WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

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Chapter 14: Bones! (1)

┃ Objective Completed: [Class]

┃ Reward: Star Shard ×1

┃ Objective Completed: [Pop Quiz]

┃ Objective Completed: [Supplementary Class]

< Star Shards in Possession: 17 >

⋮

One by one, I was being drip-fed Star Shards… It was like dying of thirst while crossing a desert, dreaming of an oasis, yet only being handed tiny droplets to drink.

At this rate, it would take me forever to collect another 800 to 1,000 shards just to learn a new Lv.9 ability.

But I need to gather as many Star Shards as possible to survive…

I didn’t have the skillset or knowledge to conduct research or write a thesis. I could try something on Illusion Arts, but that risked exposing my Forbidden Skill if I drew too much attention.

Who knew being too proficient in one ability type could bite back at me like this?

My Illusion Arts were extraordinary.

“How extraordinary?” you may ask.

Well, allow me to explain in detail while I’m at it.

In this world, there was a ranking system called “Combatant Rating.” These were updated monthly by a celestial star called 「Systematic Star⧉」. The ratings were as follows:

—— Tier 3 ——

Iron – Bronze – Silver – Gold

——————

These were regarded as ordinary combatants. However, even a Gold-rated individual would place in the top 20% of all combatants globally.

They would be generally respected and well-treated wherever they went.

—— Tier 2 ——

Platinum – Emerald – Diamond

From here onward, everyone would be significantly stronger. These tiers represented the top 10%, 4%, and 1% of combatants, respectively.

Combatants of this level weren’t just treated well—they were often considered the main forces, and sometimes the trump cards, of large organizations.

Furthermore, the bare minimum requirement to become a professor was to be Diamond-rated.

And I’m far weaker than that.

Taking my Overall Combat Power into account, I would rank somewhere around Platinum.

Now came the cream of the crop:

—— Tier 1 ——

Master (9,999) – Grandmaster (999) – Challenger (200) – Constellation (33)

Combatants placed in Tier 1 were assigned an actual numerical rank, showing their standing among the top combatants of the world. This was the dream realm that all combatants aspired to reach.

Among the 15 million combatants on the continent, those ranked within the top 9,999 were met with admiration and awe wherever they went.

Even among professors, those in Tier 1 were classified as “Senior Professors” and are superior to the rest.

For reference, professors had three ranks:

——

(Regular) Professor – Senior Professor – Chief Professor

Despite being in their late teens or early twenties, the Black Dragon cadets were likely Diamond-rated. Either that, or they barely scraped into the Master tier.

Now, to get back on the topic at hand.

When it came to Illusion Arts only, I was probably Challenger-rated, within the top 200 in the world. 

In fact, I would likely be in the top 80 globally. And if I were to guess, I’d rank 1st or 2nd within the Kingdom of Hiaka.

That was why I couldn’t publish any papers on Illusion Arts.

It’s best to be more careful. I don’t have any kind of safety net right now. The sheer level of my Illusion Arts will draw attention across the entire continent. And the moment my Forbidden Skill is discovered, it’s game over.

That only left me with one option to gain Star Shards faster: bonding with the Black Dragon cadets.

But that couldn’t be rushed either.

I still wasn’t free from the threat of being assassinated.

* * *

The weather was cool today.

I was preparing supplementary classes in the office, as usual, when a campus-wide announcement played over the speaker system.

“All newly appointed neutral faculty members are requested to attend the forum at 5 PM today, organized by a chief professor.”

The forum—a session where the chief professors usually nagged the others. Normally, I wouldn’t have any reason to attend.

┃ New Objective: [Neutral Professor Forum]

┃ Reward: Star Shard ×5

But five Star Shards? That changed everything.

“Adele, I’m postponing the supplementary class to tomorrow.”

“Okay~” she replied.

I canceled the class that was already scheduled and prepared to attend the forum.

But then, a follow-up announcement crackled through the speakers:

“Apologies. The chief professor will not be attending, so the forum has been canceled.”

┃ Objective Canceled: [Neutral Professor Forum]

My quest was also canceled at the same time.

“Here we go again…” Adele sighed and clicked her tongue.

“Does this happen often?” I asked.

“Yup! Honestly, it's not a rare occurrence. The neutral professors are… I’m sorry to say this, but they’re pretty listless and have no willpower.”

I already knew this game lore. Unlike those aligned with the Black or White Paths, the neutral professors were strangely lukewarm.

At any rate, with the forum canceled, I was about to head home, but the weather was too nice. I decided to go out for a walk instead.

Maybe I’ll go to the park.

I saw cadets hanging out in small groups under the sun in the open grassy area. Some threw shurikens at trees, while others parkoured around with rifles on their backs. It looked strange to me, as someone from the real world, but they all seemed to be having fun.

There, I began practicing various Illusion Arts.

I began by creating illusory balloons and blowing into them, which sounded quite trivial.

Some may even ask, “Is inflating balloons even real training?” But it wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

Creating a balloon was easy—I just had to imagine it.

But I wasn’t crafting a simple illusion. I was aiming for a semi-permanent illusion, something that wouldn’t shatter on impact, something you could interact with like a real object.

In the eyes of an actual specialist, this would be a jaw-dropping feat. This was the kind of Illusion Art only achievable at divine levels.

I still can’t make large-scale illusions semi-permanent… but whatever.

I had succeeded. I had created a balloon and fully inflated it.

< Your understanding of the details of the ability has increased: 『Semi-Permanent Illusion』, 『Expansion of Matter』, 『Structure of Joints』, 『Coordinate System for Form Fixation』, 『Fluid Dynamics』, 『Rubber Texture』... >

< 『World Forgery』 Proficiency: 86.56% (▲0.01%) >

As I made more illusory balloons, my mind drifted away, wondering about the world I was now part of.

Where was I exactly?

The Kingdom of Hiaka.

This was a moderately developed nation. If I were to compare it to the real world, it was the equivalent of South Korea or Italy—a developed country, but one that had to stay mindful of the surrounding powers.

And within the kingdom, I was stationed at Hiaka Academy.

A prestigious institution run by the royal family. It was like Seoul National University in Korea—renowned, yet falling behind compared to places like Tokyo University and Peking University.

What a perplexing situation.

These past few days, I found Rebecca’s words constantly echoing in my mind:

“I do not trust the professors.”

“They have no motivation. Furthermore, they don’t particularly like us.”

As seen with the forum's cancellation, the professors here lacked drive, especially neutral ones like me. Most had already lost their passion for teaching cadets. There was no real reason for them to be invested anymore.

Everyone merely focused on their salaries and research funds. And since this was the only prestigious academy in the country, they had become complacent.

It was a serious problem.

These types of situations always tie into story arcs that are difficult to clear…

The game Hiaka Academy was known for its branching storylines.

One of the hardest routes featured the academy’s decline, with its reputation diminishing daily. To make matters worse, a traitor would have already sold academy secrets to a foreign country.

In that storyline, the fun lay in the player reversing the school’s downfall through stellar achievements and proving themselves.

But regardless of what the developers intended, I didn’t particularly like that main story. The difficulty was just too high.

That said, I had no intention of blaming the professors for their inaction.

There was minimal pressure to improve or perform when you were at the top school in the country. And with assassins tailing you all day, anyone would choose to play it safe.

Just like the assassin following me now.

“Show yourself,” I said quietly.

Something flinched in the air. Then, slowly, a humanoid figure blurred into existence.

“Did I get caught?”

“You got caught.”

“Hehe.”

It was Elize, a cadet from the Black Dragon Division.

● Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize

With pale pink hair and eyes, the girl resembled a golden retriever in human form, always smiling and bright.

Lately, I had seen her more often in class, and we had become more acquainted.

She approached me with a cheerful grin.

“What are you doing, Professor?”

“As you can see, I’m inflating balloons.”

“Why?” she asked, blinking in confusion.

“Because I wanted to. What brings you here?”

“Oh, I was just wandering around and happened to see you. I like going on walks.”

She beamed and plopped down next to me on the bench.

I was suddenly reminded of a message I had received from Kaiser a while ago.

- Kaiser: Elize is one of the strongest students in the Black Dragon Division. Easily top two.

She stared intently at me while I was blowing up the balloons.

“Are you going to keep watching...?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You must not have anything better to do.”

“You’re right.”

With nothing else to say, I continued inflating them in silence.

But with a spectator, I felt like I had to do something flashier.

I inflated a long balloon and twisted it to create a balloon dog.

“What’s this?”

“A dog.”

“That’s a dog? Hm. Looks weird.”

Despite her words, Elize clearly liked it. She must’ve found it funny.

“Can I have one too?” she asked, eyes gleaming as she looked at my balloons.

I conjured another illusory balloon and handed it to her.

“Fwoooooooo…”

She tried blowing into a balloon herself, but it didn't seem to inflate.

“Fwoooop… Hm…”

I was trying to train in peace, but her struggle beside me was starting to get distracting.

“Having trouble?” I asked.

“It’s hard,” she admitted.

“Try closing your lips a bit more.”

“Like this? Hnnngh… Mmmhhf…”

“No, if you close them too much, you won’t get any air out.”

“Then… fwoop hhhgn bbbbhf…”

“No, tighten them a bit more.”

“Hnnngh ngh ngh nom…”

“No, no, why are you biting it? Why would you use your teeth when blowing a balloon?”

After a few more minutes of struggle, the illusory balloon ended up with multiple holes.

I shook my head in dismay.

“You’re terrible at this.”

“Eh? That’s so mean.”

“Am I wrong, though?”

“Honestly, it’s not on me. Balloons are just hard to inflate.”

“You’re wrong.”

“I’m not.”

I blew up a balloon with a single breath and held it up to prove my point.

“This is hard, you say? This?”

“Yeah, it’s hard.”

“What part of it?”

“Of course you’d find it easy. You’re a professor.”

Ignoring her excuse, I fashioned the balloon into a flower.

“What do you think? It’s a flower.”

“It’s ugly.”

“It’s prettier than you.”

“So mean!”

And so we bickered for a while.

Still, Elize was delighted when I made a sword, butterfly, giraffe, and more. Waving the balloons around, she looked exactly like a happy puppy. She gave off such a peaceful and cheerful vibe.

Though it was only a vibe.

Who knows? She might’ve stabbed someone in the neck with a knife just the other day.

“Do you have anything else?” she asked, looking up at me. 

“Something else?”

“Yeah! Something you haven’t made yet.”

So I conjured a white balloon and began shaping it.

It took a while since it was my first attempt at this one.

After a few minutes of watching me in silence, Elize finally spoke.

“These days…”

“Hm?”

“The professors…”

“Mmhmm.”

“They won’t spar with me anymore.”

“I assume you won against them?”

“Yup.”

“How many?”

“All of them.”

“Impressive.”

Apparently, she had even defeated senior professors, not just the regular ones.

Though she wouldn’t stand a chance against the chief professor, she was still a prodigy.

“You could’ve just learned assassination from your family,” I said. “Why enroll in the academy?”

Her father, 「Shadowless Constellation○」, was the top assassin in the Kingdom of Hiaka, ranked 24th in the world.

“Hm… But our household fell into ruin.”

I was taken aback by her answer and couldn’t respond right away.

That was when some synced information resurfaced in my mind.

She was right. The House of Count Csikos was ruined. Why was it again?

I tried to salvage the conversation before I could even recall the reason for her family’s downfall.

“Even if your household is gone, you could still learn from your father. His Stealth Arts are incredible.”

…Oh, wait. I remembered. Her household fell into ruin because 「Shadowless Constellation○」 had gone missing.

Damn it. Why did I remember that so late?

“Huh? My dad’s missing, you know.”

“…My apologies.”

“It’s okay. Maybe home felt suffocating to him.”

Elize smiled gently.

“My dad was really good at Stealth. That’s why I believe he’s just been in long-term stealth mode, watching me from afar.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Nah. Really, it’s fine. I sometimes accidentally bring up family stuff when I talk to Gray, too.”

More synced information resurfaced in my brain.

Gray, too, came from a prestigious Black Path assassin household with its own deep internal issues.

Only then did Rebecca’s words click in my mind.

"When creating a still-life painting, the artist often turns the rotten side away.”

The Black Dragon Division was filled with incredibly talented prodigies born of prestigious lineages.

Yet, parts of it were decaying.

“Here.”

I had finally finished my creation with the white balloon.

“What is it?”

“What does it look like?”

It was long, with stumpy ends on both sides. Something dogs loved.

“A… bone??”

Correct.

Elize’s pink eyes sparkled with urgency as she recognized the large balloon bone.

“Give it to me,” she said, holding both hands out.

As expected, she liked it. It was a desire deeply rooted in her bloodline.

But I still had some finishing touches to make. As I adjusted it, she suddenly tried to snatch it.

“Elize. Wait.”

“Quickly.”

“I said, wait. I’ll give it to you once I’m done.”

“Please. The bone. Hurry…”

It was still incomplete, so I dodged her hand as she clung to me, trying to grab it.

“Stay.”

The command slipped out reflexively.

Her body froze.

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: Stay...?? 】

Elize blinked, hesitating as if deciding whether she should listen or not.

Eventually, she quietly withdrew her hands and waited—obediently, like a well-trained pup.

…To think that actually worked.

“Well done.”

I handed it to her, and she lit up with joy.

“You like it?” I asked the obvious.

“I love it. Mmm…”

Seeing her so giddy made me happy, too. Illusion training would've gotten dull on my own, but having someone enjoying my creations like this was actually fun.

Then, as she hugged the bone balloon, Elize spoke.

“Now that I think about it, it’s strange.”

“What is?”

“I’ve always liked bones. I hated throwing them away after eating the meat.”

I listened attentively.

“Why is that? Why do I like bones so much…?”

What a funny question. So she didn’t know.

Her family—the Csikos line—was descended from an ancient clan of canine beastfolk.

Their ears and tails had disappeared over generations, but their veins still ran rich with the blood of beastfolk.

That was why I had made a bone in the first place.

Canine beastfolk obeyed the commands of humans they acknowledged. It was why that monstrous clan had once served the royal family.

In other words, the fact that my “wait” command had worked earlier meant Elize instinctively acknowledged me.

Lucky me. The acknowledgement of a Csikos isn’t something just anyone gets.

Only those who were strong, overwhelming, and charming could be recognized by the beastfolk.

Usually, it would take immense combat power and deep bonds, or even royal blood, for this to happen.

Elize had likely mistaken me for someone powerful.

“Could you make a few more?”

“No.”

“You’re so mean…”

I was just kidding. I eventually made five more balloon bones.

“Booones~♪”

And Elize was thrilled.

┃ Bond Increased: Elize [5] (▲5)

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