By Zephyria 
Ki Jae-eon, who was walking down the hallway while listening to the explanation about the class, suddenly stopped.
“Jae-eon?” He frowned at Kim Yeong, who was looking back with a puzzled expression.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes?”
“The class.”
Then he criticized the class content.
“Isn’t it too lenient? I don’t think it will help improve their skills.”
Direct criticism followed.
“Um- is that so?”
“What’s the reason for training? You have to do it like a real battle so you can respond when a real crisis hits. If you’re going to keep them safe, don’t let them out at all. Honestly, it seems like children are just playing. It’s just a waste of time.”
He even made it clear that he didn’t want to assist in such a class.
“Especially, in the part you mentioned earlier…….”
Kim Yeong’s lips pursed at the scathing analysis that went into every detail. It was true that he was right. Training, but not intending to hurt them? As he pointed out, it was a clear contradiction.
It was revealed that he was pretending to be a strict Teacher, but in reality, he was just pampering them. Oh dear…… this is bad. He should have tried to deceive someone else. Kim Yeong gave an awkward smile as if he had been caught off guard. But that didn’t seem to make him feel bad. Rather, he rolled his eyes and fell into thought. Well, the difficulty is gradually… um um, a mumbling that was hard to tell if it was an interjection or a monologue continued briefly, and then Kim Yeong showed an attitude of listening to Ki Jae-eon’s opinion, saying, “You’re right.” He admitted the inadequacy of the class. He was undoubtedly an educator who focused on the growth of the children rather than his own pride.
However, the problem was that it was difficult to change the content of the class right away. Because there was nothing else to replace it.
Should I just proceed as planned today? No, isn’t it rude to the children to have class while being aware of the shortcomings?
“Umm~! Sss……!”
“…….”
“Kkeueueeung!”
“…….”
“Haa, I don’t know…! Umm, what do you think, Jae-eon?”
Kim Yeong, who was worried, asked Ki Jae-eon for help because he couldn’t think of any other good ideas.
“Can I ask you how you think the class should be conducted?”
Ki Jae-eon, who heard Kim Yeong’s question, opened his mouth with an indifferent expression. It was an tone that the answer was already decided.
“They shouldn’t even have room to be cunning.”
“Cunning?”
“Showing you directly would be wiser than a hundred words. Now that it’s come to this, please entrust this class to me. You won’t regret it.”
He swallowed the words that he was more confident in teaching than ‘I’ was. It felt like he was being self-conscious for no reason.
“To Jae-eon?”
“I won’t take a f…….”
“Really? That’s great!”
“I’ve been thinking for a while now, you keep cutting me o…….”
“The kids will really like it!”
Kim Yeong, not expecting Ki Jae-eon to take the lead in the class, clapped his hands, greatly pleased.
“……Yes, well.”
“I’m very happy as well.”
At his bright smile, Ki Jae-eon nodded with a sullen expression, thinking, ‘Don’t cut me off.’
On the sandy field that served as both a playground and an outdoor training ground.
Ki Jae-eon slowly scanned the lined-up children. Even after looking again, they were just a motley crew. The only one who looked decent was Kim Ju-won.
‘Come to think of it…….’
His eyes fixed on Kim Ju-won. He was also staring intently back.
‘That bastard, he called me Little Teacher, didn’t he?’
Ki Jae-eon’s eyebrow twitched upward.
‘How ridiculous.’
For someone who easily abandoned responsibility and duty with the absurd excuse of a vacation to claim to be someone’s Teacher, even a passing dog would laugh.
‘Beyond redemption.’
Ki Jae-eon delivered a merciless evaluation, even to himself. Then, he quickly averted his gaze and said, “Ten laps, lightly.”
“The basic foundation of spiritual power is made up of mental strength, and mental strength comes from physical strength.”
He explained it in an easy way, but it just meant to shut up and run.
And that too, at this time when the sun was shining brightly.
“Th-that’s a lie…….”
“Whoa, this isn’t it. Seriously.”
“We did warm-up exercises, though!”
“Is this some kind of athlete village!”
Resistance followed as if it were natural.
As expected, reactions befitting a disorganized mob. If the discipline isn’t established, this kind of situation arises. What has ‘I’ been doing all this time?
‘Teacher, my ass…….’
His mood slowly began to sink.
‘My name, was I wearing it like a mask and acting like an idiot?’
Ki Jae-eon coldly muttered.
“One lap added.”
Gasp! The children quickly glanced at Kim Yeong with shocked expressions. Teacher, are we really running? It was a tearful SOS signal. However, having already handed over the leadership of the class, he was in a difficult position to add anything. Kids, I’m really sorry! Kim Yeong squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head. This is all for the sake of his students. If you want true growth, you have to be ruthless!
“Kids……! Fighting!”
With Kim Yeong’s abandonment, the children had to run ten laps, no, fifteen laps around the field.
“Hee… hee….”
“I feel like I’m going to throw uuuuuup.”
“It’s hard…….”
“Ugh!”
The children, covered in sweat, collapsed on the dirt ground, gasping for breath. The sun was mercilessly hot, and their hearts, pushed to the limit, were pounding as if they would burst at any moment. However, the Teacher in charge of this class was someone who didn’t know how to be lenient at all.
“Don’t whine. Get up.”
Cold words fell mercilessly over the heads of the sprawled children. It was a cold voice as if he wouldn’t accept any coddling.
“Hoo-.”
“Noona, can I have some water?”
“Thanks~.”
The only ones who survived were Kim Ju-won, Ahn Seo-myeong, and Jo Eun-ha, who hadn’t neglected their physical training.
‘Those guys are so-so, but the rest are hopeless?’
Ki Jae-eon said indifferently, looking at the devastated scene, except for the three who were wiping away sweat.
“Follow me.”
“Hwaaaaaaa.”
“Save me…….”
Leading the gloomily following children, he headed towards the gate of the [main office]. Ki Jae-eon unlocked the latch of the old wooden gate and pointed outside. “Stand over there.” Following his indifferent voice, the children stepped outside the gate. Still not understanding his intentions.
Were they perhaps going to be told to run around the neighborhood this time? Just as everyone was making tired expressions.
Ki Jae-eon, rolling only his eyes, counted heads, ‘One, two…….’ and muttered, “Everyone’s here,” taking out a talisman from his pocket.
“If there’s theory, there must be practice.”
With a light flick of his wrist, he casually stuck the talisman anywhere on the rough gate.
That was the moment.
A white stream of light poured down behind Ki Jae-eon. A beautiful blessing falling sparkling from the clear sky. A sacred power that was mesmerizing just to look at.
“This is awesome……!”
At the magnificent sight unfolding before their eyes, the children forgot their exhaustion and repeatedly exclaimed “Wow, wow,” with their mouths wide open.
“Amazing, really.”
“I want to capture this in a photo…….”
However, the person who had drawn out the spiritual power was indifferent. He tapped the gate insincerely with the knuckles of his bent index finger. “Concentrate.” His cool voice shattered the children’s admiration. Ki Jae-eon gathered the children’s attention and began to speak.
“Tag……. No. Treasure hunt? Anyway, I’m only going to explain it once, so listen carefully.”
The explanation was simple.
Starting from the main office gate, the children would break the Barrier of the talisman attached to the gate and begin the full-fledged test.
“While you guys are coming inside, I’ll be sitting in a randomly chosen room. Ah, of course, I’ll put up Barriers on all the doors. Try to solve them step by step and find me within the time limit. For reference, the end time is six o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“……Um.”
Someone who was listening to the explanation cautiously raised their hand. Ki Jae-eon nodded, implying they should speak.
“If we can’t even solve the talisman, where do we sleep?”
“That’s a foolish question. You’ll be camping out.”
“Wh… what about food?”
“You’ll starve.”
“What if we can’t find you by tomorrow morning……?”
“It’s supplementary class. It’ll be more brutal than this, at the very least.”
As soon as Ki Jae-eon finished speaking, a fierce protest erupted. Everyone complained, saying to give them something possible. It was natural. Because it was a Barrier created by Ki Jae-eon.
Moreover, he didn’t know how to be lenient right now. In other words, it was obvious without even trying to solve it how difficult the problem would be.
But to solve not just one, but dozens of those?
It was crazy talk.