charged.
Their weapons consisted of half-whittled clubs, spears with severely rusted blades, crudely made bows, and all sorts of other shoddy weapons.
What I needed to do in this situation was support my teammates and help them fight.
It would've been best if I could assist with offensive magic as much as possible, but First Circle offensive spells weren't anything particularly impressive.
On top of that, I'd already used a lot of mana getting here, so I didn't have much to spare.
Therefore, I decided to focus on defensive support rather than offensive support and pulled a wand from inside my clothes.
“H-Huh? Why? What are you going to do?”
Jeon Nayeon, who was near me, looked over in surprise.
It seemed she was startled because I hadn't taken out my wand even once on the way here.
“What do you think? I'm going to help.”
Group Barrier.
I pointed my wand at each of my teammates one by one and recited the Incantation.
White, shell-like barriers formed around them.
Apparently, my teammates could feel them too, because they looked at me even in the middle of this urgent situation.
This really wasn't the time for that.
“They're barriers. You should be fine even if you take a few hits, so you can fight aggressively!”
“Okay! Got it!”
“Little mage! Good!”
Trusting in the barriers, Yeon Hyebin and Morgan Ruben began rampaging.
Jeon Nayeon stayed in front of me to maintain our positioning, taking down only the goblins that approached.
“Noona! You don't need to protect me, so go help them. I'm going to fight too.”
“What? Hey! You can't do that!”
I ignored Jeon Nayeon's words and jumped into the battlefield.
The thing in my hand was merely a wand that would barely qualify as a switch for whipping someone.
Normally, my main role would've been to stay tucked away in the rear, standing there aloof while I watched my teammates run around....
But I wanted to get out of this stuffy, damp jungle as quickly as possible.
So I intervened personally.
A goblin charged at me with a phlegmy growl.
I used telekinesis to snatch away its weapon and caught it in my hand.
Even that simple telekinetic spell consumed a considerable amount of mana.
I held the wand in my left hand and the crude axe I'd stolen from the goblin in my right.
Then I swung hard at the neck of the goblin, which was staring blankly after suddenly losing its weapon.
I'd fought like this when I was young in my previous life too.
Back when I hadn't fully matured as a mage.
Whenever I ran short of mana, I'd steal my opponent's weapon and fight with it instead.
I never thought I'd end up reenacting that method in this life.
“Gweeek!”
The goblin died.
There was no way that would've worked so easily against a real goblin, but this place wasn't real anyway.
For the sake of first-year students, their abilities had probably been greatly reduced compared to actual goblins.
Still, I guess what I'd learned at the Hunting Club over the past few weeks hadn't been completely useless.
As I pulled the crude axe from the goblin's neck and searched for my next target, Jeon Nayeon let out a sigh deep enough to make the ground sink before firing an arrow from behind me.
“Ah! If you go out there, we're going to lose points for positioning!”
“Then we'll just finish faster than everyone else and make up for the points we lose!”
“Haha...... That's one hell of a Plan B.”
Jeon Nayeon fired another arrow and struck the goblin charging at me directly between the eyebrows.
Still, since Jeon Nayeon and I mainly used magic and a bow, respectively, we couldn't contribute quite as much to taking down goblins as Morgan Ruben and Yeon Hyebin.
Every time those two moved, goblins dropped one after another like scarecrows.
Within a minute, the entire group of goblins had been cleared out.
The only one left was the Goblin Shaman.
Not a single one of our barriers had broken.
The shaman pointed its staff at us again and tried to shout something.
But I stopped it.
Just like the shaman, I pointed my wand directly at it and activated my magic.
“Be silent!”
At that moment, the shaman couldn't finish the words it had been chanting.
“Mmph!”
It abruptly stopped.
The moment the shaman's mouth was sealed, most of the mana I had left was drained away in a massive chunk.
Startled by its sealed mouth, the Goblin Shaman desperately struggled to dispel the magic.
“Now! It won't last more than a few seconds, so take it down quickly!”
My words served as the signal.
Jeon Nayeon's arrow, Yeon Hyebin's dagger, and Morgan Ruben's longsword flew toward the shaman.
“Kreek!”
Starting with Jeon Nayeon's arrow, the dagger and longsword tore into the shaman's body.
And just like that, the battle ended.
***
We sat in the waiting room, drinking sports drinks and chatting as the other teams gradually began returning.
“Huh! Ah. We missed first place. You again?”
Moon Mujin approached me with a playful expression.
I smiled too and raised two fingers in a V sign.
“Oh, what? Moon Mujin, you know Hyunwoo?”
“Of course. We're really close. Best friends. Best friends, right?”
I didn't answer.
I only smiled.
“Judging by how he's not answering, I don't think that's true.”
Jeon Nayeon seemed to read my feelings and sneered at Moon Mujin.
Mujin looked slightly embarrassed and scratched his head, pretending not to care.
The next team to enter after Moon Mujin's had several familiar faces.
They were Martial Arts Department students I'd exchanged brief conversations with from time to time.
And mixed among them was Sia.
The moment our eyes met, Sia scampered over and grabbed my hand.
“I knew Hyunwoo would already be here! But where's Unni? She hasn't arrived yet?”
“Yeah. Not yet.”
“Ah...... Really?”
Sia smiled meaningfully.
Her expression clearly said,
I won.
After we chatted for a little longer, the team Yeowoo belonged to also entered the waiting room.
The moment Yeowoo stepped inside, she looked around as though searching for something.
When our eyes met, she quickly ran over.
“Hyunwoo. Are you okay? Nothing was hard or uncomfortable, right?”
Yeowoo examined me from head to toe with worried eyes.
Beside me, Sia let out a sweet, lilting laugh as she looked Yeowoo up and down.
“Unni. Hyunwoo came in first. You don't need to worry.”
“......”
Yeowoo silently glared at Sia.
Sia refused to back down from her stare and began boasting about herself with an almost mocking expression.
“Ah. Me? I came in third. My teammates were sooo good...... Hehe. I got lucky~”
“......I see.”
“But why were you so late, Unni?”
“Just because. That's how things turned out.”
“Aha. So that's just how things turned out~”
Even someone as oblivious as me could tell.
Sia was teasing Yeowoo.
If I kept watching, it felt like Yeowoo might really explode, so I stepped in.
“Noona. Don't tease my noona.”
“......Huh?”
I grabbed Yeowoo's hand and stared sharply at Sia with a completely serious expression.
“I said don't tease my noona.”
The atmosphere around us froze instantly.
The nearby teammates even stopped laughing and talking loudly as they watched us with interest.
Apparently flustered by my sharp reaction, Sia began taking small steps backward.
“D-Did that upset you? I was just joking.”
Sia nervously shifted her eyes around.
She looked at Yeowoo once, then at me.
I had no intention of scolding her any further, so I eased the tension.
“Apologize to my noona.”
“......”
“Come on.”
Sia shrank back and lowered her head toward Yeowoo while making herself look as pitiful as possible.
“I'm sorry, Unni, if I upset you.”
“......”
The corners of Yeowoo's mouth twitched as she looked at Sia with her head bowed.
She looked like she was desperately suppressing a smile that was about to burst out.
I poked Yeowoo's arm with my finger.
“Noona. You should accept her apology.”
“Yeah. I'm fine.”
At that moment, Moon Mujin, who was nearby, clapped his hands and shouted,
“All right, all right! What's with this atmosphere? We all passed the practical training, so let's smile a little!”
Mujin somehow began smoothing things over.
***
Yoon Sia blankly stared at the practical examination results on the computer.
Out of twenty-five teams in the overall rankings, her team had placed third.
The exact way their scores had been assigned was displayed transparently.
Positioning: 8 points.
Team Communication: 8 points.
Combat: 9 points.
Clear Speed: 8 points.
And so on.
She scrolled up and checked first place.
She had naturally assumed that Hyunwoo's team would be first.
But it wasn't.
The first-year representative and class president.
Moon Mujin's team was in first place.
Hyunwoo's team was second.
When she compared the scores of first and second place, there was only a single point between them.
The two teams had either identical scores or Hyunwoo's team was slightly ahead in most categories.
But Hyunwoo's team received 7 points for positioning while Mujin's team received 10, completely reversing their positions.
“Hmm. Poor Hyunwoo too. He ended up with bad teammates...... Obviously, the other team members must've taken weird positions, right?”
Sia smiled bitterly and scrolled down to check the lower rankings.
She only skimmed over the other teams.
The important one was Yeowoo's team.
Final Ranking — 6th.
Sia looked over the ranking and its detailed scores.
Normally, seeing it should've made her feel happy and refreshed.
Instead, her mood abruptly sank.
“......Stupid Hyunwoo. I was only joking.”
Remembering what had happened in the waiting room, Sia's eyes began filling with tears.
The tears she'd barely been holding back finally burst free when she remembered Hyunwoo's cold expression.
“Sniff...... You didn't have to look that serious.”
Part of her hated Hyunwoo enough to resent him.
At the same time, she was afraid that Hyunwoo might continue hating her.
All kinds of complicated thoughts wrapped themselves around her head and tormented Sia noisily.
She cried bitterly, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Some time later.
She grabbed some tissues nearby, wiped away her tears, and blew her nose.
Then she turned off the computer and opened a book.
The title was .
It was a full-length thriller novel by Harlan Coben.
She had barely managed to read ninety pages so far.
Today, she decided to read another thirty pages before going to sleep.
She didn't want to think about what had happened in the waiting room anymore.