Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 133

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 133
EP29 – Humanity’s First Incursion, and What Came After (1)

Funeral marches echoed through the streets.

Prayers of thanks and farewell never ceased.

Even after Vomittekka’s death, the Isolation Barrier remained sealed for days, so the inhabitants of the territory had to keep working. Many labored to restore the shattered county.

The Dante Assassination Squad helped them. Many of the territory’s people received aid from a figure in an elephant mask whose true identity remained a mystery.

Kaiser, the Ruling Council’s chairman, quietly wielded brilliant tactics from the shadows, and after the war, worked alongside Modrio to oversee the reconstruction.

Neutral Professor Gulla had screamed so much as the war ended that he developed severe vocal nodules. He requested a long-term hospital stay so he could rest, but someone rejected it.

Former Head Mo-ong, after a few days in the hospital, arrived with a walker to announce his rest plan to someone, only to be convinced otherwise for nearly three hours, and his rest plan fell through entirely.

War strategist Aimon, while working on reconstruction, at the same time casually suggested to someone, “Why don’t we make a tactics textbook somewhere nice tonight with…?” while holding up a bottle of liquor, but was rejected.

Count Kahuila wanted to hold a ceremony to reward merit, his true intention being to claim this great achievement as his own. But someone declared they would not attend, and the whole thing fell apart.

Challenger Glory checked out of the hospital the dawn after her admission, carrying hand sanitizer, her eyes reddened. She drank the sanitizer instead of alcohol and seemed to be hunting down remaining Demon Races throughout the territory.

And Dante Hiaka, senior professor of the Assassination Department, at the very center of this entire crisis, was…….

‘…Everything hurts.’

He lay in a hospital bed.
It was a familiar feeling.

‘…I hate hospitals.’

There was not a single inch of his body left intact. Torn wounds, bruises, internal damage from crushing pressure, his eyes, broken ribs, his hands — everything throbbed endlessly. Even he, accustomed to the sensation of pain, found it unbearable.
So for days he cycled through sleeping and waking, taking medicine, drinking elixirs, and undergoing minor surgeries.
A status window he’d been waiting for came to mind.

───
⧉ Hotfix Notice

Hello. This is Systematicity ⧉.

We have detected an Error within the world regarding Incursion and Challenger, and plan to proceed with a hotfix accordingly.

We apologize for the difficulties in normal gameplay caused by said Error. Through this hotfix, errors related to Incursion will be corrected, and certain elements affected by the Error are scheduled to be *adjusted*.

– Hotfix Details:

a. Investigation of the error where Scripts do not appear during Incursion, and detailed identification of bugs occurring in Challengers.
b. *Adjustment* of certain affected elements
c. Compensation distribution

The hotfix will be implemented in the near future, and further notice will announce the specific time.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused to your gameplay experience and will do our best to provide a smoother gaming environment.

Thank you.
───

‘Damn Systematicity, that fool.’

He decided not to curse too harshly. After all, he’d given it sixteen more Star Fragments. This time, he’d let it slide.

“If you’re feeling well, shall I request a meal for you?”

Ran asked impassively just then. Dante gestured with his bandaged hands, both wrapped from the compound fractures.

“Would you feed me?”
“I could feed you. Like a baby.”
“…That was a joke.”

He declined the meal.
For the record, right after the Vomittekka incident erupted, Dante had hidden Ran in the deepest corner of Kahuila County. One stray arrow and it would all be over.

“When will the Isolation Barrier come down?”
“It’s opening gradually. Information exchange has been flowing for several days now. As for the physical isolation—if all goes well, it should come down today.”
“Wasn’t the information cut off because the communication towers were destroyed?”
“The Isolation Barrier itself was causing communication interference.”
“I see.”

Dante gazed out the window.
At the Isolation Barrier growing hazy in the distance.
Though it was possible his own vision was simply clouding over.

“I’m curious how the outside world is reacting.”
“It’s probably in utter chaos.”
“Is there some auxiliary device that reports on that sort of thing?”
“There isn’t such a device, but there is an auxiliary system that generates speculative web reactions based on existing record databases.”
“Show me that, then.”

Ran placed something atop his head and began to speak. Words like ‘Dante’s insane, actually tore Vomittekka to shreds, right? Yeah, totally…’ poured out in crude internet speak, and as they did, Dante’s eyes slowly began to close.

Sleep crashed over him.

* * *

Outside the Isolation Barrier. The world.

At last the Isolation Barrier dissolved, and the aftermath of the Incursion was laid bare before the entire world.
The whole planet erupted into chaos. Every news outlet and broadcasting station across all nations began to illuminate the catastrophe.

After shedding light on the countless victims and simultaneously exposing the root of the catastrophe,
each nation began to focus on an ‘entirely different fact’—
one that happened to be quite a compelling subject for competition.

Every nation had been handed the same assignment.
Identical Isolation Barriers had been erected.
Identical monsters had appeared.
Who had defended best?

“The nation that defended best, well—that’s the one to watch.”

In the Empire, broadcasts about him were in full swing.

“By the metrics, the Empire is leading by far.”

The announcer spoke with careful deliberation, though a note of pride colored his voice, and peeled the tape from the chart.

[ 1st Place: Hatengrajou Empire ]

“Professor Havaiel, our chief analyst—what is your assessment?”
“Yes, well. Combat duration: 27 minutes. Casualties: 517. It is regrettable, of course, but the material damages were contained to negligible levels compared to other nations.”
“In the midst of such tragedy, the actual results are nothing short of remarkable. How was such a thing possible?”
“It was thanks to the Freezing Starlight Seat at Rank 15, and four Challengers standing alongside them.”

Indeed, the Empire’s casualties were remarkably light. Five warriors—ranked 12th, 77th, 91st, 126th, and 188th respectively—had been trapped within a single Isolation Barrier.
As luck would have it, the site was on an island. The sea was where the Freezing Starlight Seat’s power grew strongest.
The Vomittekka there was frozen solid in an ice tower that bloomed from the sea to two thousand meters into the sky shortly after combat began, its head reduced to a frozen death-mask, and it was shredded by countless spells and assassination bombardments without ever mounting a proper defense.
That one Challenger perished in the process was a tragedy.

“Next, the Khan Federation and Croitz also managed quite well in their own right—yes, quite admirably, in fact.”

[ 2nd Place: Khan Federation ]
[ 3rd Place: Croitz Kingdom ]

“Ah, quite right. The Khan Federation is a great power rivaling the Empire, so that’s understandable. But Croitz—they were fortunate, weren’t they?”
“Indeed. The Cross Starlight Seat happened to be on vacation in Brynhildr Province when the Isolation Barrier was erected.”

On the screen, the Cross Starlight Seat appeared—an androgynous youth in feminine attire.
The 7th-ranked warrior in the world needed no Challengers beside him. Eyewitness accounts had already spread that “a sun rose inside the Isolation Barrier.”
The Vomittekka melted from its crown before that immense holy presence, and with only its remaining lower jaw it bounced like a set of dentures, laying waste to the entire Brynhildr Province region, but was ultimately slain.

[ 4th Place: Sombania Duchy ]
[ 5th Place: Hitahita Kingdom ]

The fortunes of these two nations were also quite favorable—the Vomittekka had appeared directly above critical military installations.
Yet neither nation had a Starlight Seat in place. They lacked absolute firepower.

“Casualties of 4,742 and 5,117 respectively have been reported. Our hearts are heavy.”
“A tragedy beyond measure.”

Two nations remained.

“We still have no word from those two nations?”
“No, not yet. Horance and Hiaka have not yet sent any reports.”
…….

The analyst’s expression darkened visibly.
The larger the monster subjugated, the faster the Isolation Barrier dissolved.
Yet six hours had already elapsed since the Empire’s barrier was lifted.
In other words, those two nations were still locked in combat with the skull-headed monster for over six hours and twenty-seven minutes.
Sombania and Hitahita had suffered some five thousand casualties over a three-hour battle.
But six hours and twenty-seven minutes…….

…….
…….

There was a moment of silence on the broadcast.
As worry flickered between glances, the line producer hurried over and whispered something in the announcer’s ear. “Ah? What?” He was handed something.

“Ah, this is… breaking news. The Hiaka Kingdom’s Isolation Barrier has also been lifted—the sixth to fall. They report having successfully subjugated the giant monster. However… hmm…….”

The moderator trailed off mid-sentence as he scanned the document in his hands, seized by doubt that he’d received accurate information at all.
Is this right? The moderator exchanged a glance with the line producer. The PD nodded in understanding and gave the OK sign. The information had been triple-checked, so they were certain.

“What’s the matter?”
“Ah, before I offer my analysis or introduction, would you mind taking a look first, analyst?”
“Of course.”

As the moderator handed over the document, tension coiled in his chest. The mood across the Empire—across the entire world—was running dangerously high with both anxiety and anger.
A single misspoken word could strip away thirty years of career. This was why even the Cross Starlight Seat, long the butt of jokes as a cross-dressing woman, had become untouchable for mockery. In such an atmosphere, they’d been handed material that made no sense.

“Mm… mm….”

The analyst, adjusting his magnifying glasses, scanned the document and soon fell silent as well.

“What do you make of it, analyst?”
“Ah, yes… My apologies. The information doesn’t make immediate sense to me. Let me read through it once more.”

The audio stretched out in silence. Yet even the producers, who typically abhorred quiet moments obsessively, held their tongues and waited. They needed to hear what the expert thought.

“……Regarding the Isolation Barrier in Kahuila County of Hiaka and the battle against the massive monster…. Mm….”

The analyst stammered, tilting his head in bewilderment, then stopped speaking.
He raised his hand, removed his glasses, and spoke calmly.

“Combat duration: six hours and thirty minutes. Casualties: nine hundred fourteen. The massive monster was neutralized completely. Estimated damage: approximately 1.3 billion Hika—roughly 8.8% of Empire-wide losses. Yet according to official records, there was neither a Starlight Seat nor a Challenger present.”

The moderator responded awkwardly, “Ah, I see.” He had no idea how to react.

“That is, well… surely that’s quite an impressive result?”
“No.”
“I beg your pardon? It isn’t? It seems like an enormous achievement to me.”
“……I apologize, but the information appears to contain significant errors. As senior professor of Hatengrajou military theory, I find this data impossible to accept on any rational basis.”
“Ah….”

But now the producer bristled, insisting the information contained no errors.

“But the production team states this information is officially notarized?”

At that, the analyst’s expression darkened visibly.

“Good grief, don’t invite a professor here just to spout nonsense.”

He fixed the producer with a sharp stare.

“You still believe it’s erroneous?”
“Erroneous? Excuse me, but the Hiaka data makes no tactical sense whatsoever.”
“Ah, tactically speaking.”
“Tactically, yes—and by common sense, no. The exoskeleton alone was approximately 2.7 meters thick. You cannot breach armor of that specification without a Challenger. Any first-year textbook on military theory would tell you as much.”
“Then perhaps they simply broke through slowly over the six and a half hours?”
“That’s equally absurd. To do so would require a commander with perfect knowledge of the monster’s anatomy, executing operations with zero margin for error.”

Which meant this data was fabricated.
He was glad Hiaka survived.
But nine hundred casualties? That made no sense. The Empire fielded four Challengers or higher and still took five hundred losses.

Then the producer held up a whiteboard on which was written “Hiaka Royal Notarization.”

“The responsible party indicated that this information carries official Hiaka royal notarization.”

A royal attestation couldn’t possibly be fraudulent.
And yet words had been spoken, and the analyst’s expression watching the broadcast director grew increasingly sour.
After keeping him waiting for five hours starting at midday, and this is what he says—now this bastard wants to trade barbs with me on camera?

“No, royal or not, you have to say something that makes common sense before I can even analyze it! Kahuila County? There’s no famous uninhabited island there! The terrain is a caldera basin, so there’s no geographical advantage to exploit! There isn’t even a single favorable condition for capturing a giant monster——”

And so he spent twenty minutes ranting, neck veins straining, until he’d convinced everyone of his fury—only to bow before the nation the next day, exposing his bare crown in apology.

“I sincerely apologize to the Hiaka royal family and the people of the kingdom for my presumptuous and hasty judgment made with my limited tactical knowledge….”

When additional materials were released, the incident in Kahuila County revealed itself as truth.

Hiaka had indeed defeated the monster with nine hundred casualties—and without a single Challenger.

“Does that even make sense?”
“Exactly. I mean, logically….”

And then, amidst the hastily arranged press conference, another mistake erupted.

A sound error caused the words of a high-ranking broadcaster official to leak through and be caught on the recording.

– Damn it, this isn’t even something we should be apologizing for…. This is so annoying. So what kind of guy was this Kahuila commander anyway…?

That softly spoken exchange poured gasoline on the fire.

‘So who exactly is this commander?’

The next day, the entire world was turned upside down once more.

* * *

– From the Systematicity ⧉ Chaotic Chat Log Management Records… –

│ㅅㅇ) informs Fire that if it was fun, there’s something that shouldn’t be forgotten.

│ㅅㅇ) expresses alarm next to †, asking why the cathedral that nearly got demolished is so intact.

│ㅅㅇ) tells ☮ that the professor has recently become a beggar, and world peace in the long term is in jeopardy.

│ㅅㅇ) prods ↑, asking that if fair judgment is what’s symbolized, which nation’s Isolation Barrier is the finest.

│ㅅㅇ) compares pointedly with ⚉, saying that even those neighbors over there ⁺₊⋆sponsor, so honestly, isn’t it a bit unconscionable that Hiaka’s star ⚉ doesn’t….

≪ ⧉ has expelled │ㅅㅇ). ≫

⋮

≪ An unidentified star [？] enters. ≫

≪ ⧉ has expelled [？]. ≫

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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