The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 32

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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 32

The blond boy’s body trembled finely beneath Sa Hyeon’s weight.
With that vacant expression, he looked every inch the novice.
Sa Hyeon tightened his grip on the boy’s head.
‘Let’s just keep this simple for now.’

[Memory Sharing (S-) Skill in use]

A thick, viscous sensation seeped through his fingertips into the Summoner’s mind.
Sa Hyeon’s brow furrowed sharply.
The speed at which his consciousness breached the boy’s defenses was duller than usual.
‘Even so, S-rank should be faster than this.’
He clicked his tongue in displeasure.
Then came the moment he poured in force honed to a keener edge.
“…!”
A violent backlash repelled the skill.
The sharp, metallic taste of blood bloomed across his tongue.
‘I must have wasted too much power on skills at the Academy today.’
Sa Hyeon wiped the trickle of blood from his lip roughly and released the boy’s head.
“T-that can’t be….”
The blond hair pressed against the floor shook faintly.
The head rose slowly.
Eyes of pale gold turned toward Sa Hyeon’s face.
The crimson gleam faded like mist clearing, leaving only the original ashen gray.
“That skill… those eyes….”
The Summoner’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
“What are you going on about.”
Did he lose his vocabulary along with the skill backlash?
Sa Hyeon was settling his chin into his palm when—
“An Interrogator…?”
The Summoner spoke.
Always too perceptive for his own good.
Sa Hyeon tilted his jaw askew.
It was only natural his identity would be exposed; he’d used a skill meant for prisoners and monsters.
‘This is becoming tedious.’
Usually in these situations, they’d either beg for their lives or thrash about trying to escape.
Maybe he should knock him unconscious before things got loud.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Sa Hyeon dropped his pretense entirely.
‘Continuing an interrogation in his current state would be pointless.’
But waiting for him to recover didn’t sit right with Sa Hyeon either.
He needed answers now.
He was turning over various options when—
“This… this can’t be real….”
The Summoner suddenly began trembling with overwhelming emotion.
And then—
“You really are the Mirror Mask! It’s an honor to meet you!!”
Bang!
He drove his forehead straight into the floor.
“…?”
Sa Hyeon narrowed his eyes warily.
The boy’s head rose again.
The golden gleam in his eyes shone far too brightly, and something about it unsettled him.
His pale face had flushed crimson with excitement, and his sharp features had softened into something almost pathetic.
“I can’t believe this day has really come…! This isn’t a dream, is it?! And these shackles!! This Binding Restraint made by request of the Mirror Mask himself!! Being put on me of all people!!”
“…….”
“This is my family’s honor!! I’d die without regret…! Cough.”
Sa Hyeon struck without mercy, driving the edge of his hand into the Summoner’s neck.
The cheerful voice that had been running its mouth cut off abruptly, and the man’s body went limp.
Silence descended at last.
Sa Hyeon exhaled slowly.
He’d heard every variety of screaming and pleading in his time, but this brand of unhinged rambling was something new.
“What is this lunatic.”

* * *

Well past midnight.
The Guild Master stood motionless in the entrance of the Mansion.
“…So you came all the way here in the middle of the night.”
He let out a long, weary breath, dressed in nothing but a nightshirt and a robe thrown over it.
“And you’re hauling him like luggage?”
Before him stood Sa Hyeon, a blond man slung over his shoulder.
“I couldn’t exactly break into a potion shop at dawn when it’s closed, now could I.”
Sa Hyeon said it as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
Why did this man’s choices always seem to boil down to theft or breaking into someone’s house in the dead of night?
The Guild Master swallowed a response that would only give him a headache and resigned himself to it.
“For once you managed not to get lost.”
“You come here often enough. Finding it was nothing.”
Sa Hyeon shrugged lightly and pushed past the Guild Master toward the entrance door.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“…Well. You’ll have to forgive my impatience.”
The Guild Master rubbed his throbbing temples and followed Sa Hyeon inside.
“Let’s head to the Study.”
The Guild Master corrected Sa Hyeon’s trajectory as he headed for the wrong room.
Only once they were inside the soundproofed chamber did he ask for a full account.
“…So. This unregistered Awakener you mentioned?”
“As you can see.”
Sa Hyeon dropped the Summoner onto the carpet as though discarding a sack of grain.
The man remained unconscious.
“You need the strongest Skill Overload Mitigant if you’re going to interrogate him, then?”
Sa Hyeon nodded in answer, settling comfortably into the sofa.
“The strongest you have.”
“Right. With your constitution, anything weaker would be pointless anyway.”
The Guild Master opened the lowest drawer of his desk.
A white chill poured out in a misty cloud.
From the deepest recess, he withdrew a finger-length bottle of liquid.
“Here it is.”
A transparent liquid swirled with glimmering gold dust, shimmering in the light.
Sa Hyeon took it with a dubious expression.
“It looks absolutely revolting.”
“Appearances aside, this is a rare premium grade you can’t even buy in shops. The taste leaves something to be desired, but the effect is solid.”
Even the Guild Master’s reassurance did nothing to smooth Sa Hyeon’s furrowed brow.
…In any case, once this job is done I need to retire. Having to drink this garbage.
He uncapped the bottle and poured the liquid down his throat without hesitation.
The crease between his brows deepened.
“Shampoo would taste better than this.”
Sa Hyeon set down the empty bottle with a terse assessment.
“How is it?”
The Guild Master asked with barely suppressed amusement, settling into the seat opposite him.
“Not bad.”
The effect was immediate.
The throbbing ache that had been creeping from his temples vanished, and his mind cleared.
His body felt light—lighter than it had in a very long time.
Sa Hyeon sank deeper into the sofa and crossed his legs.
Then, holding up the empty bottle, he asked with brazen directness:
“You got any more of this?”
.”
The Guild Master’s words caught in his throat, and he blinked.
“You said they don’t even sell this in shops.”
Sa Hyeon added with the corner of his mouth curling upward.
“I’m stuck doing this teaching job that was never meant for me, working myself half to death. The least you could do is provide a decent benefit like this….”
He seemed to have let the remark about it being a precious potion go in one ear and out the other. Did he even know it was worth at least ten times a standard potion?
‘Even if he did, it wouldn’t change anything, so what.’
“…Fine. I’ll take care of it.”
The Guild Master quickly gave up and transferred the remaining potion from the portable case to Sa Hyeon.
Then he looked down at the golden-haired Awakener still sprawled across the carpet and asked.
“By the way, this Awakener looks quite young. Have you identified who he is?”
From what he’d heard secondhand, he’d imagined the typical rough features of a lawless criminal.
But seeing him in person, the slender bone structure and soft facial lines made him look even younger.
“I’ll have to find out starting now.”
Sa Hyeon’s face was satisfied as he stored the potion case in his inventory.
He then rose from his spot and strode forward.
“Hey, get up.”
He approached without hesitation and tapped the Summoner’s chest with the tip of his shoe.
No response came back.
“Anyway, he never listens when you ask nicely.”
Sa Hyeon crouched down and curled his middle and index fingers together.
Then he aimed for the forehead above the disheveled blonde hair―
Thwack!
And struck with full force.
“Ghck!”
With a strangled cry, his body jerked and his eyes flew open.
“Good grief….”
The Guild Master let out a sympathetic sigh.
“……?”
The Summoner, bewildered, rubbed his forehead with both manacled hands.
Sa Hyeon asked quietly.
“Sleep well?”
“Y-You, Interrogator!!”
A bright smile bloomed across the Summoner’s face in an instant.
“It wasn’t a dream!! Thank goodness!! To actually feel your touch directly like this, sir—even the sting on my forehead feels like a badge of honor!!”
“…….”
“…….”
His voice was overflowing, his eyes glittering with fervor as he spoke.
The Guild Master’s stiffened gaze turned toward Sa Hyeon.
“…Did you already brainwash him?”
“Me? Brainwash someone like this?”
“…Right, there’s no way you would.”
Seeing Sa Hyeon’s face twisted in disgust as if he’d chewed a bug, the Guild Master quickly understood.
“I have no idea why he’s like this. A side effect of his skill, maybe….”
Meanwhile, Sa Hyeon reached out toward the blonde head again with an irritated expression.
His body had recovered by now, and this time he was determined to rifle through this man’s mind.
“Quiet. Stay still.”
“Hngh. Yes, Interrogator! I’m prepared to bare my soul to you!!”
“…….”
Was there no Binding Restraint that could seal his mouth….
Sa Hyeon rolled his tongue and deployed his skill.

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

A much smoother and stronger force flowed through his hand this time.
The sensation of carving through a stubborn passage.
Soon the most recent memories began fragmenting and flowing in.

-Too bad. I really wanted to study that core.
-We have to recover it one way or another.

A suspicious conversation over a Communication Stone, for starters.

If I may presume, I’d like to purchase that boss core you just obtained. I’ll pay a fair price.

The scene where Sa Hyeon’s party had crossed paths in the Dungeon Reward Zone.

You arrogant bastard, trying to snatch our loot?!
Eroded Crimson Stone sold for three hundred million won!

Flashes of him moving through the Illegal Auction House as though it were his own home.

Archinyx? That’s your name? Pathetic.

And then the scene of contracting with a cheetah-form Summoner.
‘No wonder his technique with Summons seemed so clumsy.’
He looked as though he’d only recently formed the contract.
The memory traced further back—to when he’d contracted with Guardian Sloth, a sloth-form Summoner.
The crimson light was pushing deeper still, reaching toward older recollections, when—
Thud.
His skill struck something foreign and unyielding, and the path of his ability was blocked.
The moment Sa Hyeon pushed harder against it—
Crack. A fissure spider-webbed across the barrier blocking his skill, and the technique rebounded violently.
“—!”
Blood surged up his throat in the same instant.
“—! Sa Hyeon!”
Damn it all.
Sa Hyeon’s eyes narrowed with fury as hot breath escaped his lips.
“What is this… are you all right?!”
…Rebounded?
Even as the Guild Master cried out, Sa Hyeon was about to pour his skill in again with full force—
“Stop! The fact that you’re bleeding at all means you’re already overextending yourself!”
A bright golden cord flashed across Sa Hyeon’s right arm.
The Guild Master’s Contract Skill, binding him in place. Going against it now would trigger a violent backlash.
“…So this is when you actually use the contract for something.”
Sa Hyeon irritably lowered the hand he’d been gripping his head with.
His head slumped briefly, then slowly rose again.
“Questioner—”
His gaze turned immediately toward Sa Hyeon.
His unfocused eyes sharpened in shock the moment they found the crimson blood smeared at the corner of Sa Hyeon’s mouth.
“Blood—blood!! Is this because of me?! That can’t be right!! You’re worthless!!”
He tore at his own head with shackled hands, blaming himself.
“Stop your noise.”
Sa Hyeon pressed a gloved hand firmly over the man’s mouth to quiet him.
With his other hand, he wiped the blood away roughly.
This wasn’t simply a matter of the opponent being S-rank.
‘…It rebounded.’
The sensation of an artificial, solid wall blocking his path.
There was only one possibility.
‘The memory is forcibly sealed with a specialized skill.’
The work was crude, but the knot was tied quite firmly.
Sa Hyeon ran his tongue across his mouth, tasting blood, and slowly lifted the corners of his lips into a smile.
He had a hunch.
Hidden deep within this spoiled brat’s memory, there was an intriguing key waiting to be found.

Chapter 32: An S-Rank Instructor Devours the Academy

Author
Baek Ru-ga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover Design
Tonge

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0033

ⓒ2026, Baek Ru-ga

※ This e-book is a copyrighted work protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or all of the contents 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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