#08
The smell of old paper and the distinctive dampness of the Haneul High School library greeted Han Seo-jun that afternoon. In the farthest corner, between the rarely visited shelves of history books, Lee Min-jae and Yoon Chae-won were already waiting.
Several of Min-jae's architectural sketches and sheets of small notes containing the scholarship application schedule Chae-won had managed to rewrite were spread across an old wooden table.
"Mr. Han," Min-jae called softly when he saw Seo-jun approach. "These are the rough drafts for that freelance project. I adjusted the perspective scale like you told me yesterday."
Seo-jun picked up Min-jae's tracing paper. The boy's lines were now far more precise, revealing an extraordinary understanding of spatial structure.
"Good work, Min-jae," Seo-jun praised him sincerely. "This is more than enough. I'll send it to my colleague tonight so the advance can go straight into your mother's account."
Min-jae gave a small nod, trying to hide his immense relief behind his usually surly expression.
Seo-jun then shifted his gaze to Chae-won and focused his thoughts on calling up the system interface. A transparent window flickered across his vision, confirming the activation of the feature he had just unlocked through his previous level upgrade.
[Activating Ability: Absolute Analysis.] [Consuming: 20 Teacher Points.] [Analyzing 2024–2026 Extracurricular Budget Allocation Data Patterns...]
Within seconds, thousands of rows of figures from the secret documents he had gathered began to unravel in the space before his eyes. The system dissected the school's financial charts with mathematical precision.
Seo-jun discovered a strange pattern that repeated once every four months: the budgets for the science, art, and sports clubs always soared three weeks before semester evaluations, then were suddenly "cut" drastically under the pretext of operational efficiency.
However, the money from those cuts never returned to the school's main accounts. It flowed into a sports equipment and laboratory materials procurement vendor called Haneul Tech & Supplies.
"Chae-won," Seo-jun said, breaking the silence. "Have you ever heard of a company called Haneul Tech?"
Chae-won knitted her brows, trying to remember. "I have, Mr. Han... Last month, when I was asked to bring receipt files to the foundation secretary's office, Mr. Kang was on the phone with someone. He mentioned that company's name and said, 'This month's percentage has already been sent to the commissioner's account.'"
Seo-jun smiled coldly. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together. Haneul Tech was a shell company. They artificially inflated the extracurricular budgets, funneled the money through a fake vendor, then cut it out midway so it could line the pockets of Mr. Kang's faction and the foundation board. Ms. Kim Soo-jin had been framed because she held the goods-verification stamp and had refused to sign those blank receipts.
"Mr. Han," Min-jae cut in, pointing outside the library door. "Since this afternoon, Mr. Kang and Mr. Choi have been walking around the halls talking about you. They've been telling the other teachers that you're a crazy contract teacher who likes intimidating students."
"It's true, Mr. Han," Chae-won added worriedly. "There are already rumors in the class group chat that you'll be fired this week for causing a scene at the foundation meeting."
Seo-jun looked calmly at both of his students. Rumors. This was the classic method used by people like Mr. Kang—destroying someone's character before destroying them physically. In his previous life, this was the method they had used until all of society believed he was a predator.
"Let them talk," Seo-jun replied flatly. "A dog that barks the loudest is usually scared because its chain is starting to loosen. For now, your only job is to focus on studying and keep acting normal."
The next day, that pressure began to take tangible form.
As Seo-jun walked down the hall, several senior teachers looked away or pretended to be busy talking on the phone when he passed them. In the teachers' lounge, his desk had been deliberately piled high with papers from other classes that he was not responsible for grading.
Mr. Kang sat at his desk, quietly snickering with Mr. Choi as they deliberately talked about "that shameless part-time teacher who's about to kick himself right out of the school."
Seo-jun did not answer a single word. He did not shout, show his irritation, or waste his energy arguing. Every time Mr. Kang spread another provocation, Seo-jun simply recorded the names of the teachers influenced by it and gathered data on their relationship network using Teacher's Eye.
Let them think I'm cornered, Seo-jun thought. The more confident they become, the bigger the opening they'll leave behind.
However, the foundation faction did not want to wait long.
At exactly 2:00 p.m., the intercom in the teachers' lounge crackled to life.
"Teacher Han Seo-jun is requested to report to the principal's office immediately."
Mr. Kang flashed a victorious smile when Seo-jun rose from his seat. "Good luck in there, Mr. Han. Brace yourself," Mr. Kang whispered mockingly as Seo-jun walked past him.
Seo-jun did not respond. He walked down the second-floor hallway toward the principal's office.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Come in," a heavy voice sounded from inside.
Seo-jun pushed open the thick teak door. Inside the lavishly decorated office, Principal Park sat behind his broad desk. A large photograph displayed on the wall behind him showed Principal Park shaking hands with Cha Dong-hyun.
"Sit down, Mr. Han," Principal Park ordered without looking at Seo-jun. He was busy signing several documents.
Seo-jun sat in the leather chair across from the desk, gazing at the middle-aged man who served as a pillar of the falsehoods at Haneul High School.
After finishing his signatures, Principal Park took off his reading glasses and leaned back in his chair. His gaze was cold and domineering.
"Mr. Han," Principal Park began warningly. "I've received numerous complaints from Mr. Kang, Mr. Choi, and several members of the foundation board about your conduct over the past few days."
"Complaints about what, Principal Park?" Seo-jun asked calmly.
"You questioned budget decisions at an official meeting, interfered in student disciplinary matters outside your authority, and now there's a report that you've been visiting Ms. Kim Soo-jin to ask about internal documents," Principal Park pressed, his voice growing more forceful. "You're only a contract Sociology teacher, Mr. Han. Your job is to teach, assign grades, and make sure your students pass their exams. You're not an auditor, a police officer, or the owner of this school!"
[Medium-Level Intimidation Detected.] [Host Status: Calm / Unaffected.]
Seo-jun looked straight into Principal Park's eyes. "I'm simply carrying out my role as a teacher who cares about transparency at the school, Principal Park."
"Transparency?!" Principal Park gave a bitter laugh, the sound forced. "Listen carefully, Han Seo-jun. This school can stand here in all its grandeur, have the best facilities, and pay your salary because the Haneul Educational Foundation is behind us! If you keep acting like some late-to-the-party hero hunting for faults, I won't hesitate to terminate your contract today. Understand?!"
The threat was explicit. A bluff from a leader who felt his position was under threat.
Seo-jun was silent for a moment, pretending to waver under the pressure. He lowered his head slightly, giving the man before him a false sense of satisfaction.
"I understand, Principal Park," Seo-jun said in a subdued voice. "I'll return to my teaching duties."
"Good. Now get out," Principal Park ordered, putting his glasses back on.
Seo-jun stood and bowed politely before walking out of the office. However, just as his hand touched the doorknob, the Absolute Analysis screen in his field of vision finished processing the final data he had just downloaded wirelessly from the principal's office's internal Wi-Fi network.
A document detailing the vendor's stock ownership unfolded on the blue screen.
[Analysis Complete!] [Vendor Company: Haneul Tech & Supplies] [Majority Shareholder (40%): Park Jin-woo (Principal of Haneul High School)] [Secondary Shareholder (35%): Haneul Foundation Board Member / Close Relative of Cha Dong-hyun]
Seo-jun's heart pounded, not from fear but from the satisfaction of this discovery.
It turned out Principal Park was not merely an obedient puppet ordered around by Cha Dong-hyun; he was one of the primary beneficiaries of that illicit flow of money. The extracurricular fund cuts taken from Ms. Kim went straight into the pockets of the man who had just threatened to fire him.
Seo-jun closed the principal's office door from the outside with extreme care.
In the deserted hallway, Seo-jun wore a faint, meaningful smile. His enemies were powerful, and their network coiled around nearly the entire structure of the school. Exposing them could not be done in a day or two. This was a slow war that required extraordinary precision.
"Threaten me all you want, Mr. Park," Seo-jun murmured softly as he walked back toward the teachers' lounge. "You're building your own execution stage, and I'll make sure the entire school is watching when it collapses."