Chapter 168
It’s hard not to panic when you’re suddenly asked for your number.
No, common sense tells me, this isn’t the kind of thing someone would say to someone whom they just put down and picked their wallet.
And it seems I wasn’t the only one who thought this.
“Are you crazy, Han Ji-yeon?”
Ki Min-ho shouted at Han Ji-yeon, but she just smirked as if to calm him down.
“You stupid bastards, your faces and what you’ve done have been exposed, and you want to run away while waiting for the Awakening Police?”
The other kids looked like they knew what she meant.
Han Ji-yeon looks at me again and smiles brightly.
“If we get caught by the police, we’ll be in quite a bit of trouble, so what do you think? Do you want to give me the number and go on your way quietly, or do you want to receive a good beating……?”
This is fun.
Is she trying to intimidate me into giving up my identity and not calling the police?
As I ponder this for a moment, the kid behind her changes his demeanor and walks toward me with his hands in his pockets.
“Hey, mister. Kids have a temper these days, don’t they?”
He taps me on the chest as if to intimidate me.
Yeah, what’s the big deal, to each their own.
“Didn’t I grow up with kids like that?”
Corleone secret tool for times like these!
I reached into my cube, pulled out a shotgun, and put the muzzle under his chin.
“Here. This is the ‘thing that helps you lose your temper’. How about it, does it help a little?”
“What are you doing–hiehieh!”
He flinched at the giant gun that suddenly appeared under his chin.
The others also seem to be taken aback by the sudden appearance of the shotgun, but none of them are dumb enough to try and jump in when it’s already pointed at their friend’s head.
“Now, wait a minute, brother. What the hell are you doing?”
Han Ji-yeon asks, her voice trembling in a different way than the slimy one from earlier.
Yeah, shotguns are great conversationalists, right?
It definitely works for young and old.
In fact, the kids who didn’t have any questions for me a moment ago are now looking at me like I’m crazy, wondering who I am.
“Oh, have I introduced myself yet?”
We’re going to be seeing each other a lot, so the least I can do is introduce myself.
“I’m Eugene Han. I’m a mentor at the Seoul Hero Academy, and I’ll be your tutor starting today. Take care, mentees.”
I smiled brightly, trying to make the best first impression possible.
“Well, shall we continue our conversation?”
* * *
In the counseling room at Jiggle Middle School three were kids sitting with their backs to me, looking uncomfortable.
“Your postures look pretty uncomfortable, but it’s okay to be a little more relaxed.”
Since I came today with the concept of pre-questioning, I put down the shotgun in my hand and talked to them kindly.
I’m not one of those people who just blindly starts a ‘conversation’ like Jin-woo.
The boy raised his head to look at me.
“If you’re a mentor at the academy, aren’t you a genius or something?”
Surely his name was Ki Min-ho?
According to the records, he was the third kid to go through it.
“I see……I can roughly guess why you guys became the targets of the program.”
It was clear why the kids hadn’t been fixed, no matter how many times they’d been through it.
“Is it okay for mentors to threaten mentees with weapons like this?”
Ki Min-ho changed his demeanor and smiled wryly.
Yes, the education system in this damn country is garbage. At best, they send Awakeners to remediate them, but they can’t discipline them properly, so……they’ve been using the fact that they’re students to backstab their mentors.
It’s a grading system, after all.
“Mentors aren’t supposed to do that, are they, kids?”
“Yeah, but they sure as hell don’t have shotguns!”
“My handsome brother has a shotgun. Cool.”
Something about that last one seems off to me…….
The other kids start smiling like they’ve got a hit on their hands, but maybe I didn’t think of that?
“Why? I think I can do it.”
Ding-dong──
Something golden falls with a loud clatter to the ground below them.
“You know what that is?”
“……A sheriff’s badge?”
Ki Min-ho recognizes the object and murmurs.
It wasn’t something that had any special effects or boosted my physical abilities.
It’s just a badge that says, “This person is a civilian who works under a government police force to help maintain public order.” I’m an awakened person who can intervene quickly when I come across a crime scene.
“This gives me the authority to do something before the police get there.”
And the bearer of this object would have powers comparable to the police in some situations.
Well, it wasn’t that hard to get since I happened to know someone who could get it.
‘Chung Hoon. I want a sheriff’s badge.’
‘Are you crazy? Why would I give you something that’s given to famous guild leaders and heroes? You can go to the police station and make one.’
‘We had a bet. Whoever wins, does the other a favor. Give it to me!’
‘Ewww! That’s not the kind of thing you can give a kid right when they ask for it…….’
‘You think I’m being nice and asking for a favor?’
‘……damn.’
The benefit I was going to get from this thing was pretty simple.
At the very least, I wouldn’t make a fool of myself in many domestic situations.
As in.
“You just took a shotgun blast from me and had nothing to say about it. This is it.”
“Hey…….You stepped in shit.”
Ki Min-ho chewed on his lip and mumbled something, as if he realized the situation had turned sour, while Kim Hyun-soo, next to him, had a blank look on his face, as if he didn’t know what I was talking about.
And there was one of them who was smiling.
“So you mean you’re our mentor?”
The tension relaxed a bit, and the girl crossed her legs and looked over at me.
“Isn’t it a little weird that the mentee doesn’t even know the mentor’s number? Give me the number!”
She’s still asking for my number……She’s still the same.
She now boldly hands me her phone and asks for my number.
I had to give it to her in order to complete the program, so I handed her my gimmicky phone with all the bells and whistles and took her number.
“Here. I’m giving you this so you can call me if anything happens, but don’t call me if you’re bored or give other girls my number.”
“Wow! Okay~”
Han Ji-yeon took the phone back from me and returned to her seat with a big smile on her face.
Once I was sure they were all seated again, I continued.
“Now that I’ve become your mentor, here are some simple rules to follow.”
You must attend school. If I get a call that you didn’t show up, I will come looking for you. Don’t get into trouble. If I get in trouble, I will come to see you in person. Contact me immediately if I need anything.
“It’s simple, isn’t it? Just three rules and you won’t get into trouble.”
If anyone were to see it, they’d think, “Is that really going to work?” but…….
I have confidence and I know they’re going to mess up.
“Well, since it’s your first day, let’s start by introducing ourselves. Who wants to go first?”
“Yes! Me~”
She raised her hand in the air.
Standing up straight, she smiled brightly and introduced herself.
“My name is Han Ji-yeon, and I live in Bucheon. I don’t like squirrels, spicy food and cops. I like handsome people!”
She blushed at the end.
I glance at Ki Min-ho next, but he just sits there with his arms crossed like he’s about to fight.
Then.
“Hey. You said you’d do it.”
Han Ji-yeon, who was sitting next to him, nudges him, and he finally sighs and stands up.
“I’m Ki Min-ho.”
Then he sits back down.
“I’m Kim Hyun-soo. I like to fight, and I don’t like to lose.”
That was the guy with the most assault convictions, right?
I was starting to get a rough idea of what kind of character he was.
“Mentor, why don’t you introduce yourself? We’re done.”
Han Ji-yeon asked me when she realized that her turn was over. In response, I stowed my shotgun and opened my mouth.
“I’m Eugene Han. I’m a mafia member of Corleone.”
“……?”
“…….”
“……?”
The three of them turn bright blue in an instant.
“Just kidding. I’m a first-year student at the Seoul Hero Academy.”
Their faces softened slightly at the word “joke,” but I was able to get quite a bit of information from that reaction alone.
The organization they were involved with was not Corleone.
If Corleone was involved, they would have been surprised or pleased, not scared.
The organization could be one that fears Corleone.
There are very few organizations in the metropolitan area that are not on good terms with Corleone. This allowed me to significantly narrow the field of candidates.
Finally, there’s…….
The kids will eventually follow the logic of power.
Okay, that should give me an idea of how to deal with them in the future.
“Well, good luck with that.”
I concluded my introduction, hoping for a meaningful week.
* * *
[Jin-woo: From the beginning, he said to me, ah who the hell are you, you’re just doing this lol, so I answered him that I’m Jin-woo Bevalt, and he immediately begged for forgiveness!]
In the evening, the Familia chat room was full of stories about today’s ‘Gaegwacheonsun’.
[Se-ah: Wow. That’s so funny. I started right at the beginning with the True Teaching]
[Young-jae: …… Kids. We’re temporary, but we’re still teachers, right?]
[Jin-woo : Isn’t this the right answer when you think about the homeroom teacher?]
After all, it was our A class with only exemplary students, so it seemed that most of them used their skills to overpower the steamer.
They’re not the kind of kids who would be beaten.
[Me: What about you, Young-jae?]
Young-jae, on the other hand, had a much different reaction than the other kids.
What could he have done today to make him act like that?
[Young-jae: I heard she goes to school in Jamsil, so we met up and went to a nearby café.]
[Jin-woo: Eh? That’s it?]
[Se-ah: Are you a good listener?]
[Young-jae: A little bit at first, but I met Mentor Lottie at the cafe, so I said hello to her and she suddenly listened to me well.]
……Here’s a link to your connections.
Surely, if you live near Jamsil, you know Lottie, who is called the king of Jamsil.
If I were in that situation, I would immediately bow down and show my loyalty to him.
[Young-jae: What about you?]
[Me: Me?]
I didn’t have anything big happen today either.
[Me: I got hi-jacked while riding my scooter, dragged into an alley, and then robbed]
[Young-jae: ?]
[Se-ah: ?]
[Jin-woo: Are they dead?]
No, they’re not dead.
No way.
[Me: I showed them the shotgun, so it was easy. They didn’t attend school today, so I took them to school]
[Jin-woo: shotgun diplomacy ㄷㄷ]
She said she’d see me next time with a smile on her face and in a really good mood so I said goodbye, saying I’d see her tomorrow…….
[Han Ji-yeon: Big brother]
[Han Ji-yeon: Brother]
[Han Ji-yeon: Our police station! Help! Help!]
A strange sense of déjà vu overtook me.
