Ch 98
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 98
"This man is also fine."
"Really? Thank you, thank you so much!"
"What a relief. You've worked hard."
"What work... Is everything finished now?"
"Yes. He was the last one."
Actually, I had somewhat expected this result.
All the patients who had their poison removed in the same way as Yeon-su had the green color disappear from their faces and showed no abnormal symptoms.
I had already told the vice principal to tell Teacher Ma that he didn't need to come.
Actually, I was going to call Director Seo to tell her it was okay, but she arrived earlier than expected, so since she came all this way, I asked her to scan once more.
It's really fortunate that everyone is fine.
"Since everything's finished, shall we go outside and talk for a moment?"
"Huh? Yes."
I followed Director Seo outside the emergency room.
"How did you treat them? Director Kang couldn't have learned detoxification magic."
"Ah, that's... Somehow it worked out..."
"If it's hard to say, that's fine. I came down in the middle and even used Blink because Director Kang spoke so seriously... But this is a bit much. It was completely a wasted trip."
"Ah... I'm sorry. I will never forget that you came today. Thank you."
"What thanks... All I did when I came was a magic scan, but you're speaking so solemnly that it makes me feel more burdened instead. I was just saying it casually, so don't worry about it too much."
"No. This is the first time we've met, but you came so readily with just one phone call... I'm not such an inconsiderate person."
"It's really fine... Well, I wasn't particularly busy with anything else either. If Director Kang feels really burdened, think of it as a director inauguration gift."
Director Seo I-gyeong, this lady, she was barely mentioned in the original work so I didn't think much about her... But she seems like quite a decent person.
Come to think of it, from when I saw her at the inauguration ceremony earlier, even though I'm more than ten years younger, she politely used honorifics with me since we're both directors.
"I'm the one who's fine. I'm also the type who never forgets and always repays both malice and kindness, so when Director Seo needs my help, just contact me and I'll come running right away."
"Then when we have time later, let's have a meal together with my daughter. My daughter really likes Director Kang."
"Your... Daughter likes me?"
Ever since I received the WH Toto winnings, there were some signs, but after I defeated Kim Dae-chan in the STB, the recommendations from people around me to meet their daughters, younger sisters, and acquaintances increased tremendously.
Seeing how she's bringing up her daughter, it seems like Director Seo is also trying to set me up with her daughter...
I didn't see her as that kind of person, so I'm a bit disappointed.
"Why, don't you want to? My daughter is in 6th grade of elementary school, and not just my daughter but Director Kang is apparently very popular among kids these days, so that's why. If it's uncomfortable, it's fine."
Elementary, elementary school student?
I think I completely misunderstood this.
"It's not that, I thought Director Seo looked so young that I naturally assumed you were unmarried. I was surprised when you said you had a daughter..."
"Oh my, Director Kang really... I'm almost 40, you know. You speak as prettily as your handsome face. You must be popular with women."
"Haha... No."
I was flustered for a moment, but I think I handled it well enough.
"Well, I have a schedule so I'll be going now. Let's meet with my daughter next time."
"Ah, yes. Please go home safely. Thank you so much for today."
I saw Director Seo off and returned to the emergency room.
Maybe because Director Seo, an S-rank magician, said it was okay, the parents' expressions became much brighter.
"Did Director Seo leave?"
"Ah, yes. She said she had a schedule."
"Yeon-su? Are you coming to your senses?"
It seemed like Yeon-su had woken up, so I came to the bed and she really had opened her eyes.
"Yeon-su...!"
"Mom?"
"Yes, it's Mom. Are you okay?"
"Ho-yeol! Are you conscious? Oh my, Ho-yeol!"
Director Seo said there was nothing wrong so they would regain consciousness soon, and indeed. Starting with Yeon-su, the other students began waking up one by one.
***
What on earth is this?
I thought I'd be able to figure out what happened in the portal once the patients woke up... But it's even more confusing.
The patients' stories are too absurd.
As I heard from Jae-hyeon, Minha and Jae-hyeon were selected as beaters and left, and the remaining members were preparing according to Hunter Go Dong-hyeok's instructions.
Then suddenly Go Dong-hyeok's face turned green, he foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
A magician named Pan-su who was accompanying them immediately approached, but before he could do anything, Go Dong-hyeok's body melted away and green fog burst out, after which everyone lost consciousness and has no memory.
According to the hunter who received the support request and rescued the students, he didn't see any green fog.
I wondered if they might have been mistaken, but everyone said they saw it... Well, this could be explained by saying it had dispersed into the air over time.
But the portal that Group 6 entered was an E-grade 10-person portal.
They said there was an Orc Shaman, but Go Dong-hyeok went in alone and dealt with it.
Even if there were 100 more Orc Shamans that Go Dong-hyeok didn't discover, Orc Shamans at that level could never use this kind of poison magic.
There could have been other monsters, but among the monsters that appear in E-grade portals, there are none that use powerful poison magic that can instantly melt a B-rank hunter's body.
In the first place, the hunter who was dispatched after receiving the support request said the portal was cleared after killing 10 diseased orcs that were attacking Minha.
That means there were no other monsters in that portal except for the diseased orcs, which also doesn't make sense.
It's so frustrating that I'm wondering if they all saw hallucinations.
"Teacher Kang, I think that Pan-su guy is suspicious. From what the kids said, that Hunter Go Dong-hyeok kept giving him a hard time."
"That person is not the culprit."
Actually, I also initially suspected the C-rank magician who accompanied the kids, like the vice principal did.
He could have hidden his skills and staged this whole thing.
But from what I observed while treating him earlier, he's just an ordinary C-rank magician.
Even if their relationship was bad, there's no reason to do something like this in a place with kids, and he said he never learned poison magic himself.
Even if he had learned it, it doesn't make sense that A-rank and B-rank magicians couldn't detoxify a C-rank magician's poison magic.
"How can you be so certain? That bastard could be an Antas member who hid his skills and joined the guild."
This guy is completely barking up the wrong tree... Wait, Antas?
Ah... Now I understand.
"What's wrong? Do you have the same thought?"
"I examined that person while treating him earlier, and he really is a C-rank hunter."
The main story of the latter half of the original work is the war between the protagonists who graduated from school and Antas.
First Antas Korea, then other countries in Asia like Japan and China. Next comes America, Europe, in that order, and various Antas executives with different abilities appear.
Among the executives who appear in Europe, there's a woman who pretends to cooperate with the protagonist and then backstabs him.
Of course, she fails and the protagonist solves it magnificently, but her name was something like Bennett or Beck?
I think it was a bit longer... She wasn't that significant so I don't remember well, but even though I don't remember her name, I remember the magic she used because it was so unique.
Deadline of Poison Bomb.
Unlike ordinary poison magic that shows immediate effects, when you're hit by this magic, you're fine at first but then suddenly melt away and die.
Moreover, the person who dies doesn't just die alone—they create a poison fog while dying that kills people around them too, making it quite a vicious magic.
It completely matches the description I heard from the kids.
Hah... It's not like I hadn't thought of Antas at all, but it's not even an Antas Korea executive, and that woman appears much later, so I didn't think of her at all.
"Vice Principal, I need to... No, it's nothing."
I was going to say I'd go to the bathroom and try contacting Choi Seo-ra, but it would be meaningless.
The culprit is not from Antas Korea.
Of course, since they're the same Antas, there would be some exchange so there's a possibility she might know, but Choi Seo-ra is a low-level member.
A low-level member wouldn't know such high-level information, and I don't even know the name, so if I recklessly ask her to find out, she might get in trouble.
Then there's only one answer. I need to meet the high-ranking members of Antas Korea directly.
Most of Antas Korea's high-ranking members are influential figures in politics and business, but I'm also an S-rank hunter and an honorary director of the Hunter Association, so it's not impossible to meet them.
The culprit might have left Korea, but they might still be in Korea, so I want to immediately jump up and find them right now... But I can't.
Jae-hyeon's surgery ended successfully and the poisoned students were discharged and returned to school, but Minha still hasn't woken up.
Minha's parents also live in a rural area and haven't arrived yet.
Moreover, even the vice principal is keeping watch, so I can't leave my post as Minha's homeroom teacher.
"What's with the gloomy face? Are you worried? They said the surgery went well, so she'll wake up soon."
There's no threat to her life, but every time I see Minha's empty right sleeve, I feel like blood is rushing backward.
Sigh, if only I hadn't changed the inauguration ceremony to Monday...
While living as Kang Shin-hyeok, I've met many bad people, but I've never killed a person even once.
While I kill monsters easily, it's a bit funny to say this, but killing a person gave me an instinctive aversion.
But this time is different.
Not just Minha, but all the poisoned kids including Yeon-su would have been in trouble if I hadn't treated them.
I won't think of the culprit as human.
It doesn't matter if the culprit has already left Korea.
Wherever they are on Earth, I'll chase them to the end, find them, and kill them.
***
"Thank you for the meal."
The Milmyeon I had for lunch was just so-so, but the pork soup I had for dinner was quite good.
This was a place recommended by a hotel staff member, and indeed local recommendations are better than the internet.
I was thinking of taking a walk by the beach to digest, when I felt a vibration in my pants pocket.
There's only one person who would call me... Sigh, this old geezer, has he gotten dementia?
He calls so much that I told him to only contact me once a week.
Ah, I need to give him a proper warning again, I thought as I took out my phone and pressed the call button.
"Stop calling so much. Did you forget I'm on vacation?"
—Do you think I'm calling because I like it?
"Yeah. Weren't you fond of me, old man?"
—Stop talking nonsense and come back tomorrow immediately.
"Why, what happened? I still have over 3 weeks of vacation left."
—Don't try to play dumb. You said you wouldn't cause trouble, but you made a huge mess and now you're playing innocent!
Tsk, did I get caught?
It was my first time making this magic, so I thought I wouldn't get caught... But I really can't fool the old man.
"They picked a fight first, so how could I hold back? I didn't leave any traces, so don't worry. How many died? About 10? 20?"
—Don't you even watch the news?
"Why would I watch such boring stuff? How many?"
—1 died and 2 were injured...
"Only that much? That bastard was supposedly some guild's vice guild master, so I thought I could send at least a dozen. Well, the other two will die soon anyway."
—They said both have no life-threatening injuries? No, that's not what's important right now.
"It's important to me. What do you mean no life-threatening injuries? That can't be right."
The magic I used on him can't be treated with ordinary detoxification magic.
Detoxification magic can remove magical poison, but my Deadline of Poison Bomb also uses poison obtained from various poisonous plants and substances.
Even if treated with magic, the hidden poison continues to flare up, so most magicians wouldn't be able to detoxify it...
Did an S-rank magician step in?
—That's not what's important! Do you know what you've done?
"Don't yell! I'm serious right now too."
—The people who got caught up and injured are hunter school students.
"So what?"
—Hey, you crazy bastard. Don't you know the cardinal rule is not to touch minors?
"Since when have we been good at following such rules? Even if they're students, they'll all become hunters in a few years. We should cut the buds early."
—How can you say that? Among the injured students' school teachers, there are two S-rank hunters.
"What? What kind of school has two S-rank hunters..."
—Stop talking and get on a plane tomorrow.
"I didn't leave any traces. If only you keep your mouth shut, it shouldn't matter, right?"
—It's the boss's order. The boss knows too.
"Old man! Did you already tattle? That's too much."
—The boss contacted me first.
"Don't lie. If it wasn't you, how would the boss know?"
—The boss is the one funding your research budget, how wouldn't they know?
"No, this isn't even domestic, this is Korea, and the news reached there too?"
—Are you stupid? Antas Korea must have contacted everyone saying it wasn't their doing since they didn't do it. Do you know how troubled the boss was because of you? I got chewed out badly too."
"Ah... Sorry."
—Save the apology for when you report in person. The boss talked it out well with the Antas Korea boss, so Antas Korea will have someone confess as the culprit and end it there. Don't cause any more trouble and get on a plane tomorrow.
"Ah, got it."