Prologue Story

I ended up letting time slip by without making up with In-ha.

At last, the morning of the festival day arrived.

The thought of my routine changing, something that had always stayed the same, easily became a source of stress.

Since I was six, In-ha had always been by my side.

The thought of In-ha disappearing from beside me, and eventually drifting further and further away, made me sink into despair.

But, even so, time still passed.

On the morning of the festival, I knocked on In-ha’s door, holding onto a sliver of hope.

I remembered the day we promised to watch the festival together.

To be honest, I was slightly hopeful.

…But that hope was quickly shattered.

[…Sorry. I went ahead without you.]

[Okay….]

[I’ll try to get in touch later.]

[Yes, please do.]

My mood sank.

With a heavy heart, I teleported to school.

From today until the end of the festival, elementary students had a later start time and were dismissed after attendance was checked.

I hesitated before entering the classroom.

Going ahead without me likely meant In-ha was already inside.

Honestly, I didn’t have the courage to keep looking at In-ha’s cold expression.

This wasn’t right… I knew that… but imagine being ignored by someone you were closest to for two straight weeks.

How could anyone keep their confidence after that?

I felt like crying, but I held back.

Dragging my heavy legs, I opened the classroom door.

Creeeeak. Only a few people were inside.

In-ha was among them.

I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head and simply looked down as I made my way to my seat.

“Hello? In-ha….”

In-ha neither responded nor looked at me.

I sank down in my seat, feeling defeated.

‘Should I just give up?’

That thought circled in my mind.

Honestly, this wasn’t like me.

I was naturally skeptical of relationships with others.

Besides the parents and family who were always with me, the only exception had been the person I loved most.

Apart from those two, I had never formed any deep connections.

Friends, especially—I’d meet them only for them to drift away quickly.

That was probably because of my personality, but still, I longed for a deep friendship, while also doubting I could ever achieve it.

Laying my head on my desk, I continued my gloomy thoughts.

This truly wasn’t like me.

Whenever someone let go of me, I’d give up on them.

Should I give up?

But In-ha was far too special to me.

Truly, she was so, so special….

‘I really like you so much!’

It was the first time in my life—no, the first time across all my lives.

No one had ever considered me such a precious friend before… except In-ha.

But because I’d always given up on relationships easily, and because this had been going on for two whole weeks, I began to think that way.

‘Maybe it’s better to drift apart for In-ha’s sake?’

I’d always lacked confidence in myself.

It wasn’t that I’d never had friends I genuinely liked.

There were several, even in my past life.

And every time, I’d let them go.

Once they gave up on me, I convinced myself that letting them go was for their own good.

It was a nice way to frame it, but really, it was just giving up.

Hiding my hurt feelings, masking it as nothing, and burying my pride… putting those feelings away as if out of care….

‘Is that… hypocrisy?’

But this time, I didn’t want to let In-ha go that way.

I swallowed nervously.

Should I ask?

If In-ha said we weren’t friends anymore, then maybe I’d finally be able to let it all go.

But at the same time, those words would mark a complete end to our relationship.

‘I don’t want to ask….’

I was scared.

Scared enough that I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

I closed my eyes tightly.

I’m so excited! The festival starts today! Where should we go first? I want to start with the high school! I heard the middle school is fun too!

The voices around me faded away into my thoughts.

I stayed with my head down like that for a while.

I didn’t want to think about anything.

I wanted to escape.

I needed a place to rest.

When my patience had nearly reached its limit from stress, attendance finally ended, and I left the classroom without looking back.

The stress made my chest and heart ache.

I wanted to teleport away and disappear right then.

Feeling dizzy from the noise around me, I suddenly stood blankly amidst the crowd.

My stomach ached and nausea rose up.

Pushing through the crowd, I rushed into the restroom.

“Urk… ugh…!”

It had always been like this, even in my past life.

When I felt stressed, my chest tightened, I’d get dizzy, and eventually my stomach would start acting up.

But I never expected my stomach would feel this way, even when it wasn’t genetically weak.

I finally regained my senses after throwing up everything in my stomach.

Having hardly eaten in the past few days, all that came up was stomach acid.

I loved festivals, but crowds made me uneasy… tears pricked at my eyes for no reason.

The more you live, the stronger you’re supposed to get, but even after going through reincarnation, I still found it easy to burst into tears whenever I felt hurt.

I took a shaky breath and cried quietly in the restroom, trying to suppress my sobs.

I swallowed my tears as quickly as I could.

When all the sounds outside had faded, I finally opened the stall door.

Fortunately, no one was there.

Looking around, I walked over to the mirror.

My face was a mess.

Still, it wasn’t that obvious I’d been crying.

After all, whenever I cried, my eyes would only redden slightly; it didn’t show much otherwise.

I washed my face with cold water and tidied my disheveled clothes.

After vomiting, my mind felt clearer.

The truth was, instead of running away, I should have just gone to In-ha and asked her to watch the festival with me.

Really, I didn’t understand why I was so weak-hearted.

Could I ever learn illusion magic this way?

How could I score a ten in mental affinity like this?

Was affinity completely different from mental strength?

Or maybe it was potential?

I dried my face with the enchanted towel nearby.

The moment I stepped out of the restroom, I jumped in surprise.

Someone’s hand suddenly reached out and tugged my cheek.

Min-hee was stretching my cheeks with both hands, examining my face.

Next to her were Han-soo and Hyun-ho.

“Oh my god, what’s going on? I thought your face looked off lately, but it’s really bad. Are you okay?”

No, I wasn’t okay.

I swallowed my words and nodded.

Han-soo sighed in disbelief.

“Don’t lie. It’s obvious you’re not.”

“I’m honestly getting mad at In-ha. Is it okay if I get a little mad?”

“Don’t. Stay out of girls’ problems.”

“Are you girls too?”

“Of course! In-ha and Eun-ha are especially delicate! Getting mad is one thing, but ignoring is another. If she’s got something to say, she should just say it already. Really, how can you expect people to know if you don’t say it?”

I lowered my gaze, feeling gloomy.

As expected, they were far more mature than their age.

“This isn’t how you treat a friend.”

Still, despite agreeing with In-ha’s side, they stood up for me, which was comforting and reassuring.

At the same time, the thought of In-ha being alone ever since the fight made my heart ache.

“Eun-ha, tell us if you feel really sick.”

“I’m okay… it’s not that bad.”

I slowly shook my head.

Min-hee, who had been watching me, suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

Startled, I followed her, not quite sure what was happening.

“Min-hee…?”

“This isn’t working. We need a change of pace. Right? Come on, all you’re doing is worrying yourself sick.”

“B-but In-ha….”

At that, Han-soo and Hyun-ho grabbed my arms firmly.

“Is she the problem right now? You look like you’re about to collapse. So I’m with Min-hee on this one.”

“Yeah. Eun-ha, come on. You haven’t eaten, have you? That’s no good! My mom always says to eat your meals.”

I stared at them blankly.

They spoke with concerned expressions as they led me along.

For some reason, my eyes started to hurt.

Part of me felt like crying, but more than that, I felt dazzled.

Their presence looked so radiant in my tired eyes.

When had I ever had something like this?

When had friends worried about me and taken me by the hand…?

‘I hate it when you hang out with other people or even try to be nice to them! I’m your friend!’

In-ha had said that, but these were our friends too.

Friends didn’t distance themselves because of feelings or push others away for emotional reasons.

Right?

I smiled faintly, my face exhausted and on the verge of giving up.

“…Okay.”

Then, my friends also smiled, looking relieved.

“Great! Oh, right. We should call Shia too. Once he’s here, let’s start with the middle school!”

“Why are we starting with the middle school?”

“Because the older boys and girls will take us to the high school! Let’s explore the school by ourselves on the first day!”

For reference, the elementary school building was decorated but not part of the festival area.

Even if elementary students prepared something, they usually borrowed the middle or high school buildings or just helped the older students.

Soon after Shia joined us, we headed to explore the middle school, just as Min-hee suggested.

As I looked at the elementary students among the middle and high school students, I thought to myself.

‘I wonder if In-ha… will be okay alone… Can she enjoy the festival?’

It would have been nice if In-ha could be here with us. Worry crept in.

But I quickly shook it off.

Like Min-hee said, what could I do in this state, with stress piled up as high as it could go? They say laughing and enjoying yourself is the best remedy for the heart, so talking to In-ha would have to wait until I did something about my tired face first.

What good would I do, approaching her like this, hoping to cheer her up?

So today, I had to regain my energy somehow. I still hadn’t given up on enjoying the festival with In-ha!

Right after taking a few steps, my stomach growled.

After throwing up earlier, my stomach felt settled, so maybe it was time to eat something.

My friends all cheered brightly at my suggestion.

“What should we eat first?”

“There’s so much food! This is the best!”

The highlight of any festival is definitely the food!

No need to search for it—the streets were lined with delicious things to eat. Just looking at the variety of food made me swallow my saliva.

We bought whatever looked tasty and popped it into our mouths as we saw it.

Skewers, fish-shaped buns, rice balls, drinks—we spent our money sparingly, knowing there would be plenty to see tomorrow at the high school as well.

While eating, I wandered around happily, taking in the sights.

There was so much to see around the school grounds alone, and even street performances to watch.

After exploring outside, we went inside the school building.

There were plenty of places selling food inside as well, and various events were happening in different classrooms.

Some places charged a fee, while others were free to visit.

There was a haunted house, a magic castle, a mirror maze, and so on—all of it surpassed my expectations in quality.

I must have underestimated it, thinking it was just a school.

Even as middle schoolers, they were still legitimate magicians.

It wasn’t just student-run booths; there were actual shops set up as well, mainly selling magical items and equipment.

However, magical equipment could only be used by those over 12 with a special permit, and minors under 15 needed guardian approval.

Of course, if accompanied by a guardian, even those under 12 could use very basic equipment. There were also limitations based on the mage’s skill level.

Magical items, like equipment, were often restricted by skill level, but most of the items at the shop we visited were ones we could enjoy freely.

This was likely because it was on school grounds.

When we stumbled upon a high-level weapons shop, Min-hee stared through the showcase glass at the weapons with sparkling eyes, even though she couldn’t buy them.

She especially fixated on the firearms.

Well, she was the kind of kid who loved weapons enough to make shooting magic.

Other places were led by special technicians or veteran magicians as well.

On the other hand, some shops seemed unrelated to magic at first glance, like accessory shops or handicraft stores.

But, in fact, most items were professional-grade with added magical effects.

Here, artisans wouldn’t survive if they couldn’t enchant their items.

“This glass is so pretty. Wow, it moves. What kind of magic is this?”

“It just moves, that’s all. It’s probably telekinetic. If you say the activation word ‘Light,’ it’ll glow softly. But you’ll have to recharge it with magic now and then.”

“I see.”

To kids as young as us, even such simple items were fascinating.

Actually, in my case, they weren’t just fascinating—they were amazing.

Even though I’d been here for seven years, there was still so much I hadn’t seen.

Having grown up in a world without magic, none of this felt ‘normal’ to me yet.

There were also places entirely unrelated to magic, like a clothing exhibit hall.

After visiting that last place, we’d almost completely toured the middle school.

We weren’t hungry at all, thanks to all the snacks we’d had along the way.

The festival’s closing time on the first day was 5 p.m.

[The first day of the festival has ended. Those still on school grounds, please begin to make your way home. It is now cleanup time. Let me repeat that….]

After hearing the announcement, we headed back to the classroom.

With the festival ending at 5 p.m., we would have our closing meeting at the same time.

However, after noon, students who wanted to go home early could notify the teacher and leave.

Knowing In-ha was already gone somehow left me with a bitter feeling.