Chapter 943
Chapter 943
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 943
Chapter Title: Academy's Savior
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"Ji-young!"
I lunged forward, snagging Kang Ji-young's arm just as she stepped toward the curb, and pulled her firmly into my embrace. The sports car roared past, a blur of chrome and engine heat. This was, of course, exactly as I’d planned. Her soft, voluptuous body was pressed flush against mine, the scent of her perfume momentarily masking the city's exhaust.
"...What exactly do you think you're doing?"
Ji-young asked, her voice calm but her expression grave.
I quickly released her, playing up the concern. "It was dangerous. What if you'd been hit?"
She glanced at the car, which had already vanished around a corner, and let out a tired sigh. "The only thing 'dangerous' in that scenario was the car's insurance premium. It wouldn't have survived the impact with me."
"...Yeah, you're right."
I felt a bit like an idiot. I’d momentarily forgotten that Kang Ji-young was an **S-rank Hero**. With an **Endurance stat of S+**, she wouldn't have even flinched if a dump truck had slammed into her, let alone a low-slung sports car.
As I scratched my head sheepishly, her expression softened, and she let out a genuine, albeit quiet, chuckle.
"I'm not going to scold you. I was just startled by the sudden move. Your heart was in the right place, even if your physics was off."
"Thanks for being cool about it."
"So, where to next? The cafe was nice, but I doubt we're just walking the streets."
"Ever heard of an escape room?"
"I have. A puzzle-solving game where you’re locked in a themed room, right?"
"Spot on. But you don't sound very excited."
"Yu-jin, before I became dean, my entire life was escaping dungeons. I have a feeling an escape room won't offer quite the same level of... tension."
"Escape rooms and dungeon breaks are worlds apart," I countered. "This is about the fun, not the survival."
"...Alright. Lead the way."
She followed, though her face still radiated zero expectations.
I’d chosen an escape room for three specific reasons. First, I knew she wasn't big on movies or dramas. Second, her physical stats were so high that any active sport would be a boring cakewalk for her. And third: escape rooms were incredibly easy to rig. I’d met with the owner a week ago and paid a 'customization fee' that most people would consider a down payment on a house.
"...Love Connect?"
Ji-young narrowed her eyes at the neon sign. I kept my face perfectly neutral.
"Huh? I thought it was called 'Apocalypse Office Escape' or something. They must have rebranded recently. Well, they’re all basically the same. Let’s head in."
"...It says 'Couples Only' on the door."
"We're on a date. That makes us a couple for the next few hours."
"...Hmm."
She looked suspicious but didn't argue further as we stepped inside.
"Welcome!" The owner, a woman in her thirties, greeted us with a knowing glint in her eye. "You're here for **Love Connect**, right? Couples' discount applies. Give us ten minutes to reset the set."
We sat in the lobby sipping orange juice. Behind the scenes, the owner was undoubtedly fine-tuning the 'special' puzzles I’d requested. Finally, she handed us a walkie-talkie.
"Two hints available. One-hour time limit. Good luck!"
The first room was nauseatingly bright—a princess-themed space with pink wallpaper, an ornate bed, and a wardrobe. The only outlier was a heavy steel door with a digital keypad.
"So, we look for a code," Ji-young mused, actually taking a step toward a desk. I checked the bed while she rummaged through drawers. I 'found' a book; she found a laptop and an alphabet chart.
"Find anything, Ji-young?"
"The alphabet chart has letters in six different colors. And there’s a camera mounted above the laptop." She pointed to the ceiling where the number '61' was written in faint ink. " ब्लू letters at positions 6 and 1. A and I. If we translate that to the book you found..."
I flipped through the pages of the 'Pose Book' I’d discovered. It was full of drawings of people striking specific poses, color-coded for reference.
"Page 19 is a red figure. Page 10 is blue."
"The figure is raising one arm high," Ji-young noted. "So, we striking the pose for the camera?"
I stood in front of the lens and raised my arm. *Click.* Nothing happened. "Maybe we need to be more precise?"
"No," Ji-young said, her eyes scanning the room. "The numbers are scattered. Bed leg, wardrobe interior... we need to strike the poses *together*. It’s a dual-trigger system."
We positioned ourselves for the next set of clues. Some of the poses were... compromising. To 'unlock' the second code, I had to hug her from behind while we both looked into the lens. Ji-young was focused on the timer, but I could feel her warmth radiating through her blouse. Every time our bodies touched, I caught a flicker of something in her eyes that wasn't just 'puzzle-solving.' By the time we hit the final code, she was actually into it, hunting for clues with a competitive edge.
We cleared the room with ten minutes to spare. Our prize was free drinks and a series of Polaroid photos the camera had automatically printed—including the one of me holding her from behind. She looked at the photo for a long time before tucking it into her pocket.
"That was... more entertaining than I expected," she admitted.
The plan was karaoke, then dinner, then a stroll. But reality had other ideas.
Bzzzzt.
An emergency alert shrieked from every phone in the vicinity. **Monster Outbreak nearby.**
The street erupted into controlled chaos as people fled into reinforced buildings. Ji-young didn't move. She stood her ground, her gaze sweeping the skyline.
"You're going to fight it?" I asked.
"I'm the Dean of Maruhan and an S-rank Hero. I don't run from B-rank threats. Stay here, I'll be back in five minutes."
"I'm a Maruhan student. I'm not hiding while you do the work."
"...Fine. Don't get in my way. Keep up!"
She bolted. I had to use everything I had just to keep her in my sights. The intruder was a **Sapphire Negative**—a three-meter-tall bipedal horror encrusted with blue, gem-like growths. It was known for its devastating mental attacks, but Ji-young didn't give it the chance to breathe.
She didn't even draw a weapon. She stepped into its range and delivered a single, focused punch.
Boom!
The monster's head simply evaporated. Incident over. Her raw power was terrifying to behold. She cleared the remaining stragglers in the area in under ten minutes before spending an hour coordinating with the Hero Association cleanup crews.
"I'm sorry," she said when she finally returned, looking completely unruffled. "The date got derailed. You should head home."
"Not a chance. We haven't even had dinner yet. I have a reservation at a place that doesn't care about monster alerts."
We ended up at an upscale restaurant where the background music was classical and the chef was a TV regular. Over an appetizer of flower shrimp, I decided to get serious.
"Ji-young, I’ve always wondered... why did you become the Dean?"
She stopped her wine glass halfway to her lips. "I thought we were having a fun night. That’s a heavy question."
"I am being serious. An S-rank like you could be a Clan leader or the head of the Association. Why run a school?"
She took a slow sip of her wine and leaned back. "The second dean asked me as a personal favor. I owed him, so I accepted. But it’s not just that. The Academy is... fragile. The current Chairman thinks we’re a drain on the budget."
"That's insane. The Academy is the future of the entire Hero system."
"The real threat is internal," she whispered, her voice dropping an octave. "The Vice Dean is gunning for my seat. He wants to turn the students into his personal tools for profit. The previous Dean knew I was the only one with enough 'weight' to keep him in check."
She clammed up as the waiter brought the main course, offering me a wry smile. I began slicing into my steak, processing the information.
"So, you're a teacher at heart after all."
"I love teaching," she admitted. "I still try to squeeze in lessons for the third-years when I can, but the paperwork is a monster of its own."
"I'll have to make sure I hit third-year quickly then. I want to see what an S-rank's lesson feels like."
"We'll see if you can handle it," she teased.