First Day as TA: Crabs Stick Together
Whoops? A smile tugged at her lips as she turned and walked away in a flash, her figure vanishing like some sassy little punk. It made one corner of my mouth curl up into a grin.
"...Yeah, good morning indeed. Principal Kang."
"Fuck!"
A low, gravelly growl hit my ears out of nowhere, sharp as ever despite all the times I'd heard it before. I kicked off using my movement technique, spinning around to face the source—and there he was, the bald old geezer gleaming under the morning sun.
"P-Principal...?"
"...? Aren't you the principal now?"
The old fart was griping about something, his boomer ass in full swing. I plastered on a fake-ass smile and bowed my head.
"Aigoo... shining like the sun itself—how could I even...?"
My words made veins bulge across that shiny dome like solar flares. I mean, the guy who threw tantrums even in front of the Cheonma was me, right? And his one redeeming quality was S-rank level, so I felt a smug swell of pride.
"...It's your first day on the job, and I have something to say. Come to the principal's office with me."
"Sure thing. Tell me to fuck around, and I'll fuck around like a pro. Heh heh."
"...Isn't your speech a bit too flippant for a teaching assistant?"
He furrowed his brow slightly, nitpicking. I shook my head and opened my mouth.
"Aigoo... these days, with the MZ generation, you gotta talk like this to get 'em listening and following drills. Don't worry. When it's training time, I beat 'em black and blue. Heh heh."
As I chuckled, memories of wrecking that master bathroom hit me, my eyes gleaming. The principal nodded.
"Good eyes... Yeah, everyone's got their own educational philosophy. Not my place to meddle."
Then he brushed past me, striding ahead with that swagger. See? Boomers have the real pioneering methods in education.
Education needs the iron rod...
With his indirect green light for stress relief today, I was feeling pretty damn smug.
+++
Feeling the morning assembly buzz from the hallway, I straightened my uniform. The hat and sunglasses made my new non-cadet status hit home, and I couldn't stop my lips from twitching into a grin.
The third-year floor was packed with academy staff, not cadets—folks who knew exactly how much bullshit I'd pulled, especially me. Their faces sported sly smirks, like "not my problem." It made my balls tingle with that awkward tension.
Brushing it off, I returned thumbs-ups to the staff as a booming voice echoed from the classroom.
"Come in!"
Creak—slam.
I flung the door open with flair, marching in with the drill steps I'd half-assed learned in years one and two. Instructor Park Jongcheol, who'd been cackling, paused, eyebrows knitting as he pinched his brow like it was a migraine.
Even after we'd agreed to wreck these cadets together, here he was pretending to be the normal one. My eyes bugged out on instinct.
"Ha... So, cadet Kang San's graduating early and joining as a teaching assistant. Everyone got that? Even if he was one of you, he's A-rank like me now, so no slacking off or getting too chummy... You'll see—he's a psycho..."
Amid the stunned faces of my classmates, Jeong Jae-kyung—the chattiest one—shot his hand up.
"He's not just crazy—he's insane!"
"...I know."
Instructor Park sighed heavily. I shot him a glare from behind, and Jae-kyung yanked his hand down, averting his eyes. Crabs stick with crabs, huh? Did he think I'd half-ass the training?
They had no clue how bad I planned to wreck their asses. Glancing around, only my wife Park Jisu got it—she sat prim and proper, spine straight, smiling back at me.
Heh heh. Crabs stick together... No weird crossbreeding here.
She was the only crab in this room. That mindset drew a predatory grin from me, making the classmates who'd been eyeing me flinch.
"Sh-shit, we're fucked..."
"He's A-rank now? Can we even block that?"
"Hey, Tae-gun, why don't you test him? You're tightest with him after Jae-kyung and Jisu."
The whispers reached my ears. Tae-gun ignored them, straightening up like a model student, flashing a fake smile with twitching lips. Fitting for class rep—sharp instincts.
That little shit...
Spotting his fake-ass grin and my responding smirk, the others caught on too. The room noise dropped, and they suddenly acted like eager freshmen.
"Whoa... Guess we avoid shit not 'cause it's scary, but 'cause it's gross?"
Instructor Park, getting why, shot me a sly glance. I ignored it, snorted, adjusted my red hat and black shades, and spoke up.
"So, I'm TA now—what do I do? Bro?"
"Instructor, you little shit—instructor. What bro?"
"Sure thing, bro."
"...Ha... Fuck. I put up with it 'cause you're number two."
"...You should be vice-principal."
"Kh-khm...!"
He'd already cut a deal with me, so no pushback. Like Jisu, he figured I'd be principal's successor—super lenient.
Both Parks—easy to boss around. Pit 'em in a vice-principal battle later. Heh heh.
They both thought they were next in line—perfect puppets. I muttered it softly, but Jisu's eyes lit up at "vice-principal," staring intently. I nodded subtly. Park rubbed his chin, thinking.
"Hmm... We finished first-semester gate drills for evaluations. Now it's just ability development... And prepping for fourth-year guest lectures..."
Academy cadets' powers vary wildly, so first sem's adaptation gates, second's self-dev, then internships and PR for jobs. Nothing immediate, his words confirmed. I nodded.
"Group training then?"
"Group training...?"
"Yeah. Recent bullshit happened, and PvP team fights beat monster drills these days, right?"
He caught my drift—Cha Eun-woo's mess. Frowning at "PvP," he nodded.
"True. Attacks can come anytime... Alright! Change to training gear and meet at the group training room."
Grinning behind him as he ordered the cadets, groans erupted like they'd been sentenced.
"Group training...?"
"We're getting wrecked..."
"San's melee, right? Dodge good, might survive."
"Fast as fuck too... Ranged folks are screwed."
Scheming to minimize beatings. Melee? Heh heh. You primitives.
They didn't know I'd transcended that shit via Joro-gumo's squad. Adorable. Jisu fidgeted, wondering whether to spill—eyes darting.
I snickered, following Park out. He handed me the roster, glancing back.
"How you wanna play?"
"Stomp 'em flat."
"Ha..."
"Come on, future S-ranks—if they get bodied out there, it stains my rep. They'll carry 'trained by TA Kang San' forever."
He sighed shallowly.
"...The more I see you, the more your scheming pisses me off... No backup needed?"
"Just watch. Even A-rank bro can't touch me— these scrubs? Heh."
"Fuck. Why can't I beat you?"
"...Whoops...?"
He flinched, sighing. Recalling pre-Grand Prix training, no doubt. Stronger now, plus unheard-of Similar Strength Return—I outclassed him. He sped up beside me.
"Heh heh. Scared?"
"..."
His forehead veins popping, face flushing like a sea cucumber. Couldn't help but laugh.