Chapter 44
“What are you doing?”
“Don't mind me.”
“Name, did she eat something bad? What's wrong with her?”
Name shrugged.
How would I know?
“Hey, there's an empty table over there. Let's eat there.”
Jihye, who had gotten her lunch first, found an empty spot and sat down, with Seori sitting beside her.
Finally, Name sat down across from Seori.
But Seo Yuna, who had been following their group around all this time, boldly took the seat beside Name.
However, she wasn't even sitting across from Jihye. She was on the opposite side instead, resulting in a rather strange arrangement.
“Didn't I tell you not to mind me?”
Yuna held up her chopsticks with her chin held high, as though merely sitting beside Name was enough.
“NoName, is this right...?”
“Why?”
“Do you normally eat this little for lunch? Do you eat a lot of breakfast?”
“No? I skip breakfast every day.”
Yuna grew dejected when she saw the amount of food on Name's tray.
Because her own tray held exactly the same amount she'd put on it.
“Two spoonfuls of rice... no soup... three anchovies, one sausage, a piece of mashed potato, and a strand of spinach...”
Beef seaweed soup, my favorite.
Soy-braised pork belly isn't something they serve often, either.
“Yuna, won't you be hungry if you eat like that?”
“No? I'm fine. This is enough for me, too.”
“Haha...”
Seori soon shook her head.
Yuna had lately been following Name around, and Seori had wondered what she was up to. As it turned out, she was copying everything Name did.
‘But copying even the lunch Name eats is going a bit far, isn't it?’
Naturally, Yuna was the first of the four to finish her lunch.
With just five flicks of her chopsticks, her tray looked as though it had never held food at all.
Seori and Jihye were busy chatting about stickers sold at the stationery store, while Name nibbled at her rice one grain at a time before setting down her chopsticks.
“What? You're not eating anymore?”
“Yeah. I don't really have an appetite.”
“I just can't believe this.”
Name couldn't even digest that small amount, so she simply leaned back in her chair and watched Seori and Jihye's talk show.
“You're copying me to mess with me on purpose, aren't you?”
In the end, Yuna exploded first, unable to stand it any longer.
“Copying you? Ah.”
Only then did Name realize the reason behind Yuna's recent actions.
[You don't take notes?]
[You study with your head, not your hands.]
[Hmm...]
Yuna, who had always filled her textbooks with all sorts of highlighters, had stopped even taking out her pencil case one day.
[NoName out!]
[Teacher, I got hit too. I'm leaving.]
[Oh, did you? Go ahead.]
She had also started following the same path as Name during dodgeball, trailing along behind her.
[Seo Yuna, if you're not busy, could you help me with this?]
[Don't talk to me. I'm really busy right now.]
Every break, she crossed her arms like Name and bowed her head to take a nap.
All of these were actions copied from NoName.
The day before yesterday, Seo Yuna saw Name's magic and realized something.
This child was a genius on an entirely different level from Yoon Sihoo.
The gap was so vast that she wondered whether she could even catch up by studying sixteen hours a day, so she devised another plan.
Because she assumed there had to be some special secret unique to Name behind her intelligence,
Yuna thought that if she copied every one of Name's mannerisms, she might gain some insight.
Thus began ‘Copying Name.’
But as Yuna observed her, she couldn't help questioning herself.
Name didn't take notes, but neither did she seem to be listening attentively during class.
Perhaps she wasn't confident when it came to physical activities; even in PE, she dragged her feet and barely participated.
On top of that, since Name never even put food in her mouth all day, Yuna felt as though she might collapse from dizziness first.
While clutching her throbbing head, NoName drank the liquid in the flask she had brought along as always.
She swirled the flask around like a sommelier savoring a glass of wine.
“There's something I'm curious about. What is that thing you drink every day?”
Yuna was certain.
There was definitely some secret in that liquid.
A medicine that improved memory? Or maybe one that let her stay energetic all day without sleeping at night.
“It's a mana potion, but you people aren't supposed to drink it.”
“A potion? You mean like the potions in games? They exist in real life too?”
“Its effects are more or less similar.”
What exactly was a potion?
It was a drug that replenished the body's insufficient mana reserves.
But something that convenient couldn't possibly exist in reality.
If it did, there would be no reason for anyone to go to such lengths to increase their mana capacity (Etheric Capacity).
But what if such a drug really did exist?
All second-circle magic and above was subject to a fee.
The point at which payment was determined was, naturally, the “storage” stage, since information was exchanged with the base station during that process.
But if one stopped a spell at the second or third stages—infusion or activation—the magic circle's tendency to return to an irreversible state would cause it to drain additional mana.
Even if one accepted that inefficiency, infinite mana would mean being able to practice magic all day.
Yuna wouldn't miss an opportunity this good.
“Give me some, too. I want to try it.”
“I told you, you aren't supposed to drink it.”
“Is it expensive?”
“It's not that expensive.”
“Then why not? I'll pay you back tomorrow.”
“This isn't a nutritional supplement; it's medicine. You can only take it with a prescription.”
If you eat just anything because it looks good, it can make you sick.
Name stubbornly held her ground despite Yuna's insistence.
Because this was something one really mustn't drink.
“How do I get a prescription, then?”
“I don't know. I'm not a doctor.”
In the first place, it was a drug that restored genetic traits altered by prolonged exposure to high-mana environments, so no one could say what would happen if a normal person kept drinking it.
Of course, who would be gutsy enough to drink this while in their right mind? Still... no meant no.
“Tch...”
Seori, apparently curious about their conversation as well, asked about the potion.
“Name, then how much of this do you drink a day?”
“Three liters every day.”
“Ew, that's a lot. So that's why you barely eat lunch.”
Seori clicked her tongue.
Drinking that much every day really was torture.
Most people would struggle if they were told to drink three liters of water every day.
“I admire your adventurous spirit, but I'm not giving you even a sip, so give it up.”
“Why not! One sip wouldn't hurt.”
“I think you've got the wrong idea. This isn't a potion from a game, you know? It does refill your mana, but it isn't usable mana, so there's no point.”
“Then why do you drink it? You must be drinking it because it's good for something!”
“Let's not talk about it.”
* * *
There was only one step left before the secret was uncovered.
It was the break after fifth period.
Yuna kept her eye on the moment Name went to wash her flasks.
She had four 500 ml flasks in total, and before sixth period began, she always emptied three of them and went to the bathroom to wash them.
There were too many people around after school, so she seemed to have deliberately chosen that time.
As for the last bottle, for some reason, she always left it untouched as a spare instead of drinking it.
‘I'll just taste one sip.’
Yuna took a flask from Name's bag and set it on her lap.
With her conscience pricking her, she looked around in case anyone saw her.
‘It just looks like ordinary water.’
The half-liter of liquid sloshed inside the bottle.
Strangely, though, it didn't produce anything like bubbles.
She carefully uncapped the flask.
‘It doesn't smell strange, either.’
But something was wrong with the mana potion.
The clear liquid instantly grew cloudy as soon as she opened the lid, changing into black water.
‘What is this! What am I supposed to do...!’
This was a disaster.
Yuna's mind went blank at once.
Only belatedly did Yuna remember that the residue had always been black whenever Name went to wash her flasks.
So it changed color when exposed to air.
It was only a matter of time before she got caught.
‘Now that it has come to this...!’
Whether it was one drop or one sip, getting caught was already unavoidable.
If she was going to be hated anyway, Yuna decided she might as well find out exactly what the potion did before that happened.
Glug
“......!!!”
The moment the liquid touched her tongue.
Yuna felt all the strength drain from her body, almost as though it were a lie.
“Keh-huk...!”
Crash
The unsupported flask lost its balance and plummeted straight to the floor.
The glass bottle struck the dull wooden floor and shattered into pieces.
“Aaaah!”
“Damn, that scared me! What's wrong, Seo Yuna?”
Yuna's small body crumpled.
She clutched her throat in agony, but couldn't even produce a groan.
“Kheh...!”
The liquid went beyond simple categories of taste, like bitterness or sourness.
It numbed her senses themselves, and every cell screamed for help.
Faced with pain she had never felt before, Yuna was overcome by fear more than agony.
‘No... no... I don't want to die like this.’
I want to cut my tongue out.
I don't want to feel this anymore.
Yet the searing heat she felt even in her throat plunged her into an even deeper despair.
‘Please save me...’