Teaching Assistant (1)
The chat window's chatter made Do-gyeol tilt his head.
"Creating an ego itself isn't dangerous?"
"What's yeong-ryeok again?"
"No perfectly matching fingerprints?"
"So it's like identical twins?"
"Then why stop me?"
Do-gyeol nodded.
"So it's ultimately a heart power issue, huh?"
Then the answer was simple.
"Don't worry if that's the reason. I'll stop if my heart starts hurting while I try. So just recommend a name already."
With Do-gyeol's firm declaration, the chat's nagging quieted down. Then, as if resigned, they started tossing out name suggestions one by one.
"Nah, those sound ominous."
"Kirby? Shoggoth? What's a Shoggoth?"
"Why pick on my kid like that. Sounds badass anyway, keeping it."
"Venom, Dragonny, Dojjank... Who's Dojjankku? This guy's the eater, not the eaten!"
"Oh, feeling like a trainer ain't bad."
"Tam? Tam always ends in self-destruction—sounds bad."
Naming was always the hardest part. Someone said they spent a week agonizing over a game nickname.
After mulling it over, he decided to go with one he'd kept: Shoggoth.
But they teased it for being creepy, so combine it with something cute.
"Shoggoth plus Kirby. 'Shobi' it is."
Do-gyeol stared intently at his servant spirit again.
"Shobi! Shobi!"
He called out the name enthusiastically, like summoning a dog.
How much time passed like that?
The thing just rippled and undulated in response to his yeong-ryeok output, nothing more.
"Ego doesn't form as easily as I thought."
Was he not desperate enough? Or did it need persistence?
He'd only skimmed the surface of the principle like eating watermelon without peeling it—no concrete method in mind.
And he couldn't exactly ask his homeroom teacher, who warned him to be careful with heart power.
'As long as I don't get hit, it's fine.'
Suddenly, someone flashed in his mind.
The bearded teacher who'd visited his hospital room. That guy who openly talked about alchemy might have answers for his blind spots.
'I absolutely didn't want to go to him.'
But now that he was set on imbuing his servant spirit with an ego, he wanted to grasp at any straw.
"Guess I'll go ask."
*
"...But how do I find him?"
Do-gyeol hit a wall in front of the staff room.
He didn't even know the name.
"Ask for the bearded teacher?"
That's when it happened.
"Oho! You! You're all better already?"
A booming voice echoed from down the hall.
He turned to see the bearded teacher approaching with arms wide open, making a huge fuss.
"You came to find me? I've been waiting!"
His expression was as emotional as long-lost family reuniting—way too much.
"You must be here for me, right? You're not gonna say you're here for your homeroom teacher and crush my hopes, are you?"
"...Uh, yeah."
"Kahaha! As expected!"
The bearded teacher slapped Do-gyeol's shoulders happily.
'Did I come for nothing?'
Do-gyeol took a small step back.
"Then not here—somewhere else!"
The bearded teacher grabbed Do-gyeol's shoulder firmly and led him to a private lab.
The lab was a chaotic mess, no room to step amid books and bizarre cursed tools everywhere.
"Sit, sit! What'll you drink? Coffee? Green tea? Orange juice?"
"Orange juice."
"Sorry, don't have that."
The bearded teacher flung open the fridge and pulled out a cola. He poured it fizzlessly into a paper cup and slid it to Do-gyeol.
"Down it in one go! Let me introduce myself first. Name's Ma Yong-beom. Just call me Teacher Ma."
Ma Yong-beom plopped onto the opposite sofa and got to the point.
"Anyway, you coming here means you're interested in my offer, right?"
Do-gyeol chugged the flat cola and looked at Ma Yong-beom again.
"Teacher, your face looks kinda dangerous, so can I hear exactly what you mean first?"
"Oh, that?"
Ma Yong-beom leaned forward toward Do-gyeol.
"I saw huge potential in what you showed during the assistant battle."
He whispered low, even though no one was around.
"You probably don't even realize what an insane thing you pulled off."
"Yeong-ryeok materialization?"
The solemn glint in Ma Yong-beom's eyes faded flat.
"You... you knew that too? But you won't know this. The real secret hidden in the yeong-ryeok you materialized!"
"That heart power was mixed in?"
Huh? He knows that too?
Really knows everything?
Ma Yong-beom's jaw dropped. And stayed there.
"Teacher?"
Do-gyeol waved a hand, snapping him out of it. Ma Yong-beom stammered.
"Y-You knew all that and still did it...?"
Not really. He hadn't known until Baek Seo-rin pointed it out and before Pi Yu-jun's class.
"Whoa... Didn't know you were this crazy. Then this'll be quick."
Ma Yong-beom leaned even further over the table. Madness gleamed in his eyes.
"But! You won't have imagined this. With your talent, you might be able to imbue that materialized yeong-ryeok with an ego! What do you think?!"
"Whoa! Jackpot!"
Do-gyeol's eyes sparkled.
'Nailed it coming here.'
It was exactly the question he wanted to ask—and the answer came before he even asked.
"As expected! You didn't see that far!"
Kahaha! Ma Yong-beom burst into hearty laughter.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway."
Huh? Whatever?
As Ma Yong-beom blinked, Do-gyeol's eyes now shone so intensely it was burdensome.
"So, how exactly do you imbue the ego?"
A heavy silence fell over the lab.
"...I don't know either?"
"Pardon?"
"I said I'd let you research alchemy. You can experiment freely here."
Do-gyeol's excited face fell instantly.
"Wait, what? Then no real help...?"
"Giving you this brilliant idea and direction—isn't that huge help?! And if you work as my assistant, you can use this lab freely. How 'bout it?!"
Ma Yong-beom spread his arms, gesturing to the lab.
A scene that made his head spin just sitting in it.
But it seemed like a proud space to him.
"Sorry."
"Y-You're refusing?!"
"Yes."
"Ahem, disappointing, but I won't beg. I'm a cool teacher, after all."
Ma Yong-beom cleared his throat and subtly grabbed Do-gyeol's sleeve.
"But! If you join me, as a first-year, I won't give you any annoying chores. You'll have classes and be busy adjusting."
No, even skipping morning classes was barely tempting.
No chores was fine, but zero merits.
"I won't touch whatever you research here!"
"Huh?"
"I'll respect your creative thinking with total hands-off! How revolutionary is that?!"
Do-gyeol's expression didn't budge.
'That's no different from holing up in my room.'
Total bust.
He came hoping for answers the chat couldn't give.
'One last shot, maybe ask for his opinion.'
Do-gyeol's gaze held final hope.
"Still, no good methods for granting an ego? Even a hint."
"Hmm... Maybe it'll come naturally if you use it often."
Okay, confirmed. Tactical retreat.
"Thanks for the advice. I'll head out."
Do-gyeol bowed politely and rose to leave.
Then—
Bang.
The door flew open, and someone entered.
A woman with a striking figure, a tear mole under her left eye.
She's pretty! Total bombshell!
To Do-gyeol, used to immature peers, this early-20s devil was enough to awaken any pubescent boy's senses.
His head followed her steps, entranced.
"Didn't know you had a guest. I'll just drop these off. The materials you requested."
She set a file in front of Ma Yong-beom and added casually.
"Who's this? The new assistant you scouted? Guess we'll be working together."
Together? In this cramped lab?
Happiness circuits fired wildly in Do-gyeol's head.
"No, this student is..."
"New assistant Do-gyeol here! Nice to work with you! What should I call you?"
Lightspeed pivot.