Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Dodgeball Progress
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HEY! Parents. You all watching?
The second day's first period had begun.
"Day 2 mental training, starting now."
With my single sentence, the air in the gym grew oppressively heavy.
On the opposite side of the court, all fifteen students from Class A stood in formation, their faces set with grim determination.
The atmosphere was straight out of a team of pro hunters gearing up for an A-rank gate raid.
"Teacher Kim Cheol-su... c-can I go now? I have grading to do..."
Teacher Na Yeo-rin was trembling beside me.
She'd begged to come watch, even putting off her test grading for it.
But now that she was actually here, she looked terrified of the kids' mana and sheer intensity.
Sigh. How was she supposed to handle these fierce kids in the future?
"Grade later. The kids need you here to feel safe enough to play."
"Pl-play... right?"
Instead of answering, I slipped my hand into my pocket and casually snapped my wrist.
The striped beach ball vanished in an instant.
No one could track its trajectory.
KABOOM!!
"Kyaaah!"
"Ugh! Scatter!"
The ball slammed into the gym floor with a thunderous roar, kicking up dust all the way to the 10-meter ceiling.
This gym's sturdy build really comes in handy.
Teacher Na Yeo-rin's jaw dropped wide open.
The airborne ball came falling back toward me.
"Block it from getting caught!"
"Ice Spear!"
"Volcano!"
As I reached for the rebounding ball, they unleashed a barrage of attack spells.
They were trying to stop me from catching it.
These sneaky kids. Using magic in dodgeball!?
Of course, just like yesterday, I wasn't using any of my traits at all.
What was the point of an instructor getting serious against students?
Right now, I was just here to play along.
I dodged the spells with ease, caught the ball again, and deliberately wound up to throw.
Like I was daring them to block it.
Sure enough, Na Jin-il—who'd hidden behind the others yesterday—stepped forward to tank.
"Buffs, please!"
"Sturdy Wall!"
"Wall Reinforcement!"
"Diamond Coating!"
Definitely different from yesterday.
They'd divided into groups, assigned roles, and formed up properly.
Looked like the kids had come prepared.
"I'll hold it at least once somehow!! Catch it no matter what when it bounces!!"
KR-KR-KR-KABOOM!!
My thrown beach ball smashed into their barrier.
Na Jin-il was pushed back sliding, but he barely managed to bounce the ball upward.
Then the tallest gorilla of a kid leaped like mad to snag it.
I could've sworn it was a basketball game.
Not bad at all?
I'd tossed it half-heartedly, but they'd blocked it more easily than expected. Even I was a little surprised.
A-rankers combining forces really made a difference.
"Nice job. Land one hit on me, and you win."
"Huff... huff...!"
Yesterday they'd all wiped in 3 minutes. Today? Not a single elimination even after the time it'd take to cook instant noodles.
I like my noodles nice and chewy, so this was a total shock.
"Prep spells!"
"Don't rush! We just need one hit!"
The damage dealers chanted spells ready to strike anytime, while the healers—gasping for breath—patched up Na Jin-il.
"Acceleration!"
"Super Acceleration!!"
"High Speed!!"
"Power Up!"
Can't you guys pick one—English or hanja?
In 0.1 seconds, I'd fetched instant noodles, sat down in the court, and started blowing on them.
Great they're trying hard, but their setup time's way too long.
"Take thiiiis!!"
Thud.
I casually caught Na Jin-il's bellowed full-power throw with one hand.
My turn now.
"Hey! Na Jin-il! You messing around?!"
"That was full power!"
While the class chewed him out, I wound up again.
If I didn't telegraph it ahead, the game wouldn't even be fair.
They must be exhausted, so slower speed this time... but with a curveball.
Whiiir!
"Wh-what?! The ball's curving!"
"Insane! I can see it now! I got way stronger in one day!"
"Right! No, left!!"
Thwack!
In the end, before even 5 minutes were up, all fifteen hit the floor. Game over.
Winner: me, naturally.
But even with the same result, the vibe was worlds apart from yesterday.
Yesterday they'd been paralyzed with fear, nearly pissing themselves. Today, panting hard but with fire still in their eyes.
"Haa... haa... damn. We lasted 5 minutes at least."
"So close. If the heals had come a bit faster at the end, Na Jin-il could've tanked one more..."
A sense of accomplishment shone on their faces.
It was simple, really.
These kids were elite prodigies overflowing with talent.
Always stuck with boring drills and pulled punches in spars, they'd finally hit a real wall for the first time.
A massive wall they wanted to shatter and climb over.
Like a massive dopamine hit exploding into their dull routine.
"Wh-wh-whoa, Teacher. What the heck are you doing right now?"
I turned to see Teacher Na Yeo-rin clutching my sleeve, sniffling like a hamster.
"Kids need to move around to get motivated to study. They were rowdy at first yesterday too, but after some playtime, they focused right up."
"N-no, even so, this is too much!"
Teacher Na Yeo-rin shook her head vigorously.
"What if one of them gets hurt...? They're scary enough, but the parents are even scarier!"
She looked utterly terrified.
She must've taken a lot of flak over the phone.
It was pretty horrifying, yeah.
This was the Imperial Hunter Academy. The parents were probably crawling with big guild execs, politicians, and chaebol heirs.
One bruise on a precious kid, and the school would flip.
Threaten to cut donations, and even the chairman would side with the parents over the instructors, grilling us endlessly.
I could see it without looking.
Heh.
But I just smiled leisurely and nodded toward the kids.
"Teacher! One more round!"
"We can win for real this time!"
Challenges rang out from all over.
"Uh...?"
"See? They're loving it."
If any complaints came in, I'd just video call and show 'em.
HEY! Parents! You watching!?
See your pampered little darlings rolling around having fun with me?
No parent in the world hates seeing their kid grow.
They'd send gift cards my way before lodging complaints.
"Really... no danger?"
"Don't worry. I've got perfect control these days. I can knock out a mosquito without killing it."
"That's not what I... ugh... four beach balls burst already..."
Despite Teacher Na Yeo-rin's fretting, the kids jumped right into the next game with glee.
It ended in 1 minute flat, though.
.
.
.
The moment they returned to the classroom, the students flipped open their books like they'd planned it.
Class A's atmosphere burned hotter with study fever than ever before.
'Hey, Na Jin-il. Your barrier formula was off earlier. Fix it.'
'Got it. Plugging in this equation cuts mana cost by another 10%.'
The kids huddled over open books, debating in voices quieter than mosquitoes.
All to survive the next dodgeball round.
True education in action.
I lounged on the sunbed, watching them contentedly.
No need to nag them to study.
Lives on the line meant they tackled calculus and memorized intro to magic studies without prompting.
Show this to the chairman, and I'd snag an extra 100 million in bonus.
This noise level's perfect for sleeping.
As I pulled on my eyemask for a nap, an irritating sound came from the classroom corner.
Tap-tap-taptap! Tap! Tap!
I cracked one eye and turned toward the noise.
Last row, window seat.
A boy with massive headphones, head glued to his laptop screen in total focus.
Seo Jin-wook.
The A-rank assassin trait guy from yesterday's classroom ranked matches.
That guy...
Come to think of it, he'd been weirdly passive in dodgeball too.
Hiding behind the tank, then flopping over with a fake 'Ugh!' grunt without even getting grazed—like Hollywood stunt work.
Then sat in the corner conserving energy.
Only to pour that energy into gaming instead of studying.
Infuriating.
Of course, I'm an enlightened instructor who champions self-directed learning.
Student slacking in class? Happens.
Not hustling in dodgeball? Strategy.
I snuck webtoons in class back in school and got busted too.
A top student sneaking ranked matches on his own time? No reason for me to stop him.
But.
Tap! Tap! Taptap!
That noise was the issue.
Everyone else studying dead silent, and this guy's aggro-pulling the whole class.
Plus, it's ruining my nap. That's the real kicker.
Time to apply some righteous indignation.
The Period 2 bell rang, and I immediately called out Seo Jin-wook.
"......"
He slammed his laptop shut and trailed me with a slouchy attitude.
In the empty classroom, he spoke first, like he'd been waiting.
"This about the game?"
He looked oddly aggrieved, having struck first.
"Fine. I won't during class."
Jin-wook's eyes brimmed with resentment.
You slept through first period yesterday too. That retort was right on the tip of his tongue. "What's your tier?" I crossed my arms and asked. "Gr... Grandmaster."
"What?" I doubted my ears for a second. Grandmaster? The real deal, not some middle-schooler trash-talk? Grandmaster while dorming at the academy!? Hunter Academy dorm life is notoriously brutal. Night training leaves zero personal time. Yet he'd maintained A-rank grades and hit Grandmaster in that squeeze? "If I had more time, I could push Challenger... but training keeps breaking my streak..." Seo Jin-wook grumbled. "I know. You'll say the same crap, right? Average A-rank salary's what, and you're wasting it on some game with no guarantee. That's what you're gonna—" "What are you doing!? Grind ranked now! Top 300 for Challenger, remember? No breaks—grind!" He stared up at me, utterly dumbfounded.