Educational Reform (4)
「Out of the way! Unless you want a hole drilled through your back!」
「Eek! Wait a second!」
The moment Han Min-ha swerved sharply to the side, Yoo Hee-won's Eye Race streaked through the space she'd just vacated. Two lethal golden beams of murderous light locked onto the fast-moving target with pinpoint accuracy. A sharp beep rang out—the alert confirming a direct hit.
Right now, Han Min-ha and Yoo Hee-won were in the middle of joint combat training at the General Combat Training Ground. This was the same colosseum-like arena where the PVP Combat Evaluation had taken place. During normal hours, it could deploy targets of various shapes and sizes to simulate real-world battlefield conditions.
Normally, reserving the training ground for such a small group required advance booking and a long wait, but they had gotten lucky. With the entire academy in chaos due to the sudden educational reform, throwing a hastily assembled team straight into live training like this was extremely dangerous. Still, since both girls had spent an entire semester under my guidance and I already understood their capabilities completely, I had decided to begin training immediately.
Sitting inside the control tower, I picked up the microphone and began directing the session.
「Min-ha, once you've dodged, you need to transition into evasive maneuvers. The moment right after changing direction is the most dangerous.」
「Understood, Professor! Whoa—!」
Han Min-ha, who had been flying without thinking after dodging Yoo Hee-won's Eye Race, was startled by a target rising from below and instinctively released her aura. The target shattered upon colliding with her pure, heavy aura.
Han Min-ha's dense and solid aura was powerful enough to serve as a formidable weapon simply by wrapping it around her body.
「Excellent improvisation, Min-ha. However, if that had been a real villain, it wouldn't have been the target that broke apart—it would have been you. In situations like that, it's better to deploy a barrier or accelerate away rather than meet it head-on.」
「Yes! I'll keep that in mind!」
「And if a villain suddenly loses their target and immediately gets hit by Hee-won's follow-up attack... Ah, yes. That's perfect.」
Before I could even finish speaking, Yoo Hee-won shot upward at incredible speed, firing Eye Race from both eyes to pierce straight through the target.
「Let's call it here for today. Land and return. You've all worked hard.」
I left the control tower and notified the training ground staff that the session was over. Soon, orbital cleaning robots emerged from beneath the spectator stands and began sucking up the scattered debris.
Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha, who had landed on the ground, were busy brushing off the fragments that had splattered across their training suits.
「Good work. Are either of you injured?」
「I'm fine. Though I am a little annoyed.」
Yoo Hee-won shot a glare at Han Min-ha as she spoke.
「I've told you over and over. Don't stand between me and the target, okay?」
「U-um. Got it. I'll move faster next time.」
「If you shake that massive ass in front of me one more time, I swear I'll skewer us both together!」
「Hiiik!」
Han Min-ha flinched and shrank back in terror. Indeed, the form-fitting practice suit made her curves stand out to an almost ridiculous degree. It might be better for her to get a mechanical suit when she has her graduation suit fitted. The external armor and various combat assist devices would help distract from her figure. They also had built-in comms, vital sign monitoring, and all sorts of other useful functions.
I had used a mechanical suit back when I was in Secreto. The only downside was the astronomical price. That was why the sidekick I'd encountered on the highway last time—Ivy Runner—had been wearing a plain latex suit with no auxiliary functions whatsoever.
「Ugh, it's seriously hot. This thing is complete garbage.」
Yoo Hee-won grumbled as she roughly yanked down the suit's zipper. Right. One more thing—mechanical suits had built-in cooling and heating systems.
She pulled the zipper all the way down to her navel, revealing a white t-shirt soaked in sweat and turned nearly transparent between the parted suit.
「Wow, look at this. It's like I fell into a pool.」
Yoo Hee-won grimaced while flapping the shirt that clung to her stomach. In contrast, Han Min-ha was sweating buckets but refused to unzip her suit at all. Even though her hair stuck to her face like seaweed and sweat dripped steadily from her chin, she simply removed the goggles she wore instead of glasses and let out a long sigh.
「Hoo... It's hot.」
Even though it was already past mid-September, the midday sun was still blazing. Autumn days were supposed to be hot and nights cold, but this year the temperature swings were particularly extreme.
「You've both worked hard. The workday is almost over, so head back and prepare for physical training.」
「Heeeeng? Professor? You're telling us to do physical training in this state?」
Yoo Hee-won had already stripped off the top half of her suit, letting it dangle around her waist as she protested. The black sports bra was clearly visible beneath her soaked t-shirt, so I politely averted my gaze as I replied.
「Physical training is a matter of inertia, Hee-won. Skip it even once, and you'll want to keep skipping.」
「Who doesn't know that? Hey, Han Min-ha. Have we ever skipped physical training even once?」
「Never.」
When Yoo Hee-won turned to me triumphantly, I simply smiled back at her.
「Very well. Then go prepare. Good work today.」
「Wait a minute, Professor. Something feels off.」
「What do you mean?」
「Everything changed to a team-based system, so why is physical training still the same? Now that you're our homeroom professor, shouldn't you be supervising that too?」
「Well... The faculty didn't give any specific instructions about physical training.」
「Still, that's not right, is it? Don't tell me you're the type who only does exactly what the faculty tells you to do, Professor? What do you think, Big Tits?」
Han Min-ha, still dripping with sweat, looked back and forth between me and Yoo Hee-won.
「W-well... I'm not sure...」
「Don't you think it'd be nice to run together with the Professor?」
「Well, yes, but... The Professor must be busy. He doesn't have to come out for physical training...」
「So you agree it's a good idea, right?」
Faced with Yoo Hee-won's persistence, I eventually smiled and spoke.
「Alright. Then let's do physical training together today, just the three of us. I'll meet you at the parade ground later.」
And so, for the first time since entering the academy, I ended up participating in physical training.
After changing into a tracksuit and lingering near the review stand, the physical training instructors greeted me.
「Hello, Professor.」
「Hello. Thank you for your hard work.」
The instructors in charge of the freshmen’s physical training were the famous Maroon Berets. A special forces rescue unit composed exclusively of individuals with near-hero-level physical abilities. Back when I was in Secreto, I had often seen them retrieving incapacitated comrades after battles.
「What brings you here today? Are you here to observe?」
「No. My advisory students insisted on doing physical training together with me.」
「I see. It seems your students really like you.」
「Haha. Perhaps.」
Just then, students wearing green-and-white athletic uniforms began entering the parade ground. Spotting Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha among them wasn’t difficult. A head of brilliant golden hair and an extraordinarily voluminous chest tended to stand out anywhere.
After finishing group stretching and lining up for the group run, Yoo Hee-won dragged Han Min-ha out of formation and approached me.
「Professor. What is this?」
「What do you mean?」
「Why are you in better shape than I expected?」
Yoo Hee-won looked me up and down in my tracksuit, her tone full of suspicion.
「I'm not sure how to answer that. Let me ask you one thing instead. What exactly did you think I would look like, Hee-won?」
「A scrawny weakling? You always wear dark clothes and look gloomy.」
Yoo Hee-won spoke without any filter whatsoever, while Han Min-ha alone reacted as if she herself had been insulted, turning pale with shock.
「Hee-won! How can you speak to the Professor like that...!」
「It's fine, Min-ha. I'm not offended. Hee-won always speaks like this.」
At my smiling response, Yoo Hee-won grinned back.
「Anyway, let's run together. I'll pay you back exactly as much as you've mercilessly trained us.」
「I don't mind. You took first place in the physical portion of the end-of-term evaluation, didn't you? I'll take this opportunity to learn a thing or two from you, Hee-won.」
As the two of us smiled and exchanged sharp words, Han Min-ha alone clasped her hands together, fidgeting anxiously. But I truly wasn't upset. I already knew what kind of girl Yoo Hee-won was, and I knew there was no malice behind her words. Just as malice inevitably reveals itself no matter how well it's hidden, so too does affection.
「Then let's go.」
We walked side by side and took our places at the very back of the running formation.
Twenty minutes later, Yoo Hee-won was experiencing shortness of breath for the first time since entering the academy and beginning physical training. She couldn't even dream of catching up to Professor Kyo Suhyeon, who was running calmly up ahead.
When she looked back, she couldn't see Han Min-ha—nor anyone else. Professor Kyo Suhyeon, who had started at the very back of the formation, had shot forward at tremendous speed the moment they began, quickly pulling far ahead of everyone, and had been maintaining that exact pace ever since.
As they passed the lecture building—which normally only appeared around the forty-minute mark of the run—Yoo Hee-won even felt a flicker of fear. With stamina like that, he retired at C-class...? And it's been quite a while since his retirement too. Just what is this guy...?!
But she couldn't stop running. Her pride wouldn't allow it. Even if her heart burst, she would chase him to the end!
The moment she completed the course and arrived back at the parade ground, Yoo Hee-won collapsed to the ground and began vomiting bitter fluid.
「Good work, Hee-won.」
Professor Kyo Suhyeon approached her with a smile. Looking up at him—barely sweating, breathing perfectly steady—as he gazed down at her, Yoo Hee-won suddenly remembered the time she had grabbed Han Min-ha by the collar and dragged her along. Back then, Han Min-ha had been crawling on all fours just like she was now, while Yoo Hee-won had been looking down at her exactly as the Professor was doing now.
「Get up. Stand up, straighten your chest, and jog slowly around the parade ground while taking deep breaths. It's more effective that way.」
Overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness, Yoo Hee-won answered obediently.
「Yes...」
「Then I'll go bring Min-ha.」
With those words, Professor Kyo Suhyeon began jogging lightly and quickly disappeared into the distance. She had thought she could at least beat him in terms of stamina, but that had been incredible arrogance.
Watching his receding back, Yoo Hee-won wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and slowly stood up. Then, just as the Professor had instructed, she began jogging slowly around the parade ground while taking deep breaths.