The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 41

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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 41

“Should we head to the Training Center right away?”
Hae Sung hurried after Sa Hyeon as he left the Cafeteria.
Afternoon combat class—A section Practical Combat.
“There’s still time, isn’t there?”
Sa Hyeon checked the time, then stopped in his tracks, hands thrust deep into his pockets.
Hae Sung and Yu Weol came to a halt as well.
Sa Hyeon’s ashen gaze turned toward Yu Weol without expression.
“You—work on Summoned Creature Training until class. And the training should be….”
He paused, lifting one eyebrow thoughtfully.
A Summoned Creature that wouldn’t even properly Bond.
What they needed now wasn’t anything grandiose.
“That ought to work.”
Sa Hyeon spoke softly once the method came to him.
Hae Sung braced himself, wondering what brutal training regimen would come next.
“…I’m sorry?”
The moment the words left Sa Hyeon’s mouth, Hae Sung’s eyes wavered uncertainly.
‘It would help, of course, but….’
Would Yu Weol, who seemed so proud, really follow such a basic directive…?
Before Hae Sung could sink into doubt.
“Yes, I understand. Master.”
Yu Weol answered at once.
His waist bent in a sharp bow.
“I’ll see you in class!”
With a respectful salute, Yu Weol vanished like the wind.
…….
Hae Sung swallowed hard.
What on earth did he do to change his attitude so completely?
Unaware of Yu Weol’s devotion to Sa Hyeon, Hae Sung could only find his drastic transformation baffling.
While Hae Sung’s mind conjured all manner of harsh punishments, Sa Hyeon spoke.
“Do you have the Creature Management Facility manual?”
“Of course, sir!”
Was he looking for training monsters to use in today’s class?
Hae Sung quickly pulled out his Tablet and displayed the file.
It was a document containing the list of available creatures and detailed instructions for using the facility’s system.
Sa Hyeon scrolled through the manual rapidly.
“There’s way too much extra here.”
His fingers stopped at one particular spot as he flipped through the document indifferently.
“This should do it.”
Though his tone was flat, Hae Sung detected a subtle spark of interest beneath it.
The screen then switched to the creature list, where he paused at the E-rank monsters section.
“Easy enough, maybe….”
Hae Sung glanced sideways at the screen.
An Arachnid-type Monster—Wire Spider.
‘…His standard for “easy” really is different.’
As Hae Sung quietly swallowed, Sa Hyeon handed the Tablet back and nodded curtly.
“Go to the Creature Management Facility.”
“…Yes, sir!”
Hae Sung swallowed hard.
The memory of last time—how he’d been torn to shreds capturing twenty Rats for class—felt painfully fresh.
It would be his task again, no doubt.
With a grim foreboding, Hae Sung asked.
“Would ten be enough for the four members of the A section today?”
“Not needed today.”
“…I’m sorry?”
Hae Sung’s head snapped up at the unexpected answer.
Was he planning to handle it himself?
Sa Hyeon added without missing a beat.
“When class time comes, bring the kids down to the Creature Management Facility.”

* * *

A clearing in front of the Training Center.
Between Yu Weol and Archinonyx, sitting face to face, tension hung thick in the air.
Displeased at being forced to sit, the creature’s long tail whipped the dirt irritably—thwack, thwack.
Yu Weol’s hand clutched something tightly.
The beast’s golden eyes remained fixed on it alone.
As the tail’s strikes against the ground grew faster and faster, a small pit began to form.
Tap.
Yu Weol’s hand came to rest on Archinonyx’s crown.
Stroke, stroke.
He ran his fingertips slowly through the soft fur in an awkward, unfamiliar motion.
Whether the touch displeased it or not, Archinonyx’s round ears gradually drooped.
Growl—
Just as the beast, unable to hold back, began to rumble and bare its fangs—
“Good job.”
Yu Weol pulled his hand away without hesitation.
And by way of reward, he tossed a stone the size of a fist.
“!”
Archinonyx, ears pricked up again, snatched the yellow stone out of the air with surprising speed and plopped down on the ground.
Then, seemingly satisfied, it rumbled contentedly and began to crunch the stone between its teeth.
An E-rank Mana Stone with an Electric Attribute.
Each time it rolled between the creature’s fangs, yellow sparks flew.
Delighted by the tingling sensation, Archinonyx started tapping the Mana Stone with its front paws, rolling it around like a game of kickball.
‘The moments where it actually holds back are getting longer.’
True to form, it was the Master’s training method.
Yu Weol was smiling contentedly and about to move on to the next stage when—
“―Anyone watching this would think the Academy was a cat café, not a school.”
The voice dripped with exasperation.
Eun O and Jae Yun, heading toward the Training Center, stopped in their tracks.
Eun O let out a long sigh.
“That’s a cat? Some kind of spirit beast, you mean.”
“…Where in the world do you find a cat playing soccer with a Mana Stone?”
Each time Archinonyx rolled it, sparks flickered with lethal brilliance.
A strange young man stared out at the clearing, his face pale, muttering to himself.
“It’s still cute, though…”
Jae Yun’s cheeks lifted involuntarily at the sight of the excited yellow rump.
Eun O laughed sharply, shaking his head.
“How is that cute?! Didn’t you see it rampaging at the Gate? And for all its temperament, that filthy cat is obsessive about cleanliness in the room. And look at the training—it’s exactly like it!”
As his voice rose, Archinonyx’s eyes narrowed to slits as it glared at Eun O.
It seemed to take issue with the nickname that had carried over from the Dormitory.
Yu Weol’s eyebrow twitched sharply in response.
“This is training our Master proposed. Don’t mock it.”
His voice dropped low and cold.
But what really bothered him was something else entirely.
Under normal circumstances, he would’ve let Eun O’s needling slide off him, but he couldn’t stomach anyone mocking a training method Sa Hyeon had devised.
“Talk sense. There’s no way Master Sa Hyeon would assign something so half-baked.”
“You’re saying our Master’s training is half-baked?”
When Eun O snorted derisively, Yu Weol’s eyes took on a chilling gleam.
An invisible spark crackled between them.
The strange young man narrowed his eyes, puzzled.
‘That’s a strange kind of loyalty.’
Back in the Dormitory, no matter how hard Eun O provoked him, Yu Weol would ignore him with dead eyes.
But anything involving Sa Hyeon? He’d light up like a torch and charge.
‘And that way he says “Master…”‘
He seemed like a completely different person from before enrollment.
“Oh! You’re all out here, then.”
It was Hae Sung, arriving belatedly, who broke the strange standoff.
Hae Sung detected the unusual current passing between Yu Weol and Eun O, and his face flickered with discomfort for a moment.
But conveying Sa Hyeon’s instructions took priority.
Hae Sung swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“Today’s class will be held underground.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Underground?”
Jae Yun and Gyeol voiced their confusion simultaneously.
Underground—what kind of lesson could this be?
Gyeol’s body went rigid with tension.

* * *

Beneath the Training Center, in the Creature Management Facility.
“Wow, there really are monsters packed in here!”
Eun O breathed in wonder.
A warehouse-like space with pipes running across the ceiling.
Along the lengthy corridor, transparent reinforced glass walls stretched endlessly.
Beyond them, dozens—hundreds—of glowing eyes flickered.
Sa Hyeon, leaning against the wall with one shoulder, gestured to Hae Sung.
“Take a look around first.”
“Yes, understood.”
Hae Sung nodded.
Then he led the students forward and began explaining the Creature Management Facility’s systems.
From how to retrieve monsters using the Control Device, to the characteristics of the segregation zones by rank.
‘Could we have come down here just for a tour?’
Even as Gyeol listened to the explanation with genuine interest, he couldn’t shake his bewilderment.
When Sa Hyeon said “underground,” he’d expected something hellish waiting for them again.

After some minutes, when Hae Sung’s tour drew to a close, Sa Hyeon stopped before one particular enclosure.
“Today’s opponents.”
The Archinonyx already waiting inside stared out blankly.
Eun O pressed his face right against the glass, peering in.
“Huh? These guys? Seems way too easy.”
Beyond the glass, arachnid-type monsters the size of stray dogs writhed in clusters.
“At least they’re not like that D-rank viper we saw before…”
Jae Yun released a sigh of relief.
Gyeol’s eyebrows lifted in agreement.
“Yeah. This looks manageable.”
The sparse hair on their thick legs was repellent, sure, but they were E-rank monsters at best.
For five A-rank hunters, they didn’t look particularly difficult.
The last lesson had been so brutal, maybe today was supposed to be lighter?
Gyeol’s guard had already begun to slip.
“Today’s lesson is simple.”
Sa Hyeon rapped his knuckles against the reinforced glass—knock, knock.
The monsters responded with eerie sounds, agitated by the noise.
“A practical Monster Wave drill.”
“A Monster Wave?”
Eun O tilted his head.
One of the events that frequently occurred within Gates.
If you failed to achieve the given quest, monsters would pour out at fixed intervals—a phenomenon feared by all hunters.
Gyeol’s eyes narrowed.
But here…?
“!”
Could it be.
In that instant, something Hae Sung had said earlier flashed through his mind.

-…If you adjust the Control Device this way, you can regulate the number of monsters released.

Gyeol pressed his palm to his forehead.
‘…I’m going to be exhausted.’
Today’s going to be brutal.
While he brooded alone, Sa Hyeon stepped up to the Control Device mounted beside the reinforced glass.
“Three Waves total.”
The numeral ‘1’ glowed on the screen above the red button.
“Rules are simple. If you don’t annihilate them all within ten minutes, they respawn.”
Just as expected.
Jae Yun nodded shallowly, as if he’d anticipated this.
“So if we don’t catch them all in time, the monsters just keep piling up, then?”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, today I’m definitely beating that damn cat and his servant.”
At Sa Hyeon’s answer, Eun O shouted eagerly.
Yu Weol, eyes gleaming, hung on Sa Hyeon’s every word—whether Eun O was paying attention or not.
They were all far too relaxed about this. Jae Yun exhaled a long breath.
This was real combat training, plain and simple.
‘…But it’s necessary training, at least.’
The Gate he’d explored with Sa Hyeon not long ago had the same structure—monsters spawned in waves if you didn’t clear it within the time limit.
Sa Hyeon’s hand, clad in Black Gloves, moved toward the Control Device.
“If you understand, shall we begin?”
The screen displayed ‘1’.
As his hand pressed the up arrow button, the number on the display began to climb.
2, 3, 4….
“…Wait, hold on.”
Jae Yun, who had been watching silently, felt a sudden chill creep over him.
Jae Yun’s eyes widened rapidly as he asked.
“Teacher…? How high is this going?”
Sa Hyeon answered with an easy smile, then continued pressing the button.
…8, 9, 10.
Jae Yun’s jaw fell open wider and wider.
“No, Teacher! Wait! You said the time limit was ten minutes!”
Ten monsters in ten minutes? Even if they were all E-rank, that difficulty would skyrocket if they all came at once!
But Sa Hyeon answered calmly.
“There are four of you.”
11, 12, 13….
The numbers kept rising without pause.
Beep.
Finally, Sa Hyeon’s hand stopped.
20.
“T-twenty?!”
“!!”
Jae Yun and Jae Yun’s mouths dropped open in unison.
Yu Weol accepted it without emotion.
“Then ten of them are mine.”
While Eun O lifted the corners of his mouth, speaking with confidence.
“Class begins.”
Sa Hyeon pressed the red button without hesitation.

Beeeeeeeep—

A sharp mechanical shriek echoed through the corridor.
At that sound, dozens of crimson eyes flashed open all at once.
“Wait, hold on a second, Teacher!”
“Is that even a feasible number?!”
Jae Yun and Jae Yun cried out urgently.
Clang!
Part of the reinforced glass barrier opened.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—
Monsters poured out in a torrent.
The first Wave had begun.

An S-rank Instructor Devours the Academy – Episode 41

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0042

ⓒ2026, Baek Lu-ga

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No part or all of this work may be reproduced or modified 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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