Wooosh!
[The whistle blows! Remaining barrier 19 to 9! NoName from the Republic of Korea steps onto the final stage at the unprecedented age of 10!]
[Thus, the Republic of Korea challenges for the National Exchange Tournament victory for the first time in 12 years! Ah, it was truly a long second half. I’m so relieved it didn’t go to overtime.]
[NoName and Giselle Fischer. Players who initially had low expectations have now become the most notable players in this National Exchange Tournament, brilliantly shining on the semifinals stage! Unfortunately, Argentina’s myth comes to an end here. Now, NoName moves one step closer to the finals under the super moon!]
Yay! Yay! Yay!
I raised my hands to the sky, receiving the applause of the audience.
Thud—
Giselle, collapsed on the floor, covered her face with her hands.
I sat Indian-style next to her.
“Get up and go receive congratulations from others.”
“I’m cramping my legs. I’ll rest here for a bit.”
“Suit yourself.”
Giselle splashed her face with water and turned to me, asking.
“How was it, Na-me? You really struggled a lot in the second half, didn’t you?”
“You fought well. Honestly, I was surprised.”
“How are you so strong at 10… Ha-ah, is this a dream, God? I mean, I never let my guard down for a moment. I thought you’d be much stronger than Nathan Chen.”
“Everyone says I’m strong.”
“No, only those who’ve fought against you know. What others say is all fake strength. They’ll never truly understand how strong you are.”
Medical personnel rushed in with a first aid kit.
We received a quick treatment and sat side by side on a stretcher.
“Oh right, Giselle, about the prison in Rosario.”
She instantly blushed.
“I’m sorry… I really didn’t mean to use it till the last moment. My manners were terrible throughout.”
“Huh? What bad manners? There wasn’t even a rule against using such magic.”
“You’re strong, aren’t you?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve trained my mind for seven years in Capsule Hell.”
Chuckle. “Ah, sorry, it’s not something to laugh about.”
She had a tendency to be rude while speaking kindly.
“Every time I push my aura to the limit, it feels like I recall that experience. Am I right?”
“Yeah. I don’t even know when or under what conditions my power comes. I can only recreate the same situation in the Imaginary World. With a mindset for revenge—”
“That’s wrong from the start. What I mean is, regardless of the good or bad of your mind, that approach is entirely flawed.”
There is neither good nor evil in aura.
Therefore, a warm heart willing to heal others, or a cold heart wanting to kill, cannot stimulate Aura Heart.
Only an understanding of the world accompanies it.
“Exceptions.”
“Huh?”
“Living creatures in nature sometimes exhibit exceptions to effectively adapt to constantly changing environments. Some might even call it a mutation.”
“What does that mean?”
Yikes!
“Sorry for shouting. Can you tell me more about it? I’ve been curious.”
Giselle sprang up, her voice heightened with excitement.
“For example, a hedgehog using aggressive defensive strategies, or an octopus developing multifunctional tentacles in the marine ecosystem… Even a four-leaf clover, which has no survival meaning, can be an example of a mutation.”
“So?”
“In our Chinese character culture, the concept of ‘exception’ isn’t directly pointed to. Generally, it’s considered outside of an example (例). In set theory, it means the complement of the example. There exists a concept of ‘difference’ (異), but it doesn’t perfectly align with that meaning.”
Even in Spanish, ‘excepción’ carries a meaning, and it doesn’t exist separately from ‘regla’ (rule).
The reason is that one tends to associate other images when recalling one.
The prefix ‘ex-‘ from Latin also implies absence, complicating matters.
“I mean, we haven’t known each other so long, so I can’t assert this definitively, but I have a guess: your Aura Heart probably unlocks its full power only in exceptional situations.”
“If that’s the case… then I’m utterly useless…”
Giselle’s voice trembled softly.
“Why? The meaning is subjective. How do you think I survived without harm in the prison of Rosario?”
She must be curious.
Having high mental strength doesn’t mean watching brutal movies all the time.
After all, because one’s emotions resonate directly with the caster, a person’s temperament didn’t matter.
“The sky was clear.”
“…?”
“It was a clear day like any other, cool temperature, perfect weather for a picnic on a hill.”
“No way. Na-me, you can’t be serious…”
She swallowed her words.
“Ordinary days can sometimes feel special, and special days can be ordinary. Everything is a matter of perspective.”
Before I knew it, we had moved outside of the training arena.
I got off the stretcher and stood up.
Giselle still seemed unable to steady herself.
“Can I ask you something, Giselle?”
“Sure.”
“What did you see in the illusion barrier magic I applied in reverse?”
The corners of her mouth subtly lifted.
She probably didn’t even realize what expression she was making.
“I saw myself being selected for the national team…”
“Hmm, I see. I’m jealous.”
“But what was that? It was a type of magic I’ve never seen before, Na-me.”
“Do you genuinely want to know? You might be disappointed in yourself.”
Nod.
I tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered softly.
“It’s the happiest memory you have in your life.”
Thus concluded the semifinals.
That night, I managed to contact Giselle and had a brief chat.
The first news she reported was that she could now use ‘Mirage’ without triggering trauma.
I didn’t expect her to realize it in just one day; she really was a quick learner.
I also heard about her difficult past.
Giselle strengthened herself to fulfill a friend’s dream, and to become stronger she recalled that friend.
It seemed like an endless cycle trapped in the past, but in reality, she was moving forward little by little.
Even her unconsciousness deemed the memory of being chosen for the national team as the happiest.
Upon further discussion, it seemed she and that friend weren’t particularly close.
In fact, Himena often looked down on Giselle and bullied her more.
Adding my two cents, I thought that her desire for status being thwarted contributed to putting her friend on a pedestal.
After all, no nine-year-old would drown in friendship, right?
Moreover, with the ‘Blessing of Forgetting’ every human possesses, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Lastly, Giselle Fischer added that she would stage a parade of millions and watch the finals.
[NoName: Really? Just watch it on TV.]
[Giselle: NoName is not human. You really don’t understand people’s hearts.]
[NoName: Why were you messing with gangsters back then? It was dangerous before the match.]
[Giselle: It was my routine to trigger trauma.]
[NoName: You did that crazy stuff even in Argentina?]
[Giselle: Oh come on, back home, I did it legally with prisoners in the usual prison.]
I really don’t get what’s legal about that.
But since that’s how things are there, I try to make an effort to understand.
*
[‘RabidSquirrel’ donates 10,000 won!]
– Uchiha Name-dara: Hahaha… nearly died, you rascal! This NoName here will call you the strongest!!!
“Stop making fun of my voice. I never said that. Ayayay…!”
The next morning after being stricken with severe muscle pain, as soon as I turned on the broadcast, all sorts of precious comments flowed in with the donations.
There wasn’t even a need to look for highlights again.
[Video Share – ‘ArabianNameet’ shared with 100,000!]
[NoName Scissors Whip Classic Moment] – ‘2053 France National Exchange Tournament Semifinals Republic of Korea vs Argentina’
– LOL.
Wow.
😲😲😲😲😲
– Is there really someone who uses entertainment skills in practice?
– The match lasted 30 minutes, and if the highlights are 20 minutes, what are we supposed to do? LOL.
– They fought like crazy for 30 minutes.
[‘Ream’ donates 10,000 won!]
– How can the first half and second half differ this much? I thought it was about to be a reversal.
[‘KDU’ donates 10,000 won!]
– While others felt like ‘Magic Battle Players’, Giselle felt like a living weapon.
The viewers produced content on their own and reacted on their own.
Honestly, would the broadcast still run well without me?
The thought of free-riding briefly crossed my mind, but I participated in the conversation with a sense of professional duty.
“Guys. You said she was weak. Giselle Fischer was the hardest opponent I’ve faced so far?”
– For real, LOL.
– How is that person even considered human?
– I thought I was fighting against an alien throughout the match.
– I mean, you’ve beaten champions from Europe and the USA; how can she be weak? LOL.
– Fischer is actually quite versatile. There’s no area she can’t cover.
– When she cast boundary magic and break spells, I immediately thought this was a real variable.
– Like Liu Bei hiding his intelligence!
Giselle destroyed 51% of the barrier just in the second half.
The viewers, realizing I was experiencing such overwhelming pressure, began to increase their worries dramatically.
[‘BearBearBear’ donates 30,000 won!]
– Typical NoName chat: Pumping up the opponent but ultimately, Na-me wins it all. Is that you again, Big Name?
– Today’s broadcast was so fulfilling, LOL.
– I watched the entire thing, LOL.
– So how did you win, exactly? LOL.
– GOAT in human history!
– I worship Great NoName, the ultimate!
[‘BearBearBear’ donates 30,000 won!]
– There is no ten-year-old girl who has defeated a monster with thirteen tentacles. If you see her while V-tubing, please throw your phone out the window immediately.
[‘PepsiBag’ donates 10,000 won!]
– Name-Ritan Ghost Story, whoa!
“Are you enjoying this?”
I glared at the viewers sternly.
At first, those who posted ‘LOL’ began to lower their heads as the atmosphere grew serious.
As a mood of restraint settled in, I smiled brightly and said,
“I’m happy everyone is having fun too. Heh, no worries.”
