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While Jeong Gyeoul was receiving a shocking proposal from Kim Yu-shin, Jeong Ho-min, the president of the Hero Association, was also hearing some shocking news.

“…What are you talking about? Prophetic ability?”

“Exactly. A super-powered Awakened One with prophetic abilities has appeared in the U.S.”

“How reliable is this information?”

“It seems almost certain. Four of our Ghosts in the U.S. reported the same information simultaneously.”

Ghosts.

The hidden secret agents of the Hero Association.

They are like the Black Ops of the National Intelligence Service, an open secret.

Top-secret information sent by agents on the front lines of intelligence.

Jeong Ho-min wasn’t doubting the Ghosts, but he felt something was off.

“Already this much information has leaked?”

Jeong Ho-min, the association president, frowned as he skimmed through the documents.

Serena Olson, born in Korea, adopted overseas, now a 17-year-old American.

Information about an Awakened One that the U.S. was determined to keep secret had already reached this level?

This wasn’t some third-world country; this was the U.S. How could this be possible?

“Are you considering the possibility that the U.S. intentionally leaked this?”

“It’s too suspicious. If she were a real prophet, the U.S. would have tried to hide her. Yet, a few Ghosts managed to uncover this much?”

In a world where the number of heroes equated to national power, the U.S. was still the strongest nation.

Just in terms of S-Class heroes, they had more than double South Korea’s count.

Their intelligence network was also beyond what South Korea could match.

Even if all the Ghosts worldwide were focused on the U.S., it seemed impossible to gather this much information so easily.

Jeong Ho-min thought it was impossible unless the U.S. had intentionally leaked it.

“Then, is this just a smokescreen?”

“Would they write a whole novel just for a smokescreen? That’s unlikely. The story lacks plausibility. I think the prophetic ability might be real….”

A sudden appearance of a prophet?

It was too implausible.

The story was too poorly constructed to be a novel.

Ironically, that made him believe it was real.

“Just in case, tell the Ghosts to lay low for a while.”

“Should we just let this go?”

“No, send the Demon King to the U.S.”

“…Jeong Ha-yul?”

This time, the subordinate frowned.

“She almost lost her entire family in this incident. Will she move so easily?”

“On the contrary, we should use that to persuade her. If she keeps the prophet close, she might be able to predict such situations.”

“…Will that work? We don’t even know the extent of the prophecy.”

“It’ll work. Jeong Ha-yul’s love for her family is beyond imagination.”

If prophecy is possible, they could prepare for situations like this.

How far into the future can the prophet see? Can they see the future they want to see?

There’s no information about the ability, but if there’s even a slight possibility, Jeong Ha-yul would act.

***

“…Is prophecy really possible?”

“Awakening itself was once considered impossible.”

“Even if it’s possible, we don’t know if it’ll actually help.”

“True, but if there’s a possibility, we should take the chance.”

“If you bring her here, won’t you just enroll her in the Academy? Then what’s the point?”

“…What do you mean, no point?”

An Awakened One with prophetic abilities—if Jeong Ha-yul brings her, she’ll be admitted to the Academy through a special process, graduate early, and become a hero.

But if the prophet is tied to the Academy five days a week, would she even be useful?

“What if her ability only works when she’s close? What if she can only see a day or two into the future? Will you keep her close to us regardless of the Academy? Family safety is important, but isn’t it inhumane to treat someone like an accessory?”

“If we did that, the Human Rights Commission would be up in arms. The form might be similar, but the justification is different.”

“Justification?”

“The Hero Academy is desperate to have Gyeoul graduate early.”

“I heard about that yesterday, but why suddenly…?”

The day before, Jeong Gyeoul had successfully defended against the president’s push for early graduation.

But why bring that up now during a discussion about the prophet?

“Gyeoul doesn’t want to leave the Academy, right? Any idea why?”

“…She said she doesn’t want to be thrown into the hell of society at the young age of 14.”

“…That’s brutally realistic.”

Jeong Ho-min couldn’t hide his shock at the idea of not wanting to enter the “hell of society.”

‘I thought it might be about not wanting to leave her friends or wanting to stay close to Hayan….’

Jeong Ho-min’s plan was to make Jeong Gyeoul an instructor.

It would create a connection with the prophet and allow her to stay at the Academy—a win-win.

But Jeong Ha-yul’s expression turned微妙.

“You tried to make Gyeoul an instructor?”

“Yes, that was the plan. She could stay close to the prophet and remain at the Academy. But it seems the plan was doomed from the start.”

Jeong Ho-min had spent a whole day devising this strategy, but it was unusable.

Jeong Gyeoul didn’t want to leave the Academy not because she loved it, but because she didn’t want to enter society.

If that’s the case, she’d refuse to become an instructor, so the plan was already dead.

“Guess there’s no choice. We’ll handle this ourselves….”

As Jeong Ho-min sighed and tried to wrap up the conversation—

Tap tap tap tap tap—

Jeong Gyeoul rushed out of her room and interrupted.

“Wait a minute!”

“…Jeong Gyeoul?”

***

Twitch.

Today, she wanted to sleep in, but it seemed she eavesdropped on this conversation for a reason.

Jeong Ho-min, who had arrived early in the morning, was discussing something quite interesting.

She wasn’t interested in the prophet in the U.S.

After all, she had already crushed the Satan Church and become incredibly strong.

She wasn’t the weak Jeong Gyeoul who needed to rely on prophecies to protect herself.

Life is about carving out an unknown path.

That’s the fun of it.

So, she didn’t need prophecies.

Her interest was in becoming an Academy instructor.

It was an irresistible topic.

If she became an instructor, she wouldn’t have to attend classes and would get a salary from the Academy.

She could even eat at the faculty cafeteria.

And most importantly, it would further delay her entry into society.

It sounded ridiculous, but it was true.

Having a job might make it seem like she’s already entered society, but…

A first-year student suddenly becoming an instructor and conducting classes—who would even attend?

First-year students have fixed classes taught by experienced instructors.

They need a solid foundation.

So, she’d be assigned to teach elective classes for second and third years.

Elective classes are like university courses, where students sign up and attend.

But unless someone’s completely crazy, why would anyone attend her class?

No one would attend her class, meaning she’d just be lounging around in an empty classroom.

Eventually, she’d be fired, but since they forced her into the position, they wouldn’t easily let her go.

They’d hesitate to fire her out of conscience.

So, until then, she’d be a salaried bum.

“Guess there’s no choice. We’ll handle this ourselves….”

She was thinking about the benefits of being an instructor when Jeong Ho-min gave up and tried to leave.

‘Wait, you’re giving up without even asking me?’

Her body reacted immediately, and she rushed out of the room.

She remembered she had been pretending to sleep while eavesdropping, but…

That wasn’t important right now.

“Wait a minute!”

“…Jeong Gyeoul?”

Jeong Ho-min looked slightly flustered, avoiding eye contact like someone caught gossiping.

“When did Gyeoul wake up?”

“Just now.”

“Then you heard?”

“Yeah, the last part?”

It didn’t matter if she heard or not since it was about her.

“I was going to ask you later, but since you heard, you can answer now. You won’t do it, right?”

Jeong Ha-yul had heard everything yesterday, including why Jeong Gyeoul didn’t want to graduate early.

Of course, she thought Jeong Gyeoul would refuse.

“I’ll do it! I want to!”

“…?”

“I really want to! Being an instructor is my dream!”

“Yesterday, you said you didn’t want to be thrown into society at the young age of 14.”

“In the Joseon era, I’d be old enough to get married!”

“….”

Jeong Ha-yul looked at her in disbelief.

Jeong Ho-min was the same.

“A student is someone who learns. What more do I have to learn at a specialized school for Awakened Ones?”

“People should never stop learning. Besides, you said you didn’t want to graduate….”

“The world is vast, and there’s much to learn. Learning society as an instructor instead of a student is fine.”

“…Didn’t the president use that line to persuade you?”

Just a day ago, she had refuted that very argument to defend against early graduation.

But today, she was the one saying it.

But…

“I really want to be an instructor!”

I want to be a salaried bum under the name of an instructor!

 

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