NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56
[Main Building – Finance Department]
“Take care, Professor.”
Kim Sung-won and the finance team bowed slightly, not overdoing it, as they saw Baek Woo-jin’s back as he left.
Tap. As soon as the door closed and Baek Woo-jin disappeared, Kim Sung-won was the first to raise his head, and the rest of the staff returned to their seats and continued their work.
“Na-hyun.”
“Yes?”
Even after eight years, Kim Na-hyun was still the youngest in the team.
“Come here.”
“Can’t we just chat about it? I’m busy.”
“Hah, now the youngest is talking back to me.”
“I’m the youngest, but I’m not that young anymore…”
Kim Na-hyun grumbled under his breath as he got up from him seat and walked over to Kim Sung-won’s desk. Kim Sung-won clicked his tongue as he saw the thirty-something-year-old pouting with his lips sticking out.
“Get your act together before I slap you.”
“Yes, sir…”
“And you, you know better than to do this to me.”
“What did I do?”
“What did you do? You ignored my calls and went MIA during a critical moment. You should be grateful I’m still keeping you around, you brat.”
“Are you seriously going to bring up something that happened eight years ago?”
“I’ll bring it up until the day I retire.”
“Ugh…”
Kim Na-hyun ran his hands over his face, and the other staff members quietly stifled their laughter.
“Anyway, a file will be sent to you later. Sort through it and pick out the people who meet the criteria.”
“What kind of file?”
“A list of graduates.”
“What are the criteria?”
“Hmm, those who struggled in their first or second year but then showed significant improvement, or those who suddenly became scholarship recipients.”
“When do you need it by?”
“By next spring?”
“……?”
“What? Is that too soon?”
“No, that’s more than enough time. I can do it in my sleep. Got it.”
“That’s my Kim Na-hyun. Always reliable.”
Kim Sung-won got up from his seat and grabbed his coat, which was hanging nearby. Kim Na-hyun blinked and asked, “Where are you going?”
“Professor Baek gave me a separate instruction. I’m going to meet that brat Min-seok.”
“Aren’t you just going to hang out in the faculty room?”
“Hey!! Shut up and get back to work, you brat.”
“You called me here in the first place…”
Kim Na-hyun grumbled as he walked back to his desk.
Kim Sung-won put on his coat and said to the staff, “Feel free to leave when it’s time. Don’t contact me unless Professor Baek comes back. Take care.”
Without looking back, Kim Sung-won confidently strode out of the finance department. The staff were used to this scene and continued their work, and Kim Na-hyun also returned to his interrupted task and started typing.
[Email from the General Affairs Department: 1]
Not long after, Kim Na-hyun opened a new email that had arrived. He frowned as he read the subject line.
[List of Graduates] – (13MB)
“Why is the file size so large?”
It was just a list, but the file size was unusual.
Click. The mouse moved, and the attached document in the email appeared on the monitor screen.
[Graduates of the 1st Class] – [Graduates of the 2nd Class] – [Graduates of the 3rd Class…
The endless list and the scroll bar, which had shrunk to the point where it was difficult to see with the naked eye, made Kim Na-hyun pick up the intercom on her desk.
-The phone is tu…
“Ahh!!!”
Kim Na-hyun, who had been neatly groomed, now had his hair in disarray.
The staff ignored his familiar scream and continued their work silently.
**
After meeting with Kim Sung-won, I headed straight to Bwiar’s shrine.
“Oh, Professor.”
“I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry about me and continue with your work.”
“Yes, I will.”
I walked past Lee Yesol and headed upstairs to the empty prayer room.
In front of the statue of a child that I had tried to break before but failed, I placed the Devil’s Bullet that I had taken from the crack and said, “This is a gift.”
【I feel a very unpleasant energy from this gift.】
A small light gathered on my shoulder and soon took the form of the statue in front of me.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to ride on my shoulder.”
【Do we really need to be so formal with each other?】
The creature let out a silly sound, something like ‘Uchya’, as it descended from my shoulder. It then picked up the Devil’s Bullet, which was about the size of its palm, and asked me, 【Have you used this before?】
“Are you asking because you want to try it out?”
【No, I was just curious. Why are you so prickly?】
The Devil’s Bullet in its hand gradually faded and disappeared like a mirage.
【Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.】
I nodded once in response. How it would use the Devil’s Bullet was unknown to me, but at least it would serve as solid evidence for any future involvement in matters related to the shadows.
The power of the gods.
Infusing divine power, what they called holy power, into something other than a human was against the rules they had agreed upon.
【Are you leaving already?】
“Do you have something to tell me?”
【It’s just that we met after a long time, and you’re leaving so soon.】
“Our relationship isn’t that close, is it?”
【Relationships can always change.】
It was true that relationships could change at any time.
But.
“I’ll consider it when you learn to be more polite.”
【I’m excited! Yay! What’s wrong with me?!】
I left the prayer room, leaving behind the noisy creature.
‘There are some things that should never change.’
The quiet hallway.
I walked down the stairs, straightening my disheveled coat.
I passed by Lee Yesol, who was minding her own business as she had promised, and made my way through the bustling streets to my sanctuary, where no one’s gaze or sound could reach me.
“Welcome back.”
“……”
Claire, illuminated by the soft lighting in the hallway, came to greet me.
“Professor?”
“Your gaze and voice reached me.”
“……?”
“I was just talking to myself.”
“Yes… Oh, let me take that.”
Claire naturally came forward and took my coat, hanging it on a rack. I watched for a moment before walking towards the study.
“There should be some slime essence in the last drawer of the bookshelf. Give it to it after it sleeps for more than half a day.”
“Essence… you say?”
“Yes. Make sure to feed it one every time it sleeps for an extended period.”
“…… Thank you.”
Claire, who had been following behind, stopped and bowed her head to me.
I walked towards her and gently lifted her chin, which was tilted downwards. Slowly, I raised her head up.
“Pro…fessor……?”
Claire, who was quite startled by my action, had her eyes widened in surprise.
As I lowered my head slightly, the emotions in her clear blue eyes became more apparent.
“You’re bowing again.”
“Ah…!! Th-this, this isn’t that kind of… I mean…”
“A simple thank you is enough. Also, there’s no need to thank me for this.”
It was just a part of my plan.
I had never done anything worthy of her gratitude.
I released Claire’s chin, which was starting to heat up.
“Wait in the kitchen.”
“……?”
“Do you have something else to do?”
“No…”
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
“…… Yes.”
That day, Claire destroyed three cutting boards.
**
“Let’s go.”
-Piiiii
I left the mansion with Claire, receiving what could have been either a farewell or a yawn from the little rascal sitting on her shoulder.
The streets were quite quiet, probably because it was close to 9 p.m. I wished for this kind of tranquility to always prevail, but it was an impossible wish unless it was the vacation season.
We arrived at the annex, located a short distance from the main building, and the surroundings became even quieter. The lecture hall doors were tightly closed. At the very least, this building had excellent soundproofing.
Creak.
I used my magic to open the door to the lecture hall assigned to me and stepped inside. The atmosphere was even more tense than during the first lecture.
As always, Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee had claimed the entire front row to themselves. I placed my bag on the podium and glanced at them before addressing the class, who were all tense and staring at me.
“Submit your assignments, starting from the front row.”
I had infused my voice with magic, so there was no way anyone could have missed it.
My gaze naturally fell on the students sitting in the front row.
“Bring your assignments forward.”
“……”
“……”
The students stared down at their desks, their mouths tightly shut.
“Bae Dahyun, Kim Min-seok, Joo Young-hee.”
I addressed the three students who flinched at the sound of their names.
“If you didn’t do it, just say so. Or are you cursed and unable to speak?”
“No, I… I didn’t do it.”
“Me neither.”
“Me, me too……”
Finally, the three of them spoke up.
I nodded and looked at the next row.
“I didn’t do it either.”
“Neither did I……”
“I’m sorry.”
One after another, students hung their heads. Two students stood up from their seats.
One had snow-white hair, and the other had dark black hair, a stark contrast. Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee came forward and handed me the printouts I had given them.
“Baek Hana, Nam Seo-hee. Noted.”
The two of them didn’t reply, only nodding slightly before returning to their seats.
After that, exactly twelve more students submitted their assignments. I would have to check the contents to be sure, but for now, the act of submission was what mattered.
Out of the eighty students, including Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee, fourteen had submitted their assignments.
To someone, this number might seem insignificant.
“Fourteen. Quite a lot of you have done the assignment.”
The number, which accounted for one-tenth of the total, was higher than I had expected. I had anticipated no more than five, but the number had reached double digits.
“Then.”
I put the submitted assignments into my bag and addressed the students who had their notebooks open and pens in hand, unlike the first lecture.
“The rest of you, pack up and leave.”
The lecture hall door was wide open.
That was why I hadn’t closed it when I came in.
P.S. Hello Everyone! I’m VarieTL. I hope you are all enjoying my work! I only wanted to announce that I have posted a new Novel on the site 🙂 The novel is called:Avoid the Yandere Goddess Summery: I possessed a third-grade extra villain. I barely avoided the fate of dying from the hands of the protagonist. However, that’s why the Yandere Goddess’s interest turned from the protagonist towards me. [The Goddess of Fate shows interest in you with a sly expression.]