Ch 55
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 55
"Has the 2nd Hunter school also finished arriving?"
"Yes. I was just informed that all ten classes have come up."
With a total of 400 students from both our school and the 2nd Hunter school, the fairly spacious training center field was completely packed.
"Let's proceed with the entrance ceremony."
Starting with the national ceremony, followed by singing the national anthem, a moment of silence, and then the education director's speech.
Though she's only been teaching for a year, she speaks very smoothly without any nervousness.
Given the number of people attending, it must be quite tense for her—she probably practiced separately the day before.
Well, regardless, the students still have bored expressions on their faces.
After the speech came the introduction of instructors, and finally the ceremony concluded with representatives from the 1st and 2nd Hunter schools coming forward to take an oath.
The subject I was assigned to oversee was the obstacle course.
The company staff were supposed to handle student guidance and life management, and since the morning was PT exercises, I thought I might get some rest, but I got called by the vice principal.
When I asked why he called me, he just told me to come first—perhaps he was upset that the 2nd Hunter school teacher was appointed as education director?
As soon as I arrived at the faculty dormitory where the vice principal was staying, I was shocked.
Some were already lying down with blankets, and even though it wasn't lunchtime yet, there were groups drinking alcohol and playing hwatu cards.
It was completely like a party scene—some are working as instructors while others are playing... It seems unfair.
Since the vice principal wasn't there, I wondered if he was in another dormitory, but as I was leaving, I ran into an unexpected person in the hallway.
"The instructor uniform suits you well, Teacher Kang."
"Teacher Kim? You came too?"
What's this?
Since there was only one Teacher Kim as the health teacher, I thought she definitely wouldn't come.
I don't think I heard she was coming either.
"Both second and third-year students are on field training this week, so there are no students at school."
"Ah, I see."
"I heard the instructors arrived yesterday. You must be working hard."
"Indeed. Because of someone's father..."
"What? Oh, I heard about it from my father. You weren't planning to come originally."
"Yes. I have makeup classes almost every day and wanted to rest."
"My father thinks highly of you. I heard he even gave you a recommendation letter so you could take the A-rank promotion exam?"
"Without that compensation, I definitely wouldn't have done it."
"So that's how it happened. You're the obstacle course instructor, right? According to the schedule, it's in the afternoon. Can I come watch?"
"There's no reason why not, but even if you come, there won't be anything special to see. More importantly, where is the vice principal's room? He told me to come to his dormitory, but he's not here."
"Ah, I think he said he was going to meet the 2nd Hunter school's vice principal. It's the room at the very end over there. Follow me."
Following Teacher Kim, I went to the room at the end, knocked, and entered.
In the center of the room was the vice principal and another man who appeared to be of similar age, probably the 2nd Hunter school's vice principal.
"Well, who do we have here? It's Seon-hwa! You're ready to get married now."
"Uncle Bongpal, it's been a while. Have you been well?"
"What marriage when you don't even have a boyfriend? Oh? Teacher Kang is here too?"
Judging by the atmosphere and the fact that he knows Teacher Kim is the vice principal's daughter, they must be quite close.
"This is Ma Bongpal, the 2nd Hunter school's vice principal. You've probably heard his name, right?"
Of course I know him.
Ma Bongpal, like Kim Man-dong, is one of only ten S-rank hunters in the country, and he appears in the original novel too.
He has a physique comparable to Kim Man-dong's, but despite his appearance, he's a skilled magician who mainly uses wind magic.
Since he's not from the protagonist's school, he doesn't have a major role.
"It's an honor to meet you. I'm Kang Shin-hyeok."
"I've heard a lot about you and seen your picture in articles, but you look much better in person. I'm Ma Bongpal."
As he extends his hand first, I shake it, but... What's with this person?
He's sending magic through our clasped hands.
I slightly raised my internal energy to deflect the magic.
"What are you doing?"
"This friend has been praising you so much that I wanted to test you, but if it made you uncomfortable, I apologize."
"This old geezer has a cunning side to him. Try to understand. He meant no harm."
"It's fine. But why did you call me?"
"Ah, about that, we'll talk later, just the two of us..."
"What kind of secret talk requires just the two of you? Wait, Man-dong, could it be... You called him because the 2nd Hunter school teacher was appointed as education director?"
As Vice Principal Ma teases from the side, Vice Principal Kim Man-dong's expression turns sour.
"What are you saying? It's not like that."
"What do you mean it's not? When they said the 2nd Hunter school was sending an A-rank teacher, you boasted that no matter how hard the 2nd Hunter school tries, they won't match the 1st Hunter school."
The vice principal can't say anything and his face keeps getting redder, which suggests Vice Principal Ma is correct.
I thought it might be the case, but to think that was really the reason.
"From the looks of it, you were counting on Teacher Kang here. But no matter how skilled, a B-rank hunter can't beat an A-rank hunter."
He's being too arrogant... It seems he hasn't heard about what happened yesterday.
If he had heard that I conceded, he definitely wouldn't speak like this.
"That's a bit uncomfortable to hear."
"What?"
"You haven't heard from the 2nd Hunter school teachers, I see. Originally, we had a duel for the education director position, which I won, but I conceded it to the 2nd Hunter school teacher."
"Teacher Kang, what do you mean by that?"
"Yesterday, after arguing about who would be the education director, we finally decided to settle it with a duel, so I stepped up. From the 2nd Hunter school, Teacher Kim, who is the education director, came forward. I thought it would be too unfair if Teacher Kim and I fought one-on-one, so I told them all to come at me, but only two more joined. Anyway, I won, but I conceded, which is why Teacher Kim became the education director."
"You defeated our Teacher Kim?"
"Not just Teacher Kim, but two other teachers as well, so I fought three people simultaneously in a 1:3 battle. Even so, I tried to match their level, asking all the 2nd Hunter school teachers to come at me at once, but they said they couldn't do that..."
"You fought 1:3 and won? Don't lie."
Ma Bongpal has a disbelieving expression.
"If you find it hard to believe, you can grab any instructor and ask them to confirm."
"Then, if you won, why did you concede to Teacher Kim?"
"From the beginning, I had absolutely no interest in the education director position."
"But then, why not just let another teacher from our school take it? Why concede to a 2nd Hunter school teacher?"
With a slightly more relaxed expression than before after hearing I won 3:1, but still looking displeased, the vice principal asked me.
This guy knows I don't get along with the practical instructors, yet he asks this.
"Our school's teachers lacked fighting spirit. When they heard the opponent was an A-rank hunter, they were too scared to even participate in the duel, which is why I stepped up. But 2nd Hunter school's Teacher Kim was willing to fight until the end despite seeing the skill difference, and when defeated, she gracefully acknowledged it."
"Hmm, I see."
Teacher Kim looks slightly surprised, while Kim Man-dong and Ma Bongpal have awkward expressions, probably because I criticized both sides.
"May I leave now? I need to prepare as well..."
"Ah, yes. You may go."
Thinking it would only be annoying to stay longer, I bowed and left the room.
On my way to the obstacle course, looking at the field, I could see PT exercises in full swing.
They said the training center staff were all former military officers, and indeed they were making the students do exercises as rigorously as if it were commando training.
Thinking they must be having a hard time, I was about to pass by when Teacher Baek approached me.
"Instructor Kang, I ate something bad this morning and my stomach doesn't feel good, so I need to go to the bathroom. Could you watch over for a moment? From here to there, if you see any trainees with poor training attitudes, just separate them and send them to the back."
It was bothersome, but Teacher Baek looked so unwell that I told him I understood and to hurry back.
After Teacher Baek left, I walked around among the students watching them, and saw familiar faces.
Probably because they do a lot of running and physical training normally, all our sword class students are following along well... Wait. Look at Jinsu!
He's only moving his lips, not making any sound at all.
Even though he's my student and I was going to overlook it, when our eyes met, he just grinned without making a sound, so I had no choice.
***
As soon as the entrance ceremony ended, we moved our luggage to the dormitory as instructed by the instructors.
The dormitory was set up with military-style bunks like I'd seen on TV.
It was a bit awkward with students from the other school, but there was no time to exchange greetings.
We had to immediately surrender our phones, change into the military uniforms provided by the instructors, and go back to the field.
And as soon as we arrived at the field, hell began.
"The instructor said to omit the last slogan, but it came out again. Don't you all pay attention?"
"We're sorry!"
"I understand. You all want to spend the whole day here with the instructor."
"No, sir!"
At first, I thought it was manageable, but as the numbers increased and accumulated, it became increasingly difficult.
The instructors kept barking at us to speak louder.
I thought, if you're likely to make a mistake, just follow the mouth movements like I did, but... Oh? It's the teacher.
I think it was a different instructor earlier, but I smiled out of happiness to see him, yet somehow the teacher's expression doesn't look good.
"Trainee number 332 there."
"Teacher?"
"Teacher? Trainee number 332, are you allowed to call me 'teacher' during the retreat?"
"Ah... No, sir. Trainee number 332, Lee Jinsu."
"During the retreat, I'm not a teacher but an instructor. I've been watching you, and why aren't you making any sound, just moving your lips? Don't you want to receive training?"
"I'm sorry! It was too hard, so that's why!"
"If you're sorry, does that make it okay? Are you the only one who's tired right now?"
"Ah... No, sir."
"If not, then why are you doing that? Step out to the back!"
"Teacher! I mean, Instructor! I'll work hard."
"I won't listen to excuses. Go receive discipline and get your mind right so you can work hard. Step out!"
Thinking he should cut me some slack since we have a relationship, I headed to the disciplinary area feeling it was too harsh.
Upon arriving at the disciplinary area, the instructor in charge immediately frowned upon seeing me.
Earlier, I deliberately slacked off to get sent here thinking it would be easier, but discipline was even more hellish.
"Trainee 332 is back again? I thought we agreed not to see each other again, didn't we?"
"I'm sorry."
"Stop talking and start push-ups over there now. Count 'one' as you go down saying 'get,' and 'two' as you come up saying 'focused,' repeat after me. One!"
"Get!"
"Two!"
"Focused!"
"Automatic."
"Get! Focused!"
"Trainee 332, is that the loudest you can speak?"
"No, sir!"
"Do 30 more, and when you finish, return to your position."
What kind of retreat is this...
The senior student council members definitely said that even though the instructors try to make it hard, compared to the classes at school, it's nothing—just a fun trip...
It was all lies.
Groaning as I finished my push-ups and stood up, I saw Minhee walking towards me with a tearful face.
"Did you get caught by the teacher too?"
"Said my head touched the ground. I asked him to let it slide just once, but he wouldn't even listen."
"Tsk tsk. You should have worked harder."
"Hey. You got disciplined too."
"I just didn't make any sound, but I did the movements properly. And I've already finished my push-ups. I'm going first. Good luck."
"Trainee 332, what are you doing now?"
"What? No, I finished so I was about to go..."
"Did the instructor tell you to chat after finishing, or to return to your position? Are you trying to kill time now?"
"That's not it..."
"What do you mean that's not it? Other trainees are still training hard. Your mindset is wrong. Trainee 332, 30 more push-ups."
That's not it... I wasn't chatting alone.
I felt wronged, but Minhee was already down doing push-ups.
He really moves fast.
In the end, as I got down again to do push-ups and looked to the side, that guy Kim Minhee was smiling.
"I told you. If you'd finished, you should've just left quietly. Why are you provoking people?"
He's really adding fuel to the fire.
"I'll deal with you later."
"Instructor, the trainee next to me keeps talking."
That... That evil kid!
"Who? What, trainee 332 again?"
"This trainee laughed first, sir."
"Are you the instructor? This instructor never said not to laugh. There's nothing wrong with laughing, and haven't you heard that first-class people laugh when things get tough?"
"No, this guy didn't laugh with that meaning..."
This is really unfair.
"Trainee 332, this won't work. Stop the push-ups and prepare for PT exercise 8."
PT exercise 8...
"... Focused! Instructor, I've finished 30 repetitions. May I go now?"
"Trainee 112, return to your position."
UGGH, Kim Minhee... I'll get my revenge on you somehow.