Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Heaven’s Door (1)

***

“That’s it for today. Starting this week, we have two weeks for external requests, right? Everyone, be careful… and don’t let your eagerness lead to accidents…”

Moon Seonkyung, a professor with a graceful demeanor, continued giving warnings even after the bell signaling the end of class had rung.

Perhaps because her appearance was similar to that of her niece, Moon Yeowool, but with a more approachable charm, she was especially popular among male students.

Despite the fact that several minutes had passed since the lecture ended, the students remained seated, listening to her carefully.

A female student frowned as she noticed the boy next to her sitting slack-jawed, staring blankly, and gave his thigh a quick pinch.

“Ouch.”

“Oh my, look at me losing track of time.”

At the sound, Professor Moon snapped out of her lecture.

“Looks like I’ve gone on for too long. Everyone, off you go now. But be sure to remember what I said.”

As she watched the students slowly rise, she called out to one of them.

“Oh, and Yu Jinhyun?”

“Yes?”

The boy turned his head, a strange, smooth white mask covering his face.

“Go straight to Professor Kwon Chanyul’s office. You know where it is, right? They’re going to give you instructions regarding your appointed request.”

“Understood.”

The boy nodded as he packed his things and glanced toward the back door of the classroom.

As if on cue, a pair of green eyes were slyly glancing his way.

Jin Yeseo hesitated for a moment before silently mouthing the words.

‘I’ll go ahead.’

Without waiting for a response, she turned and swiftly disappeared into the hallway.

No one in the classroom noticed the fleeting exchange between the two.

And, of course, no one should have noticed.

The delicate balance between them—a relationship that was neither enemy nor ally—had continued for several days.

***

“You’re late.”

As I opened the door and stepped in, a familiar voice greeted me instead of Professor Kwon Chanyul.

Nine students were already inside the office. Despite its generous size, the room now felt cramped.

Everyone here had placed in the top ten rankings at this point in time.

I quickly spotted a few familiar faces.

The one who greeted me with that arrogant tone was Choi Woojin.

Ryu Seunghun, waving at me cheerfully, stood next to Moon Yeowool, who was practically glued to his side like sticky rice cake.

And sitting alone in the corner was a girl with a sharp bob cut and rimless glasses.

I recognized her after a moment’s thought. She was the girl who always stuck to the student council president’s side like his secretary. If I remembered correctly, her name was An Sol.

Judging by the occasional sharp looks she shot in Ryu Seunghun’s direction, it seemed she was still bitter about her loss in the ranking matches.

Now that I thought about it, in a day or two, the repairs to the archives in the basement of the main building would be complete. Once that was done, I could use the key given to me by the student council president.

I hope Seol Yujeong’s records are still intact.

“You’re actually early.”

I responded to Choi Woojin and scanned the room.

Unfortunately, there was only one empty seat left. And it was right next to Choi Woojin.

“…”

Suppressing a sigh, I moved to sit down.

As soon as I took my seat, the large boy next to me flashed a wicked grin, as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“So, have you thought about my duel proposal yet…?”

“No. I told you, I’m not doing it.”

Before he could finish his sentence, I cut him off.

Lately, I had been too busy to entertain such things.

‘I wanted to fly freely like you. To prove myself by becoming that strong… and to get what I wanted.’

For some reason, Jin Yeseo’s words had struck a chord with me. If it weren’t for that, I would have refused her proposal outright.

Maybe, in some way, she reminded me of my former self, someone who shared a similar desire, even if our reasons were different.

The one thing Jin Yeseo didn’t know, though, was that the things I longed for had already slipped through my fingers like grains of sand long ago.

Now, all I could do was struggle desperately to avoid repeating my past mistakes.

I still wasn’t sure if accepting Jin Yeseo’s offer had been the right decision.

After all, she was one of Yeon Minha’s rivals.

Even if it wasn’t my intention, I had gained leverage over someone like her. Should I take comfort in that?

And then there was the embarrassing fact that I’d ended up relying on her help with my theory studies, something I couldn’t even tell Yeon Minha about…

“Tch. Acting all high and mighty. Come on…”

“Alright, everyone’s here. Take your seats.”

Just as Choi Woojin was about to pester me again, the door swung open without so much as a knock, and Professor Kwon Chanyul, sporting his trademark ponytail, walked in.

He waved off the students who had begun to stand upon his arrival and moved straight to his desk.

In his hands were several thick envelopes.

After sitting down and checking the contents once more, he addressed the room.

“You all know why you’re here. I’ll call your names one by one, and you can come pick up your assignments. Let’s see… An Sol?”

“Yes… Oh my!”

Before the girl with the sharp bob cut could even answer, something flew into her arms.

Hovering in the air over the desk were nine envelopes, floating as if by magic.

“This one’s an appointed request from the High Military Tribunal. Do your best. Next… Choi Woojin?”

“Yes.”

“Your request is from the Border Defense Force. It might be tough. The situation up north has been quite unstable lately. Think you can handle it?”

“Ha! Why ask that, Professor? If anything, it could be an unplanned opportunity to achieve some military feats… Ouch!”

“Tsk, still so immature. Stop spouting nonsense and just take it.”

A heavy envelope flew straight into Choi Woojin’s forehead with a loud thud.

“Next, Ryu Seunghun. You’ve got an appointed request from the Masada branch of the Intelligence Bureau.”

“Next…”

“Next…”

With each name the professor called, the floating envelopes slowly dwindled in number.

He called my name last, with only one envelope left.

“And finally… Yu Jinhyun.”

“Yes.”

Even before I could fully respond, a thick, weighty envelope landed in my arms.

“Your request comes from the Special Crimes Investigation Bureau under the Metropolitan Area Administration. They handle cases that even the Security Bureau can’t take on. This one might be tricky.”

“…I’ll be fine.”

Tricky or not, it was still something a student could handle at our level.

There was no way it could be more challenging than the Southern assault or the Jeokhwa incident.

It’s not like I had the option to refuse, so I might as well carry out the mission as best I could.

“You’ll be able to view the details by using the encryption pattern you were given in advance. But don’t open it right away.”

A student, who had been about to peek inside their envelope, quickly straightened up at the professor’s words.

“Remember, it’s not uncommon for other students to interfere once they know the contents of your request. We can’t intervene in such matters here at Cradle. But of course, the choice is yours. If you want to risk it and ask friends for help, that’s up to you.”

Kwon Chanyul spoke with his usual expression of mild annoyance.

“Starting with these appointed requests, you’ll all be facing your real tests. But I trust that the talents who will lead the Republic in the coming decades can handle this much without issue. Now go on.”

***

-Thud! Thud!

“Huff… Hah…!”

In the old training room of Building A.

The dull thuds of impact and the sound of someone’s labored breathing filled the air.

This place, once an old personal training room, had been abandoned by other students.

It was the only optimal space in Cradle where one could avoid prying eyes.

-Thud!

“Heuk…!”

Clad in tight training clothes, Jin Yeseo lay sprawled on the floor, battered and bruised.

Her half-lidded eyes were glazed over, and ragged breaths escaped from between her slightly parted lips.

Her sweat-drenched body was already covered in dark bruises.

“Get up.”

But Lee Hyun, holding his blade, spoke as though this was nothing.

“W-wait…!”

“I told you yesterday, there’s no such thing as a ‘wait’ in a real fight. Get up. If you don’t…”

“Ugh…!”

Gritting her teeth, Jin Yeseo staggered to her feet.

Lee Hyun was approaching her, ready to stomp down on her head.

Half out of desperation, she readjusted her stance.

Staring at the approaching Lee Hyun, she swung her wooden training blade with all her might.

-Clang!

Though both blades were made of wood, the sound that echoed was unmistakably metallic.

At the point of impact, particles flickered like sparks.

With their blades pressing against each other at close range, Jin Yeseo, her lashes fluttering from the proximity, stared into the smooth, gleaming mask.

“You… you’re not holding back your emotions, are you? How is this ‘training’…!”

-Bang!

Before she could finish speaking, Lee Hyun deflected her blade and kicked her in the abdomen.

“Ugh…”

“I’m not letting emotions get in the way. Didn’t I say I’d give it my all?”

Jin Yeseo, thrown across the room, slammed into the wall and groaned.

The masked boy began approaching her once again.

“Your arms were too high, so your balance was off. That’s why you couldn’t deflect my strike properly. And you left your lower half wide open. In a real fight, you’d be dead by now.”

“Huff… Still, this is…”

Jin Yeseo, trembling, forced herself to stand.

Her green eyes blazed fiercely through her disheveled hair.

“And believe me, I’m already going easy on you. I’m adjusting to your level.”

Lee Hyun suddenly recalled something from two years ago.

Back then, Sa Jaehyuk had been nothing short of a demon from hell.

He’d spent entire days grinding a boy barely half his size into the mud.

At times, he’d forced all the contents of the boy’s stomach out, and Lee Hyun had lived with bruises covering his entire body, save for his face.

Even now, just thinking about it made his teeth grind… but there was no denying that thanks to Sa Jaehyuk’s brutal training, he had developed his current skills in a short time, despite his lack of talent.

Even the nurturing older sisters had refrained from intervening during that period. All they’d offer afterward were towels or drinks, accompanied by comforting words.

Compared to all that… this was little more than a warm-up.

“Tch!”

-Bang!

Gritting her teeth, Jin Yeseo lunged at him once again.

End of Chapter