015. The Worldline Where Cao Cao Is a MILF and a Married-Man Killer.
-- “Men and petty people are hard to deal with; draw too close, and they forget humility; keep your distance, and they resent you forthwith.” — Duke's Daughter (B.C. 551~479)
-- “He was a steadfast man and an outstanding commander. On dire battlefields, he always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his soldiers, changing clothes alongside them—and each time, his massive pectorals were revealed—but no one dared harbor impure thoughts toward that sacred figure.” — A soldier's account of Saint Jandarque.
-- “Even reviewing the records from our modern era, Jandarque's exploits remain astonishing. Being such ancient accounts, we can't take every word as gospel, but if even a fraction holds true, he'd rank among history's supreme war geniuses.”
Tap, tap. Chalk flew across the blackboard, etching letters in rapid strokes.
Saint Jandarque. A presumed S-rank awakener believed to have lived as an ordinary rural youth until suddenly receiving a revelation from the constellations and awakening.
“Jandarque shone in battle for roughly two years, but his influence was immense. Even just the cross-verified records are plentiful.”
Swinging an aura blade to annihilate 200 English soldiers in one go. Erecting an impervious mana barrier even after a spear pierced his body and he tumbled from the ramparts. Rallying a ragtag army mired in defeat after defeat to ultimate victory.
“You can imagine how infuriating that must've been for the enemy—Shakespeare herself, dubbed the mother of English literature, vilified Jandarque in her works. Haha. Considering how efficient mana training methods and dungeon strategies hadn't accumulated back then, these tales are truly remarkable.”
The world history professor, delivering the lecture himself, recounted the presumed S-rank saint's anecdotes with evident fascination. A few students in the academy classroom looked bored sitting through history class, but unfortunately, this was mandatory liberal arts credit. High-level dungeons often drew from real history, making this essential knowledge everyone had to absorb.
Your head might ache cramming history, but spotting a high dungeon's background and exploits meant pure profit.
“Sigh, same old stories.”
“Who doesn't know about the Saint?”
Those already versed in this world's history seemed plenty bored, but for me, these were practically brand-new tales, so I listened with fresh interest.
Ah, so Jandarque was actually an S-rank saint who wielded an aura blade with mastery.
Yeah, what a shocker. For a second, I wondered if I'd possessed into a Holy Grail War storyline.
I shook off the confusion—astonishing because here, these were cross-verified facts from dozens, hundreds of sources: irrefutable reality.
“Haha, this bit's definitely on the exam, so memorize it well.”
For now, as a student in this world, I was diligently acclimating myself.
“That kid's attitude was spot on.”
“Who?”
“Y'know, the handsome one.”
Faculty cafeteria. The hunter-related professors, who'd ended up sharing a table by chance, suddenly started chatting about a certain student.
The semester had kicked off a week ago. Most lectures had wrapped their first or second sessions.
Too early to judge definitively, but seasoned educators could sense the vibe.
“Handsome one? Who? So many good-looking kids these days.”
“Huh? Oh... Kim, that kid's not in your class. Heh, you'd know him at a glance.”
“C'mon, Professor, you're being vague. How handsome we talking?”
“Heh, the kind where you scream on sight.”
As Kim frowned at the exaggeration, Shin Arin, who'd been listening quietly, flashed a knowing smile and slid over her tablet.
The screen showed the attendance roster. Surrounded by stunners with perfectly curated grad photos, one exceptionally striking male student magnetically drew the eye.
“Whoa.”
An involuntary exclamation escaped. The kind of face anyone—regardless of gender—would kill to have.
Kim, eyes locked on the photo, nodded slowly.
“So this stud's got great classroom manners too? Could coast on looks alone.”
“Hey, Kim—Hunter Ethics prof—you sure you should say that?”
“Nah, his face is ethically perfect.”
“Fair. Folks simp harder than they hate, even if you trash-talk.”
“Kid even topped the level test.”
“What? For real?”
Kim, uninvolved with first-years, gaped in ignorance. The world history prof who'd started it all beamed, spilling anecdotes.
“He's a model student who actually enjoys studying. Others doze off, but this Shin Yuseong comes upfront after class with questions.”
“What'd he ask?”
“We touched on Britain, previewed King Arthur—he seemed super into it overall.”
In truth, Shin Yuseong had been floored that not just Arthur but all the Knights of the Round Table were real—and women—but the old prof inwardly scored big points for the diligent note-taker.
Other professors chimed in positively.
“Tested him with a question—knew not just greenskins but plant-type monster ecology cold.”
“Struggles with law, maybe, but listens hard.”
“Dungeon ecology's one thing, but law's notoriously tough. Professors.”
“Point is, killer work ethic.”
“Yep.”
“Man, listening to you all feels like witnessing a saint's origin story live.”
Hunter Ethics Prof Kim muttered blankly, then glanced over—realizing the most relevant party hadn't spoken, just shown the photo.
With curiosity piqued, she asked the quietly smiling Shin Arin:
“So, what's the real deal? You'd know best, Prof Shin.”
The first-year Combat Department homeroom prof lifted one corner of her mouth slyly, launching into a long-rehearsed tale.
“First time I saw Yuseong, it reminded me of tackling the LA S-rank dungeon...”
Thus began the epic legend of the all-around model student.
[The Goddess rolls around with a bored expression.]
[(¬_¬)]
[Says she's disappointed no heart-pounding events like the first day of school have happened.]
These past few days, buried in theoretical lectures and studying hard, the goddess started whining.
What? A student's supposed to study.
I'm grinding away in the library on my own—why the grilling?
[The Goddess narrows her eyes thinly at the hero, voicing her displeasure.]
[Tries imparting a lesson: even studying in the library, drop stealth for snack, drink, or note events.]
“No, I'm studying.”
[The Goddess is hugely disappointed and decides to call you Eunuch Hero from now on.]
This lady—got divine power but pulls half-assed message trolling to dodge formal speech?
Disrupts just enough to annoy.
Or maybe thanks to this damn goddess, the guy who always aced Korean and world history is reviewing from scratch.
Might have to storm the heavens sometime.
[......]
Sighing at the now-silent goddess, I stretched—tempo slowed anyway—to refocus.
Midterms are still far off, but...
World history diverged so wildly from what I knew, it got serious.
Cao Cao: a MILF married-man killer worldline.
Arthur Pendragon: woman wielding Excalibur—straight history.
Dig deeper, and a Holy Grail War somewhere wouldn't shock.
Math or science? Meh. History? Fun to study.
After poring over history books awhile, realizing lecture time neared, I packed my bag and stood.
S-rank Hunter Prof Shin Arin's Combat Theory and Practice class.
Always brimming with passion, from what I'd heard.
Practice today—what's on deck?
Musing as I headed to the academic building, a beauty in all-black attire approached.
“Excuse me, could you point me in the right direction?”
Model citizen and student that I am, I smiled warmly.
“Sure thing.”
“Oh, how kind!”
Body and face: totally my type.
[The Goddess furrows her brow at the hero.]
No, why—what.