ch 243
Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the School
Chapter 243
"Principal? You want to accept one more trainee?"
"Is there a problem? The dormitory should have room."
Our School was originally built as a Hunter school, so it can accommodate a total of 600 people.
"There are rooms available, but the trainee selection has already been completed, hasn't it? If we accept additional students like this, there could be controversy about preferential treatment. Other countries are already complaining that only Korea has many trainees..."
Hmm, that's certainly a valid point.
Each of the 82 countries gets 2 students, but Korea gets 4, which is double.
Even so, it's just adding one more trainee.
"Administrative Director, even numbers are better than odd numbers, right?"
"Pardon?"
"If we add up all the existing trainees, there are 169 people. If we add one more to make it exactly 170, it would be neat and clean, wouldn't it?"
According to the original plan, the total would have been 168 people, but China, which didn't participate in the world summit, announced they would cover 90% of the reconstruction costs for neighboring countries' shelters, so we specially accepted one person.
That makes it 169 people. Since we'll divide them into two groups, even numbers are better than odd numbers.
"If there are complaints..."
"We can deal with the countries that complain."
"What? No..."
"That was poorly phrased. Director, I'm also Korean."
A Korean person wanting to take better care of Korean Hunters—who would pick a fight with that?
I'm not unsympathetic to the Administrative Director's concerns, but if there are such countries, we can simply reduce the number of trainees for the next batch or not accept any at all.
I'm being generous by sharing the opportunities I've gained to reduce the damage from the future Demon King's descent.
If they don't know who's in charge, I'll have to teach them.
"I understand."
"Well then, let's end the meeting here. Good work, everyone."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"Good work."
Now that the meeting is over, I should return to the principal's office, but I didn't want to go, so I sent a telepathic message to Eunseo.
—How about a cup of coffee in the break room?
—Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony, how can you have time for that? Principal, you must have a lot of paperwork to process too. Did you check the education plan I submitted yesterday...
Since it was about work, I immediately cut off the telepathic communication and fled to the principal's office where a mountain of documents awaited approval.
Eunseo is really too much.
No matter how busy we are, there should be time for a cup of coffee... actually, there isn't.
The mountain of documents on the desk seems to have grown even more than yesterday.
Did Se-jin come by this morning?
About 30% of this mountain of documents is school-related paperwork, and half of it consists of documents Se-jin brought regarding preparations for the Demon King's descent.
While Se-jin handles most things on her end, there are many things I need to directly check and know about, so she delivers documents like this.
When I went to the desk, sure enough, there was a memo attached, indicating Se-jin had been here.
[Teacher, it seems like you haven't even checked half of the documents I brought yesterday. If you keep this up, I'll quit everything and just focus on guild work.]
After Eunseo, now Se-jin too...
There's no time to lament.
I immediately sat at the desk and began reviewing the documents when I felt a vibration in my pocket.
I took out my phone and saw a text from Se-jin.
[I'll come for lunch later. Let's eat together.]
It doesn't seem like there will be time for lunch...
I sent a reply saying I understood, and another text came.
[Hunter Kang Shin-hyeok, the vice principal told me today. He said you personally nominated me... Thank you. I'll do my best and work hard.]
It's Chan-seong.
I have a debt to him for living as him for a year, and after he awakened, I thought he might feel lost and confused due to my activities, so I specially included him as a trainee to help him out.
That's right, buddy. I even had a spat with the Administrative Director because of you today, so you better work hard.
Of course, I didn't reply with all that—I just sent three characters: "Fighting."
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The door opened and Eunseo entered.
She said she was busy earlier, but here she is.
"As I thought, there's time for a cup of coffee... No, what are those documents again?"
"It is today's updated list."
"Didn't we check the list two days... no, three days ago?"
"Seven countries submitted change requests, so I updated it."
"I... see. Um, coffee..."
"I'm busy. You need to check all the documents I gave you yesterday too. You haven't forgotten about tonight's appointment, have you?"
"Tonight? Ah! Of course I remember."
I had a suit fitted for tomorrow's entrance ceremony, and we planned to pick it up and go on a date together.
"So you'll have to leave on time today, right?"
"I'll... do my best."
"I know you can do it, Teacher. I'll be counting on you!"
She's really piling on the pressure.
When someone says they believe in you, you can't help but work hard.
I focused and started tackling the mountain of documents one by one.
Oh, the United States donated the most money.
Not only did they support Mexico, which is in the same North America, but they also provided a lot of support to South American countries and Africa.
Europe, which is as wealthy as the United States, only agreed to jointly support financially struggling countries within Europe.
As expected, the land of freedom, the world's police.
I should consider increasing the next batch to 3... no, 4 people.
Japan also quietly provided a lot of support to Southeast Asian countries.
Our country seems to focus on supporting portal detection systems rather than financial support.
One of the TOP 3 portal detection systems belongs to our Republic of Korea.
There's also the North Korea issue.
As I worked through the documents one by one, I found a report related to North Korea.
Hmm, the government had also requested cooperation.
It's not military cooperation like last time.
The entire North Korean territory is already under our Republic of Korea's control.
What the government requested was an interview to improve public opinion.
No Korean dislikes the complete removal of North Korea's threat of constantly launching missiles and conducting nuclear tests.
However, public opinion about unification isn't entirely positive.
The cost of unification.
North Korea is completely underdeveloped economically and quite backward.
Not only the income level but the overall social infrastructure is completely at rock bottom compared to our Republic of Korea.
Even Pyongyang, the capital, is only at the level of Korea's 80s-90s.
So immediate merger and free travel aren't feasible.
Externally, we make excuses about various social procedures like clearing minefields along the 38th parallel and conducting resident registration surveys, but ultimately the problem is money.
To reduce confusion, we need to match levels to some extent, which requires investment and development.
But we can't cover all of that with taxes.
No citizen would be happy about raising taxes immediately.
They're trying to encourage corporate participation and improve perception, but it won't be easy.
Groups like separated families and North Korean defector organizations are constantly pressuring for quick family reunions.
Giving one interview isn't too difficult, but even if I go out and say let's help, I don't think it would be very effective.
I'll put this on hold for now—the school is what needs immediate attention.
***
Hunter School Main Auditorium.
Today is finally the entrance ceremony.
Our Hunter School's main auditorium can accommodate a total of 700 people.
Since it was originally built as a Hunter school, it was generously designed for 600 people plus faculty, but this first batch of trainees totals less than 200 people.
So I thought there would be plenty of room, but I was wrong.
With reporters, government officials, and Hunter Association people attending, it was packed without any room to step.
Se-jin, who was supposedly very busy, came too, and so did the vice principal.
It's fortunate I came with a changed appearance.
If I had come in my original form, people would have recognized me everywhere and bothered me with conversations.
Since we gathered people from all over the world, there's diversity in hair color and skin color.
The languages are all different, but since translation magic is cast throughout the school, communication isn't a problem, making it quite noisy.
"Teacher, there's not much time left, so please go get ready."
"Got it."
I moved to the principal's office and dispelled the appearance-changing magic.
I changed into the suit I picked up yesterday and moved back to the main auditorium.
"It's Kang Shin-hyeok."
"Principal?"
Just a moment ago it was like a marketplace, but when I appeared, it became quiet in an instant.
"Congratulations on the opening."
When everyone was just watching each other, Se-jin was the first to approach me.
"What congratulations?"
"Well, you were promoted to principal."
Haha... what a promotion.
"You must be busy, why did you come?"
"No matter how busy I am, I have to make time for a day like this. If I didn't come, reporters would make up stories about discord."
"True."
"But it became completely quiet when you arrived, Teacher. You should have seen how noisy it was before you came."
"I was actually watching everything."
"How? Are there CCTVs installed in the auditorium? I didn't see any."
"I was watching with a changed appearance. Still, everyone seems to be very mindful of my presence."
"The other teachers weren't giving warnings."
"The trainees' status makes it difficult for them to speak up."
This was a problem I expected from when I first checked the student list.
I told the teachers not to be concerned about the trainees' outside status or position and to treat them purely as trainees while at the School, but with Ten Stars, Ten Strongest, S-rank Hunters, and even their own Guild Masters present, it wouldn't be easy.
"Still, trainees are trainees and teachers are teachers..."
I said things would improve after I addressed it in my speech later, and greeted the approaching government officials and association representatives.
Everyone congratulated me like Se-jin, but I don't know what they're congratulating me for.
After exchanging greetings and taking my seat, the host announced the start of the entrance ceremony shortly after.
I headed straight to the podium.
Usually, school entrance ceremonies include singing the national anthem and various procedures, but I skipped most of them.
We can't sing all 82 national anthems, and such formalities are a waste of time.
"Welcome, Hunter School's first batch of trainees. I'm Kang Shin-hyeok, serving as the School's principal."
I gave a brief greeting and immediately explained the curriculum.
I would personally teach both the Senior and Junior groups, divided into two, for both morning and afternoon sessions.
The time when I'm not teaching is free training time, but I explained that Juniors could also take general subjects like mathematics and science, or classes taught in existing Hunter schools like swordsmanship, spear techniques, and magic.
The above system was created for the Juniors.
While it's unnecessary for the Seniors, who are mostly S-rank Hunters, half of the students are Juniors.
Among the Juniors, there are quite a few in their twenties, but the majority are teenagers.
I can't have them practice only internal energy cultivation methods for three months.
Even if the courses and progress are different, there are two teachers per subject, and we plan to take applications and adjust schedules by dividing time.
Then I called the teachers forward and introduced them one by one.
They all looked nervous.
Eunseo is somewhat better, but I saw her take a calming pill earlier.
She's naturally quite shy around strangers.
"I'll conclude the introductions here and now finally explain the Hunter School rules."
"Rules?"
"Come on, we're not kids."
"Right. What rules..."
Some trainees grumbled, thinking I couldn't hear them.
Look at these guys.
"First, I'll inform you about what happens when rules are violated. Penalty points will be given differentially according to the severity of the offense, and if penalty points reach 10 or more, you will be immediately expelled."
The auditorium became quiet instantly at the mention of expulsion.
"Even if a trainee is expelled, the trainee's country cannot re-enroll a trainee in that batch. Additionally, countries that accumulate 3 expulsions will have their enrollment eligibility revoked for one year."