Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 9
When I asked where they could see it, Jinsu tapped his phone a few times and handed it to me.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a video but a written post.
It seemed like a teacher who had witnessed everything from the beginning in the staff room had written it, describing in detail from when Teacher Jung requested the duel. Thankfully, it didn’t seem written by someone with ill feelings toward me as it recorded exactly what had happened.
“Can anyone see this just by signing up?”
“Actually, this was posted on our school’s anonymous teacher bulletin board, so only the 1st Hunter School faculty can see it.”
“Then how are you able to see it?”
“Well… My older brother is a middle school teacher here…”
He must have logged in using his brother’s ID.
I was worried my reputation might have suffered, but… No, thinking about it, it was Teacher Jung who was humiliated, not me, so it doesn’t matter.
[Anonymous: Originally, practical subject teachers tend to look down on regular subject teachers for not being hunters, and lately they’ve been looking down on Teacher Kang for being from a non-hunter school. Serves them right. I couldn’t cheer openly because I felt awkward, but honestly, it was satisfying.]
[Anonymous: I was in the staff room when Teacher Jung requested the duel. From the beginning, the duel happened because Teacher Jung’s girlfriend first spread false rumors and insulted Teacher Kang, then got caught and reprimanded by the vice principal, which made him angry and he forcefully requested the duel.]
[Anonymous: They brought this on themselves. How is Teacher Jung going to continue at school now? LOL]
[Anonymous: Honestly, I also teach practical subjects and while I didn’t openly discriminate like other practical teachers, I did think graduates from non-hunter schools would be somewhat less skilled. But after seeing today’s duel, my thinking has completely changed.]
[Anonymous: Did he use some kind of trick? I heard Teacher Jung was famous for his spear skills even in the Hwarang Guild and was going to take the A-rank test next quarter. Is Teacher Kang A-rank by any chance?]
[Anonymous: The teacher above is obviously a practical subject teacher. Stop denying reality. The vice principal was the referee, what kind of trick could he have used?]
[Anonymous: I have an acquaintance at Chase Guild and asked—Teacher Kang has only been B-rank for about a year.]
[Anonymous: I see Teacher Kang in a new light now. He’s usually quiet and doesn’t stand out much, but after seeing this incident, he’s a complete man’s man.]
[Anonymous: Agreed. Watching the fight, at first I thought Teacher Kang was losing because he was just dodging and blocking, but later I realized he wasn’t struggling at all and was completely going easy on him. If Teacher Kang had bad intentions, he could have broken or cut off something from Teacher Jung, but he subdued him without a single injury. And he didn’t make any demands at the end. If it were me, I would have humiliated him more.]
[Anonymous: Honestly, I have to agree with that. If I were Teacher Kang, I would have at least made Teacher Jung do a North Korean bombing apology stance.]
“Is anything different from the truth?”
“No, there’s nothing particularly different. I just saw there were comments below, so I took a look.”
Since it’s the faculty bulletin board, all the commenters must be teachers, and fortunately, the reviews aren’t that bad.
The teachers greeting me first this morning must have been because of this post.
“Alright. Now go run some laps or something.”
“Come on, there’s nobody else around, why would I run laps? Besides, tell me more. I heard you completely demol— I mean, won against the teacher. Was it really because of the history teacher?”
“Hey, students don’t need to know about this, so go prepare for class.”
“Aww, teacher, don’t be like that. I came up early specifically to hear about it.”
“Save that cuteness for Jinsu.”
“No, teacher! Even I find Minhee’s cuteness a bit… Anyway, please tell us. It’s causing a huge commotion among the students.”
I thought students didn’t know since there wasn’t any particular reaction at breakfast this morning, but it seems the rumor has spread widely.
There are no secrets in this school.
I don’t really want to talk about it because it feels like I’m bragging, but the two of them kept pestering me persistently, so I gave them a rough account.
I wonder if this is okay, but the school didn’t specifically tell me to keep quiet about it.
***
“Ahh, indeed bamboo leaf liquor is the best. And mapo tofu on top of that—how did you know I’m from Sichuan?”
In martial arts novels, bamboo leaf liquor is often described as cheap alcohol sold at any tavern, but judging from Cho Yu-ryang’s reaction, that doesn’t seem to be entirely true.
Well, even when I bought it, the price was definitely not cheap.
Originally, I was just going to buy alcohol, but the Chinese restaurant I visited earlier had pretty good food, so I also got a bowl of mapo tofu to go, and he’s absolutely delighted.
“I seem to recall someone berating me for arriving so late when I first came.”
“Ahem, no… That was because I was worried when you didn’t show up long after your usual time.”
“Worried? You were about to tear me apart… A little more worry and I would have been beaten to death.”
“How could that be? Anyway, continue what you were saying earlier. You said the fight was too easy?”
“Yes. His speed was extremely slow, and his attacks were too straightforward, so it was boring. By the standards of the martial artists you’ve seen, master, what level am I? Am I decent?”
“Terrible. You’ve barely moved beyond first-class and are just approaching the peak. In the martial arts world, there are plenty of people like you.”
I was expecting praise, but that’s too harsh.
“Is that so? Then I’ll have to focus more on training outside, which means I won’t be able to get alcohol and food from now on.”
“Ah… No, my disciple!”
“Disciple? Didn’t you just call me ‘bastard’?”
“No, should I call you ‘honorable disciple’ then?”
“I think I heard that Chamggae Ramen will be discontinued this week.”
“Didn’t you say that no one else uses martial arts in this era anyway? Whether you’re first-class, second-class, or third-class, you’re still the best.”
“That ship has already sailed.”
“You petty bastard. You shouldn’t use ramen as leverage, of all things.”
Seeing how he turns his head sharply, I should stop before he really gets upset.
“I was just joking. Still, the opponent I fought this time was someone who was actually rated higher than me by others.”
“Even so, he didn’t learn martial arts, did he? You said hunters are those who fight against monsters, right?”
“Yes.”
“On the other hand, martial artists who have learned martial arts fight against other martial artists, not monsters. Martial arts have evolved through fighting humans, not monsters, so of course you should win.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
Certainly, while hunters sometimes have sparring or honor duels, they don’t fight to the death except when dealing with criminals.
Even the rankings of strong hunters, like Korea’s Top 10 or the World’s Ten Stars, aren’t determined by hunters fighting each other, but by their hunter rank and the level of monsters they’ve subjugated.
“And I think I mentioned this before, but unrefined energy and refined energy differ in power even in the same amount. You’ve already refined all your energy, so it’s natural for you to win if you’re not grossly deficient.”
Oh, I thought he just didn’t want to praise me, but that’s quite a logical analysis.
Recently, he’s been behaving like an old man who only eats food without contributing, so I slightly underestimated him, but I guess a master is still a master.
“But earlier, you called me first-class, right? I can use sword energy—doesn’t that make me a peak master?”
“Using it for just 20 minutes counts as using it? You need to maintain it for at least three shichen.”
“Three shichen? Is that even possible?”
Three shichen is about 6 hours.
“The sword energy you’ve created now is subpar and forced, that’s why. When you truly become a peak master, you’ll easily handle not just three shichen but twice that.”
I didn’t realize the difference was that significant.
Maybe I really should buy some spiritual medicine.
“Would taking spiritual medicine help?”
“Of course it would help. But spiritual medicine isn’t called spiritual for nothing. Even spiritual medicine can only be obtained through destiny.”
Spiritual medicine, huh.
Of course, I can’t get things like the Ten Thousand Fire Internal Pill or the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, but wild ginseng does exist in this world.
The problem is the price.
Not long ago, I looked up wild ginseng online and found that it comes in various types like heaven-grade, earth-grade, and human-grade, with vastly different prices.
Among them, what could be called spiritual medicine would be heaven-grade wild ginseng, which refers to ginseng that has grown naturally for over 50 years without human intervention.
Even if it’s less than 100 years old, it costs tens of millions of won, and if it’s over 100 years, it can exceed 100 million won.
The protagonist, being from a wealthy family, consumed it like rice.
I do have 300 million won, but buying three roots over 100 years old would use it all up.
Even if I had the money, the quantity of those over 100 years is so limited that I’m not sure if I could get any even if I wanted to.
“Stop daydreaming and spend that time practicing your internal energy instead.”
In other words, if I don’t have money for spiritual medicine, I should make up for it with training.
“Yes, yes. I was planning to do that anyway.”
Rather than arguing with my master, who has red mapo tofu sauce all over his mouth, it seemed better to train, so I lay down a bit away from him.
At first, I practiced like in martial arts novels, sitting cross-legged, but after learning from my supreme master that comfort is paramount when practicing internal energy techniques, I immediately changed my posture.
He ridiculed me terribly for showing off.
How was I supposed to know that!
Thinking about it again makes me annoyed, but stray thoughts are forbidden during internal energy practice.
Focus, focus.
***
A week has passed since the honor duel.
There have been quite a few changes during this week.
If I was slightly better than invisible before, now there’s not a single person in the high school department who doesn’t know my face and name.
The practical subject teachers who are hunters remain the same, but they don’t openly disrespect me like before.
The regular subject teachers have completely exploded with interest, so invitations to drink and eat have increased dramatically.
It’s a bit sad that most are male teachers, but well, some even offered to introduce their younger sisters, nieces, or even their daughters who just turned twenty.
Even Teacher Park, who sits next to me and has been friendly from the beginning, is asking if I’d like to meet his younger sister.
I’ve also been invited to a new teacher gathering next Tuesday, not the one for practical subject teachers who are hunters, but for regular subject teachers.
Teacher Min Seung-ah, who teaches home economics, personally invited me.
She was mentioned a few times in the original work as being pretty, but she’s really beautiful enough to rival most celebrities.
I might be getting ahead of myself, but I wonder if spring is finally coming for me.
There are only three men including myself, and the rest are all female teachers, so I’m looking forward to it.
“Teacher Kang, how about a drink today? My wife said she’s going to her parents’.”
“I have paperwork to do and I’m a bit tired… Please let me off today.”
Teacher Park leaves with a disappointed expression, and as everyone seems to be heading home, I also leave at an appropriate time.
I feel sorry for Teacher Park, but I actually don’t have any paperwork.
I’ve been so stressed lately that I felt I needed at least one day to rest, so I lied.
I can quickly get rid of a hangover with energy circulation, but it doesn’t solve mental fatigue.
I haven’t been able to train properly lately either.
Well, “leaving work” just means leaving the staff room and going to the dormitory on school grounds.
It’s a bit stifling, but not that bad.
First of all, the cost is fully covered by the state, so I don’t have to spend anything.
Additionally, while middle school students have four to a room and high school students have two to a room, teachers unconditionally get individual rooms that are quite large.
It’s smaller than the officetel I used to live in outside school, but it’s bigger than the studio apartment I lived in during my past life in that other world, and all the furniture and appliances are the latest models.
I served my full two years in the military under incomparably worse conditions, so this is relatively comfortable.
After having dinner at the school cafeteria, I returned to the dormitory, changed my clothes, and started the washing machine.
While the laundry was running, I vacuumed once and then left the dormitory again.
I stopped by the store on the first floor to buy a drink before heading to the training center.
Since it’s a store in the faculty dormitory, there aren’t many people around.
It’s not exclusively for faculty, but it seems that the distance from the student dormitories keeps students away.
I bought an electrolyte drink and arrived at the training center while drinking it.
Huh?
The training center is divided into areas for faculty and students, and although I’ve come here often, it seemed like other teachers didn’t use it at all.
So I’ve practically had it to myself every time, but after swiping my card and entering today, I see there’s already someone here.
She appears to be in her early to mid-twenties.
Since she’s in the faculty-only training area, she must be a teacher, but I don’t recognize her face.
I thought I’d become familiar with the teachers’ faces during my month here, but… Maybe she’s a middle school teacher?
I was debating whether to greet her, but feeling awkward, I was about to pass by when the woman approached me.
“Hello.”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
“You’re Teacher Kang Shin-hyeok, right? Teaching swordsmanship in the high school department.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. Do you know me?”
“There’s no CCTV in the training area, so you can be comfortable. Senior Shin-hyeok.”
Senior Shin-hyeok? Is this someone who knows me?
I usually remember people I’ve met before when I see them, but… Somehow I can’t remember this woman.
And what does she mean there’s no CCTV?
“Is it that you can’t recognize me because I’ve changed so much? That would be disappointing. It’s me, Seo-ra.”
Fortunately, as soon as I hear the name, memories surface, but… Wait, what? This…?
No way. It can’t be.
