The Devil Instructor in the Back Row

The iron bars of the cage opened fully with a loud clang.

SCREEAAAAGH!

The Berserker Imp leaped out. Its body stood two meters tall, with blistered red muscles and claws as long as meat cleavers that glistened filthily. It smelled like rotten eggs burned on asphalt.

This was a 'Gatekeeper' monster for Level 10 Players in the game.
Lukas was Level 5. Sylvia was Level 7.
Me? Level 1 (with Tissue-Paper Defense).

"Get ready!" Lukas shouted. He charged forward without hesitation, his steel sword flowing with a thin golden aura. Typical hot-blooded Shonen protagonist: punch first, strategize later.

BOOM!

The clash occurred. Lukas held back the Imp's claws with his sword, but the difference in physical strength caused his feet to drag backward, creating a small trench in the classroom floor.

"Ugh! So heavy!" Lukas complained.

"Move, you idiot!" Behind him, Sylvia swung her short magic staff. "Ice Lance!"

An ice spear the size of an adult's arm shot toward the Imp's head.
But the Imp tilted its neck with unnatural speed. The ice spear only grazed its cheek, leaving a shallow wound that immediately hissed due to the monster's body heat.

The Imp roared, kicking Lukas until he bounced off a steel desk, then turned to target Sylvia.

"Tch," Sylvia clicked her tongue, erecting a protective ice wall.

While that chaos was happening, where was Amon Von Zeroth?

I was standing leaning casually near the blackboard, far from the reach of the monster's claws. My arms were crossed, and my face showed an expression of being bored to death.
Even though, inside, I was screaming: WHY IS A TIER-2 IMP IN THE REAL WORLD 30% FASTER THAN IN THE GAME?! WHAT KIND OF DAMN PATCH NOTE IS THIS?!

Viktor's system on the podium blared through the speakers: "Seven minutes left! If you fail, an E grade awaits!"

Lukas stood up, wiping blood from his lip. He stared at me sharply. "Zeroth! What are you doing?! Help us attack!"

I rolled my eyes.
"Help?" I chuckled, a sound I curated to sound annoying. "Why should I dirty my hands for a small-fry monster like this? Aren't you a candidate for 'Hero'? Show your worth, Bright."

"You bastard—!"

WHOOSH.

Lukas nearly lost his head. The Imp attacked when he was distracted. Fortunately, Sylvia fired a freezing wind that slowed the Imp's movement for a split second.

"Don't fight when the enemy is in front of your eyes!" Sylvia shouted, her breathing becoming irregular. "He's immune to normal ice! His skin radiates Sulfuric heat!"

I analyzed the battle from afar.
My heart raced. Think, Amon. Think.

In Cise of Blood, the Berserker Imp had a 4-step attack pattern: Right Claw -> Left Claw -> Bite -> And 'Tail Whip'.
But the biggest problem was Regeneration. This monster had a secondary Fire Heart on its back. If that wasn't cooled down, any wound would heal.

Sylvia's ice attacks weren't working because she was shooting randomly. And Lukas was too busy withstanding physical attacks.

If I didn't do something, we would all die. But if I stepped forward using magic, I would cough up blood and my secret would be exposed.
So, I had to be the 'Conductor'.

"So noisy," my voice cut through the noise of the battle. Calm, authoritative, and cold.

Lukas and Sylvia turned briefly.

"You fight like panicked wild boars," Amon insulted, taking two steps forward—a safe distance I had already calculated.

"Bright," I called without looking at him, my eyes locked on the Imp. "Left knee. In three seconds, he will shift his center of gravity."

Lukas was confused. "Huh?"

The Imp roared and lunged. Its movements were exactly like the database in my brain. It raised its right leg to claw, putting all its body weight on its left knee.

"NOW!" I snapped.

Lukas's warrior instinct took over. Without thinking, he dropped down, slashing horizontally towards the monster's left knee.

CRASH! "GWAAARGH!"

The prediction was 100% accurate. The Imp's knee wobbled, causing it to lose balance and fall to its knees with a loud thud.

"Frosheim!" I switched to Sylvia. "Not the head. You think its brain is there? Back. Third vertebra from the neck. The heat point is there. Shoot with 'Compressed Ice', not a stupid large spear."

Sylvia was stunned. The advice was very specific. But she had no time to argue.
She concentrated her mana. A small but extremely dense ice needle formed at the tip of her staff.

"Go!"

Shooot. The ice needle shot straight, embedding itself exactly in the spot on the Imp's back Amon mentioned.

PSSSHHHHT! The sound of hot iron dipped in water was heard.
The Imp screamed, a scream far more painful than before. The fire on its skin extinguished instantly. Its regeneration stopped.

"Amazing," Sylvia muttered, her eyes twinkling with shock.

"Don't space out, Fool!" I shouted, breaking their awe. "Its right side is open. Finish it."

Lukas didn't need to be told twice. He jumped, stepped on a desk, and plunged his sword into the chest of the monster whose regeneration was now paralyzed.

The sword pierced the heart.
The Imp convulsed once, twice... then collapsed dead, turning into black ash.

Silence returned to cover the wrecked classroom.

"Done..." Lukas panted, his sword smeared with black blood. He stared at the corpse, then turned to me. His eyes were full of questions. "How... how did you know its attack pattern?"

Sylvia also stared at me. The sharp gaze of an academic. "Third vertebra. That's the location of the Hell variant Imp's secondary heart. That is material only taught in the 3rd year. How did you know?"

Damn.
I showed off too much knowledge.

I straightened my jacket collar which wasn't messy at all. I had to maintain my frame.

"You guys..." I snorted, staring at the two of them as if looking at dirt on a shoe. "You wait until the 3rd year to learn the basic anatomy of enemies? Pathetic."

I turned around, walking back to my seat.
"The Zeroth family has been killing creatures like this for breakfast since we could walk. Don't compare your 'Genius' standards with ours."

Big lie. The real Amon didn't even know how to tie his own shoelaces.

[Lie Successful!]
[Sylvia de Frosheim: Amazed & Increasingly Suspicious (+10 Interest)]
[Lukas Bright: Feeling Insecure & Motivated (+5 Rivalry)]

At the podium, Professor Viktor clapped slowly.
"Beautiful. Very beautiful." He jumped down. "Teamwork that was... dysfunctional but effective."

Viktor walked closer to me, looking straight into my eyes.
"Mr. Zeroth. You didn't expend a single drop of Mana. You only gave orders. Are you underestimating my class?"

My left chest throbbed painfully. Actually, the adrenaline from the fight earlier triggered my Mana Poisoning a bit. My throat tasted salty—blood would rise any moment now. I had to end this fast and go to the toilet.

"A king does not need to draw a sword to kill rats, Professor," I replied softly, swallowing the salty taste in my mouth. "I am simply saving energy for more real threats."

Viktor grinned widely, showing his yellow teeth. "Arrogant. I like that. Grade A for Team 1. Now clean up this mess."

The bell rang. Sign of the lesson ending.
A survivor's paradise.

I stood up slowly, making sure my legs didn't tremble.
"I have other business," I said to Lukas and Sylvia without waiting for a response, then walked quickly out of the class.

I held my upright posture throughout the corridor.
I passed crowds of students staring at me with fear.

Kept walking. Entered the nearest men's toilet. Entered the furthest stall. Locked the door.

Only then did my defense crumble.

"Cough! HACK!"

Fresh blood sprayed from my mouth into the toilet bowl.
My hands gripped the cold porcelain tightly.
Just with 'Fighting Intent' and the rapid analysis earlier, my heartbeat spurred the clogged mana flow, injuring the surrounding blood vessels.

This body was truly trash.
I wiped my lip with a pocket tissue. Red.

"Damn..." I chuckled weakly, looking at my reflection in the water. "Just one class. How can I survive until the afternoon?"

Suddenly, a soft knock was heard on my toilet stall door.

Knock. Knock.

My heart stopped.
This is the men's toilet. Who is knocking?

"Amon Zeroth..."
A woman's voice. Smooth, melodious, but possessing a familiar cold tone.

Sylvia? What is she doing in the men's toilet?!

"I know you're inside," Sylvia continued from behind the door. "I smell blood."

Amon's eyes widened.
Damn it. The Frosheim family were ice monster hunters. Their sense of smell towards blood—especially blood containing mana—was extremely sharp.

"Come out," she ordered softly, her tone not a threat, but an obsessive curiosity. "You weren't injured by the Imp earlier. So, whose blood is that?"

I was trapped in a men's toilet, with a bloody mouth, and a Yandere-in-training Heroine waiting outside the door demanding an explanation.

Option A: Admit sickness. (She will tell the school -> I get expelled for being weak).

Option B: Bluffing again.

I took a deep breath, drank a bottle of water from my pocket inventory (leftover lunch), gargled, and swallowed it back (disgusting, but necessary to eliminate evidence)
I opened the stall door roughly.

Sylvia stood there, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. She was indeed beautiful, but terrifying.

I stared at her sharply, then smiled crookedly—showing teeth that were now clean.

"Peeping on men in the toilet, Princess Frosheim?" I stepped forward, cornering her against the sink. "I didn't know you had a hobby... sexy like this."

Sylvia's face reddened slightly, but she didn't back down. Her eyes scanned my body.
"Don't change the subject. That smell of blood—"

"A rat," I cut in. I lifted my hand which was dirty (slightly touched by blood when coughing earlier but I hid it behind my jacket sleeve). "There was a rat that dared to enter my territory. I squeezed it a little too hard."

I leaned my face in, looking right into her blue eyes.
"Why? Are you worried about me?"

Silence swept through the men's toilet. Our position was very ambiguous.
Sylvia stared at me for a long time, searching for a lie.
Finally, she snorted.

"Don't dream. I'm just making sure you don't die before I can defeat you with my own hands."

She turned around and walked out, her heels clicking clack-clack-clack on the tiled floor.
But before she truly left, she stopped.

"Zeroth. Your advice about the third vertebra earlier... That saved my life. Thank you."

And she disappeared.

I leaned against the tiled wall, sliding down slowly until my butt touched the floor.
"This is really bad," I whispered to the dirty toilet ceiling.
"She's starting to care."

And in this genre, when a Yandere starts to care... that's when the dungeon prison starts being built.