I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy - Chapter 25

Arena Academy was bustling with people, both inside and outside, due to the entrance exam.

The student cafeteria, designated as the waiting area for the examinees taking the exam that day, was in a state of chaos.

The noise showed no signs of subsiding as students formed groups based on their schools, academies, and other affiliations, chatting noisily.

However, while some shared information and chatted to relieve their tension, others kept quiet and waited for their turn in silence.

Nam Seo-hee, who was sitting closest to the entrance, belonged to the latter group.

‘…… I want to leave soon.’

She was the youngest daughter of Namgung Min, the guild master of ‘Chang-gung’, one of the top 10 youth guilds in Korea.

She awakened at the age of 14, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters, and while her talent was outstanding, her motivation was lacking.

Her father, Namgung Min, and the rest of her family didn’t want to pressure her, so they didn’t demand results or grades from her. For this reason, she was able to graduate from the specialized school with fairly average grades.

She found it bothersome to be the center of attention, so she ignored her father’s strong opposition and chose to attend a specialized school in the provinces, far from Seoul, to live in the dormitory.

‘…… I want to sleep.’

Originally, she had planned to laze around at home after graduating from the specialized school, but due to her mother’s not-so-subtle threat, she had no choice but to apply to Arena Academy.

-You’ll be an adult next year, right?

-Since we’ve been feeding, clothing, and raising you until now, from next year onwards, you’ll have to live off the money you earn yourself.

-If you don’t like that, you can help out with the guild work.

Guild work meant entering gates, hunting monsters, and extracting magic stones.

It sounded like a hassle.

Of course, as a 10s guild, it was impossible to join simply because one was the child of the guild master.

However, if she took a separate entrance test, she could join the guild as a junior member, as her skills were outstanding enough to pass. She just hadn’t shown them outwardly.

For this reason, Nam Seo-hee weighed her options.

Joining the guild now versus joining after graduating from the Academy.

Which option would give her a more comfortable life?

The former would be a hassle at first, but if she quickly established her position, she could soon sit back and relax.
The latter would guarantee her a free life for the next four years as long as she maintained her grades.

Wanting immediate comfort rather than a future prospect, she chose the latter and was now waiting for her turn to take the entrance exam.

“Excuse me.”
“……?”

Just as she was starting to feel annoyed by the noisy place, a group of five men and women approached her.

“Are you Nam Seo-hee?”

One of the men, who was quite tall and handsome, stepped forward and asked.

Nam Seo-hee glanced at the five people, who seemed to be around her age, and nodded.

“Feel free to sit down—”

Before the man could finish his sentence, the door of the cafeteria, which had been closed, suddenly opened, and an adult who seemed to be a staff member entered.

The noisy cafeteria fell silent.

The staff member looked around the quiet cafeteria and brought a megaphone to his mouth.

[Examinees in Groups 1 and 2, please follow me. Groups 3 and 4, I’ll come to get you in 20 minutes, so please be ready. By the way, we won’t let you use the bathroom in between.]

As the staff member put down the megaphone, hundreds of people in the cafeteria stood up.

Nam Seo-hee was among the hundreds who stood up, finally able to leave this noisy and boring place.

“We’re in the same group again.”
“……”

The group that had approached her earlier, making her feel bothered, followed her out of the cafeteria.

“My name is Park Cheol-min, and I’m from the Minos Guild……”

And so he began his self-introduction, which she had no interest in hearing.

“This is……”
“Nice to meet you……”

Park Cheol-min started, and the other four introduced themselves as well, but unfortunately, Nam Seo-hee couldn’t remember any of their names.

They were so obvious in their intentions that she had no choice but to block her hearing with her magic.

A guild she had never heard of, and the children of that guild.

‘…… Just like my eldest sister said.’

According to her eldest sister, the students entering the Academy all had their own goals, and the type of people she should stay away from the most were those who tried to form connections, like the five people in front of her.

‘They’re like paparazzi or something……’

After awakening, she had worn an artifact that hindered perception, so her face wasn’t known to the media, yet somehow, they had found out about her and approached her.

On the other hand, the children of the 10s guild, who actually knew her, gave her a casual greeting and kept their distance.

Nam Seo-hee, who had been blocking her hearing with her magic, unblocked it as she entered the main hall.

[From number 1 to 30, please go to the far left. From number 31 to 60,…]

Following the staff member’s instructions, Nam Seo-hee moved to the center.

“Haha, we’re in the same group again.”
“……”

Park Cheol-min, who had been bothering her, followed her again.

Fortunately, the other four had dispersed.

“Yes, thank you for coming. First, we’ll measure your magic power, so please come forward one by one in numerical order and place your hand on this sphere.”

Following the supervisor’s instructions, the examinees began to move.

“Is this Nam Seo-hee, the examinee?”
“Yes.”
“Confirmed. You may begin.”

Nam Seo-hee glanced at the equipment, which was several times larger than the magic power measurement device she had seen at the specialized school, and placed her hand on the crystal sphere, which resembled a crystal ball.

‘Moderately……’

She released a moderate amount of magic towards the sphere.

-Beep.

The sphere emitted light, and a small hologram appeared above it.

[ 47 ]

“Thank you for your hard work. Please proceed to the front and continue the process.”
“Yes. Thank you.”

Forty-seven points. It was a relatively low score for an ability-type awakener, but for Nam Seo-hee, a strengthening-type, it was a sufficiently high score.

After that, there were simple tests of physical strength and reflexes.

“Strengthening and transformation types, please come to this side. Ability types, please go to the left.”

The time for the mock battle, which could be considered the main event of the practical exam, had arrived.

“Nam Seo-hee, the examinee?”
“Yes, I am Nam Seo-hee.”
“Please wait here for a moment.”
“Yes.”

She sat down on the prepared chair as instructed by the supervisor and looked at the transparent, square glass enclosure in front of her.

‘…… It’s white.’

A girl with hair as white as the first snow of winter caught her attention as she fought a monster composed of magic power extracted from magic stones inside the ‘summoner’, a product of the fusion of magic and science, the pinnacle of magical engineering.

The girl had white hair like the first snow of winter, and animal ears that matched her hair, standing erect on her head. And as she jumped and rolled around, a fluffy tail would occasionally peek out.

‘That tail looks so soft……’

If she could hug that tail and sleep with it, how happy would she be?

Nam Seo-hee couldn’t take her eyes off the girl’s bouncing buttocks as she dodged the sharp front legs of the giant man-eating mantis, Mentis, with her sickle-like claws.

Rather than having the upper hand against the fifth-stage monster, the final stage of the mock battle, what was filling Nam Seo-hee’s mind was the desire to hug the girl’s tail.

The girl with white hair was tearing out the eyes of Mentis with her sharp nails when—

“What’s this? We meet again here.”
“……”

Nam Seo-hee frowned slightly for the first time.

It was because of the voice of Park Cheol-min, who had a strangely irritating tone despite his handsome appearance, sitting right next to her.

As soon as he sat down, he started talking nonstop, as if he had a motor in his mouth. Nam Seo-hee thought he was a waste of his good looks, being so loquacious.

“Hmm… she’s not bad. But if she had dodged the front legs just now, it would have been better to go for the legs immediately.”
“……”

Nam Seo-hee’s evaluation of Park Cheol-min.

This man was evaluating the white-haired girl who was taking the exam, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

He was talking about what he would have done as if it mattered.

However, while Park Cheol-min’s words weren’t entirely wrong, he failed to notice that the white-haired girl was taking her time to finish off Mentis, even though she could have done so earlier.

The white-haired girl was excited.

Instead of finishing off Mentis quickly, she was slowly cutting off its legs one by one, as if a well-fed beast was toying with its prey.

“She looks completely foreign, but with that level of skill, it might not be bad to get close to her……”

His eyes were as incompetent as his thoughts.

“Let’s see.”

Park Cheol-min got up from his seat and, using his height to his advantage, peeked at the tablet over the supervisor’s shoulder.

“Baek… Hana?”
“……?”

Nam Seo-hee felt as if she had locked eyes with the girl inside the glass enclosure for a moment.

Park Cheol-min sat back down and snickered.

“What a lame name. It’s like they just threw it together.”

At that very moment.

Mentis’ chest split in half and disappeared.

The beast, which had been toying with its prey, suddenly tore it apart with a single strike.

Nam Seo-hee missed the girl’s movement for a moment, and—

Mentis’ chest split open.

The white-haired girl turned around.

Shiver—!!

As their gazes met, Nam Seo-hee experienced goosebumps all over her body as if she were facing the eyes of a real beast.

It was undeniably a hostile gaze.

And Nam Seo-hee easily figured out the reason and cause.

‘It’s absurd, but……’

The summoners completely blocked out external and internal noises.
But if someone had the ability to ignore that and hear sounds, then—

“What a filthy look.”
“……”

The white-haired girl, who had been inside the summoner, came out and approached Nam Seo-hee and Park Cheol-min with a menacing aura.

The distance between them quickly closed.

“What’s this? She’s about to hit me……”

Squeak—!!

With a crisp sound, Park Cheol-min rolled noisily on the floor.

The supervisor and the people around them all turned their gazes to Nam Seo-hee and Park Cheol-min.

The white-haired girl, who had been approaching them, stopped in her tracks, startled by what she had just done, and stared blankly at Nam Seo-hee, who had slapped Park Cheol-min across the cheek.

Ignoring the gazes directed at her, Nam Seo-hee brushed off the magic power from her palm and, with a very serious expression, said to Baek Hana:

“I have nothing to do with that guy over there.”

The fluffy tail.

She was determined to never give it up.