Chapter 4 : Quest (2)

-“Hello…”

“Cha Do-min! Is the text you sent real!? The teacher… has been diagnosed with Magic Syndrome…?”

-“…You’re going to burst my eardrums. Yeah, the teacher has Magic Syndrome.”

He was someone who, despite knowing my power, treated me like a normal child—like a parent would.

That such a strong person would be diagnosed with Magic Syndrome…

I didn’t want to believe it.

“Where is the teacher!? I need to meet him and talk to him myself!”

-“Sorry, but I don’t know either. You’re not the only one; the others are all in an uproar trying to find him. That old man, Yoon Kang-hyun, hid the teacher’s whereabouts.”

“The Hongyeom Guild Master?”

-“Yeah. It’s going to take some time to find him.”

Cha Do-min was an expert at gathering information.

If even he hadn’t found anything yet, that meant there was nothing we could do for now.

‘Of all people, the Hongyeom Guild Master is the one hiding the teacher’s location.’

He was the highest-ranking figure in the Korean hunter world.

If he set his mind to it, finding the teacher would be almost impossible.

“Damn it… Why did the teacher leave without telling us?”

-…Maybe he didn’t want us to worry and left in secret. That made sense.

In Lee Chan-ho’s memory, the teacher was always like that.

Whenever something happened, he silently bore the burden alone.

He admired that teacher and had finally awakened as an S-rank hunter, establishing his own master guild.

If his guild rose to become one of the top five, what would the teacher say?

Maybe he would finally be praised.

That’s why he worked so hard to reach this point.

‘You can’t just disappear without saying anything to us.’

Now, he could finally help share the teacher’s heavy burden.

He was no longer a helpless child.

‘Because of the teacher, I became stronger than other S-rank hunters!’

“Cha Do-min, if you find the teacher’s location, let me know. I’ll search in my own way.”

-“What are you planning?”

“I’ll mobilize my guild members to track him down. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have no choice but to declare war on the Hongyeom Guild.”

Right now, the only one who knew the teacher’s location was the Hongyeom Guild Master.

If they took the teacher from them, then they would just have to take him back by force.

Lee Chan-ho’s gaze turned cold.

He had never liked the Hongyeom Guild Master.

On the surface, he acted kind and popular.

But anyone with a good sense for people—like high-ranking hunters—could tell.

Behind that smiling mask lurked a cunning man.

“Hang up.”

-“Hey, wait—”

Before anything else could be said, the call ended.

Meanwhile, after finishing his call with Lee Chan-ho, Cha Do-min muttered curses under his breath and threw his phone onto a pile of trash.

The phone arced through the air and landed precisely on top of the garbage.

“How the hell is everyone insane!?”

Besides Lee Chan-ho, he had already contacted the teacher’s other students.

And they all reacted the same way.

The hot-headed ones were already considering an all-out war with the Hongyeom Guild.

“At this rate, South Korea will descend into a full-blown guild war.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything.

But no, even if he hadn’t, those guys would have noticed the teacher’s disappearance soon enough.

“Who could’ve guessed the teacher would just vanish!?”

No one expected him to leave without a word.

If they had, they would have never let him file for Magic Syndrome retirement.

‘I thought he would at least contact me after retiring from the Hongyeom Guild!’

No matter how many times he called, the teacher never answered.

That stubborn teacher.

Did he really think they would just give up if he left in secret?

“We need to find the teacher fast if we want to resolve this mess.”

★★★

Lava Elementary School had been remodeled from an old abandoned building.

Because of that, cracks ran along the walls.

They looked like they would collapse with the slightest touch.

It felt like the perfect setting for a ghost story.

A building this old should have been torn down and rebuilt ages ago.

Was it really okay to teach kids in a place like this?

“Sigh… My phone’s broken, too.”

He tapped at his phone, but it wouldn’t turn on.

In his rush to prepare for moving, he hadn’t even noticed it dropping to the floor.

And there was still a long time left on his contract.

Not that it mattered—he barely used his phone anyway.

‘It’s not like anyone’s going to call me.’

The hallways were empty, and no other teachers were in sight.

Unlike other schools, an eerie silence filled the area.

In a school in the metropolitan area, this would be unheard of.

He had heard that there was only one principal here.

‘Didn’t expect him to be out.’

The first place he checked was the principal’s office.

A sign reading “Out” hung on the door.

That meant only he and the children were in the school right now.

‘Before I go to the classroom, I should claim my rewards.’

With everything that had happened yesterday, he had completely forgotten about the quest rewards.

Since he didn’t know what kind of kids he was dealing with, it was best to prepare as much as possible.

[Would you like to claim your rewards?]
“Accept.”

[A-rank skill ‘I Can Hear Your Heart’ acquired.]
[B-rank skill ‘There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Kid’ acquired.]

…What kind of skill names were these?

He felt like he had seen similar phrases somewhere before.

[It’s a misunderstanding.]

Yeah, right.

Anyone would think they were ripped off from somewhere.

The more he looked, the more his face twisted in disbelief.

But what really caught his eye was the A-rank and B-rank labels.

Hunters typically only acquired two skills in their lifetime.

That’s how incredibly difficult it was to gain them.

And yet, he had just received two more in an instant.

A grin spread across his face.

‘I never expected to get two skills as a reward.’

No—considering the difficulty of the quest, maybe it was a fair reward.

[Skill: I Can Hear Your Heart]
[Rank: A]
[Effect: Allows you to know a person’s occupation and thoughts. Limited to children only.]

[Skill: There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Kid]
[Rank: B]
[Effect: Allows you to subdue others in proportion to their level of affection towards you. Best skill for handling disobedient children.]

“…These are skills?”

A laugh of disbelief escaped his lips.

No one could predict what kind of skills they would receive.

But skills that were outright useless were almost unheard of.

Yet, the skills he got…

Not only did they have lame names, but they only worked on kids or required affection to be useful.

‘Well, that’s how the system works.’

He held back tears.

If they were going to give him skills, couldn’t they have been combat-related and flashy?

Just as he swallowed his disappointment and reached for the classroom door—

A chalkboard eraser, coated in white dust, came flying straight for his face.

He tilted his head just in time to dodge it.

The eraser bounced off the floor with a dull thud.

“Damn, I almost hit him!”

A boy standing on a desk stomped his foot in frustration.

There was no doubt he was the one who threw it.

No one tried to stop him.

Some kids were indifferent, some stared out the window, and others just laughed.

“This teacher’s got good reflexes.”

The boy snickered.

…So these were supposed to be the future saviors of the world?

To him, they just looked like a bunch of troublemakers.

Maybe the world was already doomed.

★★★

I sat down at the desk prepared on the podium and glanced at the children.

The kids were too busy doing their own things to care whether I was there or not.

Because they were treating me as if I were invisible, I couldn’t even introduce myself, let alone say a word.

I sighed and rubbed my face in frustration.

The children seemed even more difficult to handle than I had expected.

‘Since this is a rural school, their ages are all over the place.’

The youngest-looking girl, Shin A-yoon, seemed to be around nine years old.

‘Why is she sitting there all by herself looking so gloomy?’

Meanwhile, Han Yoo-seong, who looked about thirteen, was just staring out the window.

He didn’t seem interested in socializing with the other kids.

What kind of kid has eyes that look so weary of life already?

As I scanned the children, I realized this was a perfect chance to test out my newly acquired skill.

This was exactly the kind of situation where it should come in handy.

I focused my gaze on Han Yoo-seong first.

[A-rank skill “I Can Hear Your Heart’s Voice” has been activated.]

+++
Name: Han Yoo-seong
Age: 13
Trait: A prodigy destined to save the world. Has experienced the destruction of the world and is currently on his 8th regression.
Does not want to get involved with anyone anymore.
Status: Bored.
+++

‘Wait… a regressor?’

So, you’re telling me this kid is a regressor, like something out of a novel or drama?

His mature demeanor and those emotionless, calculating eyes…

He definitely didn’t look like a normal child.

Even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, the word “regressor” remained unchanged.

A regressor?! Are you kidding me?!

The difficulty level is already off the charts!

‘There’s no parenting guide for raising a regressor!’

But maybe because I had already received the absurd world-ending quest, I quickly accepted the situation.

At this point, nothing could surprise me anymore.

‘Damn system.’

That’s when an unsettling thought hit me.

All of these kids are supposed to be world-saving prodigies.

That means there’s a high chance they all have some kind of bizarre background like Han Yoo-seong.

I activated the skill again, and their information unfolded before my eyes one after another.

+++
Name: Sung Tae-yoon
Age: 11
Trait: A prodigy destined to save the world. Was a hero in his past life and was reincarnated by a god to enjoy a normal life.
Status: Happy.
+++

Sung Tae-yoon, a boy with bright black hair that didn’t quite match a typical Korean appearance.

Even while reading a book, the sunlight seemed to gather around him as if drawn to his presence.

He had the aura of a noble prince.

There was something divine about him…

I almost expected a flock of white doves to fly around him any second.

So first, we had a regressor, and now, a reincarnator?

This has got to be a joke.

With a sinking feeling, I checked the next student.

+++
Name: Kim Seo-geon
Age: 13
Trait: A prodigy destined to save the world. A transmigrator who has possessed the protagonist of the novel The Scoundrel Saves the World.
Pretends to be a scoundrel in order to survive.
Status: Energetic.
+++

This was the kid who threw the chalkboard eraser at me earlier.

A transmigrator this time?

‘What does it mean that he’s pretending to be a scoundrel to survive?’

So… the reason he threw the eraser at me was part of some act?

Does his life depend on maintaining that scoundrel persona or something?

Since the information was limited, I couldn’t be sure.

At this point, my head was starting to hurt.

I furrowed my brows and let out a deep sigh.

Was I dreaming or something?

No matter how many times I pinched my thigh, nothing changed.

Only the lingering pain proved this was reality.

Two more kids left…

At this rate, I was scared to check.

I had a terrible feeling about this.
And my bad premonitions were never wrong.

+++
Name: Yoon Chun-woo
Age: 13
Trait: A prodigy destined to save the world. A returnee from a martial arts world. Previously the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Now enjoying the life of an ordinary child.
Status: Finds Kim Seo-geon pathetic.
+++

Just as I expected, even Yoon Chun-woo wasn’t normal.

Since I liked martial arts novels, I knew exactly how powerful a Heavenly Demon was supposed to be.

At this point, I started to wonder—

Do they even need me here?

Couldn’t they just prevent the apocalypse on their own?

A hollow laugh escaped me.

The thought of having to teach these kids made my stomach churn.

“Teacher.”

I turned to see Shin A-yoon running up to me, clutching a small teddy bear in her arms.

She waved her tiny hands, motioning for me to bend down.

“What is it?”

“To celebrate your arrival, I made you this paper boat!”

She handed me a paper boat that was crumpled from being folded too many times.

‘Did she mess up while folding it?’

Still, the gesture made me feel a little better.

The warmth in my heart reminded me that the world wasn’t entirely cold.

+++
Name: Shin A-yoon
Age: 9
Trait: A prodigy destined to save the world. A child loved by the gods. All living beings naturally follow her.
However, she may also be the one to bear the world’s hatred.
Do not anger or make her cry.
Status: Contempt.
+++

As expected, even Shin A-yoon wasn’t an ordinary child.

‘Wait… contempt?’

It felt like I could hear the sound of my pleasant mood shattering.

So, behind that bright smile, she was actually looking down on me?

Was the crumpled paper boat some kind of warning…?

A sign that she was going to crumple my future as a teacher?

I had no idea why she held contempt for me.

But one thing was clear—

I needed to win her favor and raise these kids properly.

At this rate, my future as a teacher was looking darker than ever.

At 30 years old…

I somehow found myself as the teacher of students who were more powerful than S-rank hunters.