The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 17

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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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Episode 17

“Wheeze, wheeze—! Why are you so fast?! You’re not even a cheetah…!”
Eun O was right on Sa Hyeon’s heels.
He braced his knees and caught his breath, and the moment he lifted his gaze—
“—wait, there actually IS a real cheetah here?”
He found himself locked in those sharp, predatory eyes.
Its body crouched low. White whiskers crackled with arcing electricity.
“Huh!”
Eun O’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“That big lizard’s probably the boss. This one’s a boss’s minion, maybe? Kind of cute, too~!”
“Guess so…?”
A boss’s minion.
Sa Hyeon raised an eyebrow, studying the monster they faced.
In that instant—
Bang.
A report split the air.
“A gun??”
Eun O’s head snapped toward the sound immediately.
Kiieeeeek—!
The boss monster thrashed in agony.
Blood sprayed across its hind legs.
Eun O pointed urgently at the boss.
“Wait—the guy with the gun is the question mark, isn’t he?!”
Sa Hyeon confirmed with a silent nod.

[Monster Subjugation Count]
??? – 93
Sa Hyeon – 151
…….

The question mark Hunter’s tally was already closing in on a hundred.
“Ugh, huff! Aw, crap, I can taste blood in my mouth!!”
Then the rear guard arrived.
Jae Yoon and Hae Sung, drenched in sweat, collapsed to the ground and dragged themselves forward, breathing as though they were drowning.
“Wheeze, thought we’d lose you, huff—”
“Huff, huff. Sa… Sa Hyeon…!”
They splayed themselves on the sand, gasping for air.
“Oof. For Hunters, you three have terrible stamina.”
Eun O, squatting before them, shook his head with pity.
At that, one of them—Jae Yoon—planted his middle finger against the sand and pushed his torso up painfully.
“…! What is this thing?”
Only then did he spot the monster barring their path.
He turned to Sa Hyeon with confusion written across his face.
“…? Wait—did this thing break your weapon?”
Sa Hyeon’s spike was snapped clean in two.
After facing over a hundred B-rank Monsters, it had remained intact.
Jae Yoon sensed something was wrong immediately.
“As you see.”
Sa Hyeon answered lightly, tossing the broken spike aside.
Then he narrowed his eyes and met the gaze of the monster blocking their way.
It barely reacted to the fierce combat raging behind it—only watched Sa Hyeon’s group, growling a low warning.
As though it would not permit them to join the battle.
Bang—
Another gunshot tore through the silence.
Jae Yoon flinched violently, and Hae Sung jolted upright in alarm.

[E-rank or Higher Monsters 269/300]

The count climbed in tandem.
This time, it seemed he was dealing with monsters flanking the boss, clearing its guard.
“Looks like a sniper,” Hae Sung murmured.
Hae Sung fixed his gaze intently on the direction from which the noise had come.
“…The distance is too great to read the Status Window clearly.”
Hae Sung released a small sigh and shifted his attention from the distant point toward the feline-type monster visible ahead.
And then.
“……? Wait, what?!”
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“Sa, Sa Hyeon!!”
Hae Sung immediately shared the skill with Sa Hyeon.
“That thing is A-rank!”
“What?!”
“A, A-rank??”
Eun O and Jae Yoon gasped in shock.

Ding—

A Status Window materialized before Sa Hyeon’s eyes.
He scanned its contents with an unbothered expression, as if he’d already anticipated the Rank.

[Monster Information]
Name: Lightning Achynoyx
(LIGHTNING ACHYNOYX)
Rank: A
Characteristics: Electric Attribute monster. When moving, high-voltage current flows along its path, delivering electrical shocks that paralyze the nervous system…….

Sa Hyeon’s eyes halted abruptly at the final line as they traced down the text.
“Ha.”
Sa Hyeon let out a low chuckle.
Hae Sung, noticing the problematic line belatedly, hung his mouth open in a daze.
“…A, a Summoned Beast?”

[! S-rank Contract Summoned Beast]

“And an S-rank Contract at that….”
Sa Hyeon murmured softly.
“Insane, S-rank?!”
Jae Yoon clutched at his head.
The existence of a Summoned Beast meant there was a Summoner.
“A Summoned Beast? I thought it was just a regular monster?”
Eun O tilted his head in confusion.
There were two methods for a Hunter to form a Summoned Beast contract.
Either they possessed the Summoner trait, or they held a Summoning Contract Item.
The latter was extraordinarily rare.
Such items sold for astronomical prices, and the contract success rate fell below ten percent.
Even if successful, if the Summoner’s Rank was low, taming the beast was nearly impossible.
Most Hunters—except for a tiny contingent of enthusiasts—avoided the route entirely, finding it more profitable to invest that fortune in proper gear.
Yet the Summoned Beast before them was executing its commands with perfect precision.
It stood guard, ensuring its Summoner could hunt the boss without interruption.
“…Which means the Summoner is at least A-rank….”
Hae Sung’s face grew taut with tension.
“There is no S-rank Summoner currently registered in the country.”
Which meant….
“An Unregistered Awakener, or a foreign Hunter who illegally breached the Gate?”
As Sa Hyeon voiced his hypothesis, Hae Sung nodded in agreement.
“Yes. Though I cannot say which with certainty.”
“Either way, it doesn’t matter.”
They had to be apprehended regardless.
Sa Hyeon’s lips curved upward.
He’d only interrogated prisoners before—actually capturing one with his own hands felt like ages ago.

[E-rank or Higher Monsters 270/300]
[E-rank or Higher Monsters 271/300]

The gunfire continued steadily in the background—someone methodically working through their Quest.
Hae Sung scanned the surroundings with care.
“Based on the direction the bullets are coming from, I’d say it’s over there.”
Sa Hyeon’s gaze followed the line of Hae Sung’s finger.
About a kilometer away, atop a hill, stood a massive tree….
He had a rough fix on the location now.
Sa Hyeon’s eyes flicked between the tree and the boss monster.
“Which one should I deal with first?”
He paused, weighing his options.
Bang—
Another gunshot echoed out.
And in that same instant.
“…Huh?”
Eun O pointed at the boss.
“Something’s off about how it’s moving.”
All eyes snapped toward the boss monster.
Wuuuuung—!
A strange phenomenon unfolded.
The frantic thrashing of its tail suddenly slowed, as though time itself had been put in slow motion.
And in that window.
Thwick!
A bullet struck true into the boss’s chest.
Kieeeek—!
Then it snapped back to normal speed.
Interest flickered across Sa Hyeon’s face.
“An unusual ability.”
The bullet had found a vital spot—the boss’s movements grew sluggish, frantic.
At this rate, they’d be stealing kills.
‘Might as well secure what I can while I’m at it.’
Sa Hyeon was about to take a step forward.
Crack-boom!
His vision went white in an instant.
A massive bolt of lightning struck down directly in front of him.
Crack—crack-sizzle—
Brilliant sparks danced where the lightning had hit.
“Gasp! Isn’t that sand melted into glass?!”
“…If that hits you, you’re done for.”
His companions recoiled in shock. Sa Hyeon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“You did that?”
Grrrrr—
A Summoned Beast blocked his path, fangs bared.
This is getting in the way.
“Have to deal with this one first, then.”
Sa Hyeon exhaled softly and moved without hesitation.
At the same moment, a blur of rapid motion—
The Summoned Beast gave chase, leaving arcs of electricity in its wake.
Just as it prepared to block Sa Hyeon’s path—
Sa Hyeon vanished from the beast’s field of vision.
The confused yellow eyes searched the empty air.
Snatch—
Sa Hyeon’s hand clamped down on the nape of the Summoned Beast’s neck.
In one smooth motion, he lifted it clean off the ground.
Electricity crackled from its fur, sparking and hissing, but Sa Hyeon didn’t so much as blink.
Did it finally understand the gap between their strength?
The summoned beast went completely limp, its tail and whiskers drooping toward the ground as if all power had drained away.
Jae Yoon blinked, his face utterly confused.
“…Now that I look at it, it’s actually kind of cute, isn’t it?”
At this, a low snort escaped.
“Let’s see if that kind of thing still comes out of your mouth after getting electrocuted by that thing.”
“Holy crap! So damn fast!! I couldn’t even see it?!”
Eun O kept marveling, tugging at his hair, while Sa Hyeon simply ignored him and fell into thought.
‘How am I going to handle this…’
He’d managed to suppress it right away, but leaving it here would put the inexperienced ones at risk.
Gate Rank Downgrade Penalty only applied to Hunters, after all.
He couldn’t leave an A-rank Summoned Beast with people who’d effectively dropped to B-rank level.
Shhhhhhh—!
Meanwhile, not far away, the boss was puffing itself up menacingly, its venom fully risen.
Poison dripped steadily from the thorns.
Where the poison touched the sand, it blackened and melted away.
‘It looks like it’s about to make its final desperate move soon.’
Getting too close would mean getting caught in the fallout.
Sa Hyeon tightened his grip on the summoned beast and turned back to face the group.
It seemed best to remove as many obstacles as possible.
“What if you all head out first using a Return Stone?”
There were two ways to exit the Gate: complete all the quests, or use a Return Stone.
There wasn’t really any other option.
“Ah… unfortunately, Return Stones are quite expensive, so they’re not included in the Academy’s standard supplies.”
Hae Sung’s face clouded over with difficulty.
Return Stones were made from rare materials and cost anywhere from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won.
Not only that, they could only be used once, making it impractical to issue them as standard supplies.
Still, Hunters preferred to keep at least one on hand as insurance.
It was a matter of life and death, after all.
“Anyway. The Academy throws money at the building as if it grows on trees.”
Sa Hyeon muttered with clear displeasure.
That meant he’d have to finish the beast before its final rampage.
He twisted his wrist, holding the summoned beast steady, and met its eyes directly.
Ears folded completely back, pupils dilated, eyes gazing upward as if seeking approval.
‘It already seems to know it can’t win.’
The Summoner had kept this creature on standby not for taking down the boss, but as a diversion—which meant it lacked the raw power to face such a massive monster.
Bang! Crack!
The gunfire aimed at the boss intensified.
Sa Hyeon’s eyes flicked toward where the Summoner likely was.
‘A way to both neutralize the summoned beast and safely secure the boss…’
This might be it.
Sa Hyeon moved without hesitation.
He twisted at the waist, extended his arm holding the summoned beast backward—
Whoosh—!
And hurled it forward.
“?!”
“Sa, Sa Hyeon?!”
The group recoiled in shock at his sudden move.
The summoned beast flew through the air like a projectile, straight toward…
Crash—!
The boss monster’s body.
The boss toppled sideways from the sudden impact.
A haze of sand dust rose into the air.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The field fell silent as if everyone had lost their voice all at once.
Sa Hyeon let out a low laugh and cleared his throat.
‘Exactly as expected.’
The gunfire stopped just as abruptly.
Can’t get a clear shot with it in the way.
When a Summoned Beast dies or is injured, the Summoner takes damage too.
So he neutralized the Summoner and blocked the gunfire all at once.
Sa Hyeon dusted off his hands lightly, a satisfied look crossing his face.
“Finally got some peace and quiet.”

S-rank Instructor Devours the Academy — Episode 17

Author
Baek Ruga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover Design
Tonp

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0018

© 2026, Baek Ruga

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of this work may be reprocessed in any form without permission from 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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