The roar of the crowd had long faded, replaced by a dull throb in Sayaka's ears as she slowly stood up.
Her legs wobbled.
The intense heat that had surged through her moments ago… had vanished. All that remained now was the sting of blood on her arms, the trembling ache in her shoulders, and the heavy breath of someone who had just climbed out of a hurricane.
"Medical squad incoming!" a professor shouted from the stage.
Two healers — clad in silver robes and glowing gauntlets — rushed in from the sidelines. Sayaka looked at the girl she'd defeated; she was unconscious, her clothes scorched and her blade in fragments.
I didn't mean to go that far…
"Relax, young lady. You both need treatment," one of the medics said gently, casting a green-glowing glyph above her.
The warmth of the spell coursed through her body, sealing cuts, soothing bruises, and numbing the pain.
Above the arena, a loud voice echoed:
"Sayaka of Class 1-A — QUALIFIED for the second round of the final examination!"
The crowd stirred again — now less mocking, more… confused. Whispering. Questioning.
She heard their voices, distant.
"How'd she do that without mana?"
"Wasn't she a zero?"
"Is she using some cursed sword?"
Let them talk, she thought. Let them wonder.
As she was about to walk off the field, a familiar figure approached — black coat swaying in the wind, red eyes as distant as ever.
Dev.
He didn't smile.
He didn't even make eye contact.
"Congratulations," he said. "But not what I expected."
"Anyway… I won't be around for your next trial. I've got an errand."
His voice was soft. Cold. Calculated — as always.
And before Sayaka could reply — he was already gone.
...That guy never lets me respond, huh.
Two hours later.
Sayaka limped back from the medical room toward the auditorium, where the second trial — the Magic and Elemental Energy Test — would begin soon.
Her footsteps were slow. Her sword was heavier than ever.
Magic and elemental… I'm doomed.
She walked past the enchanted fountains at the corridor's edge when—
PING
Her brain tingled. Her vision shook.
And then it appeared.
That screen.
Just like the first time.
A floating purple window hovered in front of her eyes:
"Do you still want to continue?"
Sayaka froze.
Her heart skipped.
"Took ya long enough, Missy!"
She blinked.
"...What?"
"Ah right, forgot my manners! It's me again — SYSTEM-CHAN, your ever-so-reliable, slightly dysfunctional, questionably-legal assistant!!"
The voice was… absurd.
Male-ish, high-pitched, like someone doing a bad impersonation of a stand-up comedian in a bucket helmet. It echoed inside her mind with the grace of a hiccupping robot.
"Sooo sorry for ghosting ya after the trauma-bomb beatdown from earlier. I had to… um… go through an update! Yeah! Patch notes and all. That old man — what's his name — 'Its some sage'? Yeah, he triggered something weird in me. Freakin' fossils always mess with my processors!"
Sayaka stared blankly.
...What in the world?
Another window popped open beside the first one.
"System Rebooted Successfully. Do you require assistance for Magic/Elemental Energy Trial?"
Two options appeared:
✅ YES❌ NO
The voice continued:
"Now, I know you're manaless, hopeless, magicless, and confidence-deficient, BUT worry not! I am BACK and I've got spells, hacks, and tricks that would make even a high elf cry blood. Soooooo... wanna roll with me again? Just say the word, girl!"
Sayaka stared at the glowing "YES" and "NO" buttons.
Her hands still trembled from the earlier fight.
Her heart was still echoing with Dev's distant words.
But something in her chest stirred again.
Hope?
Maybe.
But this time — it was layered with something sharper.
Resolve.
She raised her finger.
"…Welcome back, System," she whispered.
And pressed YES.