I Became the Academy’s Final Boss Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The sight of Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s fiercely twisted face made my heart sink for an instant.

Normally, he hardly ever showed any change in expression—but now that his face was contorted, he looked like an enraged guardian statue.

It almost made think the reason he was nicknad Yaksha might simply be because of that face.

“You won’t choose a main weapon? I’d appreciate it if you could explain that in a way this instructor can understand.”

“As I’ve said, sir. I won’t be choosing any weapon.”

“……If you an to fight using your body like a martial artist, there are gauntlets and other such gear among the armants. Go bring those.”

As expected, that reaction.

Even if the Academy respected freedom for the sake of cadet growth, the idea of using neither weapon nor armor was probably hard to grasp.

“No, sir. I an it literally. I won’t use any weapon. Bare-handed combat.”

“…….”

At my words, Instructor Kang Jae-seok’s brows began to knit tightly together.

Even though he didn’t speak, his expression revealed a deep, indescribable frustration.

“So you’re not refusing to choose a main weapon, but rather choosing unard combat. aning—Cadet Yoo Sung-woo wishes to fight using nothing but his own body. Is that correct?”

“Exactly, sir.”

“Haa……”

Letting out a deep sigh that seed to co from the depths of his soul, Instructor Kang raised his hand to cover his forehead.

“You never do anything as expected, do you. I’d like to hear why you made such a decision.”

In the actual ga, if the player refused to choose a main weapon, Kang Jae-seok would try several tis to persuade them.

And the players eventually discovered a way to persuade him instead.

I was a veteran gar myself, but gars could really be ruthless.

Pretending to ponder for a mont, I finally opened my mouth.

“My master once said this: since the world changed, humanity’s greatest weapon is mana. And where mana dwells is in the body. Thus, the body itself is the greatest weapon.”

“……So Cadet Yoo Sung-woo made this decision following your master’s teaching?”

“It’s the doctrine my sect’s founder repeatedly emphasized. It’s the core of our philosophy.”

I nodded at his question.

That was the trick—using my master as a shield.

In this world, a martial arts master held authority nearly akin to that of a parent.

Therefore, teachings of one’s sect were sacred—outsiders had no right to interfere.

Well, it wasn’t a lie anyway.

In fact, the Heavenly Demon in my mories had often said sothing similar.

‘Disciple, to one who has reached the pinnacle of martial arts like I have, weapons are re ornants. Even a leaf can cut a mountain, and a finger can overturn the sea. What aning can weapons possibly have? In the end, the martial path is an endless pursuit of strength. Do not grow drunk on the convenience of weapons—temper thyself instead.’

“Your master’s words are not wrong,” Instructor Kang said, his cold eyes flickering faintly. “And I have no desire to speak ill of your sect.”

But his gaze sharpened.

“However, you are not rely a warrior right now—you are a cadet of this Academy. Did you co here to flaunt your strength? Or to beco a soldier who will fight in the battles to co?”

His gaze passed over and fell upon the other students.

It seed he intended to use this opportunity to drive a lesson into the cadets.

“We have no ti. Even now, outside the Academy, countless Villains and Demons are rampaging. Monsters flood the cities without cease. What we need are Heroes, not seekers chasing their own strength.”

I quietly watched as Instructor Kang spoke.

“The enemies a Hero must face are countless. And each of them is imnsely powerful. Among them are those that no bare-handed fighter, no matter how strong, could ever wound. That is why it’s crucial to learn to wield a main weapon here at the Academy.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

The Heavenly Demon’s words were ant purely as a way to beco stronger.

She was a seeker who had reached her current realm through endless years of training—different in nature from the Heroes the Academy sought to foster.

But Instructor Kang was mistaken about one thing.

It wasn’t because I had little ti that I should choose a weapon.

It was because I had little ti that I must not.

The ti left for this body was far shorter than he could imagine.

So I had to grow stronger beyond reason—high risk, high return.

I had no choice but to use the Fist King build.

Truthfully, no matter what I said, I could never completely convince him.

Slowly, I began channeling mana.

“Then I’ll prove it. My resolve.”

Instructor Kang Jae-seok looked at the boy radiating fierce energy before him.

The boy’s eyes shone as brightly as the flas cupped in his palm.

So reckless.

So immature. He seed utterly unaware of the weight of the choice he was making.

Rules of a martial sect, core philosophies—all well and good.

But were those things worth more than one’s own life?

Kang Jae-seok had seen far too much to accept that.

Did this boy—no, did any of the students of this Academy—truly understand the battlefield?

The terror of the waves of monsters crashing down like a tide?

The sight of a comrade, back-to-back with you, having his throat torn out by a beast?

That child knew none of it.

Because he had neither seen nor experienced it himself.

Had he ever seen a place without the protection of Heroes?

Such places were hells on earth.

People there lived in constant fear, never knowing when Monsters might surge in.

Emaciated like dried-up trees, people sat sprawled along the streets, lifeless as corpses.

Because there were no Heroes, once a month—without fail—the Monsters poured out.

And when the Monsters ca, people held their breath and hid, doing whatever it took to survive.

To live, families killed their own.

Friends betrayed each other.

Such things happened there every single day.

Compared to that, the Academy’s cadets were blessed.

Born in a good nation, they enjoyed peace as if it were their birthright.

The children before him might have held admiration for Heroes—

—but being a Hero was no glamorous profession.

It was a calling that drove one to the brink between life and death, forcing oneself into battle for the sake of others.

That was what it ant to be a Hero.

Yet the cadets of the Academy only longed for the bright side of being a Hero—its fa, honor, and prestige.

Instructor Kang Jae-seok asked Sung-woo,

“How exactly do you plan to prove it?”

“What you’re worried about, Instructor, is that I might not grow enough to defeat all the enemies you ntioned, right?”

“You’ve misunderstood my words. The enemies a Hero must face demand everything you have and more. To fight bare-handed, without even a weapon, is arrogance.”

At that, Sung-woo tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“But if they’re foes I can’t beat even when I give everything—will holding a re weapon really make the difference? If an enemy’s so strong that I can’t face them, what we need is a stronger ally, right?”

“A Hero’s duty is to hold the line until that stronger ally arrives. To protect civilians and endure even one more second—a weapon is essential.”

“But I don’t want to be soone who rely endures. I want to be the strong ally who destroys the enemy others can’t face.”

At those words, Instructor Kang Jae-seok found himself montarily speechless.

It was a childish answer.

Yet within it burned an almost fanatical obsession with strength.

‘What in the world made him so fixated on becoming strong…?’

Just then, a notification arrived on the tablet he was holding.

Wrinkles ford at the corners of Kang Jae-seok’s eyes.

‘I specifically told them not to send work emails during class ti…’

He was about to dismiss the notification when his eyes caught the subject line.

[Here’s the background report on Cadet Yoo Sung-woo you requested.]

His hand froze.

“Cadet Yoo Sung-woo, excuse for a mont. I’ve received an urgent work email.”

“Ah, yes, sir…”

After apologizing to Sung-woo, he quickly opened the ssage.

And then—his eyes widened at the shocking contents of Yoo Sung-woo’s past.

“This is…?”

The record was horrifying.

He had lost his parents to Demons, been kidnapped, and subjected to torture.

Even with the investigation by police and Heroes, his rescue had taken ti.

By the ti they found him, his body bore an indelible mark.

A photo of Sung-woo covered in scars appeared before his eyes.

In that mont, Instructor Kang Jae-seok understood why Sung-woo was so obsessed with unard combat and why he pursued the path of a martial seeker.

He knew well how cruel and brutal the tortures of the Demons were.

They were experts at destroying people through pain.

Those who fell into their hands begged for rcy at first—

Then they scread endlessly—

And in the end, they begged for death.

Yet even death was sothing the Demons never allowed.

Their thod was to shatter a person’s mind completely.

Amid such tornt, how desperately must that child have prayed for salvation—

How he must have waited for a Hero to co.

But it had taken three whole days before a Hero finally found him.

Instructor Kang Jae-seok realized then that he had been wrong.

The boy before him knew hell.

He had seen his own flesh cut and torn apart.

He had felt the chilling isolation of realizing that no one was coming to save him from that abyss of pain.

He cursed his past self for ever thinking the boy knew nothing of suffering.

The reason he sought strength so desperately was simple—

Because he had learned, amid unbearable agony, that the only one who could save him… was himself.

And having realized that, Instructor Kang Jae-seok could no longer bring himself to question the boy’s resolve.

After all, it was the Heroes who had made him this way.

Instructor Kang finally spoke.

“I’ll respect Cadet Yoo Sung-woo’s decision. However, as I said before, rember that changing your main weapon choice will only be possible next sester.”

“Uh… yes, sir?”

Sung-woo was taken aback—he hadn’t expected Instructor Kang, who had seed so firmly opposed, to agree so easily.

In the ga, there had been a test to persuade him.

But it seed his sudden change of heart ca right after reading that email on the tablet.

‘Well, lucky . I get to skip the test. Besides, even in the ga, unard combat gets unlocked regardless of the test result anyway.’

Either way, this ant I could now freely pursue the Ultimate Warrior Build without any hesitation.

That was good enough for .

After completing the main weapon selection, I opened the door to my dorm room.

“You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting.”

Soone greeted —an uninvited guest who had entered my room without permission and taken my chair.

I’d never t him before, yet I knew exactly who he was.

A fixed Villain who appeared in every scenario of the ga, regardless of changing variables.

A mid-ranking executive of Pandemonium, who had infiltrated the Academy before .

Berid, the Demon of Usurpation.