NOVEL WEB Chapter 14
You must become S-Ranked to complete the quest, and I can only proceed once you do…
Hmph.
What happens to me when the quest completes?
No reward was promised when the quest appeared.
Even if I help Han Min-ha achieve S-Rank, no one knows what will follow.
Will it cure my lung disease?
Absolutely not. That isn’t necessary.
Returning to my original world is the best option for me.
The problem is, in the worst case, after going through all the trouble to make someone S-Ranked, another linked quest might appear.
No.
I won’t think about that now.
I will only focus on completing the quest assigned to me with all my effort.
I will survive, just as I told Han Min-ha.
“Student Han Min-ha.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Let’s survive together.”
Han Min-ha couldn’t respond clearly and bowed her head in silence.
Perhaps embarrassed, Min-ha’s body was radiating heat, and a peculiar smell emanated from her.
It was just the smell of old clothes.
She evidently didn’t use fabric softener, not even perfume.
“Starting this afternoon, come to class. Carefully consider it and let me know tomorrow. Student consent is required for this matter.”
“Um… Professor…”
“You did say there’s nothing to do after leaving the Academy, correct? I’ll wait.”
With Han Min-ha still silent, I straightened up and stood.
“I’ll see you later.”
Even as I left the room, Min-ha sat quietly on the bed.
* * * * *
In front of the dormitory, Assistant Bae Ye-bin hesitated before rushing towards me.
“How did it go? Did you talk to her? What did she say?”
“We agreed to talk again tomorrow and she’ll probably attend class this afternoon.”
“Is that so… Thank goodness…”
Assistant Bae sighed deeply as if the earth had cracked beneath her.
“I was so astonished when she suddenly declared her intention to drop out today. I don’t even know how many times this has happened…”
All the children under Assistant Bae’s care belonged to the lower classes.
Without a designated academic advisor, Bae Assistant must manage the students’ lives and studies in their entirety.
In such a situation, their departure due to sensing a limit to their abilities must have been both difficult and troubling.
Han Min-ha’s withdrawal form must have been submitted by Assistant Bae, who tried and ultimately failed to persuade her. Without anyone else to turn to for help…
“If Professor hadn’t come, Min-ha would’ve definitely left the Academy today. Her grades are poor, and there’s no strong reason for the Academy to hold onto her…”
“Thank you for your efforts, Assistant Bae.”
“Ah… Thank you… I need to go talk to Min-ha now.”
After Bae Assistant deeply bowed to me, she walked into the dormitory. I, too, turned towards the lecture hall.
As I walked, glancing up at the sky, a golden flash appeared far away at the flight training ground.
Looking closely, someone shot upwards with a dazzling aura before plummeting down rapidly.
That golden aura—it must be Yu Hye-won, I thought.
As far as I know, Professor Jin has a dark tail similar to her hair color when she flies.
Despite a brief fall mid-flight, considering how newly enrolled she is, her ascent was truly impressive.
Her innate talent is truly extraordinary.
* * * * *
[Professor! Min-ha is joining the afternoon class!]
I received a message from Assistant Bae while I was in an empty period after eating lunch.
It seems she reconsidered.
Alternatively, she might have felt compelled to comply because I literally pleaded on my knees as her personality wouldn’t allow her to refuse.
It doesn’t matter whether voluntarily or not—continuing to stay at the academy is what’s important.
Honestly, I don’t have any personal feelings towards Han Min-ha.
It might be due to my mental barrier, or more importantly, because I remain aware that I inhabit this world through possession.
All the people around me are fictional characters, not real people.
In some novels, the possessed person becomes too immersed and mistakes themselves as part of the world they inhabit.
Sometimes, they even merge or are overtaken by the personality of the possessed character, identifying with them completely.
But I maintain my mental barrier.
It protects my mental stability from external shocks and helps me stay rational in all situations.
I still know I’m the possessor, and the others are merely characters from a failed academy novel.
That’s why when I received a summons from the head of the professors, I was not the least bit flustered.
“Professor, you might not know this, but there’s utter chaos right now.”
“What kind of chaos are you referring to?”
“What else? Naturally, it’s about Yu Hye-won.”
“Did her parents call the Dean directly?”
Her father, a former S-Ranked Hero and Chairman of the Advisory Board, and her daughter, the sole top scorer in the initial assessments of the prestigious Graford Academy.
Exaggerating slightly, their family could halve the academy’s entire budget and subsidies with just a false cough—an overwhelmingly powerful background.
If they directly called the Dean over the issue of assigning the guidance professor, it wasn’t entirely an overstatement to describe it as a crisis.
And not just the first time; this was the second call.
The first one was probably just a request to take better care of the guidance professor situation, but this call must have been much harsher.
“We’ll arrange the professor and student allocations for Yu Hye-won immediately. Be aware of that.”
“Director, as I mentioned, I’m not suited to handle Yu Hye-won. While this may seem like a viable solution now because Chairman himself insists, it could harm the academy in the long run. I’m a professor from a less popular subject and have never handled guidance students before. If I don’t meet the level Yu Hye-won expects, the situation may become worse than it is now…”
“Hey,” the professor director sighed.
“Let’s think about that when the time comes. First, we need to put out the urgent fire, right? And frankly, Yu Hye-won will graduate as at least an A-Rank. Just cater to her and give her what she wants. What guidance can you give to someone who’s already polished?”
I understand why the director is acting this way.
When someone capable of throwing the academy into disarray expresses discomfort, does a mere professor like me standing firm against it seem plausible?
The only reason I don’t want to handle Yu Hye-won is because of Han Min-ha.
If I take on both Han Min-ha and Yu Hye-won as guidance students simultaneously, it’s unlikely Min-ha could endure it.
Yu Hye-won wouldn’t let Min-ha alone either.
Additionally, there are no institutional issues or restrictions.
Hmm…
Considering the current situation, outright rejecting Yu Hye-won isn’t a feasible solution.
If the dean and director are determined to push it, I’d inevitability have to accept her.
While I could refuse, it would introduce significant hindrances to my professorial life, ultimately leading to major disruptions in my process of making Han Min-ha S-Ranked.
Yu Hye-won and Han Min-ha…
I’ll just accept her for now and deal with the next steps as they come.
“Alright, Director. I’ll accept Yu Hye-won, but I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Not much. There’s a student I originally hoped to guide, Han Min-ha, and I’d like to guide her as well. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Han Min-ha? Who’s that?”
“An underclass Hero student with additional points…”
“Do as you please. There’s no limit on the number of guidance students.”
The director waved his hand, clearly implying that as long as Yu Hye-won is satisfied, he doesn’t care about the rest.
“Thank you, Director. I’ll proceed with that understanding.”
Thus, the top-ranked freshman and the last-place student became my guidance students.
The news spread like wildfire.
No one intentionally spread it; it naturally flowed that way, and before long everyone in the academy knew.
An unpopular subject professor, who had never before taken guidance students, suddenly declared their intention to take on students.
And not just any students—the golden-spoon of golden-spoons, Yu Hye-won, who was expected to graduate top, and Han Min-ha, who fainted during the initial assessment.
Even more surprising was the fact that Yu Hye-won chose not the comprehensive offensive Professor Yoo Hyun-ju, but Professor Hyun of the Basic Defense course as her guidance professor.
What else but this could become such a big buzz?
The professorial department was the most restless.
Everyone wanted Yu Hye-won as their guidance student, so their disappointment was profound.
Would I have wanted Yu Hye-won either?
But what could be done?
Yu Hye-won chose me, and the dean and director pressured her onto me.
Even the well-liked Professor Heo Tae-hyun wouldn’t have escaped this situation.
At least it was fortunate I could squeeze in Han Min-ha.
For the dean and director, making sure Yu Hye-won’s parents didn’t ‘cough’ was the priority.
The identity of some child named Han Min-ha or Min-cho probably wouldn’t even register to them.
At least it was comforting to know that the professors were somewhat aware of the situation.
This allowed me to avoid the misunderstanding that I had pulled some backdoor scheme to corner Yu Hye-won.
Still, the question of why Yu Hye-won chose me remained a mystery.
I don’t know the reason myself either.
In the original storyline, the protagonist falls for Professor Hyun’s appearance at first sight and becomes obsessed—an implausible motivation to say the least.
And now, with Han Min-ha entering the picture and everything changing, whether this motivation is still valid remains to be seen…
“Envious, Professor.”
Professor Yoo Hyun-ju smiled at me.
“Being chosen by such an amazing student, congratulations.”
“There’s nothing to congratulate, Professor Yoo. Rather, the pressure is so intense I can barely breathe.”
Of course, it was a lie.
With my mental barrier, I wouldn’t feel such pressure.
I only hope Yu Hye-won doesn’t lose her pride by becoming a guidance student with someone like Han Min-ha and ends up doing something unexpected.