I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor - Chapter 78



Chapter 78

With a cigarette clenched between his teeth, he struck a match.

Jin Crow narrowed his brow, mulling over the stimulants he had consumed that day.

‘No more cigarettes. Half a bottle of liquor left, perhaps.’

Three cigarettes a day. And about 6oz (170ml) of whiskey in his hip flask.

The old man had prescribed this as the daily appropriate dosage.

The side effects varied: vomiting, dizziness, chills, temporary paralysis of the nerves, and more. He had experienced those side effects himself, and it made his teeth chatter, but the real issue was that this dosage was far too little.

“It would’ve been nice if I could just fuel up.”

He muttered while wiping away the blood splattered on his cheek, unsure if it belonged to a creature or a human.

Of course, if the old pharmacist who had gifted him that love-infused tonic had heard him, he would have felt wronged.

Who would have expected a day filled with brawls and fights?

—Kikikik! Kyaaah!

Jin Crow occasionally gazed into the darkness of the tunnel, where only the flickering lights of the underground existed, watching the creatures leap toward him.

“Ha!”

He exhaled sharply and immediately swung his sword.

Controlling his breath, he silently sliced through the creatures.

Stabbing, he twisted his hand that gripped the sword to withdraw it.

At times, he blocked attacks with a coat that maximized his defense with special materials, throwing himself into a puddle stained with human blood and leaking sewage, rolling on the ground.

Of course, he was not alone.

Swoosh—.

Right beside him, a creature crumbled without even a final breath.

Turning his head, he saw the man in techwear he had encountered at the mansion, casually twirling a jackknife, lifting his slightly lowered mask as he chattered away.

“Usually, it’s just people you slice, but this is a whole new experience. Though, I wouldn’t want to do it too often. More like a leisure sport, wouldn’t you say?”

“……”

Wearing a black military cap and a mask that concealed his jaw, only his eyes were visible, but what mattered was not his face; it was his identity.

‘Could it be that he’s a team leader from the Murder Company?’

He had no knowledge of how many members the Murder Company had, what the detailed hierarchy looked like, or who its leader was.

All he knew was that they operated in teams, and that a team leader possessed combat prowess at least on the level of a Quad Gear or even a Penta Gear.

As proof, the man skillfully butchered the creature blocking his path with speed and technique that did not lag behind Jin Crow, who had fought numerous battles against such beings.

Indeed, one could not deny that skill.

“By the way, doesn’t our company care about work-life balance? I came here to meet the matriarch, yet I’m treated like a cold dish, stuck with an addicted old man who can’t put down his cigarettes and booze even in the middle of a fight. What a fate I have…”

However, he spoke too much.

Jin Crow narrowed his eyes and regarded him, and when their gazes met, the man responded with surprise.

“Wait, did you hear that?”

Feigning surprise at his own blatant words, Jin Crow chose to ignore him instead of answering.

Was it that his demeanor had deflated?

Or was he just unnecessarily cheeky?

Introducing himself as Volk, he followed closely behind Jin Crow, who was walking ahead through the damp underground passage.

“So, who are we looking for?”

“An old man wearing a plague doctor mask from the black market.”

“Oh, I see.”

Volk nodded vaguely, as if uninterested, but what mattered now was not Volk’s reaction.

‘The Queen has appeared. Why?’

He didn’t know the exact moment the original Queen had emerged, but he was certain it wasn’t here.

The Free Planet Alliance had begun to crumble under the threat of creatures right after the Fourth Galactic War had erupted.

In other words, the future had shifted once more.

Why was that?

There were too many inflection points, and rather than ponder the cause, he focused on the task at hand.

‘First, find the old man. Then, save as many people as possible and escape the Free Planet Alliance.’

What had driven him to even point a blade at Stero Mer?

It was all to thwart the schemes involving creatures and lay the groundwork for humanity’s future.

Yet, with the Queen’s emergence, clinging to that goal was a reversal of priorities.

Let’s judge coldly.

‘Hunting the Queen is futile.’

I’m not sure if that queen still travels with her legion-level king, but even if she doesn’t, at this moment, to capture a creature with such formidable mental domination abilities, one must cut through millions of beings.

Naturally, this is an impossible task within the fractured and divided Free Planet Alliance.

‘No matter how much trouble they cause, surely they won’t lose their wits in this situation.’

I’ve come to realize once more that Beatus and Famiyu are still not fully grown, yet they remain trustworthy.

Hinokana isn’t foolish either.

As long as Baek Hwi-young’s mind isn’t fried, he wouldn’t choose to drag Miel down with him.

Even if they go wild, it doesn’t matter.

In my anxious heart, I had specially asked Tita Zenolua to ensure their escape along with them.

‘Whether it’s a tonic or whatever, that old man must be taken if possible.’

In other words, all he can do is gather as many human resources as he can and return.

—Krrr.

“Volk.”

“Yes, Instructor.”

“Call me a mercenary.”

They stepped forward quickly, gazing at the monsters with gleaming eyes beyond the thick darkness of the underground passage.

—Kyaaak!

What echoed was merely the screams filled with the creatures’ agony.

*

Black Mer was taken aback by the sudden void crack, but their mission remained unchanged.

Kwaaang!

Dozens of shells fired from the air rained down like a storm upon the eroding protrusions of the earth, unleashing a deafening roar.

“Gyaaak!”

“R-Run away!”

The citizens had already lost interest in who Black Mer was attacking.

It was only natural.

They had no luxury to ponder such trivial concerns.

Behind them, a creature charged forward, its eyes gleaming with blood, while the bombardment mixed buildings and corpses, collapsing in a cacophony, and the sky unfolded a scene of apocalypse never seen before.

Kugugugugung!

The towering skyscrapers crumbled.

A civilization built on science transformed into useless debris, and the sentient beings who once lived their lives were all torn apart, reduced to mere chunks of flesh.

-aaah!

-Eeeeeee!

The streets were flooded with low-grade, mass-produced creatures, their names unknown, as Phon and Knight led the charge, reveling in the indiscriminate slaughter.

“This way!”

Of course, not everyone was caught off guard.

The Free Planet Alliance was a place where PMC and various mercenaries swarmed, and with poor security, every household had adopted a pet shotgun.

Ta-a-a-a-ng!

Tud-tud-tud-tud-tud!

Gunfire echoed, and citizens fled to their homes or relatively safe underground facilities to counter the incoming creatures.

But that was not all.

As the situation spiraled out of control, the public security forces joined the battle, and the urban warfare shifted from a massacre to a real fight.

The black market, a dark aspect of society, was no exception.

“What the…?!”

“aaah!”

The black market merchants realized that something was amiss and tried to close up shop and flee, but the internal conflicts between factions had depleted the security forces, complicating matters.

“Block it! Block it!”

“How can we block it?! Ahhh!”

The creatures had no concept of a black market.

They simply followed the higher-order command to charge through the narrow passageway, where they sensed an abundance of succulent flesh.

As the weak defense line was breached, the massive underground complex transformed into a chaotic and hellish landscape in an instant.

“aaah!”

Slaughter erupted from all directions.

An elf, her abdomen pierced by a snake-like creature’s massive jaws, screamed in agony, and the human who tried to save her had his head blown off.

“aaah!”

From noble mtl dot com

A Reaperdak, who had been selling illegal Titans, was blown up by an overheated gun barrel.

“Eat… eat these… I don’t want to… aaah!”

An old man, who had been involved in human trafficking, regardless of age, s*x, or species, was torn apart, his bones crushed, and his eyes gouged out, before being discarded, seemingly unpalatable.

“S… save me…”

A person, who had been fighting the creatures, was crushed, their lower body mangled, and their organs spilling out onto the floor.

The scene was too gruesome to behold.

“Ts.”

Because of that, the old man let out a sigh, a mix of physiological disgust, beneath the plague doctor mask, and he rose his creaking body.

“Living long means seeing things one shouldn’t have to…”

Rolling the walnut in his hand, he set down the dripping pipe of his e-cigarette and instead pulled out a silver pill from his pocket to chew.

Then, he felt the monsters slowly advancing toward him, each step dripping with revulsion.

‘The family’s internal strife seems to be well sorted, but I’m at the point where I can be discarded.’

It was a cover identity he had grown somewhat fond of, but it couldn’t be helped.

Its purpose had been served.

The research he had aimed for was confirmed stable, as some black crow-like creature used it without issue, and the family had stabilized, so they would be busy for a while.

‘Still, it’s a bit disappointing.’

To abandon such a research environment as a drug bartender without a shred of regret was no easy feat.

It was proof of his loyalty to the organization.

As he prepared for battle against the creatures slowly pushing into the alleyway, just as he was about to inject the drug cocktail he had concocted into his body,

Swoosh!

Beyond the streetlight in the darkened alley, he saw the shadows of creatures collapsing.

Two robust figures rushed toward the creatures without hesitation, and before they could even scream, they were slaughtered, cut down.

—Kii, kiiiing.

Was it a physiological fear he felt?

Or perhaps the dying screams of the creatures?

The last breaths of the creatures echoed in his ears, and soon, a shadow clad in a long coat carelessly plunged a sword into the creature’s body.

‘…….’

Instinct screamed within him.

The two men had not come here merely to pass by; they had a clear purpose.

As a professional, he could sense it.

The two outside were all professionals.

With heightened tension, he aimed the shotgun he held toward the entrance of the shop and pulled the trigger at the incoming figures.

Bang!

In an instant, the bullets erupted forth, engulfing them, and he, moving with an agility that belied his age, injected the drug cocktail into his thigh and drew a blade across the neck of the leading man.

“What, what’s going on? Viper?”

“Hmm? Volk?”

Volk and the old man, no, Viper, entered first, their eyes rolling as they faced each other.

Instinctively, they realized.

Whatever it was, they had uttered words that should never have been spoken.

Sizzle, drip—.

Jin Crow, who had stepped back to deal with the last remaining creature, watched this farce unfold, cigarette in mouth, murmuring softly.

“Organizational security, quite impressive.”

Naturally, the faces of the two men flushed, even if just a little.