Chapter 8: Baek Hyunseo’s Regret

Her vision blurred. Her breath shallow. Even as nausea surged within her, Baek Hyunseo kept repeating to herself:
‘If only… I hadn’t done something so stupid…’

Before her body gave out completely, she prayed desperately:
‘When I wake up, please let this all just be a nightmare. And if this is reality, please, let me turn back time…’

Shivering uncontrollably, she finally passed out.

Baek Hyunseo. Her simple yet worst decision had started two days earlier, when she discovered the intranet master key for Helmunt Academy in the office of her father, the principal.

“Father, what’s this magic tool in the drawer? It looks new, I’ve never seen it before.”

Baek Hyunseo, who had been cleaning her father’s office, stared curiously at the unfamiliar magic tool in the drawer. Unlike the usual ones, this one was radiating an immense amount of mana.

Helmunt Academy’s principal, Baek Ju-seok, explained:
“Oh, that. It’s the magic tool that manages the academy’s intranet. I’m going to store it there starting today. If you mess with it, something big could happen, so don’t touch it and leave it where it is, okay?”

“Oh… Is that the master key you told me about last time? Still, it’s fascinating that something so small holds everyone’s personal information at Helmunt Academy.”

“Haha, it’s not just some of their personal information; you could say it contains pretty much everything.”

“Wow… all their information? Nothing’s left out?”

“Well… yeah, pretty much. You can see everything, starting from a mage’s personal identification number, phone number, date of birth, magic they possess, and even the hunter rank they’ve officially received. Of course, if they’re hiding magic, there’s no way to figure that out, but you can at least see the magic they’ve registered with the academy.”

“In other words, you can check everything sent and received within the academy and whatever’s been registered.”

“Exactly.”

Baek Ju-seok smiled as he looked at his daughter, Baek Hyunseo, who was staring at the master key with fascination.

‘Haha, innocent thing. Judging by her reaction, she has no idea how valuable that information is. With the intranet, ruining someone’s life isn’t even hard if you abuse it.’

Of course, if the intranet were misused, an investigation by the Magic Investigation Agency could follow. One wrong move and serious trouble could arise, which is why even Baek Ju-seok only used it for maintenance and left it alone unless absolutely necessary.

Watching Baek Hyunseo examine the magic tool, Baek Ju-seok thought to himself:
‘She wouldn’t dare use it, right?’

He felt a sudden unease but quickly brushed it off.
‘Why worry? The girl doesn’t even bother using a phone because she finds it annoying, so what would she do with a magic tool?’

Baek Ju-seok spoke to his daughter again:
“Anyway, it’s a sensitive tool, so be careful not to break it while cleaning. Aside from the one I carry, that’s the only spare we have.”

“Hmm… If you’re so worried, why not just seal it with magic? Even if I don’t break it, a thief could get in, right?”

“It’s a delicate tool, so placing a seal on it carelessly could damage it. Besides, our house is protected by a barrier I set up, so no one can get in. Don’t worry.”

Baek Ju-seok began putting on his shirt and carefully tied his tie.

“Oh, by the way, I’m going on a business trip today and heading straight to the academy tomorrow. Can you manage getting to the academy alone for today and tomorrow?”

“Yes, Father. I’m not a child anymore; I’m an adult, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good. Just make sure not to be late this time.”

As Baek Ju-seok slipped on his shoes, his expression turned stern.

“Come to think of it, Hyun-seo, you failed again, didn’t you?”

“That damn Instructor Choi Ju-won. No matter how many times I tell him to cut you some slack, he doesn’t listen. It’s infuriating!”

“Please, don’t worry about it. I don’t really want special treatment, and to be honest, I’m not that interested in the classes anyway. If I have nothing else to do later, you can just get me a job at the academy, right?”

“Hmph… I still don’t like it. Anyway, when I get back from my trip and return to the academy tomorrow, I’ll talk to him again.”

“You really don’t have to…”

“Enough.”

Slam –
At the mention of her grades, the usually calm principal of Helmunt Academy slammed the door as he left.

‘Damn insolent bastard. Just because he’s an instructor, he thinks he can ignore the principal’s requests and keeps giving my daughter failing grades?’

Choi Ju-won. He started his career as a D-rank instructor years ago, but now he’s recognized as an S-rank instructor at Helmunt Academy.

To the principal, he was both the academy’s golden goose and a thorn in his side.

‘He brings in lots of students, but his behavior… He acts like he owns the place, and I can’t stand it.’

In the past, when the academy was small, there was no denying that they benefited greatly from that damn instructor.

Choi Ju-won, who had appeared like a comet, had once been an active hunter, exploring various gates. Using that experience, he developed theories on how to efficiently apply magic against monsters.

He taught students how to incorporate magic into dungeon exploration in ways that would make it more efficient.

In the old days, mages were shunned from dungeon exploration due to their physical limitations and long casting times. However, once Choi Ju-won’s various theories on magic and item utilization began to spread, this mechanism completely changed.

The reason was simple. The students who took his classes and ventured into dungeon exploration began achieving remarkable results.

As a result, aspiring hunters from the magical community, looking to strike it rich by obtaining magic stones and other spoils from monsters, started flocking to Helmunt Academy, marking its golden age.

‘But that was all in the past…’

At that time, the academy was smaller, and there were fewer instructors, so even though Choi Juwon acted out, they had to tolerate it. But now, things were different.

“I’ve extracted all the knowledge I can from him over the years. Even if that guy is gone, it won’t affect this massive academy.”

Though people revered him as an S-class instructor, the president found it difficult to agree. There were plenty of instructors who could replace Choi Juwon now.

In fact, the president had been biding his time, but he had already made a decision. If any reason came up to expel Choi Juwon, he would seize it immediately.

“Anything at all will do. Just give me a reason to get rid of him. Please.”

After the president left, Baek Hyunseo opened her father’s drawer again, taking out the master key and examining it closely.

“Wow… the mana coming off this is no joke… It feels like an A-class or even an S-class artifact.”

As she was mesmerized by the radiant mana flowing from the Helmunt Academy intranet master key, she suddenly remembered how her father maintained it.

“If I recall, he pressed the button at the back and infused it with mana…”

Click

As she pressed the hidden button, a strange voice echoed. It was the voice of the artificial intelligence that managed the intranet master key.

[Helmunt Academy intranet master key activated.] [Starting identity verification… Collecting mana for authentication from the body.] Whoooong In an instant, her mana was being drawn into the master key without her will.

Ding!
[99.7% match with the registered mana DNA of Baek Ju-seok. Verified as within normal range. Master key is now activated.]
[Loading user information…]
[Welcome, Baek Hyunseo.]

“What… what is this…?”

Baek Hyunseo was momentarily overwhelmed by the vast scene unfolding before her eyes. Countless data files representing people’s information floated around. Although she didn’t use a cellphone, she had seen her friends’ smartphones enough times to recognize what it was.

“Is… is this a messaging app?”

As she thought about wanting to see messages, the conversation history between her classmates ‘Lee Haru’ and ‘Kim Si-yeon’ appeared before her eyes.

— Hey. Today, Instructor Choi Juwon greeted me as he passed by!

— What?! Haru, I’m so jealous. Why didn’t he greet me? ㅠㅠ

— Dream on~ I’m always getting A grades, being a model student. How could someone like you, who only gets D’s, get noticed?

— Ugh… you’re so annoying.

— Sorry, but it’s true. I should greet him again tomorrow. What if he confesses to liking me? Si-yeon, what should I do?

— Girl, you’re crazy. Why would such a popular instructor like you? If he found out you were like this, he’d be totally creeped out.

— Whatever. How would he know? This messaging app has A-grade security, you idiot.

— But you can see it through the intranet. Haven’t you heard? An instructor at another academy got caught stealing information through the intranet and was punished.

— No way… If that’s true, that’d be really creepy…

— Look at you changing your tune. A moment ago, you were acting like he’d love anything you did.

— No matter what, how could anyone like a creepy pervert who snoops on people’s conversations? That’s just gross. Of course, our Juwon would never do that.

— Si-yeon, sorry, but I need to go make chocolates for the instructor~ Tomorrow is his birthday, after all.

— Ugh… you’re insane. Is tomorrow really his birthday? Thanks for the info.

—

Hahaha, what a weirdo.

Baek Hyunseo, as if possessed, continued to look through countless conversations between the students.

“What… so many people have crushes on the instructor?”

She anxiously bit her nails and shook her legs. Baek Hyunseo had, in fact, had a slight crush on Choi Juwon for some time. She admired his firm and upright personality. Of course, his abilities were impressive, too.

She recalled the conversation she had with Instructor Choi Juwon during the last class.

“You’ve failed.”

“Instructor~ please give me another chance~”

“Don’t even think about asking for favors. Attend class properly and do the assignments I give you. Then I’ll give you a high score, even if you don’t ask for it.”

“Hmm… you do know that my father is the president, right? You shouldn’t be treating me like this.”

“So what? Go ahead and report me if you want. And keep living your pathetic life.”

After speaking harshly, Choi Juwon scratched his cheek, realizing he might have gone too far.

“…Even if you don’t want to hear this now, what you learn will be useful when you go on real expeditions through the gates later. You’ll probably be a hunter in the future, so don’t regret it later.”

Other instructors would smile and give her B’s or A’s without her even having to say a word because she was the president’s daughter. Some even gave her a C instead of an F for skipping class entirely. The power that came with being the president’s daughter was undeniable.

But Choi Juwon was different. He treated her as just another student, regardless of her status, and genuinely cared about her future.

She had often skipped assignments, pretended to sleep during class, and done other things to get his attention, just to hear his sincere concerns. She couldn’t deny that her feelings for him were growing.

“I guess I’ll need to do something about this…”

Baek Hyunseo started going through the conversation logs again.

“How could anyone like a creepy pervert who spies on people’s conversations? That’s so gross. Of course, our Juwon would never do that.”

As she read the conversation, Baek Hyunseo had a thought.

“If the instructor were caught snooping on the intranet… his reputation might take a hit, and maybe those girls wouldn’t like him anymore…”

Having never used a messenger app or sent messages with friends, she couldn’t fully grasp how unpleasant it would feel for someone to spy on her conversations. Nor did she understand the true importance of the information stored in the intranet.

Baek Hyunseo mumbled to herself.

“But there’s no way Instructor Choi Juwon would randomly look at the intranet… If I wanted to frame him for snooping on the intranet… How would I do it?”

At that moment, the magical AI managing the intranet activated.

“Recognizing user’s command.” “Searching for solutions…” “Optimal solution found. Executing the command.” “Retrieving the ID of ‘Choi Juwon’ from the database.” “Choi Juwon’s ID is ‘Chlwndnjs111.’ Would you like to log this ID into the intranet?” [Yes] [No]

“If… if I press this, will it create a log?”

Though startled by the blinking window, she unconsciously pressed ‘Yes.’

Whooosh

With a roaring sound, she was thrown out of the intranet.

“Modifying the intranet access logs…”

Although she didn’t fully understand how it worked, it seemed that a log had been created using Choi Juwon’s ID.

Feeling excited, Baek Hyunseo thought to herself.

“When my father checks the logs tomorrow, he’ll confront the instructor. The other students will find out naturally too, right?”

“Thank goodness… Now I don’t have to worry about those other girls anymore.”

“And since tomorrow is the instructor’s birthday, if the students are scolding him, I can give him a cake and comfort him. I could say something like, ‘I still trust you, Instructor.’ That should work, right?”

When she checked the time on the clock at home, it was already late afternoon. She hadn’t realized how much time had passed while she was browsing the messenger app logs.

“Ah… I’m late again… Since I’m already late, I might as well buy the cake for tomorrow now.”

She grabbed her wallet and headed outside.

Creak

When she opened the door, there stood her father, Baek Ju-seok.

“Kyaaah!”

Startled, Baek Hyunseo fell backward.

“F-Father… Weren’t you supposed to be on a business trip…? Why did you come back…?”

Baek Ju-seok looked down at her with a furious expression. In his hand, glowing brightly was the main master key he usually carried, separate from the spare one at home.

Helmunt Academy President Baek Ju-seok spoke to his daughter with a grave expression.

“Baek Hyunseo, did you… use the master key?”