The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

Thankfully, the it's just business excuse seemed to land pretty convincingly with the stubborn old woman.

Kim Sunja glared at me for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and nodded.

"Freeloading isn't my style. I need to earn my keep. Those little brats... I'll take them on."

"R — really?!"

At my delight, the look in her eyes turned frost-cold in an instant.

"On one condition."

She looked me dead in the eye and delivered her warning with an S-rank Hunter's killing intent behind it.

"If so much as a speck of harm comes to my granddaughter Ari... the deal is off, that instant. Understood?"

"Of course. I'll stake my neck on it."

Without a second's hesitation, I stuck out my hand.

Kim Sunja looked at my hand for a beat, then clasped it firm in a rough, weathered hand.

"Good. Let's go — to the institute."

Inside me, a fanfare went off.

Yes! I finally did it!

I'd finally landed Korea's best teacher for our institute.

From here on, the kids' growth was a straight shot.

I bit down on the grin trying to break loose and stole a glance at the kids.

At some point they'd gotten themselves off some distance away and were huddled together in a little cluster.

Heads together, they were whispering seriously about something, but the distance was too much for me to catch any of it.

Checking each other over for injuries, maybe.

Either way — no injuries, all safe. Thank god.

Right then someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Nicely done."

It was Han Jewoon.

"Thanks to you, I've got one weight off my shoulders. I owe you one."

"Well... I got my teacher out of it, so — win-win."

"Even so, if you hadn't been there, I couldn't have guaranteed her life. I'm not just saying that."

Han Jewoon looked at me, serious, and added:

"Put it on the tab. When you need me later, I'll pay it back in full."

I didn't wave it off — I took the offer, quick.

"Okay. Noted. No taking it back later, right?"

Korea's number-one Hunter, the strongest man currently alive, owing me a favor.

That was the most expensive, most powerful joker card money couldn't buy.

In my situation — a ticking time bomb that could go off any second — a piece of insurance this solid couldn't hurt.

"Ha. Come on, you know who I am."

Han Jewoon smirked, then dropped his voice and murmured, low.

"Ah, and — that A-rank Gate you mentioned. Looks like we'll be able to go in soon."

"Already?"

"Yeah. It's not fully open yet, though. Took a reading on the pulse — two, three weeks out, give or take? Around then we should be able to go in."

Right as I was hearing the important information, out of the corner of my eye, Seo Jihyeok was tapping his wristwatch behind him, pressuring him wordlessly.

"Guild Master! We need to move back to Seoul!"

"Tch. Those terrorist bastards have the whole place turned upside down."

Han Jewoon gave a rakish wave and backed off.

"I'll be in touch soon. See you around, kid."

Fwip.

With that, he vanished with Seo Jihyeok, gone like the wind.

I stared for a moment at the empty air where they'd been, then turned.

"All right — us too. Time to go."

I flashed a grin at the six kids and Kim Sunja, all of them waiting on me.

"Home."

The next morning.

Every channel's breaking-news bulletin was racing to report on the frantic events of the night before.

["In the early hours of today, the Gate breaches that occurred across downtown Seoul were all suppressed within five hours of the initial event."]

On-screen, the wreckage of collapsed buildings, and Hunters working to clean it up on top of it all.

["The Gates involved were, fortunately, all low-tier. Thanks to a rapid joint operation by the Bureau's Defense Force and the major guilds, the situation was contained early."]

The anchor caught her breath for a moment, then moved to the next page of copy, expression graver.

["However, taking advantage of the chaos, a chain of assassinations targeting senior government officials and Bureau executives took place. As of now, the confirmed victims number nine, and at each murder scene, the logo of the Awakened Liberation Front was left behind."]

The screen zoomed in on a chilling image painted in red at one corner.

A gray tower cleaved by red lightning.

["The government and the Awakened Management Bureau have designated this incident an act of premeditated terrorism, established a special investigation task force, and launched a large-scale investigation."]

"..."

I was watching the news with a stone face, but with the other ear, I was catching a much louder voice.

Chae Ganghyeon's booming shouts coming through the terminal on the other end.

[The gall — what kind of insane bastards, going after my one and only son! I'll find these terrorist pricks and wipe them off the face of the earth! I'll tear their limbs off and hang them up in the institute courtyard!]

Killing intent dripped off his voice.

"Ah — enough already."

I made a show of digging in my ear like the racket bothered me, playing the wastrel.

"I'm alive. Isn't that enough? Save the theatrics."

[Junhyeok! How is this theatrics! Your life was on the line!]

"More importantly — you've got time on your hands right now, Dad?"

I jerked my chin at the news screen.

"Watching the news, the Bureau's a mess. Is the Chief slacking off like this really okay? Aren't you supposed to be busy?"

[...!]

A choked, overcome breath came across the line.

[J — Junhyeok... you... you're worried this old man's busy with work right now?]

"I'm not, actually. You're being loud. I was looking for an excuse to hang up."

[Uhk — uhhh! You've grown so much, my boy...! If your mother in heaven had heard that, she'd have wailed for days!]

"Come on — enough — I'm hanging up!"

Repulsed, I put a finger on the end-call button.

[Fine, fine. Take care of yourself. I'll have wild ginseng and herbal medicine sent over. Make sure you take it all.]

"Got it."

[Ah, one more thing.]

Just as I was about to disconnect, Chae Ganghyeon threw in something he'd apparently just remembered.

[Come to think of it — three weeks from now is the second Public Evaluation, no?]

"..."

[This time it was the one with the barrier ability, wasn't it? I'll be looking forward to it. To seeing how splendidly my son has raised her.]

Click.

The call ended.

"Haah..."

I let out a deep sigh and sank back into the chair.

Every mountain climbed just reveals another — the old sayings were never wrong.

We'd barely cleared out the assassins, and before I could catch my breath I was already on evaluation-prep duty.

I had a mountain of things to prepare....

"Still... one thing to be thankful for."

I rolled my stiff neck and looked at the wall of CCTV monitors that filled one side of the Director's office.

Across the cold machine displays, the training room was scenes of pure peace.

Six kids clustered together, sitting in a huddle, and Kim Sunja in front of them, explaining something.

And Ari behind, goofing off.

They're... coming along, bit by bit.

That one fact alone was enough to make something well up full in my chest.

Right. Can't sit here idle either.

I pulled an old notebook out of the deep back of my desk drawer.

The A-rank Gate Han Jewoon had mentioned.

The secret hidden there, and the way to save Choi Juran.

For the decisive battle ahead, I started tracing back through the original, prepping thoroughly.

Cha Yul, right now, was mad enough to burst.

Damn it... damn it...!

The last few months, he'd trained ready to die.

Slaughtering monsters in the virtual training room, he'd figured he'd gotten fairly strong — that it'd hold up in a real fight now. But yesterday, that arrogant delusion had been shattered.

Mad Dog.

In the face of that mad-dog of a man's overwhelming force, he'd been nothing more than a toy.

Didn't even land a hit. No — from the start, I wasn't even in his league.

Every killing strike he'd thrown, life on the line, hadn't so much as scratched the guy.

The more miserable part was when the guy had clashed with Han Jewoon.

Watching those monsters fight, Cha Yul had been forced to accept it — bone-deep.

The fact that Mad Dog had been utterly going easy on him. That it hadn't been a fight — it had been play.

The one who'd sorted the situation out, in place of his own helpless self, had been that insufferable Hunter.

Why the hell is that idiot just standing there and taking it?

Cha Yul ground his teeth.

When Han Jewoon had poured out insults — wastrel, pathetic excuse of a man — the Director's face, unable to say a word back, if anything, taking it on with a bitter little look of concession.

The memory of that expression made him want to explode.

The one saving grace was that Suho, quick to catch on, had reported the whole scene, down to the last detail, to the younger kids.

Thanks to that, Han Jewoon had been branded, among the younger ones, as the ajusshi who talked mean about our Director, and the resentment was hitting the ceiling.

But Cha Yul himself hadn't been able to say a single thing back at the time.

Because he'd been weak.

Because the one who'd saved him had been that guy. That miserable reality was unbearable.

Tak!

"Ow!"

Something hard cracked down on the crown of his head.

"An elder is speaking. Where's your mind wandering?"

Kim Sunja clicked her tongue, a long-stemmed pipe between her teeth.

"Your eyes are loaded with venom. Huffing and puffing like some mutt that lost a fight."

At the shameless dig, Cha Yul's red eyes flared and he glared at Kim Sunja.

But Kim Sunja didn't blink — if anything, she snorted, mocking.

"Ooh? Look at those eyes. What good is strength when you can't manage your own temper?"

Rough on the surface — but through [Root Sight], the inside of the boy was astonishing.

Ha... look at this kid.

A rough gem among rough gems.

An uncut diamond.

If he's taught right... could turn out an even bigger monster than that Han Jewoon fellow.

Intrigue lit up in Kim Sunja's eyes.

She adjusted the pipe between her teeth and raised her voice — not just at Cha Yul, but at the kids gathered around him.

"You lot. What, exactly, do you think an Awakened is?"

At the sudden question, the training room went briefly quiet.

Then the kids piped up.

"Hunters who beat up bad monsters!"

"Um... people who're strong and tough?"

"Hero! A hero!"

The kids happily called out their own images of what an Awakened was.

Among them, a very realistic answer: "People who make a lot of money."

"Wrong, all of you."

Kim Sunja shook her head, firm.

"An Awakened is someone who can sense and handle mana. Ability is just the easiest, most convenient tap through which that mana can flow out."

She ran her eyes over the kids, one by one.

"You were born lucky, so the tap gushes for you. But how to draw that mana up, how to compress it and send it out — you don't know the first damn thing. So you waste it, and you gas out fast."

"But... if your ability's strong, isn't that all that matters?"

At the question, Kim Sunja snorted.

"Oh? Then take a look at this."

She walked over to a thick steel bulwark standing at one side of the training room.

"My ability is [Root Sight]. A textbook non-combat ability. By your standards, then, since it isn't an offensive one — I'd be some back-room old woman who can't even fight, wouldn't I?"

She set the cane down and raised her weathered bare fist.

"But — if you know how to handle mana, it's a different story."

Wuuung—.

Around her fist, a deep-blue mana began to rise up like heat haze.

No attribute, no shape. Pure raw mana itself.

She drew a deep breath.

The massive volume of mana pulled up from her core traveled along the grain of her muscles and condensed, wild, into a single point at her fist.

"Hup!"

Kwaaang—!!!

A simple straight punch.

But the destructive power was on the level of an artillery shell.

Along with the boom, a huge hole was blown clean through the middle of the thick steel bulwark.

Torn shards of steel scattered every direction like sheets of paper.

"Wooooow—!!!"

The kids' eyes went wide as saucers.

"Whoa! Grandma's super strong!"

"Did you see that? Boom! And a hole went right through!"

"...!"

Mouths in perfect Os, eyes shining bright and round as rabbits', hands going in clapping-seal applause.

No flashy ability, no expensive artifact.

Just one weighty punch.

At that raw, primal force, the kids were completely enthralled.

"Did you see?"

Kim Sunja looked, dead-on, at the stunned kids — and at Cha Yul.

"I don't have a single offensive ability. But if you can perfectly control and compress mana, a non-combatant like me can punch through steel like it was tofu."

Her eyes glinted, blazing.

"Remember. Only a solid root grows healthy branches. Learn to handle mana — the foundation — the right way, and that telekinesis of yours, that shadow of yours... all of it will be strong beyond comparison to what it is now."

"...!"

Force flowed into Cha Yul's fist. This was the thread to the real strength he'd wanted so badly.

"Don't rely on your ability. Master mana itself. That's the basics I'm going to teach you."

She picked the cane back up and rapped it hard against the floor — tang! — laying down the law.

"From today, you'll call me Teacher. Every time you open your mouths. No back talk. Understood?"

"Yes—!! Teacher—!!!"

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