Academy’s Villain Professor-Chapter 155 : Chapter 155

Chapter 155 : Second Semester
So-hee and the dean were astonished.
Ho-cheol's statement had enough impact to turn the entire country upside down.
Honestly, if anyone other than Ho-cheol had said such a thing, even if it had been judged as truth by a Trait, they would have been thought of as a delusional patient, it was that absurd.
Especially So-hee, who had been exposed to all sorts of secrets since she was assigned to monitor Ho-cheol, but this was the first time she had come across knowledge that was so ‘better off not knowing.’
She recalled the lump of light that had been floating on Ho-cheol's palm earlier and asked.
“Then the reason Mr. Ho-cheol is so strong is……”
The out-of-spec strength that Ho-cheol possessed, which overwhelmed S-ranks.
It was understandable if that was the power of the S-rank No. 1.
But Ho-cheol slowly shook his head.
“That’s not it.”
Ho-cheol was only storing this power to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, and he hadn't used it once since the day he had received it.
In the first place, it was a power he shouldn't have used.
“In the first place, it's a one-time use. Once someone uses it, that person has to use it for the rest of their life, so I'm just forcing myself not to use it.”
Handing this power to others was Smiley's Trait.
Since she was dead, this was now just a crystallization of power.
In fact, it was a power that was only a loss for Ho-cheol in many ways, as he had to devote a certain amount of his attention to forcibly suppressing the power that was trying to be absorbed even now.
At that explanation, So-hee asked, as if she couldn't quite understand.
“Then can't Mr. Ho-cheol just use it? If Smiley’s power is added to Mr. Ho-cheol’s original power, he’d become ridiculously strong.”
“I can't even guarantee that.”
Not only was it not Smiley's full power, but he wasn't sure if it simply added to his power, or if it forcibly raised his peak to a level similar to Smiley's.
If he were to become stronger, would there be no limit?
He couldn't be sure of anything.
In the worst-case scenario, if Ho-cheol were to use this power, he might not see any additional strengthening effect and just lose the power.
“Even if I could really become more than twice as strong, I have no intention of using it.”
The only reason he had received this power was because he had been right next to Smiley just before she died.
There was no way he had the right to use this power.
The dean, who had been silently and intently thinking about something, asked.
“Then do you intend to give that power to student Jeong Ye-jin?”
“No. That’s not it.”
Ho-cheol wiped his face with both hands.
If Smiley's last will had simply been to pass this power on to her family, Ho-cheol wouldn't have had to think about it.
He would just have to call Ye-jin over and give her the power as the original owner wished.
But her last will was to pass this power on to a qualified person.
And there was no mention of her family at all.
Perhaps Smiley hadn't wanted Ye-jin to become a hero in the first place.
Of course, since she was already dead, there was no way to know the answer.
So-hee asked in a suggestive tone.
“……I know this might be the wrong time to say this, but can't you give it to me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“That’s a shame.”
I threw it out there just in case, but as expected.
“But if Ye-jin is Smiley’s family, it’s a bit strange that she lived in such poverty. I don’t think she would have left her at the facility without a single penny.”
“Well. It's a common occurrence. To think someone is trustworthy and entrust them with money and other things, only to be backstabbed.”
Even Smiley couldn't have left Ye-jin at the facility by creating a fake identity on her own.
She would have had a broker in between and created a system where money could be deposited sequentially.
In any case, since she had died, there would have been no management at all.
It couldn't be helped if the broker had taken the money and run.
“Let's sort this out. First, you intend to hand that power over to a qualified person?”
“Probably?”
It was clear without him saying it how strict and demanding that standard would be.
“And you’ll keep that power, as well as everything about Smiley, a secret from student Jeong Ye-jin for the time being?”
“It's the right thing to do to tell her, but I can't guess how she'll react.”
If she were to lose her mind and demand Smiley's power, in fact, Ho-cheol would have little to refute.
In fact, in Ye-jin's eyes, Ho-cheol would look like a villain who had lusted after power and extorted it for himself.
Ho-cheol let out a sigh.
“And most importantly, if a rumor were to spread, every hero and villain in the world would come flocking.”
That was the biggest problem.
The mysterious S-rank No. 1 hero, who was thought to have no family at all, her one and only blood relative.
Politicians blinded by propaganda, villains with personal grudges, and heroes who wanted to get ahead.
All sorts of riffraff would cling to her and try to suck her dry.
“Smiley must have been worried about this too, so she erased all related information and cut ties.”
Ho-cheol leaned the back of his head against the backrest of the sofa.
“So let's keep it a secret for the time being.”
“Until when.”
“……She's an adult now, but at the very least.”
Ho-cheol silently counted the numbers in his head.
“After she graduates and becomes a proper hero. Then it should be okay to tell her.”
“And the aftermath? She might think she was betrayed.”
“Well……. Either way, if I’m the bad guy, then it’s right to go in a direction that benefits the students.”
He bent his index finger and rubbed his forehead.
“I'm used to being criticized.”
He muttered the lie he knew everyone knew, like a habit.
While Ho-cheol was living with a complicated feeling after finding out about the relationship between Smiley and Ye-jin, time continued to flow.
Ji-an's special admission exam.
She was so engrossed in preparing for the exam that she was satisfied with seeing Ho-cheol's face, which she liked so much, only briefly during meal times.
It was by no means easy to finish an exam that others had to prepare for for one to three years in just over two weeks.
And the result.
Ji-an clasped her hands tightly and looked at the monitor screen.
In place of her, who was praying, So-hee moved the mouse.
The result that came out after scrolling all the way down was.
Ji-an's face brightened.
“I-I passed! I passed!”
“Really? Good job.”
Ho-cheol, who had been sitting on the bed behind her and reading a book, answered nonchalantly.
In the first place, he had seen from beginning to end how fiercely and diligently Ji-an had prepared.
So it was perhaps natural that the result would be good, without any need for worry.
Most importantly, in his honest heart, he had thought it would have been better if she had failed, so his reaction was also lukewarm.
For a different reason than the dean and Se-ah, he honestly wanted Ji-an to rest as much as possible until her physical condition was clearly stable.
Ji-an got off the chair and sidled up to Ho-cheol.
“Um. Mister.”
“What.”
She stuck close to his leg, who was sitting on the bed, and reached out to touch the tip of her finger to Ho-cheol's knee.
Drawing a small circle on his knee, she said in a whisper.
“Um. After the interview, I apologized to that person, the dean, and the head of the Manipulation department. To both of them.”
Ho-cheol, who was still reading a textbook, asked back as if puzzled.
“Why? You’re not particularly sorry to either of them yet.”
“……That’s true, but I felt like I had to apologize. Instead, I promised. That I realized it was something I shouldn’t have done, and that I wouldn’t do it again in the future.”
Ho-cheol put down the book he had been reading for the first time.
With a genuinely surprised expression, he asked back.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Ho-cheol covered his mouth and let out a faint sigh.
Ji-an's body flinched for a moment.
Had she done something wrong?
But unlike her worries, Ho-cheol's sigh was by no means a negative kind.
Still covering his mouth, he lowered his head deeply.
“To be perfectly honest.”
After looking around, he raised his head again.
“I didn't expect it. No, in fact, I was steeling myself. In case you had apologized just to show off to me, I was worried I would show too much disappointment. Because that reaction itself could be a burden.”
Then he fell silent again.
What should I say?
What word could perfectly express his current feelings?
After a long deliberation, he removed the hand covering his mouth and smiled.
“Good job. That’s how you apologize.”
An honest feeling without any flowery language.
“I'm sure you don't understand how happy I am, and why I'm making such a fuss, but I'm really happy.”
It wasn't just because Ji-an, as his ward, had done the right thing.
He had always been a person who only received, not a person who gave.
That was also the sense of debt that had always remained in Ho-cheol's heart since his release.
So far, he had only made the students grow, not changed them.
But Ji-an was different.
She was clearly the same type of person as his past self.
Even if she had said something she didn't mean, just to please him, that wasn't very important.
Even if her essence was still close to evil, if her choices and actions were right, that was a clear good.
He, who had only received until now, had for the first time given to someone else, and changed them.
The feeling Ho-cheol felt, having proven that, was surely.
He had already gotten off the bed.
“Really, it was a good thing I came out. And I guess saving you wasn’t a mistake either.”
It was the most rewarding moment since his release.
“The promise you made when you apologized, it will probably be really hard to keep it. But I’ll believe in you.”
“Eung……. Mister.”
Ji-an tearfully embraced Ho-cheol.
If I had known it was this good, I would have done it sooner.
Why didn't I know?
Before long, the first day of the second semester dawned.
Ho-cheol's was on a Monday, and at 9:30, so it was practically the first lecture to commemorate the second semester.
He opened his eyes before his alarm went off.
His wake-up time was still fixed at 5 a.m., but his body felt unusually heavy.
Was this the so-called new semester syndrome?
Thinking that, Ho-cheol was about to get up, when he realized that his body being heavy was not a figurative expression, but a literal one.
He let out a groan.
“Good grief.”
Perhaps because she had passed the exam and Ho-cheol had praised her, Ji-an, who had been clinging to him more tenaciously, was now even invading Ho-cheol's bed.
She was asleep on top of his torso, even snoring softly.
Should he be glad that she at least hadn't gotten under the covers?
No, in the first place, she wasn't a cat, so how could she sleep while maintaining her balance like that?
“Get off.”
“Uung……”
He pushed off Ji-an, who was on top of him, and quickly finished getting ready to go out.
The suit he had worn for the first time in almost a month felt quite awkward again.
To think he had to wear this for another semester.
Perhaps it was the greatest pain of his professorial activities.
He had also packed a notebook and writing utensils in his bag.
Ji-an, who had rolled herself up in a blanket like a cocoon, half-asleep, her eyes shot open.
“No, uh, wa……”
At her first sight of Ho-cheol in a suit, she was at a loss for words and let out a series of exclamations.
The drool that had been flowing from the corner of her mouth dripped onto the blanket.
He, who had buttoned the cuff of his sleeve, glanced back and warned her.
“You, you know this of course, but don't act like you know me outside. If you do, one of us will have our neck on the line. And even if you're lucky, you'll never be able to come to my lecture.”
Since Ho-cheol was not the type to grade based on personal feelings, neither the dean nor Se-ah had prevented Ji-an from attending his lectures, but if the other students found out, there was no way they would accept it.
At the words that she couldn't attend Ho-cheol's lecture, Ji-an's mind snapped to attention.
“Ah, of course. I know that!”
Of course, she had a bigger purpose, but she had no intention of throwing away the chance to attend Ho-cheol's lecture for something as trivial as acknowledging him.
“You have a lecture from Monday noon too, right? Listen carefully. And don't cause any trouble.”
“Yes! Have a good day!”
Augmentation Department Faculty Lecture Hall.
The students who had gathered in the lecture hall early in the morning were talking in small groups.
And the moment the clock in the lecture hall struck 9:30.
Tung—
Ho-cheol opened the lecture hall door and appeared.
The students hurriedly returned to their seats.
“Are you children of the darkness or something.”
Ho-cheol clicked his tongue at the dark lecture hall.
After turning on all the lights, he strode up to the podium.
He placed his hands on the lectern and lightly looked around at the students.
“It's the second semester. Since this lecture is just a continuation of the first semester's lecture, there's no need for self-introductions or a lecture introduction, right?”
“Yes.”
The answers came back in a dying voice.
Honestly, their bodies, which had become lazy during the vacation, still needed sleep.
So much so that even Da-yeon and Ye-jin, who were sitting at the very front, were still blinking their eyes sleepily.
“Then, since it's the first day anyway.”
At Ho-cheol's words, the students looked at him with a strange sense of expectation.
Come to think of it, during the first lecture of the first semester, he had just given a brief explanation of the lecture and then finished right away.
There was no law that said he wouldn't do the same for the first lecture of the second semester.
Everyone focused on his mouth, expecting a declaration of the end of the lecture.
But the words that came out of his mouth completely betrayed their expectations and hopes.
“To wake you up, shall we see how hard you’ve trained during the vacation?”
Ho-cheol placed both hands on the lectern.
At the same time, a sticky killing intent pressed down on the students.