I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

The last weekend of April.

“Ugh, whoo……”

Baek Hana yawned and stretched, and a soft light fell on her clear sky-blue eyes, which looked a little dazed.

“Hmm…”

Baek Hana slowly sat up, her hair disheveled and hanging in front of her eyes. She lazily brushed aside the bangs that were in her way and picked up the smartwatch on her bedside table.

Am 07:03

If it had been a usual weekend, she would have been having a pleasant conversation over breakfast made by him. But today, she had just woken up.

-No, if you get the top rank, then you’ll be perfect in your field, right? So, if I were you, I’d apply for private lessons with Baek Professor, who’s been making a lot of noise lately, so I can meet our Executor too.

That was one of the conversations they had on Thursday evening, and it was the reason why she was sitting in her dormitory room instead of going home for the weekend.

“It’s all because of my sister……”

Baek Hana, who had just gotten out of bed, flopped back down and hugged her pillow tightly, rolling around in bed.

‘If it weren’t for my sister, I wouldn’t have had to worry about this……’

The reason why Baek Woo-jin’s lectures became popular.

The reason why Baek Woo-jin was getting attention.

It all started with Claire.

Claire’s reputation and high recognition drew the students’ attention, and naturally, their interest in Baek Woo-jin, who was always with Claire, increased as well.

‘If it weren’t for her, no one would have wanted to listen to it…!!’

In addition to the fact that it was an elective course, the most challenging thing for the students was the enormous amount of homework assigned every class. It was already difficult to focus on their majors, and on top of that, they were given mountains of homework in a non-major elective course. Who would want to take it?

But even now, despite the bad reviews, upperclassmen and classmates were reportedly contacting the administration one after another to sign up for the Basic Gateology lecture.

“Ugh……!!”

This was also the case with this matter.

Edyn had just casually made a guess, but it was so plausible that everyone in the room, including herself, had been startled.

A spot that others coveted but she had no interest in.

She had to secure it for her future happiness.

“Just hold on a little longer……”

It wasn’t even a month, just three weeks.

If she could endure that long, it would be summer vacation, and although it was only two months, she could spend all her time with him like before. So, if she could just hold on until then… or maybe even today.

No matter how exceptional her awakened ability was, it couldn’t compare to the person she respected the second most.

“Hey, Hana……”
“Hmm?”

Baek Hana, who had been rolling around in bed, turned her head to the side to see Na Young, who had poked her head out from under the covers.

Unlike her usual self, Nayoung looked a little tired, and Baek Hana quickly got out of bed and narrowed the distance between them.

“No, I, I’m going to sleep until lunch today…… Kyaaak?!”
“No. You have to eat breakfast first.”
“I only slept for 2 hours……”
“I’ll wash you.”
“Hmm… uh, uh, hmm…”

Nayoung, who had been flailing, calmed down, and the two of them arrived at the cafeteria on time.

**

After breakfast, Baek Hana and the three of them took Nayoung, who had been dozing off while eating, back to the dormitory and headed to their destination for the day.

“Wow, it’s huge.”

Edyn was impressed by the size of the training room, which was visible from a distance. Maria, walking next to her, narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists.

It was common for students to be curious about the facilities they would be using, even if they hadn’t personally seen them. But for Edyn, a priestess of Bwiar, a deity of information, to be so impressed was quite unusual.

She really wanted to slap her on the back, but she had made a promise to herself two days ago, so she had to hold back.

“But it is huge. Are we really the only ones using this?”
“Hmm? Yeah.”

Maria, who had been keeping an eye on Edyn’s back, snapped out of it and replied to Baek Hana’s question from behind.

Just like the cafeteria, some of the academy’s facilities were for freshmen only.

The sparring grounds were one example, and the training room they were heading to was another.

Just as the cafeteria was separated to make it a little more comfortable for the freshmen to eat, the other facilities didn’t have grand reasons either. They were simply designed differently because their purposes were different.

In the case of the sparring grounds, freshmen didn’t know each other’s skills, so if they had any complaints, they would just fight it out. That’s why it was designed to accommodate multiple students at once in separate zones.

On the other hand, upperclassmen knew each other’s skills to some extent, so there were very few instances of them fighting over the facilities. That’s why the upperclassmen’s sparring grounds were designed as one large stage, with more technical features to create specific environments.

The training room was also separated for similar reasons.

The upperclassmen’s practice rooms were designed as individual rooms where no one could see inside from the outside, as their practical training, evaluations, and competitions directly affected their future paths. And,

-You coward!!
-Yeah. Say that to the monsters too~
-Ahh?!
-Throw me a sword!!

In the case of freshmen, the zones were separated, but there were no partitions, making it almost like a communal room. This was also done with the intention of having them observe and learn from each other’s skills.

“They must have spent a lot of money. The air here is even fresher than outside.”
“Yeah.”

Baek Hana nodded in agreement with Edyn’s comment.

They could see their classmates sweating here and there, and in some places, thick black smoke or dust was rising.

Baek Hana, with her enhanced sense of smell and hearing due to her awakened ability, would have frowned if the facility hadn’t been inscribed with a cleaning spell.

“So, which side are we on?”

Edyn, looking around, asked Nam Seo-hee, who had secured their spot in the training room.

“This way.”

The group began to walk, following Nam Seo-hee, who was leading the way. As they walked, Edyn kept chattering, looking at the other students.

“Everyone seems to be at a similar level.”

“And it kind of looks like a gym.”

“Wow!! They even have a new-model strength measuring device?!”
“Why are you so talkative?”
“You’re the strange ones for being so quiet.”

At Maria’s reprimand, Edyn pouted and retorted.

“And why is it so big? It feels like we’ve been walking for 5 minutes already.”
“Of course, it’s big enough to accommodate 200 people at once. And the area we’ll be using is on the second floor.”
“There’s a second floor?”

Edyn looked up with a slightly scared face.

The ceiling was so high that even if she ran at full speed, she wouldn’t be able to reach it. But as she looked again, the ceiling did seem lower than it had appeared from the outside.

“……Can the students’ tuition cover all this?”
“Do you think it can’t?”

“Yeah, the academy supports the professors’ research expenses, and in return, they get a certain percentage of the profits if the research bears fruit. That’s how they cover the costs.”

There were also other sources of income, such as the by-products from the rift practical training and the artifacts the director brought from outside, but she didn’t mention those.

“Wow, it’s real.”

Edyn blinked in surprise as she climbed the stairs that led to the second floor. And she blinked again at the sight that greeted her on the second floor.

Unlike the first floor, which was bustling and heated, the students on the second floor were gathered in small groups, facing each other at a distance.

“What’s going on here?”
“I just got here with you.”

Maria clenched her fists and sighed softly. But as soon as she saw the faces of the students who were facing off at a distance, she understood why the atmosphere was so tense.

“Sometimes, I don’t understand what Seo-hee is thinking.”
“Sometimes? I don’t understand her most of the time. She only listens to what she wants to hear anyway.”
“Let’s go, you’re being noisy.”
“Why?”

Maria grabbed Edyn’s hand and followed Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee, who had already walked ahead.

Clang!!

Kang, kang, kagagak!!

The sound of metal clashing and scraping, which couldn’t be made by the standard wooden swords, reverberated through the quiet training room.

The more intense the sound became, the more it seemed to be coming from the center of the students who were divided into two groups, facing each other.

And as Baek Hana and the others approached, the sound stopped.

-Ugh!!
-Hoo, hoo, hoo!!

Instead, a pained groan and heavy breathing filled the silence.

Baek Hana turned her head at the pungent scent of blood that tickled her nose.

At the center of the students who were facing off.

There stood a male student, clutching his left shoulder, which was soaked in bright red blood, with a grimaced face.

Baek Hana was about to say something when a female student in a white clerical robe, the uniform of an apprentice priestess, came out and began to heal the injured student.

“What’s going on here?”

Edyn’s clear voice cut through the quiet space.

The gazes of those who had been facing off turned towards them, and among them were Gang Seok-ho and Na Joo-hee.

The children of the top 10 guilds and their followers.

That was the identity of the students gathered on the second floor.

The tense atmosphere.

It was the kind of atmosphere where someone could have spoken up at any moment, but when they saw Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee’s faces, they quietly turned away as if nothing had happened.

“Hana.”
“Hmm……?”

At Nam Seo-hee’s call, Baek Hana turned her head, and she took Baek Hana’s hand and said,

“They’ll join us soon.”
“Hmm… yeah….”

And quite naturally, she led Baek Hana towards Kang Seok-ho and Na Joo-hee.

Maria, who had been watching them, sighed softly and called out to Edyn.

“Should we go too……?”

Edyn, who had been next to her a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

Frowning, Maria looked around for the pink-haired girl, and,

Thud!!

A heavy sound, as if something had been slammed into something.

She turned towards the source of the sound and saw,

A girl with pink hair, standing with her fist outstretched as if she had just punched something.