Chapter 173 : Relationship

Nonsense.

The Sword Master, who was about to say so, his eyes met Ho-cheol's for a moment.

And he shut his mouth.

Until just a moment ago, no matter how threateningly Ho-cheol had come out, there was a clear line in his words and actions.

But not now.

That gaze and atmosphere were by no means the kind that an educator could have.

The Sword Master's memory was quickly rewound.

The past, where he had barely survived, only because everyone had mistaken him for a corpse.

The current Ho-cheol had the face of the villain reflected in his sword back then.

The Sword Master finally gave in, unable to withstand the pressure.

“You have to follow my command.”

“Of course I will.”

“Uh, Professor, we'll follow you too!”

“Me too?”

Da-yeon and Min-jeong hastily chased after him.

Ho-cheol said shortly without even looking back.

“You two respond according to the 3rd plan for urban villain disasters.”

The 3rd plan was in charge of evacuating civilians, with almost no chance of encountering a villain.

In fact, since there was a perfectly fine hero, there was no reason to put students against a villain, so it was natural.

The same city, and a villain disaster that had occurred just a couple of blocks away.

Thanks to that, even though they had moved on foot, they were able to arrive in less than 5 minutes.

The scale of the damage was considerable.

Dozens of heroes were on the ground, rolling around, and black smoke was rising from here and there.

“Where’s the villain?”

The Sword Master looked around and then asked, helping up a fallen hero.

The hero pointed to a building, his hands trembling.

“On the roof of that building…”

At his words, the one who moved first was Ho-cheol.

He headed to the roof of the building without any hesitation.

An ordinary hero would have considered traps or ambushes, formed a team, made a plan, and only after cleanly clearing each floor would they finally come up to the roof.

But he was not a hero, nor was he ordinary.

Of course, it would have taken less than 5 minutes for the other heroes to clear the situation and arrive.

But 5 minutes was enough to scold the disobedient kids.

And so, he arrived at the roof.

On the railing, a boy and a girl were sitting, looking down at the ravaged city.

At their backs, Ho-cheol let out a sigh.

“……I told you to stay quiet. And you just had to cause trouble. Spit out the candy I gave you.”

Only then, as if they had just noticed Ho-cheol's presence, did the twins turn their heads.

Ho-cheol, who met their eyes, couldn't help but be startled for a moment.

It was only their second meeting.

And less than a month had passed, but their atmosphere had completely changed.

Not only had their bodies grown noticeably, but the strength he felt was also much more refined.

Even with a year of consistent training, it would have been difficult to reach that level.

Most importantly, their eyes were different.

That was the eyes that only those who have killed a person could have.

“You two. What the hell have you been doing.”

The twins did not answer.

Instead, the boy placed his hand on the in-ear device in his ear.

“Confirmed encounter with special power two. Requesting retreat. Confirmed.”

“Don’t retreat, let’s wait and see.”

But before Ho-cheol could take even one step, the two of them walked behind the railing and fell from the building.

Ho-cheol belatedly checked under the railing.

The twins were already gone.

Looking in the direction they had jumped, Ho-cheol let out a sigh.

“Ssseup.”

This is also quite a problem.

A ravaged city.

Fortunately, it was a stroke of luck that there were no fatalities, the paramedic next to him chattered, but Ho-cheol knew well.

This was neither luck nor anything else.

The fires and explosions caused by the twins were all in strangely empty buildings, and the heroes had far fewer injuries compared to their skill level.

However, for Ho-cheol, he could not understand their reactions or condition.

How had the guys who had been so loud and emotional at their first meeting changed so much?

If a part of their emotions or some brain function had been castrated, they might have shown a machine-like reaction.

But that was not the case.

The moment they had discovered Ho-cheol, he had seen their eyes tremble for a very short moment.

They had tried to maintain their composure until the moment they ran away, but in the end, a kid was a kid.

Ho-cheol turned his head and asked the Sword Master.

“Those twins from before. You’re going to give them a villain rank, right?”

“You’re asking the obvious.”

Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head.

It was natural for civil servants to be slow in their work in any country, but this villain registration was an exception.

Once a registration request was made, the estimated damage was calculated, the combat power and risk were assessed, a rank was given, and they were properly designated as a villain.

The entire process was completed within 24 hours.

No matter how much Ho-cheol had specified the facility where the twins were staying, 24 hours was very tight.

Being caught after the villain rank was decided, and being caught before that.

The difference between the two was vast.

If possible, he wanted to catch them before they were registered as villains.

After thinking for a moment, Ho-cheol asked.

“Can you postpone the report for just one day?”

“What do you mean by that? Don’t tell me you made some kind of deal with that villain?”

“No. In the first place, they’re just kids. I just want to end it as quietly as possible before they get a villain rank and some strange hero or the media starts tearing them apart.

“I don't understand. What's the benefit?”

He didn't know about the dean, the head of the Legal Department, or the others who had experienced the man named Ho-cheol several times.

To the Sword Master, Ho-cheol just looked like the most dangerous villain in this country in the past.

Since he didn't know what kind of change of heart he had gone through, or what kind of mindset he was living with, his request was just suspicious.

Yet Ho-cheol answered nonchalantly.

“That kid. I met his eyes the moment he ran away. And that look was clearly telling me to help him.”

He had no relationship with them.

There was no reason or loyalty to take such a risk.

But Ho-cheol was taking this for granted.

“They’re just kids. If there’s a crime, it’s with the bad adults who gave them such choices, and with the bystanders who didn’t properly stop them.”

At the absurdly idealistic statement, the Sword Master was momentarily at a loss for words.

Honestly, who would believe that?

But Da-yeon and Min-jeong, who had just finished evacuating the civilians, showed no reaction after hearing his words.

As if this was a daily occurrence for them.

Words and actions that were more hero-like than a hero's.

The Sword Master was displeased with that discrepancy.

He still could not shake off his old feelings.

In fact, it was a great feat just to maintain his composure in front of the villain who had driven him to a critical condition.

After thinking for a moment, he said, as if spitting out the words.

“Just 24 hours.”

“Thank you for your kindness. It doesn’t seem like a situation to have an interview, so I’ll see you next time.”

Ho-cheol, who had returned to his polite professor mode, bowed his head lightly.

In any case, with the aftermath of this incident, it was not a situation to continue the consultation.

They decided to resume the interview later and ended it for the day.

Of course, it wasn't that there were no achievements at all.

The fact that Min-jeong, who had always been suppressed by her father's shadow, had confessed her true feelings, was definitely meaningful for this consultation.

Ho-cheol immediately returned to the academy.

Now he had to catch those twins within 24 hours, but he had to be properly prepared before he went.

Wolf Fang might grumble about being overworked, but since he had gotten him out of prison, he should at least be willing to make that much of a sacrifice.

And so, he passed through the main gate and was on his way up to his dorm.

Pii—

Ho-cheol's body swayed greatly.

With an unpleasant ringing in his ears, his vision momentarily blurred.

It wasn't someone's attack.

It was simple overwork from accumulated fatigue.

He let out a hollow laugh.

Come to think of it, for the past few days, he hadn't even had a proper sit-down rest, let alone sleep.

And the enemies he had faced were by no means easy.

He reached out and grabbed a nearby tree, barely steadying himself.

“This. This is a bit of a problem.”

Come to think of it, he had never had such a hard time even during his villain days.

At least back then, he had had the backup of his subordinates, and he didn't have to worry about the lives of his opponents.

Has the backlash from recklessly using his body in the mental world finally come back to him?

If he had at least supplemented his lack of stamina by sleeping during travel time, maybe, but he had just continued to read books or study in preparation for his lectures.

To think he would die of overwork, not a monster or a villain, there was nothing more pathetic than that.

Ho-cheol rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

His blurry vision was not coming back.

He eventually staggered to a nearby bench.

He collapsed onto the bench as if falling and closed his eyes.

Just 5 minutes.

Let's just rest for 5 minutes and get up.

But with the fatigue that washed over him in an instant, his consciousness was cut off.

Ho-cheol opened his eyes again.

He had planned to just rest for 5 minutes and get up.

But the surroundings were dark, so it seemed he had slept for several hours.

He stared blankly up at the sky and muttered.

“How many hours have passed?”

“Three hours.”

An answer came from his side.

Since he had asked after feeling a presence next to the bench in the first place, he was not very surprised.

“In the first place, you were already asleep when I saw you, Professor, so it might have been longer than that.”

“Is that so?”

Wasn't it closer to fainting than sleeping?

Ho-cheol turned his head to the side and looked at Ye-jin, who was sitting next to him.

“Were you next to me the whole time?”

“Yes. It’s alright. I had a book to read.”

She stealthily held up the book she had been reading.

Ho-cheol placed his hand on his forehead.

The weather was quite hot for autumn.

Nevertheless, he was not sweating or feverish at all.

He felt a cool chill from right next to him.

“Don't tell me you were running your Trait for three hours straight?”

“Yes.”

Ye-jin's Trait could lower her body temperature.

And for this type of Trait, more than a month of harsh training was essential to increase its duration by 5 minutes.

Considering that her Trait duration had been less than an hour in her first measurement.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Professor. When I was trying to increase it, I got in hot water and then just!”

At Ho-cheol's simple compliment, Ye-jin cheerfully chattered on about her training routine and the things that had happened during her training.

Yet Ho-cheol was only half-listening to her story.

It wasn't just because he wasn't fully awake.

In fact, there have been several opportunities to meet and talk outside of lectures.

But after finding out the secret of Ye-jin's birth, he felt awkward to even talk to her.

Smiley's legacy, the complicated relationship, and most importantly, Ye-jin and Smiley kept overlapping.

All of those things that existed between Ho-cheol and Ye-jin, distorted the relationship of a professor and a student.

Honestly, all he wanted to do was to get out of this place as soon as possible.

Ho-cheol, who had been appropriately responding to Ye-jin's words, stood up from his seat.

“Right. Keep up the good work. Then I have to go now.”

He casually straightened his clothes and left the bench, leaving Ye-jin behind.

No, he was about to.

At some point, Ye-jin had reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

Ho-cheol looked back, puzzled.

Her thumb and index finger were not so much holding his sleeve as they were precariously hooked on it.

“P-professor…”

That finger, Ye-jin's voice was pitifully faint and trembled.

“Please tell me what the problem is and I’ll fix it somehow, so please tell me. Th-that is…”

Ye-jin, who had grown up in a facility without a single family member, was more sensitive to the negative emotions of others than anyone else at the academy.

And the gaze and emotions that Ho-cheol had been showing towards her recently had definitely changed.

It wasn't a sticky emotion like hatred or loathing, but his discomfort with her, his desire to keep his distance, was subtly revealed.

Ye-jin respected Ho-cheol more than anyone else.

If the students in his class dreamed of becoming S-rank heroes, her dream was to become an adult like Ho-cheol, so much so that she could say it without any hesitation.

It was different from the simple admiration or affection her peers sent him.

That's why the emotions she felt from Ho-cheol made Ye-jin even more desperate.

Had she made a big mistake or done something wrong to him?

She hoped so.

Because then all she had to do was fix it.

Then the professor would come back.

But what if, like the other adults she had encountered at the facility in the past, he had just become tired of her existence?

If the biggest support in her life were to be broken like that, Ye-jin had no way of enduring it.

At some point, tears welled up in Ye-jin's eyes.

“Please don’t abandon me…”