Academy’s Villain Professor-Chapter 135 : Chapter 135

Chapter 135 : Stress
Ho-cheol was beyond dumbfounded, he was utterly baffled.
After passing everything.
Just to be told, "You have too much stress, so you've failed. Sorry!"
What kind of ending was this?
He removed the electrodes from his body and stood up from his seat.
“Is this really how it ends?”
If he had lacked some skill or aspect, he could have at least come to terms with it, but who would have guessed that unexpected stress would be his downfall?
Thanks to his personality of letting most things slide and moving on, he had thought he had no connection to stress.
Honestly, he usually wasn't even aware of stress, but this was true stress.
At Ho-cheol's question, Casey's lips parted.
“Ah, about that.”
Naturally, since he had far surpassed the failure line, it was right to fail him.
If she didn't know who Ho-cheol was, she would have chosen that path too.
But instead of decisively resolving the situation, she fell into thought.
Covering her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked back and forth between Ho-cheol and the stress measurement device.
First of all, she owed Ho-cheol.
Of course, she had no intention of crossing the line to the extent of changing a failure to a pass.
However, if she put in some effort, perhaps she could give him a chance.
Having made that judgment, she stood up from her seat.
Looking at Ho-cheol, she asked.
“Could you wait a moment? I'll go and talk to my superiors.”
Ho-cheol, sensing that she was trying to somehow resolve the clear failure, nodded obediently and sat back down in his chair.
The man and Casey left the exam room.
And a few minutes later, they returned with several more men in white coats.
She leaned forward, placing both hands on the desk.
“We’ve reached a consensus. The purpose of this test is to see if there are problems with Trait control or management when under increased stress, so we can't fail you just because your current stress level is high.”
After pondering her words for a moment, she summarized it in one line.
“So, we'll take this value as the default, and if you can prove that you're fine even with more stress, there's no problem in giving you a pass.”
“Well. That's not entirely wrong.”
If Ho-cheol didn't suffer from a stress disorder even when subjected to external stress, and if he didn't have problems with Trait control, then there would be no problem in giving him a pass.
It wasn't a stretch, so she had also received the consent of the other supervising heroes.
Ho-cheol, seeing a glimmer of hope, shrugged his shoulders.
“How are you going to apply more stress?”
What, are they going to suddenly hit me on the back of the head or pour water on me?
“There's a separate device that induces stress.”
Unlike Ho-cheol's crude methods, a much more sophisticated technology existed.
Then by all means, let's do it.
Ho-cheol, who was about to say so, flinched for a moment.
Come to think of it, there was one person who would be angry if he found out about this later.
It would be good to give him a heads-up as a courtesy.
“Wait a moment.”
Therefore, Ho-cheol took out his phone and dialed a number.
After a few rings, a voice came from the other side.
What is it?
You should still be in the middle of your exam.
“Yeah, about that exam.”
Ho-cheol lightly explained the situation so far, and what was about to happen.
“This is what they're saying. Is it okay?”
Are you… insane?
The dean muttered.
He didn't even have the energy to be angry.
It was supposed to be Ho-cheol's stress test, but for some reason, he felt like he was the one getting more stressed.
The fact that your stress is at its limit is already bad news.
And you're going to add more stress to that?
In a situation where you don't know if it will explode or not?
He usually did crazy things on his own, but this wasn't just crazy, it was also dangerous.
If there was anyone there who knew even a little about Ho-cheol's true identity, they would have never permitted it.
“No. It won't explode.”
Ho-cheol declared in a confident tone, but then added softly.
“Probably.”
Absolutely not!
“I didn't call to get your permission, old man. If I had to say, it was a notification.”
No, what's that! Don't hang up…!
Click―
Ho-cheol pressed the end call button.
He had already passed everything else, and all he had to do was pass this.
Why would he quit here?
Most importantly, this was a matter of pride.
He was told that his stress level was in the realm of mental illness.
If he were to back down now, it would be an admission that he was truly a stress-ridden person.
After finishing the call, he gave Casey a look, and she nodded her head.
“Then we'll get ready right away.”
Drrrrrk―
The loud sound of wheels rolling made him think a subway was coming.
A device twice as large as the one used to measure his stress level earlier revealed itself.
Looking at the device, Ho-cheol muttered with a displeased expression.
“……Isn't that an electric chair for executions?”
He wasn't joking at all.
The chair had restraints to bind the limbs, and a dish-cover-like thing was attached above the head.
At first glance, it looked like a device for getting a perm, but it was much more menacing.
Aren't my brains going to get fried like popcorn instead of a perm?
“Now, now, have a seat here.”
A man in a different coat sat Ho-cheol down in the chair.
In an instant, his wrists, ankles, and waist were firmly secured, and the mechanical device was placed on his head.
He continued his explanation.
“This device induces a stress response by giving electrical stimulation to the frontal lobe, amygdala, and other parts of the brain. You will experience a blackout as your stress level momentarily skyrockets. At that time, the cause of the stress, or more precisely, that memory, will flash before your eyes. If you can't endure it, please press the button on the right armrest.”
Ho-cheol was a little surprised.
It wasn't that recalling a past memory caused stress, but that giving stress caused a corresponding memory to surface.
Moreover, since it was pure science and technology, not a skill through a Trait, his immunity to mental attacks would not be very effective.
Slightly impressed, he rolled his eyes up and looked at the device above his head.
“Technology these days is truly amazing.”
“Now, then, we will begin the operation.”
When the man pressed the red button, the hemispherical helmet on Ho-cheol's head began to spin.
Beep beep beep beep beep―
The lights inside flashed rapidly, continuously shooting out intense light and sharp noise.
Ho-cheol asked, looking a little anxious.
“This beeping sound—it's not going to explode, is it?”
But a few more minutes passed.
The light was so strong that instead of a blackout, it continued to flash beyond his eyelids even when he closed his eyes.
A man who was checking some values on the device's display muttered in a troubled tone.
“Individual resistance is too strong. Not only external stress, but also electro-stimulus stress is having little effect.”
“Is it possible to reduce this resistance as much as possible right now?”
“I'll give it a try.”
At those words, Ho-cheol slowly relaxed his body.
Only then did his consciousness gradually fade, and before he knew it, his vision had turned completely black.
Ho-cheol, who had been frowning, slowly opened his eyes.
Looking around, he let out a sigh.
This was not the gymnasium he had been in until just a moment ago.
“You said it would just flash before my eyes.”
This is just a complete reenactment of that memory.
As expected of an expert's opinion, its credibility was low.
“The memory of the greatest stress.”
In fact, he had somewhat expected it.
And the situation and place were as expected.
He looked around again.
A quiet funeral hall.
The state of the memorial altar was a mess.
On the floor of the funeral hall, where one was supposed to take off their shoes and step up, the footprints of shoes were clearly visible.
And a crushed chrysanthemum, as if stepped on, lay alone on the floor.
“Is this right after that situation?”
Was it a relief in a way?
No matter how much he had shed the past, that situation was a… terrible memory that even Ho-cheol didn't want to experience again.
“By the way… good grief.”
The information about his stress level today was quite a shock to Ho-cheol.
Since there was no one to compare it to, nor was it measured by an objective standard, he couldn't have guessed that his condition was that bad.
He had thought everyone else was having a hard time like this, but it turned out it was just him.
He felt strangely bad.
He looked down and checked his clothes and physical condition.
A still-weak body.
He couldn't even feel a fragment of a Trait.
It wasn't just because it was a reproduction of a memory.
At this time, he was not only without the Trait to grasp time, but he wasn't even an awakened one.
Such a late awakening, and at this age, was a very unusual case.
His vision, looking down at his hands, suddenly blurred.
A wet and sticky liquid flowed down his cheeks.
He wiped his cheeks and eyes with the back of his hand.
Bright red blood stained his hand.
Tears of blood, a literal expression without any exaggeration.
The more he wiped it away, the more and more fiercely it flowed, until it completely blocked his vision.
And how many more tears of blood had he shed?
Finally, the tears stopped.
His vision slowly returned, and in front of him lay a corpse that hadn't been there a moment ago.
Was he about the same age as his present self?
A body torn to shreds, barely recognizable, a face stained with horror and fear, and a badge on his chest proving his identity as a hero.
But there was no pity in Ho-cheol's eyes as he looked at the corpse.
It was only natural.
Because he had killed him with his own hands.
Ho-cheol's awakening, and his first murder.
He was the hero who had provided the direct and indirect cause of his parents' deaths.
He himself had almost been killed by this guy again.
In a way, it could be considered self-defense, so he had had the chance to defend and protect himself.
But the past Ho-cheol hadn't torn this person to pieces for such a grand reason.
At that time, it was simple.
He bent down and picked up the crushed chrysanthemum.
“Right.”
Because he had stepped on the chrysanthemum after coming up to the memorial altar with his shoes on.
“I didn't like that, so I killed him.”
And this was the turning point.
The moment the villain Jeong Ho-cheol was born by rising from his tears of blood and killing a hero.
After that, he had just run forward.
Revenge, revenge, and revenge.
As if that was everything in life.
No, perhaps he was afraid to look back.
But this time was different.
Ho-cheol turned and looked behind him.
On the broken memorial altar, two portrait photos were placed.
A variety of complex emotions flickered across Ho-cheol's face.
They weren't the type to be happy if they knew he had shamelessly committed villainous acts.
That's why he had never visited his parents' memorial altar after becoming a villain.
He finally turned his gaze away from the photos.
He still had nothing to say.
If he were to say something, it would be after everything was over, and only then would he be able to face them proudly.
Getting stressed, getting angry, throwing a fit, and making those around him as unhappy as himself.
It would be a temporary relief.
But that was as foolish as hitting your leg because your arm hurt.
In the end, you had to solve the root cause of the arm pain.
“So when is this going to end?”
The moment he grumbled.
Flash―
With an intense light, his consciousness returned.
Ho-cheol blinked his eyes and looked around.
The men had no interest in Ho-cheol and were talking among themselves, looking at the values on the display screen.
“Stress level. No change.”
“It’s quite stable. It momentarily spiked, but it all recovered. The cycle is short too.”
“This is the first time we've seen such an unusual case since the one where stress was used as fuel for a Trait.”
“Could it be that this one also has a similar trait?”
A faint excitement tinged their voices.
When external stress was applied through the machine, his stress level momentarily spiked, but that was it.
Normally, the artificially induced external stress should have remained in the body for a long time.
But Ho-cheol had suppressed that stress in an instant.
No matter how many times he was stimulated, it instantly returned to its usual level.
Of course, that level was already enough to induce a stress-induced faint in an ordinary person, but at any rate, in terms of the shape of the graph, not the value, it was stable.
Putting all this together, Ho-cheol was the perfect subject for research.
In the end, only Casey was looking directly at Ho-cheol.
She undid the restraints binding Ho-cheol's arms and legs.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She took out a sphere from the box on the corner of the desk and held it out.
“Now, try to make this sphere into a cube.”
The cubes, tetrahedrons, and spheres they had prepared were tools for testing proficiency in Emission, Manipulation, and Augmentation-type Traits, respectively.
“This is the test?”
“Yes. You have to do it within 1 minute.”
With those words, she simultaneously pressed the timer on the table, and Ho-cheol began to knead the sphere.
Ho-cheol muttered, as if surprised.
“……It’s not easy.”
At first, he thought it was some kind of child's play, but it wasn't a test for nothing.
The explanation had sounded simple, but each part had a different property, requiring delicate control of force.
The texture was close to hard clay, but unusual.
It was no bigger than a fist, yet some parts were softer than cotton, while others were as hard as steel.
Fine output control and sensitivity of the fingertips.
To put it in layman's terms, it would be like passing a thread through a needle using chopsticks.
Of course, that was only for an ordinary awakened person.
Ho-cheol stopped his hands and threw the sphere back to Casey.
“Why all of a sudden?”
She caught the lightly thrown sphere with a surprised expression.
It had transformed into a smooth-surfaced cube.
For a moment, she wondered if Ho-cheol had switched it with something else, it was that perfect and fast.
She immediately checked the timer next to it.
12 seconds 81.
A record of less than 10 seconds was unheard of in this test.
Even she, with her experience, would take about 15 seconds.
For someone seeing the ‘sphere’ for the first time to be this fast?
Of course, she knew he possessed a strength equal to that of Eclipse.
But that strength and delicate control were completely different realms.
In fact, there were records of some high-ranking heroes struggling with the sphere.
Yet Ho-cheol leisurely asked her.
“Am I passed now?”
Pass or fail.
Casey did not answer.
Instead, she picked up the file and pen that had been on the desk.
And finally, after signing her name at the very bottom, she put the pen down again.
“Congratulations. You've passed.”
Just as he was about to feel the joy of passing, the men who had been whispering among themselves approached.
Their eyes, unbecoming of their age, sparkled with shyness and curiosity.
One of them stepped forward and spoke to Ho-cheol.
“This is a very, very unusual case. To be honest, the expression ‘research subject’ is fitting. Perhaps, as a result of the research, we could make a groundbreaking medical advance in the field of stress.”
Won't you please come with us and be a test subject?
Ho-cheol tried his best to ignore such a look.
After passing the first license exam, Ho-cheol went on to pass two more certification exams in a row.
A teaching license for Traits.
And a license to handle the Traits of others.
Both were originally basic knowledge and requirements for a professor at the academy.
And at the library, where he had stopped to return the reference books he had borrowed.
Whether by chance or fate, he met Ye-jin again today.
Fortunately, today she was reading a normal book, not an embarrassing one.
“Hello, Professor!”
“Oh, we see each other quite often.”
She, as usual, invited him to show his face at the facility.
Then she added, scratching her cheek with an embarrassed smile.
“In the past, it was more like she would ask casually at the end of a call. But these days, she's all worked up about when you're coming, even before saying hello.”
“Why do they want to see me so much?”
He was just someone they had seen for a day.
“Maybe it's thanks to the dinosaur costume.”
“You can't resist a dinosaur. Especially a T-Rex.”
Of course, for Ho-cheol, with his tight exam schedule, it was realistically difficult, regardless of his feelings.
Most importantly, he didn't have a pass to go out.
In fact, this was the biggest problem.
However.
“Ah. And.”
With Ye-jin's next words, he had no choice but to change his mind.
“The director asked me to tell you that she found what you asked about last time.”
Ho-cheol's body momentarily stiffened.
“……That is.”
There was only one thing Ho-cheol had asked the director of Ye-jin's facility.
His deliberation was short.
“Let’s go.”
“Pardon? Where to?”
“Your place.”
I can just get an advance on my monthly pass to go out.