Paradise of Infinity: 331 (Patreon)

Title: The Problem Student

A figure walks up the mountain with swaying red hair. The boy stops by the short slope leading to the Class 3-E’s field. Conspicuous as his hair is, the black blazer on his body also doesn’t conform to the school’s uniform. Nik, Ray, Koro, and all others stop, glancing at the boy.

“Yo, Nagisa,” the boy laughs as the wind sways past him.

Other students reveal surprised expressions while Nik glances at Ray.

“Wait, why did we all stop?” Revy questions as she glances at the boy before shrugging. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll be killing time in the faculty room.” She saunters away after having her fill inside Koro’s shooting range. It was like a theme park for her and most likely the only highlight of the trip.

Except for Ignit, maybe.

In everyone’s defense, Dragons WILL always be cooler than assassination-training-themed shooting range!

“New teachers?” The boy snickers. “That one must be Miss Foreigner.”

Revy stops since the red-haired kid speaks English. She glances at him again before nodding, “Name’s Revy.”

‘Oh? She’s surprisingly calm,’ Nik blinks in surprise before realizing the magic of Koro’s shooting range. He HAS to commission Koro to restructure his personal world! A proper infrastructure will help girls like the Ty Sisters not rely on him for their sole entertainment. That’s why resentment and discontentment bloom in the first place—heavy dependence.

Dependence leads to false expectations and its unfulfillment births resentment.

“Then you are the predator,” the boy glances at Nik, his words making the latter deadpan. He steps down the slope. The boy looks at the sweetly smiling Ray, “You’re the cosplaying freak experiencing an existential crisis.”

He smiles at Tadaomi, “the agent.”

Soon, he stands inches away from Korosensei. Fear is the last thing reflecting the boy’s expression as he beams. “You must be Korosensei!”

Korosensei’s face turns red as steam blows out.

“I know! You’re Karma Akabane. You cannot report to the school late!”

Karma snickers.

“Sorry, sorry,” he grins. “I’ve been suspended for a long time and forgot all about the time. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Korosensei. I will have a fun time killing you~!”

Hansel and Gretel blink before they glance at each other.

Karma takes out a hand from his pockets and extends it to Koro.

Koro smiles back and shakes the youth’s palm—

*Splat*

Koro’s palm explodes.

*Swish*

Cold wind blows as everyone stares silently. Karma’s laughter spreads as he points his palm at Koro.

“It works? I thought those agents were pulling my leg! Haha! You really went splat!”

On Karma’s palm are glued pieces of Anti-Sensei Knife.

But Karma soon notices something strange. He looks around while one of the boys questions.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t fall for the same trick thrice, Sensei?”

Korosensei glances at his regenerated palm, questioning the ways of life. He stops Karma with a single padded paw planted on the boy’s forehead before he can slash again.

“Same trick?” Karma blinks, looking around.

“Well, it’s technically four times,” the predator, ehm—Nik, speaks. “I did it twice.”

“That’s right,” Meg nods.

“So, Sensei fell for the same trick four times.”

*Swish*

Cold wind blows again.

<<<>>>

“So, you teach young children how to seduce adults? That’s pretty scummy, Nik-Sensei.”

A voice emerges during Nik’s class. The teacher sighs. He already knows how many times Karma disrupted Koro’s sessions. However, Nik glances at the standing Nagisa. “Continue.”

“Did my words hit the nail?” Karma interrupts again. “You could send me out of the classroom as a punishment.”

Nik quietly looks at Nagisa, who nods after a second and continues. “It’s as you said, Nik-Sensei. All I did was merely listen to their problems once. They tried seeking me out again.”

Others attentively listen as Nik nods. Nagisa is the quickest one in the classroom to try ‘seducing’ a classmate from the main school building. It wasn’t anything sexual but emotional interactions. Of course, Tadaomi continues to surveil the classroom from behind Nik, not having any opinion as the latter smiles.

“Wonderful, Nagisa. Now you have the superpower of listening. Not many possess this power. So, I trust you to use it responsibly.”

“Like you, Sensei?” Karma laughs. “You’ve ignored me for a few minutes already.”

“That’s because I was attending Nagisa,” Nik replies, gesturing to the blue-haired boy to sit. He glances at Karma and smiles at the youth. “You don’t like authority, is that it, Karma?”

Karma grows silent as Nik questions. “May I continue? Or do you have something to add to the classroom? Now is your chance. You have my attention.”

Tadaomi quietly assesses Nik. No matter how annoying a student is, a Teacher is not allowed to physically assault them. Of course, Tadaomi feels the most danger from Revy. She is a loose canon in every sense of the word.

Karma scoffs while placing his feet on the table.

“Continuing,” Nik glances at Hansel and Gretel. “You two are experienced. I won’t go back into your past. I understand it doesn’t bother you, and you two have moved on.”

The twins blink in surprise before grinning at once.

“Thanks,” Gretel chirps. “The nightmares were so horrible until my brother held me.”

“Of course, my sister,” Hansel beams.

Nik nods, “Tell me about it. Nightmares are the most annoying part. Still, do you two have any—”

“Why are you talking to them as if you understand those two weirdos?” Karma interjects again. Hansel and Gretel suddenly point at each other. “Hehe, he called you a weirdo!”

They freeze before snapping.

“Aha! Jinx!”

“No, it’s you!”

“Enough, girls,” Nik stops them with an amused smirk. Hansel’s expression freezes before ‘he’ cautiously glances at their teacher. Their Sister Ray did say Nik isn’t normal.

“What was that, Karma?” Nik looks at the boy.

“You heard me,” Karma smiles.

“First,” Nik scolds. “Calling your classmates weirdos isn’t right. By Kunugigaoka High’s definition, Class 3-E only has what you call yourself. Second, I don’t understand Hansel and Gretel. I cannot imagine how they can kill strangers on contract. It’s certainly due to their past, but that doesn’t give them rights on human life.”

He leans against his desk and chuckles. “But I’m not here to judge. Past exists as a reminder.”

Nik stops speaking as he dazes off.

“Sensei?” A boy calls out.

“Hmm? Oh? Where was I?” Nik blinks and questions.

“Something about how the past exists as a reminder,” Karma scoffs, intrigued at what this ‘skull’ can share.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Gretel inquires as Nik sighs and grumbles. “Something like that.”

Other students don’t catch his drift, but the twins nod and share an understanding look. Nik’s words from before didn’t offend them. They instead trusted his candid attitude and appreciated his ability to overlook their dark past.

“Yes. The past is a reminder to prevent the same mistakes, not wallow in them.” Nik shows interest in Karma. “Everyone, observe Karma. Your victims will turn out like him if you act irresponsibly with my teachings.”

Suddenly, every gaze gathers on Karma. The youth frowns.

“What Karma experienced was someone’s seduction,” Nik smiles and crosses his arms. “What did I teach everyone? Seduction is not lust but trust. Trust is always the mightiest weapon. Someone abused Karma’s trust, making him hate. You all are lucky. He is a textbook demonstration.”

“There is a textbook about seduction?” A boy snickers. “Are there images?”

“It’s called pornography,” Hansel shrugs. “I can link you some gruesome—”

“Enough,” Tadaomi instantly cuts that interaction.

“As I was saying,” Nik continues. “Someone seduced Karma’s trust. That is the first stage. What you did to Korosensei was somewhat similar, Nagisa. But you did not abuse Koro’s trust. You used Koro’s routine against him. The second stage is achieving one’s goal. What’s your motive to seduce someone? To love? To kill? Would you be dear to tell us what your abuser’s motive was, Karma?”

Karma remains silent.

“Is loving someone wrong?” A girl questions, feeling slightly lost.

“Of course not,” Nik shakes his head. “Abusing their trust is. Seduction is merely one of the methods to gain said trust. What you do with it differentiates and makes you as a person.”

*Khhhkkk*

Karma pushes back on the chair as it drags against the wooden floor.

“This subject isn’t in the school’s curriculum, right?” Karma smirks. “I’m leaving.”

Nik nods.

“You may leave.”

Karma snorts and exits the class before questioning, “Does anybody else want to leave?”

Hansel and Gretel raise their hands.

“We already know this stuff, Nik-Sensei? We want to leave!”

“Nope,” Nik scoffs. “Ray asked me to take care of you two.”

The twins visibly brighten before getting comfortable with foolish smirks.

Being taken care of…

—Is surprisingly a pleasant sensation.

Nik continues teaching the class after Karma’s departure. He’s already here. So, Nik figured he might try offering some of his experience. Won’t it be awesome if a murderer like himself can keep at least one kid from doing something as stupid as him?

As he said before, the past doesn’t excuse the present.

So, Nik doesn’t have any excuses. He doesn’t have the cheek to say how he confused the triplets or how it was all in a world that possibly doesn’t exist.

It happened.

End of story.

‘Nyufufu,’ Secretly observing the classroom, Koro muses internally. ‘It’s not one but two problem children. Although Nik tried calmly dealing with Karma professionally, the latter got to him. However, Nik also retaliated. A teacher should never publicly expose a student’s weakness like that. But won’t I be doing the same if I lecture Nik? So? How am I going to deal with this?’

Excitement bubbles in Korosensei’s mind instead of worry.

Problems ALWAYS excited him… after big-titty porn.

‘Also, I’m going to shut down the dark web. Half the reason why Hansel and Gretel aren’t studying is because they spend hours searching for the best single RPG launcher in the area.’

Shutting down the underground sector of the tertiary economy is SIMPLE!

All Koro has to do is threaten to kill another leader.

Boom.

Suddenly, the world accepts his demands.

***

Alternate Title: Karma Time; The Mysterious Appearance; Revy: Why isn’t Anybody Moving?; Not The Sensei Falling For the Same Trick Thrice; The Fourth Time; Sensei Has a Feeling of Emptiness; Whoosh; The Predator, The Pervert, and the Alien—Not All of them Are Nik; Nik: Joke’s On You. I’m Not a Predator! *Ray: Sigh. That’s Not The Meme*; Also Ray After Getting Called a Perv: Haha! The joke’s on You. I’m into that shit!; The Seduction Arts; Nik About To Work His Way To Hogwarts; Dismantling a Kid; The Twin Sisters; The Chirpy Girls; Angst; Understanding Nightmares; Nik’s Denial; Past Does Not Change; The Past Not Justify The Present

***

Karma Akabane