Chapter 181: Everyday Life

Not just a guardian, but inheriting his last name.

There was no way Ho-cheol didn't know what that meant.

Hwayeon, sensing a complicated emotion in his gaze, asked, somewhat intimidated.

“You don’t like it? Should I pick another one?”

Jang Hwayeon or Jing Hwayeon sounds a bit strange.

Towards the twins who were watching him, Ho-cheol let out a hollow laugh.

If he were to say no here, what would their position be?

“I’ve suddenly got two kids.”

At Ho-cheol's permission, Hwayeon smiled brightly again.

“I know this. I saw it in a book! Responsibility without pleasure!”

“……Heo.”

I had expected something like Daddy-Long-Legs to come out here.

What kind of book did she learn such an expression from?

Ho-cheol turned his gaze and asked Hye-jin.

“Please make sure she doesn't read any strange books.”

“Of course.”

He promised the twins that he would call them periodically and see them from time to time.

He placed his hands on their heads and gave them some advice that wasn't quite advice.

“Get along well. With your family, and with others.”

“Of course.”

Hwayeon answered matter-of-factly, as if he were worrying about something trivial.

At that reaction, Ho-cheol smiled bitterly.

How many people can't even do that obvious thing?

These kids will also learn that someday.

Of course, for now, he just smiled and nodded.

***

After leaving the twins at the facility, Ho-cheol returned to the academy.

“Oof, I’m tired.”

It wasn't a joke; he felt like he was going to faint, no, die from fatigue.

Even before Black Oskopf, fatigue had been steadily accumulating.

From there, he had been pushed to his mental limit, and this time, he had tested the limits of his body against dozens of powerful villains.

He took off his sword and plopped down on the sofa.

He absentmindedly raised one hand.

His hand trembled, regardless of his will.

The blood hadn't even been washed off, and the tips of his nails were still bright red.

And under the wiped-off blood, his nails had an ominous purple tinge.

A phenomenon he had seen several times during his villain days.

It was also proof that he had used too much power.

One month.

The executive had said not to chase them for at least a month.

Of course, a promise was a promise, so he would keep it, but that was only for Ho-cheol to not chase them himself.

Tracking them by mobilizing his connections was a separate matter.

He had to get at least the core information.

Of course, separate from this promise, it was virtually impossible for Ho-cheol to use his power for the time being.

Considering his current physical condition, he couldn't even bring out 30% of his full power.

Since Trait's output, scale, and stamina were also superior to other awakened ones, it was natural that he would need more than twice as much time to recover as others.

A month of recuperation.

This was not a choice, but close to a necessity.

“Well, no matter how much you go on about the reasons.”

The dean muttered, as if dumbfounded.

“Why did you come here? If you need to rest so much, you should go home.”

For him, he couldn't understand at all why Ho-cheol would come here as if he were clocking out.

Ho-cheol rested the back of his head on the armrest of the sofa.

“These days, home isn’t home. Well, it’s a bit of a sorry thing to say, but it’s too tiring. I feel like my energy is being sucked out.”

Even if he were to return to his dorm right now, it was obvious that Ji-an would be hiding under his bed or on top of it, wrapped in his blanket.

He had given in a few times recently, and Ji-an was going crazy.

Of course, it wasn't in a negative sense, but it was tiring even if it was with good intentions.

Ji-an would cling to him with blatant expressions of affection, and it was hard to just chase her away.

Since she listened well, she would of course disappear from his dorm if he chased her away, but in any case, it was just beyond a thin wall.

And listening to her sniffling all night was a considerable, no, an insane ordeal.

And if he were to tell her not to cry, he felt like she would actually cry, so that was also difficult.

Most importantly, he couldn't show that he was tired.

That was actually the hardest part.

“Anyway, home is not a place that guarantees rest. And I came to explain the recent events to you, old man. But what time is it, and you're still working?”

In fact, Ho-cheol had also been quite surprised to see the light on in the dean's office.

To think he wouldn't go home even after midnight.

“You’re a complete workaholic.”

“If someone is constantly causing trouble, who do you think writes the reports?”

“Is that first ‘someone’ me, by any chance?”

“Do you not know who the ‘who’ at the end is?”

Ho-cheol shrugged his shoulders with a shameless expression.

“Anyway, this place has a shower, and the sofa is more comfortable than my bed mattress. So if I’m going to sleep, it’s better to sleep here.”

Ho-cheol moved his body repeatedly and found a comfortable position.

After that, he even covered himself with a cloak, and his preparations for sleep were complete.

“Ah, and there’s a bank robber among the staff here, and I got some help from him this time. He’s not a bad guy, so you should talk to him. He’s a bit of a fool, but he’s useful.”

The dean's pen tip broke with a snap.

“No, what kind of nonsense is that…”

Originally, Ho-cheol had shared all the trivial incidents with the dean, but recently, he had been proceeding with everything in secret.

“Well, it’s nothing.”

He hadn't just come to sleep, so Ho-cheol, in a comfortable position, shared all the recent incidents.

Starting with the Black Oskopf case, the results, the individual interviews with the students, the twin's terror attack that had occurred in the meantime, the background and situation that led to it, the executive of the resurrection faction, and the events that had occurred in the research lab.

And after rescuing the twins, he had a private meeting with the chairman and finally put the two in a protection facility.

The dean had already forgotten about his paperwork and was concentrating on Ho-cheol's words.

“No, good grief.”

He, who had belatedly come to his senses, repeated the words "good grief" as if dumbfounded.

And in the end, unable to hold it in, he threw the pen he was holding at Ho-cheol.

“Are you a madman!”

“No.”

Ho-cheol stared blankly at the pen that was flying straight for his forehead.

Ttak—

The pen that had flown over hit his forehead.

At least he had thrown it with the tip retracted, so it just hurt a little and that was it.

At that sight, the dean shouted again.

“Why didn’t you dodge!”

“No, you threw it for me to get hit. Wouldn't you be disappointed if I dodged it?”

“You’re completely insane.”

“I thought you must have a lot of resentment built up. Let’s just call it even with this.”

“Your shamelessness is beyond comparison to an iron plate.”

“I agree.”

The dean took out another pen from his desk drawer.

“The amount of stuff to write in the report has increased several times over.”

“But let’s do that later. Can’t you just turn off the lights and go home today? I’m getting sleepy.”

The dean threw the pen he was holding again.

***

The next day.

Ho-cheol dragged his heavy body and went to the academy.

Transcendence, eternal life, the New World Trait Liberation Society.

From all national-level incidents to suddenly having to teach kids at the academy, the sense of dissonance from the difference in scale was considerable.

What am I even doing?

In fact, shouldn't I just quit all my lectures right away and focus on regaining my prime strength?

Even as he thought that, he had arrived at the lecture hall before he knew it.

His body now remembered the location of the lecture hall.

“Hello, Professor.”

“Right.”

The Tuesday and Thursday lectures, the good thing was that as an assistant professor, Ho-cheol didn't have much to worry about or do.

In the first place, both lectures had been aimed at his authority, the first priority for reserving the training hall, not at any of his skills or political reasons.

The professors would enthusiastically teach the students, and all Ho-cheol had to do was to occasionally match their pace as a partner, or to explain examples from his villain days.

In a 2-hour lecture, Ho-cheol had moved his body or opened his mouth for about 20 minutes.

He had practically gotten a free ride.

“Shall we wrap up today’s lecture here? Good job, everyone.”

The professor wrapped up the lecture, and Ho-cheol also left.

The two lectures on Tuesday and Thursday had ended like this.

And this week, there was no physical training lecture on Saturday.

It was every other week, in the first place.

The problem was the Friday lecture.

The Definition and Ethics of Villains

It wasn't a lecture that required him to use his body, but conversely, since it was a lecture that he couldn't just get through with his body, he had to endure for 2 hours with just his knowledge, experience, and his ability to talk.

If he had had enough time to prepare for the lecture, that would be one thing.

But honestly, the past week has been one of the busiest in Ho-cheol's life.

Honestly, he had prepared too little for the lecture.

At this rate, it was at a level where he could only talk for about an hour.

In the end, he would have to endure for another hour with ad-libs and improvisation.

First, Ho-cheol, who had checked the lecture time, tapped the lectern with his fingertips.

“First, let’s collect the assignments. The class president will collect them.”

He had chosen a class president last week.

Since there were no volunteers, the position had fallen to Ji-an.

She slowly stood up from her seat.

For some reason, just last week she had been sitting at the very front, but in today's lecture, she was sitting at the back.

And since entering the lecture hall, she had been avoiding eye contact with Ho-cheol.

What the hell is wrong with her?

It was natural for Ho-cheol to have such a question.

Just this morning, she had been clinging to him until the moment he changed his clothes, so why?

Ji-an, who had slowly gone around the lecture hall and collected the assignments, placed the stack of papers on the lectern.

Until that moment, she had deliberately avoided Ho-cheol's gaze.

After Ji-an returned to her seat, Ho-cheol skimmed through the stack of papers with his fingertips.

The number of bundles is a little short.

He quickly flipped through the stack again and confirmed the exact number.

One was missing.

It was the first time.

Since Ho-cheol had started giving out assignments, that someone hadn't submitted one.

Even in the lecture he had been in charge of last semester, there had been guys who had submitted a crappy report, but at least there had been no cases where they hadn't submitted it at all.

Was this some kind of protest?

With that question, Ho-cheol looked around the lecture hall.

“Who didn’t submit the assignment?”

And he found out the reason for Ji-an's subtle reaction.

While everyone was murmuring about who hadn't submitted it, only Ji-an stealthily raised her hand.

She avoided his gaze as if she was ashamed.

“No.”

Ho-cheol wiped his face.

A wave of stress washed over him.

“The class president didn’t even do her homework?”

It wasn't just that Ji-an hadn't done her homework that was the problem.

If even his own lecture was like this, it was obvious how she would be in other lectures.

“Let’s just start the lecture first.”

***

The reason he had given this assignment was because it was directly related to today's lecture content, so he conducted the lecture in the form of going through the students' reports one by one and giving feedback.

After somehow finishing the 2-hour lecture, Ho-cheol turned his body from the blackboard.

“That’s it for today’s lecture. You, submit your assignment by next week.”

“Yep.”

Ji-an answered, drooping like a rain-soaked puppy.

***

He had somehow finished the weekly lecture schedule without any major problems.

At least he would be able to rest well on the weekend.

On his way back to his dorm with a much lighter heart.

From behind, someone ran up quickly and blocked Ho-cheol's path.

Someone he knew.

“……Why all of a sudden?”

Da-yeon was blocking Ho-cheol's path with her arms spread wide.

She didn't say anything.

Instead, she just continued to stare at Ho-cheol with her arms spread wide.

Jiiing—

“A laser is going to come out of your eyes.”

“Ramen.”

At the sudden word, a question mark floated above Ho-cheol's head.

“Ye-jin.”

Da-yeon continued to speak, breaking the words into pieces.

“Ate ramen.”

Her words were even shorter than usual, but Da-yeon couldn't bring herself to speak in long sentences in her current state.

She was that emotional and mentally confused.

“At your place, Professor.”

“Ah.”

As the three words were connected, Ho-cheol finally understood.

But he couldn't understand.

He hadn't known that Ye-jin would talk about this to others.

It wasn't just a simple matter of her having eaten ramen at his dorm.

Because of Ji-an, the situation had become very complicated, and she hadn't even been able to taste the ramen before going back.

In the end, Ho-cheol, unable to solve the mystery, asked.

“How did you hear that? Did she brag about it or something?”

“I heard her muttering while eating ramen at a convenience store. She was saying something about the ramen she ate at your place, Professor.”

Ho-cheol let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

It seemed she hadn't been talking about it to brag.

Was that a relief?

If Ye-jin had really been talking about such things, he would have been disappointed.

With a much more relaxed expression, Ho-cheol placed his hands on his hips.

“So you, what, did you come here to confirm that or something?”

“No.”

Da-yeon shook her head.

Then she said with a firm expression.

“I want to eat ramen at your place too, Professor.”

Feed me!

“Good grief. My head.”

His head was throbbing.