Career Counseling
Two days later, in the teachers' office.
Mizuki Nanae, the assistant homeroom teacher for class 2-B, was flustered by the major responsibility suddenly thrust upon her.
"Huh? Career counseling?"
"Well, you see, I'd do it myself if I could, but I just don't have the time."
Matsuda said, rubbing his scruffy chin. He patted her on the shoulder from his chair.
"Besides, Ms. Mizuki, you'll have to do career counseling for students eventually if you want to continue your teaching career, right? Think of this as practice and just give it a try. The counseling at the beginning of the semester isn't all that important anyway."
"Yes, of course..."
As the youngest and newest teacher in the office, "yes" was the only answer she could give.
In truth, it was only natural for her to handle the career counseling, given her lighter teaching load.
Matsuda, the school's only history teacher, had a packed schedule, teaching numerous classes and preparing lessons for different grade levels, which kept him extremely busy.
But accepting it logically and accepting it emotionally were two different things. Mizuki sat at her desk and let out a deep sigh at the burden that had been suddenly dropped on her.
'Alright! Since I have to do it, I might as well do it right! You can do this, Nanae!'
Steeling herself, she opened the attendance book for class 2-B.
The roster listed students from number 1 to 26 in hiragana order.
The photos used in the attendance book were typically taken during the first year, so the students looked slightly younger than they did now.
'Number 1, Aizawa Minami. Number 2, Akagi Shun…'
Three weeks had already passed since the new semester began, but she still hadn't memorized all her students' faces and names.
Still, she was trying her best. Maybe she'd have them all down by mid-May?
'Number 11, Sakamoto Ryuji…'
As she went down the list, matching faces to names, she quickly reached the last student.
He was the only one in the class whose name was written in katakana, which was why he was at the end of the roster.
'Kim Yu-seong.'
The ID photo must have been taken just a year ago, but in it, he wasn't the excessively muscular student he was now. He just looked like a boy who worked out a bit.
Seeing how he had transformed, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him in the span of a year.
Typically, the teacher's copy of the attendance book included special notes about each student.
Mizuki naturally read the description below Kim Yu-seong's photo and gasped out loud before she could stop herself.
"No way! The top of his grade?!"
Her sudden outburst drew the attention of the other teachers in the office.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
After a flurry of flustered apologies, she sat back down, took a deep breath, and continued reading the notes on Kim Yu-seong.
'Full scholarship recipient, previous year's freshman representative, has never lost the top rank in his grade since enrollment, student council secretary, very diligent class attitude, honestly there's nothing left to teach him…'
She wholeheartedly agreed with the last comment, which looked like it had been written by Mr. Matsuda, and fell into deep thought.
'Could the rumors circulating the academy be true? That he's the next-generation elite yakuza favored by a syndicate boss?'
Such rumors probably didn't start for no reason.
But on the surface, he was a model student, so there was likely nothing she could say to guide him.
For a teacher only three weeks into her career, he was a truly daunting student to deal with.
How could someone who could barely manage her own affairs be expected to counsel such a remarkable student?
As Mizuki sat in the teachers' office, wrestling with her thoughts, she realized she couldn't come up with an answer. So, she decided to just face it head-on.
'What the heck, it'll work out somehow!'
***
Wednesday, during the afternoon lunch break.
With Golden Week just around the corner, the atmosphere in the classroom was more buoyant than usual.
I had just returned from lunch with the student council members, whom I hadn't seen in about a week, when I saw the class president writing something in huge letters on the blackboard.
Career Counseling.
"Ah, it's already that time of year."
Karen, with whom I'd become somewhat close since the incident last Saturday, had come to our class to see Rika. She murmured this as she looked at the words on the board.
Career counseling. It had been a while since I'd heard that phrase.
To be honest, since coming to this manga world, I hadn't given much thought to the future.
Before I was isekai'd, I just went to a local engineering college based on my grades and ended up on the graduate student slave track. But with my current grades and physical abilities, I felt like I could succeed at whatever I chose to do.
"Ryuji, what's your dream?"
Rika's sudden question snapped me out of my thoughts.
"...I don't know. Maybe I'll just take over my parents' restaurant."
"Eh? That's so plain. I thought you were going to say 'the strongest man on earth' or something."
"What manga are you on about this time?"
As I gave her a look of disbelief, Rika said, "Look at this," and showed me the copy of Jump she was reading.
A man made of pure muscle stood in a desolate landscape, his right fist raised high.
"It's a new fighting series that just came out. It's really good, you should definitely read it!"
"...Sure."
Karen, who had been listening to our pointless conversation, then asked.
"Come to think of it, you said your family runs a restaurant, Yu-seong. What exactly do you serve?"
"Yakiniku and all sorts of Korean food. Other than that, simple dishes customers request."
"Hoh, so your cooking skills are genetic."
Karen nodded in understanding, perched on the edge of a desk.
Even though she was wearing spats under her skirt, her defenseless posture made it hard to know where to look.
"Come by sometime when you're free. You're a friend, so I'll treat you well."
"That's right! The dish Yu-seong's mom made, chonggukjang, was super delicious!"
"Chong...?"
"It's not what you think, Karen. Relax."
I brought Karen back to her senses from her momentary cat-like-seeing-the-universe expression, then glanced at the clock on the wall.
While we were busy chatting, the lunch break had almost come to an end.
Kids from other classes who had dropped by were starting to head back, so we said our goodbyes to Karen.
"Well, good luck with your counseling."
"Yeah, you too, Karen."
~♪
Soon, the familiar chime echoed from the speakers, signaling the start of the fifth period.
***
At Ichijo Academy, the fifth and sixth periods on Wednesdays were designated for self-development.
Usually, this time was for self-study, but it was also used for time-consuming activities outside of regular classes, like career counseling or special lectures from outside speakers.
Just as the class president had written on the board during lunch, today was for career counseling. As soon as the fifth period began, students were called one by one, starting from the front of the roster, to the second-year teachers' office.
'So I guess I'm last.'
Since I didn't really have anything to study, I started reading the copy of Jump that Rika had passed to me, calculating the remaining time.
From what I'd observed so far, each student took a minimum of five minutes and a maximum of eight. It was inevitable that some conversations would run long, even if they tried to keep it brief.
But with a total of 26 students in the class, even if each was given an average of five minutes, it would take 150 minutes in total.
Even using up the ten-minute breaks between periods, there wasn't enough time, which meant some students would inevitably get a more rushed session.
"Sakamoto, you're next."
By the time it was number 11 Sakamoto's turn, the fifth period had ended and the sixth had just begun.
My turn would come in about 80 minutes at the earliest, which meant I would inevitably be late for my after-school activity starting in the seventh period.
I didn't want to hear it from the President or Vice President, so I figured I'd head to the student council room after the sixth period to let them know I'd be late because of career counseling.
***
"Right. With your grades, you can definitely get into the university you're aiming for. I'll be cheering for you, so let's do our best together."
"Yes!"
After a grueling battle of nearly two hours, Mizuki finished the career counseling session with attendance number 25, Yaguchi Maiya. She leaned against her desk, utterly exhausted.
'It's already 3:10. Seventh period is about to start.'
Only one student remained.
But from the perspective of a rookie teacher like Mizuki, he was nothing short of the final boss.
'You can do it, Nanae! You can do it!'
She slapped her own cheeks to steel her resolve and stared intently at the door to the teachers' office, where Kim Yu-seong would soon enter.
Presently, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
*Drrrk!*
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, it felt as if the temperature in the office dropped by three degrees.
"W-Welcome."
Mizuki raised her head, trying her best to greet him with a smile.
'Huh? Huh? Huh?'
But her head kept tilting up, and up, and up.
She had only ever seen him from her spot at the podium, and she was taken aback by how much taller he was than she had imagined. He slowly approached her desk.
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Mizuki couldn't tell if the pounding in her ears was her own heartbeat or the sound of Kim Yu-seong's heavy footsteps.
One thing was certain: her past self had known nothing.
'Impossiiiiible!'
She wanted to run away right then and there.