I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 68: Fishing (1)

July 7th.

Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Hunter Training Pilot High School.

“…….”

“…….”

Flip.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The classroom container was enveloped in suffocating silence.

If I were a student instead of a teacher, I might not have been able to bear it and would have run out.

Flip.

“…….”

Gulp.

Someone, I don’t know who, made a loud gulping sound. That’s how tense the atmosphere was.

Flip.

“Hm.”

Thud.

Roll.

I hear the sound of a pencil rolling. I don’t need to look to know. Park Seo-hyun must be acting dramatically again.

“…….”

Worried for a moment, I glanced at Park Seo-hyun. She was neatly brushing her bangs back. That’s good enough.

I returned to looking at the raid guide.

Flip.

Before going to see No. 3, I had given the kids an assignment.

The task was to create a raid guide based on the dungeon exploration report I had written.

I didn’t model it on any existing dungeon. However, the exploration report itself was written with a high level of realism. I also instructed the Daseon Hunters, who would be watching the kids while Kim Chae-min and I were away, not to help them at all. This raid guide is purely the result of the kids’… intelligence, you could say.

Maybe “intelligence” is too much. As long as the meaning comes across, that’s enough.

“Who’s the raid leader for this?”

Han Eun-young hesitantly raised her hand.

“Th-there isn’t… a specific leader. You told us to make a raid guide… So we thought we weren’t… um, we weren’t an actual raid team…”

“I see.”

They avoided the trap well.

In truth, the dungeon I presented wasn’t that difficult. At most, it fluctuated between C and D grade. I had given them plenty of time, so they had to do at least this much; otherwise, all my efforts would have been in vain.

“So who did you assume would be carrying out the raid when you made the guide?”

“Uh, we didn’t specify anyone. We referenced the raid team composition guide from the International Hunter Association and based it on the standard raid team….”

Han Eun-young answered without hesitation.

Not only did she answer my question, but she also elaborated on things I didn’t ask.

“So we tried to exclude elemental magic as much as possible and focused on common magic. Since it’s an underground tunnel, we did recommend a light attribute mage, but that’s mentioned at the end.”

I glanced at the guide.

She did it all.

I’m not saying the other kids just went along for the ride… but Han Eun-young’s brain was certainly working exceptionally well.

And she was clearly enjoying it.

Thud.

I placed the raid guide, over 80 pages long, on the teacher’s desk. It made a fairly heavy sound.

“…….”

The excitedly chattering Han Eun-young quickly shut her mouth and cautiously observed my reaction.

She could stand to have a little more confidence. Should I praise her like I did with Park Seo-hyun? Haven’t I already given enough praise? I even give out praise stickers.

‘The old man didn’t give me anything like that.’

The other kids were still tense as well. Well, being evaluated on your abilities is always nerve-wracking.

The 80-plus pages of the guide can’t be called perfect, even as a formality. Naturally, there are many shortcomings.

If one of my subordinates at the Ability Management Agency presented this to me as a guide, I would have carefully asked them:

‘Is this job really suitable for you?’

That’s a roundabout way of telling them to quit as soon as possible.

But I can’t say such things to these 18-year-olds.

How could I say such things when I saw that there were handwritten pages mixed in due to constant revisions until the very end?

“You did well.”

Even if they hadn’t, this is a situation where I have to say they did.

Luckily, it’s not a lie. This is my honest opinion. These kids have almost no real dungeon raid experience. Yet they’ve written an 80-page raid guide after just a few simulation classes.

Even the old man couldn’t do that. It would be fortunate if he could fill even one page. At most, he’d write something like ‘Go in and destroy the core’ and be done with it.

Kids who learned under someone like that wrote 80 pages.

“…….”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“D-did we really do well?”

“I said you did well. Why don’t you believe me?”

“……!”

Seeing their faces light up with just a few words made me somewhat understand why the old man didn’t want to step down from his position as principal at the pilot highschool.

After dealing with stubborn Hunters at the Ability Management Agency all the time, how much fun would it have been to see these eager young chicks respond so enthusiastically?

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’ll give each of you a praise sticker.”

“Wow!”

As I placed a sticker on each of their foreheads, they giggled like it was the best thing ever. Even Park Seo-hyun chuckled, pulling the sticker off her forehead and shaking with laughter. Oh Hyun-wook, pretending not to care, twitched his lips before sticking his sticker on the back of his phone.

There wasn’t a trace of what they’d look like twenty years from now.

I waited for the excitement to naturally die down before speaking.

“Of course, there are parts that need revision.”

“Ugh….”

“I’ll give you feedback later.”

Finally, I got to the main point.

“You all saw the news about Principal Hong’s discharge from the hospital, right?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Well, I wouldn’t call it a celebration exactly, but we have a transfer student.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…A transfer student?”

While everyone was wide-eyed, Han Eun-young’s reaction was particularly intense.

“A transfer student is coming to this kind of school?”

Is that what surprises her?

I understand the sentiment, but as a teacher, I couldn’t just let such a dismissive remark about the school slide.

“This is the school you’re attending. Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”

“I’ve heard you grumble about whether this is even a real school.”

“…….”

This must be why they say you can’t even drink water carelessly in front of kids. I pretended not to hear Han Eun-young’s comment.

“Anyway, a transfer student is coming.”

“Look at him pretending not to hear because he has nothing to say.”

I didn’t hear that.

“The transfer student… will be brought by Teacher Kim this afternoon.”

Poor No. 3 ended up attending the pilot high school after all.

If you ask whether that decision was entirely of his own will, it’s ambiguous.

I shook my head, recalling the conversation we had at the time.

It’s already a done deal. Lee Mi-seon quickly completed all the necessary paperwork so that No. 3 couldn’t change his mind.

I don’t know how a kid living in an orphanage managed to transfer schools or what happened to the school he was attending, and I didn’t ask Lee Mi-seon either. She’d probably just give me a cryptic smile if I did.

But there’s one thing I’m sure of.

No. 3’s highest level of education just became middle school. No. 3 probably didn’t see that coming either.

…It’s funny, but at the same time, I’m a bit at a loss.

No, but honestly, I’m not even sure if this school will be recognized as an official educational institution next year.

Originally, it would be recognized next year, but who knows how much I’ve already altered the past. It’s unpredictable.

“He’s a year younger than you all but will be in the same grade.”

Anyway, this school only has one grade and one class. Since they’re such gentle kids, I’m more worried that they might be swept up by No. 3.

But just in case, I need to say something.

“Don’t bully him just because he’s younger. Get along with him.”

* * *

“This is the school you’ll be attending from now on!”

“…A school?”

No. 3’s face soured as he got out of Kim Chae-min’s sports car.

He must have realized by now that Hong Seok-young had deceived him.

“It’s still a bit shabby now, but…”

Is “shabby” really enough to describe this?

“We’ll be building a proper facility soon, so don’t worry too much.”

“…I don’t think you mentioned that it would be this empty.”

“Didn’t Teacher Hong tell you? They’ll start building next year.”

“He said it would be finished next year.”

There’s a very subtle difference in context.

“He did say we were temporarily using containers as classrooms during construction… I just didn’t expect that construction hadn’t even started yet.”

“Oh my. Did he? These days, buildings go up quickly, you know.”

Kim Chae-min covered her mouth and laughed shyly.

No. 3 opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it without uttering a word. Judging by the way his lips were twitching, he might have been muttering curses under his breath.

I approached Kim Chae-min, who was smiling brightly.

“Where’s Teacher Hong?”

“He said he’s holding a press conference.”

“Another press conference?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s because he got discharged.”

“What’s so special about getting discharged…?”

I didn’t understand it, but thinking too hard about it would only give me a headache, so I just nodded vaguely and let it go.

Let’s focus on the people who are here.

No. 3. Kang Tae-woo.

I suppose I need to stop calling him No. 3 in my head now. If I accidentally say it out loud, it could cause trouble.

Kang Tae-woo.

I repeated the unfamiliar name in my mouth a few times before I spoke.

“Tae-woo.”

“…Yes?”

“Don’t be too disappointed. Even though it looks like this now, everything will change in a year.”

“Uh… I’m sorry. I was just really surprised.”

“No, it’s understandable. Honestly, I’m still not used to it either.”

I patted No. 3 on the shoulder.

“Since there’s nothing here, it won’t be hard to adjust. There’s nothing to get used to anyway. Let’s see, the other kids are a year older than you, but…”

“…….”

“A year difference is practically nothing.”

No. 3 was still listening to me with a pale expression. Poor kid. I never thought I’d end up feeling sorry for No. 3.

Yesterday, I confirmed the identities of the children who died at the orphanage. Lee Mi-seon asked me if I knew any of them.

Among the dead was a girl who used to be called No. 8. She was a girl who liked stacking blocks. Was she a year younger or older than me? I couldn’t remember her face clearly, but I did remember her name.

No. 3 used to stick to her like glue. He’d call out No. 8’s name when the lab director wasn’t looking—did he really think I wouldn’t notice? I pretended not to know, but he kept calling her name until it became tiresome.

It wasn’t until I saw the picture of No. 8—Kim So-hee, smiling blankly—that I understood why No. 3 was so attached to his younger siblings from the orphanage.

“…If you ever have a hard time, just let me know. You can talk to me, Teacher Kim, or even Teacher Hong. Hunter Lee here is available too.”

Hong Seok-young didn’t hide the truth about what happened at the orphanage from No. 3. He spoke so frankly that both Lee Mi-seon and I were shocked and tried to stop him.

He told him that the orphanage had been attacked by an unknown assailant.

‘I don’t like saying this either, but… it turns out the orphanage director was involved with some bad people.’

However, he kept the most important part a secret.

The fact that we’re tracking Ark. The fact that we know No. 3’s true identity.

‘It seems like those bad people wanted to destroy the orphanage.’

‘…Destroy the orphanage? Why?’

‘We’re investigating that right now. Since you were the oldest at the orphanage, I wanted to ask if there was anything strange you overheard the teachers saying.’

I could almost hear No. 3’s brain working.

‘…I-I’m not sure. So, you’re saying that my little sister, that my siblings didn’t die because of the Dungeon Break?’

Hong Seok-young cast his fishing line.

Ark had cut off contact. His sister was dead. He had been offered the chance to get closer to me, someone with connections to Hong Seok-young, and even to join the pilot high school.

‘Yes. So if you remember anything, please make sure to tell us.’

No. 3 now had two choices.

Wait for Ark to contact him again.

Or speak honestly and dream of a life free from Ark’s influence.

I couldn’t predict what No. 3… what Kang Tae-woo would choose. And because of that, I was genuinely curious about what decision he would make.