I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 7

-Are androids human?

It was a much-debated topic not only in the United Human Star Nation but also in the Free Planetary Alliance, a neutral state known as the melting pot of species.

Legally, they were granted human rights, but the prejudice that they were artificially created had not completely disappeared.

In that sense, Jin Crow was, how should she put it?

‘An easy person to deal with.’

In truth, not many people used the training ground, despite its excellent facilities.

This was because a few cadets would undertake personal training after attending all their demanding lectures.

-Lambda, you look pretty today.

-...Haha, thank you.

Because of this, the people Lambda interacted with were mostly instructors.

-Let's grab a meal together sometime.

-S-Sure. Ugh.

Of course, for most of them, it was obvious they had other, impure intentions rather than training.

But Instructor Jin Crow was different.

She knew he had a rather poor reputation, but at least he didn't act clingy or waste her time with unfunny jokes.

‘Last time, too, he asked about the security issue.’

Lambda stared at the back of Jin Crow as he entered the most secluded training room.

‘It seems the rumors about him being sensitive are true.’

She stopped her thoughts right there and placed her hands back on the keyboard to finish her work.

Just because she was an android didn't mean she was exempt from overtime.

On the contrary, because she possessed fundamentally superior work-processing abilities, she had even more to do.

How much time had passed like that?

It was around the time she was finishing a box of artificial jelly, a favorite food among androids.

Vwoom-.

The sound of a door opening came from the end of the hall, and soon, Jin Crow was walking toward the desk.

“Ugh.”

The hair falling over his eyes was drenched in sweat.

The dark circles under his eyes, already deep, had grown even longer, and his pale, drained face and trembling fingertips showed just how seriously he had taken the training.

“It might be a little messy inside. I’ll be going.”

He said that, added a slight nod, and left the training ground.

“…Whoa.”

His retreating back looked no different from any other instructor's, but having seen his face, Lambda covered her mouth with her hands.

‘…He’s handsome even when he’s disheveled.’

Jin Crow. Does he know?

That the reason the male instructors particularly avoid him isn't just because of his peculiar personality.

Anyway, it seemed she had one more thing to post on the academy's anonymous forum.

“By the way…”

She scratched her distinctive blue hair for no reason, stood up, and walked toward Room F10 where he had trained.

It wasn't for nothing; hadn't he said it himself?

That the inside would be messy.

Normally, she wouldn't need to worry, as things like sweat or minor malfunctions were cleaned up automatically, but this was Jin Crow, a man who hated bluffing and idle talk.

If someone like him said that, wouldn't there be a reason?

Vwoooom-.

Opening the door with that thought, she could only gape in astonishment.

“…Oh, my goodness.”

The training room walls that came into view were warped and dented with all sorts of sword marks, and the automated machines repairing them were constantly flashing red lights and beeping.

“…Th-This isn't just 'a little messy,' Instructor.”

It was, in a way, perfectly natural for Lambda's expression to crumple.

***

The assignment Jin Crow gave the cadets was more than enough to become a hot topic.

And for good reason—the cadets clearly remembered the kind of classes Jin Crow had given until now.

‘To put it nicely, they were a sleeping pill; to put it bluntly, he was half-assed.’

One might think this was an overly harsh critique, but it was, in fact, an endlessly cold and objective assessment.

Was that why?

When he had suddenly taken a break from his lectures a while ago, citing ‘personal reasons,’ the cadets' reaction had been rather positive.

What was there to be sad about when you could skip the class of an instructor who was boring, uninformative, and just plain unpleasant?

So when that same Jin Crow returned, the cadets' reaction was intense.

“Aaaaaaaargh! Fuck! Fucking hell!”

In a negative way, of course.

Dokgo Ran roughly scratched her short-cropped hair and let out an irritable shout.

Watching her, her roommate, Famille, brought a teacup held with elegant fingertips to her lips and said.

“How vulgar, Ran.”

“Shut up, Famille.”

On the surface, it was a brutally harsh exchange, but neither of them paid it any mind.

It was only natural.

Dokgo Ran wasn't so weak as to be hurt by a word like ‘vulgar,’ and Famille had the type of personality to let curses go in one ear and out the other.

“I can't take it anymore! Emergency escape!”

But that was brief.

As if she couldn't go on, Dokgo Ran flung aside the device she was holding and immediately threw herself onto her bed.

Her bronze skin, now settled on the bed, rippled along her muscles, and Dokgo Ran muttered with a dazed expression, as if she had lost the whole world.

“Instructor Jin Crow. They say he's a veteran with 20 years of battlefield experience. Then he must be strong as hell, right? So why does he only teach theory…?”

“Being strong doesn't guarantee he's a good teacher. If you're that frustrated, why don't you try provoking him like last time? You even made that instructor draw his sword.”

“…They said if I pick a fight with an instructor one more time, I'll be expelled.”

Getting hurt during a spar wasn't scary.

That's practically the fate of a martial artist.

But getting expelled is a completely different matter.

‘The thought of the elders and my brothers nagging me to death… I'd rather just die.’

It's not a dysfunctional family like some, but it's dangerous in a different way.

Thinking about my family gives me a headache.

Then, I just have to not think.

Having come up with this truly simple and clear solution, Dokgo Ran let her mind go.

“…Hehe, I want some mala xiang guo.”

She emptied her brain, staring blankly at the ceiling.

But Famille couldn't bear to see her foolish friend happy, so she rose from her seat with her characteristically elegant steps and lightly snapped her fingers.

Snap-.

“Hieeek!”

Simultaneously, Dokgo Ran, who had been lying spread-eagled on the bed, shot up ramrod straight, and the device she had thrown floated into the air.

However, the screen was facing Famille, not Dokgo Ran.

“Hey! I told you not to use your ability!”

“Hmm, so this is it? The assignment Instructor Jin Crow gave out.”

“Exactly! Creature or Crispy, what do I care!”

At first, Dokgo Ran was fuming about the use of the ability, but her attention was easily diverted by the small bait.

She was an easy child to handle in many ways.

Of course, if they fought for real, she would lose.

Famille easily released her Psychokinesis and, leaving Dokgo Ran to writhe on the bed again, picked up the device and began to scan the material she had been looking at moments before.

‘An assignment from Instructor Jin Crow. What got into him?’

In fact, a surprisingly large portion of the students in Jin Crow's lectures were Martial Arts Division cadets.

In a way, it was natural.

There were many vague rumors about his past and skills, but the fact that he was a soldier who had participated in the 3rd Galactic War was certain.

And what did that mean?

It meant he was a veteran who had experienced countless instances of ‘actual combat,’ which the Martial Arts Division cadets longed for.

So it wasn't strange that not only Dokgo Ran but also a considerable number of Martial Arts Division cadets signed up for his lectures.

‘Though it had been meaningless.’

How bad must it have been to be called a sleeping pill?

However, she too was secretly curious about the recent, much-talked-about assignment, so she began to scan the device with some interest.

‘Creatures.’

Was that the academic term for space monsters?

The content of the assignment was quite fresh.

It felt similar to a war game.

There was more information provided than she expected.

The defense formation of the Planet Aurum Defense Force, the initial manifestation time of the Void Rifts, and so on…

‘This is more interesting than I thought.’

Was it because it was an enemy she had never considered before?

It was more engaging than she'd anticipated.

Thanks to that, the thought that she now had a toy to play with over the weekend brought a smile to Famille's face.

Of course, at that same time.

“Hueeeh… I'm hungryyy.”

Dokgo Ran was lounging about, swimming on her bed.

***

Cold water soaked his head.

Shwaaaaa….

He glanced unconsciously in the mirror, and the memory of when he first saw this body made him chuckle.

“I just can't get used to it.”

He was used to lean muscles, as working out had been his hobby, but he could never get used to the countless scars etched on top of them.

The more he looked, the more he became curious about this guy's past.

Putting those thoughts aside, he put on his military uniform and left his quarters.

‘I should probably conserve the alcohol.’

He had to make do with what he had until he could go out and get more.

He had drunk too much at the training ground earlier.

‘Well, thanks to that, I've gotten a grasp on it.’

He didn't really think of it as a loss.

How long had he been walking?

Soon, as he reached the classroom, he couldn't help but furrow his brow.

It was because the chaos inside the classroom, where the lecture was about to start, could be felt even from the hallway.

“Woah…”

Just then, he spotted Miel staring blankly at something from outside the classroom.

“Miel Angbereu.”

“Hm? Ah? Y-Yes!? Hiccup!”

Was it because he had called her so suddenly?

Or was she surprised that Jin Crow remembered her name?

Miel couldn't hide her bewilderment and kept hiccuping, but knowing it was a habit of hers, he didn't pay it much mind and asked again.

“What's going on?”

“Ah, that is. Hiccup! The, the Commandant…”

Looking past the answering Miel and through the classroom window, he saw Idealle, just as she'd said, surrounded by a considerable number of cadets with an endlessly weary expression.

“Ah, Instructor.”

He turned his head again at the familiar voice that followed, and Baek Hwi-young approached with a faint smile, his inscrutable gray eyes glinting.

He looked at Idealle and opened his mouth.

“She's someone who doesn't usually show herself, so the cadets seem excited. By the way, an observation… I suppose this assignment was quite unconventional.”

His uncharacteristically slick tone was grating.

Without having to think too deeply, he could tell that Baek Hwi-young was testing him.

‘Does his personality seem different, or is it just my imagination?’

The Baek Hwi-young from the original story wasn't in his right mind either after several regressions, but somehow, these eyes were even more chilling.

At times like this, Jin Crow's personality, which had a habit of surfacing, was quite helpful.

Instead of answering, he indifferently walked past Baek Hwi-young and into the classroom.

Tap-.

Then, he placed the device he was carrying on the lectern with a light tap and opened his mouth.

“Break time is over.”

Naturally, his voice was drowned out by the cadets' chatter.

At that moment, Idealle and the few instructors accompanying her tried to say something to send the cadets back to their seats, but they couldn't get the situation completely under control.

‘These bastards…’

Was it because Baek Hwi-young had opened the floodgates?

Or was it because his personality was growing fouler due to the pressure, exhilaration, and complex thoughts he had felt over the past few days?

A surge of irritation welled up.

The bell signaling the start of the lecture had already rung, so it probably wouldn't matter if he acted a little forcefully here.

After a quick calculation, he opened his mouth.

“Everyone, shut your mouths and sit down.”

…Huh, I didn't mean to curse.

Of course, the atmosphere in the classroom had already turned deathly cold.