I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 67

Baek Hwi-young’s ability seemed simple at first glance, yet it was, in truth, a chronic issue faced by those in the martial arts world devoid of lineage or school.

What is martial arts?

It is the dance of offense and defense.

The upper body, lower body, and footwork intertwine to form a single force, and this force, when connected, is called the dance of offense.

Without a lineage or school, one must tread their path with only the basic dance of offense.

The supernatural realms look upon such martial artists with scorn, deeming them ignorant and inefficient.

Yet, it is precisely for this reason that they wield weapons.

“The history of humanity is a history of struggle.”

Unlike other creatures, humans, lacking sharp teeth, wings to soar, or even tough skin and massive size, grasped stones, instinctively beginning to study for more efficient violence.

Thus, the martial artist was born.

They were called warriors by some, assassins by others, and at times knights, soldiers, or even thieves.

Yet their martial arts were inherited.

Violence is the most efficient and certain means to prevent new violence.

-But in the 21st century, wasn’t martial arts rendered meaningless?

As the saying goes, in the era we live in, martial arts have become futile struggles against firearms and firepower.

Thus, martial arts shed their claws.

They abandoned their function for murder, instead maximizing the training of the body and the spectacle for others, ultimately succeeding in becoming ‘sports.’

Why is that?

It’s a simple reason.

Before bullets and gunpowder, mere ‘physical training’ had its limits.

No matter how fervently one shouted “Banzai!” with a powerful mental fortitude while striking down a tank with a katana, in the end, they would merely become a pleasingly flattened human waffle beneath the treads of the machine.

Ah, it wouldn’t look good, though.

“Humans are surely weak.”

Back when humanity was still trapped on Earth, their distant homeland and the capital of the United Human Synthesis, they were undeniably frail.

Yet, as their cognition expanded and they began to see the world they stood in more clearly, the situation changed dramatically.

Psionic Energy.

The unknown power that emerged in the superhumans was wielded in various ways, but many of them soon grasped cold weapons, just as the warriors of the past had done.

Why, you ask?

The reason is simple.

“…Because it is the most straightforward, and thus, the most destructive.”

Coughing, Jin Crow halted his wandering thoughts and slowly rose to his feet.

Setting aside the swirling dust that clouded his vision, he needed to check on Beatus, who lay nearby, blissfully unconscious.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

With that small relief, Jin Crow brushed the dust off his shoulders and confirmed that the time for the drug-induced haze was running short, slipping his hand into his pocket.

Swoosh.

He briefly considered lighting a cigarette but soon opened his hip flask and took a swig.

“Who knows how long the fighting will last?”

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to make it last a little longer?

KWA-BOOM!

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Of course, even as he pondered this while sipping from his flask, the battle between Baek Hwi-young and Jimmy Silver raged on beyond the dust.

Naturally, Jin Crow’s blood pressure was bound to rise.

“…You shouldn’t have come here, you foolish fool.”

In truth, he hadn’t been angry at first.

But when Baek Hwi-young suddenly unleashed a technique akin to a finishing move not on the surface but on the fifth underground level, rolling in the dust, his senses snapped back to reality.

“Why is he, of all people, here, when he usually went to colonial planets to hunt for OOPArts during the first vacation?”

He couldn’t count how many OOPArts Baek Hwi-young had carried throughout the story, but he remembered that most had been acquired during his student days, squeezed into his vacation time.

So, while it might seem natural for him to be in this Free Planet Alliance, where ‘Nectar’ was rumored to exist, he had only sought out confirmed OOPArts.

In other words, it meant that the Free Planet Alliance, with its possibly non-existent Nectar, should not have been visited at this time.

“Have you found proof of existence, or is it merely for another reason?”

Jin Crow pondered, his gaze fixed on the silhouettes of two men emerging through the dissipating dust.

Yet, his contemplation could not linger for long.

“……What a mess.”

As the dust settled, the sight of the underground was more dire than he had anticipated.

First, it was secondary that the hole in the ceiling, previously made by Jimmy Silver to capture Beatus, had doubled in size; the ground, once neatly finished, was now cracked and crumbling. The pillars, too, revealed their inner rebar as the concrete split apart.

And to top it all off, the spearheads meticulously crafted by Baek Hwi-young left circular marks on the earth, as if a claymore had detonated. The scene vividly illustrated why the special operations officer was treated as a strategic weapon.

“……Phew. Quite the spectacle! Hahaha!”

At that moment, Jimmy Silver, who had been grappling with Baek Hwi-young, flexed his massive muscles and spoke with a tone of delight.

He hadn’t completely thwarted the sudden assault; blood flowed from various wounds as he endured Baek Hwi-young’s relentless attacks.

Where had his axe gone? Bare fists were merely an afterthought.

However, as Jin Crow watched Baek Hwi-young’s valiant struggle, he could only narrow his eyes, filled with questions.

“Why the urgency?”

Could one even describe it simply as ‘urgent’?

Baek Hwi-young’s spear technique was characterized by its simplicity and precision.

His boldness was merely a personal trait; he had lived through a different timeline, engraving the best moves into his body through accumulated experience.

But what lay before him now was different.

It was as if a wolf, starved for days and wounded, was making a final desperate stand before its breath ceased. Baek Hwi-young’s spear tip was frantic, ferocious, and thus, gradually losing its strength.

“This is dangerous.”

There was no way Jimmy Silver could be oblivious to what Baek Hwi-young felt.

And sure enough.

The moment Baek Hwi-young’s spear tip wavered, Jimmy Silver, with his overwhelming muscles, deliberately pressed his palm against the spear tip, grasping the shaft with his other hand as he whispered softly.

“Checkmate, babe.”

Crack!

He tore the spear shaft apart and charged at his opponent, shoulders hunched.

Baek Hwi-young, without hesitation, discarded the broken spear and reached for a spare, but it was already too late.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, Baek Hwi-young was crushed into the empty cage, soaring through the air without a groan of pain or a scream of despair, soon to land near Jin Crow.

“Cough.”

A breath expelled like a dry cough.

As Jin Crow gazed at the figure approaching, he soon realized why this man was so abnormal, and he couldn’t help but mutter a curse under his breath.

“…Damn it, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“…”

Baek Hwi-young’s eyes were bloodshot, his gaze fixed solely on Jimmy Silver.

At first glance, it seemed as if he had lost his mind, or perhaps the middle schooler within him had awakened, but it was something different.

‘This is the gaze of one who looks upon an enemy.’

How many obstacles had he encountered during his countless regressions?

Sometimes they were time itself, sometimes resources, and at other times, the blunders of allies.

Yet what Baek Hwi-young had come to understand in the original story, the very chapter that Jin Crow had read, was strikingly simple.

—Incompetent allies, capable foes. They must be killed, no matter what.

He declared that humanity, and indeed all sentient beings in this galaxy, must do so to survive.

And those eyes were the eyes that saw an enemy that must be ‘absolutely’ killed.

…From the perspective of the novel, Baek Hwi-young seemed quite impressive, but seeing it up close was rather unsettling in many ways.

No matter how handsome he was, those bloodshot eyes, wild and muttering, “I will kill. I will definitely kill,” sent an involuntary shiver down Jin Crow’s spine.

“Now I see, you’re all in cahoots. Black-haired Tom and Ashen-haired Jerry. How amusing.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy Silver, having seemingly healed all his wounds, flaunted his muscles through the torn fabric of his white shirt, grinning smugly.

For some reason, the guy who kept talking about cats was getting on his nerves.

Why a cat, of all things?

He furrowed his brow and opened his mouth.

Boom!

No, he was about to.

“…Baek Hwi-young. Five penalty points.”

If only Baek Hwi-young hadn’t lost his mind and charged at him again in that moment.

In the end, Jin Crow could only sigh and follow after him.

“Hahahahaha! Yes! Come at me! I am the Titan’s ‘Jimiar Sirune Bi A’!”

What was so amusing? He even blurted out his race and full name without being asked, and Jin Crow slashed his sword at the three-headed figure.

Baek Hwi-young’s spear tip aimed precisely at the creature’s neck, while Jimmy Silver’s massive fist zeroed in on Jin Crow’s face.

“Ugh!”

In a split second, he tilted his head back and raised his shoulder to absorb the blow.

However, the impact sent him flying into the corner cage, where a group of people, trembling and hoping for the situation to end, let out low, fearful whimpers.

“……Tsk.”

Now was not the time to concern myself with them.

Though they were superhumans, it was clear they had not eaten or slept properly, their gaunt forms offering little in the way of strength.

“Tch, the young one’s already lost his edge. It’s all because the milk’s gone bad these days. Back in my time, fresh from the hills of Olympias… *cough!*”

Jin Crow seized the moment, driving his sword along the spine of the creature gripping Baek Hwi-young by the nape. In turn, Baek Hwi-young swung the bent tip of his spear, severing the tendons and breaking free from its grasp.

“……Gah!”

Now, with some damage accumulated, the creature narrowed its eyes slightly and swung a fist toward Jin Crow, who stood behind.

*Boom!*

He blocked the blow and immediately twisted his body, dodging a kick from Jimmy Silver that struck the ground, creating a brief lull in the chaos.

“……Hah. Hoo.”

Baek Hwi-young, perhaps growing weary, let out a low groan between his tightly clenched lips.

“……Huh.”

Jin Crow wiped his dust- and blood-streaked face with a hand and took a drag from his cigarette.

“……Have I enjoyed this too much? Tch.”

As Jimmy Silver’s mind cleared, he bitterly chuckled, realizing the factory had descended into chaos.

How many seconds passed in this series of brief lulls?

“Hwi-young!”

“Instructor!”

“Jin Crow!”

From beyond the gaping ceiling, the sound of many descending figures echoed, prompting Jimmy Silver to shake his head in resignation.

“It can’t be helped. Until next time, Tom and Jerry.”

“Who do you think you are?”

Jin Crow lunged at Jimmy Silver, who was clearly preparing to flee, but this time, he was quicker.

*Beep-.*

Pressing a button he didn’t even remember holding, one wall of the underground chamber slid open.

All that lay beyond was pure darkness.

Yet soon, a series of glowing eyes flickered to life within that darkness, and Jin Crow instinctively muttered, filled with rising disgust and revulsion.

“……We’re screwed.”

*Rrrrgh.*

There were easily dozens of creatures, the Pawns, lurking in the shadows.