I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

The swamp-like floor returned to its original state.

“What the hell just happened?”

The apprentice alchemist, Park Myeong-ho, scratched his head.

One of his teammates, Baek Hana, suddenly attacked Na Joo-hee, then swiftly knocked out Lim Kyung-soo and another member. The three of them were sucked into the floor and disappeared.

“Do what you want.”

Hana, having dealt with her teammates, walked past Myeong-ho, who was standing there blankly.

“I was going to do that anyway.”

Myeong-ho shrugged and nonchalantly turned to inspect the shelter as if nothing had happened.

Hana glanced back at Myeong-ho for a moment, then continued walking towards the sofa where her two friends were waiting.

“Hana?”

Lee Nayoung, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa, twiddled her fingers and spoke cautiously.

“A-are you… okay?”

“I’m fine,” Hana replied, sitting casually on the armrest of the sofa.

“Just say you were caught in a mental trap, and everything will be fine.”

“R-really?”

Nayoung nodded, although her expression was filled with doubt.

“I’ll back you up too,” Nam Seo-hee said, seizing the opportunity.

“I’ll do the same,” Myeong-ho said, his back still turned as he examined the bookshelves.

“Then…”

After a brief rest, Hana stood up from the sofa. Seo-hee, who had been sitting next to her and playing with her tail, looked up with a disappointed expression.

“Are you leaving?”

“I just want to see her face quickly.”

“Okay, I’ll stay here.”

“Thanks.”

Nayoung, who had been listening quietly to the conversation between Hana and Seo-hee, spoke up cautiously.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not going to fight. I’ll be back soon, so you can look around here. When I return, you and Seo-hee can go gather materials. You need to earn points too.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

Nayoung quickly got up and ran towards the bookshelves that Myeong-ho was examining. Hana scratched her head at Nayoung’s eagerness.

“She could have just said she wanted to go…”

“She seems to be very conscious of you, Hana.”

“Do you think I’m still difficult for her?”

“It’s not that kind of nervousness.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Seo-hee could sense that Nayoung was trying to be careful with her actions, just like her, in an attempt to impress Hana.

“Then go.”

“I’ll be quick.”

Hana left Seo-hee and approached the door leading to the innermost chamber. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

A cold breeze blew past Hana’s cheeks, its source unknown. Hana stepped onto the red carpet, which seemed to welcome her, and walked down the corridor filled with a chilling atmosphere.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor – tap, tap, tap!

Hana’s steps quickened as she thought of the person she wanted to see. Her pace turned into a sprint, and she began to run through the eerie corridor.

Whoosh!!

As Hana ran past, the flames in the wall-mounted candelabra flickered precariously. Her sprint came to a halt in front of a massive door at the end of the long corridor. Or rather, it had to come to a halt.

A giant door.

And standing guard in front of it, a silver knight’s armor.

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped Hana’s lips.

Hana smiled bitterly at the statue-like knight and felt relieved.

She knew that no one, not even herself, would be able to reach the innermost chamber.

.

.

.

-Beep?!

As Hana Baek was knocked to the ground, the little rascal beside me jumped up and started pounding on my arm. I ignored him and surveyed the images projected by the power of the Viche.

‘It’s over.’

More than half of the students were eliminated by the professors I had deployed at the start. Then, the traps and monsters designed by Jaiden and Yoon Do-sik further reduced their numbers by half.

‘They were more troublesome than I thought.’

To deter students from taking shortcuts and missing out on the fruits of their labor, we placed annoying traps and monsters in each room.

Ironically, even if they didn’t take the shortcut and took a longer route, they would still encounter similar traps.

However, the former was almost impossible to overcome unless they had top-tier skills like Hana, while the latter could be overcome without casualties if each student fulfilled their role, albeit with some time.

-Bang?!

My guardian.

Hana, who had been hit squarely in the abdomen by Claire’s knee, flew into the air and slammed into the ceiling before falling to the ground.

Despite getting up repeatedly after being knocked down several times, Hana was now completely out of the game.

After confirming Hana’s elimination, I grabbed the walkie-talkie on the table and gave the order.

“Clean up.”

The professors, who had been waiting in the first room, burst out of the door and sprinted down the corridor. They would now hunt down the scattered students one by one.

Squeeeak!

The giant door opened, and Claire, clad in silver armor, entered, carrying the unconscious Hana.

-Beep!!

The fairy standing on the table flapped its wings and flew towards Hana.

-Bang?!

Of course, it was caught by the magical thread I had tied and fell to the ground.

“Put her down and clean up the remaining students in the room.”

“Yes.”

Claire carefully placed the unconscious Hana on my lap and quietly left the room.

‘I meant to have her placed on the floor…’

Hana’s hair was disheveled, her cheeks swollen, and her uniform dirty.

Although I could have fixed all of that with a simple touch, I didn’t. Leaving her in this state would make my excuse more believable when she was brought to the waiting room, as it would be consistent with the mess she had caused before coming here.

For that reason, I carefully lowered Hana to the floor.

-Beep…

The fairy looked at the unconscious Hana with a worried expression and tugged at my sleeve, probably asking me to do something.

-Beep?!

Just like Kang Hanna, the only professor to be defeated, Baek Hana began to sink into the floor and disappeared shortly after.

I stuffed a piece of chocolate into the fairy’s mouth, which was chirping noisily, and watched as the rift was quickly cleaned up.

‘This wasn’t the result I had hoped for…’

My original plan was for Baek Hana to lead a raid against Claire with the other students.

I wanted to teach them the importance of teamwork and the need to cooperate with people they might otherwise consider enemies, given their limited abilities and predetermined stamina. However, my intentions were thwarted when Hana eliminated Na Joo-hee.

I hadn’t set a specific time limit for this test because I wanted to convey that some gates required a certain number of people to be present to be conquered.

[ (｀∀´)Ψ It’s all thanks to my hint that the students self-destructed!! I deserve the most credit!! ]

I ignored the sentence that popped up on one of the screens and used the walkie-talkie in my hand to convey the message.

“Everyone, return.”

With that, I declared the end of the test to the professors.

.

.

.

Two days had passed since the end of the second-year evaluation.

It would take about two weeks for the comprehensive results to be compiled, so the top-ranked students would be announced during the vacation ceremony.

I had also confirmed that Baek Hana ‘s sudden behavior was successfully passed off as falling into a hallucinogenic trap.

Among the first-year students who had just taken the final exam, there was a heated discussion about whether the last test was a real gate or not, as it was surprisingly well-implemented.

Not only the first-year students but also the professors who had assisted in the exam and those who had watched the Viche’s broadcast were equally impressed.

“So…”

The innermost chamber of the Gate I had created.

Sean Connery, sitting across from me, asked with a haggard face.

“What is it that I must do… Please, please tell me quickly… I’ll do anything…”

Since the day I had warned him, the man had been holed up in Jaiden’s lab, and his madness was reaching new heights every second.

Even the two who had come with their mentor, Jaiden, were investigating the rift with Yoon Do-sik, so they were probably even more anxious.

“Take this.”

I tossed a small notepad to him.

He caught it and quickly scanned its contents.

“Just do what’s written on the first page until I contact you.”

The first page contained a lot of information, but the key point was simple.

I was to take credit for all my achievements in the name of the Clock Tower.

The content used in the first lecture, as well as this gate used as the stage for the evaluation, would be announced as artificial structures implemented by the Clock Tower.

“Is this all I have to do?”

“One more thing.”

I spoke to the man, whose lips were starting to foam.

“If any group tries to contact you regarding a gate-related request or the successful control of a gate, report it to me.”

“Report, report, just report, is that all…?”

“Yes, just inform me.”

“I understand… I’ll definitely report it!”

The man swallowed, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at me.

“Oh, oh–!”

Satisfied, he let out a beast-like roar and ran out of the room.

‘Now, all that’s left is to wait.’

I had taken all the actions I could in the current situation.

Although there were some twists and turns that caused minor and major variables, they were all within the range of manageable elements, and I had adjusted them to ensure that my plan proceeded without a hitch.

‘That’s all taken care of too.’

Up until now, all the incidents had occurred within the Academy, and I had no difficulty dealing with them because I had a clear understanding of the elements and people involved. However, from next year onwards, it would be difficult to predict how things would change for me.

According to the original flow, I was supposed to completely disappear next year, and the barrier protecting the Academy would also vanish. This would allow external forces to infiltrate the Academy, and the story would take a more serious turn.

One of the earliest events to occur was the underground forces openly sacrificing students within the Academy for their rituals.

‘Now, that could happen outside as well.’

Just as I was still breathing despite being supposed to have disappeared, the barrier protecting the Academy would remain intact.

‘…I didn’t intend to, but I’ve solved that problem too.’

From the second year onwards, students would frequently go on external field trips. This meant that I had to pay extra attention to Baek Hana’s safety. Originally, I would have asked Claire for help, but fortunately, I had found a good replacement for her.

-Chuaaaak!

As I approached the entrance of the mansion, I heard the sound of water spraying from the garden. Instead of entering through the front door, I turned the corner and headed towards the garden.

-Chuaaaak!

-Pirlrlrlr~!

On the lawn.

A stream of water fell gracefully onto a large blue tarp spread out on the grass. And on the tarp, a little rascal was splashing around with her arms and legs.

Claire was cleaning the plastic pool tarp, which she had pulled out through the window of her study, using a hose.

-Pirlrlr~!

“Hmm.”

Claire was diligently recording the fairy’s strange sounds as it stuck its face into the spraying water.

I watched them for a moment before quietly turning away.

The eighth summer.

‘It would be better if I left the house.’

The most uncomfortable season was not far off.

P.S. Hello Everyone! I’m VarieTL. I hope you are all enjoying my work! I only wanted to announce that I have posted a new Novel on the site 🙂

The novel is called: I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher (PHT)

Summery: Someone is reincarnated as a villain. Another person is reborn as an extra. But I was reborn as the master of the protagonist, destined to die while protecting her.

https://darkstartranslations.com/manga/i-possessed-the-heroines-teacher/