I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 15

“Hmm.”

Ramda, with a face taut with tension, manipulated the panel of the central training ground.

While the individual training grounds were fully automated, having multiple users accessing the same simulation at once was an entirely different matter.

‘No abnormalities in the biosignals, no dropped data…’

Even with the assistance of highly advanced AI, the possibility of hacking or errors could not be entirely dismissed.

Especially when a hundred special duty cadets were involved, any minor issue with the brain or nervous system due to a glitch in the simulation room would spell disaster.

The reason Lambda was dispatched was, after all, to shut down the system from the outside if necessary.

It was merely by chance that, with the androids at the central training facility on leave, Jin Crow and her were the ones chosen due to their acquaintance.

“Ugh.”

Yet, with several safety measures already in place, there was little for Lambda to do.

Thus, she simply organized the system panel and gazed at the central black screen, as well as the internal view of the training ground where the simulation was taking place, her unique blue eyes blinking in contemplation.

‘So, the security level applies here as well.’

Normally, the ongoing simulation should have been displayed, but it seemed the AI, recognizing Jin Crow’s security clearance, had forcibly blurred the feed.

Thanks to that, all she could see were the cadets awkwardly standing around, along with Instructor Jin Crow and Assistant Instructor Giñatio’s biosignals.

“Hmm?”

But then, an anomaly occurred.

Beep—.

While the stress levels of the other cadets entering the simulation room rose, one cadet stood apart.

Curious, Lambda pulled up the data to check the name.

“Cadet Baek Hwi-young… Hmm.”

Strangely, there was not a flicker of movement.

However, it wasn’t something to worry about too much, and soon enough, the stress levels rose to a point similar to the others, drawing her attention once more.

“Hmm, hmm.”

Lambda glanced around for a moment, confirming once again that she was alone in the control room, then pulled a small package from the inside pocket of her black uniform.

“A new product. Durian flavor?”

What she had taken out was none other than a new variant of her favorite artificial jelly.

She tilted her head slightly at the unfamiliar name, then quickly searched for information, licking her lips in anticipation.

‘The smell is awful, but they say the taste is good.’

Was this not something entirely new?

Without realizing it, Lambda’s eyes sparkled, and with a hopeful mindset, she tore open the package and popped it into her mouth.

“Ugh, mmm? Th-this taste is?”

She soon grimaced, muttering softly to herself.

“Delicious, it’s delicious!”

She had awakened to a new taste.

〔Is, is that possible?〕

〔Insane…〕

Of course, even at that moment, the murmurs of the cadets—filled with horror and astonishment—echoed vividly from the screen.

*

For the cadets, the simulation room of the training ground was not an unfamiliar place.

It was often packed with sparring sessions, or a place they were always brought to when the combat department sought to immerse them in the reality of the battlefield.

However, the foes the cadets typically envisioned were soldiers of the Holy Galactic Empire, imagined in one-on-one duels or fleet battles.

This was entirely natural.

What was the reason behind the military of the United Human Synthesis growing so vast, to the point where some even deemed it militaristic?

‘The Galactic Wars that have persisted through three cycles.’

It was because the alien races of the Holy Galactic Empire still fought for supremacy over the entire galaxy.

In other words, when the cadets graduated from the academy and were commissioned, the first enemies they would face would not be the creatures they had once thought of as beasts, but rather sentient beings with established military forces.

– Kyaaah!

Because of this, the cadets could not hide their bewilderment.

They had seen many battlefields through simulations or had visited the front lines, yet none had been as brutal as the urban landscape before their eyes.

“…Ugh!”

They knew it was merely a simulation.

The nauseating stench of burning corpses brushing against their nostrils, the screams of people ringing in their ears, even the tremors of the earth—all of it was not real.

“G-god.”

“Ugh.”

But perhaps it was due to the highly advanced simulation.

Or perhaps it was because it unconsciously reminded them of the cases on Aurum and Lemal planets.

“Ugh!”

“Are, are you okay?”

Some martial cadets turned crimson, as if they might bolt at any moment, while the more tender-hearted cadets rushed to tend to the fallen soldiers.

But just then.

Standing alone before the cadets, staring into the void between the fallen creatures, Jin Crow quietly spoke.

“Lieutenant Kinatio.”

“Yes.”

“Please take charge of the cadets.”

“Understood.”

Instructor Giñatio immediately closed his eyes.

Though he might have been slightly taken aback by Jin Crow’s unexpected response, he was still an instructor at the Central Special Officer Academy.

Wuuung—.

He turned the gears within.

At last, in a brief moment where psionic energy resonated, the space between the cadets and Jin Crow was severed, and Pamiu watched intently, her eyes gleaming, as Giñatio’s abilities unfolded.

‘Indeed, that is the instructor…’

Even within a similar classification of abilities, the efficiency and output were overwhelming.

Even though they shared the same triple gear.

The reason was likely the difference in proficiency.

She narrowed her eyes, absorbing the flow of psionic energy led by Giñatio.

Just as Pamiu was beginning to glean her own insights, it happened.

“No, they’re coming!”

“Stack the barricades higher!”

“Get down!”

Beyond the severed space, the desperate voices of soldiers barely holding their ground in the urban sector where Jin Crow stood brushed against her ears.

The cadets held their breath, and soon, a mix of anxiety, strange anticipation, and heavy gazes settled upon Jin Crow’s back.

-Kyaaah!

-Kiieeeek! Kiieeeek!

From every direction of the urban area where they stood, the creature “Phon,” which Jin Crow had just cleaved, revealed itself.

Following that, the erosion spikes embedded throughout the city morphed into erosion nests, swallowing lost civilians and spitting them out.

Alongside these grotesque mutations, which could hardly be called mass-produced, hundreds of creatures glimmered with red eyes from every corner of the urban landscape.

“The erosion spikes are ejected from their flagship, the Void Turtle, and upon embedding in the ground, they transform into nests and hatcheries, deeply rooting themselves.”

Yet, there was no tremor in Jin Crow’s voice, and he continued to explain calmly to the cadets, who could only watch as the space was severed.

“In other words, if civilian casualties are anticipated in urban combat, eliminate the erosion spikes immediately. However, if you miss the timing and civilians have already transformed into mutations…”

-Ah, aahhh!

-Kiikikik!

“They are already organisms beyond resurrection. Eliminate them immediately.”

Skratch, thud—.

The blade of Jin Crow, as black as the abyss, knows no emotion.

A head, grotesquely twisted and deformed, rolls across the ground.

One, two, three, four…

With each sweep of the blade, the air is splattered with the blood of countless monsters, surging forth as if to swallow Jin Crow whole.

“……”

Since the moment the creatures began to swarm, there had been no living human in the city.

It was only natural.

For it was a simulation designed from the very start to unfold this way.

Pababababak!

Mutants, their limbs bending at unnatural angles, writhe and race through the streets, while a creature named Phon crashes through the asphalt, charging at Jin Crow.

……Kugugugugugu.

The sky, stained a deep violet, swirls above, and the severed limbs of a human caught between the ruins sway in the wind.

“……There’s, um, quite a lot, isn’t there?”

Dokkoran muttered, and the cadets standing nearby nodded absentmindedly.

A tide filling the city threatens to sweep over Jin Crow and engulf the cadets in its wake.

‘What a pressure…’

‘…Are those really monsters?’

This was not the thought of just one cadet.

All the cadets, faces pale with dread, could only stare at the endless onslaught of creatures.

They knew it was an illusion.

Yet, perhaps due to the facilities assigned to the Central Special Officer Academy? Their senses were perfectly deceived into believing the truth.

Just as the cadets’ spirits began to wane, a horde of creatures, easily numbering in the hundreds, charged toward him in unison.

-Kyaaah!

-Ugh, uah!

Leading the charge were humans, forcibly mutated by the erosion nest.

Tentacles writhed from their split necks, and shards embedded where their eyes once were dangled as they leaped to tear Jin Crow apart.

-Kaueeek, Kiiiiiik!

Yet Jin Crow remained steadfast, cutting down the oncoming foes.

He cleaved through the outstretched limbs.

Twisting his body to evade at times, drenched in blood, he stood guard before the cadets.

Taking a step back, he then took another step forward.

—Kyaaah!

As the beast roared, Fon trampled the mutants, extending his arm like a spear, yet the outcome remained unchanged.

“Cough.”

With a furrowed brow and biting his lip, Jin Crow braced himself against the creature’s charge, then smoothly slipped inside, driving his sword precisely into its solar plexus.

Kwad-dadadak!

Even when blocked by the exoskeleton, he paid it no mind.

If one strike was thwarted, he pressed down with a second.

If the second was blocked, then a third, a fourth, a fifth…

—Kki, kkiii?

It was the creature that found itself flustered.

In a panic, it reached out to throw a blow at Jin Crow, but in that moment, Jin Crow murmured softly.

“Tch, quite bothersome.”

That small yet distinct mutter reached not only the creature but also the cadets standing behind, watching the battle unfold.

And only then did they realize.

‘…He’s wielding power on par with us, no, he isn’t even using that.’

‘Yet, such fluidity in his movements?’

Even in the martial arts realm, no one truly resolves everything through mere physical prowess.

It is simply because they borrow the forms and stances of traditional martial arts that they are called martial artists; at their core, they process psionic energy into gears, scattering it through their weapons.

“…Insane.”

Thus, the martial arts cadets could only follow Jin Crow’s movements with dazed eyes.

To put it bluntly, there was no cadet present who could not mimic his actions.

It was a dual gear, after all.

But when standing on the battlefield against hundreds of creatures, the narrative shifts.

“Ha.”

He took a brief breath, remaining in place, engaging the enemy only within the limits allowed by the dual gear.

The restrained tip of his sword was not flamboyant; rather, it was rugged.

Yet, his blade held no margin for error.

As if he had faced creatures since birth, cleaving through them his entire life.

‘…It’s not perfect. But.’

Hino Kanae gazed at his back with eyes slightly shocked.

‘No frills, I see.’

The Dual Gear was a realm that any cadet from the Central Special Operations Academy should have long surpassed.

Yet, what he displayed was a manifestation of movement far more efficient than they had imagined.

Only now could she grasp the meaning behind Jin Crow’s inscrutable disdain and hostility towards the cadets.

‘Indeed, was there a creature among the experiences of the battlefield?’

In that moment, as Hino Kanae nurtured her own delusions, other martial arts cadets were also struck by the bizarre spectacle that Jin Crow presented.

—Kyaaa!

And finally, at the moment he felled the last creature.

[Survival Time: 28 minutes 49 seconds. Training ends.]

The simulation, reeking of blood to the point of nausea, concluded, and alongside the cadets, Jin Crow returned to the training hall filled with white walls.

Naturally, there was no bloodstain on Jin Crow’s body, yet he shook off the blood from his longsword as if it were a habit, sheathing it once more while scanning the cadets.

“By the next lecture, submit a report summarizing the role of a special operations officer in urban combat scenarios.”

With that, he turned and, maintaining an unruffled demeanor and expression, silently made his way out of the training hall.

“…He says to submit it.”

Giannatio added, but all the cadets’ gazes were fixed solely on Jin Crow as he walked out.