Explosive Education - The Day Rin Accidentally Invented a Spell

The dream started like most of her nights back on Earth.

Flickering fluorescent lights. Cheap ramen on a dusty kotatsu. The hum of her tiny fridge-broken, still running. The world was muted, gray.

Rin sat at her desk, eyes locked to a screen full of spreadsheets that blurred together into unreadable static. Outside her apartment window, the city buzzed without her. Life moved on.

Without her.

---

Her job had been soul-crushing. She was replaceable. Forgotten. She showed up early, left late, and no one noticed. Not even when she stopped smiling. Not even when she started breaking.

Her phone vibrated. Another notification.

"Reminder: Rent Due Tomorrow."

Another one.

"Mom: Why don't you try being more like your cousin?"

And another.

"Boss: Need you to come in on Sunday. No pay, but you're a team player, right?"

The final blow came weeks later: a termination letter stapled with a coupon for coffee.

The universe was mocking her.

She walked home in the rain that night, plastic bag in hand, soaked to the bone. At the crosswalk, the light turned red. She didn't care.

And that's when Truck-kun met her face-to-face.

Rin jolted awake in her dorm bed, the dream still echoing in her mind like a cruel joke. Sweat soaked her forehead, and her fists were clenched around her blanket.

For a long while, she just stared at the ceiling.

> "That life is gone... but the pain stayed."

She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Okay. Fine. No more crying. I went through lava, got frost-punched by a giant, time-skipped through evolution like a protein bar, and I'm not about to be clowned by some stuck-up wand jockeys."

She dressed quickly and stormed out.

It was time for her first official class.

---

Elemental Theory 101: Please Don't Explode

Professor Melfin was a walking fashion disaster. His robe shifted colors like a disco ball having a panic attack. His beard had glitter in it. Unironically.

"Welcome, my precious embryos of magic!" he declared, throwing chalk at the wall. It exploded into butterflies.

Rin narrowed her eyes. He's probably been drinking potions.

Today's lesson: Basic fire spells.

The assignment?
Create a fire spark. Simple. Harmless. Embarrassingly easy.

Rin watched students around her summon flickers of flame with ease.

The smug noble girl next to her conjured a full tea set made of fire and sipped from a flaming cup.

Rin gritted her teeth.

"Okay. Just... flow your mana," she muttered, following the steps.

Nothing.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Someone behind her snickered. "Maybe she needs firewood."

"Or matches."

Rin's eye twitched.

---

She thought about her life. The forgotten birthdays. The numb years. The pain that never got a name.

And then... she didn't think anymore.

She clenched her hand, not channeling mana-just everything.

> "I'm tired of being overlooked."
"I will NOT be weak again."

BOOOOM.

Her desk exploded in a cyclone of fire and raw force.
Chairs flipped.
One poor student was launched into the ceiling, where he dangled like a sad chandelier.
Professor Melfin's hat caught fire and sang a baritone opera note before vanishing through a window.

Dead silence.

Smoke curled around Rin's hair. Her eyes were glowing faintly.

"...Oops."

A floating crystal zipped down and scanned the blast radius.

> [Analyzing Spell Type...]
[Result: Unknown. Classification: Instinctual Burst Magic - 'Unstable Kinetic Flame Vortex Type-0']
[Estimated Lethality: Yes.]

Melfin, now hatless and a little crispy, stared at Rin.

"...Miss Rin," he wheezed, "how would you like to be forcibly transferred to the Advanced Experimental Magic Program?"

She blinked. "Does it come with better seating?"

"No."

"...Do they at least have insurance?"

"Absolutely not."

She shrugged.
"Sure. Why not."

---

Meanwhile...

The student stuck in the ceiling groaned weakly.

"...Can someone... get me down?"

Professor Melfin summoned a ladder.

It exploded.

-