Chapter 81
After the first class ended, lunchtime soon arrived.
Word of what had happened that morning spread rapidly among the students, not only in the superpower department but across every track.
"Did you hear? Kang Rahee got completely humiliated in front of everyone."
"Serves her right after acting so arrogant. Damn, I wish I'd seen it myself."
"Hey, you don't know? She's cleaning the school bathrooms right now. She got punished."
The mention of punishment surprised quite a few students.
No one had expected Kang Rahee, of all people, to receive disciplinary action.
"Right, how was the class? Must've been pretty decent if you didn't drop swordsmanship."
"Are you serious? Why would I drop it now? The class is already over capacity. Everyone went to the faculty office asking them to increase the limit."
After Kang Rahee's crushing defeat, Suhyeok had sparred with the other students one by one in the same way.
At first, none of them had wanted to step forward.
They had all witnessed the earlier match with their own eyes.
"I've actually been hitting a wall lately. Tuition isn't cheap either, so I was seriously thinking about dropping out."
"But after taking that class once? All those thoughts disappeared."
"Right? It felt like something that had been blocked inside me just burst open."
"I-Is it really that good?"
Suhyeok had pointed out habits and weaknesses they hadn't even noticed themselves.
He had also shown them how to use their individual abilities more effectively and draw out as much of their potential as possible.
To the students, the class had been nothing short of shocking.
Meanwhile, another topic was causing just as much commotion in the superpower department.
The transfer student.
Seong-a.
"Seong-a, where are you from? Do you live around here?"
"Me? Hmm. I live with Dad. We don't have a house."
"Th-Then what do you like?!"
"I like Kitty! He's always with me. He's probably with Dad today."
"Pfft, what's with that answer? Seong-a, the way you talk is so random. It's funny."
Her cheerful smile, combined with an appearance that seemed capable of enchanting everyone around her, made her extremely popular.
The gap between her cold beauty and bright personality only made it worse.
Especially among the male students.
Students from neighboring departments were even coming over just to talk to her.
"Instructor Lee Janghyeok, you seem pretty interested in the transfer student too."
"I noticed you've been watching her for a while."
The speaker was the superpower instructor.
Behind her were instructors from the other departments.
They were heading to lunch together, partly to get acquainted with Suhyeok, who had just joined the faculty.
Looks like she's adapting well.
And she hasn't caused any trouble either.
Leon, meanwhile, was furiously chewing on Churu with a sour expression.
[ Crunch, crunch. Hah! Do you see that, nya? Every single one of them has filthy intentions written all over their faces, nya! ]
Suhyeok ignored Leon's glare as best he could.
"...No."
"It was noisy, so I was simply looking over."
The enhancement instructor walking beside him nodded in understanding.
"Ah, that makes sense."
"She's the academy's only transfer student."
"And the only one who got a perfect score on the entrance evaluation."
"We've all been watching her pretty closely too."
They entered the faculty cafeteria.
Once everyone sat down, introductions followed.
"I'm Lee Sora, the enhancement instructor. Let's work well together!"
"I'm Jung Suyeon. As you can see, I handle the superpower track."
"...Kang Hana. Combat instructor."
Suhyeok glanced around.
It was a faculty-only cafeteria, so there were no students nearby.
"Where is the chief instructor?"
"Ah, the chief instructor?"
Lee Sora answered.
"He usually doesn't eat with us."
"I heard he goes outside because he doesn't like the food here."
Everyone at this table was considered one of the best in their respective fields.
Which meant at least one of them was likely working under the president.
I can't immediately rule out Kang Hana either.
Variables can always exist.
For now, though, the chief instructor was the most likely candidate.
His position was the highest, so naturally he would be closest to the president.
While they ate, Lee Sora suddenly remembered something and spoke.
"Oh, right. Instructor Lee Janghyeok, you're getting an assistant soon too!"
"They'll probably come introduce themselves sometime today."
So that was the person the president had mentioned assigning to help him.
An assistant.
Perfect for keeping watch on him.
"Yes. The president mentioned it beforehand."
At that moment, Jung Suyeon cautiously raised a hand.
"By the way... are you really going to keep the campus service punishment in place?"
She was talking about Kang Rahee.
The other instructors had already heard what happened during the morning class.
Including the fact that Rahee had lost and received disciplinary punishment.
Suhyeok answered without changing expression.
"I'm simply following the academy rules."
"W-Wasn't there a lot of resistance?"
Jung Suyeon looked worried.
"She probably can't do anything immediately, but with her pride, I doubt she'll stay quiet."
Aside from Kang Hana, the other instructors seemed genuinely concerned.
I can understand why.
Until now, even the instructors had found it difficult to rein Kang Rahee in.
Not simply because her ability was exceptional.
But because of the power behind her name.
Kangjin Group.
From the defense industry to support items related to superpowers, Kangjin Group held near-monopolies across several sectors.
Even instructors had been reluctant to provoke someone with that background.
And Suhyeok had done exactly that on his very first day.
[ Don't worry about it too much, nya. Brats like that need their noses flattened once before they come to their senses, nya. ]
[Several Constellations burst into laughter, saying it reminds them of Lower Administrator Leon.]
Leon jolted at the message.
Apparently feeling personally attacked, he hurriedly defended himself.
[ A-Ahem! When was I ever like that, nya...?! Everyone's slandering me way too much, nya! ]
Then Kang Hana, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
"That swordsmanship you showed during the interview."
"Where did you learn it?"
"I trained by myself."
"...Is that actually possible?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Enough swordsmanship to defeat the chief instructor, and you learned it entirely on your own?"
The question had an obvious purpose.
She suspected him.
Perhaps she thought he was hiding his identity.
The others also looked curious.
"I reawakened."
"R-Reawakened...?!"
Everyone lowered their utensils in surprise.
Even Kang Hana.
Reawakening.
Among those who had already awakened a superpower, an extremely small number later developed a second ability.
Unlike in Suhyeok's previous life, there was still no reliable way to verify whether someone had reawakened.
People only inferred it when someone suddenly became much stronger.
Which meant there was no way for them to prove whether he was telling the truth.
