Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 72

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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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Episode 72
DLC [The Professor of Hero Stories]: Mid-Point Summary (5)

One figure brimming with vitality, identity obscured.
One figure devoid of vitality, identity unmistakable.

Such a two-shot was ironic.

Yet it puzzled me. The strange cast to Adel’s expression that I glimpsed for a moment—I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I wondered if it was because her monopoly as a Teaching Assistant, which we’d discussed yesterday, had been broken.
But then—could it be she’s simply a Teaching Assistant who genuinely wants things to go well? So why is that dangerous?

– That’s because you’re dense, Professor.

A memory surfaced: words Adel had once offered me.
I couldn’t recall when or where she’d said it, but Adel had called me dense when it came to human relationships.

Was she right…?

In any case, that brief flicker of expression had unnerved me. It was as though I’d caught a glimpse of the “face beneath the mask”—something that hadn’t surfaced even when she was drunk.
Ran’s presence might prove to be a catalyst. For now, I decided to watch and wait.

“Ran, come with me for a moment.”
“Yes.”

Adel was one matter.
I resolved to learn more about this newcomer I’d now be working with.
I led Ran to the 2nd Floor Room.

“Your name?”
“Ran. I have no surname.”
“Age.”
“My setting is twenty-five years old.”
“…So you’re the same age as Adel. I’m curious about the path that brought you here as my Teaching Assistant. Did the Systematic Nature send you?”
“I’m not certain.”
“You’re not certain?”
“I was asleep for a very long time. When I awoke, I simply felt I should come to Hiaka.”
“Why.”
“I don’t know.”
…….
“I started from the outskirts of the Hatengraju Empire. When I arrived at Hiaka, the Headmaster welcomed me. That’s all there is to it.”
“When did you wake up?”
“Twenty days, five hours, and thirty-seven minutes ago.”

Roughly when I’d come out of Offline.
It was certain. Ran was sent by the Systematic Nature.

“But why did it take twenty days? If you’d gone through a Warp Station, you’d have arrived in a day.”
“I had no identification, so neither option was available. The Headmaster created one for me now.”

So how did she get here?
She must have come quite deliberately.
Ran’s words were rather intriguing.
I too was sent by the Systematic Nature.
I was a parachute professor appointed through the Headmaster.

Which meant Ran likely approached this world through the same mechanism as I did.
Could she possibly be… a Player?

“What’s BBQ’s masterpiece?”
“…….”

Ran blinked her dark eyes slowly.
She pressed her index finger to her temple and closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?”
“Thinking…….”
“If you’re thinking, shouldn’t you be speaking casually?”
“That’s correct. ……I apologize. I didn’t understand your question. What is the masterpiece of BBQ?”

It wasn’t Hot Golden Olive Crispy or anything like that.
I asked about Elon Musk, pyramids, and plenty of other things besides, but she showed no sign of knowing any of it. She didn’t seem to be a modern person at all, probably.

“Then, do you know anything about Error Spaces?”
“I’m not very familiar with them.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be your role?”
“Is it?”
“…….”

She was a strange person indeed.

“Can you drive?”
“I cannot at present, but one of my auxiliary devices should be compatible.”
“Auxiliary devices?”
“Yes.”

So I took her to the Magic-Powered Vehicle in the Parking Lot.
Ran pulled a gear from her pocket and set it on top of her head, then began driving with practiced ease.
It was remarkable.
No one like her had existed before the DLC.

“Fascinating. So if you place something on your head, you gain a corresponding ability?”
“It’s similar.”
“What else can you place on that head of yours?”
“I can place an apple on it.”
“And what happens then?”
“I become good at apples.”
“……What else?”
“If I place a Bamboo Helicopter on it, I can fly.”
“Show me.”

At that, Ran pulled a Bamboo Helicopter from her pocket and set it on her head.
She actually began floating in the air, bobbing gently.

“Oh.”

This was entertaining.
According to her, if she placed a Pinwheel on her head she could generate wind (refreshing), if she placed a Rubber Duck on her head she could swim (normally it would sink in water), and if she placed a Hotpang on her head she could eat it (pointless).

In other words, Ran was Doraemon.

“Could you place one of those on my head too?”
“No.”

I was not Nobita.

Since she could drive anyway, I took Ran with me toward Zone 0. I was curious about what the Error Space on Star-Meeting Mountain actually was.

“Do you see it?”

Ran drew from her pocket a marble inscribed with the Systematic Nature symbol 「⧉」.

“…I thought you said the Systematic Nature didn’t send it?”
“No, sir. I said I didn’t know. But among the auxiliary devices I carry, I found one bearing this symbol.”

In any case, the moment she placed the symbol on her forehead, the same mark 「⧉」 appeared in her eyes.

“If you’re referring to the black sphere, I can see it now. What would you like to know about it, Professor?”
“Tell me everything you know about that Error Space.”
“…There’s only one entry in the database so far.”
“Only one?”
“……It appears there will ultimately be two or more errors.”

She said there was no way to know when the database would be updated next.

“So there is one entry. What is it?”

It was something he’d been wondering about all along.
A fifty-meter Error Space had suddenly spat out Zingcita.

What would emerge from a thousand-meter one?
What kind of bug was it, exactly?

“…….”

Ran paused for a moment before answering.

“……Within the order of the world, something that should have died is being forcibly kept alive in there.”

───
Scene # 1 – Kaiser
Scene # 2 – Teaching Assistant
Scene # 3 – How It Came to This ◀
───

The death of an innocent stranger was painful.
The death of someone he cared for was far more painful.
Almost unbearably so.

‘…….’

This is the story of Kaiser, who had withdrawn.

In truth, he’d expected withdrawal to be difficult. He knew far too much sensitive information—about Zamryong Academy and other matters.
Yet Rebecca, unexpectedly, had let him go without resistance.

“I don’t need you anymore. Professor Dante will be joining us instead.”
“…….”
“But I know how much you’ve sacrificed. I’ll tell the Elder Council to leave you alone.

It was bitter, but he was grateful to be able to withdraw.

‘Now I’m finally free…!’

In truth,
after that, Kaiser wanted to live an honest life.
Watching “Dante’s Christmas Tree” had convinced him of it once more.
The Professor would come to rule humanity, and that place would be a paradise, a utopia.
After all, why would a small-time nobody like himself get in the way of that great man’s path?

‘So how am I supposed to live from now on?’

After wrestling with the question, Kaiser recalled what righteousness meant to him.

‘I’ll become a doctor.’

A doctor!

During the Assassination Society Incident, his friend who died had been engulfed in flames, suffered full-body burns, and was rushed to the hospital—but they said he died because there weren’t enough doctors to treat him in time.

Kaiser himself couldn’t get his leg treated due to the shortage of physicians, and ended up crippled in one leg.

Besides, it seemed he could work toward the Professor’s health as well.

In Kaiser’s view, righteous people always died young. Who knew if the Professor might not suffer the same fate? If he studied hard and became the Professor’s personal physician, wouldn’t that be wonderful….

‘Yes. I’ll become a doctor. That is my righteousness!’

It felt as though a seed he’d scattered long ago in the empty ground of his heart had finally sprouted its first tiny leaves.

And so Kaiser headed to the nearby Lewian Territory, bought a house with the money he’d carefully saved, and purchased specialized medical textbooks. For good measure, he even bought a Stethoscope as merchandise.

‘Haha! A Stethoscope…☆’

That way, on his very first day reporting to the library.

Walking steadily down the street, leaning on his Cane with a limp.

“Hey, hey there! You, young man…!”

Some masked weirdo suddenly jumped out from the alley.

“Huh? You mean me?”
“Are you a doctor?”
“Oh, well, not yet….”
“You’re a doctor, right? Huh? You’re obviously a doctor! Or a medical student? Am I right? That thing in your arms—that’s a medical textbook! That thing around your neck—that’s a Stethoscope! Isn’t it?! You bastard…!!”

The masked weirdo hurled curses at him out of nowhere!

“Eek…!”

Kaiser was startled senseless.

But then the weirdo suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Thump. Kaiser stared in shock and realized the man was bleeding from his stomach and legs—pouring blood.

“Ugh… Please, save me… I’ll pay anything you want….”
“What in the world is happening here?”
“I’ve been shot… Three bullets in my legs and stomach… I can’t breathe… Ugh….”
“I’ll contact the security guards right away!”
“Don’t…! Not the guards…! Just save me… I can’t… I can’t breathe….”

The man collapsed then.
Kaiser rushed over to him, limping in panic.

“Sir…! If you’re having trouble breathing, let me remove your Mask first!”
“Yes. Yes… Do anything… Please….”

As the man’s hands touched the Mask, Mana flowed and it came away.
But what could Kaiser, who hadn’t studied a thing yet, possibly do? And now, with orders not to call the security forces, he found himself utterly lost.

“Sir? Sir?”

His death had been instantaneous.

Bang-bang-bang!!

Just then, gunfire erupted from beyond the alley.

‘Whoa!’

Kaiser’s heart lurched.
A gunfight in broad daylight, in a peaceful territory?
This was no situation for a small-time civilian like him!

‘W-well, I really do need to call security now…!!’

So Kaiser, fearing the bloodstained mask would become evidence, picked it up and began limping forward.

“There!!”

He hadn’t gone far before a group of assassins surrounded him.
Ten of them, armed with guns and blades.

‘I’m screwed….’

His mind went blank.
If only he’d known, he never would’ve dropped out. Damn his stubbornness.
Forget being a doctor—he should’ve just stayed as a team leader at Zamryong Academy!!
Frozen in shock, unable to think, it was at that very moment—

Whoosh!

An arrow flew through and pierced Kaiser’s leg.
His left leg—the one without feeling.
At the same time, the leader of the assassins (dressed in ostentatious finery) cried out:

“Ho! An arrow through the leg and you don’t even blink? Hidlorf. Yes, that’s just like you.”
“…….”
“I’ll grant you this much—only someone with that kind of guts would dream of looting Bartolomew Faction’s treasure vault all by yourself as the boss. Impressive, truly. So your brawl with the organization members was just a decoy.”

Hidl… who…??

“Isn’t it absurd? You and I have crossed blades at this distance for—what, ten years now? And only today do I finally see your face properly. Turns out you’re younger than I expected?”
“…….”

At last, Kaiser understood the situation perfectly.

‘Damn it….’

How did this… how did this happen ‘again’….
Then the man twisted his face into a sneer.

“Answer me now. You bastard. Where’s my treasure you’ve taken? Tell me, or I’ll kill you.”

He trained his crossbow on Kaiser.

“Next, it’ll be your head.”
“…….”
“Answer me. Where is my treasure?”
“…….”

Kaiser tensed.
Death was breathing down his neck.
He had to survive, no matter what.

‘…….’

In that moment, a tremendous chemical reaction erupted in the mind of the brilliant schemer Kaiser, and he instantly seized upon the only way out of this catastrophe.
Kaiser lowered his head.
Then, after steadying his breath.
He recalled the voice he’d just heard.
Slowly lifting his gaze, he smiled with deliberate ease.

“……Bartolomew. You’ve never had a talent for negotiation.”
“What did you say?”

The man’s expression hardened.
Then, finding his composure, he laughed.

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting now that you’re cornered, you little shit.”
“Does my words sound like nonsense to you?”
“Cut it out!! Trying to act composed won’t help!”
“No.”

Kaiser smiled with even greater ease.

“That’s not it at all.”

At that, Bartolomew’s brow furrowed.
Something was off about the ease radiating from his entire body, his expression, his voice.

“Negotiation only happens when what both sides possess is roughly equal.”
“The only thing you have is your miserable life!”
“Is that so?”

Whoosh—!

Kaiser pulled the arrow from his leg and pointed it at Bartolomew.

“Ha!! Is that the best you could come up with? You’ll kill me with that arrow?”
“I won’t be able to kill you with it.”
“What?”

Then, he aimed the arrowhead at his own throat.

Crack—

And began tearing flesh and drawing blood.

“Wait—! You, you bastard—!!”

Kaiser’s lips curved with subtle malice.

“Now, Bartolomew. My life and death rest in my own hands. So tell me—what do you have? You don’t have your treasure. You don’t have its location. You don’t even hold power over my life anymore.”
“You—you scheming son of a bitch—!!”
“Bartolomew.”
“Stop this pointless farce, you filthy dog—!!”
“Bartolomew.”
“…Ugh!”
“Bartolomew. Answer me.”

Kaiser spoke with a slow, deliberate smile.

“What can you possibly do?”

After dragging out time like that, praying with the desperation of a man at wit’s end, the assassins of the Hidlorf Faction appeared three minutes later and protected Kaiser.

‘Damn it! I’m alive!’

His joy at this miraculous survival was short-lived.

“Boss… At last, our grand design draws near.”

Kaiser had to weep inwardly.

‘Why the hell am I their boss, you lunatics!’

It was all because of this damned mask.

But as the saying goes, old habits die hard.
Dragged into the organization while crying, Kaiser found himself wielding a genius-level talent for managing assassins and organizing the group—within four days, he’d absorbed every gang in the surrounding district.

“Hoo-rah! Victory is ours!”

By the fifth day, he’d successfully wiped out all the Black Path gangs in the neighboring district.

“Hoo-rah! The boss stands with us!”

And still it didn’t end—he absorbed the Grim Reaper Society, the largest assassination syndicate that had been terrorizing the southern Lewian Territory, thus completing the grand design of Hidlorf and whatever.

“Bow your heads, you bastards! Show reverence to the boss!”
“We—we do reverence…!!”

Countless men bowed their heads.
All of this had unfolded in a single week.

‘What the…?’

A drinking gathering where a full 120 organization members were lined up in formation.
Kaiser sat at the head of the table with a vacant expression.

‘Why am I even here…?’

Again.
It had happened again. Again….
This was almost the exact same chain of events as when he’d entered Zamryong Academy years ago.

‘This time was supposed to be different….’

This time he’d wanted to become a doctor, damn it…!!!

‘What about my stethoscope, you bastards!’

Just then, a senior member of the organization spoke up.

“Boss… The men below are waiting for you….”

A gathering where nothing begins until the boss raises his cup. That’s why he’d been sitting there in a daze for two hours. The whole time, his organization members had been kneeling without so much as drawing breath.
Only then did Kaiser come to his senses.

“……Ah, yes.”

There was no help for it.
The doctor was a provisional loss…….
Since things had come to this, he resolved to clear the path ahead for the Professor, even from a distance. At the same time, he would protect the daily lives of ordinary people as he would for a friend.

“Pay attention.”

Everyone tensed at Kaiser’s solemn voice.

“Hidlorf was an alias. My true name is Kaiser. Your master.”

Kaiser!!
So that was the name hidden behind the mask…….

“From this day forward, the Grim Reaper Society shall be reorganized as the Domination Society. Moreover, we shall worship a star known as the Domination Star.”

The Domination Star?
A star’s name they had never heard before.
All were puzzled, yet this was the word of a boss who had conquered the southern territories in a mere week. None dared raise doubts.

“Our purpose is the unification of Hiaka’s Black Path……. The conquest of the southern continent……. And beyond that, the domination of all mankind.”

Doubt began to blossom slowly across the faces of his subordinates.
Whatever, he thought. Kaiser had thrown out whatever came to mind in a do-or-die spirit. The Professor was doing things this way, so what could these bastards possibly do about it?
Yet when it came to creating the symbol, he had deliberated long and hard.
The demolished Incense Offering Place. Himself weeping before a friend’s small grave. The falling snow. And the Christmas tree that bloomed as if caressing him.
To symbolize that intense moment, he chose the form of a snowflake 「❆」.

‘…….’

A seedling blooming in the wasteland of his heart. When small, he had seen it as the pretty sprout of medicinal herb. Now that it had grown, he finally understood.
It was an opium, again.
How he had come to such a state, he did not know. But now that it was so, he could simply accept it as right.

If this was the seed the Professor had given him.
Then I shall love even this opium.

With such resolve, Kaiser opened his eyes. Then he raised a goblet toward the one hundred twenty members of the organization.

“Henceforth, mankind shall be dominated.”

For the Professor.

“A toast.”

At once, the cries of the organization members filled the banquet hall.

“To your health, to your health, to your health, to your health──!!”

DLC [The Professor of the Hero’s Tale]

Mid-Story Summary

END

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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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