Chapter 132: I'd Rather Not...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 132: I'd Rather Not...
“Kang Hyun-woo, if it gets too hard, just say the word.”
Professor Shin Minha’s cold, emotionless voice brought me back to my senses.
Why in the world was I inside a gate with Professor Shin Minha?
It seemed I needed to turn back the clock for a moment.
*
After finishing my bizarre interview with Im Nayeon, I headed to the Magic Tower as usual.
I chatted for a bit with the lively girls in my class, had a brief staring contest with Han Seoah when our eyes met by chance, and listened to Professor Lee Chaewon—still showing off her sensational figure in an equally sensational outfit—as the morning classes began.
I hadn't slept a wink last night, so I'd planned to spend the entire morning with my head on my desk. But, as luck would have it, my first class was with Professor Lee Chaewon.
Of course, she was the type who probably wouldn't say anything even if I slept openly, but could I really call myself a man if I just slept through a lecture given by such a sexy, beautiful professor?
Just looking at her was enough to wake me up.
I cherished these small moments of happiness through the morning, and after a lonely lunch by myself, the afternoon arrived.
Honestly, I had expected Grandma Choi Young-ok to call for me because of last night's incident. I was well aware that I might have gone too far.
But when the afternoon came and went with no word from her, I decided I had no choice but to visit her myself.
I went to her workshop, my heart filled with worry, but the moment I saw Grandma Choi Young-ok greet me with a gentle smile, I felt the tension drain from my body.
I honestly thought she was going to scold me for dealing with Go Namseok and the chairman of the redevelopment committee so brutally.
But her reaction was the complete opposite of what I'd expected. She said she was actually glad to see I could be so ruthless to my enemies.
Only then did I realize my worries had been pointless.
She added that because I had left no traces, the police were completely stumped.
Normally, it would be a case for the Hunter Association to handle, but it seemed they were short-staffed due to an incident in Pyongyang.
The police had no choice but to request cooperation from the Magic Tower, but seeing the Tower Lord's lukewarm response, it seemed unlikely to happen.
“Still, be careful for the time being. The Heuksan Guild won't just sit back. They have to be mindful of the Association, but with their leader’s younger brother murdered, there’s no telling how they’ll react.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
Even as I said that, my mind was filled with the desire to face a powerful member of the Heuksan Guild.
Of course, I wasn't hoping for an all-out war with the entire guild. That would be a pointless death.
‘It would be great if I could fight someone as strong as the leader of the guys who attacked Cheon Yeo-hwa.’
If I could fight an A-rank expert, at the very least, maybe some of this frustration I was feeling would dissipate.
The more I swung my sword, the more I felt a strange sense of dissonance, a disconnect from my usual self that made me feel like a stranger.
The sensation of being completely drained of all magic and internal energy from training relentlessly, at all hours, came flooding back.
The state of emptiness and nothingness.
It was a void where I felt nothing, yet paradoxically, everything else felt incredibly vivid.
My master just repeated like a parrot that I should maintain and recall this feeling, offering no other advice.
And I couldn't hope to gain anything from sparring with my master; the skill gap was just too wide. I might stand a chance if I used magic, but with pure swordsmanship, I couldn't even dream of winning.
Having solved one problem only to gain another, I bowed my head and left Grandma Choi Young-ok's workshop.
The one silver lining was that I only had one class this afternoon.
Magical Biology, a course dedicated to studying and exploring creatures that defy conventional laws, such as magical beasts, phantom beasts, and artificial lifeforms.
It was sometimes called Magical Beast Studies or Phantom Beast Studies, but its official name was Magical Biology.
My reason for taking this class was simple.
I might be making a contract with a summon soon, and if I lacked the relevant knowledge, I wouldn't just fail to gain the upper hand in the contract—I might have to sign it without even knowing what my summon's abilities were.
‘Another older professor.’
I don't know if I was just unlucky, but every professor I had was at least in their mid-forties. Then again, while the Magic Tower had many women, it didn't mean there were many young professors.
Just as becoming a tenured professor in the regular world required going through a master's, a doctorate, an assistant professorship, and an associate professorship, becoming a professor at the Magic Tower also demanded a long and complex process.
That just went to show how incredible Lee Chaewon and Shin Minha were.
“What is the difference between a magical beast and a phantom beast?”
At the professor's question, a student stood up.
“The presence or absence of hostility towards humans.”
“Correct. Fundamentally, magical beasts try to kill humans. There is no reason for it. It’s not for predation or even for sport.”
What would happen if you placed ten cows and one person in front of a starving magical beast?
It would almost certainly kill the human first, then eat the cows.
“Humans cry when they’re sad. They break into a cold sweat when they’re scared. That is an instinct engraved in our genes.”
The professor tapped the blackboard with her wand, and images of a human and a magical beast appeared.
“It’s the same for magical beasts. They harbor a strong killing intent towards humans, as if it were an instinct etched into their genes. For hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, humanity has researched the reason, but we are still left with numerous hypotheses and no clear answer.”
I listened intently to the professor's explanation. It was quite interesting.
“One hypothesis suggests that magical beasts are new lifeforms created by the Earth to punish humanity, the planet's blight, and that the world beyond the gates is actually the Earth's interior.”
The Hollow Earth Theory, the assertion that a world similar to the surface exists inside a hollow Earth.
“It’s a rather interesting hypothesis, but it has a major flaw. Magical beasts and gates have existed since the dawn of human history. While humanity in the modern era might be a blight, humans back then were far too insignificant to be considered a threat to the planet. Their presence was so faint they couldn't have possibly polluted the environment.”
To be precise, the first confirmed existence of magical beasts was found in murals presumed to be from Sumer, the earliest known human civilization.
Magical beasts appeared when humanity formed civilizations.
“Humanity's survival has been precarious in every era. But we somehow survived and carried on our lineage, and in the present day, we have managed to achieve a fragile, albeit incomplete, peace.”
The professor gave a gentle smile, pleased with the students' focused attention.
“My, the topic has drifted towards history. To summarize, magical beasts are, without exception, hostile to humans, while phantom beasts are not always hostile. Of course, some phantom beast species are hostile to humans, but unlike magical beasts, they rarely try to kill for no reason. And if a phantom beast is intelligent, it’s even possible to communicate with them.”
At the professor's gesture, various images appeared on the blackboard. An eagle wreathed in fire, a horse with a horn on its head, an impossibly large snake.
She continued the lesson, explaining the different types of phantom beasts, their characteristics, their habitats, and their likes and dislikes.
Just as I finished my only afternoon class and was about to head home early for once, someone approached me.
“Hyun-woo.”
“Yes?”
It was Professor Shin Minha, with her neat black bob and clear blue eyes.
“Do you have a moment?”
*
It was sudden, but I had no particular reason to refuse, so I followed Shin Minha to her workshop.
Her workshop was immaculate overall. It was a far cry from the chaotic mess of Choi Young-ok's and Choi Hyena's workshops.
Clink. Shin Minha placed a teacup she had brought in front of me.
“It’s been a while since I last made this, so I can't guarantee the taste, but it's brewed with expensive tea leaves, so it should be good for you.”
“...Thank you.”
She had definitely given me a choice between green tea, black tea, and water. I had chosen black tea.
So why was there an unidentified purple liquid in front of me?
It was even bubbling.
For a moment, I wondered if she was planning to conduct a biological experiment on me, but that thought vanished when I saw the same purple liquid in her own teacup.
Slurp. Shin Minha drank the purple liquid as if it were nothing. I guess it wasn't anything strange.
“...”
But I didn't want to drink it. Not only did it look awful, but it smelled terrible too. I had no choice but to pretend to take a sip before secretly putting the cup down.
“Professor, may I ask why you called me here?” I spoke up first to divert her attention.
“The reason...”
The atmosphere grew more serious. Shin Minha crossed her legs and tapped her fingers, lost in thought.
Thanks to that, her pale white legs were slightly revealed, and my gaze naturally drifted toward them.
I could only see from her ankles to her shins and calves, but because she usually wore long skirts that covered her ankles and thick cardigans, the sight seemed all the more sensual.
Her fair skin looked almost translucent, and her flawless complexion made me curious about its texture.
“Hyun-woo, you primarily use elemental magic and are currently in the Elemental Department, correct?”
“Huh? Yes. Well, that's right...?”
I had almost been caught like a pervert staring at the professor's legs. My heart pounded in my chest.
“I'll be direct. Please transfer to the Summoning Department.”
“...Excuse me?”
Her proposal was so unexpected that I was slightly taken aback.
“...Why would I do that?”
It was true I had an aptitude for summoning magic, but it was only a passing interest.
My main skills were elemental magic and the Formless Vajra Art.
Of course, making a contract with a powerful summon would be convenient.
But those summons weren't creatures you could command at no cost. The stronger they were, the greater the price they demanded.
“I covet your talent, Hyun-woo.”
“My talent?”
At that moment, the space behind Shin Minha wavered, and a figure that looked as if it were cloaked in shadow appeared.
It was the same presence I had felt when I met her in the faculty office last time.
“This is my summon, Riyal. He usually stays hidden around me, acting as my guard.”
“Oh...”
I couldn't make out its appearance or gender, but I could tell it was a formidable being.
It felt less like a guard and more like an assassin, though.
“That day, when you shook my hand, you sensed Riyal's presence, didn't you?”
“...I think so?”
“Riyal's ability isn't simple invisibility. To be precise, it's the ability to anchor his existence to both Earth and the Phantom Beast Realm simultaneously.”
“Hmm...”
Honestly, I didn't understand a single word she was saying.
“To put it simply, his mind is on Earth, but his body is in the Phantom Beast Realm. He can bring his body to Earth at any time, which makes it a definitive upgrade to invisibility. Thanks to this, even people with excellent detection abilities can't sense Riyal's presence.”
Was it something like playing a virtual reality game?
Your body is in the real world, but you can enter a virtual one and observe it.
“Of course, the Tower Lord noticed, but you're different, Hyun-woo. You're not on the same advanced level as the Tower Lord, yet you noticed Riyal's presence instantly.”
Suddenly, Shin Minha's words began to speed up.
Her face remained as expressionless as ever, but everything else about her proved she was incredibly excited.
“You were able to sense Riyal because of your talent. To be precise, your overwhelming ability to connect. The first time you noticed Riyal, I felt the connection between us flicker, however faintly.”
Shin Minha, who had been leaning back on the sofa, was now leaning far forward, words pouring out of her.
“I'll give you anything you desire.”
“...Pardon?”
Shin Minha leaned in close, her hands planted on the table.
“So please, become my teaching assistant.”
“...I'd rather not.”
After all that, it was the devil's whisper, tempting me to become a graduate student.