I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

Right after stepping into the gate, their vision changed and the environment surrounding them changed abruptly.

Inside the cave that emitted a blue light, the students frowned at the unpleasant dampness that clung to their skin before they could even grasp the situation.

Among them, Baek Hana alone maintained a calm expression as she surveyed their surroundings.

The cave was wide enough for ten people to stand side by side, with a straight path stretching ahead.

Their classmates who had entered earlier were nowhere to be seen, nor were there any signs of movement.

With her enhanced sense of smell, Baek Hana detected a musty odor in the air.

“This is unpleasant,” she muttered.

The bluish yet dim, damp, and gloomy cave stirred up one of Baek Hana’s old memories—the time before she met Baek Woo-jin, when she had to fight other children in a facility’s storeroom just to get food.

Back then, she had to constantly fight the other children around her just to avoid going hungry, and all she could do was eat the meager food provided and sleep.

But that person had taken her out of that harsh life and brought her to a warm and comfortable home, teaching her so many things she never knew before.

Yes, so many things…

“Hana,” a voice called out, interrupting Baek Hana’s thoughts as she reminisced about Baek Woo-jin.

Baek Hana turned her head to see Nam Seo-hee, with whom she was paired for this assignment, frowning slightly as she spoke.

“What do we do now?” Nam Seo-hee asked.

Although the subject of her question was implied, Baek Hana understood what she meant.

“Either way is fine with me,” Baek Hana replied.

“Really?” Nam Seo-hee sounded surprised at Baek Hana’s response, as she now knew how much Baek Hana liked Baek Woo-jin.

“Yeah, I’ll just go with the majority decision,” Baek Hana said.

“Then… I’ll follow your lead too,” Nam Seo-hee said as she stepped aside to let Baek Hana take the lead.

If they were to think about their assignment, it would make more sense to decide to look for Baek Woo-jin. However, since Nam Seo-hee had a way to obtain the class notes that the other students couldn’t get, she quietly followed Baek Hana’s lead.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Nam Seo-hee asked.

“With what?”

“Not going to look for the core.”

“It’s fine,” Baek Hana assured her.

Although she did want to see Baek Woo-jin, it was still class time, after all. Besides, if they had an assignment, she could use that as an excuse to spend the weekend with him. So, it didn’t matter which way they decided to go.

“Hey,” a voice called out from behind, interrupting their conversation.

Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee turned simultaneously to see two students from the Alchemy Department surrounded by six others. One of them had raised their hand.

“I think we should first assess our current situation before deciding on a course of action,” the student suggested.

“Yeah, there’s something odd about this place,” another student agreed.

“This is clearly supposed to be a lower-level gate, but it’s not a single-type,” one of the Alchemy students pointed out.

A single-type gate referred to a gate where the outside and the inside of the gate were connected. In other words, when they entered the gate, they should have been able to see the exit right behind them.

However, instead of an exit, there was a wall blocking their path.

“There’s no exit, and our classmates who went in earlier are nowhere to be seen. There are no signs of movement either,” the Alchemy student continued.

Unlike the walls and ceiling, which were covered in moss, the floor was devoid of any growth. However, due to the excessive moisture in the air, even the slightest step left water droplets on the floor.

Yet, there were no such signs along the straight path ahead.

“If it’s supposed to be a lower-level gate, then something is definitely amiss,” a male student with a shield on his arm commented.

“But if we consider it to be a level four or higher, then there’s nothing unusual about it, right?” another student countered.

“The practical gate was clearly stated to be level two,” the first student argued.

“I can’t deny that, but I don’t think the professor would have sent us in here without knowing that. That’s why he told us to hold hands when entering,” the other student reasoned.

“That does make sense,” the first student conceded.

“And isn’t this the same environment you guys were supposed to investigate? I overheard you saying something about checking for leaks or something,” the student with the shield added.

“That’s true,” the Alchemy student agreed.

“Then there’s no problem, right?”

“Yeah, and we’ll protect you if anything happens.”

As the six students, who were relatively larger in stature, inched closer, the Alchemy student in the middle frowned and said, “Okay, but could you please stop crowding us? It’s already hard to breathe with all the humidity, and you’re making it even more suffocating.”

“Oh, right,” one of them replied, taking a small step back.

“This place is really humid,” another student commented, wiping his forehead.

“Look at our skin—it’s glowing with moisture!” another joked.

As the students started chatting amongst themselves, Baek Hana turned her attention back to their surroundings. Nam Seo-hee quietly moved closer to her.

As the other students discussed their situation, Nam Seo-hee noticed that Baek Hana kept glancing at the blocked wall and asked, “Do you sense something strange?”

Baek Hana shook her head. “No, it’s nothing.”

She couldn’t explain why her gaze kept drifting in that direction, so she simply denied it.

“Um…” The student with the shield on his arm cautiously approached them.

When Baek Hana and Nam Seo-hee turned to face him, he seemed taken aback by their attention and stuttered, “W-well, we decided to collect samples as we move forward, and we’ll take the rear to protect you.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Baek Hana replied, turning to follow the rest of the group.

“Wow, look at this gooey stuff on the wall!” one of the students exclaimed.

“It’s the same color as those energy drinks. I wonder if it’s safe to drink,” another joked.

The Alchemy students scraped some of the moss off the wall and made notes, while the others milled around, curious.

“Do you think it’s safe to drink?” one of them asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s an ingredient used in potions,” one of the Alchemy students replied.

“Oh, then…” The student with the shield on his arm licked the blue goo off his finger and…

“Ughhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Not only his face, but his entire body started contorting.

“Ugh! Ugh! Argh! Ugh!”

“It’s just really astringent, that’s all.”

The students around him giggled as they watched the boy squirm on the floor like a dried squid.

“Hey, there aren’t any monsters around, huh?” one of them remarked.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Ughhh…”

“This guy’s such a drama queen.”

“Open your mouth, you wimp…”

“No, thanks.”

The atmosphere was light and cheerful, perhaps due to the absence of any monsters nearby. As a result, there were no disputes, and although their progress was a bit slow as they stopped to examine and make notes about the moss they collected, they steadily moved forward.

“Hey, isn’t that it over there?” one of the students at the front of the group asked, pointing to a large rock some distance away.

“How should I know? Ask the ones at the back,” his companion replied.

The two students at the front of the group gestured towards the rock, and the Alchemy students, who were safely protected in the center of the group, peeked their heads out.

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s the moss turtle,” one of them confirmed.

“It just looks like a rock to me.”

“Just so you know, don’t kick it or touch it.”

“We’ll follow the client’s instructions.”

The group slowly approached the rock, and the Alchemy students stepped forward to carefully scrape off the moss growing on it.

-Roar.

“Ugh.”

As the rock emitted a sound, the boy with the shield raised his arm in front of him. The girl standing next to him gave him a sympathetic look and said, “It’s a waste of your physique, eh?.”

“It’s just habit, okay? I didn’t pee my pants or anything,” he grumbled.

“I know.”

“But it felt so real…”

“Hey, could you two keep it down? You’re being noisy,” one of their companions said.

“Sorry…”

The boy with the shield pouted but remained silent. The Alchemy students examined the moss they had scraped off, making notes on a fan they carried.

“The stems are thicker and the scent is stronger than the ones on the wall,” one of them observed.

“Yeah, I think it’s at least five times more concentrated.”

They carefully placed the sample in a glass bottle, labeled it, and stored it in the bag they carried at their waist.

“From now on, we need to be quiet. Moss turtles are easily startled, and they’ll attack if they hear loud noises,” one of the Alchemy students warned.

“Okay, got it.”

As they continued on, they started to see more rocks in their path. The carefree group now formed a proper formation and proceeded with caution.

“This is strange,” Baek Hana murmured.

“What is?” Nam Seo-hee asked quietly.

“We’ve been here before,” Baek Hana replied.

“…….”

Nam Seo-hee fell silent for a moment, then said, “Wait a minute.”

She stopped the group, and the others turned to look at her and Baek Hana curiously.

“Hana,” Nam Seo-hee said.

“…….”

Instead of responding, Baek Hana pointed to the left wall. There were marks where moss had been scraped off.

“We’ve passed this spot before. The smell is still here,” she explained.

The scent of the Alchemy students who had scraped off the moss remained, along with traces of other students’ scents in the area.

“……This is definitely the first sample we collected. I just checked it against our sample,” one of the Alchemy students confirmed, taking out the sample from their bag.

The students’ faces turned grim.

“That’s weird. I mean, the path behind us was clearly a dead end, right?” one of them asked.

“Yeah, and where did these rocks come from all of a sudden?” another added.

It would have made sense if both ends of the path had been open, but they had clearly confirmed that the path behind them was blocked. Now, they had somehow returned to the same spot where they had collected the first sample.

As the students fell silent, the boy with the shield, who was at the front of the group, cautiously spoke up.

“But…”

“What is it?” the girl next to him asked, narrowing her eyes.

He scratched his head and continued, “Well, usually, at this point in the story…”

-AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

A pained scream shattered the quiet of the cave.

-ROAR!!

-ROAR!!

-GRRRR!!!

As the screams echoed through the cave, the seemingly inert rocks began to stir and rise.

Baek Hana quickly donned the gloves she had been carrying, and Nam Seo-hee drew the spare sword she had at her waist, saying, “Carry those two and run.”

“Huh? Okay!”

In a typical close-quarters battle, maintaining a proper formation would have been enough. However, the moss turtles could spit out deadly poison, making it a highly unfavorable situation for those without combat abilities.

Nam Seo-hee and Baek Hana kicked the awakening moss turtles out of the way, creating an opening for the group to dash forward, carrying the Alchemy students at their waists.

At that moment, the boy with the shield, who was at the front of the group, glared at his companion and said, “So, what now?”

“You should know better, you know It’s cliché that something bad happens when you point out the situation” she replied.

The students running behind them chimed in:

“Your big mouth is the problem here, you jerk!”

“I’ll see you in the martial arts class.”

“Hey, you, as an Awakened, didn’t you learn that you should watch your mouth?!”

“By the way, what’s that guy’s name?”

-Just shut up and run!

At Baek Hana’s chilly, magically-enhanced command, the students, who had been loudly complaining, fell silent. Their anger towards the boy with the shield intensified.