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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Eek…!” “What are you doing!?”
The two students, startled, raised their arms to cover their faces, then looked at me with puzzled expressions.
I smiled and turned my coffee cup upside down.
Not a single drop of coffee spilled; it remained calmly within the cup.
“What was that, Professor?”
“I created a barrier at the mouth of the cup.”
I set the cup upright again and continued,
“You can create barriers not only on your body but also on objects. And you can shape them in various ways.”
“If it’s such a great technique, why is it an unpopular subject?”
Yoo Hee-won, her pride slightly bruised from being startled by the coffee, asked sarcastically.
“As I mentioned in class, a calm mental state is fundamental to defense techniques. But maintaining such composure during combat is incredibly difficult. And most importantly, defense-specialized heroes aren’t exciting. Like me.”
It was similar to boxing or martial arts.
From a spectator’s perspective, it was much more entertaining to watch a bloody exchange of blows than to see someone constantly dodging and blocking and only attacking once or twice.
Heroes needed to satisfy the public’s eye to rise in the ranks.
Yoo Hee-won openly chuckled at my self-deprecating remark, while Han Min-ha bit her lip to suppress a laugh.
“So, honestly, I’m a bit apprehensive. Defense techniques are certainly helpful, but you might feel like it’s a waste of time learning them. Well, we’ll talk about that later. This isn’t the right time or place.”
Yoo Hee-won raised her hand slightly.
“Professor, I have a question.”
“What is it, student Yoo Hee-won?”
“Sorry, but would you mind dropping the formal title? It would be more comfortable for both of us if you called me by my first name, at least. Don’t you agree, Min-ha?”
Han Min-ha, startled by being suddenly called upon, nodded in surprise.
“Uh? Uh-huh. Yeah.”
“Alright, Hee-won. Go ahead.”
Satisfied with the less formal address, Yoo Hee-won asked with her sly smile,
“As far as I know, you’re retired, Professor, not active. There aren’t many retired professors. What was the reason for your retirement?”
“The reason for my retirement…”
At the sudden question, I reinforced my Mental Barrier and collected my thoughts.
This was a tricky question.
Because the original story never mentioned why Professor Hyun Kyo retired.
There might have been a backstory, but it wasn’t in the parts I had read.
When I didn’t answer, Yoo Hee-won continued,
“So, I did some research on you, Professor. There was nothing. Not even a single video or anything. There was absolutely nothing.”
Is that so? There was no trace of Professor Hyun Kyo’s past activities.
Why was that? Was it because this was before the timeframe of the original story?
Because the author hadn’t created a backstory?
Like the edges of an unrendered map in a game, just gray nothingness?
“What did you do when you were active?”
At Yoo Hee-won’s persistent questioning, my mind raced.
And soon, I came up with a good idea.
“It’s a secret.”
“What…? What do you mean?”
“It’s a secret, so I can’t tell you.”
In a world where heroes operated, there had to be at least one special organization that carried out missions in secrecy.
I didn’t know if such an organization actually existed, but it felt plausible.
And whether it existed or not, how could they doubt a former hero ominously saying, “It’s a secret”?
Fortunately, Yoo Hee-won seemed to grasp the implication and nodded.
“Is that so? I asked a difficult question.”
“It’s alright. You didn’t know. But it would be problematic if you kept prying.”
It was a rather weak threat to make to the daughter of the chairman of the Administration’s advisory committee, but I had managed to avoid a difficult situation for now.
“Um, Professor.”
Han Min-ha spoke hesitantly.
“I’m really sorry, but may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Are all heroes without records involved in that kind of work?”
I recalled Han Min-ha’s profile, the family relations section that was blank despite her being a hero family bonus points recipient.
Could it be that Han Min-ha’s parents also had no records?
This also seemed to be related to the fact that this was before the timeframe of the original story.
But I couldn’t explain it directly.
“I can’t say for sure, but… probably.”
Unsure myself, I trailed off and gave a vague answer.
“I understand.”
Han Min-ha seemed to interpret my answer as related to “confidentiality” and readily accepted it.
I would have to look into this later when I had time.
“So, I’m curious to hear your opinions. Honestly, there’s not much more I can do for you, Hee-won. On the other hand, Min-ha… well. So, I think an advanced course in defense studies would be good for both of you. What do you think?”
“I don’t mind.” “It would be good to learn anything, right?”
Fortunately, neither of them seemed to have any major objections to learning defense techniques.
This gave me a general idea of how to guide them.
I placed the printed grade reports on the round table.
Han Min-ha, realizing they were grade reports, blushed even more and lowered her head.
“These are your grade reports. We already know the general situation, but I wanted to make a clear diagnosis of your current status. And…”
I looked at the dejected Han Min-ha and the triumphant Yoo Hee-won and said,
“Now that we’re in the same boat, we should help each other out. Don’t you agree, Hee-won?”
“You’re not asking me to carry her around, are you?”
“Well…”
I gave a vague answer and spread out the grade reports for everyone to see.
Yoo Hee-won was ranked first in every subject, class, and overall, with no grades below an A.
Han Min-ha, on the other hand, was mostly at the bottom, with mostly Cs and Ds.
She wasn’t dead last in every subject; there were a few where someone was below her.
Looking at the grade reports, Yoo Hee-won stared at Han Min-ha with an incredulous expression.
“Are you borderline intellectually disabled?”
“What? No?”
“Then how is this even possible…?”
It was a rude remark, but it seemed more out of genuine curiosity than malice.
“Wow… this is…”
Yoo Hee-won, pulling Han Min-ha’s grade report closer, grimaced, then sighed and shook her head.
“Hey, Han Min-ha. Wow… you really…”
“Sorry…”
I didn’t understand why she was apologizing to a classmate for her poor grades, but Han Min-ha apologized to Yoo Hee-won.
“I didn’t bring out the grade reports for you to envy or belittle each other.”
I smiled and took the grade reports from Yoo Hee-won.
“I may be your advisor, but I’m still a professor, and you’re students. So, no matter how hard I try, I can’t delve into your individual situations as much as your classmates can. That’s why…”
“That’s why you’re asking me to help Han Min-ha. Right?”
Glancing at the increasingly shrinking Han Min-ha, Yoo Hee-won continued,
“I’m your student, Professor, not Han Min-ha’s teacher. Why should I do that? I didn’t choose you as my advisor to clean up after the bottom of the class.”
“Then for what purpose did you choose me as your advisor, bypassing so many other excellent professors, Hee-won?”
“Well…”
“Were you planning to become a defense-specialized hero?”
It was absurd for someone with her abilities to become a defense-specialized hero.
Yoo Hee-won simply wanted me as her advisor.
That was all.
In that case, there was nothing more I could do for her, a fully developed academy student.
So, I planned to involve Yoo Hee-won in Han Min-ha’s development to some extent.
I could provide systemic and administrative support as a professor, but I couldn’t oversee every aspect of their academy life.
But would Yoo Hee-won actually help Han Min-ha?
She would.
If I appealed to Yoo Hee-won’s arrogant, golden-spoon sense of noblesse oblige.
“An advisor and their students are a group. It might not feel that way for us since there are so few of us, but other professors have over ten students. And those students stick together, supporting each other until graduation. And even after that.”
Yoo Hee-won defensively crossed her arms.
“Well… I understand. And I also understand that I’m exceptionally talented, and Han Min-ha is so far behind that she can’t possibly catch up on her own.”
“Yes. I’m asking you to help me with Min-ha. It shouldn’t be too difficult for someone like you, Hee-won. Don’t you agree?”
“Hmm…”
Yoo Hee-won remained silent with her arms still crossed.
Alright, this was enough for today.
It was a significant achievement that she didn’t refuse to be in the same group as Han Min-ha.
“Okay, let’s end today’s orientation here. We’ve introduced ourselves and set a general direction, so let’s meet regularly from now on and build a strong, productive relationship.”
“Ha.”
Yoo Hee-won scoffed at my somewhat formal remark.
She was quite rude, but she seemed much better than I had expected.
“Let’s stop here for today. We all have classes soon. Good work, everyone.”
“When is our next meeting?”
“Well, I haven’t decided yet, but we should meet at least once a week, shouldn’t we? I’ll let you know. Leave the cups. I’ll take care of them.”
Han Min-ha, who was about to clear the empty cups, quickly withdrew her hand, and Yoo Hee-won clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“Goodbye, Professor.”
Han Min-ha bowed, while Yoo Hee-won didn’t do anything that could be considered a proper goodbye.
“See you later, everyone. See you in class.”
Yoo Hee-won walked ahead, and Han Min-ha followed closely behind, like a knight’s squire.
They were a truly mismatched pair.
But I had to make them work somehow.
Han Min-ha couldn’t adapt to the academy without Yoo Hee-won’s help.
Since she was already being subtly ostracized, having the golden-spoon queen bee pretend to be friendly with her was the most immediate solution.
That was the nature of kids their age.
Fists were closer than laws, and they looked up to successful classmates more than professors.
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“Hey, Han Min-ha.”
Yoo Hee-won stopped walking and turned around after leaving the research building.
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Thx