Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Replacement Members (1)

Florian Academy was turned upside down.

Jeon Taejin, Top Professor of the Magical Research Department.

He had joined hands with an unidentified monster, manipulated Song Seokhwan, and attacked Cha Eunwoo.

This was no ordinary matter.

"Taejin, you've truly lost your mind!"

Chancellor Ryu Jeonga was furious.

A Hero's blade should only ever point at monsters.

A Hero trying to kill another Hero was unthinkable.

Hero society had rules.

Unless it was a sanctioned duel, a Hero must never attempt to kill a person.

Anyone who violated this would be treated not as a Hero, but as a monster.

"Is this what I taught you?! How dare you......"

"Heh, heheh......"

Even someone like Jeon Taejin couldn't wriggle his way out of this incident. He sat bound and restrained in a pitiful state.

"Am I... going to die?"

"Why ask what's obvious?"

"Heheh... I suppose so. I've come too, too far."

Better to die at Ryu Jeonga's hands.

Even if he'd been acquitted, touching Song Seokhwan meant he'd never see a good end.

He'd surely die in the most agonizing way possible, with no one the wiser.

That was the price for crossing Bisang.

"Kehehe... Would one last word before I die be alright?"

"What is it?"

"I saw them. Their power, their authority......"

Jeon Taejin began to cackle.

"Everyone's going to die! Opposing the mighty Evil Gods is madness! Humanity will soon be nothing but a fistful of ash! Teacher, you'll be following me soon enough!"

"You've truly lost your mind."

"No, I haven't! I've witnessed the truth, I tell you!"

At Ryu Jeonga's gesture, the executioners dragged Jeon Taejin away.

She had no desire to watch the end of her deranged disciple any longer.

"Teacher, Teacher, open your eyes! Teacher, Teacher! Teach--!"

Ryu Jeonga denied Jeon Taejin's words, but in truth, she had known for some time.

She didn't know precisely when the crisis would come.

It could be ten years from now, twenty years, or it might arrive as soon as next year.

What was certain was that humanity would face an enormous crisis before long.

She recalled the Dragon's Roost, which had driven humanity to the brink of extinction.

Humanity had lost far too many Heroes then.

"This time is different. Humanity has a key now."

She was sick of only ever being on the defensive.

They needed to gather their strength and fight back.

They needed to raise the children.

There was only one person who could serve as that rallying point.

"Professor Cha... I have no choice but to put my faith in that child."

***

After I collapsed, Lee Yeeun apparently kept busy handling the remaining aftermath.

Everyone who'd been inside the dungeon, myself included, was transported to the hospital.

All of us had serious injuries, but fortunately none were life-threatening.

After that, Song Seokhwan turned himself in and confessed everything.

What happened inside the dungeon was concluded to be the fault of the monster and Jeon Taejin, but he also confessed to bullying Seo Dayun and received a one-year suspension.

Jeon Taejin was brought before a Hero tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Or at least, that's what was publicly announced.

Most people didn't know this, but in reality, life imprisonment didn't exist in Hero tribunals.

Confining an Awakened requires an enormous amount of resources. But there weren't tax dollars to spare on a criminal.

In other words, while it was called life imprisonment on the surface, they secretly carried out the execution behind closed doors.

And so, everything appeared to have been resolved neatly.

Except for one minor problem.

"How long are you planning to stay here?"

"Just a little while."

Song Seokhwan.

It had been two days since this kid occupied the sofa in my office.

Song Seokhwan had been suspended and vacated his dorm room. But claiming he didn't want to go home, he'd nested himself in my office.

"Do you have any intention of going home?"

"Absolutely not. If I go back, my father's going to try to kill me, you know?"

It was half-joking, but about half of it was the truth.

This incident had sent Bisang Guild's stock price plummeting. Song Jihyeok, who valued the guild's reputation, wouldn't leave Song Seokhwan alone.

"For someone saying that, you look pretty relaxed."

"Even my father can't reach me here, right?"

"If your father comes, I'm planning to gladly open the door for him, you know?"

"Why are you being so petty about it?"

Over the past few days, Song Seokhwan's attitude toward me had completely changed.

Before, he'd glared at me like I was his mortal enemy, but now he treated me like a comfortable older brother.

Where's the respect and reverence for your professor?

I was slightly displeased.

The change in attitude was the result of Bonibatus's disappearance.

Bonibatus manipulated people by exploiting the traumas of those it possessed.

Defeating it meant he'd overcome his trauma in his own way.

Song Seokhwan would grow in a better direction.

It was a positive sign in many ways.

But regardless of all that, these were Song Seokhwan's circumstances, not mine.

Unlike the other kids who dropped by occasionally, he was camped out here all day long. I couldn't stand looking at this any longer.

I'd need to have a talk with Song Jihyeok soon.

Knock, knock--

"Professor!"

It must've been a free period, because An Seri's voice came from outside.

"Come in."

The moment I gave permission, An Seri walked in.

Seo Dayun was with her, right behind.

"Hello!"

"Yeah."

"Why's this thing here?"

An Seri pointed her finger at Song Seokhwan and asked.

Song Seokhwan bristled.

"You think I'm some kind of object? Calling me 'this thing.'"

"So why are you here?"

"Because I'm bored, why?"

Song Seokhwan's personality had changed, but his pride was the same as ever.

Not wanting to look weak in front of An Seri, he just blurted out whatever came to mind.

"Seokhwan ran away from home. You'll be seeing him around my office for a while."

"Ugh! What are you, some middle schooler going through a phase? A grown person running away from home."

"Shut up! Why are you telling her that?"

Song Seokhwan and An Seri bickered back and forth.

What an entertaining pair.

Seo Dayun apparently didn't want any part of that childish spectacle and stepped back.

She glanced at my desk and asked.

"Professor, what were you doing?"

"Picking replacement members."

"Replacement members?"

"Thanks to someone causing trouble, all of A-team's kids are in the hospital, so I'm going to be taking in new students to fill the empty spots."

At the mention of his own mess, Song Seokhwan flinched.

An Seri didn't miss the chance to attack.

"You must have it tough, Professor. All because of a certain troublemaker."

"Th-This girl......"

The A-team students had sustained serious injuries.

If they'd been ordinary wounds, they would've recovered quickly, but the power of an Evil God was no trifling thing.

The doctors estimated it would take at least a month for a full recovery.

Originally, I'd planned to just continue classes with three teams.

My class was on an absolute evaluation system anyway.

A reduced headcount wouldn't affect the other students, and above all, fewer students meant less hassle for me, which I preferred.

That thinking changed because of Chancellor Ryu Jeonga.

'You're the hottest professor right now, aren't you?'

'I was just lucky.'

'Oh, spare me the modesty. You don't mind, do you?'

Chancellor Ryu Jeonga made her proposal.

'There are so many students who want to take your class. The course registration period ended ages ago, but... I'll grant an exception, so could you take a few of those students to replace the ones who dropped out?'

She called it a request, but even holding a gun to my head and threatening me would've felt less menacing.

A request made personally by the Academy's Chancellor couldn't be called a request.

'Understood.'

...And then I regretted it.

'Heave-ho! I organized the profiles, so take a look and pick from them.'

'...What is this?'

What TA Lee Yeeun brought wasn't just paperwork -- it was a mountain of paper.

A whopping 877 pages.

Virtually every freshman at the Academy who had room in their schedules had applied.

'Just printing them took forever. Pay me back for the copying costs later. Well, I'm off to do my research.'

TA Lee Yeeun said that and fled.

What a terrible woman.

And I kept her on as a TA for this.

Seo Dayun saw the mountain of documents and was shocked.

"All of this is paper? Wow! It really is paper? How many pages is this?"

"A bit over 800."

"Wow, so the competition rate is 5 to 800? Then only the really amazing students will make it, right?"

"I wish it were that simple. If it were just about entrance exam rankings, I'd line them up and be done with it. But I have to balance them against the other teams."

I needed to complete a new A-team before the next class, but I hadn't even read half yet.

On top of that, I'd need to give those new students separate supplementary lessons, and between one thing and another, I was swamped.

An Seri spoke.

"Come to think of it, doesn't this remind you of when you first created the course?"

"Ah, that time."

Before the entrance ceremony had even happened.

It was in this same office back then, too.

I'd designed a course, but couldn't get enough students, so I'd called An Seri in.

"Life's a funny thing. Back then, we racked our brains trying to expand a measly six students to twenty-two, and now over 800 are flooding in and I'm trying to cut it down to five."

"Right? I was sure it would be a course doomed to fail, and now it's this big."

"That's a bit harsh."

"Hehe."

Honestly, I hadn't expected things to turn out this way either.

I never imagined my course would grow this much, or that my students would grow this much.

An Seri.

She'd grown so wonderfully over these past two months.

The reason An Seri first followed me was because of Clairvoyance.

I confessed something to An Seri that might come as a shock.

"Seri, the truth is, I never intended to give you Clairvoyance."

"...What?"

An Seri's eyes went wide as she asked back.

I explained slowly.

"Being recognized by Clairvoyance is an incredibly arduous thing. Even if I gave it to you, I thought you wouldn't be able to handle it. But I think I was wrong."

An Seri was blank for a moment.

What was she thinking? Did she feel betrayed by me?

The answer that came back was truly unexpected.

"Oh, oh right. Clairvoyance. That's right. I'd forgotten about it."

...The wind was completely knocked out of my sails.

What is this.

The person in question had forgotten all about it, and I was the only one who'd been overthinking it? A little embarrassing.

An Seri said,

"Still, if you tell me where it is, I'll gratefully take it."

She added a small justification on top.

"Honestly, it's true. I used to cling to things like that, but it's different now. I'm confident I can inherit the guild even without something like that."

An Seri smiled, showing her pearly white teeth.

It was a truly wonderful smile.

"That stuff doesn't matter anymore. I'm just taking your class because it's your class, Professor."

Those words made something tighten in my chest.

Was she trying to make me cry? Is this what a teacher's reward feels like?

"What are you even talking about? The people listening feel left out, so quit it with the inside talk."

Just as I was about to savor the moment, Song Seokhwan butted in.

This clueless bastard.

I gave a half-hearted answer.

"It's just what it sounds like. When I first opened the course, there were only six students."

"Oh, who were they?"

"Hmm......"

Recalling wasn't difficult.

"An Seri, Baek Seolhwa, Nam Hyeju, Lee Bongnam, and two others you guys wouldn't know."

"Lee Bongnam?"

An Seri tilted her head curiously.

I was dumbfounded and asked back.

"You don't even know your friend's name? He's on your team."

"Huh?"

An Seri and Seo Dayun looked at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads.

"Who would that even be... Ah!"

Seo Dayun clapped her hands.

"Abraham! You know! His real name is Lee Bongnam."

"Aha."

Abraham? What kind of nonsense is that?

"What's that about?"

"His name is Abraham."

"Abraham? His name is Lee Bongnam."

"He says to call him Abraham."

"What an odd kid."

Song Seokhwan cut in.

"Anyway, you guys can see the Professor's busy, right? So go play outside. Shoo, shoo."

Song Seokhwan waved his hands dismissively, signaling them to leave.

An Seri flared up and shouted.

"Song Seokhwan, you come out too!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're just as much of a nuisance!"

Nice one, Seri.

Thanks to An Seri's efforts, I was able to kick out all the distractions.

Finally, an environment where I could concentrate.

In truth, all I felt was reluctance, and even now I wanted to dump everything on Lee Yeeun and escape, but Lee Yeeun had escaped first.

Life is truly cruel.

Knock, knock--

"Ah, fuck."

Just as I was about to focus, a knock came.

The heavy knock didn't belong to anyone I could identify.

Which meant it wasn't one of the regular visitors.

"Come in."

At my permission, the door opened.

"Haha. Professor Cha, good to see you."

An unexpected guest had come.

What's this person doing here?

Park Seohu's master.

Sword Saint Jo Seongung walked in.