## Chapter 943 – 943. The Academy’S Savior
“Jiyoung-ah!”
I grabbed Kang Jiyoung’s arm as she walked towards the road and pulled her into my embrace. The sports car sped past in an instant. This was also part of my plan. I could feel her ample body fully against me in my arms.
“…What are you doing?”
Kang Jiyoung asked, her face serious.
I quickly moved away from her.
“It’s dangerous. What if you got hit by a car?”
Kang Jiyoung looked at the sports car that had already disappeared from view and sighed.
“The dangerous one isn’t me, it’s the sports car.”
“…Oh. You’re right.”
A beat late, I remembered that Kang Jiyoung was an S-class hero. On top of that, her durability stat was S+. At that level, she’d be fine even if a dump truck hit her, not just a sports car.
As I scratched my head, Kang Jiyoung relaxed her expression and chuckled.
“I don’t particularly intend to scold you. I was just a little surprised by the sudden situation. What you did was right.”
“I’m glad you say so.”
“Where are we going after the cafe?”
“Do you know about escape rooms?”
“I’ve heard of them. A game where you solve puzzles in a room and escape.”
“You know it well. But you don’t seem too excited?”
“Before I became the head of the academy, my main job was escaping dungeons. I don’t think escape rooms will be as thrilling as that.”
“Escape rooms are different from dungeon escapes. This is just for fun.”
“……Okay.”
Kang Jiyoung nodded. She still didn’t look like she had any expectations for the escape room.
I chose the escape room for three reasons.
First, I knew in advance that Kang Jiyoung didn’t enjoy dramas or movies much. Second, Kang Jiyoung’s physical abilities were so high that active games or activities would be boring for her.
And third, escape rooms are easy to manipulate to my liking. I had already met with the owner of the escape room a week ago and made a plan. It cost a bit of money, but it was pocket change for me, so it didn’t matter.
“…Love Connect?”
Kang Jiyoung frowned as she read the sign in front of the escape room.
I said nonchalantly.
“Huh? It was originally called Apocalypse Black Company Escape or something, but it seems they changed it recently. Well, escape rooms are all pretty much the same, so it shouldn’t be too different. Let’s go in.”
“…It says here that it’s for couples only.”
“We’re on a date right now. We’re a couple.”
“…Hmm.”
She seemed a bit unconvinced, but soon entered the escape room with me.
“Welcome.”
The owner of the cafe greeted us. She was a woman in her 30s, and she nodded slightly when she made eye contact with me.
“You’re here for Love Connect, right? We have a couple’s discount. And could you wait a moment? We need to tidy up the set. It’ll take about 10 minutes.”
We waited patiently, drinking the orange juice the cafe owner gave us. By now, the cafe owner would be slightly changing the escape room set.
The cafe owner handed us a walkie-talkie and said.
“You can use the walkie-talkie if you want to give up or ask for a hint. You can use two hints. The time limit for escape is one hour. It starts when you go in!”
Kang Jiyoung and I began the escape room game in earnest.
The first room was a bright room themed like a princess’s room. A fancy bed and wardrobe. And bright pink wallpaper. However, there was an out-of-place steel door on one side of the wall. It was a door lock. You had to enter a password to open the door.
“Is it this kind of thing….”
“Jiyoung-ah. We need to find clues.”
I looked around near the bed, and Kang Jiyoung rummaged through the desk. I found a book, and Kang Jiyoung stared intently at the laptop and camera on the desk.
“Jiyoung-ah. Did you find anything?”
“…I’m concerned about the laptop on the desk. And there was an alphabet chart in the desk drawer.”
The alphabets on the chart were each colored differently in various colors. There were over 200 alphabets and 6 colors.
“What’s that book?”
“Ah, this? I found it under the desk.”
It was a book with nearly 100 pages. The content was drawings. A person was striking a pose. The person’s appearance was distinguished by color.
“……I see.”
Kang Jiyoung seemed to have realized something.
“What’s wrong?”
“The numbers and alphabet chart everywhere. And the book with the person’s poses. It’s obvious when you look at the laptop and camera.”
Kang Jiyoung pointed to the ceiling. The number 61 was written on the ceiling. Then she checked the alphabet. 61. The alphabet in the 6th and 1st positions was blue.
“The alphabets are A and I. If you substitute them with numbers, it’s 1 and 9, so it’s either page 19 or 10 of the book. Check it out.”
I first checked page 19. It was a pose of a person with both hands spread out. The person’s color was red.
“It must be page 10.”
I opened page 10. It was a drawing of a blue person with one hand raised.
“Adding the alphabet numbers was the answer.”
“So, we need to take a picture in that pose?”
“Probably.”
I went to the camera and struck the pose exactly as it was in the book. I raised one hand. Click. Kang Jiyoung pressed the enter key to take the picture. But nothing happened.
“…Is it not that?”
“……It’s better to gather all the other clues first.”
We gathered the clues. The left leg of the bed, the inside of the wardrobe, under the laptop, etc., there were many numbers written.
“Two poses of the same color…. I see why it’s for couples. It’s not about striking a pose alone, but couples striking poses together. The picture… we can use the camera’s timer function.”
Kang Jiyoung and I stood in front of the camera and struck a pose. It was a somewhat embarrassing pose, but Kang Jiyoung, engrossed in the escape room, was much more concerned about the remaining time.
‘There aren’t any poses that cross the line.’
I grinned inwardly as I struck the pose. Physical contact was naturally made as our bodies touched. When we struck the correct pose, a message was sent to the laptop. It was a message with only numbers. We then struck three more poses in a row and received all the passwords, allowing us to move on to the next room.
As soon as Kang Jiyoung entered the room, she started looking for clues. I was glad she seemed to be enjoying it.
•••
We finished the escape room in 50 minutes.
We received drinks as a success reward. And as a bonus, we received photos of Kang Jiyoung and me concentrating on the escape room. Among them was a photo of me hugging Kang Jiyoung from behind.
“Jiyoung-ah. It was fun, right?”
“It was quite fun.”
My plan was to have a fun time at the karaoke next, then have dinner, take a walk in a nearby park, and then part ways. However, a sudden emergency text message disrupted my plan.
Wooooooong.
The message said that a monster had appeared nearby, and we should evacuate. Unlike in reality, in this world, monsters suddenly appear in cities.
People who received the evacuation message quickly ran into nearby buildings or began to flee to safer places.
I looked at Kang Jiyoung. Kang Jiyoung didn’t seem to have any intention of running away.
“Are you going to fight the monster?”
“I have no reason to run away from a monster. If there’s a monster nearby, it’s better for me to step up and quickly eliminate it. It won’t take long, so you stay here.”
“No. I’m going too. Even if I look like this, I’m a student at Maruhan Academy.”
“I’m the head of that academy… well, this will be a good experience for you too. Follow me closely.”
She ran off confidently. She seemed to have already figured out where the monster was. I followed her. She was so fast that I had to run at full speed to barely keep up with her.
The one that appeared in the city was a B-class monster called ‘Sapphire Negative.’
This monster, with a huge body over 3 meters tall, walked on two legs like a human, and had blue jewels like sapphires embedded all over its body. But in reality, they weren’t jewels. They were just parts of its body that looked like sapphires.
It was a monster that used mental attacks, making it difficult for even B-class heroes to deal with, but Kang Jiyoung strode up to it without any defense and swung her fist.
Kwaang!
That was the end of it.
The monster’s head disappeared, and the situation was over. As expected, her power as an S-class hero was amazing.
“It’s not over yet.”
“What?”
“There are a few more a little further away. A dungeon probably exploded near the city, and the aftermath caused monsters to appear all over the city.”
Having grasped the situation just from the appearance of the monsters, she ran off again. It didn’t even take 10 minutes to find and kill all the monsters in the city.
After that, she dealt with the staff dispatched from the Hero Association and discussed the cleanup. The cleanup alone took over an hour.
I spent time in a suitable place until the cleanup was over. It wouldn’t be good if it was discovered that I, an academy student, and she, the head of the academy, were together.
“I’m sorry. The cleanup took longer than I thought. You didn’t have to wait, you could have gone back….”
“No. It’s okay. It’s a date we’ve been looking forward to, so we can’t end it like this. It’s dinner time, so let’s go eat. I’ve made a reservation at a nice place.”
Kang Jiyoung and I went to a high-end restaurant. It was a place with classical music playing and run by a chef who often appeared on TV.
While eating flower shrimp as an appetizer, I asked Kang Jiyoung seriously.
“Jiyoung-ah. To be honest, there’s something I’ve been curious about for a while.”
“Something you’re curious about? I’ll answer if it’s not something difficult.”
“Why did you become the head of the academy?”
“Is that what you were curious about? I was nervous because you said it with such a serious face, but it’s not as serious a question as I thought.”
“No. I’m asking quite seriously. There might be a special reason I don’t know about.”
The head of the Maruhan Hero Academy in Korea.
It was indeed a huge title to hear.
The academy is where elite hero aspirants go. Just graduating from the academy allows you to work as at least a C-class hero. It’s also possible to get a job at a famous clan.
But even with such a great academy, it’s not enough of a reason for Kang Jiyoung, an S-class hero, to take on the role of head of the academy.
She’s an S-class hero. She could enjoy wealth and fame without having to take on the position of head of the academy. If she wanted money, it would be better to join a clan, and if she wanted fame and honor, she could join the Hero Association.
If she was serious, she could easily take the position of the head of the Korean Association.
“A special reason…. It’s not that special of a reason.”
She chuckled and took a sip of wine.
“I received a request from the second head of the academy. I had a debt to him, so I decided to accept the request.”
“Is that all? You didn’t have to accept that request.”
“Surely that’s not all. The academy is in a more precarious state than you think. There are big and small problems happening internally and externally. The current head of the Korean Hero Association doesn’t look favorably on the academy. To be precise, the reason is that the budget allocated to the academy is too large.”
“Is he crazy? The academy is the future of the Hero Association.”
Kang Jiyoung just shrugged.
“The problem is internal. Since you probably know roughly, I’ll tell you. The vice-head. He’s aiming for the head’s position. The reason the second head asked me to take the head’s position was also because of the vice-head.”
“Why the vice-head? He doesn’t seem like a big problem.”
“He looks fine on the outside. But the vice-head is someone who can wield power for his own benefit. The students of the academy are immature. They’re young. They can be easily swayed with just a little persuasion. It’s a good environment for brainwashing. And you don’t know, but there’s a lot to gain. Especially from clans….”
Kang Jiyoung stopped talking. The waiter had brought the main course. She gave a bitter smile. Looking at her, it seemed difficult to continue the conversation on this topic.
She and I picked up our forks and knives and cut into our steaks.
“In short, that’s it. The reason I became the head of the academy is that I received a request from the second head, and I’m suited to teaching students.”
“For someone who likes teaching, you only manage the academy.”
“I only have one body. As much as I want to teach the students, I also have to manage the academy. But I still make time to teach the third-year students.”
“I hope I become a third-year student soon. That way, I can receive Jiyoung’s education.”
“Well. I don’t know if my teaching will be helpful to you.”
