“W-what? Teacher Baek Seon-woo. Did you get plastic surgery or something? You lost weight, and your face looks quite decent now.”
“I happened to spend the Academy’s vacation period diligently going here and there, so I think I lost some weight.”
“No, even if you were running around diligently, is it possible to lose this much weight?”
“Well... I tried it, and it worked.”
On the day of Ares Academy’s opening ceremony.
During the vacation, with Abel Guild’s support, I had carried out an extreme diet by charging through dungeon after dungeon like a crazed colt to get rid of the fat that had built up inside my body.
As a result, the face that had been hidden beneath all that flesh was finally revealed, and I had become a new Baek Seon-woo with a solid body and a more decent face than before.
“Now, now! Everyone, please take your seats. Before we begin the new semester, we will hold a meeting.”
“Yes, Headmaster.”
The meeting was held under the Headmaster’s direction.
“...As I told you over the phone, Helios has thoroughly investigated Teacher Baek Seon-woo’s case. By presenting the relevant evidence, his false accusation has been cleared...”
While the Headmaster explained to the teachers and staff gathered in the room that Helios had thoroughly verified the accusation against me, naturally keeping his promise to reinstate me, I sensed someone glaring at me.
DING—!
[Skill ‘Third Eye’ has been activated.]
◎ Someone is directing a threatening gaze at you.
* Target: Ji Geon-hyeong (Spearman)
‘Ji Geon-hyeong... I had forgotten about that Sex Fiend bastard for a moment.’
I did not know whether Ji Geon-hyeong still held a grudge because of our previous clash at the Academy or for some other reason unknown to me, but he was staring at me with a hostile gaze.
‘Staring at me like that will not change anything... Still, that bastard! The red energy around him has grown much stronger than before.’
When I met Ji Geon-hyeong at the Academy two months ago, the red aura around him had only been faintly visible.
Today, however, the aura around him was incredibly distinct.
The thought that I needed to keep an eye on him for a while crossed my mind.
‘He will eventually be called the Sex Fiend and the Sex Demon, committing crimes against female Academy cadets and Hunters. I need to continue watching him.’
As I ignored Ji Geon-hyeong’s hostile gaze and listened to the Headmaster—
“We will now assign the teachers to their classes. The assignments have been arranged according to each teacher’s capabilities and discretion...”
‘Is the class assignment finally beginning? Which class will I be in charge of?’
“Teacher Ji Geon-hyeong will be assigned to Class A...”
“!!! Th-thank you, Headmaster!”
“Oh my~ Teacher Ji will be in charge of the Class A students this time!”
“Hey~ Shouldn’t Teacher Ji buy us lunch today?”
“The Class A students already have proven abilities! I’m so jealous~ So jealous!”
As though he was immensely proud of receiving the envy of every teacher, Ji Geon-hyeong looked at me with a smug expression, as if he had won.
‘He is making such a smug expression over something so trivial... How ridiculous.’
“And Teacher Cha Yun-ju will be in charge of Class B, while Class C will be...”
As the teachers were assigned their students in alphabetical order—
“Lastly, Teacher Baek Seon-woo will be the homeroom teacher of Zero Class.”
“!!! T-Teacher Baek is going to be in charge of the Zero Class students? Good heavens!”
“Ahem... Well, Teacher Baek has a gentle personality, so the children will follow him well. R-right?”
“T-that is true. Someone with Teacher Baek’s character should do well enough.”
‘Something feels off.’
Unlike the teachers who had looked at Ji Geon-hyeong with envy earlier, the others looked relieved that a tremendous burden had not fallen on them.
At the same time, they looked at me with the pity of people watching cattle being led to slaughter.
I felt something was strange, but I decided to follow the Headmaster’s decision for now.
“The roster for each class has been sent to the teachers’ emails. Individual characteristics have also been included, so please refer to them. This concludes the meeting.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“You have worked hard.”
After the meeting ended, I sat at my assigned desk in the faculty office and began reading the email the Headmaster had sent in advance.
The moment I opened the file and checked the students assigned to me—
“Well, well! All those brats who became Villains in the past are gathered here?”
Zero Class.
Unlike ordinary class students, Zero Class was where the Academy gathered students with seemingly no potential and troublemakers who constantly caused problems.
That was why the teachers of Ares Academy prayed not to be assigned to Zero Class.
Even if they were assigned there, they handled the situation by only coming in for the minimum required number of workdays or requesting transfers to other Academies.
At Ares Academy, Zero Class was practically synonymous with troublemakers.
“To think all the ones who will become Villains are gathered here... This is quite an interesting situation.”
I did not know whether I was happy to see them again after returning to life or whether there was another reason, but a faint smile escaped me as the corners of my lips rose.
Zero Class was said to be where only the worst troublemakers among Ares Academy’s students gathered.
“Ah, school really is boring. Should I just leave early like this?”
“Hey! Shouldn’t we at least see the face of the teacher assigned to us first? Heh-heh.”
“That is right! We have to give the new homeroom teacher a proper initiation!”
As the group laughed among themselves like they had found amusing prey, one student who appeared to be their leader impatiently showed his irritation.
“Why the hell is this damn teacher taking so long?”
“Maybe he ran into a Villain and died on the way. Heh-heh~!”
“Could he be too scared of us to come?”
“That is possible!”
“Scared of us? He is a fucking idiot. Heh-heh.”
While they mocked their new teacher and chatted noisily among themselves—
“Hey! He is coming! He is coming!”
One of them hurriedly opened the door and ran inside, informing the others that their new teacher was on his way.
“Really? He is coming?”
“Hey! What are you going to do?”
“Just watch quietly. I will show you something very entertaining. Heh-heh—!”
With a sinister smile, as though he was about to do something amusing, one student stood up and moved toward the classroom door.
Then he summoned something into his hand.
“Fuck, are you crazy? Are you really going to throw that? What if he gets hurt?”
“Why would I get hurt? The one getting hurt will be that homeroom teacher. Besides, it is not bad for us if he gets hurt.”
“That is true~ It is not enough to kill him...”
“Oh~ This will be fun. What if he runs away crying? Hee-hee!”
“Runs away crying? Hahahaha—! That would be quite a sight, too! Hey! Take out your cameras and film it! Let us record it properly and put it on YouTube today!”
The students were clearly planning to humiliate him from the very beginning.
While they moved into position, unaware of the situation, I naturally opened the classroom door and entered.
BOOM—!
‘!!!’
“Ta-da~! Surprise!”
The moment I entered through the classroom door, the student threw a small bomb he had summoned at me.
It flashed, and a small explosion rang out.
“Bwahaha—! How did that taste?”
“My stomach hurts from laughing! Hey! He is not dead, is he?”
“Come on~ He would not die from something like this. He is an Academy teacher, after all. He might have suffered a few minor burns. Heh-heh—!”
“Hey! O-over there!”
“!!! W-what is it?”
DING—!
[Armor Equipped]
Army Warrior [Basic Armor] has been equipped.
* The armor’s traits have been adjusted appropriately in response to a ‘High’ Grade attack.
※ The opponent is quite weak, so resistance is judged unnecessary.
“Hm... Is this the extent of your level?”
“W-who are you? How did you block my attack?”
The student standing before me looked flustered, as though he was shocked that his attack had done absolutely nothing.
I studied him for a long time before speaking.
“Hm... So you had not become a Villain yet, at least at this point.”
The student who had attacked me to frighten me was Min Hyeong-jun.
In my previous life, he had been a Villain who caused a series of explosions at department stores and tourist attractions, resulting in countless casualties.
However, almost no red aura was visible around him, so it seemed that he had not become a Villain yet.
“What? A Villain? Just because I am treated as a troublemaker at this Academy, does that mean you can compare me to trash like that? I do not care if you are a teacher or not. I am going to teach you a serious lesson!”
“Hey! Stop! You will get seriously hurt if you keep going—”
SLAP—!
“!!! Gahk—!”
As Min Hyeong-jun tried to summon a larger bomb than before and attack me, the other students extended their hands to stop him.
I did not hesitate in the slightest.
I swung my hand with all my strength and slapped him across the face.
The sound echoed through the classroom, and Min Hyeong-jun collapsed onto the floor unconscious.
“He passed out from a single slap... Pathetic.”
“!!! What? He passed out from one hit?”
“T-that is impossible!”
The students looked utterly shocked that their friend had passed out from a single slap from a teacher.
I casually wrote my name on the blackboard and spoke.
“Beginning today, I, Baek Seon-woo, will be the homeroom teacher of Zero Class... In other words, your homeroom teacher.”
GULP—!
One student lay unconscious on the floor.
The remaining students, who had witnessed the scene, looked tense as they exchanged wary glances.
Ignoring their gazes, I pulled a cigarette from inside my clothes, put it between my lips, lit it, and exhaled smoke.
Then I spoke to them in a low voice.
“If you do not want to die while I am asking nicely, all of you had better watch how you behave. You all understand what I mean, right?”