The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 14

First floor of the Hunter Management Bureau.
Though the hour was late, the hallway blazed with light.
At the corridor’s end, a pristine white wall.
Suddenly, an enormous zipper materialized across it.
Zzzzzip—
The zipper tore open, cleaving the wall.
“Come on through.”
Bisoo scurried out through the zipper with quick, hurried steps.
Lee Won followed, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
The moment both of them had cleared the corridor, the zipper vanished without a trace.
Lee Won swept his gaze across the Hunter Management Bureau’s hallway, then withdrew from his subspace a Magic Stone no larger than his thumbnail.
“Here.”
As Lee Won handed it over, Bisoo bowed deeply and extended both hands in reception.
“Oh!”
He took the Magic Stone carefully between thumb and forefinger, then broke into a grin.
“I wonder what something like this goes for~”
Humming to himself, Bisoo turned the Magic Stone over in his hands.
Lee Won chuckled softly and began walking down the corridor.

[Director’s Office]

He came to a halt not far ahead.
Knock, knock.
A crisp rap on the door, and a voice from within bade him enter.
Lee Won pushed open the door and stepped inside, where the Director rose from behind his desk to greet him warmly.
“Well, well! Lee Won, our esteemed hunter! Back already?”
“Yes. I came to give you a brief report.”
He smiled faintly as he spoke.
For A-rank Gates and above, written reports were standard protocol, though oral debriefings were sometimes conducted instead.
Usually it was hunters looking to make an impression on the Director who chose this method.
Lee Won preferred written reports.
He had no further need to curry favor with the Director, and he despised wasting time. His reason for seeking him out today was something else entirely.
“That concludes the report.”
Lee Won finished his account of the Gate operation.
“Well done! Eight hours to clear an A-rank Gate—truly worthy of our Baek Guild leader~ I’ll contact the press first thing tomorrow!”
The Director laughed with satisfaction, and Lee Won offered an awkward smile before broaching the real matter at hand.
“But Director, there’s the matter of that Creature Pelcon that appeared in Seocho while I was away.”
The Director’s smile froze, cracks appearing across his composure.
“Ah, you mean that one?”
The Director’s face grew uncomfortable as he pressed his lips together.
Then he laughed awkwardly, as though trying to brush past the subject.
“Well, it was handled without major incident. No need to worry about it.”
His expression betrayed something reluctant, something strained.
‘There’s definitely something more to this.’
Lee Won pressed further without backing down.
“I heard it was eliminated in thirty minutes—has a new S-rank Awakener emerged?”
Currently, only three S-rank Awakeners were officially recognized in South Korea. With Lee Ha-je’s death, only two remained.
If a new S-rank had been awakened, it would be worthy of an urgent announcement.
The Director’s office should have been buzzing with celebration.
His current response was clearly laden with meaning.
“Not exactly a new Awakener…”
The Director’s voice trailed off, and Lee Won sealed his lips, waiting for the rest.
As Lee Won’s silent pressure bore down, the Director finally exhaled a long breath and broke his silence.
“This is classified, so it absolutely cannot leak out.”
“Of course.”
Lee Won nodded in acknowledgment.
The Director wiped his forehead with an anxious expression, then began to speak slowly.
“…As you know well, things have become much more difficult for Hub City defense since Ha-je became like that.”
Lee Won answered with silence instead of words.
“So….”
The Director lowered his voice and whispered.
“The Association President went to the Underground Prison.”
“…!”
Lee Won answered a beat too late.
“…The Underground Prison?”
‘The Association President went to the Underground Prison.’
Not a single Hunter would fail to understand what the Director had just said.
The Hunter penal facility in the Underground.
There were many A-rank criminal Hunters confined there, but few possessed the power to subdue a Creature Pelcon so easily.
‘Then….’
All that remained was the interrogator who managed every last one of those criminal Hunters.
Mirror had surfaced to the world above.
“That’s right—the reckless bastard Mirror came out. I understand why you’re worried. I get it.”
The Director, gazing at Lee Won’s rigid face, added a few more muttering words.
“He’s always been peculiar, always. One Pelcon, and he destroyed every car on the road until they were total wrecks! He makes the mess, and I have to clean it up. This is ridiculous.”
“…….”
“The Association President was reckless too. Even if the situation was urgent, you don’t pull a calamity from its cage with your own hands.”
At the Director’s continued words, Lee Won’s gaze settled into quiet calm.
“He was sent to the Academy supposedly to nurture younger talent, but I’m afraid he’ll end up corrupting them instead.”
The Director clicked his tongue.
‘So he went to the place Ha-je used to oversee, after all.’
Lee Won, who had been quiet for a moment, was about to open his mouth when his gaze stopped on empty space beside the sofa.
‘…Anyway.’
The moment Lee Won swallowed a sigh.
Brring-brring-brring—
The Director’s phone on the table rang.
“Can’t even leave work because of this morning’s business… the calls never stop.”
The Director stared at his smartphone screen with an irritated expression.
“Please take the call. I should be going.”
“Yes, get some proper rest!”
“Of course.”
Lee Won bowed and left the Director’s office.
The moment the door closed, the smile that had graced his lips vanished without a trace.
“Guild Master!”
Bisoo, who had apparently been waiting for Lee Won, sprang up from where he was crouched beside the Director’s office and scurried to Lee Won’s side.
“What did you talk about?”
Lee Won exhaled softly, then raised his eyebrows and looked down at Bisoo.
“You already heard it all.”
The faint small zipper that had been visible beside the sofa in the Director’s office.
He had been eavesdropping on their conversation using Bisoo’s skill.
“You caught me.”
Bisoo shrugged casually and added without shame.
“Well, the Guild Master borrowed my skill and rushed to meet the Director—how could I not listen in from here?”
His face flushed with excitement, he eyes gleamed.
“But Mirror came out? Really?”
“It’s classified. Keep it quiet.”
“Oh come on—of course I will!”
With a confident air, Bisoo mimed zipping his own lips.
Lee Won shook his head with an unconvinced expression, then moved forward.
“Where to next?”
As Bisoo called after him, Lee Won waved his hand in answer.
“I’ll be in touch.”
Lee Won headed straight out of the building.
Bisoo remained alone in the quiet hallway, tapping his chin thoughtfully with his index finger.
“No matter how I keep my mouth shut, the rumors will spread like wildfire soon enough.”
Lately, online forums were crawling with competent investigators possessed by detective spirits.
The media would be desperate to track down the hunter who dealt with the Creature Pelcon.
Bisoo pulled out his phone.
‘The Inquisitor came to the surface?’
The corner of his mouth curved upward in a smile.

* * *

Ding-

[Monster Elimination Count]
Tae Eun-o – 7
Go Gyeol – 5
Ha Jae-yun – 3
…….

Ding-

[Monster Elimination Count]
Ha Jae-yun – 4
Tae Eun-o – 7
Go Gyeol – 5

The scores kept seesawing.
The test seemed to be progressing smoothly.
‘At this rate, I won’t have enough of the prepared monsters.’
Should’ve refilled them beforehand.
Sa Hyeon swept across the sandy floor rapidly, surveying the field with careful attention.
‘Doesn’t matter—it won’t take long anyway.’
The “Red Light” that Lee Ha-je had mentioned.
If not at the gate entrance, it could mean inside the gate itself.
Sa Hyeon had crossed through gates countless times.
A red light inside a gate.
He had no memory of such a thing.
‘This place is the same though….’
Still, should he take a look?
An endless, sprawling field.
Searching this vast expanse on foot would be inefficient.
Then again.
‘I could summon whoever knows this field best.’

Before a massive stone mountain.
“About here, I’d say.”
Sa Hyeon came to a halt before an enormous cavern.
A D-rank Gate—nothing fancy.
Sa Hyeon tapped at the stone pillar flanking the cave entrance.
This should do.
After gauging the position roughly, he raised his foot.
And without hesitation, he drove his heel into the pillar.
Crack-crack-crack- Boom-!
The pillar split in two.
The cavern began collapsing in succession.
The entrance blocked by a heap of stone.
Then it happened.
Bang, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-!
A violent tremor rumbled up from deep within the cavern.
Yet Sa Hyeon simply leaned his back against the rock wall beside the cave, unbothered.
“Quick to respond, as expected.”
The tremor swelled in an instant.
Stone shards flew at the collapsed entrance.
Whoosh-!
The pile of stones blocking the entrance was violently flung aside.
Immediately, the source of the roar revealed itself.
A massive body that brought to mind a dragon. Sharp spikes distributed across its entire form.
A lizard-type Monster.

Ding—!

Right on cue, the system notification chimed.
‘Of course, I know this field well.’

[The Boss Monster of the Withered Sand Field has appeared.]

‘This must be the leader of the pack.’
Sa Hyeon finally pushed off from the wall.
Whether enraged that its hiding place had been destroyed, the Boss Monster’s maw opened in a threatening display.
With each exhale, fierce flames surged from its throat.
Its elongated pupils narrowed, and the moment it dug its massive claws into the ground and charged with full force—
“Pardon me.”
Sa Hyeon swiftly angled his body and slipped past the attack, then grabbed one of the spikes on the Boss’s head and pulled himself up onto its skull.
Standing on both feet atop the monster’s head, Sa Hyeon bit down on the edge of his glove, pulled it off, and placed his bare hand against the creature’s crown.

[Memory Sharing (S-) skill has been activated!]

A skill that allowed one to share the caster’s memories.
“Haven’t you seen that Red Light before?”
Sa Hyeon drove the image of Red Light into the Boss’s mind.
Recognizing the difference in strength, the Boss went rigid.
Its pupils quivered, and suddenly it raised its tail high.
The tail’s tip glowed with shimmering heat.
“?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“You want me to… cut it off?”
“!!”
The lizard’s pupils dilated in shock. Its tail curled inward toward its belly.
Could it be that I was looking for something other than its tail?
“Think harder.”
Sa Hyeon gave the creature’s head a sharp slap, urging it on. The Boss shrank in on itself, then whipped its head back and forth frantically before suddenly turning it eastward and lifting its gaze toward Sa Hyeon.
Had it remembered something?
“Show me the way.”

In the middle of the desert field lay an Oasis.
The Boss stretched its neck, peering into the water.
Sa Hyeon climbed down from the creature’s head.
Pop—
One of the spikes he’d been gripping came loose as he descended.
“My apologies.”
Sa Hyeon offered a brief apology and then examined carefully what the Boss had been looking at.
The water reflected the sky itself, and beneath it stretched an endless depth.
In the distant waters, faintly wavering across the gentle ripples—
“…!”
A trace of Red Light.
‘Is it a Magic Stone? Or an item?’
Sa Hyeon’s lips curved into a smile.
Whatever it was, one thing remained certain: it was suspicious.
It looked to be at least a hundred meters down….
Sa Hyeon turned slowly to face the Boss.
“Aren’t you going in?”
“?!”
The moment he nodded toward the water, the creature’s vertical pupils trembled violently.
It merely flicked its tongue, hesitating.
It seemed I needed a little more pressure.
Sa Hyeon adjusted his gloves—
Shwoooosh. The Boss let out a strange cry and reluctantly slid beneath the surface of the water.
The massive body descending in a smooth glide toward the depths.
“Quite deep, it seems.”
Sa Hyeon watched the Boss swim at leisure, his spines probing the bottom.
At last the enormous form reached the Red Light.
It was the moment the Boss took the mysterious stone into its mouth.
Booooooom—
Suddenly the current began to surge violently.
“What now?”
Sa Hyeon’s brow furrowed.
Then.
Krakoooom!
It erupted as though a volcano had exploded.
An unforeseen phenomenon.
‘Have I found it correctly.’
It was the moment Sa Hyeon’s intuition seized upon it.

Beep—beep—beep!

“!”
A warning sounded from the system.
Every time, with impeccable timing, it would display a wretched message—

[Caution! A Mutation has occurred in the Boss Monster.]

His prediction had struck true.
“A Mutation?”
Sa Hyeon’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Beep—beep—beep!
The warning sounded once more.

[Gate Rank has shifted (D→B).]

“…Damn.”
Sa Hyeon exhaled a long sigh, thinking of the chicks he had left behind.
This is a mess.

S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy Episode 14

Author
Baek Roo-ga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Tae-ri
Cover
Tohnp

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0015

© 2026, Baek Roo-ga

※ This e-book is protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole of this work may be reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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