A Veteran Teaches Very Well

part 62

【Ordinary? That’s a disappointing remark.】

“……!”

A voice came from somewhere.

Who is it?

【What are you looking at? It’s here.】

The voice echoed again.

No, could this even be called a voice?

It felt like it was resonating directly in my head, not just something I heard.

Could it be?

“Jaybult…”

【Yes, it’s me.】

The magic sword Jaybult.

This thing was actually speaking to me.

Could it really be an ego sword? It wasn’t just any magic sword after all.

【Seriously, Seong-woong, to entrust me to such a rookie. I’m more than disappointed.】

The word “rookie” dug into my chest, but it wasn’t wrong.

Even though the ego sword was special, it was still ultimately a weapon.

The purpose of a weapon is, after all, to fight against enemies.

So, the ego sword would inevitably want a strong master, and I couldn’t even dare to compare myself to the swordsman Jo Seong-woong.

【Seong-woong is an incredible man.】

Once the fourth strongest among Korean heroes.

Of course, he would be incredible.

In my current state, I wouldn’t even be able to exchange a few strikes with him.

“I know.”

【No, the new master wouldn’t know. Every time his hand touched the sword, it was electrifying.】

Was the way he handled the sword different from mine?

I was curious.

What was the difference between me and the swordsman?

“How was it different? Between me and that person.”

【What about technique? Hah… just imagining it excites me.】

“Really?”

Jaybult let out a strangely alluring voice.

Something felt off, but I brushed it aside, thinking I was just misunderstanding.

Technique must refer to swordsmanship, right?

“Um…”

【He’s incredibly skilled and has great stamina, able to go all day long. He’s a man who can make any sword feel good. I wonder how the new master will be?】

What the hell.

I threw the Jaybult I held in my hand roughly.

【Ugh! How can you handle a sword so roughly? Are you jealous? Hmm, you’ve underestimated your new master. But I kind of like this.】

The image of Jo Seong-woong in my mind began to plummet.

From a suave, retired master to an ugly old man, and now, to make matters worse, with a sword…

Surely this is just a misunderstanding, right?

Looking back, Jo Seong-woong did seem relieved to hand over the Jaybult.

It felt like the pieces of a puzzle were falling into place in my mind.

Could it be because of this? This cursed sword, with such a way of speaking.

It’s no wonder the cursed sword is frightening.

Wooong! Wooong!

The cursed sword rolling on the floor began to tremble on its own.

What kind of function is that?

It seems there are restrictions on speaking if it’s not in contact with a body.

“Where are the bandages?”

After soaking the pure white bandages in holy water, I wrapped the cursed sword tightly and placed it in a long box.

The Jaybult tried to say something, but I ignored it all.

I’ll take it out later if I need it.

“I should have asked for something else.”

I felt a bit of regret.

I didn’t know there was such a setting because the Jaybult wasn’t a weapon that players could obtain.

In the game, whenever Jo Seong-woong talked about the Jaybult, he always said something similar.

─This is a cursed sword that contaminates the user’s mind. It’s not a weapon suitable for a hero, so I’ll give you something more fitting.

Was that contamination what he meant?

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

* * *

The first round of selection was over.

As we formed a party centered around Park Seo-hu, the conditions were easily narrowed down.

We would definitely take one healer and one mage, and I planned to pick the rest of the members accordingly.

To balance with the other groups, I adjusted the scores moderately.

Thus, the remaining students totaled 19.

Although the number has significantly decreased from the initial 800, it still felt substantial when considering that everyone would be interviewed.

The competition ratio was 5 to 19.

Among them, Park Seo-hoo was expected to pass, making it 4 to 18.

“No, to be precise, there’s one more.”

I glanced at the profile of another candidate.

Na Jin-soo.

Class: Assassin, entrance exam score: average.

He hadn’t shown anything particularly special in the lectures we were attending, but he wasn’t lagging behind others either.

At first glance, he seemed quite ordinary, but there was one special element.

“Playable character.”

He wasn’t a standout among the playable characters, but having him wouldn’t be a disadvantage.

I hadn’t originally planned to take him along, but there was no reason to stop someone who insisted on coming.

The more playable characters, the better.

“Looks like I can make a rough estimate.”

With a warrior and an assassin already decided, the best balance would be to have two wizards and one priest.

So, out of the 17, 12 were wizards and 5 were priests.

“Now that it’s over, it’s not a big deal.”

I called the teaching assistants to start preparing for the interviews. Upon my call, Assistant Lee Ye-eun and a newly appointed assistant arrived.

“Both of you, sit comfortably.”

“Yes!”

“…Yes.”

Assistant Cheon responded energetically.

Lee Ye-eun seemed to lack energy, perhaps due to not feeling well.

Assistant Cheon.

One of the researchers who had moved from Yoon Seong-yeop’s lab to mine.

Lee Ye-eun had already been complaining about how tough things were, and with the new students transferring in, it was expected to get even busier, so I had appointed another assistant.

However, Lee Ye-eun’s reaction was sulky.

“Why are you hiring another assistant? I’m here.”

“Why? It’s this assistant who said the work was hard. Having one more would make it easier.”

“Forget it… You’re such a fool, Professor.”

I thought you would be a little happy.

The reaction was bland, almost cold.

Assistant Cheon glanced around the professor’s office.

Unlike Lee Ye-eun, who stamped her attendance every day, this place seemed unfamiliar to her.

“Hey, could you make me some coffee?”

“Sure.”

Clatter, clatter!

What was that?

The sound of grinding beans was anything but ordinary.

If you grind them that roughly, the beans get damaged, and the coffee loses its flavor.

Still, it felt a bit rude to point that out to someone who was making it for me, so I kept quiet.

Swish—

Lee Ye-eun held a packet over the finished coffee and poured in the sugar.

How much did she put in? The cup was overflowing with the contents spilling out.

Normally, Lee Ye-eun’s coffee always had sugar, but this was something else.

She didn’t even stir the coffee.

What on earth was this?

Thus, two cups of Lee Ye-eun’s special coffee were completed.

“Here you go.”

They were placed in front of me and Assistant Cheon.

Is this even safe for a person to drink?

Assistant Cheon and I exchanged glances, unsure.

Lee Ye-eun smiled sweetly, but her expression was frightening.

“Aren’t you going to drink it?”

I wanted to answer, but the words just wouldn’t come out.

Reluctantly, I closed my eyes and took a sip.

Gulp—

Mmm.

What should I say?

It tasted like sugar. Not sugar water. This was just sugar.

Struggling, I chewed the coffee and swallowed it down my throat.

“Why isn’t Teacher Cheon eating?”

“Eek!”

When Lee Ye-eun shot a glance at Teacher Cheon, he too forced it down.

We managed to empty our cups with great effort.

Lee Ye-eun asked.

“Would you like another cup?”

Teacher Cheon and I shook our heads simultaneously.

The coffee had become tiresome. It was time to get to the point.

I pulled out the prepared student documents.

“You’ll be going as interviewers too, so check this. We’ll be selecting 5 out of these 19.”

Lee Ye-eun and Teacher Cheon slowly reviewed the students’ profiles.

Lee Ye-eun was the first to ask.

“This looks strange no matter how I see it?”

“Really? What do you mean?”

“Why are they all wizards and apprentices? If we form a group with just these kids, Group A will be a mess.”

I pulled out the two profiles at the bottom and showed them to Lee Ye-eun.

“Aha, there was an internal candidate.”

Lee Ye-eun quickly answered.

“If it’s Park Seo-hu, he definitely qualifies. He’s the top freshman, after all.”

As Lee Ye-eun praised Park Seo-hu, Teacher Cheon nodded along.

“That’s right. I heard he got the highest score ever on the entrance exam. I don’t think I could do that even if I took the exam again. He’s impressive in many ways.”

“But what about this one?”

Lee Ye-eun pointed to Na Jin-soo’s profile.

Teacher Cheon seemed curious too and nodded.

I pulled out the excuse I had thought of in advance.

“It’s to balance the party. With Park Seo-hu in the mix, the physical damage ratio of the party becomes too high. So, in searching for a suitable physical dealer, I found that Na Jin-soo would be a good fit.”

“Aha.”

The teachers seemed satisfied and didn’t ask any further questions.

“Then let’s get ready.”

* * *

Dungeon Research and Practical Classes.

Most students didn’t even know such classes existed, and those who saw the name during the registration period avoided it after reading the course description.

─Wow… No matter how much it’s a pass/fail system, this is a bit much, isn’t it?

─Dungeon practice? Ugh. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. Why would they include something like that in a freshman course?

When it was first offered, it was an unpopular class that barely filled half of its maximum capacity.

The number of students was so meager it felt almost pathetic for a general education course.

But that evaluation vanished completely within a month.

─I heard that professor is the one who wrote that paper?

─My mom knows the professor’s name too. He must have been in the news a lot.

─Damn, I should have signed up back then.

All previous tactical models had fallen behind.

The latest tactical model adopted by massive guilds around the world.

Its excellence was unanimously acknowledged by all guilds.

However, there was still too little research on the subject.

Everyone knew it was good, but very few guilds knew exactly how to utilize it.

Guilds collaborated to conduct independent research, but they were still only at the starting stage.

So, every guild was desperate to meet Cha Eun-woo, the author of the paper.

But no one could meet him.

Rumors circulated that he had unofficially contacted the Unicorn Guild, but it remained just that—rumors. Only the parties involved knew the truth.

In such a situation, being able to attend Cha Eun-woo’s lecture was a privilege exclusive to the Florian students.

In front of the professor’s office, students were huddled together.

These were the students who had passed the first round of document screening.

They looked at each other in surprise.

“Wait? You passed too?”

“You did?”

“Wow, even Kim Young-cheol passed? Does that mean our department’s level is actually really high?”

In the same class, many familiar faces had been filtered out based on similar grades to pass the first round.

As they exchanged delighted greetings, a student with glasses voiced an opinion.

“Aren’t there a ton of first-round passers? So they’re splitting us up for interviews, and since we’re in the same department, we got grouped together.”

“Oh, that’s it.”

“That makes sense.”

As the student with glasses puffed up his shoulders, another student interrupted.

“I don’t think that’s right. Look over there.”

“Yeah?”

“Isn’t that Park Seo-hu?”

Park Seo-hu from the Swordsmanship Department.

As the top freshman, he was a well-known figure at Florian, and everyone easily recognized his face.

Seeing Park Seo-hu, everyone had the same thought.

Without a doubt, he’s going to pass.

“Wow, I’m in class with Park Seo-hu?”

“When did you develop the talent for talking nonsense?”

“Why?”

“What makes you think you’ll pass? Just being here means you’ve used up all your luck for a lifetime.”

“This guy’s going to lose, then.”

“Hey, hey, stop it. I’m going to pass anyway, so if you guys keep this up, I’ll feel bad.”

The students from the Wizard and Priest classes were gathered, chatting among themselves.

In a corner, there was one student watching them.

‘What a joke.’

Najin-su.

He was different from the others.

While most students at Florian harbored grand ambitions of becoming great heroes, Najin-su was content.

He wanted to become a hero, earn just enough to get by, and then retire to live a leisurely life.

So he didn’t dream of extraordinary things like Professor Cha Eun-woo’s lectures.

─They’re taking more students for Professor Cha’s class.

─Really? Hey, let’s sign up too.

─Jin-su, you’re going to do it, right?

He had come here simply because his friends had pushed him into it.

—

It would have been strange if I didn’t apply when everyone else did.

So I felt a bit dissatisfied.

The other kids came in groups with their friends, but I was all alone.

No, to be precise, there was one more thing.

‘Oh, is that person alone too?’

Najinsoo glanced at Park Seohu for a moment.

Park Seohu also seemed to have no one he knew.

Najinsoo clicked his tongue.

Park Seohu was different from an ordinary student like Najinsoo.

Everyone passing by pretended to know him, so how could he be alone?

“Students numbered 12 to 17, please come in.”

Following the assistant’s guidance, the students entered.

The kids who had been loudly occupying the hallway until a moment ago had either finished their interviews or gone in, leaving the hallway empty.

Najinsoo’s number was 18.

In the empty hallway stood Najinsoo.

And Park Seohu too.

‘Why are only the two of us left?’

Najinsoo thought about starting a conversation but decided against it.

He wasn’t particularly shy, but the other person was intimidating.

Someone too impressive made him uncomfortable.

However, Park Seohu didn’t seem to think that way and approached Najinsoo.

“Hey. Looks like it’s just us now?”

“Uh? Oh, yeah.”

“I’m Park Seohu from the Swordsmanship Department. What’s your name?”

Najinsoo muttered to himself.

Even without saying it, anyone at the academy would know you’re Park Seohu, right?

Still, he forced a smile and greeted him.

“I’m Najinsoo. I’m in the Assassin class.”

“If we end up in the same group, I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah.”

Is this the composure of the top freshman?

Unlike Nah Jin-soo, who had no guarantee of acceptance, it wasn’t strange for Park Seo-hoo to say such things.

Yet, Nah Jin-soo didn’t envy Park Seo-hoo.

Few people would feel envy watching a bird soar through the sky.

The same went for Park Seo-hoo.

Nah Jin-soo and Park Seo-hoo were of different kinds.

So, there was no envy.