Villain Professor of Heroes – Chapter 24

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“What the hell are you talking about?!”

To hide her embarrassment, Yoo Hee-won suddenly lashed out at Han Min-ha.

“What? Are your parents working abroad or something? Did you say that weird thing on purpose to mess with me? You’re so shady.”

But no matter how much she pressed, the situation wouldn’t change, and she couldn’t take back what she had said.

Yoo Hee-won, after glancing back and forth between the silent Han Min-ha and me, smiled with trembling lips.

“Really…?”

“Let’s stop here, Hee-won. Sit down.”

“It’s okay, Hee-won… You didn’t know.”

At Han Min-ha’s words, Yoo Hee-won stared down at her for a moment before turning abruptly.

“This is so annoying!”

She flung open the lab door.

“Damn… the keypad lock…”

Yoo Hee-won, who had stormed out without thinking, bumped into the door and muttered, pressing the keypad.

She slammed the door shut behind her without looking back.

With her strong pride and self-centered personality, she couldn’t apologize when she should have and instead reacted defensively.

It wasn’t the right thing to do, but I couldn’t say she had malicious intentions.

What could I do about her personality?

Silence fell over the lab after Yoo Hee-won left.

Han Min-ha remained hunched over, staring down at her assignment.

“Min-ha.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Should we continue, or should we stop here for today?”

“It’s okay. I’ll stay and finish going over the answers.”

“Alright, then.”

I opened the thick Administration regulations book and continued going over the questions with Han Min-ha.

Yoo Hee-won didn’t return before we finished.

She had probably gone back to the dormitory.

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After Han Min-ha returned to the dormitory, I finished writing up the mentoring log and left the research building.

The April sun sets early, and dusk was already beginning to settle outside.

Walking under the streetlights towards the faculty housing, I thought about what had happened earlier.

Han Min-ha’s parents were missing.

However, even if they were missing, their names would never be left blank on her family register.

That meant there was a high probability they had been involved in something unsavory during their hero activities.

Perhaps they had intentionally killed civilians or defected to become villains.

Or maybe there was another reason the Administration no longer recognized them as heroes.

But if that were the case, how could I explain the survivor’s pension Han Min-ha was receiving?

I would have to inquire with the Administration tomorrow during work hours.

It wasn’t right to continue with lingering questions about such a sensitive family matter concerning my student.

And it might be the key to why Han Min-ha couldn’t use her Aura.

I wasn’t doing this out of sympathy for the orphaned Han Min-ha.

As a possessor aware of my situation and using a Mental Barrier, it was difficult for me to feel such emotions towards a character in a novel.

I was doing this because I needed to resolve her chronic problem to make her an S-Rank, and I suspected the answer might lie in her parents’ disappearance.

I arrived at my housing, showered, ate a simple dinner, practiced some mental discipline, and lay down in bed.

I checked the group chat but Yoo Hee-won hadn’t apologized yet.

The group photo Yoo Hee-won had taken at the spicy stir-fried pork restaurant was still visible at the top of the chat.

The brightly lit, golden Yoo Hee-won in the front, and the gloomy Han Min-ha and I shrinking behind her.

The perfect image of Golden Viper and the Gray Molds.

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Yoo Hee-won, who had returned to the dormitory in a rage, went straight to her room.

“Hee-won! Are you done?”

Some of her followers tried to talk to her, but Yoo Hee-won ignored them all.

“What’s wrong with her? Did she fight with her advisor?”

Yoo Hee-won stopped and turned her head like a snake.

Her glare was so sharp that the students flinched and averted their gaze.

“Fight with her advisor?”

“Uh…? No, I just thought it was a possibility.”

“It is a possibility. If a trashy professor and a trashy student meet, that is.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“That’s exactly what I meant. I meant you guys.”

No one dared to speak, sensing the tension from her unreasonable reaction.

After glaring at her classmates, Yoo Hee-won strode up the stairs.

How dare those insignificant beings gossip about her relationship with her advisor?

Just because she talked to them as fellow upper-class students, did they think they were on the same level as her?

Yoo Hee-won stormed into her room and leaned against the door and stood still for a moment.

The reason she was angry was simple.

She was faced with a situation where she had to apologize.

That was why she was angry.

Because she knew she should apologize.

But she really hadn’t known that gloomy girl was an orphan.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have said those things.

So, it wasn’t her fault.

“Damn it…”

Yoo Hee-won ruffled her hair in frustration and slumped into her chair.

She took out her phone to dial a number but then threw it face down on the desk.

“I didn’t know!”

She yelled and then picked up her phone and opened her photo album.

It was filled with pictures from their outing to the spicy stir-fried pork restaurant.

Selfies with Professor Kyo and Han Min-ha, pictures of the perfectly cooked spicy pork, pictures of the restaurant sign, and then a series of photos taken from questionable angles.

They were all candid shots of Professor Hyun Kyo.

Photos taken in burst mode while pretending to take selfies, broken down frame by frame.

She had meticulously chosen the best shots from the nearly identical burst photos.

Professor Hyun Kyo entering the restaurant in his coat.

Professor Hyun Kyo politely ordering from the server and handing back the menu.

Professor Hyun Kyo talking to Han Min-ha with an indifferent expression.

Professor Hyun Kyo mixing steamed egg with rice.

Professor Hyun Kyo wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Professor Hyun Kyo taking out his wallet from his coat pocket to pay.

Professor Hyun Kyo reaching out the window at the drive-thru to receive his coffee.

Professor Hyun Kyo driving with one hand and sipping coffee through a straw.

Professor Hyun Kyo reversing to go to the faculty housing.

As Yoo Hee-won scrolled through the photos, she could almost hear Professor Hyun Kyo’s voice.

-In situations like this, apologizing is the right thing to do.

“Ugh… so annoying…”

She hated his attitude, as if he could get away with anything just because he had a pretty face and spoke eloquently.

She had chosen him because she needed a mannequin to stand beside her.

So why was he trying to teach her?

Did he think she would submit so easily?

He would never tame her.

If that were the case, she wouldn’t have chosen him in the first place.

Just you wait, Hyun Kyo.

She would never do as he said.

She hadn’t become his student to be mentored, but to possess him.

‘Apologize? The right thing to do? Don’t make me laugh.’

However, after a while, Yoo Hee-won started typing a message to Han Min-ha.

After writing and deleting it countless times, she finally pressed the send button in frustration.

[I didn’t know]

Han Min-ha replied immediately.

[It’s okay :)]

Seeing that, Yoo Hee-won became even angrier.

People who weren’t kind often saw kind people as hypocrites.

And they felt a surge of anger when they saw someone who possessed what they lacked.

This was especially true for Yoo Hee-won.

So, she only read the notification but intentionally didn’t open the message window.

That way, it would look like she had ignored Han Min-ha’s reply, as the “1” wouldn’t disappear.

Han Min-ha… how infuriating…

Help that girl?

Why should she?

It was so ridiculous.

Yoo Hee-won, lying on her bed, made a phone call.

“Teaching Assistant, come to my room.”

Shortly after, Teaching Assistant Kim Yi-bitna arrived.

“What’s up? Did your father ask you to do something…?”

“No, nothing like that. I just wanted you to bring me a copy of the lower-class students’ timetable.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll bring it right away.”

A sneer appeared on Yoo Hee-won’s face as she watched Teaching Assistant Kim Yi-bitna leave and close the door.

A typical two-faced bitch who only picked on the weak.

At least she, Yoo Hee-won, was strong regardless of who she was dealing with.

Yoo Hee-won lay back on her bed and scrolled through the photos in her album, waiting for Teaching Assistant Kim Yi-bitna.

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That night, I had that dream again.

As always, I was floating high above the ground, and those strange-colored clouds began to drift towards me.

Just before the clouds reached me, the scene suddenly changed, and I was standing on the ground.

And a shining meteor slowly fell from the sky above.

Just before the meteor hit the ground, I woke up.

“No!!”

I screamed, throwing off the covers, and was about to get out of bed when I realized I had woken up from a dream.

Five in the morning.

I was in the faculty housing of Graford Academy.

I was a professor named Hyun Kyo, who taught Basic Defense Studies, and a possessor.

My Mental Barrier, which had weakened in my sleep, solidified, and I regained my composure and faced reality.

Okay. It was just a dream.

A meaningless recurring dream.

Why did I keep having this dream?

On the days I had this dream, all my energy was drained, making it difficult to get through the day.

Lost in thought for a moment, I soon forgot most of the dream’s content.

It was always like this.

A few seconds after waking up from a vivid dream, I would forget it.

The only things I could remember were the clouds and the meteor.

First… I needed to wash off the sweat.

I couldn’t go back to sleep feeling so sticky.

I turned on the shower and leaned against the wall, organizing my thoughts for the day ahead.

Morning meeting, lectures, student meetings.

And I needed to inquire with the Administration about Han Min-ha’s parents.

As an academy professor trying to resolve an issue concerning my student, they would surely provide me with the information.

If not, I could ask the department head to send an official request.

If I framed it as an issue affecting Yoo Hee-won’s mentoring, he would jump at the opportunity to help.

Good. All set.

I needed to shower quickly and get some more sleep.

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The next day, I called the Administration, gave them Han Min-ha’s parents’ names, and requested a brief inquiry.

The response I received was baffling.

[I’m sorry, but are you sure the names are Han Tae-woo and Seo Ji-ah?]

“Yes.”

[Hmm… that’s strange… We have no record of heroes with those names registered with the Administration.]

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