Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Observation Class (2)
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Moyong Seon-ya's words came true soon enough.
Changes appeared in Silver Hall life.
A Silver Hall instructor approached first.
“Chu Un-hwi, temporary instructor.”
The other party was none other than...
“This is our first time meeting face-to-face like this.”
It was upper-level instructor Jang Cheol-sim.
Chu Un-hwi responded to the other's chilly gaze.
“It's been a while.”
“I've been rude to you all this time.”
He wondered if it was a provocation, but surprisingly, Jang Cheol-sim's tone didn't sound particularly bad.
On the contrary, he called out Kwak Jong-geun and said,
“Instructor Kwak. Apologize.”
Kwak Jong-geun shuffled over, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and slightly bowed his head.
“...I'm sorry. I apologize for my rudeness up until now.”
The fellow instructors watching this widened their eyes.
“Am I seeing this right?”
“Is an upper-level instructor actually apologizing right now?”
“Heh. This is shocking.”
The unexpected development surprised even Chu Un-hwi.
'What's this guy's angle?'
But there was no reason to refuse an apology.
“We fellow wage slaves toiling for peanuts have to help each other out.”
“Fellow wage slaves...”
Jang Cheol-sim furrowed his brow.
“Your frivolous speech and utter lack of dignity are regrettable.”
What the hell is this guy on about now?
“But I can't help but acknowledge your mindset.”
Having arbitrarily rambled and reached his own conclusion, Jang Cheol-sim turned to the Bronze Hall instructors and spoke as if he were the most magnanimous person alive.
“I acknowledge you all as temporary members of Silver Hall.”
Beside him, Kwak Jong-geun made a sour face like he'd bitten into a bug and bowed his head once more.
“This Kwak hereby recognizes you all as colleagues. I look forward to your guidance in the days ahead.”
The one most shocked by this situation was Instructor Yang Dae-cheol.
“Are you serious?”
“Would a man who values honor utter falsehoods?”
Yang Dae-cheol quickly apologized at the slightly sharp tone.
“This is so sudden.”
“Hm. You might not know.”
Muttering to himself, Jang Cheol-sim turned this way and said,
“It's because of Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi.”
“Instructor Chu?”
“Yes. You went directly to Great Hero Duggo and petitioned to cancel Instructor Kwak's punishment, didn't you?”
“Instructor Chu did?”
All eyes turned this way.
Their expressions clearly asked, 'For real?' And Chu Un-hwi himself was the most baffled.
'When did I?'
As he wondered if he'd even dreamed it,
Jang Cheol-sim laid out his piece.
“He begged so desperately that even Great Hero Duggo couldn't help but be moved.”
“He said your love for your colleagues is the highest example to follow and praised you effusively.”
“He even personally apologized to the Geomchang Sect and said he'd let the matter drop.”
“When even the merciless enforcer of justice was impressed, how could I not acknowledge it?”
“Seriously. Is your head okay? They say you slammed it on the ground begging for forgiveness.”
The Bronze Hall colleagues' gazes mixed complex emotions.
Sensing the subtle looks blending admiration and disbelief, Chu Un-hwi quickly took the lead.
“I visited quietly, but I didn't expect it to spread like this.”
“Is that so? You have a surprisingly delicate side. Well, that's probably why you moved that stubborn Great Hero Duggo's heart.”
With that, Jang Cheol-sim spoke magnanimously as if bestowing a great favor.
“In any case, from today onward, I recognize you all as official colleagues. Of course, temporary ones, but perform well as those sharing the same pot of rice.”
The Bronze Hall instructors' faces brightened at the sudden turn of events.
“We look forward to working with you.”
It was the moment they blended even deeper into the hectic Silver Hall.
After the reconciliation.
Jang Cheol-sim called Chu Un-hwi aside separately and made a special proposal.
“You want me to take charge of the interest students?”
“That's right.”
“I'm already participating in classes.”
“You're merely participating.”
Chu Un-hwi had nothing to say in response.
It was called teaching, but in truth, he was just fixing wooden dummies in the farthest corner of the training ground.
“Do you know what sets Silver Hall apart from Bronze Hall?”
The annoyance factor?
“It's not just about learning martial arts.”
Yeom Mae-hong had said something similar.
“Hehe. For reference, I learned sound attack techniques.”
“The refined students learn poetry, painting, and embroidery.”
“They learn all sorts of ways to survive in the jianghu.”
'Doesn't seem like a lie.'
Seeming to take his nod as agreement, Jang Cheol-sim continued.
“Above all, unlike other temporary instructors, you're aiming to become a jianghu expedition specialist instructor.”
“Yes, that's correct.”
It was also recommended by Duggo Ryul.
It was the perfect role for sticking close to academy graduates and monitoring them.
“The competition for jianghu expedition specialist instructor is fierce. That's why you must follow my lead.”
With that preface, Jang Cheol-sim spoke as if revealing a great secret.
“Mock training performance is a hugely important class. If you get the failing students through the makeup exam, it won't be hard to salvage your pathetic personnel evaluation.”
It was a pretty tempting offer.
'Mock training, huh.'
Then he recalled what Ryul had said.
'They built a training ground on an insane scale.'
Maybe they created actual forests and rivers for outdoor combat training?
He felt a spark of interest.
“That's pretty appealing.”
“By observing Silver Hall's systematic teaching, even your minuscule insight will grow. Such opportunities don't come often.”
The tone was grating, but the offer itself was solid.
To the point where he wondered why this prickly guy was being so generous.
Still, one thing bothered him.
“Everything's fine, but do they have to be those kids?”
The group Jang Cheol-sim mentioned included a fierce-looking fist kid at first glance, a dozing girl, a pair of obnoxious twins with smirks on their faces.
Even a student from the Sakpa Tang Family with sharp eyes.
They looked like total handfuls.
In response, Jang Cheol-sim said,
“Have you heard of the Jinju Eon Family?”
“I've heard of them.”
“They don't match the Ten Great Families, but they're a renowned fist arts lineage. Their corpse fist techniques, developed through corpse refinement research, are quite famous.”
'The Jinju Eon Family were fist art experts?'
Honestly, he didn't know much.
In his previous life, the Jinju Eon Family was barely maintaining their line.
He learned of them not for their fist arts, but because their corpse techniques played a big role in transporting fallen Murim Alliance warriors back to their hometowns.
Corpse refinement technique.
A forbidden art that soaks corpses in special solutions, refines them, and animates them with spells. In the past—or future—the Jinju Eon Family earned fame by returning countless alliance dead to their homes.
However, he hadn't heard much about their martial arts compared to their corpse techniques.
He remembered them mainly as an old mortician family for that reason.
'The jianghu had more dead than living back then, so it was inevitable.'
Jang Cheol-sim's finger moved.
“Also, that student is from the Sword Pavilion Sect.”
“I know of Sword Pavilion.”
The Sword Pavilion Sect of Haenam Island.
Some called it the South Sea Sword Pavilion. Unusually, it was an all-female sect that produced the legendary Sword Queen.
The explanation continued.
“You know the Tang Family kid. The Biyeon Sword Family twins also possess considerable talent.”
Listening, it seemed like a plausible combination.
'Aside from their rotten personalities.'
Jang Cheol-sim continued.
“When teaching, it's better to pick kids with good backgrounds. Mediocre ones don't stand out.”
“Sounds like you're handing me the most dangerous bombs.”
Model students who needed less hand-holding would be preferable anyway.
“I won't deny it. But that's not the only reason.”
But Jang Cheol-sim shook his head firmly.
“Would proper students even pay attention to you?”
“They wouldn't?”
“You really know nothing about Silver Hall.
Suddenly, the mildness vanished from Jang Cheol-sim's voice, turning icy.
“Most students come from prestigious sects and families.
“In the eyes of proud students with high self-esteem, would a nameless rural sect instructor like you even register?”
What's wrong with that?
But then he recalled the arrogant Nangong brat.
'A guy with no skill but weirdly inflated ego.'
Upon second thought, even proper Silver Hall students might surprisingly lack many sound ones.
'The top prodigy of Silver Hall was like that.'
The interest students might actually be easier to handle.
Reaching a reasonable conclusion, Chu Un-hwi quickly accepted.
“Understood. I'll teach those kids and get a feel for it.”
“Good decision. Soon enough, you'll realize how magnanimous my consideration is.”
After sending Chu Un-hwi away.
Kwak Jong-geun, who had been quietly standing to the side, spoke up.
“Upper Instructor. Are you really planning to entrust that heavy responsibility to him?”
Kwak Jong-geun's shoulders slumped.
His tone was deeply disappointed at handing his students to that rootless nobody.
Jang Cheol-sim chuckled instead and replied,
“Instructor Kwak. You know one but not the other.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think Silver Hall's nannies can easily handle those kids?”
“Well.”
Recalling their faces, Kwak Jong-geun shook his head.
“No, it wouldn't be easy. They're all so willful.”
The fight-loving twins and Eon Ho-seung who caused incidents every time.
The troublemaker who solved everything with force, plus Im So-jeong who slept through every class.
Even the notoriously picky Sakpa Tang Family's Tang Gan-jo, second to none in prickliness, was the mildest among them.
As if to say see? Jang Cheol-sim remarked,
“Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi will suffer more than you.”
“...But even if it's a temporary instructor, aren't those assistants also from great families?”
He'd been shocked when he first learned.
No worry if it was a rural nobody instructor, but what if the prestigious kids sided with the instructor?
But Jang Cheol-sim's response was simple.
“Were you so incompetent that child students wary of you?”
“N-no.”
“I understand your concern. But don't worry. I'll hand over a few of my charges as substitutes. Since I've personally guided them, it'll boost your performance.”
Kwak Jong-geun's face brightened instantly. That would give him a clear edge in performance competition.
“Really?”
“I've been busy preparing for jianghu expeditions anyway.”
Adding that, Jang Cheol-sim continued.
“Moreover, this could be an opportunity for you.”
“An opportunity?”
“You can use the students to probe the temporary instructor's weaknesses.”
“Ah...”
Digging into Chu Un-hwi's back through the students.
An unexpected method.
“Even if they grow quickly due to luck, it won't be bad for you.”
Prestigious family kids grow fast.
Those with ample support from childhood naturally outpace the desperately scraping-by.
That's why he hated yielding prestigious students.
But Jang Cheol-sim pointed elsewhere.
“The more they grow, the higher their standards. What happens when they realize their instructor lacks skill?”
“...They'll turn on him.”
“They'll seek out someone more capable. Get my meaning?”
Only then did Kwak Jong-geun fully grasp Jang Cheol-sim's intent.
'This is poison for that guy. He's repaying the favor while giving me a chance to recover from my mistake.'
He could already see the prestigious students abandoning that rural instructor and flocking to him.
“Wise guidance. Thank you.”
“Tsk tsk. To think I have to explain even this step by step.”
“My shortcomings shame me.”
Indeed, one could learn much from seasoned jianghu veterans.
'Unlucky bastard. You'll writhe in agony soon.'
A strange fervor burned in Kwak Jong-geun's eyes.