Selection (2)
Selection (2)
The professors who had been glaring at one another fell silent.
The administrative staff tucked away in the corner of the meeting room, dutifully performing their roles, stopped writing.
Every gaze in the room turned toward me.
Wide-eyed, baffled, stupid looks—just like Ha-na's.
I called out to the only middle-aged man sitting with proper posture.
"Kim Seong-won."
"Yes, Professor."
Kim Seong-won opened the bag at his feet, pulled out a clipboard with a moderately thick stack of documents secured to it, and rose from his seat.
'Consistent bastard.'
I had told him to leave it on the table and I'd pick it up myself. Instead, he got up, brought it over, and walked toward me.
"Here you are."
"Just do what you're told."
"Ahem. Yes."
Kim Seong-won handed me the clipboard, gave a measured bow, and returned to his seat. The moment he sat back down—
"Why are you...?"
I turned toward the voice thick with disbelief.
The men had refined, slight builds, worlds apart from any kind of physical labor. Seated closest to me among them was a blond middle-aged man.
Jaden Martel.
The generous soul who would be donating an artifact to me at the summer festival in a few months.
"I'm here for the observer selection. Obviously."
"No, I—I understand that, but... why are you sitting in that seat...?"
A truly worthless question.
"Jaden."
"...Yes."
"You're not old enough to be retiring yet."
"Excuse me? Yes. That's true, but...?"
His eyes narrowed, sensing something off. I turned to the first page of the materials Kim Seong-won had prepared and continued.
"When this meeting ends, you might want to visit a temple. Any temple."
"...I don't follow."
"I'm saying you seem to be suffering from a curse. The kind that impairs cognitive function."
I swept my gaze across the faces of the other professors staring openly at me—not Jaden.
"Why would I be sitting in this seat? Because I have the qualifications to sit here. A man who calls himself a professor, and that's the question he asks."
"......."
The man's unusually pale face began turning a shade redder than anyone else in the room. The fact that he kept his mouth shut after that suggested the thing perched above his shoulders wasn't purely decorative.
"If you have questions, ask them now. Any question unrelated to the meeting after this point will result in immediate removal."
Exactly one minute.
No one raised a hand. No one opened their mouth.
These people had attended the meeting the Chairman convened. They would remember that my authority was equal to his.
'Jaden's British, though.'
A bit slow on the uptake. I could afford to let him slide once or twice.
"If you dislike the outcome, take it up with the Chairman. Do whatever you like. Though, of course, that won't change the results we reach here today."
The professors exchanged glances at my words. Silent conversations played out in their expressions alone.
"It's a precious weekend, so let's not drag this out. We'll begin immediately."
I took in the neatly listed guild names.
"Anyone with a guild to recommend from the candidate list, raise your hand."
The men who had been trading looks within their factions began scrutinizing the people seated across from them. As if on cue, one professor from each side raised a hand.
The fringes of their factions.
The seats farthest from me.
The two youngest men in the room.
"Kim Su-hwan."
Long, narrow eyes. Broad shoulders.
The professor in charge of swordsmanship lectures for the second and third years.
"Yes. I recommend the Märchen Guild."
"Your reasoning."
"Two years ago, they successfully bid on two 5th-stage rifts released by the government. Compared to last year alone, their finances have nearly doubled. Meanwhile, their membership remains at fifty—the same as it was two years ago."
"So they plan to use the surplus funds to support prospects."
"That's correct."
Fwip.
I flipped through the materials Kim Seong-won had prepared and pulled up the Märchen file. I had already read through these before coming here, but updates were always possible.
'Nothing.'
I confirmed there was nothing new and nodded.
"Understood. Next. An Jin-hyeok."
Rimless glasses perched on his nose. Unremarkable features.
The professor in charge of advanced elemental studies for the third years.
"Yes. I recommend the Dawn Mist Guild."
"Your reasoning."
"First, Dawn Mist has thirty members, twenty of whom are alchemists."
"A production guild, then."
"Yes. That was the case until last year. Starting this year, they've begun training combat-class Awakened in earnest, using the funding from their workshops. Of the original ten, four are seven-year veterans, and the remaining six are entering their third or fourth year. There appear to be no issues with their capacity to train."
"I see."
I looked at the other professors.
"No further recommendations?"
The men seated beside the two who had just spoken raised their hands. The factions couldn't have been more blatant. Still, I swallowed the slow burn of displeasure and watched their nauseating little performance to the end.
"You two."
"None."
"Ahem. Nor I."
The heads of each faction shook their heads. I lowered the clipboard.
"The professors under Bae Cheol-su and Jeong Ho-yeong may leave."
—...?
Toward the men radiating confusion above their heads—
Click.
—I personally opened the door for them.
"You may leave."
They glanced at me, then at the faction heads flanking me on either side.
"It seems your words carry more weight with them than mine do."
"Ahem!! What are you all doing? Get out."
"Likewise...."
Only after Jaden and Lee Hyeok gave their consent did the hesitating men gather their things and exit the meeting room.
Both of them found my presence grating. Jaden in particular wanted to stand above me. But as second-generation Awakened who revered the Chairman—a first-generation Awakened—they respected the order he had established and made every effort not to stray from it.
"What do you think the criterion was for dividing those who remain from those who just left? If anyone knows, speak up."
The professors still in the room kept their mouths firmly shut, showing no interest in answering. Instead, the head of Academic Affairs, seated beside Kim Seong-won, raised his hand.
"Go ahead."
"Well... it seems to be a division between those who were once students at this academy and those who were not."
"Correct."
—Oh....
—Ahem.
Kim Seong-won let out an impressed sound. Choi Min-sik coughed briefly and took his seat.
"To be precise, it's those with field experience and those without."
At that, the remaining men scanned each other's faces and gave small nods.
"Lee Hyeok."
"...I'm listening."
I opened the Märchen Guild file—recommended by the one called Kim Su-hwan, the first to raise his hand—and tossed it to Lee Hyeok.
"Read it and answer my question."
"...Ask."
"Tell me what it takes to become one of the Top 10 Guilds."
"An outstanding leader and powerful Awakened. Those two are enough."
"Is that all? Just meet those two conditions and you become a Top 10 Guild?"
"...You'd need to clear difficult rifts and handle things that benefit the country, one way or another. The most important thing is recognition."
"Speak once you've finished reading."
"......."
He glared at me for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the documents and read through them. About ten minutes later, he raised his head.
"...I've finished."
"Do you think that guild has what it takes to rise through the ranks?"
"......."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"...It doesn't look that way."
"P-Professor?"
"No, I mean...."
Murmuring broke out, the answer from Lee Hyeok's mouth having clearly surprised them.
Shut your mouths.
"Hrk...?!"
"U-ugh...."
The muttering men flinched and clamped their jaws shut.
"I never gave any of you permission to chatter. Shut up and stay quiet. Lee Hyeok."
"...Go on."
"Tell me why."
He picked up the documents.
"If everything written here is true."
"It is."
"...The guild was founded eight years ago. In all that time, there isn't a single entry about attempting a rift raid. Only records of them going in and out of rifts that were already stabilized by the government and other large guilds. People like that can roll around as much as they want—they'll never be veterans."
"Indeed."
I took the documents from his hands.
"The prospects they're after aren't promising students. They want the ones who'll stay at the bottom. Lock them in with modest contracts and sweet talk, then use them as little more than custodians for the new rifts they bid on."
"Hmm...."
I turned away from the man's pensive grunt.
"Jaden."
"Yes...."
"I doubt I even need to hand you the file."
"...I agree."
The Dawn Mist Guild. Recommended by An Jin-hyeok of his faction.
"Personally, I find your faction even more rotten."
"......."
Jaden's face flared bright red.
As expected of a mage who handles fire.
"The other side at least recommended a combat guild. Your lunatic over there pitched a production guild—one that was a production guild until last year, no less. And he had the gall to introduce someone who's done nothing but gather materials for seven years as a veteran."
White steam began rising from the crown of his head.
"It's not just those two. Every guild recommended by the men who aren't in this room right now is more of the same. I looked into last year's records. Last year was no different. And yet those parasites walked away with observer credentials anyway."
The red tint creeping across Lee Hyeok's face now matched Jaden's.
"They skip the investigation they're supposed to conduct in the field, grab whatever goods the guilds prepared for them, and come right back. Such an easy way to do business."
I raised my head. The others, who had been stealing glances my way, immediately lowered their eyes and bowed their heads.
'...For chump change like that.'
Parasites set foot in the academy. A classmate who showed kindness to Baek Ha-na gets tangled up with them. Then in winter, Baek Ha-na hears through the community that her classmate has been trapped inside a rift. She slips past the temple's surveillance and goes alone. She and the rift's Guardian destroy each other.
I forced the rising heat back down and spoke.
"Bulking up. Fine. Weight classes exist for a reason—you can't ignore a difference in size. But looking at the state of you now, you don't even realize the bloated flesh has begun rotting your toes off."
I half-expected someone to raise their head and protest that I'd gone too far with the insults. No one did.
"Remember this: your students sign contracts with parasites like those because they trust you—their professors. Remember also that your value lies in the fact that your students need you."
I fastened the buttons of my jacket and rose from my seat.
"So do the work you're supposed to do."
Thwack—!!
The clipboard full of documents landed in the center of the round table.
"One week."
The men with bowed heads cautiously lifted them.
I spoke to Jaden and Lee Hyeok.
"Compile the list and submit it."
I didn't specify what kind of list.
If they had any brains, they'd know exactly what I meant.
"If you perform the duties expected of you as professors—and only those duties—then I don't care where you get your handouts or who gives them to you. But if you can't...."
Skreeee—!!
The rings on their left hands shrieked as if on the verge of shattering.
To those startled men, I spoke quietly.
"I will split every last one of your bellies open."