Saeteo Day
“Hello, freshmen!” Choi Seungah greeted everyone brightly before plopping down in the seat beside me. She immediately pinched my thigh again, clearly still annoyed. I wiggled my fingers at her in a suggestive little performance, silently promising to make her come again if she kept it up. She caught the hint and jerked back with a startled yelp.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Professor Kim Jongmyung from the Business Administration department.” A middle-aged man with a sleazy, unpleasant face forced his way into the row where the female freshmen were sitting and introduced himself.
Why the hell is that bastard here?
-Do you know him?
He’s the professor I got into a huge fight with last year at Saeteo.
He was so busy ogling the freshmen girls that he hadn’t noticed me yet. This was the same guy who used to pressure female students into pouring drinks for him and tried to force alcohol on anyone who refused by throwing his professor title around. When I finally told him to knock it off last year, he threw a fit about how dare a student talk back to a professor.
And he held a grudge like crazy.
Unfortunately, I had one of his classes. Even though I scored high on the midterms and finals, he gave me a C. The kind of guy who made you want to scream “C, my ass.”
Rumor had it he’d taken a leave of absence last semester to start some business, but the venture failed and he came crawling back to teaching. If his business went under, the least he could do was focus on his actual job instead of crashing freshman orientation again like the creep he was.
I leaned over and whispered to Choi Seungah beside me.
‘Why the hell did you bring that guy here?’
‘I was supposed to be with the student council kids, but he just tagged along on his own. He’s a professor, what was I supposed to do?’
Choi Seungah had been there last year too. She kept a bright expression on her face, but she couldn’t sit still, clearly uneasy.
The moment the professor sat down, he launched into a long-winded self-praise session about how important and impressive he was. He shoved a paper cup toward one of the female student council members and demanded she pour him a drink. The freshmen’s expressions were already souring.
After finishing his bragging, his eyes landed on the whiskey. He’d probably heard we received an expensive bottle as a prize and came sniffing around for free booze. I was half-tempted to throw the bottle at him and kick him out.
Without asking, he reached for the whiskey in the middle of the table and started pouring himself a glass. Then he handed the bottle to the freshman girl sitting next to him, clearly expecting her to serve him.
When she poured a sloppy amount, he scolded her.
“Tsk, tsk. You can’t pour expensive liquor like that. This is why we need adults like me at these gatherings.”
While I was trying to figure out how to get rid of the trash, the professor’s eyes suddenly widened. He’d spotted Yoo Soyeon.
“What’s your name, student?”
“Yoo Soyeon, Professor.”
He asked even though her name tag was clearly visible. It was an obvious declaration that he intended to harass her.
“I see. Miss Yoo Soyeon. Have a drink with me first.”
“I’m sorry, Professor. I can’t drink.”
“Nonsense. When an elder offers, you accept. Are you trying to make me lose face?”
The professor had already slid into the seat right beside her. He was pulling the kind of sleazy move that belonged in the eighties, acting like his professor title gave him the right.
That crazy bastard.
Ignoring the fact that she was a chaebol heiress, he tried to force alcohol on Yoo Soyeon. Even if she weren’t, trying to make a brand-new female college student down straight liquor over 40% ABV was crossing every line.
Choi Seungah’s face had gone pale beside me. She clearly wanted to intervene but was hesitating. Fighting with a professor always ended badly for the student—that much my own grades had proven last year. And as vice president of the student council, she’d have to deal with professors constantly. Getting on bad terms with one this early would be a nightmare for her.
Guess I have to step in again.
Our relationship was already ruined. One more clash wouldn’t make any difference.
“That’s enough, Professor.”
“You…!”
He glared at me like he couldn’t believe a student had the audacity to talk back. Once he recognized my face, his expression twisted.
“Hah. I’m simply teaching students proper drinking etiquette. What’s the problem?”
“She said she doesn’t want any. Please leave.”
When I flat-out told him to get out in front of everyone, his face darkened even more. If it had been any other student, he would’ve retaliated with grades, but even after I’d already ruined his plans once, here I was interfering again. He looked furious.
Then something seemed to occur to him. He shoved the whiskey bottle toward me.
“Fine. If you want me gone, I’ll go. But there’s still liquor left. If you finish this entire bottle, I’ll leave.”
He wanted me to drink a whole bottle of whiskey over 40% ABV by myself. A normal person would be hammered after just one glass. Forcing me to down the whole thing was clearly meant to humiliate me. If I refused, he’d call me a coward. He smirked, clearly pleased with his own scheme.
But the smirk didn’t last long.
Glug— Glug—
With every swallow, the liquid in the green bottle disappeared at an alarming rate. Everyone held their breath and stared. In the silent room, only the sound of my throat working echoed.
Soon the bottle that had been full of whiskey was completely empty, not a single drop left. Even the professor looked shocked when he saw that my face hadn’t changed color at all.
“The bottle’s empty now. Are you going to buy us another one, Professor?”
It was a clear order to get lost. I didn’t stop there. I scattered my sex power around the room to apply pressure while staring him down with killing intent.
The professor’s face turned deathly pale. Unable to withstand the pressure, he fled without another word. The student council members hurried after him.
Choi Seungah started to follow but caught my eye and gave me a thumbs-up before leaving.
Once everyone who had come with the professor was gone, the freshmen who had been holding their breath erupted into cheers.
“Whoa, senior, you’re awesome!”
“Man, that felt good!”
“That was so satisfying!”
The freshmen, still new to university life, were thrilled that someone had put a professor in his place. But Lee Yujin, who’d already experienced how things worked, looked worried.
“Senior, will you be okay?”
“It’s fine. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility.”
“You really haven’t changed at all.”
Her words brought back a memory. Last year at Saeteo, the female student the professor had tried to force drinks on was none other than Lee Yujin, sitting right in front of me now.
Only then did I understand why she’d been approaching me with such obvious favor. As a freshman, she probably hadn’t realized how risky it was to stand up to a professor, but after experiencing university life, she’d come to understand just how much danger I’d put myself in to help her.
“Thank you for helping me back then. And thank you for helping again now.”
Lee Yujin’s face was flushed, probably from the alcohol already getting to her.
* * *
Before I knew it, the clock had passed midnight. The freshmen had happily downed the beer-and-cider mix we’d made for them and eventually all passed out.
“Mmm, senior…”
Even Lee Yujin had succumbed to the alcohol and fallen asleep with her head resting on my shoulder. The only ones still awake were me and Yoo Soyeon, who had barely touched any alcohol.
“Shall we start wrapping up?”
“Yes, senior.”
I carefully laid Lee Yujin down on the floor. She frowned in her sleep and groped around until she found my thigh, then used it as a pillow. I fetched an actual pillow and swapped it under her head.
“You two seem close. Are you dating?”
“Of course not. We only met again after six months. She’s not charming enough for that.”
Me, that is. If this had been before I became a hero, even if Lee Yujin approached me like this, I would’ve been too intimidated by how attractive she was and run away. That was all in the past, though. Now I could confidently approach her.
The real reason I was deflecting was because I didn’t want her getting in the way when I eventually made a move on Yoo Soyeon.
Yoo Soyeon tried to stand but swayed unsteadily. I rushed over and caught her.
“Ah, thank you, senior.”
“Are you that weak to alcohol?”
She’d only had one drink, yet she was already unsteady.
“It’s not that I’m weak to alcohol, it’s that my body is weak.”
Her skin was so pale, and now I could see she lacked color. She looked fragile.
“Can I hold your hand for a second?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
Her hand was ice-cold. I took it and checked her pulse while scanning her body with my sex power.
Hmm, this is…
Part of her life force was cracked. No matter how much energy she took in, it leaked out through the gaps like pouring water into a broken bucket. Because her energy couldn’t circulate properly, her body was in an unstable state. That explained why she was so weak and cold.
“You’ve been taking a lot of tonics, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Ever since I was little, they said my energy was weak, so I’ve been taking a lot of medicine to replenish it.”
The tonics were somewhat plugging the cracks, but they weren’t healing them. Once the body was damaged like this, it was extremely difficult to recover through ordinary means.
Healing won’t do anything.
If I were still a hero, I could’ve treated her with various healing skills, but right now I only had the basic Healing spell that fixed physical wounds. The only other option was to use Power Infusion to temporarily seal the cracks, but that would require an enormous amount of sex power, and it would only last a week at most. It was nothing more than a stopgap measure.
I decided to give up for now and let go of her hand.
“I’m going to move the girls to the other room. Can you lay out some blankets?”
“Yes, senior.”
I carried the completely passed-out girls one by one into the next room and laid them down. Once all the freshmen were moved, only Lee Yujin remained. I picked her up in a princess carry. She’d looked slender, but her thighs were surprisingly plump and soft. Enjoying the feel of them, I started carrying her to the other room when her voice suddenly spoke up. I’d thought she was asleep.
“…Do you really think I lack charm, senior?”