I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 15: New Student (1) ]

It was only the second day of working at the Hunter Training Pilot High School.

“Yeah. You’re doing well. Just like that.”

The warm sunlight carried the essence of spring.

The sun was so warm that it felt like summer had already arrived, and the sunlight was even scorching.

Hong Seok-young must have felt sorry for the mages cooped up in the storage room… no, the classroom, on such a nice day. He had somehow managed to find a table with a parasol and set it up. The gaudy-colored parasol oddly matched the container school in more ways than one. Especially in the sense that it did not look like a school at all.

Hong Seok-young added a plausible reason as well.

‘In the dungeon, anything can happen, so you must always be able to maintain your composure.’

Plausible, my foot. It was nonsense.

Anyway, under this parasol, I was giving advice while watching Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo sweat profusely as they drew runes.

“You’re drawing well.”

Correction.

I was giving them praise.

Praise makes even a whale dance.

Honestly, who in the world doesn’t like being praised? I’ve seen people dying from lack of praise but never anyone dying from too much of it. Even those high-and-mighty members of the National Assembly crave praise so much they do all sorts of crazy things for it.

So, I decided to praise Park Seo-hyun as the first step.

It seemed she was hung up on the mistake she made earlier, but if I kept telling her she was doing well, she’d regain her spirit.

Peaceful sunlight. Mild weather.

A chilly wind rustled through the reeds around the open field….

Boom!!!!

The sound of an explosion.

“That was a good attack just now!”

“Ugh!”

“But you lost your balance at the end! You must not lose your balance until the very end! Next!”

With a loud noise, Oh Hyun-wook rolled over to the parasol.

I subtly turned my body to avoid blocking Oh Hyun-wook’s path. He safely rolled past the parasol and reached the edge of the field. He finally stopped after crushing a few reeds.

Oh Hyun-wook sprang to his feet.

“Damn it!”

Then he rubbed his face roughly and ran back to Hong Seok-young. At the same time, this time, Lee Seung-yeon rolled over.

“Ahhhh!!!”

Lee Seung-yeon also got up with a scream and returned to where he came from.

Sigh….

This is why physical types are hopeless. They lack elegance.

Look at the mages here. How elegant they are….

“Damn it! Wrong again!!”

Choi Jin-woo crumpled the paper and threw it backward. There was already a mountain of crumpled papers on the ground.

“……”

Well…. High school students are the same in any era. I thought of the Hunter Academy, where reports of repairs needed for the facilities came in every day. The academy was under the Ability Management Bureau, so those reports came up to me.

The reason was always the same. The students broke it. While playing with their peers, fighting, training, or experimenting.

The pilot high school was the predecessor of such Hunter Academy. As long as Hong Seok-young was the principal, that mentality wouldn’t have changed.

There was only one difference.

The pilot high school building wouldn’t get destroyed.

Because there was no building to destroy.

“U… ugh, woof woof.”

Unlike Choi Jin-woo, who was pulling his hair out to the point of losing human language, Park Seo-hyun was calm.

So calm that it made me uneasy.

Her hair was still disheveled. Because she hadn’t properly fixed it, it even covered her eyes, making her seem even gloomier.

…Can she even see? How can she draw runes in that state?

Oh, right. Praise. I need to praise her.

But I couldn’t just praise her for nothing, so I looked at the rune Park Seo-hyun was drawing.

“……”

I couldn’t see anything because of her fallen hair.

“Park Seo-hyun?”

“……Yes?”

Park Seo-hyun responded a beat late. Her shoulders and body were almost glued to the desk as she raised only her head.

It was… scary.

“You’re working hard on the rune. Can you show it to me? I’ll check if you’re drawing it correctly.”

“No!!!”

Park Seo-hyun was startled and hid the rune she was drawing.

“I-I’ll show you later….”

…Why?

Why was she suddenly so reserved? She used to ask me to check everything one by one.

“Wouldn’t it be better to show it now? If there’s something wrong, you can correct it right away….”

“When I can draw it well… I’ll show you then….”

“My role is to help you draw it well, so showing me now would be much more helpful.”

“L-Later….”

“So you won’t develop bad habits, it’s better to check right….”

Just as my voice was about to rise, I snapped back to my senses.

Praise!

What’s the use of getting annoyed at a kid when I should be praising them!

Damn, I should know how to praise.

I wanted to praise, but there were always those who thought they were really good just because they were praised.

Still, I didn’t completely avoid praising. What did I do?

‘Is that so? So, you did it like this? It’s a method I hadn’t seen before. But do you know? There’s a reason why it hasn’t been done before. A few years ago, there was a hunter who tried a creative approach like you. What do you think happened? To tell you the result, they were lucky to retrieve the body….’

That’s not praise.

I recalled an example from around me.

How was Yoo Ji-eun?

‘Was that really the best decision? Wow, we have a genius here. Alright, alright. Since you think you’re so smart, you’re now the brains of our team. Everyone, let’s give a round of applause!’

…That’s not it either.

“A little faster! Yes, that’s right! You can do it!”

Hong Seok-young was still mingling with the kids. His voice was filled with pride. It seemed like one of the kids had landed a pretty decent attack.

‘What? What did you do at school?’

I didn’t attend the Hunter Academy.

I could have gone if I wanted to. I awakened even before graduating elementary school. Being the adopted son of Korea’s top hunter, I was always in the spotlight.

The director secretly hoped I would enter the Hunter Academy. But when I said I wouldn’t go, he nodded without showing any surprise.

‘Exam? Was it exam period? When? No, if it was an exam, you should’ve said something! I would’ve bought you rice cakes, sticky rice cakes…. That’s for the college entrance exam? When is that? In the fall? It’s still far away, oh, it was just the final exam…. No, the final exam isn’t just any exam! That must have been difficult too! What? The results came out?’

When they asked what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to go to college. They asked if I was sure, since I’d need to study hard, and I said not to worry.

‘Second place in the entire school?! Wow, even our family can produce such a number. Do you know what this uncle was doing at your age? Absolutely nothing!’

He always seemed like he had a screw loose when it wasn’t related to combat, but he always stepped up when it came to my matters.

…Until the very end.

‘You did well, so why are you so down? You wanted to be first? You can do it next time! Don’t talk lightly? You might drop further next time? So what? No matter your score, you can do whatever you want.’

Even if I had been the last in the school, he would have said the same thing.

‘This uncle will make sure you can do it all.’

In the next exam, I was first in the entire school. Until I graduated from high school, I didn’t accept any other rank.

I turned my head slightly to look at Hong Seok-young. Oh Hyun-wook and Lee Seung-yeon were down. Students with unfamiliar faces were rushing toward Hong Seok-young.

Hong Seok-young, with a wide smile, grabbed a reed and struck each of the kids on the head. He must have infused it with magic because the reed remained unbent and solid.

“The timing was perfect! But you all know what went wrong, right?”

“I lacked power.”

“I was a bit slow.”

“The linkage wasn’t right.”

“I have nothing more to add. That’s the right attitude! Shall we go again?”

Hong Seok-young’s teaching philosophy was simple. Praise them when they do well. Praise them even when they don’t do well.

Under his guidance, the Hunter Academy thrived.

So, following his method shouldn’t be bad. It’s an educational philosophy that’s been proven over twenty years.

I cleared my throat and looked at Park Seo-hyun. She was clutching the bundle of papers tightly, wary of me.

“Ahem. Alright. I get it. You must have your own thoughts.”

Remember.

Praise!

“Do as you wish. If you want to show it later, come find me.”

A smiling face is good. I’ve never heard anyone say I had a bad expression.

“I also found it better to focus when doing things alone.”

I should boost her confidence as well. She’s feeling down because of the mistake she made in Myeong-dong.

“Myeo….”

I shouldn’t bring up Myeong-dong, right.

“Ahem, from what I see, you have talent. You have enough to become a Grand Mage. In my experience, Grand Mages are stubborn from a young age and hate being interrupted.”

It’s hard to cater to the kids.

I don’t know how the director managed to always have the right words.

I’m tired of making up more words, and this should be enough, so I looked at Park Seo-hyun.

“……”

“……?”

What’s this. The atmosphere felt strange.

For some reason, a chilly wind blew from somewhere.

Gulp. Choi Jin-woo gulped. I could feel his tension.

…What?

“…Sniff.”

Park Seo-hyun sniffled.

What is it? Is she crying? No, right? Or maybe she was so touched that she teared up?

“……”

Damn it.

I’m not an idiot. I could sense the cold atmosphere.

But I just couldn’t understand it. Why? Why on earth?

“I-I’m sorry………”

Park Seo-hyun lowered her head deeply. But she couldn’t hide her trembling voice.

She timidly handed me the bundle of papers she was clutching.

“I-I’ll let you check it………”

“No, I told you to do what you want.”

“I’m sorry……”

“It’s okay. Do what you want. It’s most important that you’re comfortable.”

“I did something wrong….”

What the heck, really!

Did I do something wrong? Is it my fault? No, is it wrong to even give praise!!!

* * *

Park Seo-hyun sniffled until school was over. Choi Jin-woo kept his mouth shut and just watched my reactions.

I couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

“Alright, that’s it for today!”

Class ended before I could find out the reason.

The commute to and from the pilot high school was primitive.

Since there was no nice dormitory like the Hunter Academy, Hong Seok-young drove a van to drop the students off at a nearby village about an hour away. In the morning, he gathered the students from the village and brought them to school by bus.

When Hong Seok-young stopped the car, the parents who came to pick up their children took them home. The same went for Lee Seung-yeon. He wasn’t with family, but a man in a grand suit greeted him politely.

“See you tomorrow, sir!”

“Goodbye!”

For the students who had difficulty commuting, there was a lodge that Hong Seok-young had arranged to be used as a dormitory. It was much nicer than the inn room I was staying in.

I wondered how parents decided to send their kids to such a rundown school. If it were me, I would’ve reported it as a scam. Perhaps it was because of the name, Hong Seok-young.

“Are you not going to the dormitory, teacher?”

“I have some work to do, so I’ll be in late. I’ll check if you’re around, so don’t wander off. Got it?”

“Yes!”

The remaining dorm students giggled and greeted. Among them was Park Seo-hyun.

…Come to think of it, I was too swayed by Park Seo-hyun.

I shouldn’t have just focused on her; I should’ve paid attention to the other kids too. It’s all because Hong Seok-young roughly finished my introduction and didn’t properly introduce me to the students.

When the last of the dorm students had greeted and left, Hong Seok-young turned to me.

It was the most serious face I’d seen since arriving here.

“The place with a lot of kids you mentioned.”

“Yes.”

“Recently.”

Hong Seok-young’s eyes glinted sharply, more than ever before.

“There have been more child abductions.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“The targets are mainly children of Awakened.”

“……”

“They don’t demand ransom. They don’t care about witnesses either. Some abductions even happened in broad daylight on main streets.”

A breeze began to gather around Hong Seok-young. It was a bitterly cold wind, infused with magic.

“It’s there, right?”