Ch.75Episode 15. Building Trust (3)

The result of the duel was, naturally, a crushing victory for Lee Bang-sil.

The duel ended with merely grazing Lee Bang-sil’s clothes being considered the greatest achievement.

However, even Lee Bang-sil seemed quite exhausted, wiping away sweat and catching her breath.

“Haah…! How on earth… haah, what kind of stamina do these kids have? Seriously… seriously… they seem to have stronger endurance than most active heroes!”

Lee Bang-sil panted as she spoke, as if confirming that my training hadn’t been in vain.

Although they hadn’t landed a single clean hit, making an active S-class hero tired was not a bad result. It meant their stamina had improved significantly.

“Is everyone still alive?”

“Yeees…”

Drawn-out responses. The girls who had endured the grueling duel were all sprawled out on the ground.

Bin Yoon-i struggled to pull out a potion from her dirtied white clothes.

“Instructor. Please… give this to me.”

As I approached, she handed me the potion tube. I opened the cap and slowly poured it into her mouth.

“Whew…! Now I feel like I might live. Here… please give these to the others too. Senior Yu Ari… seemed pretty badly hurt.”

“Got it.”

Taking the spare recovery potions she handed me, I cautiously approached the collapsed girls.

The first one was Jeong I-yeon.

“To think the day would come when I’d receive a potion from Instructor Yujin like this…! I might die of happiness!”

“…Could you just drink it without getting excited since you’re injured?”

This one’s really a comedy character when you look at her closely.

I support her head as I feed her the potion. Her face gradually relaxes as she gulps it down.

“…I’m still lacking. I’ve hit a wall.”

Jeong I-yeon lamented while looking at the sacred artifact she was still holding.

“It was a fight you couldn’t win from the start. No matter how much you chicks combine your strength, it’s impossible to defeat an S-class. This was just an opportunity created to gain practical experience. No need to feel discouraged.”

“I suppose so, but still…”

I didn’t want her to feel powerless after sensing the gap with an S-class through the duel. So I decided to praise her a bit more.

“…Someday, you’ll be able to defeat an S-class on your own. No, the day will come when you yourself will be recognized as an S-class.”

“Oh! Then I’ll be as strong as Instructor Yujin at that time, right?”

“Huh?”

That’s probably not the case. The author gave up midway because Jeong I-yeon couldn’t create any scenario where she could win against Yujin.

Unable to tell her the harsh reality, I could only offer a smile.

Next was Yu Ari.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not… I think I’m bruised. Want to take a look?”

“You seem fine in that condition.”

Though I said this, Yu Ari had taken more hits than the others. She definitely needed to see the medical staff.

“I’ll contact the medical team in advance, so go to the infirmary. Understood?”

I said this while texting the school nurse to come to the annex training hall.

“Ah… I, I don’t want to…”

“I can’t bear to see you suffering from aftereffects and in pain, okay?”

“…Heh. Heheh… Hmph!”

What’s with that laugh?

She’s desperately trying to hold back her laughter. But she couldn’t suppress her nasal breathing.

The trembling corners of her mouth and flaring nostrils looked somewhat comical. She must be quite pleased with what I said.

After feeding Yu Ari the potion, I moved on to Yeon Mu-hui.

“Ah, Instructor.”

“You fought well.”

“It’s certainly not easy. There are still so many hurdles to overcome.”

Contrary to her words, Yeon Mu-hui’s expression wasn’t particularly gloomy. Rather, she wore a subtle smile as if feeling relieved about something.

“You did well enough. Just making a top-class hero tired is impressive in itself.”

In fact, she had launched several threatening attacks that almost landed effectively.

“…Yeah. I can definitely feel it. I’ve… gotten stronger.”

Yeon Mu-hui, still lying down, stretched out her hand and clenched her fist. Her voice, filled with conviction, exuded confidence.

“When I fought with my father, I wasn’t sure, but now I think I know for certain.”

“Is that so? Well, it’s thanks to you following through so well until now.”

Even with the potential to become an S-class, one needed to make daily efforts to overcome limits in order to realize that potential.

It was because she had followed without complaint for about two months that she could achieve these results.

“But still, it’s not enough.”

“That’s right.”

This is just the first step, and we need to go even higher from here.

Yeon Mu-hui tries to sit up with her creaking body. I supported her back to help her sit. The look in her eyes is different from before.

“Instructor.”

“Yes?”

“Keep teaching me like this from now on. So that someday I can defeat that person.”

“Sure.”

I’d say my relationship with Yeon Mu-hui has developed quite well at this point.

As I open the potion, she closes her eyes gently. Now she doesn’t hesitate to entrust her body to me.

After pouring the recovery potion into her open mouth, I walked over to Gu Yeon-hwa, the last in line.

Gu Yeon-hwa was stomping her feet while lying down. She seemed quite frustrated.

“Grrrr…! To think my flames would be swallowed! Unbelievable!”

“What’s unbelievable is your way of talking.”

She sounds like a demon lord from a manga marveling at a hero who withstands their power.

“But I shall rise again! The curse of darkness will not cease until the hellfire consumes your life someday!”

“Isn’t that the kind of line a villain spouts after getting thrashed by the protagonist?”

“You know it well. As expected of an otaku.”

“…”

It’s true that I was an otaku who read tons of novels in the other world, but why does that make me feel bad?

I crouched down and firmly pressed on Gu Yeon-hwa’s thigh. It was the spot where she had been hit by a rock thrown with telekinesis during the duel.

“Gyaaah! That hurts!”

Gu Yeon-hwa screamed.

“Urgh! What are you doing?!”

“For being cheeky.”

“Does being cheeky mean you can bully me?!”

“…Gu Yeon-hwa.”

“What?!”

What an impudent kid, acting all cocky despite losing the duel and being in a pitiful state. Sigh. I can’t even flick a hurt child’s forehead.

“You did well.”

“…Hmph. This is nothing to me! But I think I need to create an even more powerful skill!”

“A more powerful skill?”

“Give me some ideas!”

This brat, trying to get something for nothing…

“…Like how you created ‘Dark Flame Spear,’ the basics of creativity is ‘one plus one.'”

“One plus one, you say.”

“However, you don’t need to be so fixated on darkness. If you’re too obsessed with it, good ideas might not come.”

Even if I say this, she will never give up on darkness. All of Gu Yeon-hwa’s skills that appeared in the story were related to darkness. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all her skills were derived from darkness.

“To not appreciate the charm of darkness! Without darkness, I, Gu Yeon-hwa, would be like a fish-shaped pastry without red bean filling!”

“Ah, shut up. Fine. Then how about something like ‘Black Rain (Heuk-u)’ that mixes darkness with a downpour?”

“Black Rain? Somehow… it sounds like a sucker.”

That’s a technique you used when you were a villain.

“…Anyway, do your best.”

“Yes! I’ll get stronger and finally get my mother’s attention this time!”

“Right. Let’s do our best.”

In this world, Gu Yeon-hwa’s wish won’t end up as false hope. I don’t intend to stand by and watch Michelle ignore you forever.

“Yesss!”

After feeding the potion to Gu Yeon-hwa, the last one, I stood up.

The medical staff would arrive soon, so I decided to let them receive treatment and rest well today.

“Hey. Yujin.”

Just as I was about to wrap things up, Lee Bang-sil calls me with a sharp voice.

“Yes?”

“You’ve fed potions to all the kids, right? You come in too. I’ll pay you back for what you did this morning!”

“Do we really have to do this?”

“Yes.”

I sighed as I saw the heat shimmer in her grasp.

“Then… excuse me for a moment.”

“Come—”

By the time she opened her mouth to speak, I was already in front of her with my fist clenched.

“What!”

She hurriedly swung her arm, but it was too late. I placed my hand firmly on Lee Bang-sil’s head.

“Eek!”

“Good job today.”

Her hair began to stand on end, following my electric current, and when I removed my hand, her hair remained completely fixed in quite a spectacle.

“What is this?!”

She presses down on her hair sticking out in all directions. However, the more she touched it, the more chaotically her hair spread out.

It definitely won’t go down unless she washes it.

“You, you you, what is this?!”

What else could it be? It’s revenge for beating up my students.

Just as I was about to sneer at the protesting Lee Bang-sil, my device vibrated.

“Oh my. I got a call, so I’ll go answer it.”

“You bastard! Get back here!”

Easily dodging the heat shimmer, I went out to the corridor outside the training hall. Checking the phone, I saw it was from the Association President.

“Hello?”

[Have you seen the news?]

“Yes. I saw it on my way to work. It seems the credit was well distributed.”

[…Yes. As you said, we’ve stated it was an operation carried out by the Association, crediting Mr. Heelak and the Association heroes. But those who know will understand. That you deserve the most credit for this incident. Please understand if the information gets corrected later.]

“Yes.”

I have to understand that much.

[And… we’ve currently deployed heroes and discovered several more workshops that were spread throughout Incheon. The scale is quite large. It seems to be connected to Chinese villains as well.]

“I see.”

[This is the first time we’ve captured villains on such a large scale since ‘Horizon.’ But unless we catch Akcheon’s executives, we’ll just keep cutting off tails.]

“That’s right.”

[How do you think Akcheon will move from here?]

“…I’m not sure about that.”

[Pardon?]

Considering Wolgwang’s personality, he would never choose to work under someone else. After all, he demanded absolute obedience even from Yujin.

But I also don’t think he would recklessly charge at other executives who have their own forces.

“For now, I think we can only watch the situation.”

Honestly, it would have been an option to track the person I told to deliver the message to Wolgwang along with the heroes, but if we had done that, he would have fled elsewhere rather than going to Wolgwang.

Even if that person had reached Wolgwang, we would have only caught Wolgwang and that would be it.

That would just be cutting off another tail.

Even Gong Sang-i isn’t talking, let alone what Wolgwang would do.

But when given options, results will come one way or another. Whether it’s internal whistleblowing or silence.

Of course, regardless of which choice is made, Akcheon’s disappearance from this world is inevitable.

…Still, maybe I should have found out the location of their hideout?

I might be a bit stupid.

“By the way, how is Kim So-yang’s condition?”

[She frequently has seizures due to hallucinations. The biggest problem is the addiction. When the medicine isn’t administered on time, she shows reactions like self-harm and screaming, which is troubling the medical staff.]

“I see.”

This was the response I was waiting for.

“Then I have a solution to that problem. Would you like to hear it?”

It’s time to elevate Bin Yoon-i’s value.