NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44
“Ugh!”
“Gaaah—!”
One after another, the students screamed and fell out.
All the students glared at the hideous goblin.
No matter how I thought about it, it was clear that this model goblin was much stronger than a real goblin.
That was thanks to Si-hyun diligently taking the opinions of the wing guild members into account.
‘Since it’s just lightly hitting them, a goblin this nimble should be okay, right?’ That mindset played a role too.
In the end, from the students’ perspective, it was fortunate that the goblin model didn’t have vocal cords and remained quiet.
If it had shrieked and howled, it would have truly been a scene from a horror movie.
“Hmmm….”
Si-hyun looked around at the students.
Even though there were only 15 students, it was still too little time to let everyone experience a practice session with a goblin.
I could see some of the neatly dressed female students sneaking behind the boys.
Si-hyun didn’t intend to force anyone.
Checking the time again, Si-hyun glanced around at the students.
“Unfortunately, we’re running out of time.”
“…….”
“Let’s have one last person and wrap up the lecture.”
A moment of silence passed.
And then.
“…M-me!”
One student bravely raised their hand.
It was Ah-reum.
Eun-byeol, who was next to her, widened her eyes and tried to stop Ah-reum.
“Ah-reum? You’re in support…”
“I-it’s okay! I want to experience this!”
But Ah-reum shook her head and stepped forward.
At her appearance, Si-hyun looked worried and asked, “Are you sure?”
“…Yes!”
Ah-reum’s enthusiastic answer came back.
However, her gestures and expression didn’t match at all.
She looked frozen in fear, and her shoulders were hunched up tight.
Anyone could tell she was severely intimidated.
As Si-hyun watched Ah-reum, he suddenly recalled when he first fell into this world.
When he first regained consciousness in a strange space.
Without even properly grasping the situation, he was more or less forcibly dragged into a church by some clergy who appeared one day.
He had to undergo unwanted training repeatedly, and his first actual battle was being thrown into a crowd of monsters.
Wasn’t he like that back then?
Si-hyun felt like he saw a reflection of his past self in Ah-reum.
‘……Of course, it’s different from me.’
Si-hyun had to fight for his life back then, and he had to heal all his wounds himself.
He couldn’t even take a proper break, and he had almost no freedom.
This situation didn’t change much even after being recruited into a hero party along with the paladin.
Compared to that, academy students had choices and freedom.
And now, Ah-reum was making a choice.
Despite being intimidated by the terrifying goblin, she chose to experience it firsthand.
Si-hyun looked at the student’s bravery with warm eyes.
“Okay. Let’s start.”
“Y-Yes—!”
Ah-reum awkwardly took her stance.
To anyone, it was clear she had never fought properly before.
However, Si-hyun focused more than ever on the student.
He didn’t want to waste the time and experience of the student who had mustered up courage.
Of course, he would control his strength, but….
“Eek!”
“…….”
Ah-reum, who had tangled her legs, fell to the ground.
Si-hyun, who was about to move the goblin, paused and looked at the fallen student.
…Maybe he had to make it much weaker.
Ah-reum’s combat ability was more serious than he thought.
***
After Si-hyun announced the end of the lecture and left the room.
Some students began to gossip with sullen expressions.
“No way, how could a goblin model be that strong?”
“Isn’t it a sham? Is he really a summoner?”
“Nah, it must just be an incredibly expensive magic tool.”
“Oh, speaking of which.”
One male student took out his phone and began to search for something.
“Didn’t they introduce a D-rank hunter of the wing guild in the first video? The master here is a B-rank craftsman, right?”
“Wow, so it was made by requesting it from a B-rank?”
The students chatting were taken aback and gaped.
Craftsman hunters were quite rare professions.
“Isn’t the model worth more than the money paid to the part-time lecturer?”
“Right? It feels like the belly button is bigger than the belly.”
Some students only thought about the monetary aspect as they chatted.
However, for the students planning their future, the situation was a bit different.
Si-hyun’s evaluation increased further.
‘Does he have connections with a B-rank craftsman hunter?’
‘If I get a recommendation later, that would be useful…?’
Connections among hunters were very important.
Because they could share knowledge and information about dungeons or monsters and were useful for joining guilds or forming parties.
What if there was a personal connection with a craftsman hunter?
You could create custom equipment easily without going through others.
The academy is a recognized place to build such connections.
Thus, the professor’s connections play an important role in increasing the professor’s value.
The friendship with Da-young significantly raised the value of Professor Jeong Si-hyun.
“With such connections, he should write something in the professor’s introduction like other professors.”
“Yeah, for real. It was so empty; I thought there was actually no one there.”
That’s what the academy’s academic information system was about.
Si-hyun’s introduction page was almost blank, so that wasn’t wrong.
“I think I made a really good choice in this lecture.”
“Me too, me too! Of course, the model is amazing, but the professor’s skills are no joke. Is he really D-rank?”
Various conversations circulated among the students, but in the end, the essence was the same.
Professor Jeong Si-hyun’s ‘Introduction to Monsters’ was a high-quality lecture!
The students were brimming with motivation to learn.
And although it wasn’t intended,
“If a B-rank can make something like that, then…?”
“It must be expensive, but it’s incredible.”
“Look at the detail in its appearance. Honestly, it’s scarier than the real thing.”
The earth magic goblin model also raised Da-young’s value together.
Even though she hadn’t participated in the model making at all.
***
[Title: I Saw Something Strange at the Academy Today]
[ㅇㅇ]
I passed by the close combat hunter building, and I saw students getting beaten by a goblin.
– That’s ‘Introduction to Monsters’ lololol
└ For real? Isn’t that a core curriculum?
└ Yep, the professor brought the goblin.
– Goblin? There was a monster?
└ Nah, just a model lol
└ They said it’s a magic tool? The professor made it move with control.
└ No way lolololol
└ Hilarious lolololol
– So the students who were rolling around were just getting hit by the model? lol
└ For real lololol
└ So funny lololol
[Title: It’s not just a model, though]
[ㅇㅇ]
Damn, the professor was so amazing in the video!
– Don’t just say it. Share the video;;
└ I think it’s gone since I connected USB; nothing’s left on the computer.
– At this point, aren’t these guys just making a fuss?
└ Totally
└ If I had seen the students getting hit by the goblin in person… I wouldn’t have said this…
└ For real lol
└ lololol
– Honestly, that goblin seems as strong as the professor, damn lol
└ lolololol
└ So it was you who rolled around getting hit?
└ No, anyway, it’s not me.
A man browsing the academy-related community closes his internet browser.
Not long ago, he received instructions from his superior to investigate Professor Jeong Si-hyun.
Ye Do-hyeong, an S-rank hunter of the Dawn Guild, had been steadily gathering information at his request.
He had tasked the hunters under the guild with confirming whether the knowledge about goblins was true.
After several dungeon raids, the facts were revealed.
He also evaluated how the academy lectures were.
Although it was still early in the semester, it was clear that rumors were starting to spread.
‘But there’s no reply to the email….’
He, who judged Si-hyun to be a hidden talent, immediately started writing an email.
But even after several days, there was no response.
Eventually, the secretary called Si-hyun at the number listed for the academy.
…..
After quite a wait, no one answered the phone. The secretary was about to press the end call button.
At that moment, the other person, with a razor-sharp timing, picked up the phone.
– …Hello.
“Hello, is this Professor Jeong Si-hyun? I’m from the Dawn Guild—”
The secretary explained his purpose.
This was an offer from a large guild, so he thought the other party would surely accept.
***
After finishing the lecture, I went to my personal professor’s office and displayed the goblin model on one side.
At that moment, a call came from an unknown number.
For a moment, I thought it was spam, but… just in case, I answered the call.
The other party introduced himself as the secretary of a large guild.
I quietly listened to the contents of the call.
…..
To summarize, it was a scouting proposal. The intention was to join the Dawn Guild.
– You’ll receive much larger resources and research support than now.
“…No, thank you, but I’d like to focus on my teaching for now.”
– I see… If you change your mind, feel free to contact me again.
“…Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
The call ended more smoothly than expected.
…By the way, I sent that email. I hadn’t really paid attention since nothing came back, but now that I’m social, I should check periodically.
In any case, I had no intention of joining any guild. Being part of the academy was enough.
Even if I were to join, I would either join the wing guild or follow Ji-a.
I had no intention of joining somewhere with no connection at all.
It’d be nice if they wouldn’t contact me again out of annoyance.
By the way, I wonder why a large guild has its eyes on me? It doesn’t seem like I’ve done anything particularly noticeable.
Could it be that rumors about my lectures have spread this fast? Hmm….
A subtle feeling tickled my chest.
A sense of annoyance mixed with satisfaction that my lectures were being recognized.
Human feelings are truly peculiar.
– Knock, knock.
“Yes, come in.”
Responding to the knocking sound, I lifted my head.
Slowly, the door opened, and a female student timidly stepped inside.
It was Ah-reum, who had contacted me earlier asking if she could visit the office after the lecture.
“Eek?!”
Ah-reum suddenly let out a strange scream and dashed to the corner of the professor’s office.
The bookshelf she bumped into shook violently, but fortunately, nothing was in it.
“Oh, that’s the goblin model from earlier….”
“Hehe, yes.”
Ah-reum placed a hand over her chest, panting heavily.
Seeing her like that was strangely cute, and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“Did you want to talk about something?”
“Yes, uh….”
Ah-reum sidled closer to the wall while glancing at the goblin.
“W-well, I was surprised by the goblin model. I know this sounds weird….”
She hesitated, trailing off. She couldn’t keep her hands still and kept tugging at her hair.
I waited in silence for her to say something.
“S-so….”
“Yes?”
Thanks to the ample time, I was able to see that the student’s cheeks were flushed, and she looked at me with determined eyes.
“…I, I want to be like you, professor! You’re so cool! You’re my role model—!”
Ah-reum shouted with an emotionally charged voice.
“…Hmm.”
…Is this perhaps what I think it is?