Chapter 6- Basic Evaluation (3)
I quickly turned off the equipment and rushed to Han Min-ha who had fallen to the floor.
As the video suddenly cut off, students began removing their helmets in confusion.
“What? What happened?”
“Huh? What’s wrong with her?”
I knelt beside the fallen Han Min-ha and carefully removed her helmet.
Fortunately, the helmet seemed to have prevented any head injury.
However, external injuries weren’t the issue.
Han Min-ha was having seizures, her face pale and covered in cold sweat.
“If there’s an assistant outside, come in!”
“What is it, Professor?”
The assistant who was waiting outside rushed in.
“We have a patient. Quickly to the health center… Oh no!”
I quickly offered my forearm as Han Min-ha’s jaw trembled, about to bite her tongue.
Then Han Min-ha bit my forearm with tremendous force.
Her teeth tore through my coat and shirt, sinking into flesh with incredible strength.
So this is what it means to be a Hero Academy entrant.
Having never been bitten by even a dog, let alone a person, I momentarily thought being cut by a knife would be preferable.
The pain was incredible.
Blood dripped onto the floor from my forearm.
I didn’t put up a barrier because biting something that hard with such force would shatter all her teeth.
The students recoiled in horror at the sight.
“Assistant. Quickly go get help.”
“Y-yes, Professor…! Please wait a moment!”
The assistant ran outside.
“Professor… shouldn’t we do something…?”
One student asked in a trembling voice, terrified.
“No. You shouldn’t touch someone having a seizure. This was only necessary to prevent her from biting her tongue.”
Thankfully, the strength in Han Min-ha’s jaw gradually began to weaken, so I carefully removed my arm.
I turned her head to the side and loosened her uniform front to help her breathe.
Only then did I understand why she always walked hunched over.
How can her chest be this large…?
How does she even walk around with these…
No, no.
What kind of thoughts are these for a professor to have about a student?
I took off my coat and pressed on my bleeding forearm while waiting, and soon the evaluation center’s security personnel arrived.
“Professor, are you alright?”
“It’s not me, it’s this student. She collapsed and had a seizure during evaluation. She seems better now.”
A security guard pointed at my arm as Han Min-ha was being loaded onto a stretcher.
“How did you get that injury?”
“I had to let her bite it quickly to prevent her from biting her tongue.”
“Oh my. Come with us. It’ll get badly infected if not disinfected.”
“I’m still in the middle of evaluations, just give me first aid for now. I’ll visit the health center after finishing.”
The security personnel cleaned the wound with saline, dressed it, and wrapped it tightly with bandages.
“You must come by. Don’t make yourself suffer at a big hospital later.”
“I understand. Please take good care of that student.”
After the security personnel left, I resumed the evaluation.
Of course, considering the sudden situation that occurred, this team was given some extra points.
Since this is an evaluation measuring mental strength, one shouldn’t be disadvantaged due to an unexpected situation that wasn’t their fault.
By the way, it hurts terribly.
If I hadn’t been wearing a coat, chunks of flesh would have been torn off.
I need to finish the evaluation and get to the health center quickly.
* * * * *
The Academy has a hospital so large that calling it a health center would be inappropriate.
The eight-story health center boasts facilities and equipment comparable to any general hospital.
All medical staff are from university hospitals, and they particularly pride themselves on their surgical capabilities.
This is because it’s not just an ordinary high school, but a place that trains heroes to fight villains.
So many tremendous accidents occur that fractures are treated as minor scratches.
I passed between the parked ambulances and entered the emergency room.
The emergency room was quiet since it was still the beginning of the semester before proper training had started.
The nurses sitting at the desk got up from their seats, making a fuss when they saw me.
“Hello, Professor! What brings you here? Where are you hurt?”
“Hello. Just here a bit.”
When I showed them my tattered coat sleeve, the nurses came around from behind the desk.
“What is this…? Were you bitten by a monster?”
“A new student.”
“A new student…? A person did this…? Please come this way for now.”
As I sat down on an empty bed, the emergency room physician came to examine my arm.
The emergency room physician was a surgeon named Choi Sung-jun, who was about my age.
The health center staff called Choi Sung-jun the ‘ER Chief.’
There’s no such position, but it’s just for convenience.
Choi Sung-jun examined my arm while muttering.
“Looking at the marks, it does seem like a human bite… but why is the coat in this state?”
“They bit through the entire coat.”
“What…?”
When I explained the situation, Choi Sung-jun nodded as if he understood.
“Ah, you’re talking about the student who was brought in earlier.”
“How is that student doing now?”
Instead of answering, Choi Sung-jun looked towards a certain direction in the emergency room.
When I turned to look, I could see Han Min-ha sleeping on a bed.
“Nothing serious, simply put, they temporarily lost consciousness due to severe shock. They woke up a while ago, but when we told them to rest, they fell asleep like that.”
“That’s a relief.”
So it was just due to weak mental fortitude.
It’s fortunate it wasn’t anything serious.
While it was fortunate that the student Han Min-ha wasn’t injured, I felt much more relieved that there wouldn’t be any disruption to the progress of the quest.
It might sound heartless, but it couldn’t be helped.
Choi Sung-jun looked at my wound from different angles and said,
“Why didn’t you put up a barrier?”
“I was worried about damaging their teeth.”
“Ah, right… hmm… let’s see. We’ll need to put in a few stitches.”
He called a nurse to disinfect the wound and prepare for sutures.
I thought stitches were excessive for a bite, but when the wound was cleaned and exposed, it was much larger than expected.
No wonder they mistook it for a monster bite.
Choi Sung-jun put on latex gloves and gave several stinging anesthetic shots in my forearm.
As the wound area became numb and lost sensation, he began suturing without hesitation.
“All done, Professor. Come in daily for disinfection. Otherwise, it will get infected.”
“Coming daily would be difficult. If you could provide me with disinfectant and bandages, I’ll take care of it myself.”
“You will? Then I’ll give you plenty. But Professor.”
Choi Sung-jun asked with suspicious eyes.
“Why aren’t you coughing?”
“Do I have to cough?”
“Not necessarily, but it’s strange to see you quiet when you usually cough so much. You’re not secretly brewing some questionable tree root, are you? That kind of thing…”
“Haha, No.”
When I smiled faintly, Choi Sung-jun gave the usual advice about keeping the wound area dry and clean, then left.
While the nurses were gathering disinfectant and bandages for me, I noticed that Han Min-ha had already woken up and was blankly staring at the ceiling.
I got down from the bed and slowly approached her.
Stopping at a sufficient distance, I called out to her quietly.
“Student Han Min-ha.”
Han Min-ha, who had been looking at the ceiling, saw me and sat up startled.
“Professor…?”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine…”
Ah, come to think of it, I should return the handkerchief.
But when I checked my pockets, the handkerchief wasn’t there.
I must have left it in the research lab.
Han Min-ha’s gaze settled on my bandaged arm.
“Professor’s arm…”
“It’s injured. It’s nothing serious.”
She doesn’t seem to remember what happened during the seizure.
It wasn’t intentional when she bit my forearm, and there’s no need to bring it up here and make the child feel down.
“I was worried, but I’m glad to see you looking fine like this.”
“I’m sorry. Because of me, the evaluation was ruined…”
“No. That’s not true. The other team members continued with their evaluation. And considering the circumstances, I gave appropriate scores, so don’t feel too guilty.”
“Thank you.”
“Unfortunately, I had to fail student Han Min-ha. With the other team member’s eyes on us, I had no choice.”
“No. It’s my fault for not being able to endure…”
Han Min-ha mumbled while hanging his head low like a serious criminal.
“Still, don’t be too discouraged. Even if your score is low in the basic evaluation, there will be plenty of opportunities to make up for it later.”
There are many opportunities to make up for it.
There just aren’t many who can seize those opportunities.
I turned towards the nurses.
After confirming there was sufficient distance, I quietly opened my mouth.
“Since this happened during my evaluation, I bear some responsibility too. So I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
“Take care of yourself and I’ll see you in class.”
“Goodbye.”
Just as I was turning around, Han Min-ha stopped me.
“Ah, sorry Professor.”
“What is it?”
“May I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“That video from earlier…”
Han Min-ha spoke with difficulty in a dry voice.
“Was that… really actual footage…?”
“Yes. It’s footage taken by senior heroes while fighting villains.”
“What happened to… the heroes in that video…?”
“Most of them died. These are recordings from body cams recovered from their suits. Of course, there are some heroes who are still alive and active today.”
“Ah…”
Han Min-ha’s lips trembled slightly.
“Let me tell you just in case. The videos were specially selected to be as intense as possible to measure how strong your mental fortitude is. So naturally, the survival rate of the heroes in the videos would be low, right? That’s why. The overall survival rate of heroes registered with the Bureau Management isn’t that low.”
“I understand.”
“Don’t worry too much, Student Han Min-ha. I’ll help make sure you don’t become one of the protagonists in those videos.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
My words are not empty.
If one thoroughly masters defensive techniques, they can block almost any villain’s attack.
It’s just that until now, there hasn’t been a hero who could maintain such a calm mindset in battle.
Though I can’t guarantee whether this Han Min-ha, who collapsed just from watching videos, can reach that level, I plan to push her as far as possible.
If we can just increase the survival rate, becoming S-class shouldn’t be too difficult.
I will help you, Han Min-ha.
To faithfully complete the quest to make you S-class and return to my original world, escaping this weak physical body.
For that, you’ll need to keep attending the academy first.
