Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Clairvoyance (1)

After the Academy Collapse Event ended, much had changed.

First, all lectures at Florian Academy were terminated due to the aftermath of the incident.

In its current state, running the Academy normally was simply impossible.

For grades, depending on the lecture's progress, some professors held only a final exam at their own discretion, while others assigned final grades based solely on existing evaluations.

For my lecture, I skipped the last exam and calculated the final scores from the four tests already administered.

Additionally, this incident made the existence of Evil Gods known to the entire world.

A third kind of being—neither human nor monster.

Evil Gods were calamities wielding unknown powers, such as opening and closing Gates.

People confronted with these incomprehensible forces couldn't help but be terrified.

This incident had at least occurred within the Academy, but what if those red Gates opened in civilian areas?

It'd be a living hell—that much was obvious.

─US government: 'We will establish a defense system against red Gates within two months.'
─Chinese government says: 'The threat of red Gates has been exaggerated.'

Governments around the world used every pretty word to reassure their citizens.

Most people didn't trust the governments' countermeasures, but it was better than nothing.

However, not a single nation had actually produced a concrete solution.

The evidence for that assumption sat in my inbox.

▼Inbox (99+)
─This is the US government. We wish to establish contact with you, Professor.
─This is the European Union. We need your assistance, Professor.
─This is the government of the People's Republic of China.
.
.
.

In this incident, my name had been plastered across the front page of newspapers worldwide.

I hadn't seen it myself—my teaching assistant told me.

The lineup of names alone was dazzling.

None other than the governments of various nations!

Their desperation was such that even the Chinese government had sent an extraordinarily polite email.

Their business was all the same.

Having successfully defended the Academy against the Evil Gods, they wanted me to tell them what to do if they were attacked.

I wanted nothing more than to write out each Evil God's traits and strategies, but since I couldn't reveal the source of that information, I couldn't share it.

To be perfectly honest, the most beneficial thing they could do was stop worrying and sleep with their legs stretched out.

No Evil God was going to attack them anytime soon, and if one ever gathered enough power to launch an assault, it'd be impossible for any nation to defend against it on their own anyway.

"Sorry, but... there's no other way."

I had nothing particularly useful to tell them, so I'd have to reply that I too had fended off the attack by the skin of my teeth and was equally in the dark.

They'd be disappointed that I had no real countermeasure to offer, but I'd vaguely conveyed my willingness to help if a crisis arose, so it'd provide at least some small comfort.

By the time I'd finished tweaking the content slightly for each reply and sent them all out, Lee Yeeun walked into my office.

"Pro~fessor! I brought the experiment result data!"

"Good work. Put it over there."

"Yes sir!"

After the semester ended, my lab was busier than usual.

Since we'd already started the Monster Taming paper, I figured we might as well see it through—so I worked my slaves hard.

The Academy students had gone home after the semester ended, but lab slaves had no such thing as freedom.

After a solid week of round-the-clock labor, the paper was now at the final review stage—mine.

Satisfying progress.

This was why you became a professor.

"How about we hold a year-end party slash team dinner once we finish presenting this paper?"

"A year-end party? Oh......"

The kids currently in the lab were the ones from Professor Yun Seongyeop's lab, where I'd been serving as interim professor after his dismissal.

I'd grown attached, but that had been the agreement from the start—I'd have to let them go.

"Have you considered taking those kids into the lab permanently?"

An unexpected suggestion came from Lee Yeeun's mouth.

She'd struggled to get along with them at first, but now she seemed to have grown fond of them, her expression saying she'd miss them.

"If they want to stay, I have no intention of stopping them."

"Really?"

Lee Yeeun's face lit up.

Teaching them had been a hassle, but once I had tasks to delegate, having researchers around was undeniably convenient.

Now that I'd tried it, I understood why other professors played the slave-driving boss.

"They'll all say yes! There's no lab as good as yours, Professor!"

"If you raise my expectations for nothing and they all leave, what then?"

"Come on, don't worry! When has your top student ever been wrong?"

Plenty of times.

Just recently, she'd botched a calculation while writing a paper and ruined the results.

"Sure, I suppose."

"...Why do you look like you don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you. By the way, how's your paper coming along?"

"Good! I think I'll finish it in time for the Summer Academy Paper Presentation!"

The Seoul Academy Paper Presentation.

It was a major event where all professors and researchers from Seoul's academies gathered.

Papers submitted during the review period were first screened by a vote among Academic Council professors to select outstanding papers, which were then presented at the conference.

The outstanding papers were then voted on by all professors and researchers in attendance, with one paper per field chosen as the Best Paper.

In the game, I'd had no connections among professors or researchers and had never attended, but this time I planned to participate as a professor.

"If it's this presentation, you'll be competing against me for the Best Paper award."

"Huh? Oh......"

The Taming-related paper I was currently working on was also slated for this summer's presentation.

The field was magic.

Same as Lee Yeeun's paper.

Lee Yeeun waved her hands frantically.

"Come on, as if I could compete with you, Professor. We're on completely different levels."

"There's no need to be so pessimistic. Your paper is more than good enough."

"I appreciate just hearing that."

Lee Yeeun seemed to think I was just being nice, but it wasn't empty flattery.

This paper of Lee Yeeun's was the one evaluated in the game as having elevated the entire human race's capabilities.

My strategy guides had earned high praise among users, sure, but they were nothing compared to Lee Yeeun—the NPC called a Tier 1 support character.

"Well then, I'll go prepare my paper too!"

"Sure."

After Lee Yeeun returned to the lab, I began preparing to go out.

A promise I'd made with a student—one from before enrollment even, to be fulfilled after the semester ended.

The time had come to keep my promise to her.

***

An Seri.

The first Playable Character I'd met.

My connection with her had started by chance in the library.

A truly coincidental beginning.

When I first devised my plan to raise a party that would save the world, An Seri wasn't part of it.

Back then, I was a nobody professor with nothing to my name, and An Seri was a child competing for the top spot among incoming freshmen.

What first held our relationship together was a promise: if she took my lecture, I'd help her find Clairvoyance.

Clairvoyance.

Geumok Guild's treasure.

A legendary artifact that had elevated Geumok Guild to the pinnacle of Korean guilds—only to vanish without a trace.

Clairvoyance was critically important not just to Geumok but to An Seri personally.

Its performance alone was a broken artifact approaching best-in-slot, but since Clairvoyance was designed specifically for An Seri, the synergy was absurd.

How absurd? An Seri with Clairvoyance went toe-to-toe with Park Seohu in the game's mid-to-late stages.

I arrived at the airport.

I'd come fairly early, but An Seri was already there waiting.

"Professor, you're late."

"That's harsh. I'm twenty minutes early."

"If you arrived after a lady, you're late."

"Lady, please—you don't even have your Hero license yet. You're still a baby."

"Tch. So, how do I look today?"

An Seri in casual clothes struck a pose like a magazine model.

Having only ever seen her in uniform, seeing her in civilian clothes was refreshing.

Over a sleeveless off-shoulder top in green, she wore a silver breastplate. Opera gloves reaching to her elbows left her shoulders and upper arms bare.

Below, she wore notably short shorts, with tall boots reaching below the knee and knee-high socks underneath that emphasized her pale thighs.

A short cape was draped across her back, with a large bow slung over it.

Light as the outfit looked, it was armor crafted by Geumok Guild's blacksmith—its functionality would be considerable.

When I used an Appraisal skill and examined it closely, "considerable" was an understatement.

"Let's see... alligator leather sourced only from South America, triple-layered Enchant, and on top of that, a priest's blessing. You can't buy this even with money. Flawless."

Seeing An Seri's equipment made me simultaneously envious and indignant.

In the game, they'd only ever given her basic armor, yet in reality she was decked out in broken gear like this?

"That's not what I was asking about... whatever, forget it. Let's go."

I headed toward the ticket counter to buy our tickets.

But An Seri's reaction was strange.

"Where are you going?"

"To buy tickets."

"Pfft, that one was actually a little funny. Who knew you had a talent for comedy, Professor."

"Huh?"

Instead of answering, An Seri headed in the opposite direction.

I followed behind her as if in a daze.

I soon understood why she'd reacted that way.

"I'm Im Changun, the captain who'll be flying the young lady and Professor Cha today."

An Seri's private jet.

Not the guild's—An Seri's personal private jet.

The sheer scale of it left me speechless.

Not once during the game had I ever gotten the impression she was wealthy.

No wonder they called it a plot-hole-riddled shit game.

"Departing now."

Following the captain's instructions, the plane took off.

The destination was Brazil.

That was where the current holder of Clairvoyance resided.

"Ugh, to think I have to set foot in Brazil......"

An Seri's face was full of worry.

And for good reason—Brazil was a notoriously dangerous country that deserved the label "living hell."

Even in reality, South America's mafias wielded influence rivaling or exceeding the government's.

In a region like that, once individuals gained power that could overwhelm armies, the outcome was predictable.

Currently, all of South America was a lawless zone where governments had ceased to function.

Each country had been carved into hundreds, even thousands of districts, each exploited by mafias under the guise of "protection."

It was a scene reminiscent of medieval Europe, where nobles divided territories to rule.

It was so bad that even the base of SH—the criminal organization that until recently had terrorized the entire world—had been in Brazil.

"Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll protect you."

"Having you by my side is reassuring. But since we don't know what might happen, wouldn't it have been better to bring guild members?"

"If we borrow the guild's help, keeping Clairvoyance will be difficult."

"True. That was a slip of the tongue."

Sharp as ever, An Seri immediately grasped my meaning.

If the two of us retrieved Clairvoyance, it would be An Seri's personal trophy. But if guild members came along, it'd become Geumok Guild's trophy.

An Seri was capable but young.

Within Geumok Guild, most key officers supported the eldest son, An Sehyeon.

There was no way they'd sit idly by watching An Seri gain wings.

Better to cut off any seeds of trouble before they could sprout.

After nearly a full day of travel, we arrived in Brazil.

The aircraft landed at São Paulo Airport.

"We've arrived."

Following the captain's announcement, we disembarked.

The most dangerous country in the world—Brazil.

The moment we arrived, we could see that its reputation was well deserved.

"Th-this is terrible! Young lady!"

"The airport is crawling with armed men!"

Dozens of mafia members had gathered around the aircraft in an instant.

As An Seri and I stepped out, they offered us a welcome greeting.

"Well, well~ how long has it been since we had guests! Welcome, welcome."

The mafia members were all armed to the teeth with firearms.

Awakened didn't use firearms.

Firearms couldn't be used inside dungeons, couldn't channel mana, and were therefore unsuitable weapons for the Awakened.

Only a handful among them showed any trace of mana.

In short—small fry.

"Why's it just you two? Where are the other passengers?!"

"Professor, I'll handle this."

"Go ahead."

"Ignoring me? Do these punks know who we are?! We're the ones who run São Paulo's—"

An Seri fired a single arrow.

That alone was enough to clean them up.

SWOOOOSH—!

By the time the sound reached them, it was already over.

The shockwave from the arrow's flight alone left the mafia members collapsed and battered.

"Ngh... urgh......"

An Seri grabbed the most intact-looking man by the face and lifted him up.

The fact that he was still conscious meant he was probably an Awakened.

"I think we need to have a talk."

"Hiii, hiiieek!"

An Seri was wearing a smile as bright as an angel's.

Though to them, she must have looked like the devil.