I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 54

“Ah, I’ll do it myself…!”

“If you say it one more time, I’ll cut you.”

“Goodbye! It was an honor to serve you!”

Leaving behind the secretary who insisted on escorting him to the hotel, Jin Crow entered the pre-booked hotel and simply unpacked his things.

Of course, there wasn’t much to unpack.

Simple garments, a few extra stimulants, and weapons were all he possessed.

“Huuh.”

True Crow’s choice of hotel, in line with his belief to spare no expense on where to sleep, smoke, and drink, was quite a decent place.

Thanks to this, he sank into the armchair placed in one corner of the room, and with familiar dexterity, he lit a cigarette.

Sss, huuh.

Under the hotel’s soft, ambient lighting, the smoke he exhaled dissipated like fragile dust, and as he rolled the cigarette between his fingers, he unbuttoned the black shirt that clung to him in discomfort.

“……”

Now, the countless scars, familiar in their own right, revealed themselves under the gentle glow.

A sense of suffocation lifted, if only slightly.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten the purpose that had brought him to this distant planet.

‘Nectar.’

At first, he had thought that wandering through the black market might yield some clues, but upon witnessing the system firsthand, he was convinced it wouldn’t be so simple.

‘There’s more order and discipline than I anticipated.’

Faces obscured, and within, things deemed illegal on other planets ran rampant, yet the system itself bore little difference from any other marketplace.

What did that imply?

It meant this wasn’t the perfect underbelly he had envisioned.

And if Nectar was brazenly present in such a place, isn’t it strange that no leads had surfaced until the original story reached its conclusion?

‘I didn’t expect it to be easy to find, but this is pushing the limits.’

Still, it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

Though unintentional, he had managed to alleviate some of the ongoing struggle with the imperfect supply of stimulants.

He also intended to dig for information about Nectar.

The dark net. A realm where all manner of underground information ran rampant.

“Shall I give it a try?”

He extinguished the burnt-out cigarette in the ashtray and lit a new one.

With his identity already exposed, there was no reason not to use the dark net.

Perhaps within the confines of the academy, it would be different.

At least at this moment, it was a rather enticing option.

As he connected, he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

“What kind of life have I led?”

Automatically logged into the dark net, the account bearing the nickname J.C displayed a rank that was none other than.

……He was VIP.

*

The Free Planet Alliance is open to all, whether they be imperial citizens, synthetic nationals, or even criminals and fugitives on the run.

“Yeah, honestly, what do the nobles do besides waging wars and collecting taxes? Those damned b*stards. If it weren’t for the taxes we pay, they’d be just as broke as the rest of us… wouldn’t they?”

“Damn right. Money is everything.”

The imperial citizens are captivated by a system where, as long as one has money, both commoners and nobles can be equally rich or equally poor.

“No army? Then how do they protect the nation?”

“What do you mean? The corporations take care of that. Look at this. It’s a new hologram drama…”

Synthetic nationals marvel at the free market and culture that have replaced militarism and mob rule.

“Hey, John, you’re a fugitive, right? What level are you?”

“Level 5. You?”

“Damn. Just a petty criminal. My brother’s level 4.”

With anxious eyes, the criminals and fugitives drifting through the galaxy find a moment of comfort and employment in the Free Planet Alliance.

No matter how much they whisper about the corrupt cradle of materialism outside, or the hell riddled with polarization, the influx of immigrants continues to grow day by day.

“And our committee is the one that coordinates all of this.”

Even as darkness thickly settled in the sky, a silver-haired boy gazed out through the glass window at the dazzling cityscape below.

On the surface, he appeared to be just another handsome boy, but his demeanor and gaze were anything but youthful.

“So we need respect and regard for one another. But it seems one person who hasn’t yet arrived here has a slightly different perspective.”

His gaze slowly swept over the series of men and women seated at the round table.

In response, they all instinctively averted their eyes from the boy or took a sip from the whiskey resting on the table.

Of course, this did nothing to ease the boy’s discomfort, and just as he was about to say something more…

“Chairman.”

A secretary standing in one corner hurried over, bowing slightly to whisper something to him. Upon hearing her words, the boy nodded in acknowledgment.

“Understood. I’ll wait.”

The boy, who had been standing by the window, returned and took his seat at the head of the round table.

Naturally, it was common knowledge that a round table has no head, but that was merely a formality bestowed by those above upon those below.

The golden inscription of ‘Mer Corporation’ behind the boy hinted at his position.

How long had that suffocating silence lingered?

Creeeak—.

The massive door to the highest floor of Mer Tower, where the ‘Committee’ convened, swung open, and two men entered.

The impressions of the two men were starkly divided.

The man at the forefront was a robust, broad-shouldered pureblood human, while the one standing a step behind was a lean hybrid of human and elf, easily discernible at a glance.

“I’m a bit late. My apologies.”

The man in front bowed his head and pulled the last remaining chair toward him.

Then, instead of sitting down himself, he naturally stepped back to allow the man standing behind him to take a seat.

“Thank you, Kang-hyuk. No, Min-soo. Hahaha.”

“That’s an exaggeration, sir.”

The boy spoke, gazing at the seated figure with his characteristic deep, cool eyes.

“You’re late, Geum Kang-hyuk.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I found something interesting on the way. But where is Uncle Jimmy?”

“He had work and decided to skip this meeting. Unlike you, who arrived late without a word.”

“Haha, I said I’m sorry.”

What was so amusing, the boy thought, as he looked at that perpetually smiling face, ready to say more, but he soon clicked his tongue and scanned those seated at the round table.

If it were up to him, he would have liked to wipe that innocent face off the map right then and there, but Geum Young Group was not a company that could easily be dismissed, even by the chairman of Mer Corporation.

“Don’t lose your composure, Stero.”

A king is merely one who knows how to orchestrate.

It is enough to savor the spectacle of many third parties vying to become the second, while he watches from above.

“I will begin the committee. Everyone, speak your minds openly.”

Indeed, as soon as his words were uttered, the lowest-ranking third party began to gnaw at Geum Kang-hyuk.

“Geum Kang-hyuk, how long do you plan to be swayed by interests that hold neither dignity nor value?”

“Oh dear, Lucky Anubis. Will you speak so harshly? I might sulk, you know, haha.”

With a seemingly friendly demeanor, the man with the pomaded hair and a sharp jawline grimaced as he stared at his opponent.

Just as he was about to speak, cigar in mouth, Geum Kang-hyuk calmly popped a piece of golden gum into his mouth and said,

“Is losing one black market not enough for you? Ah, I was just on my way back from there…”

“You…”

“Feel free to say anything whenever you wish. After all, I’m still the owner, so I won’t kick you out, haha.”

As he playfully blew a golden balloon, Lucky Anubis’s face began to harden, and it was a strikingly beautiful woman, sipping a red cocktail amidst the whiskey, who intervened.

“Both of you, enough. It’s noisy.”

“Fatal, this isn’t a conversation for you to butt into.”

“What are you saying? Until recently, you couldn’t even look me in the eye.”

She let Lucky’s warning words slip through one ear, her face set in stone.

Then, with a quick flick of her gaze, she turned to the boy seated at the head of the table, who held a sip of cold water instead of wine, and winked at him.

“Did I do well?”

“Focus on the meeting, Fatal.”

“Hmph, the chairman only hates me.”

Of course, Stero Mer didn’t blink an eye.

Just after that brief skirmish of wills, surprisingly, the agenda moved along quite swiftly.

“What of the negotiations with the Empire?”

“Though they are ongoing beneath the surface, the recent movements of the royalists are troubling, so for the time being, smuggling routes will be limited.”

Lucky Anubis. Boss of the Zenolua Family.

“Since the war has ended and the factories have halted, a flood of useless paupers has applied to migrate to Mercato.”

“I’ll have the Public Security Bureau dismiss them all. If need be, I might even rain down a few orbital bombardments.”

Geum Gang-hyeok. Second son of the Geumyoung Group and the current power holder.

“How goes the research?”

“Don’t worry. The Red Hand is actively sending samples, and we’re promoting it through leisure sports to gather data.”

Fatal, CEO of Carpe Diem Entertainment.

“Not bad.”

As her words marked the end of most of the agenda, Stero took a moment to wet his lips with the cold water.

Then, in a voice so chilling it felt like ice, he murmured.

“Let us not forget. The peace between the Empire and the Synth State does not yield profit.”

It sounded like a mere musing, but the weight behind it made Lucky, Geum Gang-hyeok, and Fatal acutely aware of the burden resting on the boy seated before them.

Every word of their conversation could shake society if it reached the press, yet they seemed utterly unconcerned.

It was only natural.

This society belonged to them, and to Stero as well.

“They call us vulgar capitalists, but that is precisely why we are the most human.”

Chairman of Mer Corporation, the first cyborg and pioneer to set foot on this desolate planet.

First chairman of Mer Corporation.

Stero Mer mulled it over softly.

“The virtue of sentience is desire. The Empire has suppressed that desire through feudalism, and the Synth State through militarism, but we are different. A utopia where everyone’s desires are free, where the victor hoards everything and the vanquished cling to their mercy, filling themselves with the venom to become another victor. That is why we are here.”

His beliefs were twisted in some way, yet there was no fool among them to deny it.

No, until not long ago, he had been seated.

Until the moment he lost his life to a trusted subordinate, and could not even find the body.

“We shall, as always, hold our ground between the Empire and the Synth States. Our capital. May Mercato thrive for eternity.”

At his words, they nodded in agreement.

And with that, Stero Mer rose from his seat and walked once more to the glass window, gazing down upon the kingdom of skyscrapers he had forged.

“Yes, for eternity.”

In that cracked voice lay an obsession, chillingly intense.