I Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy Chapter 28

Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy

Chapter 28

“Yes, Teacher Kim.”

“Teacher Kang, about what you asked me yesterday. As it happens, one of my friends just finished their contract with their guild, so they have some free time.”

Yesterday, I suggested to Teacher Kim that we go hunting together during the break and asked if she could find one more person if she had any friends available.

Since most portals accommodate 3-4 people rather than just 2.

“Really? That’s great. Then I’ll see you next Monday.”

If I were alone, the highest I could access would be a 2-person C-grade portal, and I’d have to hunt worthless mobs that don’t pay well, so this is fortunate.

***

“Didn’t you say you’d rest for a month?”

“Master said the best training is real combat. Besides, if I just train here during my break, who’s going to pay for things?”

Of course I still get my salary during the break, but I deliberately didn’t mention that. If I told him I was earning money while taking time off, he’d probably ask me to buy him even more things.

“So you’re not coming again?”

“Yes. But I’ll still drop by about twice a week like before. Maybe even more often.”

“Aish, you should have told me earlier, you brat. If I’d known, I would have rationed the food.”

That’s too much.

His disciple is going to fight monsters, and instead of worrying about me, he’s concerned about his food.

“Maybe you should have eaten in moderation?”

“You’ll buy more before you go, right? I believe in my disciple!”

I don’t know where he learned to talk like that.

“Yes, yes. I’ll go buy what you need now, so please write down what you want.”

After receiving the list of what Master needed, I left through the portal.

It’s already been three days since the break started.

When I was working, time seemed to drag, but now that it’s break, the days are flying by even though I haven’t done much.

Using light movement technique, I reached the bottom of the mountain in 30 minutes and went to the supermarket.

Looking at the shopping list, he’s written down quite a lot.

Seven types of ramen, ten kinds of snacks, chocolate bars, beef jerky, cheese, coffee mix, and more.

I brought plenty of supplies when I visited three days ago, but has he already eaten it all?

Of course, I ate some too while staying there, but I thought it would last at least two weeks.

Until now, I’ve been joking about money with Master, but if it weren’t for the 5 million won bonus I received for being an outstanding teacher, I would have been in the red this month.

I still have a good amount left from my stock market earnings, but I’ve spent quite a bit buying pizza for the school staff and various things for Master.

Plus, I’ve reinvested most of what’s left, so I don’t have much cash on hand right now.

Originally, I planned to stay away from stocks for a while since they caused me too much mental anguish last time, but after some consideration, I invested in Hwasin Electronics, where the protagonist Lee Ji-sung’s father is the chairman.

Of course, this time I didn’t use loans or margin trading like before.

This is a long-term investment, not aiming for a quick surge.

The year after next, the protagonist will enter high school, and in five years, he’ll graduate from the academy.

After graduation, the protagonist receives offers from various guilds but rejects them all to create his own guild with his father’s company as the parent company.

Being the protagonist’s guild, in the future it will naturally become Korea’s number one… No, the world’s number one guild.

As the guild’s value and profits increase, the parent company’s stock price will rise too, but that’s not what I’m aiming for.

That would take too much time.

What I’m targeting is a bit closer in the future.

It’s shortly after the protagonist creates his guild.

In the novel, the protagonist’s father’s company, which had been thriving without any crises, runs into trouble for refusing to contribute to the president’s slush fund.

The company faces pressure from all directions, including tax audits, and although the story doesn’t specifically mention the stock price falling, when the president is determined to destroy a company, the stock price couldn’t possibly remain stable.

What caught my attention was the phrase “father’s company that had been thriving without any crises.” If the company was doing well, the stock would naturally do well too.

My plan is to steadily buy and profit until the conflict with the president, then sell everything around the time the protagonist graduates, and buy again when the protagonist’s father’s company is in trouble.

It might take some time, but eventually the protagonist will step in and resolve everything, and the president will even be impeached.

Actually, I’m already in the profit zone now.

Well, since it’s a large corporation, the stock is expensive, so I couldn’t buy that many shares and the profit isn’t huge.

That’s why I plan to work hard at my side job during breaks to increase my capital.

“Here’s my card.”

After taking my card back, I put all the purchased items into the large backpack I brought and climbed back up the mountain.

The backpack was quite heavy, so it took a little longer than coming down, but since I was familiar with the path, there wasn’t much difference.

After telling Master to eat more sparingly, I came back down the mountain.

I took a bus and arrived in Seoul just after 12 o’clock.

The appointment is at 1 o’clock, but I’m feeling a bit hungry.

I was thinking about grabbing a quick bite, but I called Teacher Kim in case she wanted to have a meal together when we met.

Teacher Kim said she had just met her friend and suggested having lunch together, so I agreed and hung up.

I went to the meeting place and waited for about 5 minutes before Teacher Kim and her friend arrived.

But her friend was a woman.

Well… As a man, I prefer women to gloomy men, but I had mentioned I’d like someone with some strength…

Judging by her build, she’s clearly the magic type, which was slightly disappointing, but I didn’t show it and greeted them cheerfully.

“Hello.”

“We’re a bit late, aren’t we? Did you wait long?”

“You’re right on time. I just arrived. This must be your friend. Hello, I’m Kang Shin-hyeok.”

“This is my friend, Lee Seul.”

“I’m Hong Lee Seol.”

Hong Lee Seol? Where have I heard that… Ah, I remember.

She’s the physical arts teacher who becomes the homeroom teacher when the protagonist reaches third year.

She’s one of the characters who helps make the third year interesting after the protagonist has already spent his first and second years at school.

Since she’s not currently at the school, I thought she’d join next year or the year after, but it’s strange to meet her like this.

“Teacher Kang, do you like Lee Seol’s type?”

“What? Why are you suddenly saying that…?”

“Because you’re staring at her so intently.”

“No… She just looks a bit like someone I know.”

“What? Are you trying to hit on her? It won’t work—Lee Seol’s defenses are impenetrable! When she was in school, she received confessions… OW!”

I thought she might get hit, and sure enough, Hong Lee Seol jabbed Teacher Kim in the ribs.

“I’m going to tell your dad everything.”

“Master will take my side!”

As in the original story, Hong Lee Seol seems quite close to Kim Man-dong, probably because she’s his disciple.

“You usually don’t react to my teasing… Wait, do you actually like Teacher Kang?”

“W-who? I don’t like this gigolo-looking type!”

Even if I’m not her type, calling me a gigolo at our first meeting is a bit much, isn’t it?

Honestly, I don’t really like Hong Lee Seol’s type either.

Besides, Hong Lee Seol eventually becomes one of the heroines who falls for the protagonist.

Not long after the start of the third year’s second semester, the protagonist challenges the vice principal.

Hong Lee Seol, thinking the protagonist is arrogant, bullies him a lot under the pretext of helping him practice, but ultimately loses to him and falls for him.

And when the protagonist graduates, she even quits the school and follows him to his guild.

Of course, our dense protagonist doesn’t notice Hong Lee Seol’s feelings and just gets along well with the other heroines, and the scene where Hong Lee Seol finally explodes with frustration and confesses was quite memorable.

In short, she and I have no connection.

“How can you call someone a gigolo at your first meeting? Teacher Kang, please don’t take it to heart. She tends to speak bluntly, but she’s a good person.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Because of Seon-hwa…”

“It’s fine. Shall we talk over a meal?”

Time is precious, so we moved to a restaurant and discussed our plans while eating.

From combat positions to profit distribution, there were some disagreements, but we managed to compromise and adjust, and things seemed to be going well until we completely disagreed on the portal grade.

I’m B-rank, Teacher Kim is also B-rank, and Hong Lee Seol is an impressive A-rank, so the three of us can enter a 4-person B-grade portal.

“Absolutely not. There’s a reason 4-person portals are called that. We must go to a C-grade… No, since it’s our first time, a D-grade portal would be good to coordinate our teamwork.”

I naturally suggested a 4-person B-grade portal to maximize profits, but Hong Lee Seol strongly opposed.

“There’s not much difference between 4-person and 3-person portals. That’s why the law is set that way.”

Besides, I may not have taken the assessment, but if I did, A-rank would be a piece of cake for me.

“With Teacher Kang’s skills, I think it would be fine.”

“No… I think both of you are taking this too lightly because you’re not active hunters anymore. I’ve seen many hunters get into trouble that way. Let’s not be greedy and prioritize safety by going to a C-grade or D-grade portal. We can try B-grade later when we find a 3-person portal.”

I agree that safety should be the priority, but the profit difference between portal grades is significant.

For a C-grade portal, the earnings are roughly 500 for a 4-person portal.

Split three ways, that’s not even 170 each, and after deducting 20% tax, transportation costs to the portal, and fees for companies taking the byproducts, it comes to about 130.

In contrast, a B-grade 4-person portal yields at least 1,500, and sometimes over 2,000.

Roughly calculated, that’s 3-4 times the difference, and a D-grade portal would barely reach 1 million won at best, so I hadn’t even considered it.

The monster levels in D-grade portals are very low, like hop goblins, lizardmen, and orcs.

Even the protagonist goes straight to C-grade portals after graduating, not bothering with D-grade.

To exaggerate a bit, if we go to a D-grade portal, the travel time might be longer than the hunting time.

Sigh, this is frustrating.

“If anything goes wrong, I’ll take full responsibility.”

“If something goes wrong, you could die. How would you take responsibility?”

What kind of A-rank is this scared?

I’m tempted to ask Teacher Kim to find another friend.

If there were no entry restrictions, I could just go alone and sweep through everything without this hassle…

Wait.

Yes, that would work.

“Let’s do this then. We’ll apply for a B-grade portal, and the two of you can enter and wait at the entrance. I’ll hunt alone.”

After all, when entering a portal, depending on its size, the entrance area is always a safe zone, though the safe zone gradually shrinks over time.

The portal liberation phenomenon, where monsters cross over into our world, happens when the safe zone completely disappears.

“What are you saying? Do you want to die?”

“What? No, Teacher Kang, even so that’s a bit…”

“If I don’t return, you two can just leave without any danger.”

“How can you even suggest that? Seon-hwa, how did you find such a person…?”

“I’m saying this because I’m genuinely confident, so please trust me just this once.”

In everything, you need to start on the right foot, and I don’t want to begin by hunting worthless ‘mobs’ that don’t pay well.