I’ll Retire After Saving the World - Chapter 44

[ Chapter 44: The Duty of a Teacher (1) ]

After gaining more years of experience, the instances of being called for mandatory education for the Awakened decreased.

Instead, I often taught new hunters at the Ability Management Bureau. These were individuals who had to diligently tackle dungeons, so I put in a fair amount of effort to teach them sincerely. It was easier to work with them later if they were well-trained in the beginning.

Most of the hunters joining the Bureau were young graduates fresh out of the Academy. They were almost entirely inexperienced in dungeon raids and were greenhorns who thought they were the best in the world.

Yoo Ji-eun typically threw these newcomers into the dungeons to forcibly make them realize reality. Well, anyone would seem insignificant next to Yoo Ji-eun… but for the newcomers who lived with their noses in the air at the Academy, it must have been a big shock.

Then, I would pick up the shattered rookies and bring them into intimate training sessions. During that time, I emphasized the future to them.

They had Awakened, entered the Academy, and it was good that they had become hunters and joined the Bureau.

But what comes next?

What would they do next?

It was fine if they felt a sense of duty like me or Yoo Ji-eun. They would be satisfied with contributing to making the world safer by diligently attacking dungeons like oxen.

But if that wasn’t the case, why did they become hunters?

Money? Power? A sense of superiority in doing what others couldn’t?

I asked them to seriously think about why they decided to become hunters and why they wanted to continue being hunters.

Most of the people who managed to join the Bureau were model students. They did well as they were told. But occasionally, there were always a few outliers. When those guys found out I had a hunter license, they always asked me.

“Why didn’t you become a hunter, Director? With your license and skills…”

“My answer was always the same.”

“I don’t like fighting.”

I replied with a gentle smile.

“And I abhor such brutish labor.”

I was perfectly content with my current situation. I didn’t have to enter dungeons, I was safe, and I could pass on the troublesome tasks to others. If a problem arose, I could hand it over to the chief.

Isn’t that perfect?

It had been twenty years since the intense experience of being rescued from the research institute.

That was enough time to determine the direction of my life.

The words of that woman in a suit that day.

The time when I incited the children in the research institute to torment the Lab Director.

However, on the day I saw the Lab Director’s face on the front page of the newspaper at the orphanage, I realized something.

Power and responsibility are different matters.

The greater the power to command others, the more responsibilities one must shoulder.

Look at the Lab Director. Honestly, there were worse people in the research institute than the Lab Director, but the Lab Director bore the total responsibility. Simply because the Lab Director was the highest-ranking person in the research institute.

I wanted to boss around people stronger than me, like that woman in the suit. How nice would it be to have someone work in my stead?

But I didn’t want to take responsibility for things that weren’t my fault, like the Lab Director did. Not that the Lab Director was blameless, but… you get what I mean, right?

And, preferably…

It seemed nice to have someone else take responsibility for my mistakes.

“You have to take good care of your younger siblings!”

“You have to set a good example for your younger siblings!”

Just like how the older children were scolded when the younger ones at the orphanage made mistakes.

The fact that I was adopted by the uncle was definitely a sign. It was as if a method to achieve my dream had fallen from the sky.

“Um, Hee-jae. I saw the homework you did.”

It was shortly after I was adopted. The uncle cautiously asked me.

“About your written career aspiration… what does it mean?”

“You’re a hunter, yet you don’t even know that?”

“No… I just want to hear it from you, Hee-jae.”

As the cheeky child I was, I answered with a big sigh.

“I want a stable job.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“I don’t like being told what to do by others. So, I need to get to a position where I tell others what to do, but private companies have unstable employment.”

“Unstable… where did you hear that?”

“It’s all on the news.”

“Oh, I see…”

“So I’m going to become a civil servant. That lady in the suit said it. To punish someone like the Lab Director, you have to pass the national exams. That’s a civil servant.”

“Well, it’s not wrong…”

“I don’t want to be someone like the president. It seems like there’s too much work to do. I want to be in middle management where I can give orders and pass on responsibilities appropriately.”

“……”

“It would be nice to make a lot of money too… but I heard that civil servant salaries are low, so that can’t be helped. I’ve heard that you have to give up one thing to get another.”

The uncle slowly stroked his chin. I must have been quite amusing to him. Looking back as an adult, it was truly an embarrassing thing to say.

I could have said it more tactfully and wrapped it up nicely… Well, what can you expect from a twelve-year-old?

Still, the uncle neither laughed at nor scolded me for my words. Instead, he lightly patted my head with the hand that had been stroking his chin.

“Alright. If that’s what you want to do, then you should do it. This uncle will make sure you can do whatever you want to do, Hee-jae.”

That’s a cherished memory.

Anyway, that’s why I didn’t become a hunter. Because I planned to become a civil servant. The uncle supported me.

“Hey, Woo Hee-jae.”

But there was someone who didn’t like that about me.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you enroll in the Academy?”

Yoo Ji-eun.

The metallic badge representing the Bureau shone on her collar.

I answered nonchalantly.

“I’m not going to be a hunter.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t become a hunter?”

“Civil servant.”

“Civil servant?”

“I’m going to be a civil servant.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? You should be a hunter, not a civil servant. Doesn’t your teacher think you’re talking nonsense? Come out. Let’s spar.”

“No! I have a test next week!”

“Hey. If you become a hunter, you don’t need to take the test.”

“But then I’ll become stupid like you!”

“You little!”

I blinked.

Yoo Ji-eun’s figure disappeared. The faces of the newcomers sitting in the lecture hall, looking up at me with round, clueless eyes, blurred away.

The uncle who used to check my homework.

Everything.

“…….”

Well, whatever.

For now, making sure that little Yoo Ji-eun isn’t swayed by strange nonsense is more important.

But it wasn’t appropriate for an adult man to suddenly visit where the sisters live…. I should have brought Kim Chae-min along. I regretted it belatedly.

Or should I call him now? I saw Kim Chae-min taking the girls home after school earlier. Having a woman around helps cover the parts that Hong Seok-young and I can’t pay attention to. Not that I particularly care for the boys either.

Originally, hunters are solitary beings. Why am I managing….

Little Yoo Ji-eun is no exception. But at least the students at the Pilot High School wouldn’t be swayed by Bangju’s nonsense.

Yes, I should call Kim Chae-min.

But then I realized the problem.

I still hadn’t activated my phone. I had no way to contact Kim Chae-min.

Previously, I couldn’t get one because I didn’t have an identity, and after Hong Seok-young set it up for me….

I just didn’t feel like it. It’s convenient for gathering information since I can check the internet anywhere.

But that also means I could see information I don’t want to.

Of course, I know I can’t put it off forever.

“…Ah.”

I forcibly cut off my rough train of thought.

Since the end of school hours overlapped, I had come near the middle school little Yoo Ji-eun attended, hoping to catch her. Luckily, among the students heading home, there was one face that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Little Yoo Ji-eun was standing in front of the crosswalk. She was so engrossed in the paper she was holding that she almost crossed during the red light, only stopping at the last moment.

I frowned.

If she got into an accident, it would be a huge loss.

As I moved to the crosswalk opposite from where little Yoo Ji-eun was standing, I finally noticed the paper she was looking at.

‘How to Purify Dirty Energy in the Blood!’

‘Magic refers to pure energy without impurities…’

Is she still clinging to that nonsense?

I put my hand to my forehead in disbelief. I thought I had firmly warned her when I visited the school last time.

I glanced at the traffic light.

Feeling anxious, I waited for it to change. Then, I saw a middle-aged woman quietly approaching Yoo Ji-eun.

I squinted. Amidst the noisy traffic and the chatter of students leaving school, I heard the woman’s sweet voice.

“Oh my…. Excuse me, student?”

Little Yoo Ji-eun raised her head a beat late.

“Student, are you interested in that?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, you were looking at it so intently…. I attend here. If you’re interested, I can explain it to you. You need to learn such things properly from an expert to avoid getting hurt.”

That, that, that!!

I frantically looked at the traffic light. It had just turned green.

As soon as the light changed, I crossed the street, calling out to Yoo Ji-eun. I couldn’t call her “aunt” like before. I absolutely couldn’t call her “older sister” either.

“…Yoo Ji-eun!!”

* * *

Yoo Ji-eun.

Sixteen years old.

Her only family was an older sister who was two years older.

There might have been another person listed on her Resident Registration, but she didn’t feel like calling that person “Dad.”

Her sister was her only real family. After all, hadn’t it always been just the two of them since they were little?

She remembered.

Even though they were only two years apart, her sister always took care of her. When her classes ended earlier, she would wait for her sister while playing in the schoolyard, and her sister would come running breathlessly. As they walked home holding hands, her sister would apologize, even though she was just as young.

What did her sister say when she Awakened?

“Ji-eun, I can now buy you everything you want.”

Children without parents usually matured early. Yoo Ji-eun was no exception.

She knew what her sister had given up to take care of her, what her sister was willing to give up. So, when she Awakened a few days ago, it felt like a bright light bulb had turned on in her head.

“Yoo Ji-eun! You can’t just come to my school like that!”

“But…”

“Oh, I can’t live like this, really. And what’s with ‘Master’? And that magic? Where did you hear such nonsense…?”

As soon as they got home, her sister’s nagging poured out, but Yoo Hye-eun still smiled brightly.

“If I become a famous hunter, I can buy you lots of delicious things!”

Being such a hunter meant that delicious things wouldn’t be a problem, but anyway, that’s what she thought. After all, that’s what her sister had said when she first Awakened.

It was hard for minor sisters to live without parents in Korea. Things got much better after Uncle Hong helped, but that didn’t erase the hardships they had faced before.

More than anything, she wanted to succeed. She wanted to ensure her sister wouldn’t suffer anymore.

She remembered the flyer she received when she went out to the city with friends. Her sister’s school teacher said it was nonsense and not to even think about trying it…. She was grateful to the teacher for saving her sister, but that didn’t mean the teacher knew everything.

So Yoo Ji-eun couldn’t let go of her lingering attachment and kept looking at the flyer.

Still, she didn’t yet have the courage to call the unfamiliar number on the flyer.

Until a kind lady spoke to her.

“Student, are you interested in that?”

Yoo Ji-eun’s eyes widened.

“You need to learn such things properly from an expert to avoid getting hurt.”

An expert!

Once again, the light bulb lit up in her head.

And then.

“Yoo Ji-eun!!”

At the sound of a stranger calling her name, Yoo Ji-eun turned her head.

A man with a deeply furrowed brow was crossing the street, striding towards her.