The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 10

It’s not like I need to know every student at the academy.

But this girl seemed genuinely baffled, persistently questioning me.

“How can you not know who I am? Seriously? Why?”

“Should I?”

The response slipped out reflexively.

…Maybe that was a bit much.

“Ah, sorry.”

Judging by her reaction, it seemed like she might have been a classmate of Han Siha’s.

The short-haired girl let out a scuff of disbelief.

“I know who you are.”

“I’m famous.”

“Not in a good way, though.”

“I’m aware.”

“You seem awfully proud of someone with that kind of fame.”

“That’s how it works. Companies don’t stir up controversy for no reason, you know.”

Noise marketing, ever heard of it?

Of course, it’s not like I did any marketing myself, but what can I do? I’m already infamous.

The girl seemed to ponder my brazen words, rolling her eyes as she thought it over.

“…Makes sense.”

Huh?

Why is she agreeing with me?

I was just saying whatever came to mind, but her acceptance left me at a loss for words.

“Hmm. Hmm.”

Maybe it would be better to just ask who she was after all. I cautiously spoke up.

“I might have forgotten… So, what’s your name?”

“…Sorry for not being famous.”

“Hey.”

No doubt about it now.

She was definitely in the same class as Han Siha and was probably one of the few people who got along with him.

It’s odd that this guy even had friends, but still, asking, “Should I know you?” might have been a jerk move.

An awkward silence settled between us.

Pressing her for her name might be a bit tactless at this point, so I decided to change the subject.

“So… I’ll ask your name later. Can I ask you something else?”

“….”

“Do you know where the market is?”

My bag was stuffed with slime orbs.

I also had some luminescent stones left from dealing with the venomous slimes.

The slime orbs might not be worth much right now, but the luminescent stones could fetch a decent price.

Considering I couldn’t rely on my family for support, to be blunt, I didn’t even have enough money for a cheap meal. I needed to sell something to get some funds.

So, the first thing that came to mind was the Clente Market near Ardel Academy.

“Yeah, I know.”

The girl nodded, though her expression was somewhat reluctant.

Her previously brusque tone softened, and she began to explain with surprising thoroughness.

“It’s a bit of a walk. If you turn off the path behind Ardel Academy and go up the alley a little, there’s a bridge on the other side of the square, and if you cross that….”

Wait, hold on a second.

“Hang on.”

I waved my hands to stop the flood of information. Turning, going up, crossing—it was all too vague.

Having grown up in the 21st century, where I couldn’t even leave the house without a map, this felt like playing on hardcore mode.

I hesitated before speaking up.

“Don’t you have anything to sell? Or something to buy?”

“What?”

Asking an old classmate whose name I didn’t even remember to do this was definitely shameless of me, but…

“Could you… come with me?”

I’m really bad with directions.

* * *

“Sigh. Don’t try to haggle too much. These are fresh luminescent stones straight from the dungeon.”

“Excuse me!”

Bang.

“Ma’am?”

The path of a salesman is long and difficult. I once had dreams of running a business but likely would have died of overwork before achieving that goal. It was not an easy journey.

“Hmm… Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t go into business.”

If I had opened a clinic, I probably would’ve gone bankrupt.

For sure, with this level of sales skills, I wouldn’t have lasted a month.

I wandered around trying to sell the luminescent stones, but most people saw my young face and tried to lowball me.

This market wasn’t so different from the ones I knew.

The haggling, the mixed crowds of men and women raising their voices—it reminded me that this other world wasn’t so different from home.

Then, a cheerful voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Three luminescent stones, please.”

While I was struggling, the short-haired girl was selling her stones quite well.

She walked out with a thick wad of cash, leaving my mouth hanging open.

“How did… you do that?”

“I showed them my student ID first.”

Oh.

So she basically presented her credentials upfront.

It made sense—this place was a frequent stop for academy students.

Considering the high tuition fees, most students had significant spending power. The merchants probably figured it was worth building good relationships with academy students, hoping they’d return.

The name of Ardel Academy alone made life so much easier.

The short-haired girl spoke plainly.

“I said I’d come back.”

“To buy more?”

“Yeah. But I don’t have any money.”

“You’re pretty confident.”

“You’re not the only one who’s confident.”

I chuckled and acknowledged her point.

But the fact that she didn’t have money wasn’t common among Ardel Academy students.

Judging by her clothes and demeanor, I guessed she was from a commoner background.

I was in the same situation, so after emptying my pockets, I headed into a shop to make a sale.

“People here are so materialistic.”

Soon after, I managed to come out with a decent amount of cash, almost as much as she had.

Turns out the student ID was a golden ticket.

“Does this mean I’ve got a week’s worth of spending money?”

“…Let’s go.”

Having achieved her goal, the short-haired girl seemed eager to leave.

“Right now?”

I blurted out, surprised.

Who just sells their stuff and leaves the market? We’re not merchants.

It didn’t look like this place had a department store or convenience store. This seemed like the central shopping area.

If we were going to sell stuff, why not buy something too? Maybe grab a snack, like a twisted doughnut or a hotteok, to eat while we walked?

“Is there something else you want?”

“Didn’t notice in the dungeon, but you really don’t know how to have fun, do you?”

“Me?”

The girl frowned, clearly displeased by my comment.

Well, it’s true, though.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll buy you something as thanks for coming with me.”

“Hmm.”

I wasn’t sure if they had hotteok here, but something similar would do.

She didn’t seem to mind, quietly following me.

We walked past stores selling clothes, magical stones, and potions, heading toward the sweet-smelling food stalls.

Wait a minute.

I instinctively stopped in front of a mirror.

“What?”

Since being reincarnated, I hadn’t had a proper chance to look at myself in the mirror.

I had fled to the academy immediately, gone straight to the dormitory, and then rushed into a dungeon.

“Who is this…?”

To be honest, I had a rough idea that I wouldn’t look great.

Han Siha’s gloomy image was partly due to his terrible fashion sense.

But this…

“This is how I look?”

This was a bit much.

Looking at the reflection, the original features weren’t bad at all, but the way his hair hung over half his face, coupled with his ragged clothes, gave off an aura that was hard to approach. It wasn’t surprising that people avoided him—not out of fear, but out of disgust.

Was it possible that people avoided him because he looked so disheveled?

“This is… am I really just a homeless-looking guy?”

Even as the youngest son of a noble family, no one stopped him from walking around like this?

Weren’t the servants completely neglecting their duties? How could they let this happen?

Seriously.

He looked downright creepy to anyone who saw him!

“Let’s start by fixing the hair.”

Now was not the time to leisurely enjoy snacks like hotteok.

* * *

The next day, the classroom fell into silence as soon as one person walked in.

“…Huh?”

Step by step.

Han Siha entered through the back door, just as he usually did.

It wasn’t unusual for people to quietly move away whenever he walked in, as if parting for him like the Red Sea. This had been the norm for quite some time.

But today was different.

Today, the students split apart for a different reason. The girls sitting in the front row rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

“Who is that?”

The classroom buzzed with whispers.

If someone that good-looking had been around before, they definitely would have noticed.

“Wow.”

Low murmurs of admiration echoed throughout the room, but everyone was too stunned by the strange sense of unfamiliarity to speak up.

“He looks… kind of familiar.”

“No way.”

Someone’s gaze finally landed on the badge on Han Siha’s uniform.

“No way.”

It wasn’t just one person who noticed the family crest on his uniform. The murmurs started up again among the students in the back rows.

The soft brown hair and those enigmatic eyes were the same, but the neatly cut hair and the clean, well-fitted clothes made it hard to believe this was the same person.

No one could find the words.

There was no way this face—objectively handsome—could belong to Han Siha.

If anything, he looked like a transfer student from another school.

“Who are you?”

Someone finally mustered the courage to ask, and a voice from the back answered softly, as if responding on behalf of everyone.

“The creepy Han Siha.”

“That face… can’t be creepy!”

Smack.

Two girls exchanged words while playfully nudging each other.

The new look was far from creepy.

Clothes really do make the man. He looked like a completely different person.

If this really was Han Siha, then why had he been hiding such a face all this time?

“Wow, he’s ridiculously handsome…”

“Exactly, which is why it can’t be Han Siha. No way.”

Overhearing their conversation, a boy suddenly stood up.

It was Creek, with his fiery red hair spiked up.

“Hey, that’s Han Siha’s seat. Who do you think you are, sitting there?”

Han Siha frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny. He didn’t understand why everyone was looking at him like they were interrogating him.

“It’s me, Han Siha.”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“You’re Han Siha?”

Adela sighed from the corner of the room.

It seemed like Han Siha was the only one who didn’t anticipate this reaction.

Creek, rendered speechless, pointed at Han Siha.

“Wha… What did you do to your hair…?”

“Why? It was getting too long, so I cut it.”

Scratching his head, Han Siha set down his heavy bag and took his seat. He didn’t think cleaning up a bit was such a big deal.

“Apart from the clothes, I’m pretty much the same, right?”

All he did was move up from a shabby look to a presentable one.

Han Siha shrugged and looked back at Creek.

“Uh… Uh!”

But Adela, who had witnessed the transformation up close, could only mutter quietly.

No matter how she looked at it, this was serious.

“It’s like he’s a completely different person.”

* * *

Creek gritted his teeth, staring intently at Han Siha, who was sitting right behind him.

“Did you get some kind of polymorph treatment or something?”

He was basically asking if Han Siha had undergone some drastic cosmetic procedure.

Han Siha furrowed his brow as if to say, “What nonsense is this?”

“In just one day?”

That’s true.

Even Creek seemed to realize how absurd his own words were and clammed up.

He was from a commoner background.

Although he had enough talent to get into the academy, it wasn’t particularly remarkable compared to others at the academy.

Because of that, he often felt overlooked and discriminated against.

At least, that was the case in their first year.

Like many students harboring feelings of inferiority, Creek sought someone to take it out on.

Despite being from a noble family, Han Siha was shunned for dabbling in dark magic, and his gloomy appearance and demeanor made him an easy target.

So, Creek had systematically bullied Han Siha to vent his frustrations and assert his sense of superiority.

Han Siha was well aware of this.

The red-haired brat with a foul mouth—there weren’t many people who treated Han Siha like that, so he knew exactly who Creek was.

‘He was the first to get beat up, wasn’t he? Or did I kill him?’

Han Siha wasn’t a kind soul.

In the original story, once he fully embraced dark magic, Han Siha hunted down and killed those who had wronged him, one by one.

He used them as materials for his dark magic.

Creek, sitting right in front of him, was likely the first victim.

Han Siha felt no sympathy. If Han Siha was a third-rate villain, Creek wasn’t even worth mentioning—just a lowly character who didn’t deserve a single line of text.

“So what did you do? At least share. Good things are meant to be shared.”

“….”

“What? Are you embarrassed?”

Despite being stunned earlier, Creek kept pushing, trying to provoke him.

Even if Han Siha had looked creepy before, Creek hadn’t dared to speak up until the rumors about him being disowned by his family started circulating. Now, seeing Creek act so brazenly amuses Han Siha.

He was watching a scene from the story he had read unfold before his eyes.

“You’ve been running around lately, desperately trying to avoid failing. Was this all you managed to do?”

“Hey, answer me. Are you ignoring me?”

Han Siha chuckled at the pathetic provocation.

“Why shouldn’t I ignore you?”

“W-What?”

“Give me one reason not to.”

“D-Did you cut off some brain cells along with your hair? You’re crazy…!”

Han Siha sighed and lifted his bag.

The atmosphere in the classroom was tense.

Even though people pretended not to be interested, everyone was focused on their exchange. In the past, they either ignored Han Siha or mocked him.

But now…

Something was different.

Sensing the change, Han Siha straightened his posture.

It wasn’t just his appearance—his actions and tone had changed too.

Everyone in the room had an inkling of it.

‘Is that really Han Siha?’

He was too confident. His gaze was overpowering Creek.

He was no longer the Han Siha who used to mutter to himself, always skulking in the background.

Something had changed.

The zipper of Han Siha’s bag slowly opened as he spoke.

“If there’s anything I trusted, it’s this.”

Before Han Siha’s words could fully sink in, his bag suddenly shook violently.