Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Preparing the Defense (2)

In general, Heroes are not greatly affected by aging.

Even those in their forties and fifties often appeared to be in their late twenties, and elderly Heroes in their seventies and eighties were no different from middle-aged folks in their forties if they maintained themselves well.

Among the most exceptional cases was Chancellor Ryu Jeonga, a witch who had lived for 150 years while maintaining the appearance of a young child.

This applied not only to appearance but to combat ability as well.

Since a Hero's body was not greatly affected by aging, they remained powerful even in old age.

The only caveat was that they'd stopped maintaining themselves after retirement, so they weren't comparable to their active days.

Crucially, the mana a Hero accumulated was permanent.

The passage of time would never cause their use of Aura, magic, or similar abilities to deteriorate.

That was why a well-maintained Hero like Jo Seongung could enter an SS-rank dungeon as a retired Hero and deliver a performance that didn't fall short of his prime.

"Jo Seongung isn't the only well-maintained Hero around."

Florian Academy was overflowing with professors.

Though not at their peak, most of them diligently maintained themselves and led devoted lives as professors.

Their combat instincts would be somewhat dulled, of course, but with their wealth of experience, that would hardly be a major issue.

In other words, if I gathered the Academy's professors, they'd represent a fighting force that would put most major guilds to shame.

Tap— tap—

"This should be enough."

I rubbed my bleary eyes and hit the save button.

The material I'd stayed up all night creating had turned out to a satisfying quality.

─Florian Professor Party Compositions.hwp

If I could put them to proper use, professors were the single best fighting force to deploy during the Academy Collapse Event.

However, in the original game, the professors were not a force you could properly utilize.

They were all strong, knowledgeable, and prideful, which meant they absolutely refused to listen to a mere student.

So no matter how much information I had, the professors just fumbled around uselessly and ended up spectating on the sidelines during the event.

But the current me was different.

I wasn't some nameless student from the game — I was one of the Academy's universally recognized top professors, acknowledged by every colleague.

No matter how prideful they were, they'd damn well listen if the order came from me.

Their efficient deployment would be the key to raiding this event.

"Preparations are going smoothly. Let's see, two days until the event?"

Normally, the event began three days after Ryu Jeonga's warning.

But in this goddamn twisted timeline, it wouldn't be strange for anything to change.

For all I knew, the event could start right this moment.

"Surely not, though, right? Lie Xiao hasn't even arrived yet."

That was beyond my control, so I decided to clasp my hands together and pray.

Thankfully, Lie Xiao and Zhuge Soyon arrived before the event began.

***

"Kyaaaah!"

"Lie Xiao! Please look over here!"

From the Academy's front gate onward, Lie Xiao was met with tremendous popularity.

A procession welcoming Lie Xiao lined the entrance, and the number of students gathered was staggering.

I'd only known in the abstract that he was famous, but seeing it like this, his popularity truly hit home.

Lee Yeeun, who was gazing out the window alongside me, spoke.

"As expected of Lie Xiao. They say he's the second most popular Hero in Asia right now."

"Second? Who's first?"

Lee Yeeun made a baffled expression.

"Professor, you're thicker-skinned than I thought."

"What are you talking about?"

"Um... do you really not know?"

Lee Yeeun's face turned bewildered.

I understood why she reacted that way.

In my original world, if a friend said they didn't know who Son Heung-min was, I would've reacted the same way — how is that possible?

On top of that, I wasn't even an ordinary person — I worked in the Hero industry.

When I thought about it that way, not knowing Asia's most famous Hero was absurd.

But I had an excuse.

In the game, the current point in the story focused exclusively on the Academy, so famous Heroes simply didn't appear.

So of course I wouldn't know.

"Professor, do you not even watch the news?"

"You know my schedule — why would you ask? Where would I find the time?"

"Ah, fair point. You are really busy."

Lee Yeeun seemed to accept that and nodded.

The area near the front gate was swarming with people.

Lie Xiao was greeting them one by one with his good-natured smile, providing fan service.

Zhuge Soyon, watching Lie Xiao, wore a deeply sour expression.

At this rate, getting them to my office wouldn't be easy.

Lee Yeeun seemed to share the thought, as she stood up.

"I'll go bring them over."

"I can go too."

"If you go, Professor... um, I think it'll just get more chaotic, so please just stay here."

About ten minutes later, Lee Yeeun returned with Lie Xiao and Zhuge Soyon.

"Professor, I'm here!"

Perhaps happy to see a familiar face after so long, Zhuge Soyon greeted me cheerfully.

Comparing this to our first meeting, the change was deeply moving.

"Good to see you. It's nice to see your face after so long."

"Hehe. Same here."

During the Pacific Dungeon expedition, Zhuge Soyon's demeanor had warmed up considerably.

Though this warmth was strictly reserved for me and me alone.

"Soyon, it's been a while since you've seen your unnie too — aren't you happy?"

Lee Yeeun approached Zhuge Soyon first with a friendly smile.

Zhuge Soyon promptly crumpled her face and scoffed.

"Unnie? What's there to brag about being old? Must be nice being ancient. I'm going to stay seventeen forever."

"Huh?"

Lee Yeeun's jaw dropped at the verbal abuse, which had only gotten worse since they'd last met.

Lie Xiao apologized as always.

"I'm sorry...... Zhuge Soyon, we agreed you wouldn't act like this, so why the spite?"

"Hmph. She started it by pulling rank with her age."

"No, haa......"

What a deeply meaningful sigh.

If just bringing Zhuge Soyon alone was this bad, how much harder would it have been with Wang Sheng too?

"You've come a long way, so please unpack and rest a bit first. It's a humble place, but you can stay at my apartment."

"Oh? Understood."

Lie Xiao seemed to find it unnecessary, but from my end, I needed to keep him nearby until the event started.

To buy as much time as possible, I brought the two of them to my home.

My apartment was an ordinary 40-pyeong unit, comfortable enough for three.

"Why do you live somewhere so cramped? Should I buy you a house?"

But apparently it was cramped to Zhuge Soyon.

"I'll take the thought. I've already got more space than I need."

"Hmm~ You're surprisingly common in your tastes, Professor."

Common tastes.

Well, I was someone who now had the wealth and prestige to live extravagantly in front of others.

Yet some inertia from my previous life kept me from doing so.

Common tastes was a fitting description for me.

Lie Xiao chimed in as well.

"A home is a matter of personal preference. I think places like this are quite nice sometimes."

I'd worried they might complain about the discomfort during their stay, but fortunately, despite calling it cramped, both seemed satisfied.

***

Early the next morning, we departed for the Academy.

We decided to get there early before another crowd-related disaster could unfold.

Lie Xiao briefly shared his thoughts on being this popular even in Korea.

"It's a blessing to have so many people who care about me."

A model answer, exactly what you'd expect from Lie Xiao.

Zhuge Soyon, however, offered the exact opposite opinion.

"That idiot's got celebrity syndrome. He thinks being a Hero makes him an entertainer. Just kill monsters well and call it a day — what's with the fan service?"

Dissatisfaction leaked from Zhuge Soyon's tone.

Being swept up in crowds every time she went anywhere with Lie Xiao might be her grievance.

"This is the paper I'd like you two to help with. Read through it first."

I set the printed paper I'd prepared in front of the two of them.

Both accepted it with interested expressions.

The event would begin at the earliest today, at the latest tomorrow.

This paper would buy enough time.

The two of them turned the first page.

Apparently it was an unexpected topic, as Lie Xiao expressed his surprise.

"Tam... ing?"

"Yes. I understand it's a rather unfamiliar subject."

Monster taming.

A field completely unrelated to anything I'd done before.

Their surprise was only natural.

"Something piqued my interest, so I researched it extensively. Since it's outside my specialty, there may be some issues, so I'd appreciate your help."

"No... it's just that......"

"Among the people I know, Lie Xiao is the Hero who controls his power with the most precision. And Soyon is a genius girl recognized across all of China."

The bewilderment on Lie Xiao's and Zhuge Soyon's faces showed no sign of fading.

Strangely, the more they listened to me, the more confused their expressions became.

Regardless, both of them read my paper all the way through.

Their expressions were so grave throughout that it made me restless.

"What did you think?"

I waited for their impressions, but their firmly sealed lips showed no sign of opening.

I understood that taming was an unfamiliar field, but I hadn't expected this extreme a reaction.

The strangeness of their reaction set off alarm bells in my head.

I didn't know what was happening, but something was seriously off.

"Um... can we talk?"

The one who broke the seemingly eternal silence was Lie Xiao.

"I don't understand."

"Excuse me?"

"My dull mind simply cannot comprehend it. But perhaps Soyon may have grasped your profound intent, Professor."

What was he talking about?

It wasn't easy material, but it certainly wasn't difficult enough to warrant this kind of response.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of taming should have been able to follow along.

I pressed for an answer with my eyes, but Lie Xiao refused to open his mouth to the very end.

In the end, my only hope was Zhuge Soyon.

"Soyon... hm?"

The problem was that Zhuge Soyon's reaction was also far from normal.

She was trembling all by herself, her expression shifting wildly from moment to moment.

Sensing something was wrong, I was about to call her name when—

Zhuge Soyon's mouth opened.

"This is... an innovation."

"An innovation?"

What was she talking about now?

Since when did making taming a bit easier warrant the word "innovation"?

"Capturing monsters alive and domesticating them! Only you could think of something like this, Professor."

The moment I heard Zhuge Soyon's answer, something inside me shattered.

A memory of something I'd once written flickered through my mind.

***

▶ Let me teach you what monster taming is.

─Monster taming is one of the bugs that makes the game easier to progress through.

─Sure, they call it a bug, but it's not a bad thing. The devs didn't intend it, but the game's got such high freedom that all kinds of playstyles are possible.

─It's not like it's insanely useful or anything, but for certain classes, the difference between using it and not is huge, so learn it. Here's how you do it......

***

My foundational premise had been wrong.

Because I was so accustomed to monster taming, I'd been laboring under a colossal misunderstanding all this time.

I was a player, and they were NPCs.

Our baseline knowledge of the game's settings had been divergent from the very start.

This game had never had a "monster taming" mechanic to begin with.

Monster taming was something I had created by exploiting a loophole in the game's system and then slapped a name on!

Naturally, the game's NPCs couldn't possibly have known about such a thing.

"In my opinion, this is fully achievable! This is an incredible invention!"

Wait, wait.

Please stop.

My inner plea was in vain as Zhuge Soyon's voice only grew louder.

Excitement radiated from her voice.

"Monster taming has boundless potential — it can be applied in an enormous variety of ways! Professor, let's finish the experiment quickly and publish the paper!"

I'd sworn to keep a low profile.

I'd sworn not to stick my neck out and create unnecessary headaches for myself.

Zhuge Soyon continued speaking as if singing.

"Once a paper on monster taming is published, it will easily spawn hundreds, thousands of derivative papers every year!"

"And it will create an incalculable number of related jobs! And every single one of those people will praise your name, Professor!"

"But that's not even the half of it! What you've created isn't just a paper. You've just created an entirely new academic discipline!"

"In a few years, every Academy in the world will establish departments and courses related to monster taming. And your name will always appear on the very first page of every textbook they use."

"Of course, every student in the field will want to attend a lecture given personally by you, Professor. And why wouldn't they? You are the one who created the discipline itself — to them, you are the Creator!"

Just listening gave me a headache.

All those people seeking me out meant that much more work on my plate.

What I'd thought was a wise choice was, in reality, the worst ticking time bomb — one that would twist my path into knots.