Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Instructor's Qualifications
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The evening before the training camp.
I was lying on the sofa, munching on potato chips while watching OTT.
It was a true break, with no calls from Manager Park or the Association Chairman.
"This is what healing feels like."
Starting tomorrow, I'd have to hole up in a container box for a three-day, two-night camp.
While managing our little troublemakers, no less.
Just thinking about it made fatigue wash over me.
Bzzzzt!
"Who's this?"
The sender was our Class A's mascot.
Instructor Na Ye-rin.
I checked the message casually and leaped off the bed in shock.
[Instructor Kim Cheol-su... sob sob... I think I have to resign... I'm sorry.]
"What the hell?!"
Resign?
If she quits, who takes over as Class A homeroom?
If something scandalous happens with the Blue Vest as temporary instructor, those sweet gigs might dry up.
I have to stop her!
Especially with the camp tomorrow—me alone controlling those hot-blooded Class A kids without a homeroom teacher?
My precious cushy job and free time would go up in smoke.
For my peaceful salaried Lupin life, I had to block Na Ye-rin's escape at any cost.
I confirmed the address of the sashimi restaurant where Na Ye-rin was and headed out.
No need for taxis or cars.
This is what Swiftness is for.
I burst through the door of the Noryangjin sashimi spot like lightning and spotted Instructor Na Ye-rin at a corner table, three empty beer bottles already in front of her.
"Huuu... I'm trash... A worthless coward with no instructor qualifications..."
She picked up a piece of flounder sashimi and wailed about her misery.
I pulled out the chair opposite and sat down. She lifted her head with bleary eyes.
"Instructor Kim Cheol-su...? How are you here so fast?"
Her face was apple-red.
Her glasses were gone somewhere, and her gaze lacked focus.
"What are you doing moping around here? You're supposed to lead the kids to camp tomorrow."
"Sniff. Instructor... I can't go..."
Na Ye-rin sniffed back snot and hung her head again.
"Look, what have I even done since taking over Class A?"
Student counseling, and now homeroom teacher care...
Even 320 million felt insufficient now. I popped a piece of flounder into my mouth.
"The kids ignore me, treat me like I'm invisible... Even on that last gate raid, I just hitched a ride!"
Still fuming, she slammed down her soju glass.
"Seeing how the kids changed after you came, Instructor... I realized it. I'm incompetent. Someone like me as a teacher just blocks their future... Waaah!"
Was my Spartan training too effective?
Na Ye-rin was drowning in self-loathing, comparing herself to me.
This is bad.
Left like this, she'd really submit that resignation.
She's an adult. Sweet-talking won't cut it.
I needed a powerful knockout punch.
I leaned forward over the table, locking eyes with Na Ye-rin.
From experience, my heartfelt advice worked best at this distance.
"Na Ye-rin."
"Y-yes... sniff."
"Look me in the eye."
Her dazed pupils turned to me.
Just 15 centimeters away.
Close enough to feel each other's breath.
"Eek...?"
Na Ye-rin's eyes widened round.
I held her gaze as she tried to pull back in panic.
Even with perception impairment magic, the Blue Vest's presence didn't fade.
"Who are you to decide if you have what it takes?"
I said in a serious tone.
I had no idea what I was saying.
I was just blurting out whatever came to mind in the heat of the moment.
"That's for the kids to decide. If you give up and run... they won't even get the chance."
Na Ye-rin gulped, her throat bobbing.
Her face flushed even redder than before.
Mentioning the kids must have shamed her for wanting to flee.
"Qualifications are won. By fighting. Right there in that position."
"Fight... and win..."
"If you can't, run now. But then Class A will remember 'our instructor was an irresponsible coward.' Can't be helped."
That was the clincher.
Na Ye-rin snapped her eyes open, clenched her fist, and declared,
"...I won't."
"Pardon?"
"I'm not running! Who you calling a coward?!"
Bam!
Na Ye-rin slammed the table and shot to her feet.
Her eyes burned with rage and determination.
"I can do it! I'm Class A homeroom instructor Na Ye-rin! Starting tomorrow, I'll handle everything perfectly—watch me!"
"That's the spirit."
I cheered inwardly.
"Then show up on time tomorrow. Pack your gear too—this is your cue to head home."
I stood coolly and left.
Escapes must always be swift and natural.
Can't stick around after scoring free sashimi.
The next morning.
Imperial Hunter Academy students disembarked the group bus and lined up in formation.
A real C-rank gate loomed nearby, but the other classes buzzed like they were on a field trip.
A school for at least B-rank awakeners—par for the course.
In contrast, our Class A kids concealed bloodlust just beneath their skin.
Thanks to daily morning murder dodgeball sharpening their senses.
This should handle even a dungeon break.
Kids grow fastest when they're running wild.
I watched contentedly when a booming voice rang from the bus front.
"Alright! Attention! Drop your bags and form three columns!"
Instructor Na Ye-rin.
Normally, it'd be a meek "Kids... shall we gather over there...?"
Today, she bellowed like a drill sergeant with a megaphone.
Sunglasses on, she cut quite the figure.
"No chit-chat! Three days, two nights of live combat training starts now! Slack on gear checks, and no dinner tonight!"
"Yes, sir!"
The kids, spooked by their homeroom's unfamiliar fire, moved in perfect sync.
Too effective for offhand advice?
She'd done a 180 overnight.
As Na Ye-rin checked the schedule, the kids whispered.
'Yo, why's Miss Na like that today?'
'Dunno. Must've eaten something funky yesterday.'
'But... isn't she kinda cool? Always slouched before—today she actually looks like an instructor.'
With their instructor firmly at the helm, trust lit the kids' eyes.
A very promising sight.
"Well, well~"
But there's always one mood-killer.
"Instructor Na Ye-rin. Hello?"
"...Hello."
A potbellied man approached her with a greasy voice.
Class B homeroom, Kim Cheol-hwan.
His sly eyes scanned sunglassed Na Ye-rin up and down.
"No worries with Class A this time. Even if the instructor's lacking, the kids'll handle it."
Was he hitting on her right now?
I was baffled, and I wasn't even involved.
"Last year, you froze up in the gate, right? Cried when kids got hurt... I had to clean up your mess."
Na Ye-rin's face burned red at the blatant overstep.
What a scumbag personality.
Regrettable, but this wasn't my fight.
She had to overcome it herself.
Mistaking her silence for weakness, Kim Cheol-hwan yapped on.
"If anything happens again, lean on me..."
Kim Cheol-hwan slyly reached for Na Ye-rin's shoulder.
My eyebrow twitched.
This crossed into harassment territory.
Crazy enough to try that in front of the kids?
In slowed time, I swapped positions: Na Ye-rin instructor, one of our class students.
Time resumed.
Thud.
Kim Cheol-hwan's palm met a pumped high-schooler's deltoid like a rock. The kid cluelessly kneaded his own shoulder muscle.
"...What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh...?"
Kim Cheol-hwan looked up to Na Jin-il glaring daggers.
His fierce eyes had evolved to serial-killer levels thanks to my beach ball training.
Yeah. If you're gonna claim tank-dealer, equip that glare daily.
"Wha—hey!? What the hell, kid!"
Kim Cheol-hwan yanked his hand back in horror.
"Greet adults properly—why the glare!? You scared me!"
Some nerve.
I slipped in, playing along.
"Isn't this Instructor Kim Cheol-hwan? Didn't know you swung that way."
"N-no, I..."
"Thought she was Instructor Na Ye-rin and went for it? Still a problem."
Kim Cheol-hwan's face turned beet red.
At a loss, he jabbed a finger at Na Jin-il.
"...Jeez. Who taught you manners? Glaring like that, no respect for elders..."
As Kim Cheol-hwan tried to slink away,
Na Ye-rin blocked his path.
"These are my kids."
"Wha... huh...?"
Sunglasses off, but her furious glare outdid those shades in terror.
"My proud kids I raised! Way better than creeps like you who sneak shoulder grabs—they care for friends and instructors! Apologize now!!"
A lion's roar.
Na Jin-il and the watching kids gaped in shock.
As Kim Cheol-hwan recoiled,
Victim Na Jin-il pressed from behind.
"No apology? I'll file a formal complaint with the chairman. Say you tried harassing our homeroom instructor."
"F-fine, apology... And I touched you, not Na Ye-rin—don't spread lies later or you're in trouble!"
Kim Cheol-hwan babbled nonsense and fled.
I'd heard rumors, but didn't think he was that guy.
Thought it was just kids trading nasty hallway gossip.
What kinda world is this?
How had a creep like that kept his instructor title?
Obvious.
He'd gaslit only the easy marks.
I approached Na Ye-rin and gave a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry, Instructor Na Ye-rin. I'll report that jerk for harassing my cute disciple."
These things need a semi-outsider to file the claim.
Even harassment complaints are tough from insiders.
"Jin-il. Felt violated? Can you testify?"
Na Jin-il, now sharp like me, bowed his head and method-acted in a gruff voice.
"An indelible humiliation... I felt... sob."
Classmates raised hands as witnesses.
Na Ye-rin still fumed.
"You okay?"
She startled at my question, looked up, and beamed.
"I... didn't run this time!"
Where'd that fire go? Now puppy eyes begging for praise.