Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Lesson 29. The Truth Will Eventually Come to Light - 4
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"What an honor to have you visit us in person like this, Professor Ryu Cheol-myeong. That said, we still have student council business to attend to. If you have some matter with us, could you possibly wait just a moment...?"
Facing the rude middle-aged man who had barged in during student council duties, the student council president Shati responded with a rare social smile.
However, the furious man, Professor Ryu Cheol-myeong, didn't care about their circumstances at all. He swung his hand sharply, cutting off Shati mid-sentence.
"Student council president, you're aware of the unpleasant rumors circulating about me lately, aren't you?"
"Rumors, you say?"
"I'm talking about the persistent, filthy, utterly baseless rumors linking me to that... special admission first-year student and others like him."
Of course, Shati knew all about it.
After Ryu Cheol-myeong suffered humiliation against Rebellion and could no longer tolerate them, he had 'expelled' them from his lectures under the guise of withdrawal.
At first, students were simply amazed that Ban Yu-won had truly awakened his aura in Ryu Cheol-myeong's class...
But once the details of how it happened leaked out, and several professors publicly warned Ryu Cheol-myeong, word spread among the students—both subtly and overtly—that Ban Yu-won had awakened his aura purely due to his exceptional talent. Ryu Cheol-myeong, meanwhile, had openly bullied students he disliked under the pretext of education.
Of course, many students eager for even scraps from the aura authority figure Ryu Cheol-myeong—especially Special Class students benefiting from his pure-blood ideology—insisted it was all just educational guidance. But that was like trying to cover the sky with a palm; it didn't hold up.
Once the rumors caught fire, they spread endlessly via the intranet, reaching an uncontrollable level.
'So why is he coming at us about it now? He admitted defeat first. If you're caught pulling shady tricks, you have to eat the backlash.'
Shati kept a poker face outwardly while thinking that, but Ryu Cheol-myeong scowled and said,
"Those malicious rumors have spread through the academy, now threatening my honor as a professor."
"There are always those who speak out of turn, no matter where you go. Even gathering the greatest geniuses from every dimension, they're still immature in character. I hope you'll graciously overlook it, Professor..."
Bam! Ryu Cheol-myeong slammed Shati's desk and declared,
"I suspect the student council is involved in amplifying those rumors."
At his absurd speculation, Shati thought inwardly,
How did this bastard figure it out?
They had been working to shift the academy's atmosphere, capitalizing on his weakness—and he sniffed it out this quickly!
"It's a misunderstanding, Professor Ryu Cheol-myeong."
"If it's truly a misunderstanding, then you can help quash those rumors, right, student council president?"
"I'm sorry, Professor, but the student council has no authority over the intranet. That power belongs solely to the Chancellor..."
—Hey, student council president, I'm not an idiot.
Ryu Cheol-myeong's voice pierced directly into Shati's mind.
The sticky heat in his voice clung to her brain like tar, sending chills down her spine.
Shati barely kept her poker face from cracking and silently stared at him.
—I know the student council is rallying the lower dimension students for something. And I, who used to oppress them, must have been perfect prey for you, right?
"It seems there's still a misunderstanding, Professor. We only want all students to receive fair treatment and grow equally in the academy. We have no intention of slandering you."
"You're going to play it like that to the end?"
"No matter what you say, Professor, what didn't happen didn't happen, and what we can't do, we can't do."
"Student council president—"
"However."
Ryu Cheol-myeong's sharp gaze flew at her for interrupting, but Shati didn't lose her composure.
Her devilish eyes sparkled brilliantly, emanating magical power.
"I know the cleanest way to eliminate those baseless rumors."
Ryu Cheol-myeong's one-sided turn was over. Now it was finally Shati's.
"What...?"
"I'll help you. If only to prove the student council's innocence."
She hadn't expected Ryu Cheol-myeong to approach her first like this.
She had already been preparing a trap with Mira to screw him over.
She couldn't let this opportunity slip.
She planned to grab him tight and sink her teeth in.
"Your tune's changed awfully fast. Weren't you just saying you couldn't?"
Ryu Cheol-myeong instinctively stepped back, feeling as if he'd been possessed by a devil.
Shati gave a wry smile and shook her head.
"I meant there's nothing the student council can do. But personally, I have a way to assist you, Professor."
"Personally, as student council president? Hard to believe."
Why would she? He knew she didn't think well of him.
Ryu Cheol-myeong's suspicious gaze scanned Shati's body.
Despite the unbearable disgust from his lingering stare on her face and chest, Shati spoke again.
"However... if I prove helpful, might I ask for a small token in return?"
"So there was some ulterior motive after all? Whatever you want from me, I'm not inclined to give it easily..."
"Actually, I'm interested in your associate professor recommendation rights."
Ryu Cheol-myeong's brow twitched at her words.
"You could become an associate professor without any recommendation, no trouble at all."
"Of course, that's true for me..."
As Shati trailed off, Ryu Cheol-myeong guessed the rest and clicked his tongue.
"Tch, planning some power play with that ridiculous recommendation slip? Fine, go ahead and try."
Ryu Cheol-myeong was deeply displeased, but it made sense why Shati offered to help.
If her goal was clear, there was no reason not to trust her.
That was why Shati had lied so blatantly.
Solely to make Ryu Cheol-myeong believe her!
'A recommendation from someone about to vanish from the academy? Worthless.'
She sneered inwardly, her eyes gleaming.
Ryu Cheol-myeong, unwilling to nod so easily to Shati's proposal, issued a warning.
"But I haven't heard what this method of yours is yet. Handing over the recommendation won't be hard, but only if the results are guaranteed."
"Of course, Professor. Think of the recommendation as a bonus. As long as you're a professor, you deserve respect and admiration from all students."
"...Hmph, fine. Let's hear it then."
Sensing something off in Shati's words but deciding to follow her suggestion anyway, Ryu Cheol-myeong proceeded.
After all, she was a student, he a professor.
The gap between them was immense.
If she dared deceive him, he could use it as leverage to demand even more...
—And Shati's 'Constraint' and Mira's 'Curse' were abilities specialized in exploiting such light, complacent perceptions to lower the opponent's stature.
The 'Ryu Cheol-myeong incompetence theory' that had been bubbling up around the academy vanished completely exactly two days later.
A few still badmouthed him somewhere on the intranet, but responses were sparse.
And even those soon faded.
The reason lay with Ryu Cheol-myeong himself.
"Ah, good day, Professor."
"Yes, good morning... student."
"—Yes, sir!"
"Professor!"
"Good day!"
"Yes, students."
It was unlikely anything about Ryu Cheol-myeong had changed dramatically in just a few days.
But students who encountered him directly instinctively bowed their heads—a perfectly natural reaction, not born of his intimidation or pressure.
In simple terms, it was dignity.
The dignity that made a professor a true professor.
'Influence on others... Is that a form of charisma too?'
Following Shati and Mira's advice to avoid Ryu Cheol-myeong for a while, Ban Yu-won observed from afar through Tiche's Lens and reached that conclusion.
'Curiously, concepts related to charisma amplify only when dealing with students. Maybe that's the power of the Constraint?'
Perhaps it was the constraint that allowed 'Professor' Ryu Cheol-myeong to exert overwhelming influence on 'students'.
No matter the rumors, students who saw him in person were overwhelmed, lacking even the courage for gossip.
Professors noticed too, but felt nothing amiss when facing him directly, so they said nothing.
'Even observing indirectly through Tiche's Lens, it's affecting me a bit. Must be overwhelming for others who can't perceive the concept directly.'
It was clear that the spell Shati and Mira had meticulously prepared had activated on Ryu Cheol-myeong.
But so what? Wouldn't that only strengthen his position in the academy?
Every student he met was cowed, their spirits broken—just as Ryu Cheol-myeong wanted from Shati.
...Ban Yu-won, of course, harbored no such ridiculous misconception.
He already had a rough sense of how the Constraint and Curse worked.
'I can even guess the conditions for that bastard's Constraint activation. As expected of a devil—smart as hell.'
And Ryu Cheol-myeong, falling for it so easily? A total fool.
Someone like Kantone, suspected of pulling strings behind last semester's events, wouldn't have fallen for Shati's scheme so simply.
The fact that Ryu Cheol-myeong had been left like this suggested Kantone had fully split from him.
"Ugh, it's so annoying. Having to put up with that for the rest of the semester."
Lucelle, peering into Tiche's Lens beside Ban Yu-won, rarely vented her anger.
It was rare for her to react so strongly to anyone, but her memories of enduring his lectures—even briefly—were truly the worst.
"Hm."
Dokgo Yeon wore a displeased expression too, if not quite as intense.
"This'll kill the momentum those special admission students had just built up."
"They got a bit too cocky too fast. Better to build inner strength quietly than overreach. ...At least for now."
It could be seen as one step back for ten steps forward.
Ban Yu-won added briefly, then turned and scanned the surroundings.
"Where's Light? Off playing with Aire again?"
"No, he's fighting Livi in our training room."
Ban Yu-won's face fell at Lucelle's immediate reply.
Not because of Light's actions.
It was her naming choice.
"Lucelle, do you have to call it that?"
"It's cute."
"The name might be cute, but..."
Ban Yu-won and Dokgo Yeon eyed Lucelle—who was smug about her 'perfect naming'—with similar looks.
"I think Gold Motion would be much better, meaning 'moving metal'."
"That's no good either. Plus, it reveals its true nature outright."
"Ugh...!"
Ban Yu-won ruthlessly shot down Dokgo Yeon's idea (earning a few shoulder punches from her pouty retaliation), then resonated with the one Lucelle named 'Livi' and nodded.
"Let's head there and train too. I can't play while Light's working hard—my pride won't allow it."
"But we enter the Tower again tomorrow, so don't overdo it."
"Yeah, got it."
"You're not planning to sneak Ban Yu-won out to the outer city again, are you?"
"...Hehe."
"What's with the 'hehe,' you...!"
Apart from several ominous signs cropping up here and there, week 10 at the academy passed smoothly and uneventfully.
The Tower climb resumed Friday, and by Sunday's exploration, the group broke through floor 65 without anyone retiring.
No dramatic events meant no dramatic progress, leaving Ban Yu-won unsure whether to be happy...
But he, Rebellion, and all the special admission students in the Union Exploration Club were indeed advancing rapidly.
"...What? You ran into the president during solo exploration?"
"Yeah, I thought I'd caught up, but then that joint quest I suspected happened, making contact possible. Thought it was a first, but apparently it's happened a few times."
Yet outpacing them all by a wide margin were student council president Shati and PR chief Mira.
Even in solo runs, they climbed at speeds rivaling 4th- and 5th-year elites. Then, astonishingly bound by a joint quest inside the Tower, their growth accelerated further.
"Doesn't that make solo exploration pointless?"
"We'll disband once the joint quest ends. ...Besides, this is a good opportunity."
Mira, who came to share this shocking info, grinned darkly.
"No time to be stubborn about solos—we need max growth for the battles ahead. Time to show Team Fairy Devil's power."
Fairy and devil teaming up: Fairy Devil.
Ban Yu-won was grateful for their efforts toward Rebellion but felt a twinge of anxiety seeing them pull so far ahead.
He knew he was a first-year and they third-years, but he couldn't help it.
When could he complete his swordsmanship and evolve his Manifestation Technique?
He needed a dramatic change too...
—And the change he desired finally arrived on Tuesday of week 12.
Solo Tower exploration had resumed at last.