I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

” Professor Baek…!!”

Heavy footsteps, irregular breathing, and a voice that mixed urgency with confusion called out to me. Instead of turning around, I slowly reduced my stride.

“Haa, whoo…!!”

Yoon Do-sik finally caught up with me, panting heavily. He hunched over, straightening his disheveled breathing, and followed me with small steps.

Ding-

“Damn… Your legs are ridiculously long. I chased after you as soon as we left, but what…”

Yoon Do-sik straightened his back as the elevator slowly descended.

“So.”

I turned to him, and he, who was grumbling about his age, coughed lightly and waved the paper in his hand.

“This, this thing.”
“The materials I distributed.”
“……Yes. It’s the one you distributed. What I want to ask about is this. This, right here.”

【Gate Conquest Plan】

Yoon Do-sik tapped the boldly printed characters with his other hand.

“First of all, I admit that you’re an amazing person, and I’ve seen it for myself. But this, this is too much, man. The year-end evaluation should be conducted within the academy, but a gate con―”
“Yoon Do-sik.”
“……quest?”

Ding-

The elevator doors slowly opened to reveal the lobby of the main building.

Early evening, with teaching assistants wandering around with coffee or snacks. I walked through them and said,

“Read it from start to finish, without missing a single letter. Then, repeat what you read.”
“Hmm… Can’t we go a little slower?”

Yoon Do-sik grumbled as he followed me.

-Hello!
-Have a nice evening!
-You must be tired from the meeting!

The teaching assistants who were wandering around the lobby greeted us with excessive courtesy when they saw us.

“What did you do to them?”
“Nothing.”
“……Dirty power.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong, so I didn’t reply.

Kang Hana and the other teaching assistants’ appointment as professors. That was probably one of the reasons why they were cautious around me.

“How long will you follow me?”
“You should give me time to read it. And how am I supposed to read this in such a dark place?”

He muttered nonsense as he continued to follow me.

“People, people. It’s the 21st century, and you’re still using outdated printouts?”

“And you use a smartphone but don’t have a smart watch.”

“Damn, you’re really over―”
“Shut up.”

At his age, he should know better than to be so talkative.

Especially someone with a deep interest in magic and alchemy should be more reserved, but why was this man so talkative?

I took out my smartphone and sent an email to Claire. If I didn’t get a reply, I would have to send Yoon Do-sik back. I didn’t want to show anyone how clumsy she was at cooking.

“……Tsk.”

I shouldn’t have had such thoughts. It seemed like the influence of greed on me was greater than I thought.

-Ding!

A short sound, and a reply from Claire.

[Claire: It’s fine.]

I put the phone back in my pocket and lightly placed my hand on Yoon Do-sik’s shoulder.

‘It’s a good opportunity to check something I’ve been curious about anyway.’

I infused a little magic and removed my hand, and Yoon Do-sik, who had been rubbing his shoulder, said,

“What?”
“Follow me.”
“Oh, come, come with me!!”

As the number of people gradually decreased,

“Hmm…”

Yoon Do-sik looked at the mansion at the end of the maze and sighed softly.

“It’s been 20 years since people have been wishing for this place, and it turns out it’s your house.”
“Stop talking nonsense and come in.”
“Hmm.”

Yoon Do-sik opened the door and stepped inside, and Claire, wearing an apron, was waiting for me in the entrance hall.

“You’re back.”
“I’ve been waiting since I received your message.”
“……Yes.”

She took my bag and quietly replied.

“What took you so long?”

I changed into slippers and turned to see Yoon Do-sik, who had followed me, standing at the entrance with his eyes wide open, staring at Claire.

“Tha, tha, that……”

Yoon Do-sik finally entered and closed the door, looking dazed. Then he lowered his body, trying to be quiet, and said,

“I heard rumors that you two were lovers, but are you actually married…?”

-Cough!

“……?”

Claire coughed quite loudly, and Yoon Do-sik blinked and looked up. Then Claire turned and said,

“I’ll just put this down and go to the kitchen.”

Claire, holding my bag close to her chest, quickly crossed the hallway and headed to the kitchen.

“Follow me.”
“Hmm…”

Yoon Do-sik looked around the hallway and followed me into the kitchen.

“Sit.”
“Hmm. Sorry.”

He sat down at the table, looking embarrassed, and as I was about to put my bag down in the study, Claire returned.

-Pii.

With a chocolate in her hand, the fairy on her shoulder.

“……Huh?”

His eyes widened, his mouth slightly opened, and his gaze turned to the fairy on Claire’s shoulder.

‘It’ll be fine.’

Having confirmed that, I quickly moved my magic and said,

“Why?”
“Huh? No, I mean, just now……”

Yoon Do-sik pointed towards Claire’s shoulder, blinked a few times, and then shook his head.

“No, no, it’s not.”

-Pii……!!

The little one, who had been distracted by the chocolate, suddenly noticed Yoon Do-sik and flew off to the study in surprise.

“Then, I’ll prepare, so please wait a moment.”

Claire, who had only bowed her head to me, took out some plates and began to serve the stew, the only dish she never failed to make, into bowls.

“Now that it’s bright outside, why don’t you read that?”
“Oh, yeah, I guess.”

Yoon Do-sik, who had been fidgeting like he was sitting on a hot stove, immediately turned his attention to the paper in his hand.

Clink.

In the meantime, Claire put the bowl of brown stew on the table and sat next to me.

Ignoring Yoon Do-sik, who was focused on the paper, I tasted the stew in front of me. The savory and flavorful taste spread throughout my mouth, and after swallowing, I felt a clean sensation with no lingering aftertaste.

I looked at her with a slightly tense expression and said,

“It’s delicious.”
“Thank you…”

A slight upward curve of her lips.

But it quickly returned to a straight line.

Only after hearing my evaluation did Claire slowly scoop some stew into her mouth. As we gradually emptied our bowls,

“Hmm…”

Yoon Do-sik looked a little puzzled and lowered the paper. Then he asked me,

“Can we really go through with this as it is?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… Well, if it’s conducted within the academy as written here, there shouldn’t be any problems. Ah, thank you for the meal.”

Yoon Do-sik put down the paper and picked up his spoon, and I, in turn, put down my spoon and asked him,

“Do you have a license?”
“Hmm? Do you mean the kind you need to drive?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… Why would I, at my age, be walking?”
“You drive yourself.”
“……Then?”

I nodded at Yoon Do-sik, who was slightly frowning, and said,

“I need you to drive tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I don’t mind, but… do I have to do it?”
“It’s fine if you call someone else.”
“Hmm, I understand.”

Yoon Do-sik slightly raised the corners of his lips in a slightly sinister way and nodded.

**

“……Damn it.”
“Are you talking about Professor Baek?”

Yoon Do-sik, sitting in the back seat, chuckled and asked, and Kim Sung-won, with veins popping out on his forehead, shouted,

“The problem is that you made it, but why are you using Professor Baek as a scapegoat?!”

On Friday morning, Kim Sung-won, who was excited about going fishing over the weekend, received an email from Yoon Do-sik as soon as he got to work.

[Old Man at the Pharmacy: Baek Professor said he needs to go somewhere this evening, so come.]

Since the person mentioned was who he was, he didn’t even consider the possibility of a joke, and as soon as he got off work, he rushed to the parking lot. And a few minutes later, Yoon Do-sik appeared with Baek Woo-jin.

-Did you call Kim Sung-won?

As soon as he heard that, he knew.

He had been played by Yoon Do-sik.

And now, after returning,

“I just washed the car last week……”

Is there really a place like this in downtown Seoul?

Kim Sung-won wondered as he drove up the mountain, where there was hardly any sign of human activity.

Of course, the road wasn’t properly paved, and he had to drive almost off-road, which resulted in a disastrous state for the car.

“Then why did you come?”
“I just came to see what was going on.”

The two of them looked at the flickering blue light in the darkness, where even the moonlight didn’t reach.

“I can’t believe there’s a gate here.”
“I know, right? And the size and color suggest that it’s at least a level 4 or higher.”

Kim Sung-won, an ordinary person, was just curious about the gate, but Yoon Do-sik was looking at it with a more complicated gaze.

‘I can’t feel anything even though I’m looking at it with my own eyes.’

A gate is a gap in space where unknown power and a large amount of magic power leak out. But the gate he was looking at now didn’t give him any sense of that at all. The magic power density in the surrounding area was also quite ordinary. That’s why it hadn’t been discovered yet.

‘…I guess I came for nothing.’

If he could have gone inside, it would have been fine, but since he was left in the car with Yoon Do-sik because he would get in the way, his curiosity was only growing.

“Oh, you’re out.”

After entering the gate and exactly one hour later, Baek Woo-jin emerged from the flickering gap.

He was carrying a small backpack, the same artifact that Claire had brought from the temple to hold Baek Woo-jin’s educational materials, with storage functions.

Clack.

The passenger door opened, and the bright light from outside illuminated the dark car. Baek Woo-jin got in, and Kim Sung-won swallowed dryly and cautiously opened his mouth to speak.

“……To the academy.”

Baek Woo-jin’s pale face, exposed in the light, spoke in a low voice that filled the car.

“I’ll drive as carefully as possible.”

Baek Woo-jin didn’t reply and closed his eyes. Kim Sung-won carefully leaned forward to buckle Baek Woo-jin’s seatbelt and gripped the steering wheel.

·
·

After Kim Sung-won left.

The darkness returned to the mountain.

The light from the car, the moonlight, and the ominous blue light all disappeared, leaving complete darkness.