Ch 157
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 157
We had our closing ceremony the day before yesterday.
Our class's grades were first place for the combined first and second semesters.
First place in the first semester, achieving the highest sales in school festival history, and even ranking second out of ten classes in final exam scores—it was a natural result.
To keep my promise, I met with the class kids again after just two days and came to a ski resort near Seoul.
I originally thought about going after Eunseo's competition ended, but I'd be quite busy then.
"Teacher, everyone can ski decently now, so can't we go to the advanced course?"
"If not advanced, at least intermediate. Beginner is too boring."
"Alright. Everyone go to whichever course you want to ski and play, but return to the resort by 5:50."
The students' faces were blooming with smiles as they moved in groups of three to five.
Is it that fun?
Honestly, I don't know if skiing is fun.
I was about to return to the resort when Eunseo approached me.
"Teacher, aren't you going to ski anymore?"
"Maybe because I drove for a long time, I'm a bit tired."
"Eunseo, what are you doing? Come quickly!"
"Right. Go quickly and have fun. Starting the day after tomorrow, very intensive supplementary classes are waiting."
"Huh? Ah. Rest well. Let's go together!"
Good timing.
I returned to the resort, confirmed the barbecue reservation for dinner once more, took out blankets, laid them down, and lay down.
I was tired from being bothered by the kids since morning and was about to lie down when my phone rang.
I thought it was the kids, but it was Se-jin.
"Hey. Yeah. Did you go to the police station okay?"
—Yes. It was nothing. Just like you said, Teacher, they checked the apartment CCTV and I heard an apology, then it ended.
"Good work."
It's quiet now, but when I just returned from Sweden, South Korea was in complete chaos.
Like with Lee Ji-sung last time, I thought Hwasin Group wouldn't make a big deal out of it.
They probably tried to quietly find the culprit behind the scenes, but Min Seong-hyun, an A-rank Hunter who was Lee Ji-hoon's subordinate, made a confession of conscience.
He called reporters and apparently exposed all of Lee Ji-hoon's misdeeds in detail.
That bastard Lee Ji-hoon had touched quite a lot besides Se-byeol—group members, models, and actors.
There were unknown, nameless girl groups and second-tier groups like Stevia where Se-byeol was, but there were even celebrities everyone would know, so the impact was quite significant.
Moreover, he revealed that while most were lured with money, when they didn't fall for it, he even carried out kidnappings, so the social impact was huge.
The reason Min Seong-hyun made his confession of conscience was probably because of me.
Even though he said it was a confession of conscience, Min Seong-hyun is by no means a good guy either.
He revealed that he participated in kidnappings under Lee Ji-hoon and did all sorts of dirty work.
He probably knew that Lee Ji-hoon, Representative Lee, and Manager Kim had all been dealt with, and thinking he might end up the same way, he caused this incident.
Min Seong-hyun was immediately arrested after his confession of conscience, but Lee Ji-hoon wasn't arrested.
I naturally understood since I knew he wasn't in a state where he could be arrested, but the public who knew nothing protested, saying the police were going easy on him because he was a chaebol, and chaos ensued.
Eventually, unable to withstand the barrage of public opinion, the police revealed the truth that Lee Ji-hoon had completely lost his hearing, sight, and smell, and even his mind had become strange.
When the misunderstanding was cleared, the public focused their interest on speculating who had made Lee Ji-hoon end up in that state.
Not only the public but investigative agencies are also said to be conducting investigations with full effort.
Initially, Min Seong-hyun, who had made the confession of conscience, was pointed to as a prime suspect, but he was soon cleared of suspicion when his alibi was revealed.
Yesterday, Se-jin said the police contacted her asking her to come out briefly.
It's probably because Min Seong-hyun told the investigative agencies that the last thing Lee Ji-hoon targeted was Park Se-byeol.
Even if he hadn't said that, since Manager Kim and Representative Lee of HS Entertainment were showing the same symptoms as Lee Ji-hoon, even I would have suspected our side first.
But since I was receiving an award in Sweden when the incident occurred, I naturally fell out of suspicion, and so Se-jin was wrongly suspected as the culprit.
Since Se-jin didn't actually do anything, I thought it would pass well, but I was slightly worried, so I'm relieved.
—Next time you're going to cause such trouble, at least give me a heads up. I was really startled.
"It wasn't a good thing... I'll definitely talk about it beforehand from now on. Good work."
—Just words? Going to the ski resort by yourself. Are you having fun?
"Not really. It's not like I came to play. I'm dying from being bothered by the kids and managing them."
—Still, it's better than going to the police station for questioning, right?
That Se-jin, there's a barb in her words. She must have been quite hurt by this incident.
Still, she wouldn't have spoken like this before...
Geunmukjahuk (Near ink, one becomes black).
They say if you get close to ink, you become black. Hanging around with Luciel, she's gradually becoming similar to her.
"Are you giving your teacher a hard time right now?"
—Huh? No. What would I do to Teacher...
"Let's go somewhere better together when the competition ends in January."
—Really? You promised.
Seeing her voice completely change at just one word about going out to play, it seems she's not completely tainted yet.
After talking a bit more, I hung up and lay down.
From what Se-jin said, it seems I don't need to worry about the investigation side anymore.
He also said Stevia's album preparation is all finished and will be released soon.
I closed my eyes briefly and sleep poured over me.
How much time passed?
I heard the kids chattering and came out of the room to see male students including Jae-hyeon preparing food.
"Oh? Teacher, are you awake?"
"I dozed off."
"You were sleeping so deeply you didn't even know we came. You must have been very tired."
"You try getting older."
"Come on, Teacher, you're not even thirty yet."
"Right. Aren't you being too dramatic?"
These brats...
"Ugh, I can't say anything. What time is it?"
"5:30."
"5:30? Why didn't you play more and come early to prepare by yourselves? What are the female students doing?"
"We had a ski competition and we won."
"Huh? You won but why are you preparing?"
"Cleaning up afterward is harder. The girls agreed to clean up after we all eat."
"After eating, we don't even want to move, and then we have to go night skiing once more."
Well, even if it's called preparation, it's just barbecue anyway, so there's not much to do.
The kids used their heads well.
I also helped the kids prepare, and when it was time, we ate dinner.
Since they're all students, they can't drink alcohol, but we even toasted with grape juice.
It's been a while since we had barbecue, so the food was delicious and the atmosphere was really good.
The male students went night skiing after eating, and I started cleaning up with the female students.
Since the male students helped earlier too.
There was quite a lot to clean up, but with ten people working together, the cleanup finished quickly.
"This seems about enough, so everyone go and have more fun."
As soon as I finished speaking, the kids ran off, but Eunseo didn't go and approached me.
"Teacher."
"Why? Eunseo, go quickly and have more fun too."
"I have something to ask..."
"I said no questions until supplementary classes start. You shouldn't think about such things when you came to play. Don't worry about it and go play."
"It's not a question about supplementary classes."
"Then what is it?"
"Which grade are you planning to teach next year?"
Which grade to teach...
It's a question I never even thought about.
"Why suddenly ask that?"
"I'm curious. You're going to teach third grade next year, right?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
"Ah... Please tell me."
"I don't want to do third grade. There are many class hours and much more practical training than second grade. After doing it for a year, first grade is really good. No practical training."
"Ah... That won't do."
"What won't do?"
"I want to learn from Teacher next year too. All the other swordsmanship class kids will want to learn from Teacher too."
Haha... This damn popularity.
"Teacher, weren't you going to do third grade next year?"
Suddenly I heard a voice from behind and turned to see Minha and the class kids gathered.
From the looks of it, they came to get Eunseo and heard the conversation.
"Well, it's not a decision I make."
"Come on... Teacher, if you say you want to do it, you can definitely do it."
"Right. Are you going to abandon us?"
"I want to be in Teacher's class next year too."
"Abandon what. If there are meetings, there are also partings."
"Isn't that too cold?"
"Teacher..."
"Stop it, you guys. Now that you can't leech off me, is that why you're doing this?"
"No way!"
"Anyway, third grade can't do this kind of thing. Everyone work hard and get into good guilds."
"It's not like that. Even without this kind of thing, we like Teacher."
"Right."
"You're handsome."
"Teacher is the best."
I was slightly embarrassed by the sudden shower of compliments and told them to go ski, then left.
Honestly, I was a little... No, very moved.
I didn't know the kids liked me this much...
But it can't be helped.
Two days ago, after the closing ceremony ended, I visited the vice principal and submitted my resignation.
The vice principal surprisingly rejected it, saying to think about it until the vacation ends and if my thoughts don't change then, he'll process it, but my thoughts are firm.
The reason I want to quit school isn't because of Teacher Kim.
Rather, Teacher Kim left without giving an answer even though I said I wouldn't be at school next year.
Well, she'll probably return if I'm not there.
Next March, before the start of the original story, I thought a lot.
In the two years since I possessed Kang Shin-hyeok, I've done really many things.
Meeting Master and learning martial arts, going to the Black Temple to meet Luciel, teaching martial arts to Se-jin, meeting the Antas Korea chairman for Minha's revenge, getting into trouble with Antas Italy due to Bennett Krizia's incident, and even announcing regeneration magic that doesn't exist in this world...
Of course, there are things that can be managed to some degree so they don't differ from the original.
When the protagonists come to learn martial arts, I can tell Master to hide for a while, and I can tell Se-jin not to show off that she learned martial arts.
But there are far more things that can't be changed, so I don't know how the story will change in the future.
Previously, I thought that even if the original changed, I could just beat up Antas and defeat the Demon King myself.
But thinking a bit deeper, that thought was definitely not the right answer.
Whether Antas runs amok or the Demon King descends, I alone... No, even with Se-jin, can manage just fine, but I can't take care of everyone.
I really like both our class students and the swordsmanship class students.
Except for a few students... No, even those students are extras whose names are barely mentioned a few times in the original, but to me, they're all precious disciples.
Will such disciples be okay in a changed future?
The thought that my disciples might be sacrificed because of the future I changed made me afraid.
Of course, I know that I can't turn everything back to the starting point now.
But after long thought and consideration, I found a way to restore at least some of the flow I had changed.
The method I found doesn't end with simply quitting school.
There's no way the things I've done could be resolved by just quitting school.
The next three months.
In that time, I plan to erase Kang Shin-hyeok from this world.