Ch 195
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 195
The duel was over and Eunseo and I had come to where Director Seo and the Vice Principal were, but Se-jin hadn't come down from the arena.
She approaches Takeshi, who is being treated by magicians crowded around him.
The referee tries to block her, but when Se-jin speaks, he steps aside with a reluctant expression.
After the magicians finish their treatment and leave, only Takeshi and Se-jin remain on the arena.
"What?"
"The match has already been decided."
"What the hell is she doing?"
The murmuring of people who were leaving can be heard all the way here.
Right, since the duel is over, now it's time to settle accounts.
STB is also officially a duel. Just like when she won, conditions were set.
Takeshi knelt down trembling.
Then he slammed his forehead to the ground.
"What... what is he doing!"
"Why is he doing dogeza..."
"Even though he lost, isn't this too much?"
Too much my ass.
Compared to the conditions Takeshi set, this is incredibly lenient.
That piece of trash said that Se-jin was being arrogant because she didn't know men properly, and if she lost, she should serve him for the night - what utter nonsense he spouted.
Compared to that, Se-jin's condition is just dogeza until she says it's enough.
I actually think it's too lenient.
"Takeshi, what are you doing! Stop!"
"Where did you sell your Japanese pride!"
"Takeshi!"
The angry crowd protests, but Takeshi continues to slam his head down.
No matter how much the crowd shouts and how embarrassed Takeshi himself must be, the choice belongs entirely to Se-jin.
There's an international agreement that if you lose a duel and don't fulfill your promise, the opponent can kill you without being held accountable.
Eventually, the crowd couldn't bear to watch and all rushed out of the stadium.
Most of the tens of thousands of people had left, and when only a few remained besides us, Se-jin turned around and approached us.
Takeshi also slightly lifts his head - is she already going to forgive him?
I thought Se-jin was too soft, but I was mistaken.
Se-jin, who was coming toward us, turns back around and approaches Takeshi, then slams his head back to the ground.
"What are you doing? I never said it was okay to stop, did I?"
"..."
"I was thinking of making you do this for at least a week, but when I asked the staff before the duel, they said there's an event at this stadium in 4 days, so you'll have to stay like this until then, right?"
After slamming Takeshi's head, who can't respond at all, back down and pressing it firmly with her foot, she comes back this way.
The Vice Principal and Director Seo beside me gulp.
The distance is quite far so Eunseo probably didn't hear, but Director Seo and the Vice Principal seem to have heard.
"I'm back."
"Miss Se-jin, congratulations. I feel like an idiot for worrying before. Miss Se-jin seems much stronger than her father."
"You flatter me."
"It's not flattery. Se-jin, you're much better than that bastard Dae-chan. Today's duel was just like watching Teacher Kang Shin-hyeok."
Most of the techniques Se-jin showed today were techniques I used when fighting Kim Dae-chan.
Well, I didn't use magic though.
"Now that you mention it, that's right. Some media said that Ares weakened after Hunter Kim Dae-chan stepped down as Guild Master, but they really didn't know what they were talking about."
"What media would say such nonsense. Seeing today, Ares will now become the strongest of the top 10 guilds."
"Ares is already the only place with two S-rank hunters, so that makes sense."
"Haha... S-rank hunters are hunters, but you need solid foundations. I'll take it as encouragement to work harder."
What an artful response. That's our Se-jin indeed.
Really, what can't our Se-jin do?
"Oh? You guys came too."
"Senior, thank you. Because of me, you even had to duel..."
"Well, I did what was natural. It's not just about my junior, but I was also disrespected."
As she speaks, she winks - is she a bit excited?
What if other people see her doing that...
"Con-grat-u-la-tions on your S-rank promotion."
It seems Eunseo saw.
"Thank you. But it's not confirmed yet. If other S-rank hunters in Japan raise objections within a month, I'll have to duel again."
That's how STB regulations work, but would there be any S-rank hunter who would raise objections after seeing today's duel?
Seeing Takeshi get beaten like that, unless their head is messed up, there probably won't be any.
***
"Kids, the final exam report cards are out."
"Already? Hey, Min Chan-seong. Are you first place again?"
"Huh? I messed up a bit this time."
I wondered if the miracle of getting everything right by guessing would happen again like last time, but just in case, this time I solved all the problems and deliberately chose wrong answers to some.
"Let's hurry and go see."
The things that happened at camp feel like yesterday, but two months have already passed.
Now that finals are over, vacation will start soon.
As I expected, Japan's S-rank hunters didn't raise objections to Se-jin's S-rank promotion.
Se-jin was promoted to S-rank hunter, and along with Se-jin's popularity, Ares Guild's image also skyrocketed.
On the other hand, the Nomura family was completely ruined.
In Japan, which values face as much as our country, they properly embarrassed the nation.
The father of that guy Satsu who picked a fight with me received an audit from the Prime Minister's office, and when various corruptions were revealed, he resigned from his position as a member of parliament and was arrested.
The financial director of the Japan Hunter Association who oppressed me was also fired and went to prison for embezzlement.
In addition, due to the Korea Hunter Association's formal protest, most of the International Hunter Association's Japanese staff involved in this incident received severe punishments of dismissal and removal from office.
According to the most recent news I heard, they're preparing to emigrate because they can't live with their heads held high in Japan.
And my bullying life also ended as soon as I returned to Korea.
The video recorded with the necklace was released to the media, and the fact that I calmly refuted without yielding at all to Japan's unfair pressure seemed a bit cool to the kids.
Actually, I just argued because I was so absurd and angry...
To begin with, even if it was bullying, it was just being ignored in our class.
The kids who shared the same room in the dormitory and the kids from the magic department weren't on such bad terms with me.
When I went to the bulletin board with the kids to check grades, let's see... 26th place.
It's still a high rank, but since I got a perfect score on the midterm exam, it would also be strange if I dropped too drastically.
This seems just right.
"You said you messed up but got 26th place?"
"If 26th place is messing up, then I should die."
While listening to the kids' exaggerations and checking grades, I see that Do-hyun is in 1st place and Cha Min-woo is in 2nd place.
Now Do-hyun will get some hate.
Lee Ji-sung is 54th place?
"Ji-sung, your grades went up a lot again this time."
"It's all thanks to you."
Lee Ji-sung and Kim Do-hyun have become quite close now.
"Hey, Min Chan-seong, you dropped a lot. You're my next target."
"You?"
"Are you ignoring me!"
Not to the extent of those two, but I've also become quite close with these two.
Do-hyun and I talked well in the student council even during the days when I was being bullied.
Ji-sung didn't talk to me during the days when I was being bullied because he was watching the class atmosphere, but after the camp incident, as the kids gradually approached me, we got along well again.
Still, not everything went well.
Nam Ji-hyeon, who is glaring fiercely at this side from the opposite side, and Seong Ji-an, who is pretending to look at the report card while glancing at me.
My relationship with these two remains awkward.
The girls who are close to them also still don't want to hang out with me, but well, it doesn't matter.
It's not as uncomfortable as before.
I didn't become a student to enjoy a truly rosy school life.
I don't plan to live as Min Chan-seong forever either.
"If you're done checking grades, go back. We need to have homeroom."
At the English teacher's words, I returned to the classroom with the other kids.
I sit at my seat and prepare for class when the front door of the classroom opens and Choi Seo-ra enters.
"Did everyone check their grades?"
"Yes!"
"Our class narrowly missed 1st place this time, but we still got 2nd place."
"Teacher, then if we go by overall ranking, our class is 1st place, right?"
"Right. If we don't get major point deductions, our class will be 1st place overall for the first half of the year. You all know there's prize money for the 1st place class in the first half, right?"
"Yes!"
"Teacher, then a pizza party the day before vacation...?"
"I prefer chicken."
Everyone is cheering and making a fuss.
"Now, now... quiet. Chicken and pizza are good, but how about we all go somewhere together in the summer?"
Oh, come to think of it, I also took the kids to the beach last year because I got 1st place thanks to Eunseo. It was a bit annoying, but it was still quite fun.
I had told Choi Seo-ra about it too, and this girl copied it exactly.
"Wow!"
"Great!"
"Where are we going? Valley? Beach?"
"Rather than the location, we need to match the schedule first. I'm thinking of early vacation, the week right after vacation starts... are there any kids who won't have time during vacation?"
Actually, I wanted to raise my hand and say I couldn't.
I was thinking of spending a lot of time with Master, Luciel, and Se-jin during this vacation.
But when no one else is raising their hand, I can't be the only one to raise mine.
Besides, I'm supposed to stay at school during vacation since I don't have a home.
"Everyone seems fine. Then as they say, strike while the iron is hot - how about Monday of next week after vacation starts?"
Everyone said it was good, so it was decided right away.
We're also going on a retreat in the second semester, so do I really need to go?
It looks like it'll be incredibly annoying... Well, there's no choice.
Still, it's only for 1 night and 2 days.
After that, we voted on the location.
I thought the beach would be dominant, but unexpectedly, many votes went to the valley, so the valley was decided.
Well, we've been to the beach a lot, so the valley isn't bad either.
"The teacher will look into the location, so everyone tell your parents too and be careful not to get point deductions."
Seo-ra leaves and I'm about to pack my textbook and go to the magic practice room when Ho-sik from the next seat follows me.
"Chan-seong, let's go together."
"Hurry up."
"Where did you vote?"
"Me? Beach."
"Oh, you were beach too as expected. Summer means beach. If it's valley, it's mountains so there are lots of mosquitoes..."
"Beach mosquitoes are just as vicious as mountain mosquitoes."
"Still, if we go to the beach, we can see bikinis."
"What bikinis. There's no such thing. These days they all wear that... rash guards, they say."
When I took the kids last time, everyone wore rash guards, and most other people did too.
"That can't be... What devil invented such trash..."
Really, 17-year-old boys...
Well, I agree with the last part though.
I arrive at the practice room and prepare for class when Cha Min-woo approaches me.
"Hey, Min Chan-seong, you completely bombed the test this time."
Why is he picking a fight with me from the morning again?
"...Don't pick fights and go away. You're also 2nd place again this time."
"I'm consistently 2nd place. You're 13.5th place on average, so where do you..."
Really, this guy has a clear character.
"You really calculate strangely. Even if you bring 100 silver medals, they won't trade them for one gold medal."
At my words, his face turns red and he gets angry, but just at the right timing, Teacher Kim enters, so he returns to his seat.
Even if you did well on this test, you're still 10 years too early to beat me with words.
The first semester curriculum was already finished, but until 2nd period we reviewed things that were frequently missed on the test to organize error notes, and from 3rd period we watched a movie.
It was a movie related to magic, but I'd seen it before so it was boring.
Well, it's still a hundred times better than having class though.
I casually look at my phone to pass time, and before I know it, class is over.
What was today's lunch menu?
"That's all for today. We'll continue next time, so remember the timeline. Oh, Min Chan-seong over there, I have something to talk about so stay behind. That's all."
Huh? Why me?