The School Nurse Appears

I finished training with Rumi and headed home.

The moment I stepped into the dorm that had become my house, a familiar string of curses rolled out to greet me.

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"Ah, fucking die already!"

That was the sound of my personal money printer, Liliana, hard at work. I quietly peeled off my cadet uniform and slipped into the shower. She was earning every won I spent — the last thing I needed to do was interrupt her.

Once I'd cleaned up, I pulled up the listing for the book I'd put on auction.

"Oh, it's already over two hundred million?"

As expected of Jang Yang-san's once-in-a-generation masterpiece, The Hawk's Tower. At this price, a proper offline auction house would probably push it even higher.

"Nah. I'll just leave it."

I wasn't hurting for money at the moment. Letting it simmer a while longer wouldn't kill me. I extended the first-edition auction to a full month and shut the system down.

"You're back?"

Before I knew it, Liliana was poking just her face out of her room to greet me.

"Yeah. You were streaming, so I came in quiet so I wouldn't mess you up."

"I heard the shower, so I turned the stream off."

"Ah."

Liliana came out of her room and glued herself to my side.

Sniff, sniff.

Then she started smelling me. Even after I'd used Clean and taken a shower, did the scent of other women still linger? Or maybe it was a succubus thing. They were supposed to have a nose for anything dirty.

"Ahem. I skipped dinner waiting for you. Order pizza."

Liliana said it with a completely blank face. Last night's cock-training had clearly paid off. The way she just sat there and endured it — even with the smell of other women on me — was a beautiful sight.

"Alright. Let's just order pizza."

"Get the potato one."

Liliana pretended she couldn't care less as she picked a pizza on her smartwatch. The way she deliberately avoided my eyes while choosing, then turned her head away again — she was trying so hard not to show it that it showed even more. It was adorable.

"C'mere."

"H-huh, what are you doing?!"

I slung an arm around Liliana's shoulders and pulled her against me. Her soft, warm body pressed into mine.

"Let's lie down together until the pizza gets here."

"W-why are you being like thiiis…"

Mixing in just a hint of command, I steered Liliana over to the bed. For all her protests, she melted into my arms without a shred of resistance.

Monday. The start of a new week.

The Academy Chancellor's office sat on the first floor of the Administration Building, where all the administrative departments were clustered — because the Chancellor himself had requested the first floor. The natural beauty surrounding the building was among the finest on campus, and the view from his windows was his pride and joy.

Having started his Monday morning in high spirits, Chancellor Mun Jae-cheol had opened a window and was enjoying the cool breeze.

Ring, ring—

"Huh? What's that old coot from the Association calling me for?"

The Academy and the Association. On the surface, both were institutions devoted to the public good. In reality, the under-the-table rivalry between them was fierce. How many promising hunters you could pull to your side determined how loud a voice you got to have, so recruitment wars and turf battles were a given — which was exactly why the heads of the two institutions had never been on particularly good terms.

A call out of the blue like this, with no heads-up whatsoever, was a first. Curious just how urgent things had to be for the man to dial him directly, the Chancellor picked up quickly.

"Yes, Chairman. What can I do for you?"

"Excuse me?"

The Chancellor couldn't hide his bewilderment at the Association Chairman's sudden outburst.

"What on earth are you talking about…"

The Chancellor rummaged through his memory, trying to recall whether there'd been any recent conflict with the Association.

Knock, knock—

A rap sounded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the Chancellor's door.

"Chairman, one moment. Secretary Jung! I'm on a call — give me the report later!"

"Chancellor. This is a Class-1 matter. I believe you need to see it immediately."

An urgent voice came through the door. If Secretary Jung sounded that frantic, it was something that needed handling right now.

"…Hah. Come in and give me a written report. Yes, Chairman. But I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"No, look… I need to understand the situation first before I can… huh?"

The document Secretary Jung handed him left the Chancellor speechless.

"Secretary Jung. What is this?"

"I don't fully understand it myself, sir. She apparently walked into HR just now, unannounced, and said she wanted to work at the Academy."

"And you expect me to believe that? The Saint quitting the Association to become the Academy's school nurse? Does that sound remotely plausible? We don't even have a position called 'school nurse'!"

The Chancellor couldn't make sense of the situation no matter how he tried.

"No, Chairman, wait. I only just received the report myself."

Beeeep—

"That insane old bastard…"

The Chancellor was angry that the Association Chairman had hung up on him, but grasping the situation came first.

"Secretary Jung. Bring Miss Baek A-young here. Immediately."

He was not the kind of idiot who let a gold nugget roll right into his lap and then let it get away.

Tuesday morning. Today was the joint class with the upperclassmen.

I still remembered that short-ass senior from the student council who'd flipped me off. Today was the day I got my revenge.

"What do we even do in a joint class with the seniors?"

"From what I know, they do some kind of mental training first, then sparring."

"Mental training sounds lame, but sparring should be fun. I'm curious how good the seniors actually are."

Kim Young-han, whom I'd run into on the way to class, seemed pretty excited about the joint lesson. He wasn't that weak, as I recalled. Just didn't get much screen time.

"Hey, speaking of which — I heard we're getting a school nurse?"

Kim Young-han had been chattering about class when the thought seemed to strike him out of nowhere.

"…A school nurse?"

What the hell was he talking about.

Victoria Academy had a medical team, but no nurse's office. Sure, one might have existed without ever being mentioned in the game — but I actually attended this Academy, and I'd never heard of one. Besides, the place felt more like a university. A "school nurse" was completely out of left field.

"I just overheard it, so I don't know the details, but they started construction yesterday."

"Huh… weird."

Whether we got a school nurse or not, it had nothing to do with me.

Yeah, right. It had a whole hell of a lot to do with me.

I'm sorry, what the fuck?

Question marks popped up over the heads of every cadet in the room, myself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠included. Lucy and Rumi sat beside me with their mouths hanging open. Elise, who apparently already knew, didn't look particularly shocked. Even the usually expressionless Nam Da-eun was wearing a face that said, What kind of bullshit is this?

"I'm sure many of you are confused. I understand. However, I only just received this information myself, so I don't have any further details. I ask for your understanding."

Kim Jin-hyeok dipped his head briefly, then lifted it and continued.

"Ah… she said that as the school nurse, she wants to communicate a lot with the students, so if you're hurting anywhere, feel free to go see her anytime. That said, if you fake an illness just to visit Hunter Baek A-young — no, Teacher Baek A-young — you might be in for a world of trouble. That's a directive from the Chancellor himself."

The faces of every male cadet who'd been plotting a way to actually see Baek A-young fell into shadow.

…No way.

An uneasy feeling began to fill my chest. Seriously. It couldn't be. She didn't come here because of me… right?

"And… Cadet Lee Ho-yeon."

"Yes?"

My name came out of Kim Jin-hyeok's mouth, and every cadet in the room turned to look at me. Why the hell was my name coming up all of a sudden.

"A meeting with your homeroom professor. After morning assembly, follow me to the faculty office. Dismissed."

"A meeting?"

Kim Jin-hyeok finished what he had to say and headed out of the lecture hall. Hey, at least answer me before you leave.

"Guys, I'm gonna go handle this meeting. You all go on ahead to class!"

"O-okay!"

"We'll wait for you!"

A little uneasy, I followed Professor Kim Jin-hyeok.

I followed Professor Kim Jin-hyeok to the homeroom faculty office. He'd always come across as a quiet guy with no particular hobbies, and the room confirmed it. There wasn't a single trace of a life being lived in here — nothing but work-related items.

"Here, have a cup of coffee at least."

"Thank you."

Slurp.

I sipped my coffee and waited for Kim Jin-hyeok to speak.

"Ah, well. How's Academy life treating you?"

"It's going well, sir. I'm having fun and making the most of it."

"I see…"

Sip.

We looked at each other awkwardly.

"Exam prep coming along?"

"Yes, sir. I need to prove myself for certain this time."

"Good attitude. Confidence is what makes things work out."

"Thank you."

Sip.

Kim Jin-hyeok asked a few more mundane questions, then clicked his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tongue and started scratching his head.

"Sorry. Small talk isn't really my thing. Let's just get to the point."

"Yes, sir."

That was fine by me. Everyday conversation with other guys was what I had Kim Young-han for.

"The Chancellor wants to speak with you, so I called you in. You've been given permission to arrive a little late to this morning's class, so don't worry about that."

"…The Chancellor?"

"Yeah… I wasn't briefed on the full picture either. Just parts of it…"

Looking like his head was a mess, Kim Jin-hyeok downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp.

Clack.

He set the cup down and looked me in the eye.

"You… haven't been doing anything weird off campus, have you?"