The Academy Geniuses I Raised and Dressed

“I’ve talked to you about chains before, remember?”

Meiling nodded slightly under Yein’s steady gaze.

“Strength or tools—those are what you need to break chains. But there’s one important condition I didn’t tell you back then. The person bound by the chains has to want to break them.”

Meiling’s shoulders gave a small tremor.

“In life, there are times when you truly can’t do anything on your own and have no choice but to give up. But blaming everything on others without even trying—that’s cowardly.”

Her breathing grew uneven.

Yein’s words felt like they were dissecting her heart with a scalpel.

“Meiling, your life is yours to live. No one else can live it for you, and no one else has the right to. Of course, you’ll have to take responsibility for your choices, but…”

He smiled faintly.

“Just know this—no matter what choice you make, Lumina and I will still hold on to you. Whether you like it or not.”

“!!”

Still holding her wrist, Yein stepped aside.

From her angle, she could see Yein and Miller facing each other.

Meiling knew Yein was waiting for her to answer his unspoken question.

“……”

In her mind’s eye, she saw not just Miller, but behind him, her father sitting at his desk even now.

She pulled her wrist free from Yein’s grasp.

Taking a deep breath, she shoved her hand into her pocket.

Sliding wireless earphones into her ears, she tapped her smartwatch to make a call.

The other party picked up after a moment.

[Where are you right now, and what are you doing?]

His voice still bristled with barely restrained anger.

“Father.”

[Can’t answer me? I told you to get to class, didn’t I—]

“Chen Kai.”

Miller’s breath caught, and Yein’s lips curved faintly.

[……What?]

“Don’t think you can order me around anymore. I’m not your tool.”

[…You’ve lost your mind.]

“That’s right. I was crazy—crazy enough to follow someone like you just because you were my father.”

[……]

“But I’m done. From now on, I won’t see your face unless I choose to.”

[Ha! What nonsense—]

“If you try to drag me home or use me as a tool again, I’ll show you just how fragile that precious reputation of yours really is. Look forward to it.”

[Are you threatening me?]

“No, I’m warning you. I’m one of the people who knows the real you best.”

[You—]

“Meiling. Let me borrow that for a sec. I’ve got something to say to your father too.”

She handed Yein one earbud.

“Hello? Mr. Meiling’s father? This is Nam Yein.”

[…So you’re the one filling her head with ideas.]

“Let’s skip that talk. You broke our deal.”

[What?]

“I told you not to interfere with our school life.”

His voice lost all trace of humor.

[……]

“As I said before, I can send out that recording right now.”

[W-wait—!]

“I was going to say that, but thinking about it, I didn’t manage to make Meiling the top student either. Let’s call it even.”

[You little—]

“From here on, I suggest you act wisely. And don’t ignore your daughter’s warning. Goodbye.”

He removed the earbud. Whatever her father shouted next, Yein didn’t bother to make out the words.

“Here.”

Meiling took it, hung up, and slipped it into her pocket.

“Miller, go back. As you heard, I’m not following my father’s orders anymore.”

Miller stared at her, his expression stiff.

“……”

He turned away without a word, pulling out his phone as he disappeared from sight.

The moment he was gone, Meiling’s knees buckled.

Yein caught her arm before she could fall.

“I’m fine. Just lost my strength for a moment.”

When she straightened up, Yein released her arm with a nod.

“…Nam Yein.”

“Mm?”

“……”

“What? Don’t call me if you’re not going to say anything.”

She looked at him for a moment, then quickly turned her head away.

“…How did you even know I was here?”

“Oh, that. I put a tracker on the item I lent you.”

Her eyes widened.

“W-what!?”

“Kidding. You really believed that?”

“Don’t joke about that!”

“I guessed.”

“Guessed??”

“I picked the bus route from Gwangcheon with the farthest terminal stop. Figured if you were running away with nowhere to go, you’d want to get as far away as possible.”

“……”

She couldn’t say anything.

It was exactly right.

“…Haa. You really are…”

She let out a sigh, then gave a small laugh.

“…a strange one.”

Hands on her hips, she added, “Still, I should say this. Thanks to you, I said what I’ve always wanted to say to my father.”

What Yein had said earlier—about holding on to her whether she liked it or not—was, in that moment, the most encouraging thing she’d ever heard.

For the first time, she realized how happy it could feel to know someone wanted to stay by her side.

“And… um, you came all the way here to find me, so… th-tha—tha…”

Her face burned, and the words refused to come out.

“Th-tha… thank—”

“Hey—”

“Hyunkyaaaah!!!”

She jumped as a sudden voice called from behind.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just asking if I could come out now—”

Lumina appeared, canceling her Stealth, looking flustered.

“L-L-L-Lumina! I thought my heart was going to stop!”

“Sorry~!”

“Anyway, let’s talk over dinner. We haven’t eaten yet. I’ll call a taxi. How about blood sausage soup?”

The moment he said it, Meiling’s stomach growled audibly.

Face flushed, she groaned and turned her back to the two of them.

Sitting in the taxi’s passenger seat, Yein listened to the conversation in the backseat between Lumina and Meiling.

‘Good. Everything went as planned.’

If he had handled things the way the game did, he would probably be a corpse right now.

In the original Latesai, you had to fight Miller, the man sent to retrieve Meiling.

Miller, a Hunter and one of Kai’s subordinates, was level 45.

That was far above Yein’s current level of 18.

And Miller didn’t even use armor, skill slots, or abilities—only basic attacks.

Miller’s reluctance to attack stemmed partly from the game’s backstory—he pitied Meiling’s situation. He was also often encountered when the player’s level was still low, suggesting the developers had adjusted his stats for balance.

Even so, Miller was a formidable opponent.

He was fast, dodged frequently, and hard to land a hit on. Worse, his attacks were devastating—if you were lucky, you’d survive two hits with only a sliver of health; if not, you’d die instantly.

In the game, Meiling’s Black Domain could slow Miller’s movement speed, making it the key to victory.

‘But that only works for the protagonist. With my F/F/C aptitudes, there’s no way it would be enough.’

I needed a new plan—one that would let Meiling sever ties with Kai without me having to fight Miller at all.

First, I made sure the video from the 7th floor of the Spirit Forest got to Kai. Knowing his mindset, he’d see me surviving the Spirit Queen as a greater threat than before.

At the same time, I kept pushing Meiling to rebel against him.

What Meiling truly wanted was someone who would stay by her side and never betray her. If Lumina and I could fill that void in place of the game’s protagonist, she would stand up to Kai.

The final piece of my plan was Lumina, hidden in Stealth. Her guaranteed critical hit from Stealth would deal a serious blow to the unarmored Miller.

After that, I’d have Meiling unleash her Black Domain and dump every bomb-type item we had on him.

‘Good thing we didn’t need to fight at all.’

Facing Miller had been the biggest danger—but even if I had miraculously survived, it would have been a problem. A brutal battle would reveal that I didn’t have some powerful backer Kai needed to fear.

‘Anyway, it’s done. Meiling’s one of us now.’

From here on, Kai really would leave her alone. To him, she was now a self-destruct device—something he’d only touch at his own peril.

‘Which just proves he doesn’t see her as a daughter. If he cared even a little, he’d at least try to talk to her.’

Giving birth doesn’t make someone a parent. That was my first impression when I played Meiling’s scenario in Latesai.

‘Now I can focus on preparing for HAUT.’

The day after Meiling cut ties with Kai, we left Gwangcheon again, despite having dungeon training scheduled, and headed back to a dungeon.

It wasn’t my idea—it was hers.

“I want to get stronger as quickly as I can. If my father tries to control me again, I need the strength to resist. So please, come with me to the dungeon.”

Hearing that, Lumina’s face lit up.

For the first time, Meiling was asking us for help.

For someone who had trusted no one, a request like that meant a real change in her heart.

And I had no reason to refuse.

“Let’s try the third floor today,” I said at the entrance portal to Seawater Cave.

“The third floor? Isn’t that too soon…?” Lumina asked with concern.

“To grow stronger, you always have to challenge something harder than what you can handle.”

“That… makes sense,” Meiling said, folding her arms and looking at me.

“And if it gets too bad, we can always drop back down to the second floor to hunt. No need to worry too much.”

“Alright. I’ll do my best.” Lumina touched the dagger at her belt.

We ignored the monsters along the way, cleared the Ashen Butcher on the second floor without trouble, and moved on to the third.

“From here, there are more monsters that cause bleeding. Stay alert,” I warned before we advanced.

“Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

“Alright. Let’s kill plenty today,” Meiling said, swinging her magic wand with renewed vigor.

Hunting on the third floor of Seawater Cave went more smoothly than expected.

The rare twin daggers I’d made for Lumina and Meiling’s magic bomb skill worked decently even against the stronger monsters here.

Still, the enemies had more health and hit harder, so each kill took longer.

If we got surrounded, it would be over—so instead of Ezonnil’s Teaching, I wore the Ashen Butcher’s Eye to help control the number of encounters.

After about an hour of hunting small groups, it happened.

“Ah!”

Meiling cried out mid-attack.

A massive rabbit monster with glowing red eyes had dodged her magic bomb and bolted.

“I’ll finish it!” Lumina shouted, kicking off the ground and closing the distance fast.

But when I looked ahead to where she was headed, my eyes went wide.

“Lumina! Stop!!”

“Huh? Kyaa!!”

A crimson slash cut through the air right in front of her.

The rabbit monster split in half, spraying blood. If it had been Lumina, she’d have been badly wounded, if not worse.

“Lumina!!” Meiling yelled.

I turned toward the source of the slash.

“Tch. That was close.”

A boy with a greatsword slung over his shoulder scratched his head as he walked toward us.

(End of Chapter)