Chapter 24: Career Counseling
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 24: Career Counseling
Two days later, in the faculty office.
Mizuki Nanae, the assistant homeroom teacher for Class 2-B, was flustered by the major responsibility that had suddenly been thrust upon her.
"Excuse me? Career counseling?"
"Yeah, about that. I'd do it myself, but I just don't have the time."
Matsuda rubbed his scruffy chin as he spoke, patting her on the shoulder from his chair.
"Besides, Ms. Mizuki, you'll have to do career counseling for students eventually if you're going to continue teaching, right? Think of this as practice and just give it a go. The counseling session at the beginning of the semester isn't that important anyway."
"Y-Yes, sir..."
As the youngest teacher in the office and a fresh graduate, "yes" was the only response she could give.
In truth, it was only natural for her to handle the counseling sessions, as she had a relatively lighter teaching load.
Matsuda, the school's only history teacher, was incredibly busy with his numerous classes and preparing lessons for each grade level.
But understanding something logically and accepting it emotionally were two different things. Burdened with this sudden task, Mizuki sat down at her desk with a deep sigh.
'Alright! Since I have to do it, I might as well do it right! You can do this, Nanae!'
She psyched herself up and opened the attendance roster for Class 2-B.
The roster listed students from 1 to 26 in Japanese alphabetical order.
The photos used in the attendance book were typically taken during the first year, so the students in them looked slightly younger than they did now.
'Number 1, Aizawa Minami. Number 2, Akagi Shun…'
Three weeks had already passed since the new semester began, but she still hadn't memorized all the faces and names of the students in her class.
Still, she was trying her best. Maybe she'd have them all down by mid-May?
'Number 11, Sakamoto Ryuji…'
As she went down the list, memorizing each student's face and name, she quickly reached the last number.
He was the only student in the class whose name was written in Katakana, which was why he was at the end of the list.
'Kim Yoo-Sung.'
The ID photo must have been taken just a year ago when he enrolled, but in it, he wasn't the overly muscular student he was today. He just looked like a boy who worked out a bit.
She wondered what on earth could have happened in just one year to transform him into his current self.
Usually, the teacher's copy of the attendance roster included special notes about each student.
Mizuki's eyes naturally drifted to the description below Kim Yoo-Sung's photo, and she couldn't help but blurt out loud.
"No way! Top of his grade?!"
Her sudden outburst drew the attention of the other teachers in the faculty office.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be so loud!"
After a flurry of apologies that left her flustered, she sat back down, took a deep breath, and continued reading Kim Yoo-Sung's profile.
'Full scholarship recipient, freshman representative last year, has never lost the top rank in his grade since enrollment, student council secretary, extremely diligent in class, honestly there's nothing left to teach him…'
She wholeheartedly agreed with the final comment, which was likely written by Mr. Matsuda, and fell into deep thought.
'Could the rumor going around school be true? That he's a next-generation elite yakuza favored by a syndicate boss?'
A rumor like that wouldn't have started for no reason.
But on the surface, he was a model student, so there was probably nothing she could do to guide him.
For a teacher only three weeks into her career, he was bound to be a handful.
How could someone who could barely manage her own life be expected to counsel such an incredible student?
Mizuki agonized over it alone in the faculty office, but realizing she couldn't come up with an answer no matter how much she thought, she decided to just face it head-on.
'Whatever, it'll work out somehow!'
*
Wednesday afternoon, during lunch.
With Golden Week just around the corner, the atmosphere in the classroom was more energetic than usual.
I had just returned from eating with the student council members, whom I hadn't seen in about a week, when I saw the class president writing something in huge letters on the blackboard.
Career Counseling.
"Ah, I guess it's that time of year already."
Karen, with whom I'd become surprisingly close since last Saturday's incident, had come to our classroom to see Rika. She muttered to herself as she read the words on the board.
Career counseling. It had been a long time since I'd heard that phrase.
To be honest, since coming to this manga world, I hadn't really thought about my future.
Before I was transmigrated, I had just followed my grades to a local engineering college and ended up on the graduate student slave track. But with my current grades and physical abilities, I felt like I could succeed at pretty much anything.
"Ryu-chan, what's your dream?"
Lost in thought, I was snapped back to reality by Rika's sudden question.
"...I don't know, maybe I'll just take over my parents' restaurant."
"Eh? That's kind of... plain. I thought you were going to say you wanted to be the strongest man on Earth."
"What manga are you on about this time?"
As I gave her a look of disbelief, Rika said, "Look at this," and showed me the issue of Jump she was reading.
On the page, a man made entirely of muscle stood against a desolate backdrop, his right fist raised high.
"It's a new fighting series that just came out. It's really good, you should definitely read it!"
"...Sure."
Just then, Karen, who had been listening to our pointless conversation, asked a question.
"Come to think of it, you said your family runs a restaurant, Yoo-Sung. What exactly do you sell?"
"Yakiniku and all kinds of Korean food. Other than that, simple dishes customers request."
"Hoh, so your cooking skills are genetic."
Karen nodded in understanding, perched on the edge of a desk.
Even though she was wearing spats under her skirt, her defenseless posture made it hard to know where to look.
"Come by sometime when you're free. You're my friends, so I'll treat you well."
"That's right! The dish Yoo-Sung's mom makes, called Chonggukjang, is super delicious!"
"Chong...?"
"It's not what you're thinking, so calm down, Karen."
I brought Karen, who for a moment had the wide-eyed expression of a cat that had just seen the universe, back to her senses and glanced at the clock on the wall.
While we were busy chatting, lunchtime had nearly ended.
Kids from other classes who had come to visit were starting to head back, so we said our goodbyes to Karen.
"Well, good luck with your counseling session."
"Yeah, you too, Karen."
~♪
Soon, the familiar chime echoed from the speakers, signaling the start of the 5th period.
*
At Ichijo Academy, the 5th and 6th periods on Wednesdays were designated as self-development time.
Normally, this time was for self-study, but it was also used for activities that required a lot of time outside of regular classes, like career counseling or special lectures from guest speakers.
As the class president had written on the board during lunch, today was scheduled for counseling. As soon as the 5th period began, students were called one by one, starting from the first number on the roster, to the second-year faculty office.
'So I guess I'm last.'
Since I didn't really have anything to study, I started reading the issue of Jump that Rika had passed to me, calculating the remaining time.
From what I'd observed so far, each student took a minimum of five minutes and a maximum of eight. It was inevitable, as conversations could sometimes drag on even if you tried to keep them short.
But with a total of 26 students in the class, even if each was given an average of five minutes, it would take a total of 150 minutes.
Even using all the 10-minute breaks, there wasn't enough time physically, which meant some students would inevitably get a rushed session.
"Sakamoto, you're next."
By the time it was number 11 Sakamoto's turn, the 5th period had ended and the 6th had just begun.
My turn would be at least 80 minutes from now, which meant I would inevitably be late for after-school activities, which started during the 7th period.
I had no idea what the president or vice president would say to me, so I figured I should head to the student council room after the 6th period and let them know I'd be late because of counseling.
*
"Right. With your grades, you can definitely get into the university you're aiming for. I'll be cheering for you, so let's do our best together."
"Yes, ma'am!"
After a grueling battle of nearly two hours, Mizuki finally finished the session with student number 25, Yaguchi Maiya. She leaned against her desk, completely exhausted.
'It's already 3:10. The 7th period is about to start.'
Only one student remained.
But from the perspective of a rookie teacher like Mizuki, he was no different from a final boss.
'You can do it, Nanae! You've got this!'
She slapped her own cheeks to steel her resolve and stared intently at the faculty office door, through which Kim Yoo-Sung would soon enter.
Presently, she heard footsteps approaching from the hallway.
Screech!
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, it felt as if the temperature in the office dropped by three degrees.
"W-Welcome."
Mizuki looked up, trying her best to greet him with a smile.
'Huh? Huh? Huh?'
But her head kept tilting up, and up, and up.
She had only ever seen him from her spot at the teacher's podium, so she was taken aback by how much taller he was than she'd imagined. As he slowly approached her desk, she froze.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Mizuki couldn't tell if the pounding in her ears was her own heartbeat or the sound of Kim Yoo-Sung's heavy footsteps.
There was only one thing she knew for sure: her past self had known nothing.
'This is impossibleeeeeee!'
She wanted to run away right then and there.