Chapter 30: Park Ye-na, Year 2 Class A (6)
Kwah-aang!!
At the massive explosion sound coming from the basement, the Ignis Guild suppression team, who were hurriedly entering the cafe, quickened their pace.
They found the secret passage leading to the basement and quickly deployed.
Before long, most of the suppression team arrived at the underground fighting ring.
And...
“Uh...”
“What on earth...”
They were met with a cleanly resolved situation.
The gamblers were gathered in one place, kneeling, and the Goblins used as slaves in the fighting ring were also gathered in one spot.
Just then.
Step.
Step.
Footsteps echoed in the silence.
The suppression team’s gaze turned toward the sound.
They spotted one man walking leisurely among the organization members, who looked like fighting ring managers, sprawled on the floor.
“You are...”
At the voice of the suppression team leader, the man’s gaze moved.
“I don’t know why you came, but the situation is all sorted out, so take these guys and those guys over there.”
The suppression team’s gaze followed the man’s pointing finger.
The second floor.
A room so destroyed its form was unrecognizable.
“The executive guy named Zero or whatever, and the people who were managing the fighting ring are there, so throw them all in jail.”
Based on the reactions of Secretary Kim and the Guild Master during the briefing before deployment, they had assumed he wouldn't be an ordinary person.
Five years he had spent in suppression teams.
The team leader had been active on the front lines more than anyone during that time.
But this was the first time even for him.
A person with not a single scratch on them after eliminating an organization of this size.
“And throw all the gamblers in jail too, to rehabilitate them.”
The man waved his hand and started to move again.
“W-Wait a minute!”
At the voice of the suppression team leader, the man’s steps halted.
“What exactly is your identity?”
Silence followed for a moment.
“A teacher.”
At the answer that came from the man’s mouth, everyone thought the same thing.
No way, that’s a lie.
***
Yoo jin walked past the Ignis Guild suppression team.
“Even those guys didn’t seem to believe it? Do I really not look like a teacher?”
Yoo jin shook his head and moved toward where the children were.
As he crossed the first floor, he spotted Ye-na standing in the distance.
Even as his legs were constantly moving, Yoo jin’s gaze was fixed on one spot.
“You’re doing things that don’t suit you.”
At the words he spoke the moment he arrived.
“T-Teacher.”
“Teacher...”
Below the weeping faces of the children, Kei lay collapsed on the floor.
“You’re right. I don’t know what I’ve done...”
Even though he couldn't control his body due to the pain, Kei wore the most peaceful expression Yoo jin had ever seen on him.
And Yoo jin’s expression, as he looked down at Kei, was also different from before.
“Still, thank you.”
Kei’s eyes trembled at Yoo jin’s voice, then quickly settled down.
“You say things that don’t suit you. Earlier, you were threatening to kill me.”
“I know. Just hold on tight to your life for now. I’ll give you some extenuating circumstances.”
Kei smiled and then closed his eyes just like that.
Yoo jin, looking down at him, placed his hands on Ye-na and Jin-ho’s heads.
“You kids worked hard.”
Yoo jin, who was stroking Ye-na and Jin-ho’s heads, moved his head.
Toward a gambler standing blankly in front of the children.
A middle-aged man with a haggard appearance.
He knew instinctively that this man was the one he was looking for.
And because he had seen it.
The student’s warm gaze looking at this shabby man.
Yoo jin took his hands off the children and walked toward the man.
“W-What is it? You...”
“I am a teacher.”
“A teacher?”
“Yes. I am Ye-na’s homeroom teacher. Are you Ye-na’s father?”
“I am. But why would a teacher come all the way here...”
“I came for a home visit.”
“A home visit...?”
Despite the man’s gaze filled with rejection, Yoo jin met his eyes directly.
“Father, why do you think Ye-na came all the way here?”
At Yoo jin’s voice, the man’s gaze fell on his daughter.
His expression darkened.
But soon.
“Are you even a teacher, acting like this? How can you bring a student to a place like this?!”
He adopted an accusatory attitude.
Most people are like this.
When they feel embarrassed, or when they face a disadvantage.
These types of people blame others.
“You’re a Taewoon High teacher, aren’t you? I’m going to officially report you to the Parent-Teacher Association. I absolutely will not let this go! I’ll get proper compensation for the damages, so be prepared!”
Color began to return to his haggard face.
Everyone except the man knew that the reason for this was the newly opened source of money.
“......”
And he had shown that dirty sight to his own daughter.
“Even in this situation.”
Yoo jin, looking at his student, let out a long breath.
“Hey, Father.”
The man’s senses were completely drawn to Yoo jin.
“There are things a person must do and things they must not do. And for a man, there is something more important than money, more important than life itself. That is...”
Yoo jin clenched his teeth.
“Taking responsibility for what the lower half of your body has done.”
At the fierce gaze, Ye-na’s father could no longer meet his eyes and shifted his sight to the floor.
“I was trying to protect my family too. I have debt... I’m earning money, you know. With this...”
“No, not this kind of thing. It doesn’t have to be a large sum, but the small amount of money you bring in through hard work and sweat will make your family smile more.”
“You don’t know... the key money for a lease these days... how much money it costs to raise a child...”
“Don’t blame your family!”
At Yoo jin’s shout, Ye-na’s father’s gaze returned to Yoo jin.
“Ye-na is waiting. You don’t need to bring anything back. No, rather, you must throw everything away and go.”
“......”
“Something truly precious is separate from money. You should think properly about what is truly precious.”
The eyes meeting his were trembling violently.
It seemed he had finally reached him, even just a little.
“So, for the last time...”
Let’s make sure he never forgets today.
“Jin-ho, cover Ye-na’s eyes!”
Jin-ho, who roughly grasped the situation, quickly covered Ye-na’s eyes.
Yoo jin clenched his fist tightly.
“If you gamble one more time, you won’t be able to open your eyes next time!”
Smack!
***
Taewoon High School.
The rooftop.
Yoo jin was talking on the phone with Ignis Guild Master, Cho Sang-geun.
— Well, the plan went awry, so we were initially flustered.
But we caught all the executives.
It’s all thanks to the Returnee, no, Teacher Yoo jin.
“I just did what I had to do.”
— I’m sure you did.
I feel sorry for Secretary Kim, who prepared for a long time, but catching the executives is a huge gain.
“Tell her I apologize for that. I didn’t know you were preparing a raid.”
— But did you really go there just for a home visit?
“Why else would I go there? Why? Is there a problem?”
— No. It’s just that you went all that way just for that...
“Just? If a student is having a hard time, a teacher can’t just stand by knowing about it.”
— ......
Silence followed from the receiver.
— You really are what Si-wang said... what I think you are...
A voice like a muttered thought rang out faintly.
“What did you say? It was too quiet, I couldn’t hear.”
— It’s nothing.
Thank you.
We will properly compensate you for this case.
“It’s fine. Just make sure those guys are properly punished.”
— But, that huge organization...
“I don’t need it. And... I already received my compensation.”
Just then.
Step. Step.
Someone’s footsteps echoed on the rooftop.
The footsteps drew closer.
In Yoo jin’s view.
Ye-na’s face, smiling with true sincerity, entered his sight.
The smile of his student.
Yoo jin shifted his gaze to the sunset.
“What greater compensation could there be than this. For me.”
The long, long home visit had ended.
***
A few days later.
Taewoon High School.
Lee Si-wang stood on the rooftop of the building, which overlooked the streets of Academy City.
“Haa... I do all the work, but I get scolded so much.”
It was a continuous stream of days where he hadn’t been able to go back to the headquarters or even properly wash himself for days.
And yet.
“Even a ghost wouldn't be this elusive. What? He stormed into a Goblin Fighting Ring?”
Yoo jin had broken into the underground illegal fighting ring that the Ignis Guild had been chasing for a long time, turning it into a mess.
And he had heard about it from the Guild Master.
Naturally, along with a torrent of nagging.
Lee Si-wang downed the Americano in his hand all at once and let out a long sigh of frustration.
“How did I end up like this... Haa, I want to quit.”
A genius unmatched in history.
South Korea’s A-Rank Ranking No. 1.
Lee Si-wang, one of the top five Hunters in Korea.
But now, he was simply.
“Nothing more than a punching bag...”
He shook his head like that.
His gaze fixed on one spot.
Among the trees whose buds had blossomed with the spring air.
A man in a flashy suit was walking along the road, receiving greetings from students.
The root cause of all the trouble.
Teacher Lee, the B-Rank Barrier Specialist.
He was the person Lee Si-wang had been tailing for days.
The Returnee, now called Teacher Yoo jin, had asked—no, semi-coerced—him to surveil this man, causing him to neglect guild work and his own time off.
The Summoned Beast Terror Incident that happened recently.
The time when Yoo jin’s students were in danger.
Yoo jin had concluded that the perpetrator of that incident and this Teacher Lee were connected.
That was why.
A high-caliber asset like Lee Si-wang was doing the surveillance.
The semi-coercion from the Returnee.
And the command from his superior, the Ignis Guild Master.
He had no choice.
He had to do as told.
“Still, I’m glad it doesn’t seem like a wasted effort.”
The result of tailing Teacher Lee over the weekend.
He had found out that he had signed a contract for a top-tier penthouse.
At first, he had merely been suspicious.
Just the intuition of the Returnee.
But.
The puzzle pieces were slowly fitting together.
The strange points were increasingly noticeable, and the suspicion was turning into rational evidence.
“But I should probably report this. I’ll go to the teachers’ office later and look for...”
Just then.
Lee Si-wang’s eyes, which were tailing Teacher Lee, narrowed into a straight line.
It wasn't because of Teacher Lee.
More accurately, it was because of a new person walking on the road Teacher Lee had just passed.
“I heard he was coming. But... was it today?”
Lee Si-wang’s expression darkened.
In his sight.
The wily raccoon.
The Vice President of the Hunter Association was entering the school.