I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 33

“……”

He had acquired a power unimaginable just hours before, yet his expression remained far from bright.

It was only natural.

He was grappling with an overwhelming pressure, a torrent of negative emotions, and a pain so intense that it felt as if tearing his own flesh would be less agonizing.

Tremble, tremble…

His fingertips quivered.

A suffocating fear surged within him, yet the rising pain made it seem impossible to maintain his sanity without a cigarette to steady his nerves.

Ssshh, ssshh…

In the sinkhole, where ruins and the corpses of creatures intertwined, thick clouds of cigarette smoke swirled.

“Haah.”

Of course, nicotine was hardly a remedy for his body, but it served its purpose well enough by masking the nauseating stench of blood.

Moreover, perhaps he was slowly acclimating to the pain, for he was no longer lost in a haze as he had been moments before.

“Recognition data.”

With a bit of composure returning, he summoned the information he had been stewing over.

The chip implanted in every soldier was an objective measure of his current state.

–

■User_Jin Crow

□Rank: Major

□Service Number (S.N): SMCO55-1113027

□Gear: ■Li■ (Error)

□Health Status: PTSD, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Headaches, Substance Abuse (???min), Paranoia, Anger Management Issues.

–

The recognition data that materialized before him was, as expected, even more corrupted than before.

The gear was pixelated, and the substance abuse, presumed to be a trigger for unleashing Jin Crow’s true potential, was similarly obscured.

‘Pentacle. Surely a potent drug, but…’

The side effects cannot be overlooked.

After all, even those entangled with extreme forces like the Red Hand or criminal organizations only resort to such measures in their final moments.

Of course, right now, distinguishing between cold rice and hot rice is not a luxury I can afford.

“Ugh.”

Without a second thought, I tossed aside the cigarette that had burned down to the end, forcing my creaking body to rise.

Perhaps it was the brief rest that helped.

Moving felt easier than before, but instinctively, I realized something.

I was certain that exhaustion would claim me before the effects of the pentacle wore off.

‘Oparts.’

It seemed I would need to find either Oparts or a less harmful stimulant as quickly as possible once this situation was resolved.

Though, of course, dealing with the chaos at hand was the more pressing concern.

He lifted his head.

The height was roughly ten meters.

For an ordinary person, even half that would be daunting, but with a time limit looming, it was no great obstacle for him, now a perfect triple gear.

“Huff.”

Taking a deep breath, he spun the gears that, unlike before, now turned with a smoothness that was almost unsettling.

The rest was merely the realm of habits etched into Jin Crow’s very flesh.

He planted his feet on the ground, releasing refined energy.

KWAAM!

His heavy boot struck the earth with a sound like thunder, and his vision quickly flipped.

Thud!

As he landed, his black coat billowing, he gripped his sword tightly, ready for any potential ambush, but whether it was misfortune or fortune, all that surrounded him was mere ruin.

A sense of unpleasant dissonance lingered, but perhaps it was just his heightened nerves.

“It’s a mess.”

Certainly, it could not be called a good situation, even in jest.

There was something wrong with the colony’s system itself; warnings from the AI, muddled with static, echoed all around, and the only things littering the ruins were the corpses of creatures, mingled with what had once been human flesh.

‘Let’s sort this out.’

The Synthetic Nation’s federal government, specifically the factions within the Ministry of Defense, had decided to abandon the planet Lemaal, and the defense forces, realizing this, had staged a coup alongside the Red Hand.

However, the creatures were a variable they had not anticipated.

‘Not a possibility, but a certainty.’

There were indeed factions or groups suspected of being able to control creatures, but such suspicions were nothing more than unconfirmed doubts or mere slanders.

At least, as far as he could remember, the Red Hand had never even been suspected.

No, if they could control them, they wouldn’t have used them so foolishly.

“Perhaps they are quite flustered. Yet, they wouldn’t give up so easily. If that’s the case…”

Their original goal was likely the occupation of the Atla Colony.

It seemed quite plausible.

First, if they spread the word among the inhabitants of Lemal that they had been half-abandoned, public sentiment would turn against the Federation to some extent. And since the betrayal of Major General Legchaff’s aide, they would have been well aware of all the nearby military hyperspace routes, making it difficult for the Federation forces to respond effectively.

“But the situation has changed.”

Creatures are a natural disaster.

At least the Empire had justifications like territory or legitimacy; the attackers still had not revealed why they were assaulting the Synthesized Nation.

Everything was mere uncertain speculation.

In other words, it was a variable as unpredictable as a rugby ball.

With things tangled this way, there was no way they would stick to their original agenda.

Thus, their contingency plan was likely…

“Securing cadets, weakening the Federation’s military strength, or capturing them.”

That was the only immediate gain they could achieve.

In other words, time was not on their side.

If it were him, the moment the initial assassination failed, he would have gathered only what was necessary and sunk the Atla Colony whole.

Superhumans are, after all, still human.

Even if gravity vanished and oxygen depleted, they could endure for a time using psionic energy, but it was no different than pouring water into a bottomless pit.

“Time has already passed quite a bit.”

Jin Crow thought this as he opened the crumpled hip flask and poured the remaining liquor into his mouth.

The stimulant didn’t overlap, so it might seem like a meaningless act at first glance, but what he sought was not the awakening effect but the warmth of alcohol.

No hesitation was needed.

What he required now was nothing but the venom that promised to bite anyone who dared to touch him.

Step by step.

Just as he was about to move his heavy, waterlogged body, worn down by fatigue.

“Grrk, grrgh…”

From not too far away, a sound of pain mixed with a presence reached his ears.

He turned his gaze, half-unconsciously.

As expected.

A thin finger, barely peeking out from beneath the rubble, twitched.

‘Miraculously alive.’

If I hadn’t seen it, I might not have known.

But having seen it, I couldn’t just leave it be.

The dreams would be restless.

Kugugugung!

Fortunately, it didn’t take much effort.

Whether it was luck or a survival instinct that drove her, there was a hollow space beneath the debris, so the injuries weren’t severe.

“Ugh, huff. Kkh….”

I hadn’t realized it before clearing the rubble, but that face was oddly familiar.

A navy uniform. A lieutenant’s insignia on her shoulder.

“Lieutenant Lee Hana?”

“…T-thank you. Ah? In-instructor. Kkugh!”

She seemed to finally grasp that the concrete pinning her down had been completely lifted, staring at him with dazed eyes before trembling at the surge of pain that washed over her.

“Ugh, I-I’m fine.”

Of course, as she said, she had only been pinned under heavy concrete, and she quickly regained her senses and rose to her feet.

Having rolled around quite a bit, her navy uniform was torn in several places, and the reinforced exoskeleton she had been wearing sparked before losing its light.

It seemed the reason she couldn’t escape on her own was that the exoskeleton had melted down during the battle.

“I thought I was going to die….”

However, there was a difference between her body being relatively intact and her mental state being sound, so she spoke to him with a half-crying expression.

But unfortunately, time was not on their side.

Jin Crow, instead of responding to her words, took a deep breath to conserve his strength and asked again.

“Current situation.”

“Y-yes?”

“Speak.”

Though her words were broken by the pain that pressed down on her, the meaning got through.

To summarize her lengthy explanation that followed:

Most of the high-ranking officers, including Major Legchap, were out of contact, a support request had come from the hangar, and the current situation was that the surviving commander of the 73rd Regiment was somehow trying to manage things…

‘To interpret it.’

The Major Legchaf was likely dead, and it would be wise to assume that the hangar had long since been breached.

Time was truly of the essence.

‘The cadets’ quarters.’

Yet, saving Lieutenant Lee Hana was not entirely without merit.

In fact, it had provided a decent sense of direction. It had alleviated the imbalance of information to some extent.

“The cadets… cough. Which way should I go to reach their building?”

“Head straight, then make your way toward Sector 12. But, are you sure you’re alright? The monsters…”

She answered Jin Crow’s words readily, yet inwardly, she worried for him.

Not only because he had saved her, but also due to what she had witnessed moments before.

The monsters… no, the creatures were so cruel and barbaric.

‘They… they surely tore the special operations officer apart.’

Though she didn’t know the special operations officer from the defense forces, the sight of a person being ripped apart like dried jerky was hard to frame in any positive light.

…The creatures tear people apart.

She hoped he wouldn’t go.

Partly because he was an instructor at the special operations academy, but also because, no matter how she looked at it, he didn’t seem to be in good shape.

‘Yes, we must save lives!’

Even if he was an authority figure, she couldn’t just let him walk into danger while she stood by.

It was not out of fear of being left alone.

Wiping the liquid—whether sweat or blood—trickling down her forehead with the back of her hand, she opened her mouth with a resolute expression that declared she could not let him go.

“Instructor! Don’t go…! Huh?”

At last, she could only blink her wide eyes in surprise, her voice escaping in a whisper.

Indeed, Jin Crow was already walking far away.

“Eek…”

In the end, Lieutenant Lee Hana muttered, tears welling in her eyes.

“I-I’m scared!”

It was a rather pitiful utterance.

*

-Kieeeek! Kieeeek!

“Hmm.”

Obia murmured indifferently as she melted down a mass-produced creature that resembled a clumsily sculpted insect in human form.

“Quite the ride.”

In truth, she had no knowledge to classify beasts she had only recently learned of, but as she delved into the lore of Jin Crow, her understanding had subtly expanded.

Thanks to this, she effortlessly melted the creatures that lunged at her since the onset of the colony’s assault, leaping toward the hangar’s ceiling.

Boom!

The ceiling of the hangar, solid yet unidentifiable, reverberated with a resounding thrum.

Obia, having just awoken from a deep slumber, stretched her stiff shoulders and, igniting flames at her fingertips with the precision of a cutting tool, began to hum a tune.

“Hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm-hmm.”

Crackle-crackle-crackle-.

Though the melted ceiling of the hangar was layered thick, it seemed insufficient to withstand the heat radiating from the special operations officer of the Quad Gear, soon revealing a small hole.

“Let’s see now….”

Obia muttered to herself as she cast her gaze downward.

Whether it was due to her keen positioning or the chaos within, an intriguing situation had already begun to unfold.

As expected.

Soon, familiar yet strange voices began to intertwine from within.

-Cough!

-What a pity. I mean it.

“Well, what will happen now?”

Obia wore a fleetingly wicked smile, eagerly awaiting the ensuing farce.