Morning sunlight pierced the gaps between the pillars of Haneul High School's main gate, scattering light across the clean asphalt. For the students walking in while laughing and chatting, it was just an ordinary Monday at the start of the semester. But for Han Seo-jun, every step across that gate felt like walking over a sheet of thick glass that could shatter at any moment.
Twelve hours ago, he had been standing on the roof of the school's tallest building, preparing to leap into the darkness. This morning, he walked in wearing a neat suit, a briefcase in his right hand, and his breath held tight in his chest.
Han Seo-jun stared at the four-story main building before him. Its brick walls looked solid, grand, and impressive, preserving its image as one of the most prestigious private schools in Seoul. But Seo-jun knew exactly what was hidden behind that splendor: corruption rotting all the way down to the foundation's roots, and the hypocrisy of executives ready to sacrifice anyone to protect their reputation.
As he walked down the corridor toward the teachers' lounge, faint whispers drifted from several groups of students.
"Look, that's Mr. Han."
"The new part-time teacher, right?"
"I heard he teaches Sociology. His face looks so dull, like he hasn't slept in years."
Seo-jun neither responded nor turned around. In his previous life, words like those might have shaken his confidence. As a contract teacher without connections, he had always felt he needed to walk with his head bowed. But today, his gaze remained fixed straight ahead.
He pushed open the door to the teachers' lounge. The smell of cheap coffee and piles of exam papers immediately assaulted his senses. Several senior teachers were busy grading assignments, while others chatted casually near the water dispenser.
"Oh, Seo-jun," Mr. Kang, the senior Sociology teacher seated not far from the door, greeted him. The slightly portly man looked at Seo-jun with a faint, condescending smile. "You're right on time. Don't forget to organize the attendance documents for Grades 10 and 11, okay? You're handling all the fieldwork assignments this semester."
"Yes, Mr. Kang," Seo-jun replied briefly and calmly.
Mr. Kang furrowed his brow slightly, somewhat surprised to see Seo-jun—who normally bowed repeatedly while apologizing—now responding with an untroubled, expressionless face. Before Mr. Kang could comment on his attitude, a sudden commotion erupted from the corridor outside the teachers' lounge.
SLAM!
The sound of a metal locker door being slammed hard startled everyone in the room. Seo-jun immediately turned and stepped outside, following the corridor where a crowd of students was beginning to gather.
In front of a row of lockers, a student in a disheveled uniform stood breathing heavily. His black hair was slightly mussed, covering his forehead. Several textbooks lay scattered at his feet. Two duty teachers stood around him, their faces flushed with anger.
"Lee Min-jae! How long are you going to keep causing trouble at this school?!" Mr. Choi, the head of the Student Affairs Department, shouted. "Late again, no tie, and now you slam a locker when you're reprimanded? Are you trying to get expelled?!"
The student named Lee Min-jae did not answer. He simply leaned his back against the lockers, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at Mr. Choi with a sharp gaze tightly wrapped in despair.
Seo-jun looked at Min-jae. In his memories of the future, Lee Min-jae was a student who would eventually be expelled midway through the semester after becoming involved in a vicious fight off campus. After his expulsion, the boy's life would spiral further downward until he eventually vanished from everyone's memory.
When Seo-jun focused his gaze on Min-jae, the air around him suddenly felt cold. The scene before him seemed to stop moving for one second, and a bright blue transparent window slowly floated above Min-jae's head.
[Teacher's Eye Feature Activated.] [Name: Lee Min-jae (17 years old)] [Status: Class 11-3 Student / At Risk of Dropping Out] [Mental Condition: Severely Under Pressure / Apathetic] [Trust in Teacher: 0%] [Hidden Problem Analysis:]
Experiencing ongoing verbal abuse at home due to his father's business bankruptcy.
Working part-time at a convenience store until 3:00 a.m. to pay his family's rent.
Possesses highly advanced spatial aptitude and logical analysis skills (Hidden Potential: Engineering / Architecture).
Seo-jun stood frozen. The blue writing in the air laid out the bitter reality hidden behind the label of "problem child" that the school had pinned on him. Min-jae was not merely a troublemaker; he was a boy carrying the burdens of adult life on his young shoulders.
"Take him to the Student Affairs Department! Call his parents today!" Mr. Choi snapped harshly, grabbing Min-jae by the arm.
"Don't touch me!" Min-jae snarled, flinging Mr. Choi's hand away.
The situation grew more heated. The students watching began whispering and pulling out their phones. Just before Mr. Choi lost his temper and raised his hand higher, Seo-jun stepped forward and stood between Mr. Choi and Min-jae.
"Mr. Choi, let me handle Lee Min-jae today." Seo-jun's voice rang out clear and firm, cutting through the tension in the corridor.
Mr. Choi stared at Seo-jun, his brow furrowed. "What do you think you're doing, Mr. Han? He's a problem student. Don't interfere in Student Affairs matters."
"Min-jae is under the supervision of his homeroom teacher, but since his homeroom teacher is on leave, as the Sociology teacher who teaches his class, I have the right to handle his first disciplinary incident today," Seo-jun said calmly, without a trace of hesitation in his voice. "Please leave him with me for now. If he does it again this afternoon, you can call his parents."
Mr. Choi stared at Seo-jun for several seconds in disbelief, then waved his hands irritably. "Fine, do whatever you want! But if he causes trouble again, you'll be responsible, Mr. Han!"
After Mr. Choi and the other teachers left, the student crowd slowly dispersed as the bell signaling the start of class began to ring. In the corridor, now growing quiet, Min-jae stared at Seo-jun with a suspicious frown.
"Don't play the hero, sir," Min-jae said coldly as he picked up his books from the floor. "You don't know anything about me. You're just being ridiculous."
Seo-jun did not get angry. He knelt down as well and helped pick up one of Min-jae's notebooks, its cover filled with highly detailed, intricate architectural line sketches.
"Your drafting is neat, but the perspective lines on the back page are off by about two degrees," Seo-jun said quietly as he handed the notebook back.
Min-jae froze. His hand stopped in midair as he reached for the notebook.
"Working part-time at the GS21 branch at the lower intersection is hard enough, especially when you get the overnight shift until three in the morning," Seo-jun continued in a voice only the two of them could hear. "But your body won't hold up for long if you only eat instant noodles and don't sleep before school."
Min-jae's eyes widened. His face, hard just moments ago, now showed profound shock. "H-How... how did you know...?"
Seo-jun stood, straightened his jacket, and gently patted Min-jae on the shoulder. "I'm a teacher. A teacher's job is to pay attention to their students, not just judge them."
Seo-jun turned and began walking toward his class, but stopped briefly without looking back. "Come to the counseling room during first break. There's something I want to talk to you about—your architectural sketches, and your future."
As Seo-jun walked away, a soft buzzing sound rang inside his head.
[Tutorial Quest: FIRST STUDENT] [Progress: 40%] [Subject Response: Trust Level Increased (0% -> 15%)] [Note: Initial connection successfully established.]
Seo-jun smiled faintly. His steps felt steadier than before.
But when he turned the corner on the third-floor corridor toward Class 11-3, his steps suddenly stopped. From the opposite direction, two people were walking side by side, escorted by the principal.
A sturdy, middle-aged man in an expensive pinstripe suit smiled amiably as he gave a slight wave to several passing students. Beside him walked a long-haired female student, her head bowed deeply as she gripped the strap of her schoolbag tightly.
Cha Dong-hyun. Foundation Chairman of the Haneul Educational Foundation.
And beside him was the student who, in the future, would stand in a police interrogation room in tears, pointing at Seo-jun's face and calling him a predator.
A sharp tremor ran through Seo-jun's chest. His heart pounded as Cha Dong-hyun's eyes shifted and locked onto him for one full second—a cold, dominant, possessive stare lurking behind his philanthropic smile.
The past had not changed. His enemies still stood at the top. But this time, Han Seo-jun was no longer walking in the darkness.