Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Role (1)
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Thud.
—Thud.
A dark corridor.
One person walked through it.
“Huaaam…!”
Letting out a massive yawn.
His name was Shin Hu.
The professor in charge of Class A, overseeing this year's fresh batch of rookies.
“Good morning.”
And the sworn enemy(?) of the Elder Council.
Bam!
He kicked open the door with a black mass that seemed like it could shatter space itself, revealing an even dimmer chamber.
Like some Matryoshka doll or whatever.
Bam!
In response, an even louder crash echoed back—stronger than his own kick on the entrance.
A few of the Elder Council's old fogeys must have lost their tempers and slammed the tables in front of them.
Shin Hu chuckled at the thought and prodded them further.
“Whoa, check out this gloom. People need some light, you know? A bit of sunshine to keep the depression away. Don't you old timers know you gotta take extra care of your health as you age?”
They say you can't spit on a smiling face, right?
Apparently that's a lie too.
“You insolent brat! Is this your personal bedroom!?”
The old man bellowed at the top of his lungs. Whoa, spittle flying everywhere.
These geezers have some pipes.
“Exactly.”
At that moment.
A single voice rang out, and the rest of the Elder Council's elders fell silent.
The Elder Council Leader.
He stared straight at Shin Hu.
“What brings you here?”
“Nothing major, but I have a proposal for the agenda.”
Shin Hu dropped his earlier cockiness.
At least when it came to dealing with that man, he had no desire to provoke him.
The Leader, who knew him well, cracked a faint smile—something that didn't quite fit his reputation for cold-bloodedness. Not even a little.
“Speak.”
“It's about this year's freshmen.”
“What about them?”
“They're overflowing with talent more than expected. I want to adjust their practical experience and future class directions accordingly.”
A chilling silence settled in.
Even the Leader wiped the smile from his face, merely glaring at Shin Hu.
After a brief silence,
the Leader asked in a subdued voice.
“Why?”
The Leader—no, most of the Association—wouldn't understand Shin Hu's words just now.
And for good reason: the 'mission' education policy had been entirely devised by the Association President.
Shin Hu was openly challenging it head-on.
“You know it well too. The days before the President's education policy.”
“I do. All too well.”
A wistful smile bloomed on Shin Hu's lips.
It was a long time ago.
When humanity's foundations crumbled under yokai and anomalies.
“That's when New Korea was established.”
Modern Korea wasn't the old Republic of Korea.
The rampage of yokai and anomalies had cost them territory once, stripping ordinary people of their lives.
No.
Not just ordinary folk—the old exorcist clans that made up society back then had their forces decimated too, teetering on collapse.
The Leader nodded and continued.
“Back then, exorcists didn't cooperate. They saw yokai and anomalies as things they could hunt at will.”
“Clans wouldn't work together, and the academies they built devolved into endless squabbles over whose methods were right.”
“Exactly. Korea nearly fell, until our current President subdued the 'Great Catastrophe' and established this system.”
But you.
“You're saying you'll go against the President's will?”
Roooar—!
A terrifying aura poured from the Leader's entire body.
It was the life and experience of an elder who'd spent decades in the exorcist world.
Yet even facing it head-on,
Shin Hu remained utterly composed.
“Was I not supposed to oppose it?”
There was no fear of high rank in his voice.
“Since when did Korea turn communist?”
“...Freshmen aren't exorcists yet. They need basic exorcism techniques and deep dives into yokai and anomaly domains before they can even attempt subjugation...”
“Don't cling so much to the past, Leader.”
At that instant, the aura emanating from Shin Hu gradually pushed back the Leader's.
Not forcefully, but warmly, like gently scolding a wayward child.
So the Leader's aura returned unscathed.
“I know you're worried about the students getting hurt. In yokai and anomaly domains, even seasoned exorcists can lose their lives in an instant.”
“And yet you still propose this?”
“This year's freshmen are on another level.”
“If you're talking about the top student and runner-up, just because those two are exceptional doesn't mean...”
“It's not that.”
Shin Hu shook his head.
“The overall level of the cadets is different.”
At that moment, images of his own students and those from other classes flashed in Shin Hu's mind.
All of them had goals.
And most chased the backs of those ahead.
'Top Student.'
Seeing that massive back, they unconsciously matched their strides to its huge steps.
“In fact, we're not even past the first semester yet. But the cadets' average is Hierarchy Rank 2. Even the lowest is right on the cusp of breaking through the wall.”
There wasn't a shred of exaggeration in his words.
He couldn't lie to the likes of the Elder Council anyway.
“Letting talents like that be bound by outdated restrictions... Doesn't that count as dereliction of duty as an educator?”
“...But those restrictions have produced countless exorcists without losses until now. Instilling fear, ensuring safety—that's the most vital virtue for an exorcist.”
“That's true too.”
In truth, the academy's first-year curriculum boiled down to two things.
Building foundational skills as exorcists.
And
'Making them 'understand' the primal terror of the anomalous.'
This kept exorcists from reckless actions and taught them calm countermeasures in danger.
It was why Korea boasted superior exorcist ratios compared to other nations—and how a country on the brink of ruin rebuilt itself.
But.
“That only held true in the 'past.'”
“Things are different now?”
“Seems like fragments of the Great Catastrophe are on the move.”
The Elder Council fell silent at that.
The Great Catastrophe.
Monsters also called the Twelve Evils—the yokai that once drove the Korean Peninsula to the edge of annihilation.
Only after the Association President appeared, wielding inhuman might and subduing them, did Korea escape that stranglehold.
“...Is that true?”
“Does it sound like a lie?”
“...No. You wouldn't lie about something like this.”
“More precisely, forces using Great Catastrophe fragments are stirring in the shadows.”
“Fragments?”
“No idea how they found or revived them, but... Remember Yoo Kyung-soo?”
“...Of course.”
“The method he used on the kidnapped kids: Gu Poison.”
“...”
“And I sensed Great Catastrophe fragments in some of that Gu Poison.”
Shin Hu's eyes gleamed, banishing the darkness for a moment.
“So if things continue like this, the future these kids face could be perilous.”
“...So you're saying we should let them take risks and teach them how to cope?”
“Exactly. Time's short.”
“...With incidents already inside the academy, an invasion could come anytime.”
“They'll move as soon as they're ready. So we need to change our approach.”
“...That makes it even less feasible to send the kids outside.”
“Who said anything about sending them outside?”
Shin Hu tilted his head crookedly.
“I've never once told the kids to go out there.”
“...Then you have another way?”
“I do. One that lets them indirectly grasp the Great Catastrophe threat too.”
At that instant, a certain term flashed in the Leader's mind.
And it was a truly perilous idea.
“You don't mean...?”
“The Demonic Realm. Let's use that.”
“...Once a penal colony for sinners, now a yokai border tainted by the Great Catastrophe. You know that, and still propose it? With the kids' current skills... no, mental fortitude... they can't survive there.”
“How about this instead?”
Shin Hu hadn't expected his initial pitch to fly from the start.
That's why he'd led with something they'd never accept—to seize the upper hand in negotiations.
“Tweaking the mid-semester evaluation for first-years.”
“...Elaborate.”
Shin Hu's lips curled up as he pitched his devised plan.
“...That could work.”
“If it's feasible...”
“The effect would be certain, but...”
A few Elder Council members seemed swayed by his words.
Fortunate.
Looked like the Leader had pruned the rotten roots.
Shin Hu delivered the final blow.
“Open the coffers. Let the kids grow based on their exam scores.”
And so,
Shin Hu's visit to the Elder Council ended in agreement.
Time flew by swiftly.
“Hey, is this the right way to use it?”
“Tsk. Doesn't feel right.”
“Finally! I broke through Hierarchy Rank 2!!!”
“What're you bragging about? Some of us are on the verge of Rank 3.”
The freshmen trained relentlessly, and as a result, every one of them reached Hierarchy Rank 2.
The tougher ones were eyeing Rank 3's wall.
Of course, Mi-na and the Protagonist weren't part of those stats.
No way mid-ranks could hang in the super-rank playground.
'What should I call it... a bit fast?'
Even excluding them, their growth astonished the Protagonist.
'Mi-na and I had frequent awakening events, but these guys didn't.'
It was just daily grind for them.
He'd never seen the indoor training hall lights off before dawn since the third month of enrollment.
They seemed like upperclassmen at times.
But the professors said they actually kept regular schedules.
These obsessively intense trainees were a first—and last—for their year.
Of course, even as he said it, that professor just grinned contentedly and subtly egged them on.
...Shouldn't he warn them against overtraining or something? What kind of professor is that?
Anyway!
While the kids grew over the past three months, the Protagonist hadn't slacked either.
He steadily worked to integrate the Fire-Eye Golden Bell inheritance, deepened his bond with the Ruyi Spear to expand fusion range.
He even tried handling his inheritance that the Great Sage had dubbed Reverse Heaven.
The result? The fusion that once covered one arm and chest now snaked down his body to one leg.
Half of half the body fused, excluding the head?
'This is fusion?'
Professor Shin Hu's words upon first seeing the bizarre sight.
But he ignored it.
Method doesn't matter. Results do.
'Fire-Eye Golden Bell. Gotta start with the Bagua.'
He'd roughly researched Bagua and realized controlling yin and yang energies simultaneously was key to wielding this power.
In the process, he discovered he'd already mastered one 'Bagua' element.
'After killing Yoo Kyung-soo, the change in my Five Winds. Thought it was just a special trait.'
Turns out it was Bagua's wind.
Beyond that... Proficiency up to mid Rank 4?
Mid-ranks sure were a slog to climb.
'Reverse Heaven still eludes me.'
As the Great Sage said, he'd probably need at least 'Ascension' to grasp it.
“Huuuuaam~”
At that moment, a massively bored yawn announced a man's arrival.
Class A's professor, Shin Hu.
“Nice to see you. Rookies... whoa, can't even call you that anymore.”
The classroom warmed with affectionate laughter at his light joke.
If only for his next words.
“Oh, right. Forgot to mention. Regular exams are coming up soon?”
“...”
“Sorry, sorry. Been swamped, seriously slipped my mind. But you guys have nothing to worry about?”
Shin Hu grinned as he said it.
“This year, the exam format's changing.”
What the hell?
'Exam format changing?'
What about everything I know?
Can't use any of it?
That's when it hit.
“...”
His eyes met Professor Shin Hu's,
and a telepathic message flowed in simultaneously.
-Cadet Protagonist. You can't participate in the exam.
...What the hell is this?