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Jeong Gyeoul ended up in a situation where she was about to cause trouble from her very first audit class.

It looked like she was going to knock out the instructor conducting the class.

‘The water’s already spilled, so if you can’t avoid it, you might as well enjoy it…’

She started rationalizing her plan to beat up Instructor Kim Ho-il by interpreting a famous saying in her own way.

“Should I give you some time to prepare?”

“As if I need that! You’re the one who should be asking for a weapon. If you’re going to make excuses like being careless or not having a weapon, you better apologize now.”

“What are you talking about? You better give it your all. Don’t cry after getting beaten by a 14-year-old.”

“Your arrogance is through the roof. As your senior, I need to correct that pride of yours.”

Jeong Gyeoul couldn’t understand Kim Ho-il.

She was outmatched in both skill and connections.

What gave him the confidence to act like this?

He reminded her of Kim Su-chan, her subordinate from elementary school.

‘Come to think of it, what are Jeong-min and Su-chan up to these days? I haven’t heard from them lately. Ungrateful jerks.’

After the graduation ceremony, they contacted her every day, but Jeong Gyeoul always responded with short answers.

So, it was natural for the communication to stop, but she blamed it on Choi Jeong-min and Kim Su-chan.

She wiggled her fingers, planning to vent her anger about her subordinates on Instructor Kim Ho-il.

‘Bring it on!’

Seeing that, veins popped on Instructor Kim Ho-il’s forehead.

He seemed to tolerate verbal provocations to some extent, but he couldn’t handle the finger-wiggling provocation.

In sparring matches between heroes, seniors usually let the juniors make the first move, but this time, Kim Ho-il charged first.

“You’re dead!”

“…?”

Even so, Jeong Gyeoul had the intention to go easy since it was just a sparring match.

She planned to give him a few light taps and call it a day…

But Kim Ho-il’s body was radiating killing intent, and the force behind his punch was almost full power.

‘Is this guy crazy? Even if it’s a sparring match, is he trying to kill me?’

She couldn’t hide her disbelief at the sight of him charging at her with full force.

Pfft—

‘This is really, really self-defense, right? Even better.’

Jeong Gyeoul’s laugh seemed to make Kim Ho-il’s energy waver slightly, but it wasn’t enough to ignore.

He was still an A-Class Awakened One.

The aftermath of his magic power was so intense that some students started bleeding from their noses.

At that moment.

Boom—

Jeong Gyeoul stomped the floor of the sparring arena and released her magic power.

Whoooooosh—

Magic power far denser than Kim Ho-il’s began to seep out.

The amount of magic power she generated in an instant was more than what Kim Ho-il possessed.

And in the midst of it, she used telekinesis to create a protective barrier to shield the students from the aftermath.

Swish—

Jeong Gyeoul lightly spun her body to dodge Kim Ho-il’s punch, then bent her middle finger inward and pressed it with her thumb.

Kim Ho-il, who didn’t expect his attack to be dodged so easily, hadn’t prepared for a counterattack, leaving his side wide open.

“Yah!”

A cute battle cry, out of place for the situation, was heard.

Whoooosh—

Jeong Gyeoul’s arm extended, and at the same time, her thumb pressing the middle finger released, creating a tremendous shockwave.

The sound was as if the atmosphere had exploded from just the force of a single finger.

She even adjusted the angle to hit from below to above, just in case the students were affected.

A considerate Demon King-style flick was unleashed.

“Ugh!”

Kim Ho-il, who had concentrated his magic power in his torso to block the attack, let out a painful scream.

He managed to regain his posture and took a few steps back, but it was clear that his ribs were broken from the impact.

“W-wait! I think my bone is broken!”

“You said earlier that even if your bone cracks, you won’t stop the sparring, you punk.”

It’s true that a broken bone hurts more than a cracked one, but… Kim Ho-il had talked as if he could endure it with willpower.

Of course, Jeong Gyeoul didn’t stop.

She pressed him down with telekinetic pressure and recited a line she had always wanted to say.

“Kneel! This is the difference between you and me!”

He kept trembling, unable to escape Jeong Gyeoul’s pressure.

He tried to endure, but eventually, he knelt and then fell flat on the floor.

The difference in power was clear.

“T-that’s enough! Let me go!”

“Nope.”

“H-hurry up and release this! If this keeps up, my organs will get damaged!”

“Back in the day, people fought even with broken ribs stabbing their organs… It’s all because you lack noooooo effort!”

She kept pressing him down, telling him to endure since it was due to his lack of effort.

In the end, Kim Ho-il collapsed from exhaustion, and Jeong Gyeoul, looking slightly flustered, approached him to check his condition.

“…Is that a hero or a villain?”

“Is there anyone in our school who can beat her?”

“Not just the school, but in the entire hero industry, she’s definitely top-tier.”

“What about Lee Ha-yoon? Could she do it?”

As soon as the lackluster sparring ended, the students started buzzing.

“She probably fought the President to get the instructor position.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. The President is her master.”

When a male student mentioned that Hwarang Kim Yu-shin, the President, was Jeong Gyeoul’s master, the other students’ eyes turned to him.

“…Jeong Gyeoul was the President’s disciple?”

“Wasn’t she the Grand Mage’s disciple?”

“I thought she was an alchemist’s disciple.”

“Didn’t she learn from Jeong Ha-yul?”

“…How many masters does she have?”

“No matter who taught her, isn’t she just a monster herself?”

A female student chimed in, and the debate ended instantly.

Jeong Gyeoul, who had been lightly tapping Instructor Kim Ho-il’s cheek, spoke to the students.

“…Someone take him to the infirmary.”

“I-I’ll do it.”

A male student who wanted to impress Jeong Gyeoul volunteered and carried Instructor Kim Ho-il to the infirmary.

***

Since the instructor had collapsed, the class ended early.

“…The first class ended early, so see you next time!”

It was a satisfying result for everyone.

Just as she was about to leave the sparring arena after saying goodbye—

“Where do you think you’re going! You have to take over the class!”

“…Me?”

“You knocked out the instructor, so the class ended early.”

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me and going out to play instead?”

I genuinely can’t understand.

If I shortened the class time, shouldn’t you be praising me and buying me snacks? Why are you blaming me?

“Our time to get stronger has been reduced.”

Wow… look at how these kids think.

Are you watching, Jeong Ho-min? Our future is this bright.

If the students are this enthusiastic, maybe I should hang out with them for a bit.

“I don’t have any classes assigned yet… What should I teach?”

“Tell us about your first love!”

…Huh?

The bright future suddenly seemed to darken.

“Don’t listen to that crazy guy. Whether it’s magic control, combat methods by type, or the weaknesses of Awakened Ones, anything you know would be more helpful than Instructor Kim Ho-il.”

“Then… should I share a bit of what I learned from my sister since I was young?”

It would be tough to teach magic control or combat tips in the remaining time…

I thought it would be good to share some of the Demon King’s teachings that helped me a lot mentally.

“Oh, the Demon King’s secret techniques!”

“Instructor Kim Ho-il probably won’t show up for a while, huh?”

“Hurry up! I want to learn!”

The students’ enthusiasm for learning was almost overwhelming.

“Alright… what I’m going to teach isn’t about physical techniques, but it’ll help you mentally.”

What I’m about to do is essentially a theory class.

But the students were all excited.

Long live the Demon King.

If other students are like this, I could probably start a Demon King cult at the academy.

“First, let me ask you a question. If an A-Class and an S-Class fight, who would win?”

They looked at me as if it was an obvious question.

Why do you think I’m asking, kid? I’m asking because it’s necessary.

As I waited for their answers, the students, realizing it wasn’t a joke, started sharing their opinions.

“Obviously, the S-Class would win.”

“No doubt about it.”

“Why would an A-Class even fight if the opponent is S-Class?”

“I guess everyone thinks the same.”

“…?”

If I hadn’t learned from Jeong Ha-yul, I would’ve said the same thing.

All the students gave the same answer.

“You’re thinking wrong. It’s either prejudice or a misconception.”

“…So you’re saying the A-Class would win?”

“What’s the answer? It’s not like a hardworking A-Class would beat a lazy S-Class, right?”

The Awakened version of the tortoise and the hare?

That can’t be the answer.

“The answer is… whoever breaks the other’s head first wins.”

No matter who the opponent is, if you break their head first, you win. That’s how fights work.

“…?”

“What does that mean…?”

“Did I hear that wrong?”

The students seemed confused.

They didn’t seem to understand the great teachings of Jeong Ha-yul.

Do I need to explain it more?

“Don’t get too hung up on grades like C-Class, B-Class, A-Class, or S-Class. The amount of magic power isn’t everything. So, let me ask again. If the difference in grade was just one circuit? Let’s say the A-Class has 299 open circuits, and the S-Class has 300. Who would win this time?”

“…That would be a close match, right? Maybe a compatibility fight?”

“The Awakened One who trained harder would win, right?”

“Sigh… you still don’t get it, do you?”

I told you, whoever breaks the other’s head first wins, you idiots.

 

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