Episode 595. The Culprit Was Lee Hoyeon.

Thump-

Lee Hoyeon sat up, beads of cold sweat trickling down.

“… Ah, fuck. It’s happening again.”

His heart pounded and his head spun.

Taking slow, deep breaths to calm himself, Lee Hoyeon realized he had just had a nightmare.

He’d been sleeping well for about two weeks, but he’d had a nightmare after a long time.

Was it because his schedule in France got extended and he stopped taking Baek Ahyoung’s medicine?

Or maybe it was because he couldn’t see all the heroines yesterday.

Anxiety finds the smallest cracks to seep through.

‘Still, it’s better than before….’

At its worst, his whole body would be drenched in cold sweat, feeling like the nightmare had gripped him to the bone.

But today, a moment’s deep breath was enough to shake off the nightmare.

He slowly turned his head and saw Im Sol sleeping beside him.

Seeing Im Sol made him feel a little bit better.

As expected, our Professor is so pretty. Im Sol’s beautiful face is definitely helping me shake off the nightmare.

“Mmmph….”

As Lee Hoyeon stirred, Im Sol began to toss and turn too.

The Professor will probably wake up soon.

Ahem!

Lee Hoyeon cleared his throat and adjusted his expression.

Im Sol would be surprised to see him first thing upon waking, so he couldn’t be making this dopey face.

He had slept next to Im Sol precisely for this moment, for a little prank.

Soon, Im Sol fluttered her eyes open.

Lee Hoyeon looked down at her and smiled.

“Sol-ah. Good morning.”

Im Sol, now fully awake, reached out and caressed Lee Hoyeon’s face.

“Hoyeon-ah. You’re awake?”

“… Uh, yes. I’m awake.”

What the…?

This is completely different from what I expected.

Lee Hoyeon asked Im Sol, looking flustered.

“Sol-ah, why aren’t you surprised? I thought you’d jump when you saw me right after waking up.”

“Seeing my disciple’s face right after waking up should make me happy. Why would I be surprised?”

“….”

Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?

My face feels like it’s going to turn red.

No, it actually feels a little hot.

No. This can’t happen.

The great Lee Hoyeon getting embarrassed by a single compliment.

“Ahem. Hmm! Sol-ah. You look pretty this morning.”

“Thanks. Mmm-. I’ll get up first. Come out when you’ve collected yourself.”

Im Sol stretched and easily got out of bed.

Lee Hoyeon sat blankly on the bed and smacked his lips.

“Smack.”

It felt a bit disappointing that the prank didn’t work.

Still, seeing Professor Im Sol right after waking up felt pretty good.

Lee Hoyeon sat on the edge of the bed and checked his physical condition.

He had such good recovery abilities that he didn’t need much sleep.

“But why did I sleep for so long?”

He felt refreshed after just three hours of sleep, so sleeping for over six hours meant he slept twice as long as usual.

Does Im Sol’s bed induce sleep? It was a bit soft, though.

Fwoosh-

His mana condition was also good.

Lee Hoyeon gathered the mana blooming in his palm and stood up.

The time on his smartwatch read 2 AM.

It was an odd time to wake up after sleeping, but our Professor, when engrossed in research, typically locked herself away for ten hours straight, blurring the lines between day and night.

Besides, I only need about three hours of sleep, so I don’t worry about day or night either.

We’re totally a match made in heaven.

When he came out to the office, the Professor was drinking coffee.

He naturally went and sat on the sofa, and before he could say anything, a kettle flew towards him.

“Is coffee okay?”

“Yes. But Professor, you drink coffee too? I’ll have the same.”

Lee Hoyeon regretted it belatedly when he saw five sugar cubes being added to the coffee cup.

Gulp-

‘This is the best for waking up.’

It was so sweet it made his head hurt.

How on earth is she drinking this?

Lee Hoyeon quietly put down his cup and looked at Im Sol.

“How’s the magic research going these days?”

“Same as always. Thanks to my disciple, there’s an endless supply of magic to research.”

“You have a good disciple.”

“Mm. Speaking of which, does my disciple have any worries?”

“Worries, all of a sudden?”

“Just in case. It’s a teacher’s job to listen to their disciple’s worries.”

It felt awkward for Im Sol to ask something like that so suddenly… maybe it’s the late-night vibe?

There are days like this, I guess.

It was actually good since I had something to ask Im Sol anyway.

“Actually, there has been something worrying me lately.”

Lee Hoyeon cautiously began.

Destroying the black pillars.

I couldn’t say it yesterday, so I have to say it now.

“Is it about the Gate of Hell?”

“The Gate of Hell? It’s similar, but a bit different. It’s the black pillars.”

“Black pillars? Ah… I’ve been hearing my disciple’s name a lot lately because of those.”

The black pillars that spew out demonic energy.

Im Sol, as a Professor at the Academy, had also conducted a formal investigation.

She also knew that Lee Hoyeon had been destroying the black pillars recently.

It was all over the news, and the Wizard Association was buzzing about it too.

“I’ve been destroying the black pillars recently.”

“I heard about it from the Wizard Association. My disciple is amazing.”

“Yes. But I was hoping you could help me destroy the black pillars. There are too many for me to handle alone.”

“Destroying the black pillars…?”

Im Sol tilted her head.

She knew her disciple was destroying the black pillars, but why was he asking her for help?

She didn’t have the ability to destroy them herself.

“Did you develop a magic to destroy the black pillars? Are you going to teach me so we can do it together?”

“It’s not like that. Remember when you felt something strange about demonic energy last time? As I researched it, research on demonic energy has resumed worldwide.”

“Yes. I think I saw something about it at the Wizard Association too. I was planning to research it myself later.”

“While doing related research, I found out that if you can handle demonic energy above a certain level, the headaches felt around the black pillars disappear.”

“That’s fascinating. Did you report that to the Association too?”

“I only hinted at it to the Iris Guild. Besides, there probably isn’t anyone among ordinary people who can do it. That’s why I’m asking you, Professor.”

Im Sol smiled at Lee Hoyeon’s words.

‘He asked me because there’s no one else who can do it.’

It was truly pleasant to hear.

Lee Hoyeon and Im Sol are both genius mages.

What others deem impossible, we can achieve.

In other words, feeling that sense of kinship felt really good.

“If Hoyeon says so, I should help.”

“Phew. Thank you.”

“What’s there to thank me for? It’s between my disciple and me.”

“Right. Still, gratitude is gratitude. Ah, shall I give your shoulders a massage?”

Lee Hoyeon got up and went behind Im Sol.

Actually, considering Im Sol’s personality and his affection for her, there was no reason for her to refuse.

He knew that, yet he asked.

‘Still, gratitude is gratitude.’

However, one should refrain from asking things presumptuously just because refusal is unlikely.

Im Sol was also using her time and effort.

Lee Hoyeon approached Im Sol, who was sitting, and began massaging her shoulders.

“I can even give you special training in demonic energy. I’ll raise your abilities enough so you can destroy the black pillars on your own.”

“It seems more urgent than I thought?”

“I think the black pillars are related to the Gate of Hell.”

“The Gate of Hell….”

Hearing the words “Gate of Hell,” Im Sol recalled Lee Hoyeon’s tormented appearance in his sleep.

Something that tormented Lee Hoyeon was connected to the Gate of Hell.

She had to destroy the black pillars for her disciple.

“Yes. Ah, right. Speaking of which, have you spoken with Chairman Arthur? I’ve been handling the black pillars, but I need some other help too.”

Lee Hoyeon thought of the Wizard Association, which Professor Im Sol had been involved with.

The monsters emerging from the Gate of Hell are difficult for humans to stop.

No matter how much Lee Hoyeon ranted alone, humans wouldn’t act unless the threat was right before their eyes.

Instead of fighting desperately, they hid behind.

Even though humans were frustrating, he couldn’t just stand by, so he needed help from the Wizard Association.

If major organizations like the Iris Guild or the Wizard Association raised the alarm about the danger, others would become vigilant.

“Yes. He agreed to help when needed.”

“Wow. Really? How did you convince that old man?”

Lee Hoyeon was genuinely impressed.

Who was Chairman Arthur Kennedy?

He was the one who, under Lee Hoyeon’s initiative, found Aiden, Pandemic’s lackey hiding within the Wizard Association, seized power, and then completely washed his hands of it without proper compensation. (He did give him some weird award, but Hoyeon wasn’t interested.)

Of course, there were a few items stolen-no, borrowed-from the Wizard Association.

He intended to return them anyway, so no compensation was necessary.

“Should I call it persuasion? While you were in France, I visited the Wizard Association.”

Im Sol briefly recalled the memory.

It was the conversation she had with Chairman Arthur when she went to the Wizard Association and suddenly asked for help.

‘Ah, Student Hoyeon, you mean? Of course, I should help! I owe him a debt.’

‘Didn’t you just throw him an award and wash your hands of it? Giving him some useless Chairman’s award or whatever. You didn’t give him anything.’

‘Didn’t I say I’d compensate him later! I was busy normalizing the Association back then! All the demon lackeys and rotten elders within the Association…!’

‘Yeah, yeah. Got it, old man. Just look at this.’

It wasn’t anything particularly impressive.

She just extracted what was rightfully hers from the stingy old man.

“Anyway, that’s a relief. The Wizard Association would be a great help.”

“What kind of help do you need? The Iris Guild handled the black pillars and the dungeon rampage, didn’t they?”

Originally, he had intended to request a reinvestigation of the black pillars and dungeon rampages from the Wizard Association.

However, thanks to the Iris Guild being more capable than expected, Lee Hoyeon handled the investigation of the black pillars himself in France.

“With the Association’s influence, we’ll publicize the dangers of the Gate of Hell. The monsters that come out are incredibly strong. I found that out while working with the Iris Guild.”

“… My disciple seems incredibly busy.”

“Yes. Still, I have to work hard.”

Lee Hoyeon said, firmly pressing Im Sol’s shoulders.

Only he knew what was going to happen in the future.

All he could see was a needle’s eye ahead, but he had to twist and turn somehow to survive.

“Do you have anything planned for today?”

“Well. I was thinking of doing magic research with you until morning.”

There’s nothing to do outside right now since it’s still early morning.

I should just kill time playing with Im Sol.

“Ah, maybe we could do that special training in demonic energy….”

Swish-

Just then, Im Sol’s hand rested on Lee Hoyeon’s.

He glanced down, and Im Sol’s blue eyes were looking directly at him.

“We can do that later.”

“….”

“I’ll grant Hoyeon’s requests too. Can you grant mine?”

“… Yes. Sol-ah.”

Just looking at her eyes, he knew what Im Sol wanted.

‘I didn’t need to bother asking.’

Lee Hoyeon smiled.

Im Sol is an adult who knows how to take care of herself.