A spring day, with a cool breeze blowing in through the window.
One by one, the cadets entered the lecture hall.
To attend the first class of newly appointed Professor Dante Hiakapo: Understanding Assassination and Abilities.
The number was around thirty.
Among them, from the Moonshadow Institute, a red-haired cadet named Joaquin walked in with his hands in his pockets—leading a gang of six or seven.
And then he approached the class punching bag.
“Forte.”
Forte of the Moonshadow Institute didn’t turn around. Beside him, Hwaru and Dominic only glanced over with blank expressions.
“You dumbass. I heard you got your ass kicked by the new professor.”
Forte’s eye twitched.
Hwaru and Dominic, stung, averted their gazes.
Those bastard assholes.
“...Fuck off.”
“Look at these idiots enjoying their own pity party.”
Laughter erupted and spread among the six or seven behind Joaquin.
“Why the hell are you still clinging to the Moonshadow Institute? You’re gonna get held back. You got wrecked by a professor who hasn’t even started teaching. You got your gun confiscated. Stop disgracing us and get lost.”
“I told you to fuck off, Joaquin.”
“You’re embarrassing as shit, you punk. You’re ruining the name of our Institute.”
That was when it happened.
Forte suddenly stood up and grabbed Joaquin by the collar.
“You insane bastard—I told you to get lost.”
Joaquin’s team moved in.
“The hell’s wrong with this guy.”
“Yo. You gonna take your hands off him?”
Just as they tried to shove Forte off—
Forte’s fist slammed into one of the guys.
Thud!
With his head snapping sideways, two of them went rolling back.
The air in the lecture hall instantly dropped. A wave of tension spread among the cadets.
Joaquin’s face hardened.
“Try that on me.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Do it, you son of a bitch. I’ve been itching for an excuse. I’m gonna fucking kill you today.”
“You think I won’t?”
Forte reached for the revolver at his waist. Joaquin, too, reached for the dagger at his belt.
Just as the tension peaked, one of the cadets shouted, “Hey! Stop it! Class is about to start!” Sure enough, the professor was due to arrive any second.
“Watch carefully, you dumbass piece of shit.”
“...What’d you just say?”
“Watch what I do. You and your idiot friends. I’ll be the one walking away with the diploma today instead of you.”
Hwaru blurted out in anger.
“...I’m not an idiot, you know?”
Forte really wished she’d shut up just this once.
“Let’s go.”
Joaquin moved with his crew.
He drew a dagger from his belt and slipped into the space. A mid-level stealth ability among concealment types: Form Veil.
The others activated [Stealth] as well, hiding near the classroom door—beside it, flanking it, hanging from above.
Waiting for their prey to walk in.
“Hey... shouldn’t we stop them? This is the professor’s first class...”
“Leave it. Don’t get involved.”
Some cadets watched the scene unfold with concern.
“...What trash.”
“Seriously, what’s their problem?”
Others frowned—but still watched with interest. The level of [Stealth] was surprisingly high for cadets.
A weak professor could absolutely get caught by that ambush.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The time for class drew closer.
Even though unease lingered, curiosity about what would happen glued their eyes to the scene.
Tick-tock.
Finally, the hour arrived.
But strangely—the door didn’t open.
Even though footsteps could be heard.
“......”
Joaquin’s brow furrowed.
What the hell?
He could hear footsteps.
They were right at the threshold.
That meant the professor was right outside the door.
The footsteps were loud, too. As if the person didn’t even know what an assassination was.
But then—they stopped in front of the door.
Clack—
In the next moment, the sound of a rifle being cocked came from outside.
The unmistakable sound of a lever-action rifle chambering a round.
– “Professor?”
TA Adele’s voice came from beyond ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) the door. Right after that, Joaquin made a quick hand gesture.
The professor’s going to shoot!
His crew hurriedly dropped [Stealth] and jumped away.
Then, the door opened—and the professor walked in, the lever-action rifle slung over his shoulder.
The “Guillotine Trap” they had planted activated.
A blade dropped—right over the professor’s head...!
BOOM—!!
With a thunderous shock, the [Trap] blew apart entirely.
The professor had shot it—shattering the trap.
Joaquin’s face twisted into a grimace. Forte clenched his teeth. That had been his gun.
But Joaquin stayed focused. There was still a chance. Professor Dante spun the rifle for another lever action and stepped forward.
Three steps.
Two steps...
Just one more step would do it.
If he came just one step closer—
...The muzzle was already pointed at his head.
“Was this assassination your idea?”
Joaquin’s eyes flew open. Professor Dante had aimed the rifle—at him.
‘...!’
He panicked and stumbled backward.
Crash!
The Moonshadow Institute was made up of prodigious cadets. Only thirty of them, out of 1,200 first-year assassin cadets, were elite enough to be here.
And his [Stealth] was near the level of an active assassin. Even the ultra-elite “Dormant Dragon Institute,” with only seven cadets, recognized his ability.
There was no reason to suspect stealth was even in play. His entire crew had moved in unison and caused plenty of distraction. And yet—this professor had seen right through it?
Joaquin finally asked:
“...How did you know?”
“What?”
“My [Stealth] is top tier in the year.”
His curiosity outweighed the assassination.
“What are you talking about? Even a blind man could see it.”
Laughter broke out among the cadets.
Under the weight of all those stares—and Forte’s faint, mocking smirk—Joaquin’s face hardened.
“This professor’s got sharp eyes.”
He said it while returning to his seat, trying to land at least some jab.
But the professor ignored him.
Only, the next line struck Joaquin in the back of the head like a hammer.
“You gonna keep watching forever?”
In that moment, confusion passed over Joaquin’s face.
Dante had looked straight in the direction where he’d been hiding.
What the hell was over there...?
At that moment, a shape shimmered into view behind the ceiling wall—right above where Joaquin had been hiding.
“...!”
Joaquin was even more shaken.
A pink-haired female cadet with a puppy-like face dropped down from above.
She was Elize, cadet of the Dormant Dragon Institute and daughter of the legendary assassin, Silent Star ○.
It was horrifying.
She had been stealthing behind him?
Since when?
...And the professor—he’d seen that? Something he hadn’t even realized himself?
“Take your seat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Elize bowed her head lightly and turned to walk back.
Dante turned his head, sweeping his gaze across the classroom. He hadn't said a single word yet, but all the cadets were already gauging his expression, his movements. Everyone knew how skilled Joaquin and Elize were.
As soon as Elize took her seat, he moved.
He stepped up to the podium.
****
In my view, an assassin is a socialized predator.
“I am Dante Hiakapo, the new professor of the Department of Assassination.”
A lion crawling through reeds, creeping toward a gazelle—only wearing the face of a man.
“Starting today, I’ll be using this class to teach Understanding Assassination and Abilities for the remainder of the semester.”
Now I was the one teaching those lions. I must never look weak. Never turn my back.
“The ultimate goal and direction of this class is for you—weak as you are—to grow stronger through understanding special abilities.”
Though honestly, I’m the weakest one here.
Fortunately, it seems like identifying the assassination attempts earlier—using the [●Name Tags] floating over their heads—worked. There are no cadets currently trying to kill me.
In the 【Script Window】, emotions toward me ranged from confusion and rage to fear and shock. But all those thoughts had one thing in common:
They were tense.
All the predators in this room.
Because of me.
‘...Huh.’
And then—it happened. Just as I was about to begin my first class, my mind suddenly went blank.
‘What was I supposed to say first?’
I hadn’t had much time, sure. But I had prepared.
I had a whole order to follow. But now, I couldn’t recall any of it.
‘Why can’t I remember anything...?’
And the problem was—there were still 45 minutes of class left.
All eyes were on me now. But the longer I stayed silent, the more puzzled their expressions became.
The growing suspicion in their eyes only made my mental whiteout worse.
‘Shit.’
I had to say something.
But what...?
As I just stood there, the mood in the room began to shift.
【 Assassination Dept. Year 1, Evelyn: ‘Why’s he just standing there?’ 】
【 Moonshadow Institute Year 1, Joaquin: ‘The fuck is this.’ 】
【 Assassination Dept. Year 1, Derek: ‘Maybe I should try assassinating him now.’ 】
I just opened my mouth and said whatever came to me.
“But before we begin the lecture...”
In the instant that followed, I reevaluated. Was this really okay to say?
But there was nothing else in my head.
“I, as your professor, am disappointed in the level of Hiaka’s Department of Assassination.”
For a moment, the room fell still.
They were confused by what I’d said.
“Today is my first day on the job. My first class. And from this morning until now, there have been ten cadets who tried to assassinate me. All of them failed.”
Honestly, even I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.
I just kept talking, slowly.
“Failure is expected. Just as a child can’t beat an adult, immature cadets like you could never take down a professor like me. But... not a single one of you made the effort.”
My voice came out icier than I expected. Forte and Joaquin’s faces stiffened even more.
“You've gotten used to killing half-assed professors with your half-assed skills, and now you don’t even realize you’re frogs stuck in a well. To think you’d try to assassinate me with such sloppy [Traps] and [Stealth]... What, did you think I came here to play tag with children?”
That was when a message appeared out of nowhere.
⧉ Tip: Raise your hand.
...What?
I did as it said and raised my hand.
Ping!
Holy shit—!
Something ricocheted off my hand and slammed into the desk.
A shuriken.
The fuck is wrong with this guy? Who throws a shuriken while the professor is lecturing?
【 Moonshadow Institute Year 1, Forte: ‘What the!?’ 】
【 Assassination Dept. Year 1, Derek: ‘He deflected Joaquin’s shuriken without even looking...!’ 】
【 Assassination Dept. Year 1, Evelyn: ‘That reflex speed is insane...’ 】
All the cadets were stunned.
I stared at the one who’d thrown the shuriken.
He turned his head stiffly.
【 Moonshadow Institute Year 1, Joaquin: ‘Ah, fuck...’ 】
It was that bastard again. The ringleader of the ambush squad.
I had nearly died. Again.
This whole damn place was a minefield. I forced my pounding heart down and spoke.
“Cadet.”
“...Yes?”
“What was I just saying?”
“That... you want us to take assassinations seriously...”
“Your posture while throwing the shuriken was needlessly big. Your speed was pathetically slow.”
“......”
“Your target zone was the neck—the thinnest part of the upper body. And your timing was terrible. After a string of assassinations, I’m naturally on edge for surprise attacks. You knew that, yet still went for it? Not even a sewer rat hunting a bug would act so brainless.”
“......”
He said nothing.
Just clenched his jaw in frustration.
“That’s twice now.”
I stared at him for a few seconds. Then spoke.
“You’re dropping the class.”
Joaquin froze in shock, and the cadets around the room gasped audibly.
Because it was a professor who said it.
I turned and looked across the lecture hall. This first class would set the tone for my relationship with these students. That’s why I’d prepared carefully.
And the memories I’d blanked on were slowly returning.
Now—I could teach.
“...If this class is going to be some sandbox game, I’ve got no interest in teaching it.”
But then my thoughts changed.
The cadets, who had been fidgeting with their textbooks, froze.
If the students showed this little willingness to learn, then the professor had another option.
“Today’s class is canceled.”
In the silence that crushed down on the room,
I turned and walked out of the lecture hall.