Chapter 211: Parting and Meeting
Chapter 211: Parting and Meeting
“Are you perhaps familiar with the Academy’s instructor system?”
“I completed my term at the Academy six months ago, so I believe I have a decent understanding of it.”
In truth, I did not merely have a decent understanding; I knew the system in meticulous detail. Park Hyunwoo looked relieved by my answer and let out a sigh.
“I see. In that case, may I get straight to the point?”
“Yes, please do.”
“We plan to assign you the position of Head Instructor, Mercenary Lord… but since you’ve come alone from your clan, I believe you’ll need an Assistant Instructor.”
I stared at him, my face a mask of incomprehension. Park Hyunwoo returned my gaze for a moment before continuing in a quiet voice.
“Instructors are categorized in various ways depending on their roles. Broadly speaking, there are Training Instructors, Discipline Instructors, and Lifestyle Instructors. All of these positions have both a Head Instructor and an Assistant Instructor.”
“I’m aware of that. But I doubt you’d assign me to be a Training Instructor… so I don’t really see the necessity.”
“Ah, in a way, that’s true. However, there’s no harm in having an Assistant Instructor. If the Head Instructor performs the direct duties, the Assistant Instructor is the one who makes their activities smoother. They will certainly be helpful in many ways.”
I nodded calmly. Park Hyunwoo wasn’t wrong. There was no downside to having an assistant. Thinking I had agreed, he spoke in a more suggestive tone than before.
“Of course, as promised in the Call to Arms, you will have a relatively free role even as a Head Instructor. Still, having an assistant will make your time here even more comfortable.”
As he spoke, his eyes took on a strange glimmer of eagerness. I was starting to get a rough idea of his intentions. He was probably planning to assign me an Assistant Instructor from the Golden Lion Clan under the guise of helping me, since I had come alone. As if reading my thoughts, he came straight to the point.
“Normally, the Head and Assistant Instructors are from the same clan. However, given your circumstances, Mercenary Lord… we can assign one from our side.”
“The way you keep bringing it up, it sounds like you have a clan member you’d like to recommend.”
“You’ve seen right through me. I originally planned to tell you after we finished guiding the new Users, but I thought now would be better. Do you happen to know a User named Kim Hanbyul, who was at the Academy at the same time as you?”
“……”
I had been planning to refuse, but his last words made me reconsider. Just as I thought. His suggestion was so predictable that I almost burst out laughing. In any case, this confirmed it. I’d had my suspicions, but it was now clear the Golden Lion Clan was trying to connect me with either Sung Yubin or Kim Hanbyul one way or another. Otherwise, it made no sense to assign me an Assistant Instructor who was also a Year 0 User, just like me.
“Ah… yes. We’re, well, acquainted to some extent.”
“From what Hanbyul told me, it sounded like you two were quite close, not just acquainted.”
“I suppose that’s her own interpretation. In any case, I’m a little surprised she’s participating this time.”
“Ah, you don’t need to worry. That child is a Secret Class, just like you, Mercenary Lord, and we’ve invested a great deal in her training. Of course, her participation as an Assistant Instructor is also a chance for her to gain experience. But as she is a clever User, I believe she will perform her duties well. What do you say, Mercenary Lord?”
The words ‘What a joke’ almost slipped out, but I managed to hold them back by biting my lip. Quite close, huh. Knowing Kim Hanbyul’s personality, it was unlikely she’d told them everything that happened between us. That led me to a strong suspicion that the clan was forcing her into this.
I decided to test the waters, mixing my answer in with a question.
“It would be rude of me to refuse when you’re trying to be so considerate. Please, go ahead. However, I will only accept if she herself wishes to be my Assistant Instructor.”
“Hahaha. An excellent decision. She was very eager to do it in the first place, so you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll be sure to tell her to take good care of you, so please rest assured.”
Kim Hanbyul, very eager to be my assistant. I couldn’t even begin to imagine it.
I let out a dry laugh and offered him a perfunctory thank you. Park Hyunwoo waved his hands, saying it was nothing and that it was the least he could do. But the faint smile playing on his lips suggested he was quite pleased with himself.
“We will now enter the User Academy!”
As we were exchanging pleasantries and walking, a loud shout came from the front of the line. I looked up and saw that we had arrived; the User Academy building stood before us, exuding an imposing aura. The new Users, who had already been craning their necks at the unfamiliar, non-modern scenery, now seemed completely overwhelmed by the Academy itself.
I watched them for a moment before quickening my pace toward the building.
As a side note, most of the other clans had yet to arrive.
*
The task of guiding the new Users to their dormitories was completed without a hitch. It took some time to divide them into groups based on numbers, but thankfully, no one caused a scene. After suffering through the Rite of Passage for seven days, they seemed to relax at the sight of a bed where they didn’t have to fear for their lives for the first time in a while.
Although Park Hyunwoo said it was fine, I insisted on stepping forward to help the Discipline Instructors guide the new arrivals. Of course, I wasn’t helping out of the kindness of my heart; I had activated Third Eye. With over 250 new Users, I figured I should start checking them one by one in advance.
To get straight to the point, I found nothing of note. I spotted one or two Users who seemed decent, but they weren’t at a level where I could believe they had passed the Rite of Passage in just five days.
Guiding the new recruits to their dorms concluded without any discord. Only after that was finished were the instructors finally able to gather in one place. Most of the personnel dispatched from other clans arrived late. They offered formal apologies, but watching Park Hyunwoo constantly reminding himself to be patient as he accepted their excuses, I almost felt a little sorry for him.
Each clan had sent anywhere from one or two to as many as three or four instructors. Since quite a few clans were participating, the total number of instructors was well over fifty. We needed to assign detailed roles, as the training was set to begin tomorrow—no, today (it was already the dead of night by the time we entered the instructors’ meeting room).
But I had little interest in the proceedings. Whether I was assigned to education, control, or lifestyle, I had been promised freedom of action. So, I sat at the conference table and focused on observing the dispatched members.
One surprising thing was that half of the four remaining members of the Northern Continent’s Ten Strong were gathered here. Istantel Low Clan had sent Yeon Hyerim, the ‘Princess of Execution,’ and the Goryeo Clan had sent Seo Jinwoo, who had reached the ranks of the Ten Strong as a Normal Class swordsman.
Park Hyunwoo seemed quite flustered by this development. It wasn’t unprecedented for one of the Ten Strong to participate in the Academy, but the proactive stance of the non-expedition clans seemed to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. However, the non-expedition clans’ lineup didn’t end there.
Though a tier below the Ten Strong, there was also Kim Deokpil of the Reverse Clan, the famous Vagabond Slayer. The Han Clan took the bold step of having its Clan Lord, Sung Hyunmin, participate personally. The lineup also included Yoo Jitae, the Secret Class “Knight of Death” from the Blue Wolf Clan; Park Taejin, the Secret Class “Sun Gladiator” from the Southern Free Alliance; and Na Seung-hye, the Rare Class “Elegant Puppeteer” from the Moonlit Night Clan.
It reached a point where the few renowned Normal Class Users who accompanied them seemed unremarkable by comparison. In any case, the non-expedition clans had all selected their finest elites.
In contrast, the lineup from the expedition-participating clans was shabby, to say the least. While they weren’t Users who would be looked down on anywhere else, they were clearly outclassed by the people I had just seen. Considering that Park Hyunwoo was the only one among the friendly clans who could even begin to compare with them, you could guess the general level.
If I were to be honest, this was beyond a proactive attitude; it was a blatant power play. Of course, having skilled Users as instructors wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But there’s a limit. Their intentions were too obvious.
On average, 99.9% of new Users had a Normal Class, so the fact that they sent Secret and Rare Class Users, whose abilities were on a completely different level, was bound to be a point of contention. While it’s true that knowing more might mean they could teach better, having skill and being able to impart it to others were two entirely different matters. In that sense, Seo Jinwoo from the Goryeo Clan could be considered an excellent choice.
In any case, I decided not to concern myself with the issue any further. To be blunt, it wasn’t my business anyway, and I was a Secret Class User myself. Besides, if their teaching skills were good, I’d have nothing to say, so it was a hundred times more beneficial to just keep my mouth shut.
“I have no idea what subjects to assign to Yeon Hyerim, Yoo Jitae, and Na Seung-hye…”
Park Hyunwoo muttered in a gloomy voice, sighing heavily. Due to the nature of the instructor’s job, the Training Instructors were the ones who interacted most with the new recruits. As such, a heated debate was bound to erupt over those positions, and Park Hyunwoo was busy trying to mediate between them.
“For the first week, the clans that were originally in charge will handle the education. Of course, I am well aware that there are many distinguished individuals here. However, knowing something and teaching it are very different matters.”
“So you’re telling us to trail behind the Training Instructors for a week and learn from them?”
“I didn’t say to trail behind them. Since this is your first time participating, you just need to get a feel for the atmosphere and the methods. After you’ve familiarized yourselves for a week, we will rotate the Training Instructor roles.”
“Tch. What’s the big deal about teaching? If you think about it, a lot of you guys are first-timers too. Does your clan have some secret instructor know-how or something?”
His face flushed red, then went pale, over and over again at the sarcastic remarks that were chimed in periodically. Park Hyunwoo even brought up his past experience as an academy instructor back on Earth, and only after a long time was he finally able to calm the dissenting members.
“It’s gotten too late. We’ll conclude the first instructor meeting here. For now, I hope you will follow the plan for the training starting today. As for any complaints, it would be better to address them in a future meeting. At this rate, we’ll be here all night and still not be finished.”
“Alright, alright, let’s call it a day. I’m dead tired. I’m worried all the instructors will be late for training today. Hahaha.”
Fortunately, when Seo Jinwoo of the Ten Strong backed Park Hyunwoo up with his affable words, the Users who had been complaining until then all fell silent. However, their faces still showed all sorts of dissatisfaction, suggesting that the Academy’s future would be anything but smooth.
Only after a considerable amount of time did the chaotic first instructor meeting finally conclude, and I was able to leave the conference room. Remembering the location of the instructor-exclusive dorms they had mentioned at the end of the meeting, I stretched widely. For some reason, I felt exhausted.
*
The room assigned to me was on the first floor of the Academy’s main building. On my way there, I glanced out a window and saw signs of the dawn mist beginning to form. A bitter smile touched my lips at the thought that the sun would probably rise in a few hours.
My assigned role was ‘Free.’ Simply put, I was a substitute instructor. My primary duties were control and lifestyle, but depending on the situation, I could also participate as a Training Instructor. Of course, it would be for mental training sessions rather than specialized weapons training.
Mulling over these thoughts, I arrived at my private room. After a brief greeting with the Users in charge of lifestyle instruction, I immediately opened my door. It had been a truly long day, and for the first time in a while, I could feel my mind crying out from exhaustion.
As I stepped inside, I saw a room that was quite spacious for one person. They must have spent a lot of money, as it seemed more than adequate for a three-month stay…
“Snore…”
“……”
No, I wasn’t alone. This wasn’t a room for one person. I rushed back out to check the room number and confirmed that it was indeed mine. Looking more closely inside, I realized there were two beds. And on one of them, a female User was sitting slumped over, her head bobbing as she dozed off.
I stared at her blankly for a moment, then suddenly realized that her figure looked familiar.