Duties Are Expanding - 3
Most of the students standing before me wore slightly surprised expressions. Understandable. I wasn't a professor, not even a teaching assistant. Out of nowhere, an examiner had appeared claiming to act as a professor's proxy.
"Honestly, I debated whether to take this on more than once…"
Filling the examiner roster was the top priority right now. That was why I'd considered refusing. Someone had to make up the numbers. At the same time, facing opponents with greater skill was just as important. I couldn't keep dealing only with Bronze and Silver students forever. Gold-rank students, Platinum-rank students, and even the future elites—the Diamond ranks. I wanted to gauge their level for myself.
"Examining those students will benefit me more. Not just in count, but in the sheer volume of experience. To make that happen, showing them my own abilities directly is the fastest and most effective way."
Beyond that, I could pass their know-how back down to the Bronze and Silver students—not by kindly explaining it, but by hammering it into their bodies through dozens of examinations. It would require a bit of pain and endurance on their part, but that was the method.
"After all, I'm not taking on everything. I'm just a temporary proxy for the professor leading Team 5. At most, twenty to thirty Gold ranks and about five Platinum ranks. Diamond ranks… I'm not sure, but anyway."
Not bad. This would clearly be a valuable experience for me as well. So I decided to accept the role of proxy professor for this external support mission. It was only day trips anyway—twice a week for a total of four days. Taking a short break from examinations wouldn't cause any major problems.
"I can't go with you?"
…Honestly, when Kim Suhyun said that, I flinched for a moment. She didn't look angry, and her voice wasn't particularly low or heavy. Yet watching her ask the question sent a chill down my spine.
"I'll have to work even harder."
No, Suhyun. You don't need to push yourself any more than you already are. You still need to stay in Bronze a little longer. External support mission proxy professor? That's literally just a temporary stand-in. It's not a permanent position, so you don't need to start radiating that intense aura. Just in case she might go berserk, I quickly reassured her again. "You're already doing more than enough!" Rushing ahead only leads to falls. Sometimes going slowly is the right answer. I wouldn't have patted her shoulder and said something like that otherwise.
"You won't be able to conduct examinations on the two days you're away each week."
And then another student put me in an extremely awkward position. The culprit was, of course, Lee Hyunwoo—the one who came for examinations every single day.
"Then shouldn't you let me take two extra examinations on the other days?"
I was speechless. He wanted me to make up for the missed days by adding more on the days I was available. For a second, I even suspected he might know about the Sweet After Bitter trait.
"In case any of you are wondering why I'm still here, many professors haven't returned yet, so I've been dispatched again. This Academy is my assignment, and now I've been sent out from my assignment. Even I think it's a bit strange."
It was a joke I hadn't expected much from, but the students chuckled lightly. I'd worried they might shoot me cold looks, but maybe Gold ranks really did have better personalities!
"Let's see. The document with the headcount should be around here… Ah, found it."
Team 5 heading out for this external support consisted of twenty-one Gold ranks and five Platinum ranks. No Diamond ranks in sight. They must have been excluded from this mission. Such precious resources were probably being managed separately by the government. I was curious what Diamond ranks were like, so it was a little disappointing.
While cross-checking the attendance list against the actual numbers, I spotted two familiar names. Student Council President, Platinum-rank Kang Hana, and Student Council Treasurer, Gold-rank Yu Dasom. Both had been assigned to the external support Team 5 under my lead.
When I glanced up, Kang Hana and Yu Dasom smiled and waved. I returned the greeting with a smile of my own, then explained the schedule.
"As you all know, this external support mission will run twice a week until next week, for a total of four sessions. The area Team 5 is responsible for is in Chungcheong Province, and our main task will be clearing dungeons that haven't been dealt with yet."
Here, "gates" referred to the entrances from which monsters emerged. When those gates weren't cleared in time, they became permanent monster-spawning zones called dungeons. In that sense, dungeons were a double-edged sword. They continuously supplied the monster byproducts and various spoils that were essential in the current situation. But the slightest lapse in attention could leave you overwhelmed by monsters.
"The dungeon you'll be handling has been classified as C-rank. National ability users and other clans have already cleared it once, but because there are so many dungeons nearby, we've been sent as support."
"How will we travel? By vehicle?"
Come to think of it, I'd heard the last mission had been to a relatively close area, so they'd used vehicles.
"Since the distance is greater this time, we'll be using a portal."
"Ooh!"
"Finally!"
Portals. A new benefit of civilization that humanity had gained in reverse after the Gate Incident. As long as the supply of magic stones was maintained, they could transport you to any location where an exit had been installed. They weren't easy for just anyone to use—the cost was several times that of an airplane. But for the National Ability User Academy, directly supported by the government, it wasn't an issue. When educating the future talents who would safeguard the nation's safety, providing portals wasn't a waste—it was a necessary investment.
More than anything, they were convenient. Unlike vehicles or airplanes, which required travel time, the portal we would use this time simply required the user to be ready. That was it.
"Any other questions?"
"I have a question, Examiner."
A male student continued with a rather serious expression.
"You mentioned the dungeon is C-rank. Are there any B-rank or higher among them?"
"Good question. According to the reports, there are supposedly a few B-rank dungeons. However, since there haven't been any support requests from that area yet, I expect we won't be handling anything B-rank or higher."
At the Academy, Gold rank was roughly equivalent to C to B-rank outside. In other words, even from a Gold-rank perspective, clearing a C-rank dungeon required constant vigilance.
"I see. Understood."
The slight disappointment on his face suggested he was probably a Platinum-rank student. As a confirmed B-rank ability user by outside standards, tackling a dungeon below that level didn't seem particularly appealing.
"Don't worry. Once we get there, those thoughts will disappear completely."
After that, various other questions came up. Where would we rest, how would meals be handled, where the backup support team would be positioned in case of emergencies, and which clan would be in charge. All perfectly reasonable things that needed to be asked.
"All the questions are within common sense. Was I worrying for nothing?"
I'd thought at least one person might pick a fight. After all, a Silver-rank examiner had suddenly been put in charge of Gold-rank students. Even if they roughly knew my abilities now, "rank" was absolute. I'd wondered if at least one student would voice doubts, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"Examiner."
At that moment, a female student raised her hand to ask a question.
"Yes, go ahead."
"The proxy professors are people with the ability to evacuate students in emergencies. That would mean the examiner standing before us now possesses the same level of skill."
Was this about to turn into an argument? Whether she was picking a fight, expressing doubt, or questioning my level, I felt a slight tension as I waited.
"I'm curious why someone like that has been hiding their true abilities and staying in the position of a Silver-rank examiner."
She'd tried to phrase it as politely as possible, but the meaning came through anyway. It seemed she wanted to ask, "Are you a hidden powerhouse?"
A few murmurs arose, suggesting the question was somewhat rude. I couldn't entirely disagree, but I understood. It was natural to be curious.
"To be honest, I wasn't particularly skilled from the beginning."
"What do you mean…"
"It hasn't been long since I reached this level. I worked incredibly hard, and luck was on my side. In a way, being lucky might have been the biggest factor. Anyway, there are things I felt back when I was still lacking. That's why I chose the position where I could most easily help students who are similar to how I used to be."
I also brought up the story I'd told Ma Hakjun before—the death of my friend who had been an ability user, and how I didn't want students to lose their precious lives the same way. It was the kind of melodramatic tale any South Korean citizen would inevitably encounter.
Thinking that might be enough, I looked at the students' faces.
"As expected, it was the latter."
They seemed far more moved by the second reason than the first. Mourning a dead friend and vowing that students like him shouldn't suffer such tragedy! Even I had to admit it was a well-crafted excuse.
"I-I'm sorry, Examiner! I was just really curious, so… That was rude of me!"
She must have thought she'd dragged up a past I wanted to forget. The female student looked extremely uncomfortable and kept apologizing.
"It's fine. It doesn't bother me anymore. I just carry it in a corner of my heart, thinking, 'Let's make sure something like that never happens.'"
I did feel a slight twinge of guilt. My friend's death hadn't actually been the trigger. But it wasn't a complete lie either. I truly didn't want the students to meet tragic ends. I hoped they would endure, even a little, through all the incidents that would unfold later. At first, this had merely been the world inside a novel—a place I'd possessed into. Now it had become a real world to me. A world I had no choice but to live in. The thought of young souls vanishing meaninglessly in that world wasn't something I welcomed.