Academy’s Villain Professor-Chapter 156 : Chapter 156

Chapter 156 : The Lecture
Kkuggeugeugeuk—
The air grew heavy under Ho-cheol's pressure, and it went further, crushing the space itself.
In his first-semester lectures, Ho-cheol had often applied such pressure on the students in the name of practical application.
Besides that, the students had also felt the killing intent of villains in real incidents.
They were now as used to it as they could be.
In fact, during the final exam of the first semester, the students had resisted to some extent and even took the exam under the pressure of Ho-cheol, Wolf Fang, and Se-ah.
That's why the students had thought they could withstand Ho-cheol's pressure without much burden.
No, they had been mistaken.
This was...
Kkiiik—
Different.
Unlike just the atmosphere getting heavy or feeling killing intent, Ho-cheol's pressure was so strong that the space itself could be seen visibly distorting.
The lectern Ho-cheol was leaning on creaked, and the lights flickered continuously.
A release of power so vivid that it would have been suspected of being an Emission or Manipulation-type Trait if it weren't for the Augmentation Department.
Unlike with villains, there was no killing intent, but the simple pressure alone was caressing their necks with a clearer image of death than ever before.
Even breathing was painful.
Less than a minute had passed when one of the students finally slammed their head on the desk as if collapsing.
After that, students collapsed in succession, and only a few were left standing.
And even the students who were holding on were not in a normal state.
Their eyes were all bloodshot, and some even had nosebleeds.
Da-yeon and Ye-jin, who were at the very front and therefore felt relatively more pressure.
They were the only students in the front row who were holding on.
Having experienced real combat with Ho-cheol and the escaped convicts, they had become better at withstanding this kind of pressure than any other student at the academy.
But there was nothing they could do against Ho-cheol's full-force pressure.
Just as the two of them could no longer hold on and lowered their heads at the same time.
Hwook—
The pressure that had been crushing them until just a moment ago disappeared as if it had never been there.
Since it had been impossible to even breathe, the sound of people taking deep breaths could be heard from all over.
Ho-cheol asked again nonchalantly.
“Now, are you all awake?”
“……I think I was about to fall asleep forever.”
At someone's answer, Ho-cheol chuckled.
“That’s why you shouldn't have looked at me with an expression that said, ‘Just finish the lecture quickly and let us go.’”
The students, as if their true intentions had been exposed, avoided his gaze.
Of course, that wasn't the real reason he had put pressure on the students.
“But you’ve really improved. To think you could endure this for nearly 3 minutes.”
Of course, there was no killing intent at all, but it was by no means a trivial level.
He had expected 30 seconds at most, a minute if they held on for a long time.
But even the one who had collapsed first had held on for a minute, and Ye-jin and Da-yeon, who had held on the longest, had surpassed 3 minutes.
He explained honestly.
“Let me set a standard for you. The pressure just now was at a level that even a top-tier B-rank would have trouble enduring. Overcoming this can be considered to be on the cusp of A-rank.”
The students' eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course, it would be impossible to win in a fight, but just having a capability comparable to the average A-rank in any field is a great achievement in itself.”
It was as Ho-cheol had assessed.
They had only just started the second semester of their second year.
Considering that most students started at B-rank only after graduating from their third year, it was an absurd level.
“Now. Since you're all awake, let me explain what we'll be covering in the second semester.”
Ho-cheol raised both hands to his shoulders.
“There’s nothing in terms of theory. There's nothing more you need to learn theoretically for the application and use of Traits.”
In fact, at this point, the theory was sufficient, and all that was left was training for proficiency and output, and repeated practice.
From the third year, since it was 100% practical training in the field through internships, this was the last period to increase the power of their Traits through repeated practice.
“So from now on, the second-semester lectures will be focused on training similar to real combat. The midterm exam will be a written test, as per the academic policy, so it will be based on a review of the first semester's content. Other than that, we'll focus on increasing your limit and maximum output as much as possible. In other words.”
Ho-cheol changed the position of his raised hands and beckoned with his index and middle fingers.
“It's real combat.”
Real combat?
So was it fake combat until now?
At the students' expressions of confusion, Ho-cheol added.
“The clearest difference between fake combat and real combat is that in fake combat, you only sweat, but in real combat, you also bleed.”
Of course, there was also the difference of running until you threw up and being beaten until you cried, but he kept that hidden for now, just in case they might run away.
At the simple and clear difference, the students tensed up.
It seemed like they were in for some real trouble this time.
“At the very least, you should learn what your Trait can do.”
After finishing a few more academic notices, Ho-cheol leaned forward and rested his body on the lectern.
With his arms crossed, he looked around the classroom and asked.
“Any questions?”
The same situation as the first lecture of the first semester.
Ho-cheol chuckled.
Unlike the first-semester orientation where no one had raised their hand, today, more than half of the students had their hands raised.
He had been a little disappointed last time when no one had raised their hand, but now that so many were, he was a little flustered.
Not only himself, but also the students.
He realized that they had changed a lot over the semester.
“Well, alright. Since there are so many, let’s start from the back.”
Ho-cheol pointed to a student sitting at the very front.
The female student with twin tails asked belatedly, as if she had just remembered.
“Ah, but is it okay if it's a personal question?”
“……Yes.”
“Do you have a girlfriend, Professor?”
Ho-cheol was momentarily flustered by the very personal question, but he regained his composure and answered.
“I have friends who are girls.”
“Then what about a lover?”
“I don't have one.”
Small gasps of admiration erupted from here and there.
For some reason, such sounds also came from the male students, and for a moment, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.
Forcing himself to ignore the considerable anxiety, Ho-cheol tilted his head.
“Next.”
“Professor, can you tell us exactly what your trait is?”
“It’s not that I can’t, but the information about my Trait is classified by the Association. Next.”
“Why are you working here?”
“My sentence reduction is dependent on your grades. I'm also forbidden from explaining the specifics of that. Next.”
And so, he received and answered nearly 20 trivial or lecture-related questions.
What was a little surprising was that...
Da-yeon, who he had thought would have the most questions, did not raise her hand until the end.
By the time all the students who had raised their hands had finished their questions and he was about to wrap up the lecture.
Only then did Da-yeon leisurely raise her hand.
“I have a question too.”
“Ah, alright.”
Da-yeon hesitated for a moment and then asked.
“What are we to you, Professor?”
“……Students.”
“Is that all?”
Ho-cheol pushed himself away from the lectern and stood up straight.
“Is there anything more than that?”
“Is that so……”
“Ah, that’s not quite right either. Even after you graduate, come and visit once if you think of me. I can buy you a meal at the student cafeteria.”
At his nonchalant answer, laughter erupted from the students.
But Da-yeon did not laugh at all.
Instead, she just looked at Ho-cheol with a determined expression, as if she had made some important decision.
After finishing his lecture, Ho-cheol did not go straight to his dorm, but instead walked to a nearby cafe.
Of the four lectures he had to be in charge of, [Advanced Application of Urban Combat] and [Introduction to Practical Weapon Selection], these two were not lectures he could conduct as he pleased.
These two were conducted by other professors, and Ho-cheol was merely an assistant.
In fact, this kind of assistance was the job of associate professors, and although he was a half-baked professor, since he had the title of a full professor, Ho-cheol had no need or reason to do so.
Nevertheless, he had ended up in this situation due to being caught up in the power struggles and political strife between the factions within Clington.
If it were up to him, he would have liked to quit both, but he had the dean and Se-ah's face to consider.
And most importantly, since he was in debt for Ji-an's admission, it was difficult to completely ignore it.
That's why he had separate personal appointments with the professors in charge of the two lectures, [Advanced Application of Urban Combat] and [Introduction to Practical Weapon Selection], before the lectures.
Ho-cheol arrived first at the appointed place with the professor of the [Urban Combat] lecture.
As he entered the cafe, a middle-aged man who had been looking at the entrance spotted him and immediately stood up.
He approached quickly and greeted Ho-cheol.
“Well now, Professor Jeong Ho-cheol. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Since the other person was being polite first, Ho-cheol had no reason to be rude, so he bowed his head lightly in return.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Jeong Ho-cheol.”
After that, they shook hands lightly, and Ho-cheol sat down.
“I heard from Professor Jeong Se-ah that I won’t have to take the lead in the lecture much.”
“Ah, of course.”
The professor nodded his head vigorously.
“First, let me explain the general goal of our lecture……”
The professor treated Ho-cheol with a consistently humble attitude.
It was not a particularly strange thing.
Most of the people Ho-cheol met had impressive positions or power, but he himself had long since passed the level where he would be ignored anywhere.
He was the only one at the academy who had a close relationship with both the dean and the head of the union.
And he also frequently met with the head of the neutral Augmentation Department.
In a sense, he was one of the most influential professors within Clington.
Although he was by no means inferior in terms of age or experience, there was a considerable difference between him and an ordinary professor.
After that, Ho-cheol heard about the progress and system of the lecture.
As he was listening to the explanation with great concentration, he stopped him and asked back.
“So, we’ll learn the theory and such in the odd-numbered week lectures, and in the even-numbered weeks, we’ll master the learned theory through practical training in the training hall. Is that a correct understanding?”
“Yes, yes. Perfect.”
Ho-cheol belatedly understood this professor's ulterior motive.
Honestly, the difficulty of the practical training was so low that it wouldn't have mattered if he had put in another, slightly less-skilled associate professor instead of himself.
In the first place, the main purpose was briefing and situational awareness.
Nevertheless, there was another clear reason why he had insisted on Ho-cheol.
It wasn't just to use the lecture as a tool for political strife to expand his position within the union.
“You were after my authority to use the training hall?”
“Uh. Um.”
The professor laughed awkwardly.
“Strictly speaking, that is a slightly bigger reason. Last year, everyone followed this lecture well, but in the end, there was a sense that they were lacking in the field. I thought it would be good for the students to gain experience in a situation that is a little more similar to real combat.”
For Ho-cheol, they were training halls that he used as he pleased, half-ignoring the troublesome process through his connections, but for ordinary professors, it was not an easy thing to use even once a semester.
But if he were to include Ho-cheol in the lecture, even as an associate professor, wouldn't he be able to use that authority?
It was a rather clever trick for a professor.
Ho-cheol had been used in a way, but he wasn't particularly displeased.
It wasn't for his own personal desire or greed, but purely for the sake of the students that he had pulled a little trick.
In fact, he was a model of a teacher that Ho-cheol thought was good enough, even if not ideal.
“Then, the professor of the other lecture where I was appointed as an associate professor also?”
“Probably for a similar reason. In fact, they wanted to put Professor Jeong Ho-cheol in other lectures as an associate professor as well, but I was lucky enough to be selected.”
Looking at the professor who was laughing awkwardly again, Ho-cheol thought of an ominous future.
How many professors would try to use that authority and insert him into their lectures next semester?
And the only people who could stop that were the dean and Se-ah, but those two were not the type to reduce this kind of lecture, but rather to increase it.
It seems next semester will be even more of a problem.
And the professor of [Introduction to Practical Weapon Selection], whom he met at another cafe later, also readily revealed his inner thoughts.
For him too, the important thing was the authority to use the training hall; he had no interest in Ho-cheol.
Fortunately, the first week's [Advanced Application of Urban Combat] and [Introduction to Practical Weapon Selection] lectures were wrapped up with just a brief appearance and a light orientation.
And before long, Friday arrived.
It was the turn of [The Definition and Ethics of Villains], a lecture that Ho-cheol was solely in charge of, without the help of any other professor.
In the end, he had come to be in charge of it as a condition of a deal for Ji-an's case, but now that the lecture time had come, he couldn't have been more dismayed.
The definition of a villain, whether that definition was a definition (Justice of Villians) or a definition(The Definition and Ethics of Villains), he could talk about for days on end, but he honestly had no idea what to do with ethics.
And it wasn't even an existing lecture, but one that the dean had created and put Ho-cheol in charge of, so there were no proper textbooks and he had to make them himself.
As if to represent this complicated feeling, Ho-cheol arrived at the lecture hall five minutes earlier than the lecture time.
“That person?”
“Yeah, a senior I know said…”
“I think I should probably drop this lecture…”
The students who had arrived a little earlier were whispering among themselves, glancing at Ho-cheol.
Compared to the second-year students, who had been tense or shown curiosity in the previous two lectures, having heard rumors about his exploits or seen his strength directly, the first-year lecture was filled with more negative curiosity and hostility.
Their information was slow, and they knew nothing.
All they knew was that Ho-cheol was a professor with a villainous past.
Since he didn't have a Trait license, he couldn't even scold them with a Trait, and it was a lecture for kids who didn't listen.
He could already see a future of hardship.
As Ho-cheol was sighing inwardly.
Deolkeong—
Kwang—
Someone kicked open the back door of the lecture hall.
“Hmm. This place also reeks of amateurs to the point of being nauseating!”
A familiar voice and an unfamiliar way of speaking.
Ji-an strode into the lecture hall.
Nearly ten students followed her closely.
She had a crown-like thing made of twisted, thin branches on her head, which she had gotten from somewhere, and she held her head high.
“I'm sure I'll be number one here as well… huh?”
In the middle of her bold declaration, her eyes met Ho-cheol's.
“Det.”
Looking at Ji-an, who had made a foolish sound, Ho-cheol let out a sigh.
“Students should not be too loud even during break time. And don’t kick the door.”
“……Yes.”
She discreetly removed the crown from her head, lowered her head deeply, and sat in a corner seat.