I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

After Baek Woo-jin left.

“……”
“……”

The atmosphere in the conference room was like walking on thin ice, dangerously fragile and deadly.

A tightly stretched rubber band.

In that space, where the tension was about to snap, Kim Sung-won pushed back his chair and stood up. For a moment, the professors’ gazes turned to him, but Kim Sung-won didn’t blink an eye as he picked up his bag and turned to leave.

‘You crazy bastard…!!’

Choi Min-sik, seeing his friend acting as if he were in a world of his own, quickly stuffed his laptop and documents into his bag.

“It seems like you professors have some private matters to discuss, so we’ll take our leave.”

After bowing slightly to the professors, Kim Sung-won hurriedly left the conference room, followed by Choi Min-sik, who was trying to catch up with his shorter legs.

“Hey, you bastard!!”
“Ugh?!”

Kim Sung-won was pushed forward a few steps by the heavy impact on his back.

“Haa~!! Hey, you!!”

As it was, he had been feeling the weight of his age lately, and now his aching back was being targeted. It was a move that crossed the line, coming from someone who was also aging with him.

“Stop exaggerating.”
“Hey, give me that. If you still say I’m exaggerating after getting hit just like you, then I’ll admit it. Now give it back!”
“Hey, you bastard. As you get older, your heart is getting narrower. Enough!”
“What do you mean enough, you bastard?!”
“Embarrassing… Lower your voice.”
“No one’s around, so what’s the problem…”

There was no one else on this floor, and they were still waiting for the elevator, so there was no need to worry about being heard by others.

“Anyway, hmm. More importantly…”
“More importantly, what?”
“Let’s get on.”

Choi Min-sik saw other department heads coming out into the hallway and quickly got on the elevator with Kim Sung-won.

Whoosh.

As the elevator doors closed and they began to descend, Choi Min-sik spoke.

“You should have at least given me a heads-up that something like this would happen, you bastard.”
“What? What difference would it have made?”
“Well…… none, I guess.”

It would have been fine if he had only prepared some grain powder to drink, but the clipboard he had taken out in the conference room had a rather thick document attached to it.

-Ding.

The doors opened, and Kim Sung-won and Choi Min-sik stepped out into the lobby. It was the weekend, but since it was the main building, it was bustling with students and teaching assistants for various reasons.

“So, how did you gather all that data?”
“What data?”
“The data you gave to Professor Baek. It seemed to include everything from the guild’s activities since its founding, changes in the number of members, and even the flow of funds.”
“Oh, that’s right, I think.”
“……?”

As they left the bustling main building, the warm spring sunshine greeted them.

“Haa~ I should go fishing on a day like this.”
“Stop beating around the bush, you bastard!!”
“Look at this. Look. You’re cursing because you’re angry, right?”

‘Narrow-minded bastard.’

That’s why he’s going bald.

“I’m sorry. Is that enough? Are we done?”
“Buy me lunch.”
“You shameless bastard.”
“Ouch, my back…”

Choi Min-sik eventually gave in to the glances from the students around them. Then, he poked Kim Sung-won’s side and whispered,

“So, how did you get all that data?”
“I just received it and organized it. What’s the big deal?”
“……You received it?”
“Yeah.”

Did he have the connections and abilities to gather such data on his own? And not just for one guild, but for 37 guilds?

Even if the entire Finance Department worked on it, they could only manage to track the flow of funds for the past three years. There was no way they could gather information from the guilds’ founding to the present.

Kim Sung-won nodded, and Choi Min-sik, who had been watching him, frowned.

“If you’re going to speak, finish what you have to say, you brat!”
“My eardrums are about to burst… You lower your voice too.”
“It’s because you keep provoking me. So, who gave it to you?”
“Shut up, let’s just go eat first. I only had grain powder for breakfast, and I’m starving.”
“I really want to tear you apart…”

**

[Alchemy Department – Research Building]

Kim Sung-won, seeking a quiet space and planning to get some useful medicine while he was at it, brought Choi Min-sik to Yoon Do-sik’s laboratory.

“Come in if you have a request.”
“No, that…”

And there, they ran into Baek Woo-jin, who was having tea with Yoon Do-sik.

“Leave him. It’s obvious that he came here to see if there was anything he could scavenge.”
“Ha, ha. I’m not some thief… What do you mean, scavenge?”

Kim Sung-won glared at Yoon Do-sik, who was spouting nonsense in front of Baek Woo-jin, and grabbed Choi Min-sik’s collar as he tried to sneak away.

“Isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What is it? What else do you want to ask for?”
“Well…”

As Kim Sung-won rambled on, Yoon Do-sik clicked his tongue.

“I don’t know what it is, but come in anyway. He said so too.”
“Hmm…”

Kim Sung-won, who wanted to escape, had no choice but to enter the laboratory with Choi Min-sik in tow.

“Why are you sitting here when there’s more space over there?”
“I’m just being considerate of Professor Baek.”
“Hmm, excuse me.”

Kim Sung-won and Choi Min-sik squeezed their butts onto the sofa, with Yoon Do-sik in between them.

Baek Woo-jin watched the bickering trio for a moment before addressing the Academic Affairs Director.

“Choi Min-sik.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Did you receive the data from Kim Sung-won?”
“Huh?”

Choi Min-sik blinked, and Baek Woo-jin and he almost simultaneously turned to Kim Sung-won, who was drinking Yoon Do-sik’s tea.

“Phew!”

Startled by their sudden gaze, Kim Sung-won quickly returned the tea he had sipped into the cup and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Well, it’s lunchtime, so I was going to discuss it while eating. Yes, I definitely wasn’t trying to procrastinate.”
“Kim Sung-won.”
“Yes?!”

At the mere mention of his name, Kim Sung-won stood up straight and assumed a standing at attention posture.

“Don’t delay the tasks I’ve assigned to you. Do them immediately.”
“I, I’m sorry.”

Whoosh!

Just as Baek Woo-jin was about to say something more, a small vibration came from his pocket.

He slightly pulled out his smartphone, then put it back and stood up.

“I’ll come back later.”
“Yeah, it’s not that urgent anyway.”

Baek Woo-jin glanced at Kim Sung-won, who was standing, then turned and left the laboratory.

“Phew…”

Only then did Kim Sung-won sigh in relief and slump onto the sofa.

Yoon Do-sik and Choi Min-sik shook their heads at Kim Sung-won, who was sweating profusely on his wide forehead.

“So, what’s this data you’re giving me?”
“Can I see it too?”
“……You heartless bastards.”

Kim Sung-won grumbled at the indifferent reaction of the two, who didn’t care about him at all, and took out a file from his bag and handed it to Choi Min-sik.

“It’s quite thick.”

Choi Min-sik immediately opened the file.

『Name: Park Hyun-soo.
Age: 41.
Ability: Psychokinesis.

Content: Three years ago, he lost his left leg in the eighth-level rift, the Cradle of Darkness, as a dealer of the second raid party of the top 10 guild ‘Taesan’, and retired. Currently……』

The file contained profiles of retired awakened ones and information about their current lives.

“Hmm, this guy retired, huh.”
“Didn’t you know?”
“He didn’t contact me first, so how would I know?”
“It was in the news, though.”
“So what?”

Some of them were quite well-known awakened ones.

“So, why this?”
“Why? Well, in a few days, a bunch of heads will roll, and we’ll need to fill the vacant spots, won’t we?”
“……You don’t mean the list I have to submit, do you?”
“Of course, this one. This one.”

Kim Sung-won made a slashing gesture at his neck with the edge of his hand.

“If they don’t filter properly, even Jaiden and Lee Hyuk might get fired.”
“……”

Unlike the playful Kim Sung-won, Choi Min-sik looked serious as he carefully reviewed the list again.

At that moment, Yoon Do-sik, who had been looking through the list with Choi Min-sik, raised his head and asked,

“Did something happen today? You’re saying those two might lose their jobs?”
“Well, it’s like this…”

Kim Sung-won chattered about what had happened during the meeting, and Yoon Do-sik snorted after hearing the whole story.

“I knew something like this would happen sooner or later. Damn bastards. They have no idea about the true dangers of the gates, with their so-called ‘field experience’ being limited to simulations. So, they try to fill their bellies with oil by doing shit like this.”
“Haa~ It was so satisfying to see Jaiden and Lee Hyuk’s faces turn bright red.”

As Kim Sung-won and Yoon Do-sik gossiped about the professors who had attended the meeting,

“Sung-won.”
“A bribe… Huh? Why?”

Choi Min-sik, with a very serious expression, looked up and asked Kim Sung-won.

“You know, just in case.”
“Huh? Just in case what?”
“Do I have to meet and convince all these people on the list?”

There were more than ten people on the list.

Moreover, they weren’t just any retired awakened ones, but ace-level awakened ones who had been active in the top 10 guilds or just below them.

While the title of a professor at Arena Academy carried weight both domestically and internationally, it still depended on the individual.

“Hey~”
“Right? Right?”

At Kim Sung-won’s answer, Choi Min-sik was about to sigh in relief when,

“As expected of my friend.”

Choi Min-sik widened his eyes and looked at Kim Sung-won again. Kim Sung-won, under the intense gaze of his friend, continued,

“You really have a keen sense.”

Choi Min-sik’s eyes squeezed shut.