Chapter 54

“There are no fractures. He’s perfectly fine.”

Emergency room director Choi Seong-jun said while looking at the X-ray.

“Thank goodness, Min-ha.”

Baek Ye-bin, the assistant, held Min-ha’s hand as he lay in the hospital bed and tears streamed down her face.

“Don’t cry, Assistant. He said he’s alright, didn’t he?”

Han Min-ha, who had a bandage on her cheek, smiled and consoled Assistant Baek.

“The opponent is now in surgery… How can the outcomes differ this much even though they collided identically? It’s incredible…”

Choi Seong-jun tilted his head while looking at Han Min-ha’s bones captured on the X-ray.

“Indeed, Aura is still a phenomenon that modern medicine can’t fully explain.”

Choi Seong-jun said, glancing at Baek Ye-bin and Han Min-ha.

“Rest well. You should stay here today and you can be discharged normally tomorrow.”

“Understood. Thank you, Director.”

Assistant Baek Ye-bin stood up from her chair and bowed deeply, almost at a 90-degree angle.

Choi Seong-jun looked at me briefly, slightly bowed his head, and then left the room.

“You did really well this time, Min-ha Student.”

“Thank you, Professor. It’s all thanks to your guidance.”

“Min-ha Student deserves credit for following and applying your guidance so well.”

Between Han Min-ha and I, a warm conversation flowed while Assistant Baek continued to sniffle and cry.

“Professor, thank you so much. Without you, Min-ha might have failed the semester-end evaluation and been expelled by now. And then, unable to adapt to a regular high school, would probably have been expelled from there too…”

Assistant Baek Ye-bin spilled out all of her pessimistic projections while crying, which she had been anxious about deep down.

Listening to all this was as despairing as her projections sounded.

Always seeming bright and cheerful, Assistant Baek was harboring such worries inside after all.

She really is delicate, isn’t she?

Han Min-ha looked flustered and patted Baek’s shoulder.

“Assistant… It’s already over, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Baek Assistant. Stop crying. You’ll hear good news soon, I’m sure.”

By “good news,” I meant the promotion to the upper class.

When I glanced at the evaluation summary earlier, I confirmed that other professors had given Han Min-ha very generous scores.

I, of course, had given a perfect score.

Since there were no professors with particular grudges against Han Min-ha, she would definitely be promoted to the upper class.

However, the challenge begins once she gets there.

Among the top students, she will need to adapt well, but that’s not the only issue.

Kim Assistant is clearly harboring negative feelings towards Han Min-ha.

Given Kim’s notorious reputation for poor character traits and the ill will she must now harbor after Min-ha effectively dismantled Song Do-yoon this time, there may be some difficulties.

Even if Han Min-ha were to enter a class that Kim manages, she likely wouldn’t be treated kindly.

Still, this is not an immediate concern.

“Anyway, Min-ha student, use this as a stepping stone to ascend higher. There’s nothing left to hinder your growth.”

“Understood, Professor. But…”

Han Min-ha hesitated for a moment before asking.

“Song Do-yoon… Was he severely injured?”

“He wasn’t terribly injured. Multiple fractures and some organ damage, that’s about it.”

“Really?! Isn’t that extremely dangerous?”

“Not really. In the ‘field,’ that level of injury is considered minor. Since surgery can save him.”

It’s not as if the limbs were crushed beyond regeneration or half his body had been lost.

The academy infirmary boasts the best medical technology and patients like Song Do-yoon, who have relatively light injuries, can be easily treated.

This all happens because some heroes, eager to boost their records, bring along inadequate sidekicks rather than work as a team.

If heroes of similar levels formed teams, things would be far safer but only a few sane heroes would agree to share their credits.

Unless they’re under a system like Sikrito, which forces team building from the start.

Thus, despite being involved in many perilous operations, the death rate of Sikrito’s heroes remains relatively low.

That said, placing Han Min-ha in Sikrito has some limitations.

Due to their closed-off nature—never revealing their operations—they endure harsh evaluations, making it difficult to advance.

As a result, the perception exists that Sikrito heroes levels should be rated higher—typically one to two grades higher—than their official status.

Hence, when Legalmight left Sikrito, they could immediately ascend to A-Rank from C-level, like I did.

Therefore, Han Min-ha might find more stability by joining Legalmight’s office and steadily building a career as a sidekick.

Unlike many other heroes, Legalmight doesn’t treat sidekicks as expendable tools.

“Anyway, you’ve worked hard. Since summer vacation is coming up soon, now’s the time to rest properly and prepare for a fresh start next semester.”

“Understood, Professor.”

The revenge against Song Do-yoon, the positive results from the semester-end evaluation, and promotion to the higher class—all achieved in this one Human Combat Ability Evaluation.

Rather than pride in properly guiding Han Min-ha, let’s place greater importance on the fact that I’ve taken one step closer to fulfilling the oath I made to Senior Han Tae-woo and his wife.

At that moment, the door to the ward opened as Yu Hye-won entered.

“Pink Pig.”

Yu Hye-won called out to Han Min-ha with an odd nickname right off the bat.

She totally ignored me and Assistant Baek Ye-bin, not even greeting us.

“Hi… Hiwon… you came…?”

Han Min-ha visibly became flustered as she looked down at the floor when she saw Yu Hye-won.

This was out of guilt from the statements I had her make to destroy Song Do-yoon’s mindset.

“Who are you? I heard you reduced Song Do-yoon to nothing but a ragdoll?”

“Uh… Yes…”

“This is strange. Song Do-yoon? He’s completely lost his mind, right? But he wasn’t the kind of person with that kind of temperament, was he? Did you fight him before the challenge?”

“Huh? Ah, no no no, why would we fight beforehand?”

“Hmm.”

Yu Hye-won narrowed her eyes and Han Min-ha started to sweat uncomfortably while forcing a smile.

“Something’s off… Isn’t that right, Professor?”

Yu Hye-won turned her gaze sharply towards me.

“Hmm. Nevertheless, I think we should first compliment the good work. Also, it would be better to greet the professor and the assistant first.”

“Hello, Professor. Assistant. You did well, Pink Pig.”

Yu Hye-won offered a rather casual greeting and compliment, causing me to suppress a chuckle.

Perhaps this kind of unruly behavior is part of Yu Hye-won’s charm.

“Professor, but is this person really going to be promoted to the upper class?”

“It’s still unclear since the overall scores haven’t been released. But since a lower-class student defeated an upper-class student, there is definitely a chance.”

“Have you seen the internet? Everyone’s talking about him.”

“I have.”

“And given that huge arena full of students, faculty, headhunters, active heroes, TV stations, and the press all saw him. If he doesn’t get promoted? They’ll definitely accuse the academy of tampering with the results, bringing us a lot of bad publicity.”

I responded with a faint smile.

“Student Hye-won also seems to hope Min-ha student will be in the same class?”

“Huh?”

Yu Hye-won made an odd sound while pulling her upper body slightly back.

Her sapphire-blue eyes scanned me, Assistant Baek, and Han Min-ha in turn.

After a brief pause, Yu Hye-won quickly said:

“Basically, if I just let this idiot wander around, she’d surely be expelled sooner or later, so it’ll be more convenient if we’re in the same class, right?”

“Yes, that makes sense.”

As I chuckled, Yu Hye-won furiously yelled at me:

“Why are you laughing?! Why are you always acting so high and mighty?”

When Yu Hye-won saw Han Min-ha wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she scowled.

“Ugh, this is so annoying!”

Yu Hye-won stomped out of the room with a loud slam.

Staring at the rattling door, Assistant Baek Ye-bin wore a puzzled look as she looked at Han Min-ha and me.

“Why is she acting like that?”

“That’s because she likes you.”

“Uh…? What a strange personality…”

Shaking her head, Assistant Baek consoled Han Min-ha who was slightly tearing up.

“Did the loud noise surprise you? Everything is fine now.”

But Han Min-ha isn’t crying because of the loud sound.

She’s crying after realizing that Yu Hye-won genuinely considers her a friend.

Hye-won really is… a strange child, isn’t she?

* * * * *

The evaluation results are out.

Han Min-ha has been promoted to the upper class.

Her written exam scores were above average, and she earned considerable bonus points by defeating an upper-class student in combat.

Starting next semester, she will receive quality education alongside Yu Hye-won.

Of course, it might take some time to adapt, Min-ha.

By the way, Song Do-yoon hasn’t been demoted either, remaining in the upper class.

First, his written exam scores were perfect.

Moreover, despite losing the combat, he showed an impressive level of aerodynamics ability, earning high scores.

We might not like his personality, but his abilities must be acknowledged.

This is the type of student our Graford Academy unofficially prefers.

Nevertheless, since he has once been thoroughly dismantled by Han Min-ha, it will be hard for him to act the same way as before.

“Professor. Are you listening to me?”

At the department head’s call, I slowly raised my head.

“What exactly did you say just now?”

“During the vacation, you should visit and assess your guidance students and input the results into the system.”

“Hmm… Okay, I heard you. Hem!”

When the department head awkwardly cleared his throat, nearby professor Jin also stifled a laugh.

An originally short summer vacation.

Professors were supposed to take holidays as well.

However, the headmaster suddenly decided to require home visits to the guidance students during this period.

It doesn’t matter to me since I only have two students, Yu Hye-won and Han Min-ha, but for the professors with popular courses, this is worse news.

For instance, Professor Hyun Ju has about twenty guidance students.

They don’t even live in one place, making the entire vacation spent solely on visits.

Moreover, home visits typically involve meeting the parents…

Han Min-ha’s parents…

Since they are asking, I have to go, but the situation seems rather delicate.

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