I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

“My eyes, my eyes hurt so much…”
“Just hold on a little longer.”

Maria, who regained her sight first, channeled her divine power towards Nayoung’s eyes, which were lying on the sled.

Next to her, Edyn slowly opened her eyes, which she had been rubbing with her palms, and lowered her hands. Her vision was still a bit blurry, causing her eyebrows to furrow.

Fortunately, the blurry world didn’t last long.

Edyn, who had quickly recovered her sight with her natural physical abilities without the need for healing, clenched her face as she confirmed the face of the blonde woman standing awkwardly in front of her.

“How did you get in here…?”
“Ahh!”

The blonde woman, startled by Edyn’s question filled with various emotions, widened her eyes and quickly explained.

“I came as an exchange student on Monday. I didn’t enter without permission. I followed the proper procedures!”

The blonde woman exaggeratedly moved her hands as she spoke.

Edyn scratched her head under the camouflage screen she was wearing, glancing at the rapier on the blonde woman’s waist every time she moved.

“Hey, did you know about this?”
“I don’t know everything, but the High Priestess might have known.”
“Haa, come on… Such a big shot came in, and the Academy was so quiet?”
“It wasn’t quiet. It was noisy because of Professor Baek.”
“Oh, right.”

Edyn nodded slowly, remembering the protest the freshmen had caused.

“Are you okay?”
“Yes… Thank you.”

Nayoung, whose eyes had become slightly moist, wiped them and carefully got up from the sled.

“Na Yeon-ju, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”

While Edyn had recovered her sight with her physical abilities, Na Yeon-ju had regained her sight using divine power for self-healing.

“It looks like we’re ready to go inside now.”

The blonde woman, who had been in an awkward standoff with Edyn, quickly moved when she heard Maria’s answer.

“Then let’s go inside!”

Without worrying about any monsters that might be hiding nearby, the blonde woman left alone, leaving only her loud voice behind as she ran into the darkness.

“She’s crazy.”
“I agree.”

Maria, who rarely agreed with Edyn’s comments, nodded and created a small sphere of light to illuminate the darkness. She then checked the compass in her hand once again.

“Isn’t that thing actually broken?”

Maria moved a few steps to the side in response to Edyn’s reasonable question. As she did so, the arrow that had been pointing forward tilted in the opposite direction.

“No, it’s not broken.”
“Then it’s not the cave, but beyond this cliff.”
“That’s possible. Anyway, let’s go in.”
“Haa, as expected, you can’t trust the lucky girls’ items.”

Since it had already been confirmed that the inside was safe, Na Yeon-ju slowly pushed the sled and followed the two people who were walking inside.

Tap, tap.

How far had they walked?

The four of them met Yoon Iseul, who was sitting comfortably by a campfire in a large cave.

“What a coincidence. Meeting here.”
“Yes, I’m busy with student council work at the beginning of the semester, so I didn’t expect to be involved in recruiting students for the second-year class.”
“I wasn’t that busy because I left all the miscellaneous work to my subordinates. And I think the value of Professor Baek Woo-jin is too high to be limited to just the second-year class.”

Maria’s left eye twitched slightly as if Yoon Iseul was asking, ‘Don’t you think so?’

Yoon Iseul, who caught this subtle movement, smiled leisurely and opened her mouth towards the darkness that the campfire’s light didn’t reach.

“Are you going to stay out there? Jane.”
“I was just about to come in.”

Jane Moore, who had attacked them at the entrance of the cave, glared at Yoon Iseul and walked out of the darkness.

“I’m sorry for earlier.”
“Yes, I understand.”

Edyn looked at Jane Moore, who was offering her hand, with a sullen expression and took it. She couldn’t stay upset with her just because she had been attacked, as there was no rule against fighting among participants.

“I’m Jane Moore. I came as an exchange student from the First Academy in the United States. I’m friends with Hana, so you should be friends with me too!”

Edyn blinked in surprise at Jane Moore’s sudden acceleration.

“Jane, I told you that people don’t like it when you rush things like that on first meeting, didn’t I?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I get excited easily.”

Jane Moore quickly acknowledged her mistake and bowed her head.

“Let’s talk about something more constructive.”
“That’s what I was hoping for.”

Maria, who had been waiting for this moment, stepped forward in front of Edyn.

“We also arrived here not long ago. So we haven’t unpacked yet.”

She lightly tapped the heavy bag next to her and smiled.

“The four of you and the two of us. The maximum number of people we can form a team with is six.”
“The problem is that forming a team after entering is prohibited.”
“Yes. So, we’ll give up our spot. As you can see, this place is quite nice, right?”
“You wouldn’t just give up your spot without asking for something in return, would you?”

In response to Maria’s question, Yoon Iseul tapped her bag and slowly stood up.

“I’d like you to naturally create an opportunity to meet with Hana on the weekend. As you can see, Jane really wants to meet her.”
“If they were friends, they would have exchanged contact information. Why don’t you just contact her directly?”
“She may seem like that, but she has a strong childlike side. So, she wants to surprise her.”

Jane Moore, who was standing quietly, nodded her head vigorously when Maria’s gaze fell on her.

“If Hana doesn’t like the situation, I’ll immediately tell her about our agreement today.”

Yoon Iseul didn’t respond and instead picked up her bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder.

“Jane, get your bag.”
“Yes, I will!”

Late at night, with only a day left, Jane Moore happily packed her bag.

“I’ll give you her contact information next week.”
“Me too! I want to exchange numbers too!”
“Jane, be quiet.”
“That’s unfair! I want to talk to Hana’s friends too!”
“That’s why I’m saying this.”
“How can we talk if you’re telling me to be quiet?”

Jane Moore, who still struggled with Korean, looked puzzled, and Yoon Iseul whispered, “Just be quiet and follow me,” as she led Jane Moore out of the cave and into the darkness.

“She really left.”
“Should I pretend to leave too?”

Unlike Edyn, who still had a suspicious look on her face, Maria, who had removed the camouflage screen from her head, said,

“This place is ours now, so let’s unpack first.”
“Wait.”

Edyn stopped Maria, who was walking towards the sled, and whispered with a stern face.

“Let’s eat first… Ahh!”

A crisp sound accompanied Edyn’s short scream, echoing through the cave.

“Even if it’s something minor, wake me up right away if you feel something’s off, okay?”
“Don’t worry.”
“Then, I’ll trust you and sleep.”

Edyn, who had been sticking her head out of the tent, quickly went back inside.

“If you feel like you need to stay up for a few more hours, just wake me up when it’s time. We’ll be here for three days, so don’t worry about our stamina.”
“Yes, I’ll wake you up.”

Maria, who had wiped her body with a damp towel, approached Nayoung and Na Yeon-ju, who were wearing their equipment for the night watch, and handed the compass to Nayoung’s hand.

“See you when you switch shifts.”
“Yes, good night.”
“Rest well.”

Maria entered the tent where Edyn was and lowered the camouflage screen.

“Shall we sit for a while?”
“Yes, ma’am.”

Na Yeon-ju treated Nayoung, who was much smaller than her, with respect. Nayoung, feeling her heart flutter, tried to calm herself down and sat next to Na Yeon-ju with a thermos she had taken out earlier.

“Do you want to drink this recovery potion…?”
“Oh, thank you. I’ll gladly drink it.”
“Here.”

The contents of the thermos were poured into a small paper cup and offered to Na Yeon-ju.

“Thank you.”

Na Yeon-ju took a sip of the recovery potion and her eyes widened.

“It tastes like yuzu tea.”
“I put a little effort into the taste. Is it okay?”
“It’s delicious.”

Na Yeon-ju proved that it wasn’t just an empty compliment by quickly finishing the paper cup, and Nayoung, whose cheeks turned slightly red from the praise, refilled the cup with a new potion.

“By the way, how did you become friends with Hana?”
“Me?”
“Yes, ma’am. I heard that Maria and Edyn have been friends since middle school. But you’re not in the same combat role as Hana, so it’s surprising that you’re friends with her.”

Although it could have been taken as an offensive remark, Nayoung took it as a genuine question out of pure curiosity and answered.

“It’s not that big of a deal. We just happened to become roommates, and Hana took good care of me from the very beginning.”
“Roommates? Aren’t they usually assigned to students from the same major?”
“Yes, I know. But for some reason, I was assigned to the same room as Hana.”
“Ohh, is this fate?”
“Umm, fate…”

Nayoung couldn’t completely deny the embarrassing words, even though she was twiddling her fingers.

If it weren’t for meeting Baek Hana and then Maria and Edyn, she might have dropped out of school due to her severe social anxiety, which required her to rely on medication to even attend lectures.

But meeting them changed many things. Thanks to her trustworthy friends, she gradually became less afraid of people’s gazes and was able to attend lectures and move around the Academy without taking anxiety medication.

She also received help with her grade evaluations, countless times with new potion performance tests, and assignments.

Most recently, she even had the opportunity to ride in a dedicated aircraft and stay in a suite room at a world-renowned five-star hotel, all without spending a single penny.

In the beginning, when she was thinking of locking herself in the practice room to earn her tuition and research fees, she couldn’t have imagined such a happy and enjoyable time.

“What about you, Na Yeon-ju…?”

Nayoung, who had heard from Maria that Na Yeon-ju had also grown up in a temple since she was young, tried to be as careful as possible in her conversation, but her body shivered lightly.

“Why do you ask?”
“I, I need to use the bathroom…”
“Ah, then I’ll accompany you to the front.”
“No… Don’t… I set up an alarm spell and prepared thoroughly, so it should be fine…”

Nayoung quickly got up from her seat and prepared a portable bathroom pack.

If this were a raid party, it would have been the right thing to do for herself and the party to solve her needs nearby. However, it was a difficult request for Nayoung, who was already relaxed and not used to the gate.

“Even the sound of leaves rustling is fine, so if you feel anxious, please shout right away.”
“Yes, I’ll be back quickly…”

Nayoung, with a worried look on her face, walked quickly towards the entrance, following the glow-in-the-dark stickers she had previously attached to the wall.

“This should be fine…”

Even though she was embarrassed, Nayoung couldn’t bring herself to go completely outside, so she had to stop in front of the entrance.

“Ugh, hurry, hurry…”

Nayoung quickly put down the things she was holding and her hand movements sped up along with the increasing signal.

Nayoung, who had barely managed to remove her protective gear, finally succeeded in maintaining her human dignity.

“Haa… I should stop drinking potions from now on…”

It would be better to go to the bathroom in the dark than to come here to relieve herself. Anyway, her role was to bring a lot of potions, and she had already fulfilled her role.

Nayoung, who had relaxed due to the urgent need to use the bathroom, closed the zipper bag and pushed it away. Then, she put on the protective gear one by one, but it was inevitable that it looked quite sloppy compared to the first time, as she had only seen it once and it was difficult to follow.

Clack, clack.

“…”

Nayoung, who had put on all her equipment, was about to return with the zipper bag when she heard a small noise coming from below and looked down. Then, she found the silver compass that Maria had given her.

‘I was in such a hurry that I brought it with me…’

Nayoung quickly picked up the compass.

Clack, clack.

“…”

At first, she thought the compass itself was shaking due to the cold wind, but the sound continued even after she tightly held the compass in her hand.

Gluck.

Nayoung, feeling an unknown anxiety, opened her hand and checked the compass.

Clack, clack!!

The source of the sound was the needle of the compass.

Fortunately, the compass needle was pointing towards the base camp. The problem was that, although the direction was the same, the needle kept tilting upwards for some reason.

“Huh…?!”

Nayoung, whose tension had been completely released, realized what it meant a beat later and turned around with a startled face.

“Haa…”

A pure white something came down from the dark ceiling and instantly blocked Nayoung’s mouth.

The distance between them was so close that their breaths touched.

The blue eyes seemed to see through her soul.

Thump.

Nayoung’s legs went weak, and she felt a warm sensation all over her body.

That was Nayoung’s last memory.