Chapter 76: Entering Euncheon Hall (3)

“…”

He felt the weight of his colleagues’ gazes on him.

“…”

Even Jo Hyeon, who he thought he had a decent relationship with, and Instructor Yang were staring at him with ghostly expressions.

Their eyes were practically shooting lasers.

“You really…”

Instructor Yang was so speechless that he could only sputter. He was about to launch into a lecture when…

“Yay! Instructor! It’s good to see you!”

A lively little colt came bounding towards him from behind.

“Student Baek Ri.”

“Oh, come on, call me Seol-ah. You can even call me honey.”

Honey?

He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her back. Then, Mo Yong So-hye appeared, her face as if she had been force-fed a diet of misery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Ugh, Sister, please have some sense of time and place.”

“I have plenty of sense.”

“You’re lacking in the sense department. By a distance as vast as the East Sea to the West Sea.”

Mo Yong So-hye dragged Baek Ri-seol away, and two handsome young men appeared.

“Instructor.”

“We’ve arrived as instructed.”

Instructor Yang, noticing their curiosity, said, “Student Jegal, Student Namgung.”

“Congratulations on your promotion to head instructor.”

“We look forward to your guidance.”

The two young men bowed respectfully, and the tense instructors’ faces brightened.

‘We can’t show weakness in front of the young students.’

They were trying to regain the pride they had lost during their encounter with Jang Cheol-sim.

Cho Un-hwi, who had been cowering under their gazes, suddenly extended his hand.

“Jegal, are you ready?”

“Instructor, please refrain from addressing me by my surname…”

“Jegal, are you ready or not?”

Jegal Tan sighed and pulled out a book from his pocket.

“I’m fully prepared.”

Yeo Mae-hong tilted her head, looking at the pristine cover of the book.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this?”

He flipped through the pages, but the contents were indecipherable. There was no title, only rows of text.

Jegal Tan answered for him, “It’s a genealogy.”

“A g-genealogy?”

“It’s a compilation of Euncheon Hall’s exam questions and evaluation criteria for the past five years.”

The instructors’ expressions turned strange.

Why would he prepare something like that?

They were impressed by his effort, but everyone knew that he was lazy and never even bothered to read the instructor’s manual.

Why would he go through the trouble of preparing something like this?

Was he actually planning to take his duties at Euncheon Hall seriously?

“Good. You’ve all memorized it, right?”

“Yes.”

“What about you, Namgung?”

“I’ve memorized it all. I studied diligently.”

“Me too! I studied so hard that my family was shocked!”

“Ugh, it’s not fair that we have to memorize all this in ten days.”

“Good. You’re all ready to teach. Work hard.”

As if.

Instructor Yang clicked his tongue, watching him delegate tasks to the students who were supposed to be his pupils.

“Instructor Cho, you’re not actually planning to make these young students do your work, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m just asking for a little help.”

“You don’t look very motivated.”

“That’s a misunderstanding. My heart is filled with passion.”

He was incredibly shameless.

“Hmm, you…”

The Dongcheon Hall instructors were about to launch into a lecture when…

“Hey, over here!”

The Euncheon Hall instructors were beckoning them with grumpy expressions.

They were pointing at various training equipment, their faces scowling.

It was usually the new recruits who handled the manual labor, but it seemed that they were planning to make the temporary instructors do it.

“It can’t be helped. We are the new recruits here.”

“It’s okay, we’re used to this from Dongcheon Hall.”

“Let’s get started.”

As the instructors hesitantly made their way over, Cho Un-hwi nodded at the four students.

They stealthily moved towards the training ground.

***

There was a lot of work to be done in preparation for the first class.

They had to carry out wooden dummies, weights made of stone and sand, and training swords.

What he didn’t understand was why they needed so much equipment.

There were only about fifty students, but there was enough equipment for two hundred.

Instructor Jo Hyeon, sweating profusely as She carried a pile of weights, asked, “Why do we need so much equipment?”

She received a casual reply, “We have to air them out every now and then. Euncheon Hall uses expensive equipment, so maintenance is important.”

It’s called sun-drying.

Yeo Mae-hong asked, “Isn’t this supposed to be a herbal medicine class?”

The instructor, blushing, said in a gentler tone, “That’s right. Our next task is to take out all the herbs and dry them in the sun.”

“All of them?”

She was looking at a pile of sacks, each as tall as a person, stacked against the wall.

They only needed a small amount of herbs for the class. Why did they have to take out all of them?

‘They’re really giving us a hard time.’

She felt a wave of despair.

Then, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

A young Euncheon Hall instructor was yelling at someone.

“You! Are you even trying to work?!”

“What did I do?”

“You think you can slack off just because you’re carrying a small pouch?!”

“N-no, I’m not!”

Cho Un-hwi was holding a small pouch in his hand, his face contorted in anger.

“Then just do your job! Do it!”

She had never found Instructor Cho so annoying.

***

While the instructors were being subjected to a subtle hazing, the students were buzzing with excitement as they observed the four newcomers.

Baek Ri-seol was the center of attention.

Her striking beauty drew the curious gazes of the male students.

“Wow, we have a beauty like that in our academy?”

“Look at her clothes. She must be from Dongcheon Hall. Wait, is that an assistant’s armband? A Dongcheon Hall student is an assistant?”

“Who cares? She’s pretty.”

“I prefer the petite one.”

The female students, however, were more interested in Namgung Yun-ho and Jegal Tan.

“That tall one looks familiar.”

“Oh my, you like the tall and handsome type? I prefer the one with the sharp eyes.”

“Is this really the time to be discussing our preferences?”

“Listen to her.”

Whispers filled the training ground.

These were the failing students, the ones who required special attention.

They were barely qualified to be in Euncheon Hall, and most of them showed little improvement.

They weren’t from prestigious sects, and they were bored out of their minds with the supplementary training. They were eager for any form of entertainment.

But there were also some students from prominent families and those who were well-informed.

They knew about the four newcomers.

“Haha, look at the cute little juniors. Should we go say hi?”

“You better not.”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly talking like that?”

“That guy is the Instructor Slayer. You wouldn’t know, of course.”

“The I-Instructor Slayer? Really?”

He was a student from the Literature Department, which focused on formations and mechanisms, but He had defeated several swordsmanship instructors.

He was said to be both incredibly skilled and fierce, with no worthy opponents.

He was a legendary figure among the Euncheon Hall students.

“Gulp… I almost made a big mistake.”

Some students were skeptical.

“What? He looks ordinary.”

“The Instructor Slayer is a goody-two-shoes?”

“Rumors are unreliable.”

“Kekeke, I’m going to become the ‘Instructor Slayer Slayer.’”

***

The four newcomers, standing in a corner of the training ground, could hear every whisper.

Thanks to the blessings they had received during the summer break, their hearing was so acute that they could pick up even the faintest sounds.

Their faces twitched as they listened to the students gossip.

Finally, someone cracked.

“Pfft.”

It was Baek Ri-seol.

“Pfft… Instructor… pfft… Slayer.”

“…You don’t have to laugh.”

“Kekekeke, it’s a fitting nickname. The black sheep of the Jegal Clan, the Instructor Slayer. Don’t you think so, Student Namgung?”

Even Namgung Yun-ho, who usually had an impassive expression, was struggling to contain his laughter.

“Ahem… Jegal… cough… Tan… it’s okay… sometimes… hehe… we all make mistakes…”

Jegal Tan’s face flushed red as his usually supportive friend betrayed him.

“Well, you seem to be quite popular yourself, Miss Baek Ri.”

“They’re all complimenting my beauty. They have eyes, even though they look like half-baked dumplings. If they come any closer or try to talk to me, I’ll kick them, throw them off the roof a few times, and bury them in the backyard.”

“…”

Jegal Tan realized that Baek Ri-seol, despite her righteous family background, had a dark heart. She was immune to insults.

“Ugh, this is so embarrassing. The Instructor Slayer Slayer?”

“Grrr…”

Jegal Tan’s patience was wearing thin.

Mo Yong So-hye intervened smoothly.

“B-but at least we can avoid any trouble thanks to our reputations.”

“Well, there is that.”

Namgung Yun-ho quickly agreed, but Baek Ri-seol’s sharp tongue continued its assault.

“A ghost and a slayer. You’re all a bunch of weirdos.”

“Your nickname is the Witch of Dongcheon Hall, Sister.”

“Hmph, it’s the Winter Fairy of Dongcheon Hall. There’s a difference.”

“A Winter Fairy is still a ghost. An ice ghost.”

“It’s better than being the Iron Fist of Dongcheon Hall.”

“Ugh, you got me there.”

They couldn’t win against Baek Ri-seol’s sharp tongue.

Baek Ri-seol, sniffing haughtily, noticed the instructors emerging from the building and her eyes sparkled.

“Oh my, it’s starting.”

She smiled sweetly at the instructor who was lagging behind, dragging his feet like a lazy donkey.

“You look as dashing as ever.”

“You have good taste in everything except men, Sister.”

Mo Yong So-hye grumbled, then asked Jegal Tan, “The first class is herbal medicine, right?”

“Yes, it’s a test to distinguish between medicinal herbs and poisonous herbs.”

It was time to show off the skills they had acquired during their summer break training.

They were sure to win, especially with Jegal Tan’s meticulously compiled genealogy.

“The instructor said that brute force is always the answer.”

“According to the ‘How to Eat Anything and Not Die’ technique he taught us, there are no poisonous plants in the world.”

“…Brother Namgung, let’s ignore his teachings. We have to stay within the realm of common sense.”

“Noted.”

“We have to prove our strength to avoid any trouble, and we have to avoid trouble so we can delegate tasks easily. Remember?”

It was a ridiculous request, but they had no choice. They were already caught in the instructor’s web.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s go.”

They walked confidently towards the training ground.