Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Rival (1)
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I started attending a school called the Academy.
It was sad to part ways with my elementary school friends, but the Academy was full of new friends.
I hoped we could all get along well.
But that was just wishful thinking on my part.
"Teacher Iha Jun, what did you have for breakfast?"
"Just rice."
"I practiced my stance yesterday. Is it like this when swinging the sword?"
"You should lower your posture a bit more."
At the Academy, he's a teacher.
My father was currently surrounded by female students.
Was it because he gave detailed feedback after that intense sparring session last time?
Father was popular among students regardless of gender.
And I didn't like seeing him like that at all.
"He was supposed to be my little secret father...! Why are the other students eyeing my father...!"
Tap-tap-tap-tap-
Chor-yeon sat in the back row, watching the scene while shaking her legs furiously.
She didn't like the looks her friends were giving her father.
"I can't just sit back and watch...!"
Squeeze-
Chor-yeon clenched her fist, vowing as she watched her father deal with the students.
"I won't let anyone take my father...! From today on, people aren't my friends anymore...! They're enemies...!!"
She always dreamed of peace.
But some things couldn't be resolved with peace alone.
Chor-yeon glared at the students clinging to her father and shouted.
"From today, it's war...!!"
To reclaim her Academy life with her father.
Chor-yeon resolved to start the war today.
***
The lectures I conduct aren't anything special.
With my limited education, I don't do theoretical classes, and most of them are practical training-related.
Without much brains, I mostly fill the time with physical demonstrations.
"But I don't get why my classes are so popular."
Maybe because I played around so entertainingly with the first-years on the first day.
The first-year students seem to like me quite a bit.
Or perhaps because I gave them detailed feedback after sparring.
Or maybe because I'm not as stiff as a regular hero.
"Still, it's just popularity with students. It's getting more annoying."
All professors and instructors conduct demo lectures for the first-years over two weeks.
After that, students choose their classes through course registration.
Classes with too few students get canceled.
Professors and instructors must have the competitiveness befitting the Academy.
"It's good that mine won't be canceled. But somehow, it feels like it'll be more trouble. Right, Mang-mung?"
"Mang-mang-"
Shake-shake-
Mang-mung shook his head as if to say no.
"No? Why?"
"Mang-mang-! Mang-mang-mang-!"
Mang-mung mimicked a rich guy with jerky in his mouth and a cigar.
"More students mean more money and getting rich?"
"Mang-!"
Nod-nod-
Mang-mung nodded that I was right.
Maybe from watching too much home shopping, his obsession with money had grown lately.
"Earning a lot would be nice. But I don't have anything to teach the kids."
It's mostly practical training.
But I had no idea what lectures to run within the set curriculum.
"Should I just rely on my physical abilities and be a punching bag? Pay 10,000 won and get a minute as my punching bag, how about that?"
"Mang-!"
"You like it? You say that because it's not your body, Mang-mung."
"Mang-mang...!"
Mang-mung averted his gaze, denying it.
Still, relaxing in my room with Mang-mung during empty periods felt pretty comfortable.
'I wonder if the kids are enjoying the lectures. Curious what they'll pick later.'
I was a bit worried.
But they'll figure it out.
As I lay on the sofa lost in those thoughts.
Someone knocked on the door.
Knock-knock-
"Who is it? Come in."
"Mang-!"
Who could be visiting me?
I told the person outside to come in.
But even after dozens of seconds, the door didn't open.
"...What?"
"Mang?"
Mang-mung and I opened the door to check outside.
Strangely, the hallway was empty.
"...Did they knock and run? Sigh, kids gonna be kids. Still playing pranks like this."
"Mang-mang..."
Shake-shake-
Mang-mung shook his head pitifully.
I closed the door and lay back on the sofa to rest.
That was the moment.
Knock-knock-
Someone knocked again.
I said the same thing as before.
"Come in."
"..."
But the door didn't open this time either.
"Mang-mung."
"Mang-?"
"Check outside."
"Mang-!"
Mang-mung hopped up, turned the doorknob, and opened the door.
He peeked into the hallway and shook his head at me.
"Mang-mang...!"
No one there.
"Close the door and come back. I'll give you a piece of jerky."
"Mang-!!"
Mang-mung quickly shut the door and rushed over for the jerky.
Panting, he sat in front of me, staring intensely as if demanding it now.
"Here, eat."
"Mang-!"
Nom-nom-
Mang-mung caught the tossed jerky and started munching happily.
As I watched him fondly.
Knock-knock-
"..."
Someone knocked again.
'Not once, not twice, but three times?'
I couldn't take it anymore.
I had to see who it was.
With that thought, I dashed to the door.
"Who the hell is it!!"
Clunk-!
And the moment I opened it.
"D-Did I do something wrong, Father...?"
"Chor-yeon? Why are you here...?"
"Hic..."
Chor-yeon pursed her lips and hung her head.
Lowering my stance to check her face, her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Ah, no. It's not about you, Chor-yeon...!"
"Father must like the new students more... W-What kind of brat am I now, Father... That's too much..."
"No, that's not it, Chor-yeon...!"
I hurriedly comforted the sniffling Chor-yeon.
I sat her on the sofa, gave her chocolate, made her warm cocoa.
Mang-mung even rolled over to coax her with gestures.
In the end.
"It was... a misunderstanding...? That's a relief... I thought Father hated me..."
Chor-yeon's tears stopped, and we cleared up the misunderstanding.
"But why are you here, Chor-yeon?"
"Th-That's a secret!"
Chor-yeon calling it a secret.
I still didn't know who the first and second pranksters were.
But I spent my break chatting with Chor-yeon.
And that day.
A strange rumor started circulating at the Academy.
"Did you hear about yesterday? Some kids suddenly passed out, and when they woke up, they were tied in vines and hanging from a streetlamp."
"Yeah, I saw it on the bulletin board. They went to ask the instructor a question, then suddenly blacked out in the hallway. A ghost? Eek, scary."
"...Vines? Instructor?"
No way.
Nah?
***
Su-ryun didn't like Academy life.
Not just because there were so many students.
'What makes them all so full of themselves?'
Everyone acted like they were the best.
That rubbed Su-ryun the wrong way.
"They need to objectively assess their own abilities. Why do these idiots overestimate theirs?"
Hmm.
Su-ryun wanted to knock down every one of their egos.
Of course, just fantasizing from her seat by the window.
"...I don't want to get too involved."
It would just be a hassle.
Su-ryun simply sat by the window, observing the humans' behavior from the back as usual.
"That noisy one is the guy who pranked Dad last time."
That situation had irked her a bit.
She didn't like the humans making Dad a laughingstock.
Even if Dad was a bit dumb, he wasn't someone to be mocked.
"...Dragon Water Bomb."
Splashhhh-!
Su-ryun casually cast a spell, dumping water on the noisy boy's head.
"Ugh, c-cold!! Who the hell did this!? Come out!!"
"Hmm."
Su-ryun pretended not to know and looked out the window.
She didn't want to get tangled with someone she didn't care about.
"Sh-Shit...!!"
The noisy boy fumed alone, then stormed out of the classroom huffing.
His flushed face suggested he felt embarrassed.
"Serves him right."
Snicker-
Su-ryun curled her lips into a slight smirk.
'It wasn't really for Dad. I was just in a bad mood.'
During this, Su-ryun took interest in a female student.
More precisely, the item she was holding.
"Hmm, is that a phone? I want one too."
Dad said he'd get me one soon.
Su-ryun observed the girl wearing glasses and fiddling with the phone.
She was bored until mana theory class started.
"Poor eyesight. High prescription. Slumped shoulders scream nerd. Not a voluntary one like me."
After analyzing the bespectacled girl's looks and vibe.
Su-ryun turned her attention to the phone screen.
"Fingers moving fast. Playing a game?"
Su-ryun quietly watched the girl's screen.
It looked like a game where you dodged monster attacks, gained EXP, and grew.
A roguelike where you restarted from the beginning upon death.
"Ah..."
The girl sighed occasionally when taking damage.
Watching this.
"Hmm, that's not how you play it."
Su-ryun started backseat gaming.
"Better to dodge right here. Idiot? Why keep going left? Should up the attack speed. Why pump attack power?"
Frustrating.
Su-ryun sighed and kept advising.
Unaware she was getting closer to the girl.
"Ah..."
"That's not how you do it. Pumping only HP means you can't kill monsters and die."
"Eek! W-Who are you...?"
"Me? Su-ryun."
"Ah, the one who covers one eye with hair and always sits by the window... You're even prettier up close..."
Already famous, huh.
Su-ryun felt a mix of annoyance and slight satisfaction.
"..."
"B-But why are you looking at my phone...?"
"...Frustrating. You're terrible."
"I thought I was doing my best..."
"If that's your best, play something else. No talent."
"R-Really...?"
Wilt-
The bespectacled girl deflated at Su-ryun's words.
Yet Su-ryun kept staring at the phone screen.
The girl cautiously spoke up.
"Um..."
"Speak."
"Do you... want to play...? Here..."
Slide-
She timidly offered the phone, a bit scared.
Su-ryun smiled faintly at getting what she wanted.
"Human."
"Y-Yes...?"
"Offering tribute to me. You're a fine human."
"I-I'm a fine human...? N-Never heard that before-"
"Shh, I need to game. Quiet."
Ding-!
Su-ryun immediately started playing on the phone.
The girl sat beside her, watching in awe.
Unlike herself, Su-ryun took zero damage with flashy controls.
"W-Wow..."
"Hmm, this is basic."
Su-ryun gamed, the girl spectated.
Before they knew it, the two were side by side, immersed in the game.
In that atmosphere, the bespectacled girl cautiously asked.
"Um, is this... what friends do...?"
Su-ryun replied firmly.
"Hmm, something like that."
"I knew it...?"
"Don't know your name. How could we be friends?"
"R-Really?! My name is Shin Na-a...!"
"Not divine at all."
"Th-Then are we friends now...?"
Slide-
Su-ryun looked up briefly at Shin Na-a's face.
"As if."
"Ehh..."
"I don't make friends. Not interested, too bothersome."
"I see..."
As expected, Su-ryun was cold.