Academy's Silver Gatekeeper

Chapter 1

The life of a low-level civil servant is miserable. The salary is almost laughably low, but the workload is overwhelming. If a complaint comes in, you have to handle it, even if it’s in the middle of the night. If the complainer acts out, you can’t lose your temper. If your superior yells at you, you become their punching bag. If they give you more work, you become their slave.

But the worst part? This life wasn’t even one I chose.

Baek Seojin. An employee of the Superpower Assessment Department. Below average as a civil servant. Below average as a superpowered individual. The kind of person who’d make a perfect extra in the background.

That’s me. To be precise, that’s who I became.

“Seojin, there’s a dispatch request for you.”  

“What? Me? Why me?”  

“Who else but you? Is there anyone else in this department?”

There are plenty of other people, though. Why me, of all people? I wanted to throw the resignation letter I’d been keeping in my bag at them.

I wanted to, but with rent coming up next week, I bit my tongue. Even after being transported into another life, I couldn’t escape financial struggles.

Other people possess dukes or chaebols. If I had known this would happen, I would’ve read a fantasy novel.

“Where am I being sent? It’s not a daycare again, is it…?”  

“The Academy. A position just right for someone like you opened up.”  

“What about the person sent two weeks ago? Didn’t they fill it already?”  

“They’re in the hospital.”

They went to an educational institution and ended up hospitalized? What does that even mean?

“Why are you still standing there? Get ready.”

I wanted to ask why, how, and where they got hurt. It felt like my survival depended on knowing. But my boss cut me off with a curt dismissal. What a bastard.

Before leaving their sight, I activated the skill given as my transmigration perk, “The Third Eye.”

? Lee Chungin  

A typical asshole.

? Details  

Increases hostility in others with every word spoken.

Of course, he was an asshole.

…

[Breaking News: A series of gates has opened in the Seongnam City, Bundang District area….]  

[Retired superhumans are demanding improved treatment for injured personnel….]

Humans are said to be creatures of adaptation. I was no exception. There was a time when I screamed at the absurdity of it all.

Now, even if a gate opened nearby, I remained indifferent. News of a pay cut for civil servants bothered me far more. I didn’t see a way back to my world, so surviving here was my only option.

These days, I dreaded complainants and bosses more than monsters or villains. At least with the latter, their intentions were clear. With the former, not so much. And while I could run from monsters, there was no escaping the others.

“Damn this civil-servant life.”

I cursed my past self again. If I’d known, I would’ve read villain-revenge novels instead.

[Next stop: Academy Station, Academy Station.]

The start of my glorious forced assignment. I could only hope to get through today safely and leave on time.

As I exited the train, a group of students, presumably from the Academy, got off as well.

Lucky them. Some of us lack talent and get stuck in civil service. Those kids are probably living bright lives as heroes, courted by clans and whatnot.

It stung. For someone who had possessed a body, I had no extraordinary talent to speak of. In the novels I’d read, people usually had hidden potential or powerful families. The character I’d become? None of that applied.

At least I had one perk: The Third Eye. But even that wasn’t enough to accomplish anything remarkable.

“Better hurry.”

Being late on the first day would earn me a terrible reputation. After walking for ten minutes past the station, I spotted the Academy gates.

I presented my ID to the guard at the entrance.

“Where are you from?”

The guard’s slightly tense expression caught my eye. If I said, “I’m here for an inspection,” would they faint? Relax, I’m not from that department. I’m just a low-level worker.

“I’m from the Superpower Assessment Department. I’ve been assigned here.”  

“One moment, please. Assessment Department… Ah, found it.”

The guard’s face brightened for a moment, then gradually shifted into something… odd.

“Oh… you must be the new ranking examiner. Oh dear….”

Why the long sigh? And why that pitiful look?

“Welcome to the Academy, Baek Seojin. The faculty office is on the second floor, straight ahead.”  

“Thank you. Good luck with your work.”  

“Oh no, you’ll need more luck than me.”

What was with the ominous tone? If no one had been waiting behind me, I would’ve asked.

Inside the Academy, it was grander than I’d imagined. Apparently, the budget for building it was equivalent to a year’s national defense budget.

Some joked that money had been slathered on like cement. It didn’t seem like a joke anymore.

“Superhumans are society’s elite,” they said. The Academy certainly lived up to that.

Even the staff at the gates weren’t soldiers or police but superhumans. The faculty were all superhumans, too. Even the janitorial staff had powers.

No wonder villains constantly targeted the Academy but never succeeded. The defenses were overwhelming. Send in just anyone, and they’d get beaten up by the cleaning lady.

Why was I sent to such a terrifying place? No matter how I thought about it, nothing good seemed to lie ahead….

“Hey! Watch out!”

Hearing the shout, I instinctively dove to the ground. Overreacting? Hardly. This reflex has saved me more than five times already.

Sure enough, my instincts didn’t fail me.

Whoosh—!

A fireball passed exactly where my head had been two seconds earlier. Starting my assignment with a life-threatening incident—how fitting. The wildest part was wondering if this would qualify as a workplace injury.

As I dusted myself off, someone ran toward me.

“I-I’m so sorry!!”

It was a trembling female student, bowing her head repeatedly.

“I was careless! I’m really sorry! Are you hurt?”  

“No, I’m fine. It didn’t even graze me, so don’t worry too much.”

The Academy was said to house only the elite among South Korea’s superhumans. I’d heard most of them were incredibly arrogant and insufferable.

‘That must’ve been an exaggeration.’

This seemed right. Who would act cocky after almost hurting someone?

“What are you doing apologizing? That guy walked into the training area.”

…Turns out, some people can act cocky. And this one’s a tattooed thug.

- Activating The Third Eye.

? Park Junwoo  

Tattooed creep who wants women.

? Details  

Women instinctively frown upon seeing him.

Wow. The accuracy is uncanny. The possession perk really delivers.

“Excuse me. You can’t just walk into the training area like that. Don’t you see the signs?”

The Tattooed Thug, Park Junwoo pointed toward a sign in the area.

[Caution: Training Area. Risk of Injury.]

Seriously? If it's that dangerous, couldn’t they at least put up a fence or something? The path led straight here. How was I supposed to know it was a training ground?

I’d cursed him out in my mind multiple times already.

But unfortunately, I wasn’t just anyone right now. I was a civil servant with a duty to serve the people.

“My apologies. It’s my first day at the Academy.”  

“…Are you a professor?”  

“No, I’m here as a dispatched civil servant.”  

“Oh. Just a lowly civil servant.”

This bastard. Even this kind of punk looks down on me now? But there’s nothing I can do. That’s just how society works.

Superhumans with exceptional talents are treated like elites. Especially those skilled enough to enter the Academy—those people have guaranteed futures. Even a tattooed thug like this guy can become a prized match if his abilities are good enough.

A dirty world that only values superpowers!

Getting into a fight here would only hurt me. A brawl between a civil servant and a superhuman Academy student? Even I’d side with the student in that case. And if I got into a fight, I’d immediately get yelled at for not maintaining the “dignity” of my position.

Ignoring any potential taunts about cowardice, I headed for the faculty office. As I walked, a few students eyed me with curiosity, only to immediately avert their gaze when they noticed the ID around my neck.

Why was the image of civil servants so bad here? And why had the original owner of this body done nothing about it? I was seriously considering quitting as I reached the faculty office.

After a quick introduction, they asked me to wait. It felt like they were about to bring in a superior. Oh, how I wanted to go home already.

“Are you Baek Seojin?”

I looked up to see a stunning woman standing before me. I jumped to my feet—not because she was a woman, but because of the name tag on her chest.

“Hello, Lord Han—”  

“Just call me Professor. That’s fine here.”

The woman seated across from me with a smile was none other than Han Jiyoon, one of Korea’s five S-rank superhumans. She was also the head of one of the world’s top five clans, earning her the title “Lord.”

She was someone who could hold her head high anywhere in the world. From what I’d heard, she even received state-level receptions. It was an achievement she’d accomplished in her twenties, and of course, she had countless fans.

I’d recently seen news of her unexpectedly applying to become an Academy professor.

So yesterday, when people heard I was being dispatched to the Academy, some were envious.

“Stop spouting nonsense,” I’d snapped at them. “Do you really think someone like her would bother showing her face for a low-level civil servant? If I even see her, it’ll be a miracle.”

“Welcome to the Academy.”

Yet here she was. Surprise! Maybe I owed those people an apology.

“You seem very surprised.”  

“Oh, yes. Honestly… it doesn’t feel real yet.”  

“Are you surprised that I came out to meet you in person?”

I nodded reflexively at Han Jiyoon’s question.

Globally, there were fewer than a hundred S-rank superhumans. One of them, Han Jiyoon, had come to personally greet a lowly civil servant? If this got out, there’d be no shortage of people coming to strangle me out of jealousy. Even now, there were plenty of curious eyes watching from beyond the room.

“That makes sense. It is surprising. But I had no other choice.”  

“I don’t follow. What do you mean?”

Han Jiyoon offered a faint smile, then handed me some documents.

“What’s this?”  

“Take a look first. You can ask questions afterward.”

An ominous feeling crept over me as I cautiously examined the papers.

By the time I was halfway through, I understood everything.

“You bastards.”

My department had sent me as a sacrificial lamb.