The Professor (2)

The room next door!?

Why would a professor be living in a student dormitory? An A-class hero could rake in billions without even trying.

"Ha. Han Yuri. Why is Kim Yerin here?"

"Huh...? Ah — it seems you have a location-tracking ability. Then I suppose there's no need to explain. Professor Kim Yerin doesn't have a home."

No home? Even a C-class superhuman gets a house from the government free of charge. Reach A-class? They shower you with enormous bonuses under the excuse of benefits and dignity allowances, all to keep you from packing up and leaving the country.

"This is something only I know, but the professor's hobby is actually..."

"Actually?"

"Gambling."

Ah. That explained everything. She'd burned through every last bit of money that came her way at the gambling tables. What kind of woman does that?

"She gambled away her entire fortune, so now she's sponging off the dorms. Pretty funny, right?"

"No."

"Yeees..."

Han Yuri drooped her head at my reply, looking thoroughly dejected. She actually looked cute like this. If she hadn't done those things to me, I might have found her genuinely adorable.

"Han Yuri. Until I give the order, you can drop the formal speech."

"What? I-I couldn't possibly do that to you, Master..."

"It makes me uncomfortable."

I wasn't trying to show her mercy. Formal speech simply didn't suit Han Yuri.

And once I subjugate Kim Yerin... I'll make Han Yuri drop out of university.

This Status Window would probably keep feeding me quests... until I'd subjugated every last hero in this world.

I planned to use Han Yuri as my bodyguard. For that to work, she had to quit school.

Becoming a hero seems to be her dream, though...

I felt a little sorry for her. But Han Yuri was one of the bitches who had ruined my life. I was just getting my revenge — what was the problem with that?

"Th-then I'll... talk casually?"

"Go ahead."

"S-Sehyun. So, um. You're planning to turn the professor into your cock-sleeve, right? Then I think we can just go hang out."

"Hang out? What do you mean?"

"The professor and I are close... We visit each other's rooms pretty often. If I show up with a few beers, she'll welcome us."

I see. This job might be easier than I'd thought. I pulled a few beer cans from the fridge in the room.

"...Gulp."

I'd only bent down for a moment to grab things from the fridge, and Han Yuri must have been watching.

This shameless bitch... I stood up with a flicker of genuine fear.

"Ah! The professor will be here later. She has a lecture today."

"R-right? Then I pulled these out for nothing."

"Sooo... I don't have class today. Since you already took them out, couldn't we just drink them?"

Absolutely not. Who knew what she'd do to me with drunkenness as an excuse.

That aside — if Lust Level climbed past a certain point, she would rape me. Couldn't a skill stop that?

Ah. I see. I accepted that readily enough and lay down until nightfall, enduring Han Yuri's distinctive reptilian gaze as she lusted after me the entire time.

Nine o'clock at night. Han Yuri and I slipped out of the room. Running into someone we knew in the hallway would have been genuinely dangerous. But judging by the moans erupting from every direction, that didn't seem likely at all.

"Professor! Are you in?"

"Mmngh...?"

"Ah, you are. It's me, Yuri! Han Yuri. I brought beer — want some?!"

A racket of crashing and clattering came from inside, and then the door burst open. A tall woman emerged wearing a tank top and short dolphin shorts.

She looked down at Han Yuri and me with a cigarette hanging from her lips. She had to be around a hundred and eighty-five centimeters. Were all superhumans that tall?

She's pretty.

I'd assumed a professor would be older, but she looked mid-twenties at most — early twenties, if you were being generous. And her looks rivaled Han Yuri's.

From the way she wore her hair tied back to the haughty allure radiating from that long, slender frame... if she hadn't been scratching her belly in a tank top, she could have passed for high-society nobility.

"Beer! A-are you really giving that to me!?"

"...Professor. Don't tell me you blew your dignity allowance on sports betting again?"

"Ehehe..."

"Haa... Professor! What are you going to do if they actually cut off your support?!"

For an A-class hero, Yerin's appearance was pathetically slovenly. I thought I'd seen an A-class superhuman on television once. Those people were not the type to scratch their bellies in sagging tank tops...

"So what! You only live once. Gotta live a life that makes the dopamine explode!"

"Professor. You don't even have money for a single can of beer right now — what are you talking about? At least you don't have debt. That's the only saving grace..."

"Ehehe, well! About that — I do now."

"Professor?"

...She was completely hopeless. Did it really have to be this woman? Couldn't I pick someone else?

Ah, they were just shoving me into it no matter what. Fine... Through gritted teeth, I decided to make this woman mine.

"Ah, hello!"

"Who...?"

"Ah, this is my boyfriend. Sehyun. I brought him to introduce him today."

"Boyfriend? I never heard anything about you keeping one of those."

She was a peculiar person. First time meeting us and she was endlessly rude. She didn't even put out her cigarette — just kept puffing away.

Ah! I want a smoke too. Suuuck... This body gets a headache if I smoke, so I can't.

Like Pavlov's dog, just looking at the cigarette made my mouth water. I wanted to take just one drag...

"So we're drinking beer tonight, right? I'll order some snacks too."

"Fine by me! Ahh, thank you God. You're finally giving me my daily bread. My first meal of the day, at last!"

...She didn't seem right in the head. Could I really trust a woman who had gambled away even her food money?

"Ahem! Ahem! Anyway. What's your name?"

"...Baek Sehyun."

"Yeah? Well, I'm older, so I'll talk casually. That's fine, right?"

No, it was not fine at all. Who talked casually to someone they had just met today?

She was barely even human. Superhumans were famously lacking in manners, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so I had expected something like this. But actually being on the receiving end was just absurd.

"Both of you come in. It's not much of a room."

"If the professor hadn't gambled away all her money, it would've been a much nicer room."

Surprisingly, the room was clean. A wardrobe, a desk, a laptop sitting on top. The bookshelf was packed tight with books, and the bed was neatly made.

The cigarette smell, however, was overwhelming. The white wallpaper had yellowed — I could only imagine how much she'd been smoking indoors.

"I'll grab the table."

The "table" was just a cardboard box she'd scavenged from somewhere, flipped upside down. How pathetic...

"Anyway, you really need to quit gambling soon."

"I know, okay..."

"Otherwise something really bad is going to happen. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyone else finds out the professor is illegally occupying a dorm room..."

Wait — illegally occupying? A professor, casually breaking school rules.

"Ah, come on! What does that matter? Are you showing off just because you're a student with a bright future ahead of you?"

"You're the worst, Professor."

"Ah, I get it! I get it! I'll quit, okay?!"

Kim Yerin cracked open a beer can with irritation. Pssshhhht. White foam billowed up like summer clouds. Gulp, gulp... She downed what had to be five hundred milliliters without even pausing for breath.

"Khhhhh! Ah! I feel alive! This is what life is about!"

"How have you even been surviving without beer?"

"Yuri. You know unnie really treasures and loves you, right?"

Shamelessly, Kim Yerin wrapped Han Yuri in a tight hug and mumbled into her shoulder. A professor mooching off her own student... What kind of person was this, really?

"But! Yuri. You got a boyfriend without unnie's permission? You little brat! I haven't even dated anyone yet!"

"It's not that you haven't dated — it's that you can't, isn't it? Who would take someone who gambles away their entire fortune every month?"

Ah, I know, I know! The Status Window never missed a chance to harass me. Harass away!

"I'm pretty!"

"Yeees..."

"So someone at my level is S-class marriage material, you know."

She cracked open another beer can with violent energy and muttered to herself. Hooo... Alright. Time to get started in earnest.

Tonight I'm going to fuck her and dump a load in her pussy.

I was starting to realize it — I was getting more and more wicked.

The mood warmed up quickly. Kim Yerin drank with terrifying intensity, beer dripping onto her tank top in fat, careless drops.

"Uhaaaa! I feel alive!"

She really was an incredible drinker. I'd bought dozens of extra cans just in case the ones from the fridge wouldn't be enough, and Kim Yerin emptied them at a terrifying pace.

Is she a bottomless pit?

Of course, I didn't touch the beer. I had never liked drinking much to begin with, and this body got headaches from cigarette smoke — I was afraid of what would happen if I drank on top of that.

But that didn't make it any less shameless that she was grabbing three cans for every one Han Yuri finished. What kind of woman was this?

"Professor. Drink a little slower..."

"Hnnngh... Sorry, sorry. It's been so long since I had beer, I can't control myself."

"Honestly! Just because you're A-class doesn't mean you get less drunk no matter how much you drink."

If she had transcendent physical abilities like Han Yuri, maybe. But a superhuman like Kim Yerin, who fought by controlling things, didn't have overwhelmingly superior physical stats.

Of course, by average standards, Kim Yerin was still stronger.

Han Yuri planned this.

She'd get less drunk than a normal person, but unless she had a special ability, binge drinking would get her wasted soon enough.

While she was asleep, I would conquer her body... Perfect. An excellent plan.

"But! I just thought of something I'm curious about."

"Are you already drunk?"

"Noooo? I'm not drunk yeeet!?"

"Ugh, what is it."

Once the empty beer cans passed fifteen, a flush slowly crept across her face. The alcohol was hitting. Superhumans really were superhuman. Impressive...

"You! You're actually a criminal, aren't you!"

"...No?"

"Liar! Just looking at the boyfriend you picked, I can tell your heart is pitch black!"

Ah. That was understandable. My appearance really did look extremely young.

"It's fine, it's fine! This kind of thing is super common! One of unnie's classmates used to exclusively hunt younger guys!"

"Haa... I don't know what kind of misunderstanding this is, but! He's the same age as me!"

"Huh? For real? You're lying! Anyone can see there's a ten-year gap!"

"We were high school classmates. We got back in touch on Instagram recently and decided to start dating yesterday."

Kim Yerin cocked her head sideways and stared at Han Yuri with a frightening look. Still full of suspicion.

Come on... just believe her! It was a good thing her face was pretty — otherwise she would have come across as one of the most insufferable people alive. This woman.

I swallowed my irritation and looked at her.

"Yuri's telling the truth."

"Ohhh reallyyy? And here I thought you were some unlicensed hero going around devouring younger guys!"

"Is that kind of thing common...?"

Suddenly I was curious. What was the world of unregistered transcendent beings — superhumans — actually like?

Textbooks say that once you awaken as a superhuman, you morally transcend humanity and crime rates drop. But the reality is probably different, isn't it? If that were true, villains wouldn't exist.

It was said that the rate of violent crime committed by superhumans against ordinary people was very low. That was just covering their eyes and pretending.

The reason mass media and textbooks revered superhumans was probably because there was nothing to gain from provoking them. Ordinary people could only survive by appealing to their sense of morality.

"It's common! Superhumans are usually pretty or handsome, you know. But low-rank superhumans can't do much! Nothing but hard labor. So it's common for them to sell their bodies to higher-ranked heroes! Regardless of gender."

"I see..."

A darkness of the hero world I hadn't particularly wanted to know about.

"Come to think of it, you're a superhuman too, huh? Hmm? You don't have a hero license yet, do you?"

"Huh? Ah... I don't have a physical enhancement ability."

"That's impressive. Yuri must be slamming her ass down at full power. And your pelvis is still intact."

This woman was sexually harassing Han Yuri and me with a perfectly straight face. Unlike me, Yuri hadn't processed the words yet — she looked confused.

Then she understood.

"Professor!"

"It's a joke! A joke! Can't we make jokes like this between us?"

Kim Yerin stared at me intently. Why was she looking at me like that all of a sudden...?

For whatever reason, her Affection had just gone up. That wasn't great. It was Conquest that needed to go up, not this.

"No but! Don't you think it's weird too? He looks so small and fragile. How can he handle our Yuri's plump, juicy ass!"

"You really have no filter."

"Hmm? Sehyun, was it? You tell me! I'm genuinely curious."

If the genders were reversed — no, if I were even a slightly stronger superhuman — she wouldn't have been saying this. The reason she had no manners was because I looked soft and harmless.

I knew that all too well, so I was furious, but I held it in, looked at her, and smiled faintly.

"Who knows? Unless you're planning to check for yourself, I'd prefer you didn't ask questions like that."

Kim Yerin Encyclopedia!

Looking down on me. So it really is because I'm short.

If I were even a little taller, this wouldn't have been happening. I wished they'd given me different abilities and cut some of the other features.

"Heheh. Short but pretty feisty, huh? So this is our Yuri's type."

"..."

"She was so popular but never dated anyone — I thought maybe she was a lesbian. But it was just that nobody matched her taste! Hey! You should've told unnie about this."

Kim Yerin was sitting right next to me — close enough that if she reached out, she'd touch my body. Her fingers twitched, subtle and restless.

"Check? But how do you even check something like that."

"...You seem drunk."

"Nooo~ You said you'd show me. Hurry up and show me. Let me see how it's done."

"Come on... Stop! Just go to bed."

"Unnie's not drunk, okay? You stay put!"

Anyone could see she was drunk. Kim Yerin cracked another beer, then chugged it down in one go.

"Kkugh! See? If I were drunk, could I drink all of that? I can do it because I'm not drunk!"

"Ugh..."

"Look, I think you're the one who's more drunk? Yuri. Want to rest on the bed for a bit?"

Watching her flip it around and accuse the other person of being drunk, Han Yuri clutched her temple. A B-class superhuman wouldn't get drunk off a few beers.

This is my chance.

Drunk, her judgment wouldn't be sharp. Best to put Han Yuri to bed and then slowly cook this one.

I secretly met Han Yuri's eyes. She cleverly picked up on my signal. She gave a slight shake of her head, then stood up abruptly.

"My head is a little dizzy, actually. I'll just lie down for a bit then."

She staggered toward the bed. The skill performance was rock solid! Things seemed to be going well.

Good... I'll seduce Kim Yerin without raising her Affection.

Han Yuri had set the entire mood and situation. Now the cooking was entirely up to me. I shifted the ordered snacks toward myself and looked at her.

"Yuri's about to sleep. Shall we wrap this up?"

"Huh!? There's still this much beer left — wrap what up! Back in my day, if you didn't drink twenty beers per person, you'd get the living daylights beaten out of you! Beaten, I tell you."

Kim Yerin cracked open another beer. She really intended to drink it. Superhuman livers really did seem to have strong regenerative power.

I smirked and left the snacks alone, just looking at her. Since I wasn't touching the food, she seemed to find it strange.

"Hey, come to think of it. You. Haven't been drinking this whole tiiime? An adult is drinking right now. You little brat. Seriously..."

"Professor. You asked me to show you earlier."

"Mmngh...?"

"Shall I show you?"

I murmured it while lightly stroking Kim Yerin's pale thigh.

This was where it would split. Either I got punched and my jaw got rearranged, or she let it slide.

"...Hic."

She let it slide. She let it slide! The alcohol must have dulled her.

"Show me."

"If I show you, it'll be a big problem."

"Ah, come ooon! Let me see how impressive it is! It probably isn't even that much!"

I smirked, lifted my hips just enough, and pulled my pants down — underwear and all.

The enormous dragon that had been caged inside gave a slow, heavy twitch.