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Suddenly, I ended up taking over the class, and all future auditing was canceled.

Sitting in the cafeteria, I was trying to figure out how things had come to this and where I had gone wrong.

A shadow fell over me.

“Hello, Instructor Jeong Gyeoul!”

“…Yes, hello.”

A man was grinning at me.

Judging by his name tag, he was an administrative office employee.

It hadn’t even been 10 minutes since I mentioned the salary cut, and now an admin employee was here in the cafeteria with documents?

‘What’s with the speed? Did they know this was coming and were waiting for it?’

I couldn’t hide my unease.

It felt like everything was falling into place too perfectly.

Why did Jeong Ha-yul take me to the U.S. in the first place?

It feels like things started going downhill from there.

Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted the early graduation and the instructor offer.

Was Serena even real?

No, that’s too far.

I even confirmed her abilities on the Prophet Ship.

If I think about it that way, it would mean that some mastermind in Korea orchestrated the S-Class heroes from the U.S., Japan, and China to get me into this instructor position… That can’t be.

“Instructor, thank you so much. The budget was already tight.”

“…Sure.”

I was already stressed, and now they’re causing a scene.

I feel like punching someone.

“I understand the mindset behind your decision to voluntarily cut your salary a hundred times over.”

“…Huh?”

If they knew my mindset, they’d be shocked.

Right now, I feel like flipping over the admin office and the president’s office.

“Thank you for your noble choice. Instructor Jeong Gyeoul is exactly the kind of talent the academy needs.”

So… did they need an instructor who would take less money, or did they need my abilities?

As I kept looking at the grinning employee, I almost raised my hand.

‘Calm down, Black Flame Dragon.’

The moment I signed the document agreeing to the voluntary salary cut, the Black Flame Dragon in my right arm tried to go berserk again.

But with the willpower of a Transcendent Being, I barely managed to hold it back.

I just saved that admin employee’s life, but do they even know?

If they knew, they wouldn’t be grinning like that. They probably have no idea.

Someday, I want to see this person kneeling in front of me, crying.

‘I’d even pray for it.’

***

The 12th class of Hero Academy had a total of 10 classes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

But due to the Satan Church’s terror attacks, minor incidents, and injuries.

Students who couldn’t endure the tough academy life and dropped out.

And students who caused trouble and got expelled.

Now, there are only 7 classes left, up to G class.

Even so, that’s still over 150 students.

Out of those, about 130 are Physical Category students, so the future exhaustion is already set in stone.

If I had been assigned to the Super Ability or Magic Category, I could have lived the sweet life of an instructor, but no, I had to be assigned to the Physical Category, destined for hell.

It’s still better than teaching common subjects like Introduction to Monster Studies or Arrest Studies.

There are only about 20 students in the Super Ability and Magic Categories.

If you add the 11th and 10th classes…

‘Let’s stop with the terrifying thoughts.’

Let’s just think that thanks to my bold decision to cut my salary in half, I only have to handle the first-year students.

It’s too heartbreaking to think that all of this was someone’s plan.

So much so that I might visit that someone’s bedroom late at night.

I don’t want to become Assassin Jeong Gyeoul, so let’s just bury it here.

“So, you’re teaching this semester?”

“That’s what they said…”

“…You’re talking about yourself as if it’s someone else’s story.”

Maybe it’s my subconscious reflecting that I wish this whole situation was someone else’s story.

“But Gyeoul, you haven’t prepared anything for class yet. What are you going to teach?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I need at least half a year to think about what and how to teach. I really have no idea. Are they all just idiots? I think the academy is messed up. Maybe I should just withdraw from the early graduation and instructor offer and go back to being a student…”

“I think it’s already too late for that.”

Jeong Ha-yul, who usually respects my opinions and looks for solutions together, is saying it’s too late.

Surely, it can’t be that Jeong Ha-yul planned this, or that she’s part of a think tank, or that she formed a task force…

Let’s not believe that.

If my delusions become reality, it’ll be a sister war worse than a world war.

“But I really don’t know what to teach.”

“Honestly, just sparring to death would be the most helpful… but with the number of students, that seems impossible.”

“Then should I have the students spar and give feedback? I think the instructor before me did it that way.”

Even though that instructor was an idiot, the method of having them spar and giving feedback seemed pretty good.

Maybe I can just do that?

“…Even if you give feedback, it might not help.”

“…?”

Having them spar and giving feedback is something Jeong Ha-yul always did when I was young.

I always got feedback after sparring with Lee Ha-yoon.

So why wouldn’t it help?

I can confidently say I grew a lot thanks to that.

“From the students’ perspective, your advice might just sound like pie in the sky.”

“…Pie in the sky?”

“For example, imagine me teaching Kang-woo oppa. ‘Start by drawing in magic power, circulate it through your body, then rotate and condense it, focusing it in your arm. Use the rotational force gathered from your toes to throw a straight punch, and at the same time, release the magic power. That’s the Demon King Punch.’ Do you think oppa could do it?”

That’s the secret to the Demon King Punch.

Rotating and condensing the magic power, focusing it in the arm, and releasing it with the punch.

But…

“Kang-woo oppa can’t do it. He has no magic power, doesn’t know how to rotate or condense it, and even if he did, it would take a long time to get the timing right.”

“…Why am I getting hit while just sitting here?”

Kang-woo, who had been quietly listening, looked unfairly treated, but I gestured for him to stay quiet and waited for Jeong Ha-yul to continue.

I feel like I’m starting to get it.

“If we just talk about sensations only we can feel, the person listening won’t be able to understand. How can they use a technique they can’t feel?”

“…So, even if I watch them spar and say they should do this or that, they won’t be able to do it?”

Basically, the students’ level is too low for them to understand my feedback.

“Pretty much. Of course, there might be students with great instincts or natural combat talent who can understand and apply it right away… but that’s rare, right?”

Earlier, when I gave a short lecture, some students like Lee Chae-rin seemed to understand, but others were just confused.

It’s like telling Bronze players to look at the map—they still die.

Some Bronze players might realize they have a wider field of vision when told to look at the map.

But others might not even know why they should look at the map and just die while staring at it.

Those players will stay Bronze forever.

“But isn’t that the same no matter what you teach?”

“Yeah, but combat instincts are especially tricky. They vary so much from person to person. If I explained the instincts I use in combat to Park Seol-hwa and told her to try it, she probably couldn’t do it.”

I feel like I get it, but also not.

“…So what should I do?”

“Well, both of us have transcended, so we have this problem.”

Even Jeong Ha-yul, who brought it up, didn’t seem to have a solution.

The conversation stopped, and silence fell for a moment.

Eun-chae broke the silence that seemed like it would last all day.

“But if you’re an instructor, can’t you hire teaching assistants?”

“…Right?”

“Then just hire TAs and have them teach.”

“…!”

Eureka?

While everyone else had given up, Eun-chae didn’t.

In the end, Eun-chae, the savior who protected my sweet instructor life…

“But if you’re going to do that, why even use Gyeoul? If it were me, I’d cut her. Sorry, forget I said that.”

It was said, but let’s pretend it wasn’t.

“Do you have to hire just one TA?”

“The school rules say you can hire multiple, but… if it’s more than one, there’s no financial support.”

“If Gyeoul says she’s teaching, people would probably pay to learn from her.”

“…No way.”

“Hire multiple TAs, have them teach the students, and you just teach the TAs. If you fill the TA positions with competent people, the quality of education will improve, and it’ll be hard to cut Gyeoul, the head of it all.”

Eureka!

While everyone else had given up, Kang-woo didn’t.

In the end, Kang-woo, the savior who protected my sweet instructor life, appeared.

“That sounds like a multi-level education system.”

“Don’t nitpick Kang-woo oppa’s words!”

“…?”

When I made a fuss, Eun-chae looked at me like I was crazy.

Don’t cross the line. That’s blasphemy.

Worship the God of Wisdom, Baek Kang-woo.

I started grinning and making a list of TAs in my head.

But there was a big problem.

Most of my connections already have jobs…

The salaries they’re getting are insane.

“Do I have to hold auditions? I don’t have anyone around who can be a TA…”

Would competent people even come to a TA audition?

“Like I said earlier, if you say you’re teaching, a lot of people would come with money. Contact your connections and say you’re hiring TAs. They’ll probably go crazy trying to get their heroes in.”

Jeong Ho-min would bring promising candidates from the Association.

Park Seol-hwa would bring promising candidates from Daehyun.

Lee Ha-yoon would bring promising candidates from Taebaek.

Maybe even from the Clock Tower?

It’s a given that my TAs would teach the students.

If I make them pay tuition too?

This is it.

The God of Wisdom is unbeatable.

Hehehe.

***

“No.”

“Huh? Why not!”

“If you’re going to do that, just open a private academy. Why come to the academy?”

“…Then can I open a private academy?”

“…No.”

This is a no.

That’s a no.

What exactly can I do?

 

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