LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 0 - Prologue
A status bar suddenly appeared before mankind at the dawn of the 21st century.
The world was thrown into chaos when a holographic screen appeared in front of everyone’s eyes simultaneously, but only for a moment.
It was discovered to be a useful system for measuring and harnessing individual abilities, and people quickly accepted it as a part of their lives.
The world was already full of things that didn’t make sense.
***
With a magical boy and girl defeating monsters from the gate and an exorcist running around haunting ghosts, a holographic status window was not surprising.
Anyway, the world’s myriad talents were organized and quantified with the advent of the status bar.
Raw talents like looks, intelligence, stardom, artistry, and physical ability blossomed into specific talents like idol talent, business talent, athlete talent, painter talent, teacher talent, magical girl talent, exorcist talent, and so on.
This depends on the direction in which an individual lives.
These specific talents are graded and labeled as ‘
hobby
,’ ‘
aspiration
,’ or ‘
professional
,’ depending on the owner’s direction of use.
It’s usually during the teenage years that these specific talents blossom and begin to be nurtured in earnest, giving them the name
‘aspiration’
.
Depending on the type of talent, some aspire to college, some aspire to debut, and some aspire to get a job.
“Ouch, I messed up on that mock test!”
“If you’re going to prepare for a competition, sign up for a special class at the academy.”
“Please let me get into that magical girl interview tomorrow.”
“We’re right next door to the study cafe! Let’s have dinner after your Potions lab.”
“How often does this damn institute take the Common Assessment?!”
Skills are honed, scores are raised, dreams are fulfilled, and dreams are not fulfilled.
She wanted to showcase her talent, “
Dude, you can’t work hard with a D-rank talent!
”.
This is a story of a high school sophomore who didn’t have enough talent to showcase.
***
Swish─!
A silver arrow sliced through the center with a sharp wind noise.
A bat-like monster crashed to the ground after being struck by the arrow.
A cloud of dust rose, and people cheered. From there, the video shakes like crazy and soon ends.
The person filming it had forgotten he was holding a cell phone and was clapping.
I skimmed through the comments, which were full of praise and admiration for the magical girl, and clicked on the next video that popped up in the algorithm.
Once again, it was a video about a magical girl.
The video was a simulated interview in a neat studio.
I quickly moved on to the next video, as the Gangbuk Magical Girl Academy was boring me with their interview preparation.
Academy, Training Institute, Center…
It seems like there are different types of educational institutions for different talents, but in reality, they are all
‘academies’
.
A place to take tests and assessments, prepare for competitions and contests, and create portfolios.
In the case of the magical girl, it was just named
‘academy’
.
***
Exorcist…
It wasn’t an unfamiliar field.
It was rather familiar because it had many similarities to the
‘magical girl’
I aspired to be.
From the fact that it’s a job that involves fighting something other than humans, to the fact that most of them get hired right out of high school.
To the fact that they take practical assessments like normal entrance exams, to the fact that they manage underage aspirants for a national association or something.
I guess it’s a bit different from magical girls in a way that they don’t claim to be heroes.
I was suddenly intrigued and searched for videos of exorcists in action, but they were all dark because they were filmed at night, so I turned them off after a while.
Honestly, I couldn’t concentrate on anything because it was so dark.
“Tomorrow…”Tomorrow is the day that the results of the Magical Girl departmental application will be released.
The National Magical Girl is eligible to apply from high school students.
For me, this was my second application this year.
And it will probably be my second rejection.
***
【Talent: Magical Girl (Aspiring)】【Name: Baek Iri】【Grade: D】I don’t think my talent would ever get rid of the
‘Aspiring’
designation.
There’s nothing more miserable than being labeled as a
‘hobby’
for a talent you’re not good at.
The world was so unfair.
Some people are born with so many talents that they’re called God’s gifts, while others are stuck with just one.
Why was it that some people are good enough to make a full-time living out of a talent that was labeled a
‘hobby’
but I couldn’t even
‘aspire’
to it?
Suddenly, I realized.
Any talent was good, and I wanted to live the life of an S-rank talent.
The image of the exorcist in the video, pounding something in the darkness, flashed before my eyes.