The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 19

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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 19

White light enveloped Sa Hyeon and his companions.
A brilliance that swelled as though swallowing them whole.
His eyes shut of their own accord against the sudden brightness.
And when he opened them again—
“Where is this…?”
Jae Yoon blinked slowly, surveying the surroundings with measured care.
The oppressive heat and dry air had vanished in an instant.
“Huh~ everything’s white?”
Eun O tapped the floor curiously, as though testing it.
A space enclosed entirely by pristine white walls.
Gyeol spoke flatly.
“I didn’t know the Reward Zone was this barren.”
“The Reward Zone?”
When Eun O asked for clarification, Gyeol scoffed at him for not paying attention in theory class.
Hae Sung, listening nearby, answered in his stead.
“Yes. It’s the location where rewards are distributed once a Gate has been cleared.”
An empty space with nothing in it.
The group stood motionless, uncertain.
In the very center, a single enormous chest sat abandoned.
“Ah, so that’s it?”
Eun O let out a small exclamation of understanding.
“Yes, the Reward Zone typically—”
Hae Sung continued speaking, his eyes moving slowly across the space.
“Every entity that was inside the Gate, apart from Field Monsters, relocates to this place.”
“……!”
Jae Yoon’s eyes widened.
Which meant…

In that moment, as Sa Hyeon swept his gaze around with deliberate turns of his head, something unfamiliar caught his eye beyond Jae Yoon’s shoulder.
He shifted his weight to one foot and tilted his head sideways.
“Is it you?”
“?? Yes?”
Jae Yoon jumped in surprise and turned his body, revealing In Young in the field of vision.
If all entities inside the Gate had come to this place, then the unknown summoner would be here as well.
“!!”
“……!”
Every eye converged on a single point.
“…A foreigner?”
Gyeol’s brow furrowed.
As Jae Yoon stepped uncertainly aside, the man’s figure came fully into view.
Hair the color of pale gold, eyes holding a faint shade of brown, a piercing embedded at the edge of his brow.
“He looks impossibly young?”
Eun O blinked in bewilderment.
Even being generous, he couldn’t be more than twenty years old!
“This makes no sense. You’re saying he’s my age?!”
With strength like that?!
Eun O approached the man in long strides, stopping directly before him.
The man’s brow tensed almost imperceptibly.
“Hey, Eun O! Do you even know who you’re approaching so recklessly?!”
Gyeol tried to hold him back, but Eun O paid no heed, stepping forward until he stood face to face with the man.
“Who exactly are you… huh? What’s this?
Eun O’s gaze, sweeping up and down the man’s frame, came to a halt at his shoulder.
Something draped loosely across the black jacket.
“…A sloth?”
“Pardon?”
Hae Sung, startled at once, narrowed his eyes and studied the man’s shoulder intently.
It was true.
A fist-sized juvenile creature wearing the form of a tree sloth.
Hae Sung activated a skill immediately.
“…A-rank again, it seems.”

[Monster Information]
Name: Guardian Sloth
(GUARDIAN SLOTH)
Rank: A
Characteristics: A time-interference attribute monster. Movement is extraordinarily slow and combat power is relatively low, but with thick outer skin and powerful bite force…….

The skill window shared with Sa Hyeon as well.
He confirmed the familiar text at the bottom.

[! S-rank Contract Summon]

“Two S-rank contracts?”
Sa Hyeon turned his gaze toward the fair-haired man.
Eun O, observing the new summon.
The summon cowered as if frightened.
Weak-squeak!
The summon let out a feeble cry.
“Man, that’s a pathetic sound.”
Eun O chuckled and reached out his hand.
Whirrrrrrr—!
“!”
Eun O’s mouth, about to speak, opened with abnormal slowness.
His outstretched hand moved with equally sluggish motion.
At an impossibly decelerated speed.
“?!”
“What in the—!”
Amid the shocked exclamations of the group, Sa Hyeon watched with detached interest and spoke.
“So that’s the skill.”
While the boss slowed, the bullet had struck true at a vital point.
“Y-ou… fr-eak—”
Eun O’s lips moved with sluggish precision.
The blonde youth regarded Eun O with blank eyes for a moment, then lowered Eun O’s outstretched finger.
“My apologies.”
“?!”
“My companion here is quite wary of strangers.”
“U-uh, h-huh?!”
“You speak Korean?”
At the familiar language that followed, Jae Yoon and In Young gasped.
Unmistakably the cadence of a native Korean speaker.
‘I took him for some clueless foreign hunter who didn’t even know Korean Hunter law….’
Sa Hyeon quirked one side of his mouth and turned to confirm with Hae Sung.
“Status window?”
“…I can’t get a read on it.”
Hae Sung shook his head with a grave expression.
No system window appeared, and the status window wouldn’t open either. Which meant….
He exhaled a dry laugh and strode toward the man with deliberate steps.
“…….”
“…….”
Two people standing face to face in silence.
Sa Hyeon regarded the blonde youth for a moment, then flicked his finger near Eun O’s ear.
“…Ugh! Cough, cough!!”
Eun O coughed violently and regained his normal speed of movement.
“What the hell—! What kind of skill is that?!”
Leaving Eun O sputtering in protest, Sa Hyeon asked quietly.
“Your Hunter License?”
“…….”
The man fell silent for a moment, his fists clenching and unclenching, before he answered in an easy tone.
“I left it behind.”
“…You left your Hunter License behind??”
Hae Sung couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
Hunters were obligated to carry their licenses at all times.
It was required documentation for Gate access and ability use.
Violation meant immediate punishment.
Sa Hyeon rubbed his forehead and let out an exasperated breath.
“You’re talking about your Hunter License like it’s a wallet you forgot at home.”
“I was in such a hurry I slipped my mind.”
The man slipped his hand into his jacket pocket as he spoke.
His shamelessness suggested this was a habit.
The corner of Sa Hyeon’s mouth tilted upward.
The man met Sa Hyeon’s gaze without hesitation, then opened his mouth.
“If I may be so bold, I’d like to purchase the Boss Core you just acquired. I’ll pay a fair price.”
His tone was polite, but his intent was hardly subtle.
Sa Hyeon answered without deliberation.
“What if I refuse?”
The man exhaled sharply.
A reaction that said he didn’t understand.
“Then I suppose I have no choice.”
The man murmured quietly.
Then he extended the back of his hand to the summoned creature draped over his shoulder.
The small summon stretched its arm slowly, wrapping itself around the man’s hand.
The creature’s pea-sized eyes turned toward Sa Hyeon.
Squee-!
A chirping cry.
At the same moment.
Whirrrrrrr—
A low vibration resonated through Sa Hyeon’s mind.
Like a buffering sensation.
In that instant.
The man rushed forward.
Sa Hyeon’s gaze tracked the man’s movements with deliberate slowness.
Just as the man reached to grab Sa Hyeon’s arm.
“!”
Sa Hyeon seized the man’s shoulder instead.
Before the man could even comprehend what was happening.
Thud!
He was slammed flat onto the ground in an instant.
“…….”
The man, pinned down immediately.
“The skill should have worked….”
The man muttered in confusion.
“Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t work on me.”
Sa Hyeon pressed a foot against the man’s solar plexus and answered calmly.
The Guardian Sloth’s skill, which targeted the nervous system.
It was one of the Mental-type Attributes.
An A-rank summon’s skill stood no chance against an S-rank Awakened Hunter.
‘It’s been a while since someone sparked my curiosity.’
“Let’s have a little conversation.”
He looked down with a cold gaze.
“…….”
Cracks appeared in the man’s previously composed expression.
With the force Sa Hyeon was applying, the man’s body didn’t budge an inch.
“Ugh… why does the teacher seem more like the villain?”
“Uh, Eun O….”
“Keep quiet, unless you want to get roughed up too.”
Hae Sung wet his parched lips as the students whispered among themselves.
So this is what the interrogator Sa Hyeon looks like when he’s serious….
Sweat beaded on his palms as he rubbed them against his trousers, yet he nodded as though satisfied.
‘The environment’s actually perfect for questioning.’
There was only one way to leave the Reward Zone of a Gate where a Score Board had appeared.
The person who earned the highest score during the Gate conquest received the rewards.
With Sa Hyeon obtaining the Boss Core at the end, he’d gained an additional 100 points.

[Final Score Board]
Yeom Sa Hyeon – 311
??? – 65
…….

Sa Hyeon had won first place by a decisive margin.
Which meant the man couldn’t leave until Sa Hyeon claimed his reward.
“…….”
Golden eyes glared at Sa Hyeon with naked hostility.
Sa Hyeon deployed his Mental Control Skill, gauging the man’s power.
‘Given that he possesses an S-rank Contract Summon, he’s likely an S-rank Awakened Hunter.’
But judging by how helpless the man was against Sa Hyeon’s Skill, he fell far short.
“Let’s start with confirming your identity.”
The rest could be extracted later—once he’d exited the Gate, fitted the man with Mana Stone Handcuffs, and taken his time with the interrogation.
Sa Hyeon began sketching out his plan, reaching toward the man’s blonde head.
The man looked up at Sa Hyeon with a face twisted in resentment.
Sa Hyeon’s eyes were turning crimson.
“……!”
The man stared at those eyes, his own widening slowly.
Then he bit his lip hard and suddenly clenched one fist with all his strength.
His knuckles whitened with the force of it.
What was he plotting?
Sa Hyeon’s brow furrowed in confusion.
Crack—!
A sharp report tore through the silence.
And then—
“What?! Where’d he go?!”
Eun O cried out in bewilderment, spinning to look around.
The man had vanished in an instant.
The group descended into chaos.
“Damn.”
Sa Hyeon stared down at the empty space beneath his feet, his expression darkening.
“How the hell—!”
Hae Sung rushed over and carefully examined the spot where the man had disappeared, then cautiously picked something up.
“…Sa Hyeon, could this possibly be….”
A thumb-sized Mana Stone.
“A Return Stone?”
The stone, drained of its original luster, bore a large crack across its surface.
Jae Yoon’s breath caught.
“Isn’t a single Return Stone worth over 100 million won?”
“Whoa—holy—?!”
“That bastard’s loaded, huh?”
Eun O and In Young exchanged looks of astonishment.
“This criminal scum….”
Veins bulged across Sa Hyeon’s forehead.
Hae Sung, who’d been watching his expression carefully while biting his lip, finally spoke.
“…Sa Hyeon, we should leave this place. I think we need to sort through what happened.”
“Fair point.”
Now he just had to figure out who to squeeze for answers first….
Sa Hyeon’s lips curved into a vicious smile.

S-rank Interrogator Devours the Academy – Episode 19

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0020

ⓒ2026, Baek Ruga

※ This e-book is protected under the copyright laws of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole of this work may be reprocessed or reproduced 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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