The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 24

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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 24

“Gasp—ugh, Sa Hyeon… this Iron Cage, it’s moving forward, right?”
A wheeled Iron Cage the size of a sedan.
Inside it were ten Grinder Rats, packed tightly together.
Hae Sung squeezed every muscle as he pushed the cage, but the speed barely budged.
“It’s moving, so push properly. Hauling it all the way back is the training.”
“Y-yes….”
This felt less like training and more like torture.
Sa Hyeon, by contrast, looked immaculate—not a hair out of place.
He simply walked ahead with an easy stride.
‘This is like pushing an elephant…!?’
His arms and legs, already spent from capturing monsters, trembled without mercy.

At last, Hae Sung loaded the Iron Cage into the elevator.
“…Finally!”
I can’t take this anymore.
He leaned against the handrail, gasping for breath.
“We’ll make it in time for class.”
Sa Hyeon leisurely pressed the Ground Floor button.
While Hae Sung hung limp, barely conscious,
Sa Hyeon folded his arms and asked him a question.
“You got paper and a pen?”
“…? Yes, of course.”
Hae Sung pulled out a pen and notebook from his inventory with shaking hands.
Sa Hyeon took them and, without hesitation, tore a sheet from the notebook, then ripped it into pieces the size of his palm.
‘What is he trying to do…?’
Before Hae Sung could even guess,
Sa Hyeon scrawled something crude onto the paper, then removed his right glove.
“……!”
Sa Hyeon removing his glove meant….
Hae Sung’s slowly blinking eyes snapped wide open.
Sa Hyeon held a scrap of paper covered in crude markings.
Soon his irises began to stain a deep, rich crimson.
‘A skill… on paper…?’
While Hae Sung held his breath in shock, Sa Hyeon repeated the same action on another talisman.
Before long, seven Paper Talismans lay completed in his hands.
Ding—
The elevator doors slid open with a cheerful chime.
Sa Hyeon shoved the talismans into his pocket and started forward without a glance, then suddenly turned back to Hae Sung.
“Aren’t you dragging it?”
Hae Sung’s pupils trembled.
Right… he still had to move it all the way into the Training Facility.
He looked up at the massive Iron Cage with hollow eyes.
“…Yes, I’m coming….”
Please… have mercy.

* * *

“Has the teacher shown up yet~?”
Eun O pushed open the Training Facility door and walked in.
Jae Yun followed naturally behind him.
“Good thing we’re not late….”
“Five more minutes and I would’ve slept.”
Gyeol let out a yawn that nearly split his face.
Just then, the heads of a group gathered in one corner of the Training Facility all turned at once.
A student with orange cropped hair among them curled his lip into a sneer.
“Wow, showing up after the seniors. These first-semester freshmen really have no discipline, huh?”
Combat Class B, Ji Se Yong.
He was a self-proclaimed disciplinarian who had carved the Academy’s ingrained hazing culture deep into his bones.
Gyeol snorted and muttered under his breath.
“There he goes again. Only shows up before class.”
“…Is this punk trying to make sure I hear him?”
As Ji Se Yong’s brow furrowed and he let out a low growl, his classmate Mu Geon nodded flatly.
“Seems like it.”
“Ha! Gyeol’s got some backbone, I’ll give him that.”
Ryu A, with her long straight hair, burst into a bright laugh.
“With the dungeon break happening, first-semester enrollment’s gonna explode, so let’s all get along, okay Ji Se Yong~!”
…….
Ji Se Yong glared at his uncooperative classmates.
He twisted his lips and cast his gaze toward Eun O’s group once more.
“You three failed the Gate test yesterday and got disqualified, right?”
“Huh? How’d you even know that?”
When Eun O reacted, Mu Geon straightened the combat vest he was wearing and tossed out a comment without emotion.
“His uncle’s a martial arts professor.”
“Ah.”
Gyeol let out a flat, dry exclamation as if unimpressed.
So that’s why he was acting so full of himself.
“Looks like all three of you are headed for a year of repetition. Think you’ll even graduate?”
Ji Se Yong snickered as he spoke.
At that, Jae Yun, who had been nervously fumbling, quietly opened his mouth.
“Well, the thing is… the Gate suddenly changed to B-Rank, so we had no choice but to stop, but Hae Sung said he’d figure out a way…”
“Huh?!”
“…B-Rank?”
Ryu A and Mu Geon reacted simultaneously.
The rule was that Awakeners of C-Rank and below tested in E-Rank Gates, while those of higher ranks tested in D-Rank Gates.
There had never been a case of an Academy student entering a B-Rank Gate during a test.
“…What kind of bullshit is this. How does a D-Rank turn into B-Rank?”
Cracks formed across Ji Se Yong’s face.
Gyeol smirked and spoke with deliberate composure.
“The Gate Penalty was a half-grade reduction in stats, so we did struggle quite a bit.”
!
Ji Se Yong stood slack-jawed, his eyes narrowing,
while Mu Geon let out a soft exclamation.
“Wow.”
“No way?! That’s insane! I’ve never even encountered B-Rank!”
Ryu A’s eyes sparkled at the unexpected news.
At this, Eun O let out an admiring breath and grinned toward Ji Se Yong.
“Oh, so we fought B-Rank monsters first, which makes us B-Rank seniors~ Right, Senior?”
“What?! You little punk?!”
Ji Se Yong bristled and began to rise as if to charge at him, but Mu Geon standing beside him pressed down on his shoulder to stop him.
“Enough.”
“Whoa, whoa~ Looks like it’s past your medicine time, Ji Se Yong!”
Ryu A clicked her tongue and blocked Ji Se Yong’s path, then seemed to want to change the subject as she turned to Eun O’s group.
“So you went with the new professor yesterday, didn’t you! How was it? That hunter’s background is supposedly something even Se Yong’s uncle doesn’t know!”
“Legendary! Absolute top-tier!”
Eun O let out a loud exclamation of admiration, giving a thumbs-up.
At this, Ji Se Yong scoffed mockingly.
“We’ll see. Just some parachute hire anyway.”
“Parachute hire?”
Gyeol’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Ji Se Yong crossed his legs and continued.
“The Association Chairman pushed him in, supposedly. Word is his background is unclear. Can you even trust his skills? I could probably beat him in a proper sparring match right now.”
“What?”
Eun O genuinely laughed in disbelief.
“What nonsense. One flick and you’d fly, …ugh.”
Gyeol had covered Eun O’s mouth.
“Mmph—(Why are you doing this?)”
When Eun O protested, Gyeol silenced him with a glance.
Then, closing his eyes, he answered in a soft voice instead.
“You’re probably right. Ji Se Yong is top tier in the combat class, so he might actually have a chance?”
“Right?”
Pleased by Gyeol’s words, Ji Se Yong’s shoulders shot up with pride.
“My uncle was saying that there were so many people vying for the position after Professor Lee Haje. This time, even some famous guilds―”
He launched into grandiose proclamations for his two classmates, caught up in his excitement.
Meanwhile, Eun O, who had slipped free from Gyeol’s grasp, spoke with an aggrieved expression.
“What are you thinking, hyung? Honestly, our teacher could make him piss himself with just one finger.”
“That’s what I think too.”
Gyeol gave a light shrug.
“But why….”
As Jae Yun expressed his confusion, a wicked smile played across Gyeol’s lips.
“It’s fun.”
!
“What if Ji Se Yong was the first student to get launched away like that summoned creature?”
“Oho?”
Eun O wore a similarly sinister grin, clearly pleased with the idea.
“Your expressions right now are seriously scary, hyungs….”
Jae Yun was trembling.
Screeeech—bang.
The heavy door of the Training Facility swung open roughly.
Backlit by sunlight, a figure emerged through the gap.
Sa Hyeon entered the Training Facility with a lazy gait, his hands tucked into the pockets of his black suit.
“Oh! Sa Hyeon!”
Eun O waved enthusiastically.
Sa Hyeon answered the students’ greetings with a mere twitch of his eyebrows.
He gave the interior of the Training Facility a cursory scan before opening his mouth.
“Looks like everyone’s here. I’m Sa Hyeon, your instructor for practical combat training starting today.”
After delivering this terse, almost indifferent introduction, he continued slowly.
“Today’s lesson is….”
The Training Facility door opened again.
Screeeech, clang!
A massive Iron Cage was wheeled in behind him.
“Live hunting.”
Inside, monsters with beady eyes writhed and squirmed.
They gnashed their teeth menacingly.
“Grinder Rats? Aren’t those E-Rank Monsters?”
Gyeol, the first to recognize them, furrowed one eyebrow.
Sa Hyeon added in his languid voice.
“Each of you needs to catch at least one. You have one hour. Class ends after that.”
“Huh? Just one? That’s way too easy.”
Eun O spoke with complete confidence.
“Aren’t you underestimating us?”
Ji Se Yong let out a loud, scoffing laugh.
The students began murmuring in agreement with his response.
And truthfully, they had a point.
Even if they’d only just awakened, they were all A-Rank Combat Personnel.
Hunting E-Rank Monsters should be as easy as catching rats.
Unconcerned with their reaction, Sa Hyeon turned toward Hae Sung, who stood behind the monster cage.
“You mentioned you could change the Training Facility’s field?”
“Y-yes! Huff, gasp… You just operate it with that control panel over there. *Gasp*.”
Hae Sung approached the control room beside the entrance and explained the controls to Sa Hyeon.
Ji Se Yong, watching the scene, let out a contemptuous chuckle.
“If he can’t even operate a simple control panel, how does he expect to be a professor….”
That was when it happened.
Whiiiiiiiing—
A piercing mechanical sound, and the vision flickered as though something had malfunctioned.
The spacious, pleasant Training Facility vanished, replaced by a dark, damp space.
“…What is this place?”
A deep, resonant hum filled the air.
The faint sound of running water reached his ears, and a musty stench settled at the tip of his nose.
In an instant, the Training Facility had transformed into a cramped, elongated sewage tunnel.
“This setup is rather practical.”
With a brief murmur of appreciation, Sa Hyeon turned back toward the monster cage.
“We’ll start with a draw.”
He pulled his hand from his pocket.
Six Paper Talismans lay visible on the palm he opened before them.
“What are these?”
The question came warily, but Sa Hyeon merely tilted his head.
“Just draw one.”
Eun O reached out and plucked a Paper Talisman first, ignoring the suspicious gleam in everyone’s eyes.
“Then I’ll go first—”
Following his lead, the rest of Combat Class B reluctantly took one each, their expressions dubious.
Eun O unfolded his Paper Talisman with eager eyes.
“This is….”
Two wavy lines were drawn horizontally across it, and below them a crooked, uneven line sprawled messily.
“…An earthworm?”
Eun O’s head tilted uncertainly.
The others’ talismans looked much the same.
One showed a scribbled circle, another a small spiral coiled upon itself—each bore a different crude drawing.
Every sketch was different from the last.
“Why did you hand us these scribbles?”
It was the moment Ji Se Yong’s face twisted into a scowl.
“You each drew a different body part.”
Body part?
Eun O blinked and examined his Paper Talisman again.
Oh!
“Then this is a leg!”
The two vertical lines were the legs, and the crooked squiggles beneath them—those were the toes!
“How did you figure that out?”
Jae Yun let out a light, exasperated breath and studied his own talisman intently.
“So these two circles overlapping randomly—are they beans? Kidneys? Wait… eyes?”
Jae Yun made his own guess.
“Mine looks like… a hand? Maybe a left arm.”
“Wow—our teacher’s quite the artist, huh?”
Combat Class B, now catching on late, examined their papers more carefully.
Eyes, ears, arms, legs—as Sa Hyeon had said, each student held a drawing of a different body part.
“So what’s the point of all this?”
It was the moment the question escaped him, frustration mounting.
His pupils dilated sharply.
His eyes widened all at once.
“Shall we begin the lesson?”
Sa Hyeon’s eyes glowed a crimson red.
And then….
“!! What—the scribble just turned red?!”
The drawing on the Paper Talisman erupted with an eerie crimson light.
The instant Eun O turned the talisman over in his hands.
“—!! Ugh!”
He suddenly lost his balance and collapsed.
“Eun O, are you—! …What?”
Jae Yun, reaching out to help him up, froze mid-motion.
His left arm hung limp, dropping uselessly.
As if it belonged to someone else, it refused to obey.
The anomalies didn’t stop there.
“Ahhh! My legs!”
“My fingers won’t move—!”
“What?! I can’t hear anything!!!”
The Training Facility descended into chaos.
Trembling, he raised his hands before his eyes and waved them desperately.
Her left field of vision went pitch-black.
‘No… surely not…’
Had he cut off her senses?
While Gyeol exhaled through lips gone pale and trembling,
Sa Hyeon crossed his arms and watched the bewildered students with unhurried calm.
“Today’s Random Penalty.”
At his quiet voice, the students’ clamor ceased at once.
Sa Hyeon’s crimson eyes flickered with an eerie light.
“For the next hour, you’ll hunt carrying that penalty with you.”

An S-Rank Instructor Devours the Academy — Chapter 24

Author
Baek Ru-ga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Tae-ri
Cover Art
Thorp

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0025

ⓒ2026, Baek Ru-ga

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