Ch.57Work Is Expanding – 1

“Have you heard the news?”

Today, Hana Kang visits the examination hall and greets me with those words instead of a hello.

I think she’s becoming like a walking newspaper, and I ask, “What news?”

“About Yuhyun Jung. They say he dropped out?”

“Dropped out?”

This is quite unexpected. I never thought he’d make such a self-defeating move.

The Superpower Academy is completely different from an ordinary university.

A place where you can drop out and then re-enroll? As if that’s possible.

Once you’re out, that’s it. Whether it was voluntary or forced.

No matter how difficult and painful it is, you have to endure. It will only get harder later.

If you can’t even bear this much and give up, it will be the same later too.

With this principle in mind, once a student leaves, they can never return.

“What a stupid choice. So many students work hard just to get into the Academy.”

Hana Kang nodded in agreement with my words.

Even though he fell to Bronze, he could have risen again with enough effort.

She muttered about how he couldn’t endure that brief moment of shame.

‘Well, that’s not it. I had no intention of ever letting him rise, unlike the others.’

Perhaps Yuhyun Jung sensed my true intentions.

Rather than staying in Bronze, accumulating academic warnings until being expelled,

He decided to submit his withdrawal form by his own hand.

I thought that was somewhat wise thinking, but it’s just being “coldly rational.”

Whether you leave on your own or get pushed out, giving up is the same in the end.

Didn’t he have any thought of gritting his teeth, growing, and finally reaching Silver?

‘It’s a shame though. I used to relieve my stress by picking on him.’

For a moment, I worried he might cause trouble outside.

But soon I could conclude that it was an unnecessary concern.

If he got caught by Rina Lee again, he truly wouldn’t survive.

“Also, the atmosphere among the students seems to have changed.”

“Changed? In what way?”

Since my assigned job is being an examiner, I can’t leave this examination hall.

Therefore, I’ve been monitoring student reactions through Soohyun Kim, Hyunwoo Lee, and Hana Kang.

However, Soohyun Kim is always busy talking about herself as soon as she arrives.

And Hyunwoo Lee jumps right into training, so he doesn’t talk about other students.

“It’s gradual, but they seem to be adapting. And some appear to have realized their shortcomings. The number of people staying at the training grounds has increased significantly compared to before.”

“That’s good. I was worried there might still be a lot of complaints.”

“You personally erased those complaints, didn’t you, Examiner?”

When I remain silent as if asking what she means, Hana Kang smiles and continues.

“You know exactly what I mean. When you stopped the monsters during the sudden gate appearance, and when you fought the villains during their attack. Those incidents alone must have been a huge inspiration for the students.”

I just hope that inspiration went in a positive direction.

Not ‘I should become a superior ability user like the Examiner!’ but rather

‘I should become an ability user who can gain popularity like the Examiner!’ That’s what worries me.

“I can see what you’re thinking, Examiner.”

Hana Kang continues with a gentle smile.

“But I don’t think that’s bad either. There are people who move with a sense of duty like you, but there are also those who move because they admire other ability users. Whatever the reason, if it becomes a motivation to work hard, isn’t that enough?”

After thinking about her words for a moment, I nodded.

To be honest, I too am driven by reasons other than just duty or a sense of mission.

Of course, I genuinely want to prevent students from dying needlessly later.

Literally, seeing young lives being “swept away” is not a pleasant sight at all.

But that’s clearly not the only reason I speak and act this way.

“Examiner Seojin Baek.”

I turned my head slightly to see someone who appeared to be a security officer looking at me.

“The Dean is calling for you. We’ll temporarily take over the examination duties.”

So Hakjun Ma is calling for me again. What could it be this time?

As I followed the security officer, I pondered but couldn’t think of anything.

‘It’s not like I broke someone’s ribs this time.’

Come to think of it, that tattooed punk. His name was… ah, right. Junwoo Park.

I wonder what he’s up to. Haven’t seen him since that day.

Did this bastard drop out too? Afraid something else might get broken next time?

“Dean.”

“Come in.”

When the security officer nodded, I opened the door and entered.

Nothing particularly different from last time. For a room belonging to a former hero, it’s extremely ordinary.

Even the president’s office at a regular university would probably look more impressive.

“I heard you called for me, Dean.”

“Welcome. And I apologize for calling someone who was focused on their work.”

“It’s fine. It was a quiet time right after lunch anyway.”

Hakjun Ma offers me a seat and shortly after hands me a cup of coffee.

A civil servant drinking coffee served by the Dean. I must have really become famous.

“I got a call from my friend.”

Hakjun Ma has several friends. But the person he’s talking about now is probably…

“You mean Chairman Minseong Kang.”

“Chairman my ass. That age-inappropriate doting fool.”

I almost said, “That’s true,” without thinking.

It’s okay for me to criticize him, but not for others to do so.

That’s what real friendship is, isn’t it?

“He does love his granddaughter dearly. He couldn’t stop smiling when talking about her.”

“That’s exactly why he’s a doting fool. Do you know how exhausted I was because of him for a while?”

For reference, Hakjun Ma is not the type to speak idly.

In other words, he genuinely found Minseong Kang exhausting and irritating.

“As you probably know by now, Soohyun—that is, student Soohyun Kim—has a tragic past.”

“I heard about that from Chairman Minseong Kang as well.”

“He must really like you. I can tell because he shared that with you.”

Soohyun Kim lost her mother when she was young. Not in an accident, but in battle.

She was said to be an excellent ability user. And Soohyun Kim, like her grandfather and mother, awakened her abilities.

However, she didn’t achieve the same level of power as those two, which likely fueled her sense of inferiority.

“It was a tragic incident.”

“Indeed it was. People are like that. Everyone has an extremely unfortunate past.”

After taking a sip of coffee, Hakjun Ma pauses briefly before continuing.

“In my case, I lost many friends during the early days of the gates. And later, I lost my son. Though much time has passed, I can still vaguely recall the day my son passed away.”

I couldn’t respond to Hakjun Ma’s words.

They say a child who loses parents is pitiful, but what about parents who lose a child?

I’ve heard that even for those who are ready to die, losing a child is a terrible stress.

If the child died in their prime, it would be a nightmare one would never want to recall.

“…I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright. It’s been quite a while now, so the memories are faint.”

That’s a lie. That’s not the look of someone whose memories have faded.

He probably won’t forget until the day he dies. The face of his child smiling brightly.

Once, while passing through a street, I saw victims caught in a gate incident.

People of all ages died. Among them were many young students.

And I still can’t forget the screams of their parents.

Those screams were more terrible than the howling of beasts.

Even though they were people who had nothing to do with me, my heart was torn.

Seeing that, I hoped that young friends in their prime would no longer die.

Perhaps what I told the students as my reason—that I don’t want them to die—

Might have been influenced by the shock I received from witnessing that scene.

“What about you?”

“Pardon?”

“Are you alright? When you experience these things, you naturally start wondering if others are okay. Whether they might have a deeper, darker past than yours. Such useless thoughts.”

It was momentary, but I was slightly taken aback.

The memories remaining in this body are a mixture of “mine” and “the original Seojin Baek’s.”

So while I do remember, the emotions that should naturally arise don’t.

“I also lost both my parents when I was young. And all my relatives too.”

Just like now, talking about losing parents and becoming an orphan without family,

Yet not feeling any particular emotion inside, not even sadness.

“You probably don’t want to recall that again.”

“Fortunately, it was when I was young, so it’s blurry. Actually, the time after that was so difficult that I’ve forgotten most of it.”

“I see. Yes, that’s right. You too must have gone through very difficult times.”

After taking another sip of coffee, Hakjun Ma apologized for bringing up such a topic.

This wasn’t why he called me, and he said he just ruined the mood with a strange subject.

“Examiner Seojin Baek. The reason I called you again is that I have a favor to ask of you.”

“If it’s something I can do, I’ll help with all my might.”

“It’s reassuring to hear you say that.”

After saying that, Hakjun Ma turned around and grabbed something from the work table.

“This is it. The favor I want to ask of you.”

What was handed to me were documents with several schedules written on them.

Looking at them, I let out a sigh of surprise.

“…Dean. Don’t tell me you’re asking me to…”

“That’s right. What I want to ask of you is exactly that.”

Thinking I might have seen wrong, I checked the documents in my hand again.

[Gold ~ Platinum Grade Field Training Plan – External Support Case]

[Team 5 Supervising Professor: _ _ _]

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

Ignoring my bewildered reaction, Hakjun Ma continued.

“I want you to serve as the acting supervising professor for the Gold and Platinum grade field training lectures, specifically for the external support case.”