“An Hyo-seok.”
“...”
“Choi Seung-ho.”
“...”
“It’s the first day of school, and only twenty-six out of forty students showed up, including the bastard lying unconscious on the floor...”
The remaining students, including Min Hyeong-jun, who was lying unconscious on the classroom floor after taking just one slap from me, stayed silent throughout roll call as though they simply could not understand the situation.
Once I had called every name on the attendance sheet, they nervously exchanged glances.
“Hey~! You there in front—!”
“M-me?”
“Yeah, you! That bastard lying in front of me is in the way, so take him to the infirmary and get him out of here.”
“A-all right.”
The student before me flinched at the order to get rid of Min Hyeong-jun because he was in the way.
Then, he supported Min Hyeong-jun and headed to the infirmary through the classroom door.
In the meantime, I looked at the students left in the classroom and spoke.
“They call this Zero Class, but in the end, every one of you gathered here is trash.”
“!!! Trash? Can a teacher even say something like that?”
“Y-yeah! Do you think you can act all high and mighty just because you knocked out Min Hyeong-jun?”
“He needs to learn a proper lesson the hard way—!”
As complaints rose among them, I kept looking at the students and briefly spoke.
“So, do you have a problem with that?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked whether you have a problem with it.”
“...”
The students’ faces clearly showed their dissatisfaction toward the teacher treating them like trash.
However, without paying them any mind, I continued.
“If anyone has a problem with it, come to the front now.”
“...”
They only exchanged glances with one another at the order to come forward.
So, I decided to throw them an interesting piece of bait.
“No one is coming forward... Then let me tell you something that might interest you. Starting now, we will hold a class for teachers and students to get to know one another.”
“A-a class for teachers and students to get to know one another?”
“Yeah, a time to get to know each other, you could say. To put it simply, I don’t care how many of you have a problem with me. Fight me one-on-one. If even one of you defeats me...”
“If we defeat you?”
“I don’t know how long I’ll be in charge of you, but until the semester I’m assigned to you ends, I’ll use my discretion as a teacher to mark every one of you Zero Class bastards present, even if you don’t show up.”
“!!! You’ll mark us present until the end of the semester?”
“And not just the person who wins, but everyone in this class? Really?”
The moment I said I would take responsibility for Zero Class’s attendance if even one of them defeated me in a one-on-one spar, their eyes gleamed.
Some of them were already burning with enthusiasm and looked ready to fight me at once.
“This is worth trying, isn’t it? If all of us take him on, it’ll become a battle of attrition and drain a lot of his stamina. We’ve got a chance!”
“Yeah! This is worth trying.”
“I’m not finished yet.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Of course, that is only if you win. If I win instead...”
Gulp—!
The students seemed tense as they considered the possibility of losing.
“If I win, then no matter what happens, you will obey my orders for the semester I’m in charge of you.”
“Not just for a day, but the entire semester?”
“T-that’s too much!”
As complaints rose over the conditions—if they won, they would not have to come to school for the semester, but if I won, they would have to attend school and obey their teacher—I decided to provoke them with a deliberately dismissive expression.
“Looks like you have no confidence. Well, it can’t be helped. You’re the sort of bastards who only step forward when the situation favors you.”
“...”
“That’s why people treat you as delinquents and call you trash.”
“!!! What? Delinquents? T-trash?”
“Isn’t it too much to keep sneering at us like that?!”
“If bastards who only take what benefits them aren’t trash, then what are they? Isn’t that exactly what you are?”
“We’re not trash!”
One student, apparently angered by my continued mockery, boldly stood up and glared at me fiercely.
“Not trash?”
“Yeah! We’re students of the prestigious Ares Academy! Even if you’re the teacher assigned to us, you can’t just call us trash!”
“Oh~ Then you’ll show me that you aren’t trash?”
“Y-yeah! Let’s do it! But you’d better keep your promise!”
“As a teacher, I always keep my promises. And if I win, I’ll add one more condition. From now on, if any of you speak casually to me, you’re dead.”
“F-fine! Let’s do this!”
“Yeah! Let’s wipe that smug look off his face!”
“There are still twenty-five of us here, excluding Min Hyeong-jun, who went to the infirmary! Do you really think he can win? We can definitely do this!”
Provoked by my continued mockery, the students burned with fighting spirit once more and began preparing for the wagered spar.
‘Baek Seon-woo. From what I heard, he was a fat Common-grade Awakened with no remarkable abilities... So how did he knock out Min Hyeong-jun? No matter how good his combat sense is, the difference in Awakening Grades should have made it difficult for him to win so easily... He seems very different from the teacher I heard about.’
The student who had gotten angry with me earlier was Cha Jun-hyeon.
He, too, would become a Villain in the future.
He fought in a brawling style, hardening his body like stone. Due to his massive build, he was also called the Stone Golem.
‘Stone Golem... Still, for a Villain, he eventually reformed. He did volunteer work and rescued civilians. Seeing him in person like this feels strange. Still, since he’ll reform later anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to straighten him out now.’
“Let’s start already—!”
Cha Jun-hyeon had apparently finished warming up.
He was already standing in the sparring ring with both fists raised to his chest, ready to fight me.
“Ahem... You don’t have a weapon of your own?”
“A weapon? My body itself is a weapon!”
“Your entire body is a weapon... Interesting. Then come at me first.”
“What?”
“I said to attack first.”
“You’re giving me the first move? You won’t regret it?”
“Of course.”
Cha Jun-hyeon briefly flinched in surprise at my offer to yield the first move.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, he seemed to make up his mind and charged at me at a terrifying speed.
“Don’t regret it—! Stone Punch—!”
His fists hardened like solid rock as he attacked.
[Skill – Third Eye]
◎ The target has begun unleashing attacks upon you.
Target: Cha Jun-hyeon (Fighter – Stone-type / Awakening Grade: High)
※ The trajectories of the opponent’s attacks are displayed before your eyes.
Cha Jun-hyeon wildly swung his fists at me, but I had already read every one of his attacks with Third Eye.
I avoided them as easily as if I were facing a child.
In the meantime, Cha Jun-hyeon seemed to realize that something was wrong. He panted heavily.
‘What the hell is going on? I can’t land even one hit! It’d be over the moment I land just one! He doesn’t even look that fast, so how is he avoiding them? Is he reading every one of my attacks? No way! That’s impossible!’
“Fuck! You keep dodging like crazy! Stop running away and fight me!”
“Running away? Me?”
“Yeah! You cowardly bastard!”
“Cowardly... Fine. If you want, I’ll especially take one hit.”
“What?”
“I’ll take it properly, so hit me with everything you’ve got.”
“Don’t regret it—!”
THWACK—!
As a loud sound rang through the sparring ring and his Stone Punch struck my body, Cha Jun-hyeon smiled as though he had succeeded.
“Bwahaha—! It landed! And it hit you square in the chest! So, what do you think? Of the power of this great Stone Punch!”
“Hm~ So this is a Stone Punch... I think getting hit with a sponge would hurt more.”
“!!! How did you take my punch...?! Aaaagh—!”
Cha Jun-hyeon was clearly the one who had thrown the punch, yet he grabbed that fist with his other hand and rolled around on the ground in terrible pain.
The other students watching him stared at one another with wide eyes, as though they could not believe the situation.
“What’s with Cha Jun-hyeon? Hey! Stop acting and get up!”
“Fuck! I’m not acting! That bastard’s body is unbelievably hard... Aaaagh—!”
“B-but we saw him get hit properly right in front of us...”
Although they had seen the attack land with an enormous sound, the students looked as though they could not understand what had happened.
Then, I naturally summoned a gun in my right hand.
Dragging its buttstock across the ground and gripping the handguard, I approached Cha Jun-hyeon.
“Aaagh! What are you doing? Are you going to shoot me with that gun? G-go ahead and shoot! A Gunner’s bullets aren’t scary!”
“I’m not planning to shoot you.”
“What?”
“Our forefathers always told their descendants this.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“A beating is the best medicine for madmen.”
“!!! D-don’t tell me? W-wait! Stop! I surrender! I surrender! I lost! Aaaagh—!”
Cha Jun-hyeon seemed to realize what I intended to do.
With a horrified expression, he shouted for me to stop and tried to force himself up to leave the sparring ring.
Ignoring him, I smiled and began striking his body with the buttstock.
“Aaaagh! S-save me! Aaaagh—!”
“History has proven that this is medicine! I will now administer a dose of manners so that you can walk the proper path.”