episode_0063

*****

The long three-day hospital stay has finally come to an end. As I recovered from all my actual injuries on the day of the incident, I am just happy that I can finally move my body a bit.

But I couldn’t just smile. This is because the news about Team Galaxy that I saw yesterday remained in a corner of my memory and made me feel uneasy.

‘Information control is in place regarding that matter. ‘Please treat your children appropriately.’

The reply from Changhyuk said only that. I wanted to ask in more detail, but in these chaotic times, it would be hard to find someone as busy as this guy. There’s no need to bother me for no reason.

Still, I ask you to be considerate… . It wouldn’t be a big deal for other kids, but I’m worried about Raon. Maybe it’s because most of the martial arts people around me are good friends, but I got along well with Cat, who uses magic.

He’s already a very affectionate child, so if he wants to visit, it’s going to be difficult. However, if I say that I don’t know what happened to Cat, I might look for it on my own.

Is there no excuse to stop caring about Cat? While I was worrying over and over again.

“Amida~!”

“Wow.”

Suddenly, something attacked from behind. He even jumped on top of me, so I ended up doing a piggyback ride without even thinking about it. Of course, it wasn’t the buttocks that caught it, but the legs.

“How long has it been since this? Are you feeling okay?”

“If it wasn’t okay, why did you get up there like this?”

“If it really wasn’t okay, Teacher Sia wouldn’t have sent me to school.”

That’s kind of convincing.

Of course, it’s natural that Raon is riding on my back. If a guy did something like this, he would be kicked out right away, and out of all the girls, Ra-on is the only one who is this friendly. I wonder if it would feel like this if I had a younger sister that I could hold my hands against.

“Did you lose at rock, paper, scissors?”

“Long time no see.”

As I was going through the backlog of conversation, I also ran into Hwa-in and Jeong-young coming from the men’s dormitory. The two of them aren’t much different from usual──huh?

“Hwain, your hair color has changed.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll tell you more details later during special training. Still, I think I went one step further.”

Hwain’s hair was originally dark red, but now it had bright red hair mixed in like a bridge. I see, I’ve finally started using Sarah in a proper way.

The painter looked desperate to somehow lower the rising corners of his mouth. Jumping over a wall is the most gratifying thing for an awakened person, so it makes sense. This is especially true for painters who have not been able to use their abilities properly for a long time.

There are also some who brag to others all day long. If you are a painter, you can say that you are good at self-control.

“Aren’t you putting too much strain on a patient who has just come out of the hospital bed?”

“It’s okay. Because I think it’s Goryeojang.”

“Abandon me!?”

Should I say it was unexpected or fortunate? The topic of internships didn’t come up at all.

For a high school student, was three days long enough to say everything worth talking about? Or is it because there is another reason? The exact cause was not identified, and the topic only lingered in the everyday range.

And if that happens, there will inevitably be something to talk about.

“By the way, did you hear that our homeroom teacher was changing?”

I flinch. I unconsciously reacted to the topic that came up unexpectedly. I forgot about it because I was thinking about Team Galaxy, but that was also an important situation for me.

I’m glad no one saw it because it was a momentary reaction. I felt Raon, who was on my back, looking down at me strangely, but I soon returned to the conversation.

“I heard that Teacher Sia is a temporary homeroom teacher who only changes while she is hospitalized. I never thought that the Emperor would come.”

“Isn’t Noejemyeon an incredibly famous hero?”

“It’s not that famous! He is a person who always appears in debates about who is the strongest hero. Although his appearance after going north has not been revealed, his appearance before that is comparable to America’s The Hero or Europe’s Magician──”

“Aren’t the Four Heroes the strongest?”

“Because there is a difference between feats and combat ability.”

Raon and Jeongyoung lightly ignore Hwain’s Japanese speech. You guys, no matter how annoying it is. If you ignore it like that, the child will die.

I had no choice but to talk about Hwain’s topic on her behalf. I quite like this type of VS best debate. If the heroes supporting each other were different, a catastrophe would occur, but since Fine is my fan, there will be no needless overheating.

At least that’s what I thought until 10 minutes ago.

“No, so the magician’s illusion magic was already destroyed by the priestess? It’s really no big deal if you know the pattern!”

“We are assuming a 1:1 relationship with the witch, so why does a priestess appear? And it was almost 10 years ago that the priestess saw through the magician. What is he to the best hero in Europe?”

“No, that’s… !”

The mouth that was about to say, “There is no answer unless the fundamental magician completely overhauls his magic system,” stopped by itself.

The fact that there is a fundamental method of destroying the Magician’s magic is a secret of secrets that only the Four Heroes, including me, know. Of course, I couldn’t make a promise with my bare mouth, so I even performed contract magic accordingly.

I was more upset than I expected when he summed up the conversation with an expression that made me think that the painter had won since I was unable to say anything due to restrictions. I need to triple my training volume today. I’ll have to show you hell.

“What are you so excited about this morning?”

“If a magician and a witch fight, who will win.”

“Otaku talk about a topic that seems like it could lead to war again… ”

“Speak as if you were talking about someone else’s business. Afternoon, you’ve been talking about Sword Saint VS Gwon Seong all day, right?”

“I will never bring up that topic right now because it is at a 2:1 disadvantage.”

“Please at least congratulate the ARMY on their discharge.”

Boys gathering secretly. These are the guys I always see, including Yoon Oh-jeong and Park Oh-hu. Well, there is no reason to increase the number of new members.

It varies depending on the atmosphere at the time, but when you see the kids in the class coming together, they are broadly divided into three groups: ‘corporate kids, non-corporate girls, and non-corporate boys.’ Or get together as a team and talk.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that corporate kids are bad or bad. There are many cases in which people who do not belong to the corporate group simply have their own goals, do not like belonging somewhere, or have ambiguous potential. It has a unique atmosphere, so the only difference is in inclination.

“Anyway, while talking about the Brain Emperor, the topic probably got lost. That’s all they’re talking about in school right now.”

“I looked up an old video and it looked really scary. Aren’t we being really hard on ourselves?”

“Still, there are quite a few people whose hero concept and actual personality are different. Ami, haven’t you heard anything from Teacher Sia?”

The arrow of the story came back to me. I’ll find out soon enough anyway, so I wonder if there’s any need to talk about it.

I’m probably running a happiness circuit in my head. And he hopes that I will affirm that happiness circuit.

The image of the Emperor the Terrible, which has been recorded as such, is not a person you would want to have as a teacher, even if you were a commander on the battlefield. Especially if you are a homeroom teacher.

Unfortunately, as a true classmate, I could not leave my friend’s false expectations as they were. There is a saying that if you know how to hit someone, it will hurt less. You will be less shocked if you know even a little bit about Junseok.

In fact, Jun-seok’s incredible episode filled me with joy.

“This is what I heard from Sia.”

The example I brought up was when Jun-seok went to apply for overseas help. At that time, hero power was not as proficient as it is now, so it was not uncommon for veteran heroes to lead new units and participate in important operations.

It is common knowledge these days that appearance or age are not important in the hero industry. However, since it was not to that extent at the time, it seems that the new unit, which had been active for about a year, ignored Jun-seok’s instructions.

It doesn’t happen often even by today’s standards, but Junseok may or may not have turned 20 at the time. Jun-seok’s attitude might not have been nice, so he might not have liked it as a unit commander.

Failure to follow instructions from the lead unit. Junseok took special action on the spot.

“What did you do?”

“I buried all the unit members.”

It’s not like they just exposed the head and buried it. He put the oxygen supply magic tool in his mouth and literally buried it deep underground.

No matter how much an awakened person surpasses human limitations, he or she is only 1 to 2 years old at most. In front of the weight of nature in tens of tons, it is a force of about an error.

“Isn’t that cruelty!?”

“Well. I don’t know whether he was punished after that or not. Oh, and something like this happened──”

When I told them about similar or worse episodes, their faces turned pale.

Yeah, you guys are in big trouble now. Go home quickly and tell your parents. So, let’s kick out Jun-seok due to parental protest.

For your information, although he hid it for fabrication, Jun-seok’s actions were not punished.

For example, the act of burying the unit members in the desert—of course, Jun-seok clearly had personal grudges—was also done to protect them from the monsters that were roaming the desert at the time. If the operation had been continued without the unit’s members cooperating, the unit could be said to have made the save even if the majority of its members died.

Well, to put it on the other hand, it would be a terrible punishment from the student’s point of view because it would be a terrible punishment as long as the line is maintained.

“That’s not all. What a sharp and scary person he is in his daily life. Has anyone seen the interview about the inauguration of the Thunder Emperor S-Class Hero?”

Hearing what I said, the kids hurriedly started searching video sites. Since there were very few S-class heroes in the first place, the interview video popped up quickly.

[Hey, over there. Sorry, but may I ask you why you became a hero?]

Even if you just listen to it, it’s not a tone you would use in an interview. Of course, I don’t blame the reporter. This is because the force emanating from the Emperor in front of us is terrifying.

You can’t feel momentum through a video, but something can be conveyed through facial expressions or atmosphere. The children also swallowed their saliva and waited for the Emperor’s answer.

[plural.]

[yes?]

[The reason I took the path of a hero is revenge. In order to kill a man, I have trained and become stronger.]

[Well, then, my resolution for the future… .]

[I think it would be an inappropriate comment for the interview, so I will decline.]

A reporter who became mute after eating honey. Of course, the video ended in an instant.

This alone is truly extraordinary; the Emperor who is coming here now has spent almost 10 years on the front lines. It was not easy to even imagine how eccentric he must have become.

The children also expressed their despair in their own ways, such as looking out the window and sighing or holding their heads.

“Hey, what should we really do?”

“This video was released successfully. It wouldn’t look very good for a hero of the Emperor’s caliber to fight with this kind of motivation.”

“That’s right. Even with a little editing, it wouldn’t have been a problem to make it look like a middle school student concept.”

“Looking at the wiki, it looks like the Emperor put pressure to send it as is.”

“You must have seen this as a revenge target, right? and… . Seriously, how can that person live because he’s scared?”

I saw. I was so scared. No, if we had fought 1:1, we wouldn’t have lost.

Still, Jun-seok could have really killed me. After watching the video, I was so scared for three days that I was shocked.

Looking at the children in despair, I feel proud that the plan to remove the Emperor is progressing smoothly. As soon as Sia’s body gets better, the foundation is being prepared for a replacement.

It is said that it takes three years for Seodanggae to recite Pungwol, and if I am someone who has seen what the intelligence department does next to Changhyuk, this is easy!

Deeng─, deeng─.

As we talked, it wasn’t long before the bell rang to signal the time for the morning ordinance. The kids in the class who usually chatter loudly until Sia comes in barely make a whisper today.

Plop, plod.

The sound of footsteps heading in this direction gradually becomes louder. Accordingly, I felt a little anticipation rising in my heart along with anxiety.

Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I last met that guy.

Other acquaintances said that 7 years had passed, but from my perspective, most people didn’t feel much emotion. However, in the case of Jun-seok, I had been avoiding him for 3-4 years, so I had a strong feeling that it had been a long time since we had seen each other again.

Even though there is some bad blood between us, that guy is my first student. Therefore, I am anxious that my every move might be caught and my identity may be discovered. And the anticipation of how great he would have grown over the past 3, or even 10 years, coexisted within me.

Suddenly, the front door of the classroom opened. It was also inevitable that the eyes of the entire class would be drawn to that direction.

Now, how much are you now? !

… ─.

… ?

Who are you?

The person who opened the door and came in was a man wearing sweats. It feels exactly like that, no more, no less, and I can’t think of anything else to describe it.

A loose T-shirt and sweatpants. Slippers that fit together well. His hair is all matted, as if he hasn’t even washed it, and he has a sparse beard growing near his chin where he yawns openly.

I wondered if I was hallucinating, so I glanced around and saw that all my classmates were also confused. I guess the janitor came in to take something. Please ask who is the teacher. I could feel that atmosphere slowly spreading.

In fact, the person in question seemed to be as unconcerned about the student’s embarrassment as he was about his own appearance. It’s as if all the annoyances and annoyances in the world have been gathered together. Even when I was standing in front of the teacher’s table, I didn’t know how to open my mouth.

But that’s the only thing I can open my mouth about here. He slowly began to raise his voice as if he was aware of that fact. Although it was a long sigh.

“Ah, uh, what is it? As you all probably know, I am Park Jun-seok, the emperor of the brain. I will also be your homeroom teacher until Teacher Joo Sia returns. Everyone knows, right?”

Although it ended with a question, the response was cold. Everyone probably didn’t have the brains to answer. So did I.

… Why are you so broken!?

At least when I was on active duty, the most common impression people had when meeting the Emperor the Terrible was that he looked like a well-forged sword. Simple fashion that emphasizes practicality made people feel functional and showed caution to those around them, while also giving the impression that their exceptional abilities were sharp.

I was never, ever like an unemployed man who happened to stop by a convenience store!

“Well, that’s okay. I do not teach classes in general subjects. I do not plan to teach the afternoon class unless it is for some students. Well then, let’s see later.”

After saying that, Junseok went outside again. The sound of trudging footsteps fades away again. Now that I think about it, a good idea occurred to me that the sound of the footsteps was not the sound of shoes.

“… ? Why are you guys doing this?”

It was only after the first period teacher came that we could barely understand the reality that our homeroom teacher was that person.

*****