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The appraisal results for the necklaces were as follows:

– Magic Recovery Necklace.

– Detoxification Necklace.

– Transformation Necklace. (Black Armor)

– Pretty Necklace. (x4)

4 duds, 3 wins.

Even though I carefully picked them out, more than half turned out to be duds.

If I had just grabbed them randomly, it would have been a disaster.

Due to Park Seol-hwa’s magic issues, today’s appraisal is over.

I thought about distributing them today, but since they’re gifts, it feels a bit off to give some now and others later.

It’s better to finish appraising everything after squeezing Park Seol-hwa for a few days and then distribute them all at once.

If I fill Park Seol-hwa with all the magic-related items that appear, I can probably speed things up by a few days.

The gifts that have been appraised will be given to Jeong Ha-yul, Lee Ha-yoon, Park Seol-hwa, Jo Se-hee, Baek Kang-woo, Yoo Eun-chae, Lee Chae-rin, Master, and Association President Jeong Ho-min.

Oh, I should also set aside something for the Queen and the Crown Prince.

Ah, and there’s Teacher Choi Ye-na.

Ah, and Hayan’s sister too.

And there’s the dorm supervisor, Senior Hong Yeom, and Master’s master from Chunsam…

If I’m going to include the dorm supervisor, I should also include Instructor Kim Gae-soo and Instructor Yoo Soo-gap…

…

Just counting like that, it’s already 19 people.

When did my network get this big?

Is this really Jeong Gyeoul, the loser from the shantytown?

My chest feels grand.

But if I give all these away as gifts, I won’t have anything left for myself.

Should I just do a lottery live on YouTube?

Honestly, no matter how indifferent I am to money, giving away artifacts worth billions each in such quantities is a bit much.

It’s like winning the lottery and giving out small allowances or treating people to food, but no one gives out cars to everyone.

Even family members hide it.

It’s not that I’m stingy with the artifacts.

…Really.

Let’s just give them to the people who were here and enforce strict secrecy.

The rest of the artifacts… I’ll share them with family and maybe give them as gifts after another trip to the Demon Realm.

Whether I do it this way or that way, it’s all after the appraisal is done.

If someone gets a Magic Recovery Necklace now and a better recovery ring comes out later, they’ll feel cheated.

***

No matter what accidents happen, no matter what incidents occur.

No matter what you’ve accomplished or how hard it was to get there.

In the end, a working person has to go to work.

Kim Yu-shin, who took on the role of the Academy’s President, was no exception.

As soon as he arrived at work, he was faced with numerous documents.

After the Satan Church attack, the number of documents the President had to handle personally seemed to have more than doubled.

“…Suddenly, I feel like I shouldn’t have taken this job.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that all of a sudden…?”

The secretary, who had also come to work at the Hero Academy to brief on the day’s tasks, blinked at Kim Yu-shin’s sudden remark.

“I’m talking about the President’s position. It’s tougher than being the guild leader of Oseong.”

“…There have been a lot of incidents lately. But it’s surprising that it’s harder than being a guild leader.”

“Being a guild leader was pretty much a cushy job.”

Kim Yu-shin shook his head, spouting words that would make Park Seol-hwa, the guild leader of Daehyun and a potion-making machine, have a fit.

“As a fellow working person and your superior, I probably shouldn’t have said that. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Honestly, with the current workload, even if they offered me the President’s position, I’d probably decline.”

“The way you talk, you sound like the next President.”

“…Huh?”

“Just kidding.”

“…That was the scariest joke I’ve heard this year.”

“Let’s get back to work.”

Kim Yu-shin showed off his old-school charm by relieving stress with jokes at his subordinate’s expense.

“There are no meetings scheduled for the morning. You have to tackle that mountain of documents.”

“Sigh, I never imagined there would come a day when I’d miss the times I spent all day in meetings.”

Since taking office, Kim Yu-shin had spent more time meeting people here and there than at the Academy.

Back then, the former President Kim Bong-du had neatly wrapped up all the work, so there was very little to do internally at the Academy.

Thanks to that, he spent all day going out for meetings… but now he found himself missing those days.

“At 1 PM, you have a meeting with Association President Jeong Ho-min.”

“…He’s the most annoying one. Well, it’s better to get it over with quickly.”

“At 3 PM, there’s a meeting with the broadcasting station directors…”

“…They’re not easy opponents. It would be nice if we could get some help from Guild Leader Park Seol-hwa.”

As soon as he heard “directors,” he remembered the incident where Park Seol-hwa had wrapped the directors around her finger.

The Oseong Guild was on pretty good terms with the Daehyun Guild.

At a time when media scrutiny was giving him a headache, he had asked her directly, and the answer he got was ridiculous.

It was a method that Oseong could never replicate.

‘A stamina potion? You’re telling me the media changed their direction because of one potion…?’

He shook his head in disbelief, but he couldn’t help but envy Park Seol-hwa, who could control people with just one potion.

At least the Academy’s President position was akin to a government official, so he consoled himself that it was better than being the Oseong Guild Leader.

“At 5 PM, there’s a meeting with the families of the victims.”

“We should have met them first, but it’s too late now. Let’s prepare the best compensation plan we can offer.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it. And at 6 PM…”

“Wait, it’s not over yet?”

“Yes, there are still three more meetings…”

“What about leaving work? Don’t tell me there’s no leaving work today?”

“Huh? Leaving work?”

The look in his eyes said, “Did you really think you could leave work?”

“…How do I resign from the President’s position? Just throwing in a resignation letter won’t do it, will it?”

“You can’t.”

“How can that be? Even the President can resign, but the Academy President can’t?”

“Still, you can’t.”

“…?”

“Anyway, you can’t.”

“I’ll just throw in my resignation and leave.”

“I’ll tear it up.”

“….”

President Kim Yu-shin has his resignation rejected by his secretary.

***

In a Japanese restaurant room in Cheongdam-dong.

A combination that could look dangerous at first glance—a middle-aged man and a minor—was seated.

“So… you made an excuse and barely got out?”

“It was huge. The most important thing to me is the students! When I said that, even the secretary couldn’t move.”

“….”

-Please let me leave work.

-No.

-Today’s my daughter’s birthday.

-You don’t have a daughter.

-It’s my dog’s birthday, who’s like a daughter to me.

-You have a fur allergy, so you don’t have pets.

-It’s a Sphynx dog. No fur.

-Sphynx is a cat.

-….

-….If you insist, use a meeting with Jeong Gyeoul as an excuse to take the day off.

-Is that possible?

-Who’s going to say anything if the President is looking after a student? Especially Jeong Gyeoul.

He begged and pleaded with the secretary to use a meeting with Jeong Gyeoul as an excuse to clear his schedule, but he couldn’t tell his disciple about this.

Given Jeong Gyeoul’s personality, she’d probably try to outdo her master.

Since it’s already certain that she’ll surpass him in skill, he had to at least save face.

“What are we supposed to discuss?”

“It’s nothing much…”

Saying it’s nothing but trailing off seemed suspicious.

“If it were nothing, you wouldn’t have used it to clear your schedule.”

“You’re sharper than I thought.”

“What do you even think of me…”

Feeling that further conversation would be disadvantageous, he quickly cut Jeong Gyeoul off.

“It’s nothing much, but I think it’s time for you to graduate from the Academy.”

“…Huh?”

Kim Yu-shin’s one-liner was a success.

A surprise attack that hit the mark.

Jeong Gyeoul was left speechless by the well-placed attack.

“Someone like you graduating early would be beneficial for both the students and the instructors.”

“I still want to be a student!”

Graduating from the Hero Academy would make Jeong Gyeoul a real hero.

Upon graduation, a license is issued, so it’s a given.

Which means…

Jeong Gyeoul, who is just a middle schooler, would immediately become a working adult.

Being thrust into the frontlines of society is a harsh path for a 14-year-old middle schooler.

“A student is someone who learns. What more is there for you to learn at a specialized school for the Awakened?”

“…Learning is endless. One must constantly learn.”

Jeong Gyeoul’s mind started spinning rapidly as she was cornered.

“The world is vast, and there’s much to learn. What you need to learn isn’t just at the Academy.”

A fierce battle between the spear trying to push for early graduation and the shield trying to stay ensued.

“School isn’t just a place to learn academics; it’s a small society. You learn about people, character, and manners.”

“What you learn in a small society can also be learned in the big society. Wouldn’t it be great to step into the big society early and learn? You can’t stay trapped in a well forever.”

Neither Jeong Gyeoul’s nor the President’s words were wrong.

But… Jeong Gyeoul is only 14.

It’s too early for her to step into society.

Kim Yu-shin knew that too… but there was no other choice.

“Be honest. Why are you so eager to push me out?”

“…They said no.”

“Huh?”

“The instructors are boycotting you!”

“…Crazy.”

“What did you say?”

Although they haven’t seen Jeong Gyeoul’s growth after returning from the Demon Realm, all the instructors clearly saw her fighting the Satan Church in the auditorium.

-Jeong Gyeoul is no longer someone I can teach.

-No matter what, how can a teacher give up on a student?

-It disrupts the balance of the class. For the sake of the other students…

-Hey, are you saying we should sacrifice the few for the many? Is that what a teacher should say…

-Why don’t you, the President, open a class and teach her yourself?

-…Let’s just have her graduate.

Of course, it wasn’t about giving up on Jeong Gyeoul’s education.

In fact, she would be provided with an even better environment than at the Hero Academy.

Homeschooling by a few teachers, including Choi Ye-na.

But Jeong Gyeoul wasn’t looking for real education, and she wouldn’t easily accept it.

“I absolutely won’t graduate.”

“….”

Scolded by the secretary, scolded by the instructors, scolded by his disciple.

Today was a harsh day for Kim Yu-shin.

 

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