The Academy Geniuses I Raised and Dressed

Eleanor walked up to the equipment Yein had made, her face filled with disbelief.

She examined each piece carefully.

Donghyuk also stepped forward to inspect Yein’s work.

"They’re real… These are actual Rare-grade items."

Eleanor muttered to herself.

"Incredible. I never imagined you were this skilled."

Donghyuk said as he examined the necklace through a magnifying glass.

"Rare-grade equipment far surpasses normal gear in basic stats like attack and defense. On top of that, they come with at least three beneficial effects. That’s why every Hunter dreams of owning them. Just one Rare item can completely change the course of battle in a dungeon."

He lifted his gaze from the necklace to look at Yein.

"And this necklace has five effects. That puts it at the top tier of Rare equipment."

Eleanor’s expression turned grim.

"You really made all of this yourself?"

"Yes. I did."

"No. This… something’s wrong. This doesn’t make sense."

Eleanor glared at Yein, her anger rising.

"Rare equipment is so rare you could kill thousands of monsters and still not find one. And blacksmiths who can craft them? They’re just as rare. From what I know, there are only six in all of Seoul. And even they need weeks of effort to make one item. For you to produce all this in just one week? It’s impossible."

"I brought what I made myself."

Yein replied.

"Look at the gear. I left out a few pieces based on quality, but everything here was made using the materials I picked from this workshop."

Eleanor bit her lip.

The materials used were indeed the same ones Yein had selected earlier.

The fact that such a gap in quality existed despite using the same resources drove a stake through Eleanor’s pride.

"I saw the material list both of you agreed to use. Yein isn’t lying."

Donghyuk said.

"And there’s no way these are relics from the Demon Realm. They give off the exact same magical signature as the dagger and accessories Yein brought before."

"…"

Eleanor’s sharp edge dulled as she listened to Donghyuk.

"Miss El… I’m sorry, but…"

"You don’t need to say it."

Eleanor responded, her voice small.

"Three Magic-grade items against three Rare-grade items… The moment Yein revealed his gear, the outcome was already decided."

Her eyes shifted toward Yein’s face.

"You win."

Behind Yein, Lumina beamed.

"Th-Then Yein won’t have to become her assistant, right?"

"Right."

"That’s not all."

Yein added.

"According to the terms, this workshop now becomes Workshop Yein, and you, Eleanor, are to become my assistant."

"…"

Eleanor clenched her fists.

It stung—but a promise was a promise.

As Donghyuk looked between the two, he turned to Yein and spoke solemnly.

"Yein, this workshop means a great deal to Miss El. The furnace, the whetstone, the anvil, the hammer—every tool here holds her blood and sweat. As a fellow craftsman, I hope you understand what that means."

"Uncle, stop. I accepted the terms of the match. I’m not about to back out now."

Eleanor stretched out an arm to block Donghyuk’s chest and spoke.

"As promised, the workshop is yours now. And from now on, as your assistant—"

"Then let’s go over the workshop’s future operations."

Yein cut her off, and Eleanor bit her lip again.

"First, we’ll keep the name Workshop Eleanor as is."

"…What?"

"Second, the head of the workshop will remain Anne Eleanor, just like now."

"Stop!"

Eleanor couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted.

"If you’re trying to humiliate me or mock me, forget it! I don’t need your pity! Yes, I lost, and yes, I admit defeat—it was a fair match using the same materials, and I lost because I wasn’t good enough. I accept that! I—"

"You’re interrupting. I’m not done explaining the policies yet, so listen until the end."

Yein’s calm voice cut through her outburst, and Eleanor halted mid-shout.

"Third. All materials brought into Workshop Eleanor will be chosen by me. And from those, I can take whatever I want, without question."

"What?!"

"That’s ridiculous…"

Not just Eleanor, even Donghyuk looked alarmed.

"In return, any items I craft with those materials will be sold exclusively through Ailes De Platine. Of course, I’ll be taking payment—70% of the proceeds sounds about right."

‘This is absurd!’

Eleanor was speechless.

‘He wants to buy materials with our own money, take whatever he wants, and walk away with 70% of the sales? That’s daylight robbery!’

She was about to yell at him for being insane, but her mouth stopped halfway open and slowly closed again.

Her eyes shifted to the gear Yein had brought.

Three Rare-grade items, crafted in just one week.

And not just any Rare-grade—top-tier items, the kind that set a new standard.

There was probably no one like Yein even in the entire world, not just Seoul.

And what had he said?

He would sell his Rare equipment only through Ailes De Platine.

Just having a single Rare item on display was enough to set a gear shop apart from the thousands in the Hunter Market.

‘If my father’s company knew a craftsman like this existed…’

They would probably offer him billions in signing bonuses just to make him their exclusive crafter at Crystal Group.

"Miss E-El…"

When Donghyuk looked at her, Eleanor gave a small nod.

“…Is that everything in your operation plan?”

“No. There’s one more important rule.”

“Go on.”

“Fourth.”

Yein pointed at the equipment he had crafted.

“When selling my gear through Ailes De Platine, the fact that I made them must be kept completely secret. If this isn’t upheld, then Workshop Eleanor will truly become mine.”

“…Huh?”

Eleanor’s face twisted with confusion.

“What’s the point of that? You went through the trouble of crafting Rare-grade equipment, and now you want to hide the creator’s name? Why throw away that kind of recognition?”

To someone like her, who aspired to be the world’s top equipment creator, this made absolutely no sense.

“I can’t tell you the reason. That’s the last of my conditions. Got any complaints?”

Eleanor’s lips shut tight.

Even if she did have complaints, she couldn’t voice them.

If she said the wrong thing now, she’d be reduced to being an assistant at Workshop Yein.

Of course, even in that role, she could potentially steal some of his techniques.

But accepting the conditions he just laid out was still more beneficial—for both the current head of Workshop Eleanor and for the owner of Ailes De Platine.

“…Fine. But I’d like to propose just one condition from my side.”

“Denied.”

“What—what did you say?”

Yein cut her off immediately.

“I don’t plan to accept any terms from your side. This isn’t a negotiation—it’s a matter of whether you’ll follow my rules or not.”

“……”

Eleanor clenched her fists and trembled. Then she looked up at the ceiling for a moment—

“…Haaah. Alright.”

She exhaled a long sigh and replied.

“Have it your way.”

“Good.”

Yein nodded.

“Then show me the current list of materials in storage and your supplier contacts.”

Eleanor turned to get her tablet, her mind spinning with the realization that meeting him last week wasn’t a heaven-sent opportunity—but a cursed seed.

Yein stared at the tablet she handed over for a long moment, then his fingers began moving swiftly, checking off items from the supplier list.

“Have these delivered by the end of next weekend. I’ve already entered the quantities—just place the orders as-is.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened as she looked at the tablet.

“What do you mean, just buy all this out of nowhere?!”

The materials Yein chose were all low-level but high-rarity items.

Each individual piece was cheaper than the premium materials Eleanor usually stocked, but the issue was the quantity.

“Two hundred pieces of Low-Grade Purification Crystal?! Then five hundred Low-Grade Magic Iron, one hundred fifty Coldstones, one hundred fifty Firestones… That’s over three thousand items in total!”

“There should be enough stock. And I’ll use my inventory space for storage.”

“That’s not the point! It’s not about storage—if I order all this at once, the cost—”

“If it’s about money, just sell those.”

Yein pointed to the floor, where his three Rare-grade pieces lay.

“Thirty percent of the proceeds should be enough to cover the material costs. Anyway, I’m heading out.”

“Ah! Yein, wait! I’m coming too!”

Lumina hurried after him.

Eleanor stood trembling, staring at the now-closed workshop door.

“…Miss El. Everything in life has its ups and downs. What we choose to focus on in any given moment—that is up to us.”

“I know.”

Eleanor stopped shaking, placed the tablet on her workbench, and muttered:

“I won’t let it end like this.”

She marched over and grabbed the axe Yein had made.

“He only said I should sell the items. He never said I couldn’t study them.”

She glared at the crimson-glowing axe.

“I will steal your techniques. And one day, I’ll surpass you and reclaim this workshop.”

Donghyuk smiled as he saw the fire burning in her eyes.

‘Yes. That’s the Miss El I know.’

His gaze shifted to the items Yein had left behind.

‘Still, when those things hit the market, the Hunter Market’s going to explode. It’s going to get noisy around here.’

Just imagining working at the center of that storm gave Donghyuk a headache.

But at the same time, a rush of excitement surged through him—something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

‘Huh?’

Eleanor, who was now examining Yein’s gear, suddenly looked puzzled.

‘What the—? I mean, sure, he didn’t use straw bundles, but he didn’t use black pearls either? That stuff’s rare even among low-grade materials and super expensive!’

She looked toward the entrance again.

“If you weren’t going to use them, then give the leftover materials back, you thief!”

Her shout echoed through the workshop.

Meanwhile, the "thief" and Lumina had already left the workshop district and were headed toward the heart of the Hunter Market.

“I think I finally understand why Rare gear is so expensive. It’s way harder to make than I thought.”

Lumina said, recalling the Rare weapon she’d seen once in the Hunter Mall.

At the time, the price tag had read: 108 million won.

“But you can make stuff like that in the blink of an eye, right? That’s seriously amazing. If you wanted, you could be filthy rich.”

“The stuff I made today won’t go for that much. Even though they’re rare, the materials were low-level, so the power stored in them is weak. They’re probably only usable by Hunters under Level 10. So the price won’t be that high.”

“I see…”

“But there are plenty of rich kids in prestigious academies. I won’t have to worry about finding buyers. Oh, right—I promised to tell you about Meiling today.”

“Ah—y-yeah!”

Lumina looked nervous.

“I ran into Meiling in the Magitech Vault. We happened to have our monthly assignments at the same location. I helped her out by chance, and that led to the drone situation.”

“Ah, a coincidence… But didn’t she give you something afterward?”

“Her father sent me an invitation. Said he wanted to express his thanks.”

“What!?”

Lumina’s eyes widened.

“You mean Meiling’s dad? From Forward?!”

“Shh.”

“Mm!”

When Yein lifted a finger to his lips, Lumina quickly shut her mouth.

“He’s an executive at Forward, right?”

She whispered as quietly as she could.

“Yeah. CEO of Forward's Magic Engineering.”

Yein whispered back.

“W-wow… And he sent you an invitation?”

Yein nodded.

“B-but wait, didn’t you say before that you wanted to recruit Meiling into your squad? Are you going to bring that up when you meet him?”

“……”

“Yein?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure yet.”

Yein’s lips curled slightly into a smile.

Lumina couldn’t figure out what that smile meant—and it left her quietly puzzled.

6:00 p.m. sharp.

When I walked out to the school gate, I saw a black car already waiting.

A man in a suit stood beside it.

“You must be Student Nam Yein.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been asked by Mr. Kai to escort you to the meeting. Please get in.”

The man said, opening the back door for me.

I got in, and he smoothly stepped into the driver’s seat and started the car.

As the streetlights passed by one after another outside the window, I sank into thought.

‘Alright… What should I do to survive tonight’s ordeal?’

(End of Chapter)