Academy's Silver Gatekeeper

TN: Suhyeon's PoV

On any other day, my steps toward the academy would have felt heavy. But today was different. No, from today onward, it would always be different.

Because at the academy, Examiner Baek Seojin would be there.

Yesterday, when he was discharged, he said he’d be returning to work immediately. The man who risked his life to save someone like me. An ordinary person, yet so different from me—someone truly special.

The memory of that moment remained vivid in my mind. The sight of Examiner Baek standing before an Elder, telling me to run.

He wasn’t a professor. He wasn’t a security officer. He was just an examiner—an ordinary public servant, possibly even more "average" than the students here. Yet, in that moment, he leapt in to protect me, who was nothing.

"Suhyeon. Could you take this with you to the academy tomorrow?"

"It's a fatigue recovery potion made from troll’s blood. Give it to Examiner Baek Seojin."

"Ahem. Ahem. It's nothing special. He just got injured saving you, so he should have it!"

Even Grandfather seemed concerned about the Examiner. Though I wasn’t sure why he also asked me to deliver an apology along with the gift.

I arrived at the academy earlier than usual. I had enjoyed seeing Examiner Baek in the hospital, but I was also excited to see him back at work. I wanted to witness him walking into the academy.

And my instincts were right.

There he is.

Even from a distance, I could tell it was him. I almost ran toward him on impulse, but I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

He knows who I am now. What if my presence is burdensome to him…?

Visiting him in the hospital made sense because he was injured because of me. But if I continued hovering around him even at the academy, it might become uncomfortable for him.

I don’t want to inconvenience him because of me.

I forced myself to slow down. I clutched the gift Grandfather had given me. If I framed it as a discharge gift, it wouldn’t seem like I was bothering him. Yes, this was enough. With this, I could approach him without—

"Huh?"

He was gone.

Just a moment ago, he had been walking past the front gate. I quickly scanned my surroundings, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go? He was just here.

I had come early just to see him. I had prepared myself to greet him. I needed to find him. Did we miss each other? Did he take another route?

Would it really be okay for me to look for him?

I hesitated, afraid that I might be bothering him.

…No.

This was Examiner Baek Seojin. The man who welcomed me warmly when I visited the hospital. The man who risked his life against an Elder to save me. He wouldn't be someone who’d push me away.

Even if I wasn’t anything special, he’d still greet me with warmth.

The courage Grandfather always talked about—I decided to hold onto it, just this once.

Even though I was nervous, even though I was worried, I mustered my resolve and followed his trail. Faint as it was, I could sense the direction he had gone.

"Examiner Baek Seojin?"

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

But finally, in a secluded corner of the academy, I found him.

"Suhyeon? What are you doing here…?"

However, standing next to him was a blonde woman I had never seen before.

*

TN: Baek Seojin's PoV

I hadn’t expected Kim Suhyeon to show up here. The area was practically deserted, and I hadn’t felt anyone tailing me. Yet, here she was.

"Ah, um…."

Her eyes darted around nervously, and she fidgeted awkwardly. She looked like she had just realized she was intruding.

Then, in a panic, she turned to leave.

It was exactly what I feared.

Her low self-esteem was acting up again. If I let her walk away, she would only misunderstand the situation and sink deeper into self-doubt.

"Suhyeon!"

Just in time, I managed to grab her before she could leave.

"E-Examiner?"

"Good timing, Suhyeon. Actually, I got lost again. You remember last time, right? When I almost wandered into the training hall? I ended up in the wrong place again and was just asking for directions. But then…."

I turned to Irina, giving her a desperate look.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much. But she was an S-rank ability user—surely she’d have enough awareness to help me out here.

"Oh! You here! Another person! You help! Right way!"

And of course, being Irina, she instantly switched to improvisational acting.

She sounded like a stereotypical foreigner struggling with Korean. In reality? Her Korean was better than most native speakers’. Scratch that—despite being a foreigner by birth, she was more Korean than most Koreans.

"I go! We see! Next time!"

With those words, she turned away as if nothing had happened. But after a few steps, she stopped and glanced back at me.

"I still want… your answer."

Her eyes made it clear.

She was willing to let me go for now, but there wouldn’t be a second chance.

And then, she disappeared.

"Who was that?"

Kim Suhyeon’s voice was uneasy as she spoke.

Her confusion was understandable.

Irina looked completely different from her usual media appearances. On TV, she always had long, flowing hair and wore her formal uniform. But today, she had tied her hair up, worn casual clothes, and even put on glasses.

"Well… uh… I think she’s a foreign visitor on an exchange program?"

"A foreign visitor?"

It seemed like a reasonable excuse. After all, the academy did get international visitors often.

But Suhyeon still looked doubtful.

"You were… asking a visitor for directions?"

…Good point. That did sound pretty dumb.

"Ah…! Oh! What’s that in your hands?"

Desperate, I changed the subject. And thankfully, it worked.

"This? Oh, it’s… your discharge gift."

"A fatigue recovery potion? Wait. Is this made from troll blood?"

Troll blood was a highly sought-after ingredient due to its potent regenerative properties. It was a staple in most high-grade healing potions.

A fatigue recovery potion made from troll blood? That meant it was not only highly effective but also very expensive.

I never expected to receive something so valuable. Then again, this was Kang Minseong we were talking about.

"Yeah. Grandfather asked me to give it to you personally."

"Chairman Kang Minseong did? He really sent this for me?"

"And he also wanted me to apologize on his behalf… Did something happen?"

Well, something did happen. Your dear grandfather confessed to being the reason I was forced to return to work the day after being discharged.

It suddenly made sense why he sent such an expensive gift.

"He wants to make sure I keep my mouth shut, huh."

This just confirmed how terrified Kang Minseong was of Suhyeon finding out the truth.

Even on the day of my discharge, someone from his side had already approached me. They had discreetly slipped me an envelope, saying it was a personal token from the Chairman.

And when I opened it later? Let’s just say the amount inside made my jaw hit the floor.

And now, on top of that, he was sending me this? It was clear—he was desperate to keep this under wraps.

If I were a scumbag, I’d probably be thinking, "How much more can I squeeze out of this?"

But I wasn’t a villain. I wasn’t some reckless fool either.

I was just a regular guy who knew when to be satisfied. People always said greed leads to disaster.

And in this case, the best decision was to keep my mouth shut until the day I died.

"Nothing special," I finally said. "The Chairman was just really grateful that I saved you, Suhyeon."

"…Is that so?"

I had expected her to be happy. Or maybe embarrassed.

I figured she’d either smile bashfully or grumble about how her doting grandfather was overreacting again.

But instead, she looked conflicted.

Instead, she looked… guilty.

"Suhyeon? What’s wrong?"

"…I feel so sorry."@@novelbin@@

"For what?"

“I’m nothing compared to my cousin and younger sibling… just a complete failure. And yet, Grandfather always worries about me. He keeps looking after me, but… the more he does, the more pathetic I feel.”

There she goes again.

Every thought, every word, every action—

all of it was aimed at tearing herself down.

Just like Kang Minseong had said.

She’d spent so much time around exceptional people that instead of growing, she had shrunk—locking herself up in a cage of her own making.

And honestly… it was worse than I expected.

‘If she’s this bad now… what happens later?’

Suddenly, I recalled what my Third Eye had shown me about Suhyeon.

-  Activating the Third Eye

◎ Kim Suhyeon

A Genius consumed by Inferiority

◎ Detailed Information:

All abilities are temporarily reduced. Prolonged inferiority could result in permanent power loss. Improper development could lead to catastrophic consequences.

That was understandable. Her mental state was clearly unstable.

But the last part was what bothered me the most.

"If she fails to overcome her inferiority complex, she may permanently lose her abilities."

That was a major problem.

Even now, she was barely holding on at the academy.

If she lost her abilities, she'd be expelled—

and if that happened, she’d completely drown in her inferiority complex.

And once that happened…

‘That’s the exact path that leads to the birth of the Crimson Witch.’

This wasn’t just about one person’s self-esteem issues anymore.

Over 500,000 lives depended on this.

All the pain I had endured — getting beaten half to death by an Elder — everything I had done to change the future was at stake.

Kim Suhyeon had to grow.

She needed to succeed at the academy,

develop into a strong superhumans,

and most importantly — escape from the crushing weight of her inferiority.

Only then… would the Crimson Witch never come to be.

If this world really had something like a "game system," I was pretty sure a big red warning screen would be flashing right now:

[ALERT: Prevent Kim Suhyeon from becoming the Crimson Witch!]