TRPM 238

chapter 238

After washing up in the locker room and changing clothes, I returned to the classroom and immediately connected my digital camera to the TV in the room.

“…Geon-woo, what are you doing?”

“Just a moment.”

I used the buttons next to the TV to play the footage I had just recorded.

In other words… embarrassing videos of the students in our class.

“Aaah?!”
“What are you doing?!”

The students lunged at me when they saw it, but I easily pushed them back—carefully, making sure neither the TV, the camera, nor anything in the classroom got damaged.

“Ugh…”
“That’s cruel…”
“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to leak this.”

I said that as I quickly skipped to the next video.

This time, it wasn’t our class’s embarrassing footage, but another class’s.

“…Hehe… isn’t that him? The guy who always brags about being a genius.”
“Oh, yeah. The one who goes quiet whenever Geon-woo and Ha-eun come up in conversation.”

Naturally, the students started laughing at the video. Watching someone else’s embarrassing moments is entertaining, after all.

As we were watching, the classroom door opened, and Teacher Son Ji-hye entered.

“What on earth is going on in here… ah, I see.”

She looked at us, clearly bewildered but also understanding. She had seen me filming earlier with the digital camera.

“Geon-woo, turn off the TV and put that away. It’s class time now.”

Although there wasn’t a formal lesson happening in the classroom, the teacher knew the students who had failed were likely still hanging from the wires in the gym. She didn’t seem worried about the successful students taking a break, but she still asked us to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb others.

“You all should do self-study. There’s another mock exam in June.”
“Ah…”
“Right… the mock exam…”

The mention of exams drained everyone’s motivation. Not just the students who usually did poorly, but even those who performed well lost interest at the thought of testing.

‘It’s barely early May…’

The midterms had just ended recently, and now we had to worry about a mock exam in June. Though, I suppose it had been like this even before I… regressed.

“The scores from the mock exam won’t affect your grades, but special scholarships will be awarded based on them, so everyone should try their best, okay?”
“Yes…”
“Yes…”

Kang Ga-ram and Elena, who were likely to receive the scholarships, responded skeptically—probably because they were rich or royal. Those less likely to get a scholarship simply ignored it as if it didn’t concern them. In other words, the teacher’s encouragement had no real effect.

‘Well, maybe not entirely.’

I noticed Lee Doo-min quietly taking out a reference book. He could probably earn the scholarship, and his family wasn’t rich like Kang Ga-ram’s, so he had reason to be interested. More importantly…

‘He wants to impress Teacher Son.’

Good grades would allow him to get on the good side of Teacher Son Ji-hye, whom he had a crush on.

[Name: Lee Doo-min, Iron Superhuman! First love: Teacher Son Ji-hye! May I confess?]
[Thanks, but I’ll pass~.]

Lee Doo-min had even said something like this during his self-introduction on the first day of high school, so it was likely he would study hard to impress her. The fact that Teacher Son was a cross-dresser didn’t factor into his thinking.

Since he didn’t know, he started studying diligently while looking at the reference book. Other students, not wanting to disturb him, began quietly distracting themselves instead. Mostly, they watched videos on their smartphones or played games. Teacher Son didn’t stop them; she knew trying to make them study would only backfire.

Some time passed as we began self-study under her supervision.

Rrriikk.

“Ugh…”
“This is tough…”

Ryu Ah-min and Jin Cheon-ha returned to the classroom. They must have barely passed the evaluation and returned immediately. Seeing that Kim Eun-yeon and Lee Ha-eun hadn’t come back yet…

‘They probably haven’t passed yet.’

It was possible they had already passed but were just delayed in changing, yet I judged that they hadn’t succeeded yet.

“You two, take your seats and do self-study quietly, don’t disturb anyone.”
“Ah, yes…”
“Sorry…”

The teacher said this to the two who had returned, and they quietly went back to their seats, thinking they had disrupted the self-study. Though, in reality, only Lee Doo-min was actually studying in our class. I, for one, was just fiddling with my smartphone instead. Regular classes were enough for exam preparation.

“What are you doing?”

Kang Ga-ram sat next to me and asked.

“Just browsing.”

I showed her the screen and answered.

“…Surprising.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I just thought… someone like you would be exchanging important messages with the heads of Awakener Associations or guild leaders worldwide.”
“What kind of illusion do you have about me?”

Not entirely wrong, though. I did exchange important messages with Richard, the head of the global Awakener Association, the Korean Awakener Association, and Ji-hyung-man, leader of the Iron Blood Guild.

“So, what about today’s training? Was it actually helpful?”

Hearing Ga-ram’s voice, other students glanced over, curious. Though, shouldn’t they be asking the teacher instead? Still, I nodded and explained.

“When fighting strong monsters, you can get thrown back by their strength. If you don’t hold your posture in midair, landing can be dangerous. Today’s training was slightly different, but it’s better than nothing.”

Of course, this applies mainly to front-line fighters. Mages, summoners, or psychics might not experience that kind of impact.

“And practicing safe landings is useful even if you’re not fighting monsters. Many dungeons have steep slopes.”

Whether fighting monsters or escaping dungeons, there will be times you need to jump from heights. It’s best to know how to land safely.

“Hmm…”
“Really?”

The students considered this and then asked the teacher:

“Teacher, can we practice safe landings?”
“Huh? Where? The gym isn’t available, and the sparring hall is locked.”
“We could jump off the school roof.”
“…Do you think that’s a good idea?!”

Naturally, Teacher Son panicked and prevented them from leaving the classroom.

Some time passed. Kim Eun-yeon and Lee Ha-eun passed and returned, and it was time for homeroom. Teacher Son wrapped things up quickly, and we left the classroom.

“I’ll head to the roof…”
“Don’t.”

There was a foolish student intent on practicing landings on the roof, so I stopped him with telekinesis.

“The gym is empty now. If you want to do it, lay down mats there.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”

I sighed as the students headed toward the gym.

“…I won’t do it.”
“I’ll just fly there with magic.”

Meanwhile, Kim Eun-yeon and Lee Ha-eun were still tired from hanging on the wires so long. How long had they been dangling? I wondered as I left the school.

The next day during PE:

“I’m falling!”
“…What?”

I entered the gym a bit late after changing clothes and saw Lee Doo-min falling straight from the gym ceiling about 10 meters high.

Thud!

He landed on the mats without bending his legs to absorb the impact.

“How was it?”
“That’s not a proper landing! You just brute-forced it with your Iron Superhuman ability!”

I couldn’t help but get angry. Doo-min only survived because of his superhuman strength. Without it, he could have been seriously injured.

“But there’s a mat, isn’t there?”
“Do you think that thin mat will absorb all that impact?!”

I tried to calm down, taking deep breaths. He only did that because he’s Lee Doo-min. He knew he could survive with his ability.

“Next up, me!”
“Stop!”

But the others weren’t like him. I used telekinesis to stop them, knowing they could be injured.

‘I’m not a babysitter…’

They’re not children. They know falling from this height is dangerous. Why do they do such stupid things?

Because of the landing training—or rather, because I said it would actually be useful—a small commotion happened on May 5th.

“…Ah, I don’t want to go to school today…”

After finishing my morning energy cultivation, I remembered today was a holiday: Children’s Day, May 5th.

‘I’m hardly a child now…’

Back in middle school, I was dragged along every Children’s Day by Ha-eun and others for local events. This year, though, I didn’t plan to participate.

‘I’m a high schooler… I’ll refrain.’

High schoolers aren’t prohibited from attending, but most events were for elementary or middle schoolers. I had seen and enjoyed enough over the years, so this year, I could skip it.

I left my room.

“Geon-woo, are you awake?”
“Good morning, Master?”
“Hello.”

In the living room were Yeon Mi-rae from next door and Sophia, who lived with her. They weren’t going to the Iron Blood Guild today because of the holiday.

“Breakfast is ready, so sit at the table, everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”

Mother set the dishes down. She had finished preparing breakfast while I did my morning energy cultivation.

“What are you all planning to do today?”

Sitting at the table, Mother asked us—meaning me, Yeon Mi-rae, and Sophia.

“I was planning to climb the hill for training.”
“No special plans.”
“Same here. I’ll go if the guild calls for an emergency.”

Mother seemed relieved.

“Then, why don’t we spend Children’s Day together at Sinsegyo this year?”