Ch 64
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 64
When I saw the name Kang Shin-hyeok on the applicant list, I didn't think much of it.
When another examiner mentioned that there was an applicant who scored 4.73 million in the magic measurement and asked if I, being quite famous and Se-jin's school teacher, didn't know about it, only then did I remember that Se-jin's supplementary instructor was a teacher.
Even though I knew he was the teacher who taught my daughter, I had absolutely no intention of showing him any favoritism.
That bastard had brought up fairness issues with Kim Man-dong, causing Se-jin's weekend training to be cancelled.
His face was pale and sickly, looking like a gigolo with no manly qualities whatsoever, which I didn't like.
If that guy had tried to act familiar first or said anything asking me to look favorably upon him, I was planning to fail him immediately, but he didn't do that.
Se-jin said he taught well, but that was just by Se-jin's standards - by my standards, I thought he was someone with no real ability but only strong self-esteem, but I was completely wrong in my judgment.
The ability that guy showed during the portal raid was truly unexpected.
From the beginning of the raid, I don't know how he utilized his magic, but he showed the miraculous ability to detect even monsters hidden in the sand.
Moreover, while the continuous hunting left other applicants and even the examiners exhausted, sweating and frowning, only that guy's expression never changed and his breathing never became ragged.
When the Great Sand Worm suddenly appeared and swallowed one applicant, it was quite troublesome, but thanks to that guy, we were able to rescue the applicant.
What surprised me most was when that guy's sword was found piercing the core in the last Sand Worm's corpse.
I was truly surprised when the sky turned yellow as a signal of portal raid completion, but when the sword was discovered, I really couldn't help but doubt my eyes.
Even when I attacked first, the Sand Worm's head was in a state of being underground.
I still don't understand how he did it.
I could confirm it to some extent by looking at the wounds on the corpse, but unfortunately I couldn't properly confirm it because we had butchered it to rescue the swallowed applicant.
While I was organizing my thoughts, the intercom rang.
—Director, Hunter Kang Shin-hyeok is here now. He says he came to see you.
"I did call him, so let him in."
I found out later that he had received Kim Man-dong's recommendation letter for the A-rank examination, and that old man Kim Man-dong's eye for talent really can't be underestimated.
He's only 25 years old this year, but considering his magic levels and seeing his potential to grow into an S-rank Hunter, I'm thinking of making a scouting offer.
***
When I called, he said he was still at the association and told me to come to the 8th floor, which was somewhat unexpected.
I thought we'd just make an appointment and meet on another day, not that we'd talk right away like this.
I had dinner plans, but there was still time, so I took the elevator and pressed the 8th floor button.
I can't be certain, but I think he probably wants to talk about Se-jin.
Last night I sent Se-jin a text and was about to go to sleep when the phone rang again.
She said that when the vice principal was persuading her father, he mentioned that I had raised fairness issues with the vice principal.
Her father was quite angry and spoke very badly about me, so she was worried and called, which is really...
I didn't expect the vice principal to mention my name, but it doesn't matter.
Anyway, since I was the one who asked the vice principal to cancel Se-jin's weekend schedule, I reassured Se-jin that it would be fine and hung up.
Actually, even today, he didn't seem to be giving me any particular looks and there were no disadvantages.
[8th floor.]
Arriving at the 8th floor, I immediately checked the information board.
Following the board's directions, I turned right and walked for about 3 minutes before seeing the reception desk.
"How may I help you?"
"I came to meet Hunter Kim Dae-chan."
"Do you have an appointment?"
"Yes. I spoke with him on the phone a little while ago."
"I understand. Please wait a moment."
One staff member spoke briefly through the intercom and then said they would guide me, so I followed.
As I passed by, I saw there were many rooms, each with familiar names - all S-rank Hunter names.
I knew that all S-rank Hunters also served as honorary directors of the association, but I thought it was just an honorary position - I didn't know they actually had separate personal offices within the association like this.
"You may go in."
After knocking and opening the door, I could see Kim Dae-chan sitting on the sofa.
"Come in. Did the A-rank registration go well?"
"Yes. I just renewed my Hunter license."
"Congratulations. I didn't show it earlier because there were other examiners and applicants around, but I've heard a lot about you from my daughter usually. Your performance today was truly outstanding too."
"Not at all."
"What do you mean 'not at all.' You saved someone's life. Ah, sit down first."
"Ah, yes."
I heard yesterday that he had said a lot of bad things about me to Se-jin, so why is he being so friendly?
"What did you want to talk about..."
"Why are you in such a hurry, man? Let's have some tea first and talk a bit... How about having dinner together today? It'll be dinner time soon. We can have a drink too."
"I have a prior engagement for dinner, so that would be difficult."
"Really? Then it can't be helped."
It seems his evaluation of me has improved somewhat because of my performance in the portal earlier.
"Hmm, I'm not the type to beat around the bush, so I'll speak directly. Won't you come to our guild?"
"Pardon?"
"You look completely unexpected. I don't usually make this kind of offer often, but your skills today were so impressive that I became interested."
I naturally thought he would talk about his daughter, but a scouting offer...
Like Kim Dae-chan said, I never even thought about it, so I'm quite flustered.
"I'm really grateful for the offer, but I think teaching life suits me very well."
"Don't answer too hastily. Hunter school is a good job too, but honestly speaking, the pay isn't that good, is it? If you come to our guild, I'll put you in charge of a team right away."
He'll make me a team leader?
Really, why is this man acting like this?
Ares Guild is one of the top 10 Hunter guilds in the country, and being a team leader in such a guild would indeed be a really good position.
The salary would be more than twice that of a teacher... No, at least 100 million won per month, so it would be several times different.
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of leaving Hunter school."
I'm not teaching for the money.
Besides, although I initially came to Hunter school to meet the protagonist, I found the teaching profession itself attractive and have some pride in it.
"Think about it more deeply. From what I can see, you have sufficient potential for development. Perhaps you could become S-rank like me within a few years. For development, wouldn't a guild be better than school?"
"I appreciate the compliment, but as I said before, I'm satisfied with my teaching life. I'm also doing portal raids during vacations..."
"How long are vacations? Even if you have talent, S-rank is not a level you can reach by making sporadic efforts like that."
This man really doesn't understand even when spoken to nicely.
'I'm already a transcendent master, so don't try to teach me, old man.' The words came up to my throat, but I barely swallowed them back down.
The other party is a parent.
"I'm sorry."
"Tsk, tsk. Geez, this person. Then at least cooperate by talking to our vice principal so Se-jin can go out on weekends again for portal raids."
"Pardon?"
"I heard you opposed it by bringing up fairness to the vice principal."
"Well, that's..."
"Stop making excuses and cooperate for Se-jin's sake, won't you?"
For Se-jin's sake?
This is absurd.
"I cannot do that."
"What?"
"It's not just about fairness, but I spoke to the vice principal because I was worried about Se-jin's health."
"What do you mean by that?"
"As you know, Se-jin is also the student council president and being a 3rd-year student, she has a lot of assignments. Yet she goes out on weekends for portal raids, so she doesn't have enough time and can't sleep properly. She's lost a lot of weight too, and though she didn't seem to tell you, she even collapsed from overwork last Friday."
Seeing that he can't answer immediately, he seems quite shocked.
I wondered if I should mention her collapsing, but it seems I did well to mention it.
No matter how harsh a parent is to their child, they can't continue being unreasonable when told their child collapsed from overwork.
"So did Se-jin say she didn't want to do it?"
"Pardon? No... What do you mean by that now..."
"I haven't finished talking yet. Se-jin herself probably didn't say she didn't want to do it. I talked with her yesterday too... No wait, thinking about it, I talked with her on Friday too, but I didn't hear such stories. Her voice sounded fine too. Isn't it just that she was a bit tired?"
‘I want to tell you that your daughter said she didn't want to do it, but I shouldn't.’
Se-jin's trembling voice when she asked me for help after much consideration on Friday night is still too vivid.
It's not even someone else's child but his own child who collapsed, and how can he speak so casually about it...
It's frustrating, but if I said Se-jin didn't want to do it, he would torment Se-jin like a cat playing with a mouse again, so I calmed my heart and opened my mouth again.
"Se-jin is a diligent student. She's talented and I think Se-jin will win this martial arts tournament too. Even if you don't push her too hard, she can do well enough on her own."
"I didn't call Se-jin for weekend portal raids because of some martial arts tournament, but because my goal is to win the WHCU competition. As you said, our Se-jin has talent. But as I said earlier, talent alone doesn't accomplish everything. Haven't you heard the saying 'Jumaga-pyeon'?"
Jumaga-pyeon (走馬加鞭).
Literally translated, it means whipping a running horse to make it run faster, meaning to encourage someone who is already doing well to achieve even better results.
"I have no intention of raising Se-jin weakly. I've done so until now and will continue to do so. Se-jin will have to lead the guild after me later."
I already knew from the original work, but he's really selfish.
How can such a person be called a parent...
Se-jin is so pitiful.
"I cannot agree with your educational methods. If you whip a running horse, it may run faster for the moment, but if you keep whipping it, the horse will eventually collapse. You should give it time to catch its breath and drink water, shouldn't you?"
"What right do you have to say such things? You're not even Se-jin's homeroom teacher or the 3rd-year swordsmanship instructor, as far as I know. Do you think it's appropriate for a recent supplementary instructor who taught her only a few times to lecture a parent about educational methods? It's presumptuous."
"No matter how short the time I taught her, as long as I taught Se-jin, Se-jin is my student. As a Hunter school teacher, I have a duty to protect my students' safety, and I make no exceptions for anything that threatens student safety. Even if it's a parent."
"What? Are you saying I threaten Se-jin's safety?"
"Isn't that actually the case?"
"That's nonsense. Se-jin is my child. What business is it of yours that I want to educate and raise my child my way!"
"Even parents who gave birth to a child don't have the right to do whatever they want with their child."
"Ha, you keep making me out to be a bad person, but I'm doing all this for Se-jin's sake. Se-jin has never once said she didn't like it until now! You're speaking too carelessly without knowing properly."
"How could that good child refuse when you speak so forcefully?"
"What? I've been patient, but... I don't need help like yours. I'll talk to the vice principal again myself."
"If you maintain your current educational methods, winning the WHCU competition will be absolutely impossible, and Se-jin will ultimately be ruined."
"Even though you're Se-jin's school teacher, I tried to speak nicely, but who are you spouting such nonsense in front of me?"
"I too have been speaking nicely because you're Se-jin's father, but..."
You're the one who didn't listen when I spoke nicely and only insisted on your own opinion.
"Do you really want to try this? A mere A-rank Hunter trying to lecture someone! I don't want to talk with you anymore, so if you don't want to see something ugly, get lost."
Don't want to see something ugly, so get lost?
There's a limit to how much I'll tolerate just because you're a parent.
He shouted loudly once more asking what I was doing, not leaving quickly, but I didn't answer and put my hand inside my jacket pocket.
"What are you trying to do?"
He looks wary, as if thinking I might pull out some hidden weapon.
But what I pulled out of my pocket wasn't a hidden weapon, but the gloves I used in the portal raid earlier.
"You don't seem to take my words seriously at all, so if words won't work, I'll convince you through a Hunter's method."
With those words, I threw the gloves in front of Kim Dae-chan.