I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 40

“…So.”

After calming her excitement somewhat, Ideale looked at Jin Crow with a skeptical gaze and asked again.

“You intend to create a Training Dummy from a creature and then conduct midterms. For that, you need my approval.”

“Yes. That is correct.”

…Where to begin with the corrections?

She pondered for a moment, but without finding a common ground, she instead shot the question back at him.

“Why go to such lengths?”

This is quite a fundamental question.

It is not merely because of the midterms.

Setting up training dummies made of creatures is one thing, but his recent shift in demeanor was, no matter how one thought about it, shrouded in mystery.

There were times when I thought it was the command of a faction, yet even the instructors belonging to the same Rosen were subtly taken aback by his changed appearance.

“There’s no faction now that would undermine an instructor. So, you shouldn’t feel burdened.”

Moreover, after his visit as the entrance auditor, the reputation of Jin Crow, which had been steeped in bad reviews, had taken on a strange hue.

Of course, there were no cadets brought back from his time as the entrance auditor.

However, that wasn’t much different from the instructors of other elite special officer academies.

“Most of them were abducted by the Red Hand.”

Rumors had it that the Ministry of Defense was mobilizing not only the adjacent fleet but even special forces made up of superhumans due to that very issue.

In the end, wasn’t it a failure of the mission?

…One could think so.

However, according to the testimonies of the military police from the Central Special Officer Academy who accompanied Lieutenant Lee Hana of the 17th Fleet at the time, it was cross-verified that he had done his utmost in a perilous situation.

Additionally, there were accounts of him risking his life to confront and slay the second-degree wanted criminal Liberto while protecting cadets from the first-degree wanted General Kim Cheol.

“Even if you’re worried about the evaluation of the midterms, if the concern is about the quality of the questions, it could lead to the chronic issues of newly established courses. But…”

Setting aside biases, the idea of creating training dummies from creatures might hold some significance, yet the risks are unfathomable.

It could very well lead to creating weaknesses within oneself.

For that reason, she did not speak in circles but added directly.

“Instructor Jin Crow. Be aware that you have many enemies.”

Though it seemed she had crossed a line, her words were rooted in genuine concern.

Did that worry reach him?

Instead of responding immediately, Jin Crow fell silent, as if he were mulling over her words.

How long did that silence stretch?

In that time, Jin Crow brushed aside the hair that had slightly covered his eyes and replied.

“I don’t care how others perceive me.”

“What?”

“I simply do what must be done.”

In that moment, Ideale found herself at a loss for words.

It felt as if she had been struck hard on the head by something.

“…….”

Jin Crow remained silent, as if waiting for her response.

How long did that stillness linger?

After a moment, she let out a soft sigh and spoke to Jin Crow, who was gazing at her.

“If an accident occurs, the responsibility will rest entirely on the instructor.”

“Of course.”

It was a positive affirmation, devoid of any hesitation.

Perhaps because of that.

Ideale had intended to add something more, but soon sealed her lips. He watched her, and as was his custom, bowed his head and left the office.

Once he had departed, Ideale sank into her chair, her face a tapestry of complexity, and murmured to herself as if savoring the words.

“I’m merely doing what must be done.”

It was a phrase that resonated with a certain weight.

……or so she had thought once.

“Ha, Headmaster.”

“……Hah.”

Feeling the gaze of Vice-Instructor Ginatio, who seemed to plead for her to stop, Ideale turned her attention to the two figures standing in the training hall.

……Another realization dawned upon her.

It was the unsettling truth that one could fall victim to the affliction of hyperreality.

-Crunch, crun-crunch.

A heavy, chilling sound echoed—one that should never have reached the halls of the Special Operations Academy.

“Truth be told, the voice isn’t necessary, but I added it for the sake of realism.”

“Correct posture, Professor Lilian.”

“What can I say? It’s all thanks to the instructor.”

The drowsy voice of a woman intertwined with the icy tone of a man.

Throb-.

Ideale felt a headache creeping in as she struggled to comprehend the conversation of the two, thoughts swirling in her mind.

‘Why is there no sanity?’

For a fleeting moment, she found herself longing for the battlefield instead.

*

After receiving permission from Ideale, Jin Crow naturally headed toward the Support Division.

If he had simply sought routine maintenance or personnel support, he wouldn’t have needed to walk so far. But what he desired was the research department, and that required quite a trek.

After about ten minutes of walking, he arrived.

At the end of the path loomed a building that seemed to have been plucked from the heart of a colossal university, filling his vision entirely.

“Loyalty. What brings you here?”

As he reached the entrance, one of the sentinels, vigilant in his post, approached him first and saluted.

With a posture so rigid, he instinctively checked the rank, only to find it was surprisingly that of a sergeant.

“I am Instructor Jin Crow. I’ve come to see a professor from the research department.”

“Ah, may I have the name of the professor you wish to meet?”

“Professor Lilian.”

“Confirmed. Loyalty.”

Knowing that someone dispatched to the research department of the Central Special Officer Academy would attract considerable attention, he passed the sentinel without further words.

As he traversed the stark path that could hardly be called a garden and stepped inside the building, a male android seated in the lobby greeted him with a warm smile.

“Instructor Jin Crow. You’ve come to see Professor Lilian. I’ve already contacted the relevant lab, so could you please wait a moment?”

“Understood.”

As always, he felt that without the subtle seams and lights that marked the android, one could hardly tell them apart from humans.

How long had he stood there, he wondered.

Soon, a woman in a white lab coat walked through the corridor connected to the lobby and stood before him, offering a brief nod.

‘An android?’

Yet, upon closer inspection, she too was not human but an android.

He nearly slipped into casual speech, but the research department was distinctly composed of individuals outside the military, so he maintained his formality.

“Are you Instructor Jin Crow?”

“That is correct.”

“I am Naomi, the lead researcher for Professor Lilian. The professor has been working until dawn and just fell asleep a moment ago, so I’ve come in her stead. If you have business, I can relay it to her.”

Instead of responding immediately to Naomi’s words, Jin Crow studied her intently, trying to gauge her true intentions.

‘Is it a lie? Or is it the truth…’

Considering Professor Lilian’s character, it was likely both.

The claim of working through the night was true.

But if she had been awake, she wouldn’t have sent someone else if the visitor was a man.

After a moment of contemplation, he finally replied to Naomi.

“Then I will wait.”

“Excuse me? But…”

“It’s something I must convey in person.”

At his resolute whisper, Naomi hesitated, ready to add more, but eventually nodded and turned back down the path she had come.

As she walked away, he absentmindedly placed a cigarette between his lips, only to meet the gaze of the man-android seated in the lobby.

“The research department is a no-smoking area, Instructor.”

“…It’s a habit.”

Jin Crow cast a sheepish glance outside at the android’s words.

Fortunately, it seemed the researchers were accustomed to smoking, as a rather large smoking room was conveniently located right next to the entrance.

“…I feel like I’m dying.”

“How many hours did you sleep?”

“An hour…”

“That’s quite the bragging right…”

As he stepped inside, the chilling conversations of researchers holding a familiar orange-brown liquid brushed against his ears.

Typically, when faced with Jin Crow within the academy, both instructors and cadets would instinctively make themselves scarce, yet the researchers, clad in thick horn-rimmed glasses and hunched at the waist and neck, paid him no mind as he entered, cigarette in hand.

‘This is something new.’

Thanks to this, Jin Crow found himself feeling a rare sense of indifference, able to smoke without concern for prying eyes.

He could also take the opportunity to sort through his thoughts.

‘Professor Lilian.’

An authority on creating training dummies, commonly referred to as T.D.s, she had been a driving force behind the creature T.D. transformation that had been pushed in the original work.

Of course, like any capable researcher, she had her quirks, but he didn’t find that particularly worrisome.

‘She’ll be much easier to converse with than those I’ve encountered so far.’

Her principles of action were strikingly simple.

Throw out an enticing bait, and scratch the right pride.

Tap, tap—.

Jin Crow flicked the nearly finished cigarette into the ashtray and turned back toward the lobby.

Just as he settled into a nearby chair to wait for Professor Lilian, a languid voice drifted into his ear from behind.

“Hey, ahhh.”

He turned his head to see a tousled mane of pink hair, just brushing his chest, coming into view.

“I heard you were looking for me. Ahhh.”

I lowered my gaze slightly.

Though her height was surely close to average, the curve of her back and neck made her appear smaller, draped in a gown that clearly did not fit.

But that was not all.

Her tousled pink hair cascaded down to her waist, and with the horn-rimmed glasses and bangs that obscured her forehead, she was unmistakably the Professor Lilian he remembered.

“Ugh… I’m so tired I could die. What’s going on?”

Behind her stood Naomi, the female android he had encountered moments before.

As if she had indeed been sleeping until just now, she stifled a yawn, looking quite fatigued.

Jin Crow studied her for a moment before finally speaking.

“I am Instructor Jin Crow. I would like to discuss something in a quiet place, if you don’t mind.”

“Hmm…”

Lilian rubbed her bleary eyes, pondering his words, which were from a stranger, and began to twirl the ends of her disheveled hair with her fingers.

“Please don’t tell me it’s some kind of confession.”

“Shut up.”

The curse slipped out without thought.

Naturally, Jin Crow looked down at her with a startled expression, but perhaps that reaction brought her some relief, for Lilian let out another long yawn and said,

“Fine, let’s just go to my lab then.”

With that, she trudged ahead, leaving Naomi standing behind, who wore an awkward expression and lowered her voice just enough for him to hear.

“…I’m sorry.”

Leaving the small incident behind, Jin Crow followed Naomi into the building where the lab was located, now devoid of Professor Lilian.

“I need a drink, more drinks.”

“Alright! Let’s feel it! Everyone should sleep for at least two hours today!”

“oooh!”

As he passed through the corridor, Jin Crow’s impression was strikingly simple.

‘I really shouldn’t be here.’

The people wandering the halls looked even more haggard than he did, and even the androids hooked up to strange fluorescent drinks via IV were a sight he could hardly bear to look at, no matter how positively he tried to view it.

And as he observed this, Naomi added a particularly chilling remark.

“…I envy them.”

How long had they walked like this?

Naomi pointed out the location of Lilian’s office to Jin Crow before promptly taking her leave.

Yet, if her retreating figure resembled a pig being led to the slaughterhouse, was it merely his imagination?

Creeeak-.

Leaving her behind, Jin Crow opened the door to the professor’s office.

“Ah, you’ve come?”

Then, as if she had just washed her face, she wiped the droplets from her still-damp skin with a towel, reclining into a chair that leaned back completely, her fingers flicking in a casual gesture.

Whoosh, thud!

A heavy electronic cigarette, which had been lying in one corner, flew into her hand, and Lilian calmly placed it between her lips, returning his question.

“My back hurts. So, what’s the matter?”

Her posture and demeanor might seem indifferent at first glance, but considering her nature, it was actually quite a show of respect.

How long that interest would last depended entirely on her, so there was no point in dragging it out.

“I’ve heard you’re an authority on training dummies.”

Yet, the arrogance in her tone irked him, and like her, Jin Crow took a drag from his own cigarette and replied.

“Ever thought of making a training dummy out of a creature?”

“Hmm.”

And the response that came back was:

“You’re insane.”

Indeed, it was a sharp yet delightful retort.

“Make it to your liking.”