I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy - Chapter 35

“Then… I’ll be going now…”

Baek Hana, who had skipped lunch, left the house with a white cloth tied around her head.

Click.

As the front door closed, he turned around, accompanied by Claire, who had seen her off.

“Isn’t it still possible to apply for an overnight leave?”
“Yes, it is.”

However, there was a condition that a professor or an Academy-affiliated person must explain the situation to the dorm supervisor on the student’s behalf.

“Then why…?”
“She’s old enough to take care of such things herself.”
“Hmm.”

Hearing my answer, Claire quietly followed me and stopped in front of the study, opening her mouth again.

“Umm… Professor.”
“What is it?”

I answered as I opened the door and stepped inside, and she followed me into the study, quietly closing the door behind her.

I sat in the chair in my study, facing away from the door, and quietly observed her.

Claire, who usually maintained an icy demeanor in front of students and professors, fidgeted and glanced at me.

“…About Hana… I think it’s fine for her to be spoiled, but… the level of it seems a bit… excessive. I apologize if I’m overstepping my bounds.”

Her neatly tied golden hair fell slightly over her shoulders. She had bowed her head towards me.

“You’re not overstepping. Raise your head.”
“Yes.”

She slowly lifted her head, but her blue eyes remained fixed on the floor.

Even though I thought we had become closer and built a certain level of familiarity, seeing her like this made me wonder if it was just my one-sided assumption.

“Such behavior could indeed lead to misunderstandings if it were between two unrelated people. But I don’t think any parent would find it strange for their child to act this way.”
“Parent and child… I see.”
“Yes.”

At least, that’s what I still believed.

Hearing my response, Claire lifted her gaze from the floor and bit her lip before speaking again.

“About Hana…”

However, she stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth again.

After a while, maintaining a stiff expression as she looked at me,  her lips moved once more.

“Professor.”
“Go on.”
“You said that as long as it’s something I ask of you, you would help me to the best of your ability.”
“That’s right.”

In the eight years that I’ve known her, the number of times she has asked for my help easily exceeds triple digits.

“Then.”

Claire, who had been looking at me straight in the eye, slowly stepped closer.

She stood directly across from me, with the desk between us, and said, “I have… one request.”

**

The precious weekends, which only come twice a month.

“Haa… Being a professor is just as busy as being a teaching assistant.”

Kang Hanna, sitting in a corner of the sparring hall, sighed deeply after finishing the lunch she had bought earlier.

During her time as a teaching assistant under Kim Kyung-ho, she had to do all sorts of odd jobs. Now, even though she miraculously became a professor, her life didn’t seem much different from before.

During the entire vacation, she had been working on creating a curriculum for the incoming freshmen. Additionally, she had to invest a significant amount of time to find suitable gates for the practical training that would be conducted outside the Academy.

Fortunately, due to her long experience as a teaching assistant, she was adept at handling paperwork, and she somehow managed to finish everything before the start of the new semester. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of her tasks.

As she was assigned to teach a mandatory course, she had to check the evaluation forms of the entrance exams of each student to get a general idea of their abilities.

The problem was that mandatory courses couldn’t skip practical lectures, which meant that she had to conduct lectures during the weekdays and stay late into the evenings to go over the students’ personal information. As a result, she couldn’t even get proper sleep.

And now, on this weekend…

She was on duty.

Unlike professors who commuted to work, students lived in the dormitories unless there were special circumstances.

To handle any incidents that might arise, ten professors took turns being on duty during the weekends. Kang Hanna was one of those ten, and today, she had to supervise the freshmen’s sparring matches from morning until evening.

“How many teams are left?”

Kang Hanna manipulated the smart watch on her wrist to check the schedule for the afternoon.

“Six teams… I’ll be able to have dinner in the cafeteria.”

After finishing her lunch and packing the trash into a bag, she got up from her seat. This was because the students, who had been waiting since three hours ago to prevent cheating, had finished their meals.

She sorted the contents of the bag into the appropriate recycling bins near the sparring hall and was about to head to her assigned area when she felt a chill.

“…”

Kang Hanna looked around and spotted a group of girls entering the sparring hall.

Their hair colors were distinctive: snow-white, lovely pink like cherry blossoms, comforting beige, and deep black.

Even without their unique hair colors, each of the four girls had their own individual beauty that stood out.

‘That girl…’

The girl with snow-white hair exuded a chilling aura that matched her appearance.

She recognized her from the entrance exam.

She was the girl who had been involved in the incident caused by the black-haired girl who had approached her yesterday. She didn’t particularly remember her because she stood out, but rather because the professor who had rescued her had personally instructed her to keep an eye on them.

‘She doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.’

Even during the entrance exam, the girl had a sharp and cold expression, but today, it seemed even more pronounced. Of course, despite that, she was still beautiful.

Kang Hanna changed her direction and approached the group of girls.

“Are you here for the sparring matches?”
“Yes…”

The girl, Baek Hana, responded in a voice that could sap the energy out of anyone who heard it.

“What’s your name?”
“Baek Hana. We’re scheduled for 4 p.m.”
“Wait a moment.”

Kang Hanna checked the schedule on her smart watch and nodded.

“Alright. It might be boring, but please wait here.”
“Yes…”

Baek Hana, who responded listlessly, started walking slowly, and the three girls who had come with her followed behind.

‘She’s being awfully cautious.’

Kang Hanna watched as the three girls seemed to be overly conscious of Baek Hana’s reactions, and then she proceeded to her assigned area.

**

Kang Seok-ho

The youngest son of Kang Min-ho, the guild master of ‘Iron Knights’, one of the top 10 guilds. He was also the representative of the group that approached Baek Hana yesterday and a classmate of hers.

At the age of 15, Kang Seok-ho awakened his abilities and, with the help of good elixirs and special guidance from his father, showed remarkable growth. To prove that this wasn’t just a fluke, he graduated from the specialized school with the highest grades.

Kang Seok-ho stood at a distance, quietly observing Baek Hana and her group.

‘I feel a little bad for Nam Seo-hee.’

Nam Seo-hee, who usually avoided getting involved with others, had formed a group.

Knowing her personality, Kang Seok-ho didn’t expect her to be the leader of the group, but he was surprised to see her looking so flustered and submissive.

Sitting next to Baek Hana, who clearly didn’t seem to be in a good mood, Nam Seo-hee was peeling chocolates and feeding them into Baek Hana’s mouth.

It was obvious to anyone but an idiot that Nam Se-hee was unilaterally courting Baek Hana.

‘I’ll have to apologize to her later.’

Unless they were complete strangers, it was necessary.

They had met a few times at gatherings, and the relationship between their guilds was friendly, so Kang Seok-ho felt the need to apologize to her later.

Above all, he had mentioned Nam Se-hee’s name as a pretext yesterday.

Even though it was a place that encouraged competition between students, it was not a good look for those with the backing of a top 10 guild to take whatever they wanted from anyone just because they wanted it.

It could tarnish the guild’s image if it were brought up on community forums or other external sites.

So the group that included Kang Seok-ho chose to find an opponent of a similar rank and challenge them to a contest.

And luckily, or unluckily, Baek Hana, who was close to Nam Se-hee, was chosen.

‘There are a few spectators…’

Of course, it was a precious weekend, and it was an important day to complete the timetable, so there weren’t many idiots who had the leisure to watch other people’s fights.

Since there would be future competitions and semester evaluations, it was better to hide their true abilities, so Kang Seok-ho felt somewhat relieved that there were few spectators.

He spent his time reading about the special issues that had occurred within the Academy via his smart watch.

-Baek Hana, Kang Seok-ho. A-1 Zone.

When their names were called over the speakers in the arena, Kang Seok-ho quickly got up and moved.

Gang Hanna, who was waiting in front of the arena, said to Baek Hana and Kang Seok-ho, who had arrived almost simultaneously.

“If you want to arm yourself, do so now.”

Baek Hana entered the arena unarmed, while Kang Seok-ho drew a blunted iron sword and joined her.

When Gang Hanna confirmed that the two were standing on the marked lines, she said,

“The match will start when this coin hits the floor.”

Originally, they would have had to undergo doping tests, but Kang Hanna, having checked the schedule and knowing which guild Kang Seok-ho belonged to, decided to skip that part.

Since the top 10 guilds were all vying to outdo each other and were sensitive about their external image, she trusted that they wouldn’t resort to such measures. Plus, the fact that both of them had received ridiculously good evaluations in the test played a part in her decision.

“Get ready.”

Kang Hanna placed the coin on her thumb and…

Ting~!!

The coin was flicked into the air with a clear sound.

Kang Seok-ho, without taking any preparatory stance, stared expressionlessly at Baek Hana, who was glaring at him.

‘She doesn’t seem to want to concede… Is she ignoring me?’

If she had wanted to concede, she would have indicated so before stepping into the arena, so the only conclusion he could draw from her current behavior was that she was ignoring him.

Kwaaaak~!!

Kang Seok-ho’s hand gripped the sword with excessive force.

He had intended to go easy on her, considering his upcoming match with Nam Se-hee, but that thought vanished.

‘I’ll end this in one shot.’

There was no need to use his abilities.

He would simply crush her with his overwhelming mana.

As Kang Seok-ho made up his mind, the coin that Gang Hanna had tossed between them fell to the floor.

The small coin slowly descended as Kang Seok-ho focused on the sound and prepared to dash towards Baek Hana.

Ting~!!

Baek Hana and Kang Seok-ho lunged at each other.

‘So fast!!’

As soon as the coin touched the top of Baek Hana’s head, beastly ears sprouted, and her speed surpassed Kang Seok-ho’s, closing the distance in an instant.

‘A transformation-type should be fine…’

Although he tried to avoid her face as much as possible, if it was a transformation-type with good durability, there was no need to hold back, so Kang Seok-ho swung his sword diagonally while shifting his weight toward his left foot.

‘Dodge if you can!!’

No matter where she dodged, he could immediately follow up with another attack, using his left foot as an axis.

However, Baek Hana did not dodge Kang Seok-ho’s sword.

Instead, she opened her tightly closed mouth wide and bit down on the sword that Kang Seok-ho had swung, her sharp fangs tearing through the metal.

Ka-gak~!!

The sound of metal scraping and the sword shattering into pieces.

“……?!”

Kang Seok-ho’s eyes widened at the unexpected situation, and his hand, still holding the broken sword, slashed through the air.

‘Damn it!!’

Kang Seok-ho tried to twist his body and throw a punch at Baek Hana, but she was faster.

Ppeok~!!

With a dull sound, Kang Seok-ho was tackled to the floor by Baek Hana.

“Damn it!!”

As he looked up at Baek Hana, who was on top of him, Kang Seok-ho quickly tried to push her away with his arms.

Kwaaaaak~!!

“Ugh……”

Once again, Baek Hana was slightly faster than Kang Seok-ho.

She pinned his forearms down with her knees and glared down at him coldly.

“Ptoo.”

The broken shards of the sword were spat out of Baek Hana’s mouth.

‘Crazy……!!’

He had thought that unless it was an ability-type, no classmate could match his mana output. Yet, here was an opponent who surpassed him in mana right before his eyes.

No matter how much mana he gathered in his arms to try and move them, they wouldn’t budge.

‘……Now I understand why Nam Se-hee stuck to her.’

But that was that, and this was a contest.

He acknowledged that his opponent was strong, but that didn’t mean he would lose.

Unlike his opponent, a transformation-type awakener, he hadn’t even used his abilities yet.

‘Damn it… This is why information is important.’

At that moment, Kang Seok-ho’s muscles swelled, and his skin turned grayish.

His strength increased, and his outer skin became harder than steel. Although the increase in weight made him slower, it was an advantage in this situation, so Kang Seok-ho put more force into his arms.

Kwaaaaak~!!

‘……?’

Even with his abilities activated and his strength enhanced, his arms still wouldn’t move. Realizing something was wrong, he heard a chillingly cold voice.

“Is that all you’ve got?”
“Huh?”

Kang Seok-ho inadvertently made a foolish sound in response to the voice that sent shivers down his spine.

But Baek Hana interpreted it differently and raised her fists, which had been idly hanging by her sides.

“Hey, wait a-”

Boom~!!

“……?!”

Despite his outer skin being harder than steel, Kang Seok-ho felt a stinging pain and had to swallow a foolish breath.

“Because of you…….”
“Wait, I lost–”

Boom~!!

“Ugh!!”
“If it weren’t for you……”

Boom~!!

“Ugh!!”
“You ruined everything……”

Boom!

Boom!!
Boom~!!

As the red liquid flowed from Kang Seok-ho’s chin, now discolored gray, Kang Hanna, who had been watching from below, shouted.

“Stop!!”

The reason was that Kang Seok-ho’s legs, which had been struggling to resist, had gone limp like a corpse’s.

“Get down.”
“……”

At Kang Hanna’s command, Baek Hana slowly got off Kang Seok-ho and stepped to the side. Then, she glared at Kang Seok-ho, whose eyes were rolled back, and muttered.

“I’ll… remember… your face…”