A Veteran Teaches Very Well

part 67

It concluded with Baeksulhwa’s one-woman show.

Even so, it wouldn’t be a particularly satisfying result for those involved.

The final outcome saw Anseri’s Team C taking first place by an overwhelming margin.

Team C is strong.

In the last exam, I ended up with an A due to a mismatch in compatibility, but if there’s a group that can finish all the remaining exams with A+, it’s only Group C.

Their perfect balance and the standout performances of each individual made them the best group.

Next is Group D.

There’s a strong perception that they are the weakest among the four groups, but they have a surprisingly strong sense of teamwork.

No matter how special Group A is, they at least showed resilience that didn’t fall short of them.

In third place is Group A.

These guys reached a level comparable to those who had learned for two months in just under two weeks.

They were impressive in many ways.

Especially Park Seo-hoo.

He proved the skills of the top freshman without reservation.

At the bottom was Group B.

The results were devastating, but the process wasn’t bad.

It was a good idea not to settle for one pattern and to prepare a Plan B.

Even though it failed.

However, Baek Seol-hwa looked greatly disappointed with the results.

She was crouched in a corner of the professor’s office, digging into the ground.

It seemed like she had been doing that for an hour.

“Professor, I must have looked pathetic, right?”

“I think it was a decent attempt.”

“Don’t lie. I know you laughed at me. Your insincere comfort only hurts, so just treat me like last time. Eating alone in an empty bathroom stall, having no friends, a bad personality, and looking like a delinquent… you said a lot of harsh things.”

There were many things she wanted to argue about.

She knew Baek Seol-hwa had a vindictive personality, but she didn’t expect her to bring it up now.

Moreover, the content was quite distorted and unfair.

“I know. I know I’m pathetic. Thinking I could beat Park Seo-hoo, the top student in the swordsmanship department, was arrogant, wasn’t it? It was a ridiculous thought from the start, right? I took up your time shamelessly without even realizing that, so I deserve to be scolded.”

She was digging so deep that it seemed like she might break through to the other side of the Earth.

Still, she was in a much better state than at the beginning.

At first, she had mumbled incomprehensible things like a madwoman, and I had worried about what to do with her.

“Let’s stop the self-deprecation and talk about what to do moving forward.”

“…Moving forward?”

“Yeah. You must have realized something in this practical class, right?”

“…I don’t know.”

Baeksulhwa lowered her head deeply.

Though she said she didn’t know, she must have realized.

What the problem was.

How to fix it moving forward.

“You need to evolve. Am I right?”

She flinched—

Baeksulhwa’s shoulders jerked.

She buried her head even lower.

“That’s right. In the end, you used evolution and won.”

Perhaps she didn’t want to accept reality, shaking her head vigorously.

She kept poking her side with her fingers as she spoke.

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“…….”

Puff—

“Admit it.”

Puff—

“Just admit it… Gah!”

Thud!

Baeksulhwa threw a cushion next to the sofa.

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, I couldn’t react in time.

It hit me like I had banged my head against a brick wall; it hurt.

“Seolhwa, you little…”

“I don’t want to.”

Baeksulhwa said, covering her face with her arms.

“I can’t admit it. Park Seohu did, so why can’t I? I can lead a party just like Park Seohu.”

“Yeah. You can do it.”

“I thought you’d say that. But I… Huh?”

Baeksulhwa removed her arms from her face and looked at me.

Her round eyes seemed to ask what I was saying.

Somehow, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

“You can do it too.”

“…You just said that without using the eruption, someone like me is nothing.”

“When did I say that?”

“You did.”

Baeksulhwa distorted my words again, as she pleased.

Anyway, that’s not what’s important.

“Then you can use the eruption and support at the same time.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s not an easy task, but it’s not impossible either.”

In fact, there are cases among high-ranking heroes like that.

For instance, Edeline, the guild master of the Unicorn Guild, was one of them.

It’s different from just controlling emotions.

Even in a state of diminished reason, she instinctively made only the right judgments.

Baeksulhwa had similar qualities to her.

Of course, she couldn’t be exactly like Edeline.

“Seolhwa has good instincts and quick judgment. Just because she’s in an eruption state doesn’t mean her function as a control tower will be paralyzed.”

“But I couldn’t do it.”

“That’s not the issue. Think calmly and carefully. What was the problem?”

Baeksulhwa followed my words.

She closed her eyes and fell into thought.

Perhaps something sparked in her mind, as Baeksulhwa opened her eyes.

“Ah! I couldn’t see what the team members were doing. So that’s why you trained me like that.”

“Exactly.”

It’s easy to explain with words.

But conveying information and understanding it are completely different matters.

Baeksulhwa finally grasped the true meaning of the training we had done together.

“Do you understand now that you’ve experienced it firsthand?”

“Yes!”

Baeksulhwa nodded vigorously.

It seems she has regained a bit of her strength.

“Now that you’ve identified the problem, can you find a solution?”

“…Focus your mind?”

“That’s what got you into trouble in the first place.”

“Right….”

Baeksulhwa’s mood darkened again as she lowered her head deeply.

Today, her emotional fluctuations were more intense than usual.

It felt like a reflection of her ambition regarding the control tower.

“In a state of agitation, your vision narrows, and your hearing becomes sensitive to specific sounds, making communication with your peers nearly impossible.”

“Yes.”

“But not all senses become dull. Try to feel the movement of objects.”

“…What?”

It might sound like grasping at straws.

Yet, there was certainty. If anyone could do it, it was Baeksulhwa in this moment.

“What have you learned so far?”

“Training not to step outside the circle for ten minutes?”

“Anything else?”

“Catching golems in the practical class….”

“Exactly. Seolhwa, you’ve already learned what you need to do.”

Baeksulhwa still wore a look of confusion.

“Close your eyes.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t get anxious. Calm your mind.”

Baeksulhwa gently closed her eyes.

Humans are the most visually dependent creatures.

When vision is blocked, other senses become much more acute.

“Slowly. Extend your senses. In doing so, you’ll feel the movement. You will sense it.”

“Extend… my senses….”

Countless thoughts must be crossing through Baeksulhwa’s mind.

Everything she has done up until now.

“Reaching out, reaching out.”

All the ingredients are in place.

All the advice I’ve given.

The training sessions I had with the two circles drawn.

Even the experience of facing the Permet Golem in today’s practical class.

The training I’ve undergone and the experiences I’ve accumulated erupted in a crescendo.

Swoosh—

From the body of the Snow White, mana began to rise and swirl.

A radiant mana, shimmering in the same hue as the aura, spread out.

Yes.

This is what I wanted.

To burst forth even more.

Whoosh!

The mana extended outward.

It possessed a quality similar to that of an aura, yet it was different from it.

There was no predetermined name for it.

Both aura and magic were named out of necessity, but there were no fixed answers for the utilization of mana.

Mana is a free power that can become anything.

It’s done. I succeeded.

Ding!

───────────────

You have achieved a hidden achievement.

─Skill Creation (1/1)

───────────────

The system window chimed.

An achievement.

Something that appears when specific conditions are met in a game.

I had seen it before when I defeated the demon.

But this hidden achievement was something I had never encountered, even I.

After all, it was my first time using mana in this way.

I’m not sure if it’s simply because I couldn’t discover it, or if it emerged as the game became reality.

I spoke to Baeksulhwa.

“Try moving slowly.”

Baeksulhwa’s mana resembled a long, slender aura.

It lacked destructive power, yet moved far more freely than the aura. It was akin to a thread-like tentacle.

It wandered around the professor’s office before reaching me.

Baeksulhwa, with her eyes closed, asked,

“Professor… is it you?”

“Yeah.”

Swoosh—

The mana glided over my body, moving this way and that.

It would feel as delicate as touching it with my hands, if not even more so.

The nature of mana is determined by the user’s will.

Baeksulhwa seemed fascinated, even by her own creation.

“Wow….”

Baeksulhwa said.

“If I connect this with my party members, I think I could visualize their positions in my mind even while immersed in battle!”

Baeksulhwa excitedly maneuvered the mana.

It swept over my body.

Swoosh— swoosh—

Starting from my shoulders, it traveled down my back and twisted upward around my waist.

The mana circled back up to my abdomen, then spun around my arms as it moved forward.

“oooh.”

The mana that had come down from Baeksulhwa reached my hand.

The threads of mana twisted and coiled together, forming a small mass.

The clump of mana filled about half of my hand.

“Hehe, it feels like I’m holding hands now.”

Is Baeksulhwa perceiving it as a hand?

Curious about what would happen if I squeezed it tightly, I gave it a firm grip.

“Eek! No, that startled me!”

The White Snow Flower screamed.

It seems to be a more sensitive organ than it looks.

Usually, White Snow Flower’s voice was low for a woman.

But when she screamed, her tone became incredibly high. It was quite a cute sound.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s not that it hurts… Why, why?”

“If you were attacked during battle and it hurts, that would be troublesome.”

“When I’m thinly sliced, I hardly feel anything, so it’s fine… Huh! Please don’t squeeze that!”

“Got it.”

As I released the mass of mana, White Snow Flower scattered it.

Once again, the mana returned like a thin thread.

“If I research a bit more, I think I can use it in various ways?”

“That’s a relief.”

“Hehe, just wait and see.”

My gamble had successfully paid off.

A new skill I had never seen in the game.

This is just the beginning.

From now on, White Snow Flower will run on a path unique to her, one that no one has ever experienced.

I had no certainty that the outcome would be better than the way I had played.

Even so, I wanted to hold onto hope for White Snow Flower’s future.

Chapter 4. Main Story

It had been nearly three months since I entered the game.

Looking back, a lot had happened.

It all started with the inexplicable professor’s inauguration ceremony.

A large auditorium filled with strangers.

The connections and misfortunes that began from that moment.

Receiving the appointment letter from President Ryu Jeong-ah, I met Professor Yoon Seong-yeob.

My encounter with Yoon Seong-yeob was a misfortune, but thanks to that, I was able to meet Lee Ye-eun. For that alone, I was grateful to him.

Even the reckless plan to become a professor and nurture an elite party to clear the game.

Looking back, it was truly a reckless plan.

To gather playable characters through the lectures of a new professor—this was all thanks to Anseri.

My chance encounter with Anseri felt like fate.

I started as an unknown new professor, but so much has changed in the past three months.

I was no longer just an ordinary new professor.

A professor who could wield some influence in the world.

That was my current position.

You are invited.

This morning, an ornate letter arrived before me.

One might think, what kind of fool sends a letter in the 21st century, but the emblem drawn on the letter dispelled that thought in an instant.

A golden eagle’s head, with two crossed rifles behind it.

It was the emblem of the American Hero Association.

“Wow! What’s going on? The American Hero Association is looking for you, professor!”

My teaching assistant, Lee Yaeun, was bouncing on her feet.

I was curious too.

Why were these people looking for me?

“Wait. Let’s read it first.”

As I opened the golden envelope, an elegant letter was inside.

The paper, adorned with embroidered corners, looked incredibly luxurious. Given the sender, it felt even more so.

Flap—

─To Professor Cha Eunwoo.

─We are those who fight to protect humanity.

“Oh.”

From the very first sentence, confidence radiated.

A grand statement about protecting humanity, not just the nation.

Given the sender, it made sense.

America was the strongest nation in this world, like the police of the Earth.

─Humanity is facing an unprecedented crisis.

─To protect the world, unity is essential. We will be waiting.

“Hm.”

If I were to summarize the letter composed of lengthy embellishments, it would convey this message:

A crisis has arisen, so please come to help.

Lee Ye-eun grumbled.

“Ugh, this is such a classic American line. They always say that helping them is equivalent to helping the world’s justice. Their pride, honestly.”

No.

This time, it’s a bit different.

There was a sense of why this letter was sent.

The time has come.

Finally, the wheel of fate, hidden behind the world, has begun to turn.