Ch 138
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 138
The vacation has ended.
Time really flies.
"Huh? Do-hyun, did you change your phone?"
"Isn't that the latest phone? The K Flip?"
"Oh, yeah."
About 10 days before the vacation ended?
Teacher Kang came and gave me a new phone.
"That's really expensive, and there's no stock either. Amazing."
"Is the number the same?"
"No. I'll let you know."
He said to only tell close people since the number changed too.
All the friends I share the dorm with are in different classes, so it doesn't matter.
But if I tell people one by one like this, Lee Ji-sung will find out my number again...
I thought it was unnecessary spending, but it was definitely more comfortable not getting calls from the guys who bully me.
Today marks the end of that too, though.
"Let's go eat."
"Ah, I want to go slowly. Go ahead."
"Really? Let's all go."
I acted like it was fine and that Teacher Kang didn't need to do anything for me, but now that I have to go back to school starting today, everything looks dark.
When he gave me the new phone, Teacher Kang said this:
Enduring everything isn't always the answer.
If anyone bullies you, fight back against all of them.
Don't endure it because he'll handle the aftermath.
But I can't do that.
Even Teacher Kang told me not to touch Lee Ji-sung specifically because there was nothing he could do about Lee Ji-sung's background.
There are Lee Ji-sung's gang members besides Lee Ji-sung himself, but even if I deal with all the other guys, it would be meaningless if I leave the ringleader alone.
Maybe he said that with the homeroom teacher's punishment in mind?
The homeroom teacher said she would hold a disciplinary committee when the second semester starts, but he probably won't be properly punished...
I headed to the cafeteria, putting my frustrated feelings behind me.
I just need to endure a little anyway.
After eating and leaving the cafeteria, it's 8:30.
Teacher Kang told me not to go to the classroom early and to go as late as possible, so I came out much later than usual.
Honestly, doing this won't change anything.
No matter how late I go, I have to arrive in the classroom by 8:40.
The homeroom teacher usually comes around 45 or 50 minutes to do roll call, and 5 or 10 minutes is enough time for that guy to pick a fight with me.
Did he maybe ask the homeroom teacher to come early every day?
Even so, there's a 5 to 10 minute gap after evening homeroom ends, so it's not much different.
Besides, even if not in the morning, he can pick fights anytime during lunch or while waiting for evening homeroom.
I arrived in front of the classroom at 8:35.
I opened the door and checked attendance with my student ID, and I felt something touch my back.
THUD.
"Hit! Ji-sung's in good condition today?"
"Hey, beggar, why are you so late! You ignored all our calls during vacation?"
I ignored them and sat down, but Lee Ji-sung and his gang approached.
I was about to sit carelessly but saw thumbtacks on the chair and swept them away with my hand.
"You found that? Our beggar has good eyes too."
"I told you. This is too old-fashioned."
Seeing the guys giggling made my fists tremble.
I endured it and put down my bag and took out my pencil case.
The desk was covered in graffiti, so I tried to erase it, but he kicked the desk.
THUD!
"Did our beggar get eardrum removal surgery during vacation? Hey! When people talk, you should respond!"
I ignored him and tried to take out an eraser, but he hit my hand and made me drop the pencil case.
"Stop it."
"What are you saying? I can't hear well what a beggar who lives by begging without even a home is saying?"
"Gumanhwera— ebebebe."
"Crazy, Min-gu really improved his voice imitations a lot."
These guys aren't even worth a punch...
"Hey, beggar, you come early from tomorrow on... KWEEEEK!"
What?
Suddenly Lee Ji-sung let out a strange scream and started trembling and having a seizure.
"Wow, Lee Ji-sung is amazing. What's he trying to do now?"
"His acting is incredible?"
At first I thought it was a new bullying method, but seeing him collapse and even foam at the mouth, it doesn't seem like acting.
"Lee Ji-sung?"
"Ji-sung!"
Just then the homeroom teacher came in, and seeing Lee Ji-sung's condition, she had the kids carry him on their back and went to the nurse's office.
The kids are murmuring.
Although he was someone who often skipped class by pretending to be sick and going to the nurse's office, he never acted like that before...
Did he really receive divine punishment?
I hope that's what it was, and while I was thinking that, the homeroom teacher and the kids who carried Lee Ji-sung returned.
"Teacher, what about Ji-sung?"
"Ji-sung went to the general hospital for outpatient treatment now."
If he's going for outpatient treatment, it seems quite serious... The possibility is low, but I hope he just dies like that.
"And our class has no first period today."
"What?"
"Wow, amazing!"
"Then what do we do?"
What? Originally the second semester starts with normal classes without any opening ceremony.
Regular class would be much better...
"Don't be happy. I didn't cancel it for your sake. You trash."
"Tea... Teacher?"
"Trash? Isn't that too harsh to say?"
THUD!
She hit the podium with her fist and the podium cracked.
At the same time, the classroom became quiet instantly.
"From now on, anyone who speaks without permission will be understood as wanting to get beaten up by me, so shut up!"
Why is the homeroom teacher, who was always like an angel, suddenly like this...
"Kang Min-gu, Jeong Dong-min, come out."
Both of those guys are in Lee Ji-sung's gang, could it be...
At the teacher's fierce command, the two guys hesitantly came forward.
"Teacher, why suddenly... UGH!"
She kicked Min-gu in the stomach.
"Min-gu! Teacher, what the hell... UGH!"
Without saying anything, she kicked Dong-min's leg to make him fall and then stepped on him.
"Did you enjoy bullying your classmate?"
"No... Teacher, we..."
"Shut up, you trash."
She continued to stomp on the two guys and then looked at us again.
"I'm disappointed in all of you. When a classmate is being bullied, isn't there anyone to help?"
No one can speak... It's because of me after all.
I thought she would hold a disciplinary committee when she said she'd handle it when school starts, but I never imagined she would act like this.
"Class president, what did you do? Did you become class president just to write one line in your student record? When something like this happens, shouldn't you immediately report it to the teacher?"
"Well, that's..."
"Don't make excuses. Vice president, what about you?"
"Ji-sung said not to tell, that he wouldn't leave us alone... I'm sorry."
"Hey, Kim Min-chae!"
"Yes... Yes!"
"You were definitely helped by Do-hyun when Lee Ji-sung was bullying you at the beginning of the semester, right? But why did you just watch when Do-hyun was being bullied?"
"That's, I was too scared..."
"Lee Ji-sung is scary but I'm not scary? How exactly do you see teachers? You guys made me look like an idiot."
No one can answer.
"Um... Teacher, please stop..."
"Kim Do-hyun, you didn't do well either. I asked you several times, why didn't you tell me? Did you not trust me that much?"
I'm really sorry for not telling you, but what kind of heart did I have while enduring all this...
When she gave me the phone during vacation, we met and I told her to some extent... I feel something rising from my chest.
"If I told you? That bastard Lee Ji-sung has never been properly punished even once."
I got choked up and ended up speaking as if shooting at her without realizing it.
The teacher is doing this for me right now...
"In the end, you're saying you couldn't trust me. I'm different. I don't know how other teachers... No, those who aren't even worth being called teachers were, but I'm not like that."
Your words are really refreshing, but would that really be the case?
If Lee Ji-sung were here right now, would the teacher be able to do the same to Lee Ji-sung as he did to Min-gu and Dong-min...
Honestly, I'm not confident.
"Except for Do-hyun, Lee Ji-sung, Kang Min-gu, and Jeong Dong-min - these three will be criminally charged, and the rest of our class will all be referred to the disciplinary committee, so know that."
"What?"
"Teacher, we..."
"We what? You just watched? Bystanders are the same. No matter how capable you are, major guilds won't recruit you guys who watched your classmate being bullied and just stood by."
"Teacher..."
"We were wrong."
"Now? Don't worry even if you get light punishment that doesn't leave a disciplinary record. I'll write everything in detail in your life records. What kind of hunters do selfish bastards like you think you'll become to save people?"
"We were wrong."
"I really..."
"The person you should be apologizing to right now isn't me, but Do-hyun."
***
"Seo-ra really did that?"
—Yes. I was shocked.
I knew she was a righteous person completely unsuited for Antas, but this is no joke.
It's refreshing enough to clear my chest... But how is that girl planning to handle the aftermath...
"So are you okay now?"
—I'm not sure. I wonder if I made things too big for no reason... I think the teacher will get hurt...
"I mean you, not Seo-ra."
—Oh. Me? Well, the kids apologized... Just like that.
"What about Lee Ji-sung?"
—He suddenly foamed at the mouth and collapsed having a seizure this morning, so they said he went for outpatient treatment... I don't know. He didn't come back until evening homeroom ended.
"Really?"
The curse seems to be working properly.
They'll probably do tests at the hospital, so from tomorrow I should either lower the intensity a bit or stop it until he returns to school.
Modern medicine or magic can't identify the curse, but it would be troublesome if he gets hospitalized for a long time because there's a possibility of repeating a grade.
—Um... Will our homeroom teacher be okay?
"Seo-ra will be fine. I know that girl well since she's my junior - she's not that easy-going. Just think about yourself."
Even in the original work, she was thorough enough to plan and actually carry out terrorism at the hunter school, so she probably didn't act on emotion alone.
She probably prepared countermeasures in her own way.
—I'm really okay now.
"I'm glad you're okay. Text me when Lee Ji-sung returns to school. If anything else happens, contact me immediately."
—Ah, yes. Thank you for caring.
"What, it's what I should naturally do as a teacher."
I hung up with Do-hyun and tried to contact Choi Seo-ra, but maybe she's not a gentleman - she called first.
—Senior, is it okay to talk?
"Yeah. I was just talking to Do-hyun until now. You really went all out today?"
—Went all out? I naturally did what I should do as a homeroom teacher.
"Will you be okay? You laid hands on the kids directly. Besides, if you refer the entire class to the disciplinary committee, it'll be troublesome for you too. Bystanders probably won't get proper punishment."
—That's right. At most community service within school? But if they don't receive even that kind of punishment and just let it slide, the children won't realize what they did wrong.
"That's definitely true. You said you're criminally charging Lee Ji-sung and some kids? Other teachers won't stay quiet. Didn't the higher-ups say anything?"
—Are you worried about me? The head of academic affairs and even the principal called me and pressured me not to do it, talking about the school's reputation. The funny thing is they're not telling me not to refer the class kids to the disciplinary committee, but not to criminally charge Lee Ji-sung. They said even if it goes to criminal proceedings, would there be proper punishment anyway.
"They all must have taken money."
—Probably. But when I said I've collected all the evidence of what Lee Ji-sung has done that the school covered up, and threatened to expose it to the media, they shut their mouths.
Collected all the evidence... She really had countermeasures.
"You prepared a lot?"
—Of course I wouldn't have caused trouble without any countermeasures. I have more teaching experience than you, senior.
"Yes, yes, you're amazing. What about Lee Ji-sung? He collapsed this morning?"
—Oh, the hospital said there's nothing particularly wrong, but he'll have a comprehensive checkup and come back the day after tomorrow.
Since he's returning the day after tomorrow, I can activate the curse again from then.
It would be troublesome if he keeps going for outpatient treatment, so I should lower the intensity a bit, but if there's continuously nothing wrong, they'll think it's malingering.
"He's not doing this because he knows about today's incident?"
—I don't think so. He collapsed foaming at the mouth this morning.
"I see. If anything happens, contact me. If the vice-principal or head of academic affairs keeps pressuring you or anything happens, tell me immediately. I'll help too."
—Really? It's reassuring to have an S-rank hunter help.
"Are you teasing me? I'm hanging up."
—Wait, senior.
"What?"
—Let's eat together sometime. It'll be difficult for a while though... You're busy at the beginning of the semester too.
"Sure. Contact me when you're free."
I hung up.
Being busy at the beginning of the semester isn't much of a problem.
I can handle all the paperwork in Luciel's world.
Work is fine, but there's something that keeps bothering me.