Chapter 20: President’s true Education

“Hah… I’ve finally come back here.”

I stood in front of Helmunt Academy, wearing my mask.

A lot had changed since the first time I came here, but the buildings were exactly the same.

“It’s the Masked Instructor!”

As expected, a crowd started to gather as soon as I arrived.

“Wow! What kind of performance are you going to show us this time?”

“Do you have anything special planned?”

“Baek Jooseok is among the top-tier A-rank mages. Do you think you can win the duel without using external mana?”

The reporters’ questions kept coming non-stop. But unlike before, I couldn’t answer them calmly.

That’s because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

The reason I wasn’t thinking straight was because I saw some girls watching me from a distance.

‘Damn it…’

Baek Hyunseo, Lee Haru, Yoon Seulgi, and Kim Siyeon—among my students, these were the ones I cared for the most.

Kim Siyeon waved her hand toward the distant Masked Instructor and said,

“Wow, this is amazing. He really came. It’s my first time seeing him in person. It’s so surreal.”

Lee Haru responded to Kim Siyeon’s words.

“His face is hidden because of the mask, but he definitely gives off a strong presence. I mean, he’s the one who discovered the amazing method of using external mana for the first time, so he’s no ordinary person.”

Yoon Seulgi muttered softly.

“It’s… it’s so fascinating… Will he really fight the Headmaster?”

Baek Hyunseo, standing beside them, spoke with a stiff expression.

“My father… he’ll definitely fight him. He hates being looked down on. That Masked Instructor could be in serious trouble…”

Baek Hyunseo knew her father well. He had a strong sense of pride and couldn’t stand being disrespected.

If someone looked down on him, he would go to any lengths to get revenge, no matter how brutal.

But to Baek Hyunseo, he was still a kind father. At least, he used to be.

Her thoughts drifted to the time when something happened between her and Headmaster Baek Jooseok.

It was the same day she was caught using the intranet master key.

• “Shut your mouth. Just watch carefully how things unfold from now on.
• This is all your responsibility. If you go around spouting nonsense, I’ll erase you from the family registry.
• So, from now on, keep quiet and act like you’re invisible.”
• Bang
• Grrr…

She had stared blankly at the closed door, crying. Then, Headmaster Baek Jooseok had barged back into the house.

• “Baek Hyunseo, I forgot to tell you something.
• It’s frustrating, but if it’s that bastard Choi Juwon, he might realize that the only one capable of using the sub-master key is you.
• That guy is cunning and shrewd enough to figure it out.”

Baek Jooseok had approached Baek Hyunseo and whispered in her ear.

• “If, by chance, Choi Juwon confronts you tomorrow at the academy and asks if you used the master key, you have to act like you don’t know anything.
• If your acting doesn’t work, appeal to his emotions. Act with all your heart.
• If you feel like he’s onto you, say it was a mistake, that you didn’t mean to, and do your best to fool him.
• And to reduce the risk later, keep telling yourself that you didn’t do it on purpose. Got it?”
• “Y-Yes… Father…”
• “Act like usual. And make sure to come across as a complete fool in front of him.
• If you do that, you might be able to use his sympathy against him later on.”
• “And remember, if the time ever comes when you confess that you used the intranet for that damn instructor, I will use all my connections to kill Choi Juwon, the person you care about most.
• If you play your cards right, he’ll just be blamed. But if you don’t, you’ll have to watch him die right in front of you.
• So act carefully if you don’t want to see his corpse.”

After hearing her father’s words, Baek Hyunseo kept repeating to herself.

That she didn’t mean for it to happen. That it wasn’t intentional. That she didn’t realize things would get so serious.

She erased her thoughts, just like how she hadn’t understood the seriousness of the intranet at first.

Then, to keep up her act, she had bought a cake and brought it to the academy the next day.

As expected, Choi Juwon had confronted her. He knew about the sub-master key, so it was only natural that he’d figure it out.

• “Was it you…?”
• “W-What are you talking about? M-Me?”
• “You don’t even have a phone, and you just got to the academy. So how do you know about what happened today?”

Just as her father had instructed, Baek Hyunseo denied it, but her slip of the tongue had quickly given her away.

Following her father’s advice, she started acting as if she had used the intranet key by accident, still pretending not to grasp the gravity of the situation.

• “W-Was it really that serious…?”

She trembled like a fool, as if she had accidentally touched the intranet.

In her mind, she kept repeating that she hadn’t known things would escalate this much, that it was truly a mistake.

Afterward, she continued to remind herself. It was just a mistake. Only a mistake.

As her father had told her, she acted and thought accordingly.

But at the same time, a deep-rooted feeling of guilt settled in her heart.

‘I want to reveal the truth… I want to confess that I used the intranet and clear the misunderstanding… I only wanted to monopolize the instructor, not to let things get this serious…’

Each day was painful and filled with regret.

If she hadn’t foolishly tried to monopolize Choi Joo-won, she would have had him by her side instead of Yang Han-kyung.

Even if she received failing grades, he would have cared for her and looked out for her.

On her birthday, instead of being chased away so miserably, she would have received congratulations from many people.

‘I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…’

She repeated it dozens, even hundreds of times a day.

‘If only it weren’t for my father… I could relieve your injustice… That way, I could take responsibility for my actions…’

To her, her father felt like a shackle that bound her.

The intranet incident was something she had done herself.

But now, wanting to reveal the truth and take responsibility, she was in a situation where her father controlled all her actions to protect his pride and honor.

‘Please… Someone help me escape from this terrible pit of guilt…’

She was becoming more and more depleted.

At the Helmunt Academy magic duel arena, countless people had gathered.

Not only academy students, but also reporters, creators, numerous guilds, and ordinary people had come to watch the battle between me and Baek Jooseok.

“Masked Instructor! We’re all set for filming!”

Jang Hana spoke brightly. At that moment, Seol Eun-ah also said to me,

“Masked Instructor, I’ve prepared what you mentioned last time. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be ready to execute the plan immediately.”

“Thank you. You brought enough people, right?”

“I brought half of our guild members.”

“Good. That should be sufficient.”

All preparations were complete. I climbed onto the magic duel arena and shouted,

“Baek Joo-seok! The amateur fraud instructor has come seeking your wisdom. Please don’t run away; come up at once!”

• Clang

Baek Joo-seok, waiting nearby, lumbered up onto the magic duel arena. He held a sinister wand that he didn’t usually use.

I spoke mockingly.

“What’s with the wand? It doesn’t seem like a regular one. Are you so scared of losing that you’ve decided to bring a new weapon?”

Though I spoke nonchalantly, the aura emanating from the wand was unmistakably ‘magic.’

‘That crazy bastard, he isn’t actually planning to do something insane, is he?’

I knew the true nature of that weapon. To the untrained eye, it appeared to be just a high-grade magic wand.

But the crystal atop the wand was one of the ‘dark artifacts’ that could unleash tremendous magic if its hidden function was activated.

‘Well, I expected something like this anyway.’

Whether he believed in the artifact or not, Baek Joo-seok spoke to me with an arrogant expression.

“It would be wise not to provoke me further. You cannot use external mana in this duel.

My mastery of magic ranks among the highest of A-class magicians. The chances of you defeating me are extremely slim.”

“Haha. I’m looking forward to it. Just how powerful is that remarkable A-class magician?”

I whispered into Baek Joo-seok’s ear, ensuring no one else could hear.

“Stop messing around, you bug.”

His face turned bright red as he replied.

“Don’t think about dying easily. I’ll turn this duel arena into your grave.”

Hearing his words, I let out a loud snicker and spun around to face the audience.

“Are you all bored waiting? Without further ado, we’ll begin the duel. Please watch closely as the president of this prestigious academy battles the mediocre creator instructor.”

Suddenly, numbers began to appear on the scoreboard.

• 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

The moment the scoreboard hit zero, Baek Joo-seok cast a spell.

“Lightning Cannon!”

• Crackle

A massive bolt of lightning shot toward me in an instant.

‘Hmm… using A-class magic right from the start?’

“Stone!”

I quickly cast the Stone spell.

• Boom!

Naturally, my Stone spell was completely shattered by Baek Joo-seok’s A-class Lightning Cannon.

In that moment, the spectators began to murmur among themselves.

“Wow… He really is the president of a prestigious academy… He can cast A-class magic that quickly?”

“But that masked instructor seems to be stuck using only low-level magic without external mana.”

“Right? Why would he try to block Lightning Cannon with Stone? If he used multiple Stones stacked together with external mana, maybe, but trying to block it with just one doesn’t make sense.”

• Crackle

The bolt of lightning that pierced through the Stone struck my body, jolting me.

“1100…”

Seeing my painful expression, Baek Joo-seok laughed heartily and said,

“An amateur fraud instructor daring to challenge the president of a prestigious academy? You’ve picked the wrong opponent, haven’t you? It’s bound to be exposed soon anyway. Why are you acting so tough?”

Baek Joo-seok thought to himself. The masked instructor, without external mana, clearly had low skill and could only use low-level magic. Confident of his victory, he continued,

“You don’t even need to use S-class magic against you. I overprepared for this.”

Baek Joo-seok recited another incantation.

“Lightning Cannon!”

In an instant, a massive electric bolt began to shoot toward me.

At that moment, I stopped pretending to be in pain, looked at him, and began to cast my counter-spell with a smile.

“Lightning Storm!”

[S] Lightning Storm: Sends a storm of lightning toward the opponent. The storm’s power is proportional to the amount of mana used by the caster.

The [S] Lightning Storm I cast charged directly at Baek Joo-seok’s [A] Lightning.

• Boom!

The Lightning Storm pierced through Baek Joo-seok’s Lightning Cannon in an instant.

“Huh…? Huh…? Ah… Ice…”

Baek Joo-seok, panicking like a fool, attempted to use another spell, but it was already too late.

• Whoosh!

In an instant, the Lightning Storm sped toward Baek Joo-seok at an incredible velocity.