Chapter 26: Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 26: Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Buildings at midnight naturally exude an eerie atmosphere.
“Actually, I wanted to teach the students something other than Monster Studies. While Monster Studies is important, of course, I’d rather you all—still so young—learned about normalcy before learning how to fight.”
That eeriness multiplies a hundredfold when you’re bound in a near-pitch-black classroom, forced to listen to a lecture given by a madman.
Add to that the monsters crawling along the walls, and you had the perfect finishing touch to a nightmare.
“Young cadets—no, students—should be at an age where they learn how to make friends and other important things rather than how to fight. It’s called ‘youth.’ Yes, it’s a word I’m quite fond of.”
In total contrast to this horrific situation, his words were surprisingly sane. Yet, that only served to make the atmosphere in the classroom feel all the more bizarre.
“Now then, let me ask a question. What do you all think youth is?”
He asked with his usual smiling face, but not a single student answered him as they would in a normal class.
“Hmm, I suppose the topic of youth doesn’t sit well with you? It’s not going as smoothly as my Monster Studies lectures. I’m finally teaching the class I’ve always wanted to give, so this is a bit disappointing.”
He snapped his fingers with a sharp crack, and the centipedes on the walls reared their heads once more.
The students flinched and reflexively raised their hands at the sight.
“Ah, I must have been mistaken. You’re all so earnest and well-behaved; how could you not be interested? Now then, shall our Ga-eul give us an answer?”
Kim Ga-eul wanted to burst into tears and ask why it had to be her, but knowing she could be subjected to anything, she desperately racked her dizzy brain for an answer.
Of course, there was no perfect definition for something like youth. Anyone could tell that this man wasn’t looking for a dictionary definition.
“Is it… making a lot of friends?”
In the end, that was the clumsy answer that left her lips.
“Yes, that’s a wonderful answer.”
Contrary to her expectations, he readily accepted it as a good response.
“Now then, shall our student Min-hyuk answer next?”
The muscular male cadet tied to his chair broke into a cold sweat, struggling to open his mouth.
“Is it… focusing on sports or hobbies?”
“Hmm, that’s also a good answer. You all seem to understand quite well.”
He continued to toss questions to a few more people after that, nodding in approval at every response.
Even when the last remaining female student shook her head, saying she truly didn’t know, he kept his smiling face.
“Haha, I’m sorry. Actually, there is no clear answer to this question. The shape of youth is different for everyone. There might be something you can focus on, or you might not have found it yet.”
Jin Gyeong-tae, speaking with a benevolent expression, began to write something on the chalkboard.
“But if someone were to ask me the same question, I would like to answer like this: Youth is failure, overcoming, and honesty.”
‘Even failure is beautiful.’
That was the phrase he wrote on the board.
“Failing, reflecting, and moving forward. That is the privilege of youth. It is a right you all deserve to enjoy. Adults aren’t like that. I don’t know if the filthy side of society makes them that way, or if the human species simply grows uglier as time passes.”
He tapped the chalkboard irritably, his movements turning neurotic.
‘Ugliness.’
“Adults do not reflect. They think only of covering up their failures, smoothing things over with lies, and shifting responsibility. They act as if a sincere, honest apology is a mistake or something to be ashamed of.”
Of course, just as not every child is honest, not every adult is like that.
But at the very least, within that madman’s mind, that premise seemed to have already established itself as an absolute truth.
“Ah, I got sidetracked for a moment. Let’s stop talking about adults who do nothing but commit foul betrayals. We were talking about your youth, after all.”
He adjusted his expression and continued.
“Yes, anyway, besides failure and overcoming, I believe things like consideration and respect are symbols of youth. But you all are currently in a situation that’s a bit far removed from those words, aren’t you?”
Kim Ga-eul didn’t know about the others, but those words struck a chord with her.
Until recently, she had been the one doing the bullying, and even more recently, she had been the one being bullied.
Looking around, most of the others seemed to be in the same boat, as their complexions weren’t looking very good.
“Oh, don’t worry. I actually believe that’s part of failure and can be overcome. Yes, through today’s lesson, you will bid farewell to your past selves and be reborn as new individuals.”
He burst into a cheerful laugh.
“Yes, you will learn the spirit of sacrifice, learn friendship, learn respect, sincerely apologize to one another, and become able to forgive yourselves. You’ll like it too.”
His face wore a proper smile, but his eyes held nothing but madness.
Having expressed all the inner desires he had kept tightly wrapped and hidden, he could no longer restrain himself.
“First, shall we learn the spirit of sacrifice?”
With a gesture of his hand, a centipede-shaped monster dropped from the ceiling.
“If no student volunteers to become this fellow’s meal within the next ten minutes, I will kill you all. Ah, coercion is strictly forbidden. I happen to hate that sort of thing.”
Not a single student understood those words immediately.
They understood the literal meaning, but accepting it as reality was a different matter entirely. No one truly grasped his words until one of them asked in a dazed voice, “Huh?”
“Don’t screw with us…!”
A large student shouted, but Jin Gyeong-tae just kept smiling.
“Yes, I expected that reaction. But I didn’t say that to make you laugh. Do I look like I’m joking?”
The giant centipede wiggled its legs and approached the student.
“Shall I let you feel for yourself that this is no joke?”
“I will…!”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll be the sacrifice.”
“My, a student I didn’t quite expect has stepped forward. Are you sure you’re okay with this, Ga-eul?”
“Yes, Professor.”
The one who stepped forward was Kim Ga-eul.
It went without saying that neither she nor anyone else here was the type to sacrifice themselves for others.
Of course, she hadn’t lost her mind due to the situation either.
She had stepped forward because she had placed a gamble based on her own calculations.
If he truly admired youth and liked students, wouldn’t there be something in store for the first person to step forward, just like in old stories or fairy tales?
She believed she was making a reasonably rational deduction and tried to use the urgent situation to hide the fact that she was acting.
“I’m moved, Ga-eul.”
And surprisingly, that deduction was somewhat close to the mark.
“As expected, cadets are different from adults; they learn quickly and know how to accept their faults. Ga-eul, who used to bully her friends and was ostracized by others because of it, has learned the spirit of sacrifice so quickly.”
There was nothing wrong with her deduction.
“However, I’m a little curious if you’re truly sincere.”
The only problem was…
The chip she had placed on this gamble was her own life, and her opponent was a ‘Villain’ who defied all common sense.
“If you’re saying this based on some pathetic calculation that differs from your true feelings, I’ll be very disappointed. Is it okay if I test your sincerity?”
“Pardon…?”
The giant centipede moved rapidly.
“Ga-eul. Congratulations on never becoming an adult.”
The moment she understood the meaning of those words, she realized the truth.
This situation wasn’t a lesson or a test; it was simply reality, and what she had done was nothing more than throwing her life away.
She closed her eyes in terror.
Closing one’s eyes when facing a villain is the worst possible choice.
The moment you succumb to fear and close your eyes on the battlefield, your life is forfeit.
Unless you intend to give up on living, it is always better to do something rather than run from fear.
However, she was still a cadet, not a hero, and overcoming fear was no easy task.
She knew.
She knew that closing her eyes wouldn’t make the source of her fear actually disappear.
Even so, she closed them because she felt she couldn’t stay sane otherwise.
She felt as if the impending pain and the screams of the other cadets were already echoing in her head.
But no matter how long she waited, the pain didn’t come.
Unless the crazy psychopath was holding the monster back just to kill her the moment she opened her eyes, it meant another factor had intervened.
“…An uninvited guest has arrived.”
“Fuck. I almost didn’t make it. Everything else changes, but why the hell does this part stay the same? Goddammit.”
She heard a voice she had grown somewhat familiar with over the past week.
Thinking it might be a hallucination, she opened her eyes and saw his back.
It was a slender back that couldn’t exactly be called reliable, but she felt like she was going to burst into tears.
“Loser…!”
Ah, she had called him ‘loser’ out of habit.
Kang So-hyun turned around, looking genuinely exasperated.
“You really… fuck. We’re talking after this is over.”
* * *
I’m screwed.
I’m seriously, totally screwed.
As I ran through the Academy building in the middle of the night, that was the only thought in my head.
— Huh? Me? I’m out buying party supplies for tomorrow?
I wanted to go with her, but Lilac had gone far away, which made me feel like my head was going to explode. Fortunately, it seemed my effort in using Reinforcement to sprint here paid off, as no one was hurt yet.
If I had been five seconds later, Kim Ga-eul’s head would have gone flying. But since it didn’t, let’s just call it a win.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun.”
“What, you fucker.”
“You were always such a polite cadet; is this your true self? Well, I suppose the current situation warrants it.”
Even at the profanity that slipped out naturally, the bastard just chuckled and let it slide.
“I have so many questions. First of all, this is a secret space that even the Chairperson doesn’t know about, so I’m curious how you found it. I’m also curious how you knew something was happening today, but what I’m most curious about right now is this: exactly what are you using to drive away the familiars I’ve summoned?”
“You don’t know what this is?”
What I was holding in my hand was a ‘Pest Repellent’ powered by a low-grade green mana stone.
“As if I wouldn’t know. But what I mean is, how are you driving away monsters with something meant for chasing mosquitoes? It makes no sense.”
Even as he spoke, he was laughing as if he found it quite amusing.
“Maybe the monsters you summoned are as pathetic as mosquitoes. Seeing as they can’t even get close to a bug repeller because they’re so scared.”
Of course, that wasn’t the case.
Jin Gyeong-tae.
His talent was C-rank ‘Lower Monster Taming.’ Among those, he was a case specialized in taming insects or small monsters with shells.
The monsters he could tame were unremarkable on their own, but the problem was that he possessed the trait ‘Educator’ since he was a professor.
The Educator trait doesn’t have much effect on humans, but it was a trait with excellent compatibility for insect-type monsters that could be managed from the larval stage.
It was no exaggeration to say that the insect monsters he raised boasted the maximum potential a lower-tier species could achieve.
With high-tier versions of lower-tier monsters filling the classroom, there was no way they were pathetic.
However, that didn’t change the fact that they were still lower-tier species.
The brilliantly glowing green mana stone fiercely emitted energy, driving the monsters back.
“Is that a tool that originally produced that kind of output?”
As if.
It’s a five-thousand-won item from the mart.
“Right? The effect is pretty great, isn’t it? Be careful from now on. Though, I don’t know if there will be a ‘from now on’ for you. You villain piece of shit.”
Reinforcement.
The talent I possessed was an omnipotent power that didn’t care whether the target was a person or a tool.
The light of Reinforcement, fueled by the price of consuming my Innate True Qi, easily transformed an everyday item into a magnificent shield against monsters.
I felt a bit weird about my first weapon in actual combat being a pest repellent, but there was nothing better than this for dealing with him.
The bastard was still laughing, as if something was incredibly funny.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun. Do you know? You never really looked like a cadet to me.”
“What?”
“Your calculating and cold eyes, for one. And your attitude of always being wary and suspicious of me, even though I never gave you a reason. You were exactly like the adults I hate.”
Well, considering my inner self, he wasn’t entirely wrong. But so what?
“But I was wrong; you really are a cadet after all. I pride myself on my ability to read people, but I’m a bit surprised.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You seem to be afraid of me.”
“…What?”
“Do you know your voice is trembling slightly? And that the corners of your mouth are twitching even though you’re smiling and acting all confident?”
…Fuck.
I tried not to show it, but I guess it was impossible.
It would be weirder not to be afraid.
Even when riding a roller coaster that you know is safe, people feel a slight sense of fear.
So, standing before those monsters, trying to bluff while relying on nothing but a pest repellent… honestly, I was a bit shaken.
If that bastard Lilac had been by my side, it might have been a bit better. What the hell was that useless guy doing out buying party supplies?
“This is interesting. Now that I know you’re a child pretending to be an adult, my interest is piqued. We were just studying youth and sacrifice; Cadet So-hyun, would you like to take Ga-eul’s place?”
“Sacrifice?”
“Yes, sacrifice.”
“I’d rather not.”
[The Will of the Saint is moved by your good deed.]
[Mental Strength Reinforcement effect applied.]
Thanks to the sudden buff, my head cleared up a bit.
It also meant I was so tense that the Will of the Saint, which usually focused entirely on recovery, prioritized my mental state, but for now, this was enough.
“And now you’re acting all calm again in an instant. How cute.”
“You’re really full of shit.”
Thanks to the Mental Strength Reinforcement, my mind was sharp.