Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 145
>Chapter Title: Heartbreaker (2)
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Il-mok felt the same sense of discomfort as he drew his sword.
‘But why did she take off her clothes?’
Why on earth would an assassin who came to kill him strip off her outer garments?
‘Is she hiding hidden weapons in her underclothes?’
Harboring such suspicions, he closely watched So Hong’s every gesture and movement for a moment.
“…….”
“…….”
How long had they waited for the other to make the first move?
In the end, unable to hold back, Il-mok spoke first.
“…Instructor So. Could you tell me the purpose of your visit?”
At Il-mok’s somewhat awkward tone, So Hong finally opened her mouth after much deliberation.
“I-It was just a wrong room. Don’t mind it.”
Sensing that things were going awry, she threw out a lame excuse and hurriedly gathered her clothes from the floor.
By now, her face was flushed a shade of red she’d never known before.
- Eat it! Eating is the way to win!
- When things are tough, sweets are the law!
The severe mental blow had her binge eating disorder roaring back to life.
* * *
The events of the night before felt like a dream, and the day began as usual.
But there were no changes at all.
Whenever he crossed paths with Instructor So Hong while moving through the Demonic Path Academy, she would hastily turn and head in the opposite direction.
And during the unavoidable doctrinal lectures.
She would glance over.
The moment their eyes met, her face would turn beet red from ears to neck as she whipped her head away.
‘Haa.’
Her reaction was so blatant that even I had no choice but to notice.
That Instructor So Hong’s visit last night hadn’t been for assassination.
‘But why draw the sword….’
A strange sense of regret lingered, but it felt too late now.
I’d driven away a woman who’d mustered the courage to visit in the dead of night, sword in hand—no chance now, probably.
‘No, wait—then everything she’d done up till now was….’
Realizing it had all been attempts to seduce me, regret naturally flooded in.
‘No. Something’s off, isn’t it?’
I hadn’t done anything to provoke it—why would a total stranger suddenly come on to me?
I’d never lived a life where plot convenience made things happen.
Suspicion bubbled up naturally.
‘And I’m only sixteen. Instructor So must be over thirty, judging by her position. No way—had she always been into that sort of thing?’
Good thing I’d drawn my sword and chased her off.
Nearly fell into the clutches of a pedophile.
Thanks to that reframing, I could even let out a sigh of relief.
The classic sour grapes strategy.
* * *
After classes ended, during the time to head to club activities.
Bang Mi-hwa and Ha Young were walking alongside Joo Seo-yeon, who was in the same club.
“Mi-hwa, don’t you think Instructor So’s been acting a bit strange lately?”
As usual, Ha Young chattered away to her close friend Bang Mi-hwa about trivial gossip.
“She’s been odd since she first arrived, right? From day one, the looks she was giving Young Master Il-mok weren’t normal.”
“Young Master Il-mok is the kind of man worthy of being my match, so it’s no surprise if Instructor So falls for him. Of course.”
“Aren’t you annoyed? He’s the one you’ve set your sights on, and a teacher shouldn’t act like that.”
“Ohohoho. Annoyed? I pity her. It’s a hopeless crush anyway. Young Master Il-mok’s heart already belongs to this Bang Mi-hwa.”
Bang Mi-hwa, brimming with sky-high confidence, tilted her nose up as she replied. Ha Young gazed at her friend with an admiring ‘As expected!’ expression.
Then Ha Young’s eyes fell on Joo Seo-yeon, walking with them.
‘Come to think of it, Joo Cadet seemed to have a crush on Young Master Il-mok early on too.’
Recalling the past, Ha Young sidled up to Joo Seo-yeon and asked.
“Joo Cadet. What do you think of Instructor So?”
Joo Seo-yeon, who had no interest in Ha Young or So Hong, gazed elsewhere as she answered.
“Hmm. No real thoughts, so I don’t know.”
“Huh? I thought you were interested in Young Master Il-mok?”
“Me?”
Joo Seo-yeon finally looked at Ha Young, her face full of puzzlement.
At Joo Seo-yeon’s reaction, Ha Young asked back with equal puzzlement.
“You always said it, didn’t you? After graduating the Demonic Path Academy, you’d join the Silver Guard and become Young Master Il-mok’s maidservant.”
“Ah! Yes. I must become Young Master Il-mok’s maidservant no matter what!”
Unlike before, her response brimmed with fierce determination. Ha Young nodded knowingly.
‘As expected, she was hiding her feelings due to lack of confidence. She’s content just to be by his side as a maidservant.’
Reaching her own conclusion, Ha Young turned back to her friend.
‘In contrast, Mi-hwa is so bold.’
She felt immense pride in her confident friend’s demeanor.
While Ha Young compared Joo Seo-yeon and Bang Mi-hwa.
Unaware of—or rather, utterly uninterested in—Ha Young’s thoughts, Joo Seo-yeon was steeling herself.
‘I’ll definitely make top seat!! Somehow, top seat!!’
Perhaps because she’d focused solely on that goal for over half a year. She, who’d started as the weakest in the Demonic Path Academy, had now reached a level where she could aim for Class A.
If she kept growing like this, claiming top seat before graduation wasn’t a pipe dream.
“Ehehehe.”
Imagining life after becoming Il-mok’s maidservant, a sinister smile crept onto Joo Seo-yeon’s lips.
* * *
A few days later.
Senior Instructor Chu Il-hwan strolled leisurely through the Demonic Path Academy as if on patrol.
‘Whew. Managing instructors isn’t easy either.’
Managing instructors wasn’t originally a senior instructor’s job.
A senior instructor’s duties were merely to coordinate and consolidate the instructors’ opinions.
Then report the unified opinions to the Academy Lord or Deputy Lord, receive orders, and relay them back to the instructors—that was the core role.
But with Deputy Lord Yoo Geuk gone and the position still vacant, the Academy Lord and senior instructor had split the deputy’s duties between them.
Thus, Chu Il-hwan had taken on the additional task of managing the instructors who taught the new cadets.
That was why he’d had to summon So Hong and give her love advice.
It was enough to drive anyone mad.
A man who’d devoted forty years of his life solely to martial arts and work, now advising a woman in her early thirties on romance.
‘Back then, I really thought I’d lose my mind.’
His demonic arts’ side effects had even whispered that it’d be better to just kill So Hong and Il-mok to eliminate the problem at the root.
As Chu Il-hwan recalled those days, his steps halted.
‘At least it’s resolved well now.’
His gaze turned to a hall where a doctrinal lecture was in full swing.
Through the window, he faintly heard Instructor So Hong diligently conducting the class.
‘She’d lost so much weight, but lately she’s been filling out again. Good to see her healthy.’
Nodding as he thought of So Hong gradually regaining her former self, Chu Il-hwan turned and resumed his stroll.
“Senior Instructor Chu Il-hwan!”
Just then, someone rushed up calling him.
“What is it?”
The middle-aged man who grabbed him was the head chef overseeing the Demonic Path Academy’s kitchens.
“R-Reently, our ingredients have been running low. Could you request additional supplies from headquarters, Senior Instructor?”
“Ingredients? Didn’t we just get a shipment?”
Chu Il-hwan asked back with a puzzled look, and the head chef awkwardly smiled while turning his head.
Toward the hall where Instructor So Hong was conducting her doctrinal lecture.
* * *
Another few days passed, marking exactly eight months since Il-mok and his cohort entered the Demonic Path Academy.
And as always, the eighth exam for the cadets arrived.
“We’ll move while avoiding Young Master Il-mok as much as possible.”
It was a four-person team exam. Choi Woong, now in Class A, said this, and his friend Seong Hwan—who’d been kidnapped into the meditation club with him—nodded.
“With this lineup, as long as we avoid Young Master Il-mok until the end, we’ve got a shot.”
Strange words. No matter how much they avoided him, in the end, only their team and Il-mok’s would remain.
But they had no intention of beating Il-mok’s team from the start.
It had become an unspoken rule.
First place was Il-mok’s anyway, so aim for second.
All the cadets recognized this. Except for one. Dokgo Pae.
And fortunately, Dokgo Pae wasn’t on their team.
Though Dokgo Pae had shown some restraint since teaming with Gwak Sul, that perception lingered in their minds.
That teaming with Dokgo Pae meant tanking your score.
While Choi Woong and Seong Hwan stoked ambitions for their score, Ha Young—on the same team—let out a regretful sigh.
‘Lately, they won’t put me with Mi-hwa. After this exam, I’ll talk to Instructor Chu.’
In contrast, Joo Seo-yeon, also on their team, had eyes gleaming.
“Good! We’ll get a great score and surprise Young Master Il-mok!”
Three mid-to-lower Class A students and one top-of-Class B.
For a four-person team, the balance felt off, but it was unavoidable.
Because of Il-mok’s existence.
“Tch.”
Il-mok swept his gaze over the three beside him and smacked his lips lightly.
He vaguely knew their names and faces.
‘Think I saw them at the doctrinal research club last time….’
In other words, barely any prior interactions beyond that. The three bottom-of-Class B had been grouped together.
Thanks to Il-mok’s outlier growth, they’d attached dead weights to him for balance.
With Class B’s bottom three on Il-mok, the other teams inevitably ended up with odd compositions too.
No longer possible to make even teams like two Class A and two Class B as in the early days—this was the instructors’ stopgap after racking brains.
Il-mok scanned the three looking at him with resigned faces.
‘They’re expecting it outright.’
It was written on their faces: ‘With Young Master Il-mok, top score this exam is guaranteed!’ Pure joy.
‘Damn it.’
Cursing inwardly, Il-mok’s gaze drifted to the sword at his side.
‘She’s been quieter lately, so it should be fine?’
Dangerous if fights dragged or epiphanies hit, but short bursts should be okay?
Of course, no reason to fight for them. And having taken most first places already, tanking one exam wouldn’t matter much.
Yet Il-mok still had to draw his sword.
At least he had to clean up the mess he’d made.
“You three hide on your own. I’ve got a team to handle, so I’ll move solo.”
At Il-mok’s words, one of the expectant trio blurted out in shock.
“W-What do you mean? W-We’ll help too, Cadet Il-mok!”
“Moving with you would be too slow. They’ll just flee every time they see me—chasing’s busy enough without babysitting you too.”
Nailing it shut for the trio dreaming of a free ride, Il-mok unleashed his lightness skill and shot off somewhere.
Vanishing from the trio’s sight in an instant, Il-mok recalled the directions the teams had taken pre-exam and raced off.
Then, at some point, he slowed, tracking traces.
‘Found them.’
Spotting traces after about fifteen minutes, Il-mok minimized his presence and cautiously followed, soon discovering his target.
Shing.
Drawing his sword in a flash, Il-mok maxed his lightness skill and charged.
‘Sorry! Joo Cadet!’
Il-mok’s sole target: Joo Seo-yeon.
‘To keep her from maidservant status, this is the only way!’
Promised her a spot if she took second—so block second place.
“Young Master!?”
Joo Seo-yeon swung her spear in shock at Il-mok’s ambush, crying out.
Clang!
The moment it met her short spear, Il-mok’s sword slithered like a snake in an eerie path, grazing past.
Pok.
Passing the spear, Il-mok’s blade struck Joo Seo-yeon’s meridian seal in a blink.
“Young Master Il-mok!?”
Only then did Choi Woong, Seong Hwan, and Ha Young shout his name in alarm.
“Whew.”
Fearing side effects if the fight dragged, Il-mok swung again without a word for talk.
Watching the beautiful silver arc of Il-mok’s sword, Choi Woong, Seong Hwan, and Ha Young thought:
‘Why us again…?’
‘Why the hell is this happening!!’
‘I should’ve been with Mi-hwa!!’
Subdued without even knowing why.