Ch 57
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 57
"Well then, we will now begin the Mount Seorak Talent Show, a time for our Hunter School students to showcase their talents."
The students applaud and cheer at the MC staff member's announcement.
They were complaining about being tired during the hike earlier, but now they're full of energy.
But I'm feeling miserable.
I tried explaining the situation to other teachers and asking for help, but no one volunteered to take my place.
I was desperately trying to find a way out, even considering pretending to twist my ankle during the hike and going to the hospital, but I couldn't attempt it.
There's a teacher among the instructors who can use healing magic, and Teacher Kim, our school nurse, is also here.
"Teacher Kang, have you practiced?"
It's the spear arts teacher I dueled with when we first met; he's representing the 2nd Hunter School.
"I would have needed time for that. I'm seriously dying here."
"Aren't you taking this too seriously? It's not a competition, and no one's keeping score, so just relax."
Other 2nd Hunter School teachers told me that this spear teacher has always loved dancing and even won awards in dance competitions during his school days. Maybe that's why he seems so relaxed.
"That's right. The audience is just students, so what does it matter?"
Another 2nd Hunter School teacher chimes in, but is he trying to taunt me right now?
I've already made my choice.
"Teacher Kang, you said you're going to sing, right?"
"Yes."
Between dance and singing, I chose singing.
As a writer who only wrote in my room, I have absolutely no connection with dancing—I've only been to a club once when I was 20.
But I did go to karaoke with friends often.
"What song are you going to perform?"
It's Education Leader Teacher Kim.
"It's my original composition. The genre is rock ballad?"
"Original composition? Oh, you compose too?"
"Ah, yes. Well, just as a hobby..."
"That's amazing. I'm looking forward to it."
The claim about an original composition is obviously a lie; I plan to sing a song by a singer I liked in my previous life.
I don't know any songs from this world, and I don't have time to practice something new, and as the Vice Principal said, I can't exactly sing the national anthem.
"Don't have high expectations."
I remember the lyrics and melody perfectly since I've sung it dozens of times at karaoke, but there's no accompaniment since it's a song that doesn't exist in this world.
Still, it's better than a completely unfamiliar song.
One by one, the students' performances end, and my turn is approaching.
"We've just enjoyed Teacher Kim Hyun-pil from the 2nd Hunter School's amazing dance performance. The 1stHunter School teachers can't lose either, right? Next up is Teacher Kang Shin-hyeok from the 1stHunter School."
The spear arts teacher's performance right before mine was truly impressive, just as you'd expect from someone who won awards in competitions.
The students' reactions were very positive, and the atmosphere is so charged that it puts even more pressure on me.
Thinking I should have gone first, I stepped onto the stage.
"Hello, I'm Kang Shin-hyeok."
"Our teacher is so handsome!"
"Teacher, you're amazing!"
They seem to be students from the swordsmanship club, which makes me even more nervous.
"Teacher Kang Shin-hyeok will be performing an original song, but before singing, it would be nice if you could give us a brief explanation."
I don't really have anything to explain...
"The genre is rock ballad, and the title is 'A Journey to You.' Since instructor participation wasn't originally planned, please understand that there's no accompaniment."
It's a song by Buzz, my favorite singer from my past life.
Actually, I like other songs more than this one, but considering this is a retreat talent show, I thought an upbeat song would be better.
***
"Wow, incredible. Our teacher is really good at singing."
"Not just his singing skills, but the song itself was so good. Great lyrics and really exciting."
"I know, right? To think our teacher composed such a song himself—is there anything he can't do?"
***
I was surprised at how well the students received it.
The moment the song ended, there was such an overwhelming request for an encore that I almost performed another song without realizing it.
Even without accompaniment and despite everyone hearing it for the first time, I guess a masterpiece remains a masterpiece no matter what world you're in.
And I sang better than I expected.
It's a song I used to sing often, and it's not particularly high-pitched, but even the high notes came out smoothly, and it felt definitely easier than in my previous life.
Kang Shin-hyeok might have had a natural talent for singing, but I think it's probably because of my martial arts training.
I haven't learned sound techniques, but being a supreme master has certainly improved my physical specs and breathing compared to my previous life.
"Teacher Kang, I really enjoyed your song."
"Singer... No, you said you composed it yourself, so should I call you a singer-songwriter? The song was really great."
"Haha..."
"You said you were going to die, but you were completely exaggerating."
The 2nd Hunter School teachers approach with compliments, but our school's practical teachers don't say a word to me.
They probably thought I would embarrass myself, but it feels satisfying to have proven them wrong.
***
I woke up to the loud sound of my alarm.
It was the final alarm, so I quickly got ready and left the dormitory.
We returned to school yesterday after finishing the retreat.
It would be nice to have a day off, but unfortunately, today is a regular school day.
The last day of retreat had only the closing ceremony on the schedule, so it ended early in the morning, but I arrived late because I stopped by my master's place.
I can't go this weekend because I have a promotion test and also dinner plans with Teacher Kim and Teacher Hong.
The preliminaries are still two weeks away, so I need to continue with supplementary classes, and after the preliminaries, we have final exams.
Once the finals are over, the festival follows immediately, so I'll have to prepare for that too...
Thinking that I wish vacation would come soon, I entered the cafeteria.
The breakfast menu isn't great either, so I was just going to ease my hunger and drink the red ginseng I brought from my room when I spotted a familiar face.
"Oh, Teacher?"
"Ah, Se-jin. Good morning."
"Good morning. Did the retreat go well?"
I heard the third-year students went on a practicum, and it seems they returned yesterday.
But either they didn't feed her at the practicum site or she's on a diet, because she seems to have lost a lot of weight in just a few days.
"More or less. But Se-jin, are you on a diet or something lately?"
"What? No."
She never had any excess fat to begin with, but now she looks somewhat gaunt.
"You seem thinner than when I saw you a few days ago. You've been taking your medicine, right?"
"Of course. I haven't missed a single day."
Hmm, I've only been giving it out for a few days, but the other kids grew taller and gained weight after taking the medicine, yet it doesn't seem to be working well for Se-jin?
Unlike our kids, she's a third-year student, so maybe her growth period is over.
"Eat more food. Oh, and take this after you eat."
I handed her the red ginseng I was about to take.
"Weren't you going to have that, Teacher?"
"I have more in the faculty office."
"Thank you."
Seeing her bow her head in gratitude, I can't help but smile.
"It's nothing special. See you at the supplementary class later."
After parting with Se-jin, I arrived at the faculty office.
I exchanged light greetings with other teachers I hadn't seen for days and prepared class materials until it was suddenly time for the meeting.
The meeting didn't cover much.
Just reminders to create an atmosphere where students can focus on class since some might still be excited from the retreat?
I don't think I need to worry about our swordsmanship class students since they follow instructions so well.
I arrived at the swordsmanship training hall and did some paperwork. When it was time and I came out, the atmosphere was noticeably different from usual.
Without being told to, the boys were grouped with boys, and the girls with girls, and they weren't speaking to each other.
Did they have a group fight or something?
Even Jinsu and Minhee, who are now a couple and were always bickering yet stayed close together, are completely separated.
The atmosphere suggests they won't answer if I ask directly, so I started with stretching.
"Minhee, lead the jogging, and Jinsu, help me out for a moment. There's something I need to get from inside."
"Yes."
"Yes."
As Minhee started jogging, I took Jinsu into the office.
"Teacher, what should I carry out?"
"Actually, there's nothing to carry; I just want to ask you something. What's going on with all of you?"
"What?"
"The atmosphere is completely different from usual. Boys and girls aren't even talking to each other. Did something happen?"
"Oh, well, that's..."
His expression suddenly becomes serious, which is unlike him.
I thought they might have gotten into some trouble, and sure enough, they'd caused a major incident.
The confession he made during the retreat wasn't a real confession.
He said he confessed with the intention of embarrassing Minhee, this guy really...
Honestly, if he had no feelings at all, he wouldn't have played such a prank, so if things had gone well, there would have been no problem with them dating.
But this foolish Jinsu told his friends right after the confession that it was a fake confession.
This fact reached Minhee's ears as well, and Minhee, who had accepted the confession, was completely humiliated.
Both Jinsu and Minhee are the class representative and vice representative, respectively, and they are the centers of the boys and girls.
The girls took Minhee's side and criticized Jinsu, while the boys defended Jinsu, saying it was just a joke and wondering why everyone was overreacting, creating this situation.
"Have you apologized to Minhee?"
"Well... She blocked me on messenger, and when I tried to talk to her in person, she said she doesn't want to see my face and told me to get lost..."
"So you haven't?"
"No, I just really meant it as a joke... She always bullies me and teases me too..."
Seeing him making excuses, I can tell he still hasn't come to his senses.
"Lee Jinsu, is a confession a joke? Has Minhee ever played this kind of joke on you?"
Even jokes have limits.
I think playing with someone's feelings is truly the worst.
"No... So, Teacher, what should I do?"
"What do you mean what should you do? If you've done something wrong, you should apologize and ask for forgiveness."
"But Minhee refuses to talk to me at all..."
"Unless you're planning to completely cut ties with Minhee, you should apologize until she accepts it. And explain properly to the boys that you were in the wrong."
He looks like he's about to cry as he hangs his head, and seeing that makes me feel bad.
Did I come down too hard on him?
He may be big, but he's still only 17 years old, so he can make mistakes.
"I'll try to talk to Minhee as well."
"Really?"
"Don't get your hopes up too high. I said I'll try to talk to her once. I won't force her to reconcile."
Whether to forgive or not is the victim's choice.
"Th... Thank you."
I went back out with Jinsu, had them do jogging, and conducted the class as usual.
The atmosphere was terrible, but everyone participated enthusiastically in the class, and after we finished well, I kept Minhee behind on the pretext of cleaning up.
"Teacher, I've finished cleaning."
"Good job. Minhee, would you like to have lunch with me today?"
"What?"
"I saw this morning that the lunch menu doesn't look great. Let's go to the canteen instead of the cafeteria."
"Is this about Jinsu?"
Tsk, unlike someone who's slow, Minhee is quick-witted.
"Partly. I have other things to talk about too, so let's go together. I'll treat you."
Although she looked displeased, fortunately she didn't refuse, so I headed to the faculty canteen with Minhee.
"I heard from Jinsu earlier..."
"Teacher, if you're going to tell me to make up with Jinsu, I won't listen."
Trying to test the waters a bit, but seeing this reaction, it seems Jinsu has really earned her deep resentment.
"Huh? Why would I? After hearing the situation, of course I wouldn't. I'm disappointed that you would think of me that way."
"What? No, I..."
"I also think Jinsu was wrong. I scolded him a lot when I heard the story from him earlier."
"Really?"
"Yes. Jinsu doesn't seem to understand the seriousness and still thinks it's just a joke."
"You're the only one, Teacher. I think I was crazy for a moment. What was I thinking, liking a guy like him."
"Haha..."
"I really like you best, Teacher. After I graduate, I want to marry you."
Wait, why is the conversation going in this direction?