The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 44

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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 44

“Hah… hah. Sa Hyeon… it’s done.”
His suit was smudged with soot in places, his hair standing on end from the electrical shocks he’d taken more than once.
Hae Sung lay sprawled flat on his back on the floor of the Entity Management Building, looking like nothing so much as a pile of rags.
“An hour to deal with three E-rank Monsters? What good is that?”
Sa Hyeon clicked his tongue and stood askew before him.
His hands in his pockets, his ashen eyes regarded Hae Sung with clear displeasure.
“This is the first time I’ve actually killed Monsters myself….”
Hae Sung’s gaze fell, his voice turning somber.
Last time with the Rats, it had been simple capture work with chains.
But this time he’d had to end their lives.
He’d drawn out a Self-Defense Weapon from his Inventory and swung it, but his body, unaccustomed to combat, was always half a beat too slow.
Sa Hyeon folded his arms and cracked his neck.
“If I started listing what needs work, it would be hard to even count them all. You’ve never trained in Combat Arts?”
He’d managed to mimic movements he’d picked up by watching, but his application was thin.
Memory alone—what the mind could hold—had its limits.
The body needed to remember too.
“…Yes. When I was at the Academy, my Combat Arts training only went as far as basic Self-Defense level.”
“I thought so. The way you swung your arms looked exactly like a child’s.”
Hae Sung winced at Sa Hyeon’s biting assessment, squeezing his eyes shut.
It hurt all the more because he couldn’t refute it—because it was true.
And he didn’t have the courage to talk back to Sa Hyeon anyway.
“Learning the fundamentals from scratch again might not be a bad idea….”
Sa Hyeon slowly worked the edges of his leather gloves, asking with studied indifference.
“There’s nobody here who can teach it properly? Someone who can really push you as a teacher?”
“Ah… you’re not going to do it yourself, Sa Hyeon?”
When Hae Sung reflexively questioned him at those words—’really push you as a teacher’—Sa Hyeon tilted his head slightly.
“Me?”
In that instant.
Hae Sung’s mind flickered through a montage of Sa Hyeon’s merciless teaching methods from the past few days.
His survival instinct screamed to life.
Hae Sung forced his eyes open and spoke in the softest tone he could muster.
“No, I couldn’t possibly take up your precious time like that.”
His lips curved upward, trembling faintly.
Absolutely not Sa Hyeon.
Because that wouldn’t end with just being “pushed.”
He could already see the future clearly: a leg or his neck, something would stop working.
“Basic training doesn’t require me to step in personally anyway.”
Sa Hyeon lazily cracked his neck from side to side and let out a low chuckle.
He already had his plate full with things piled on it.
Whatever could be handed off should be—it was the only way to keep things manageable.
Sa Hyeon, lost in thought for a moment, suddenly remembered something.
That’s right.
Here at the Academy, there was no shortage of educators.
“Who teaches the Combat Arts classes here?”

* * *

Knock, knock.
“Yes, come in.”
From inside the Research Office came Jae Hyeok’s flat, clipped voice.
When Hae Sung carefully opened the door, the tidy expanse of the Research Office revealed itself.
“Pardon the intrusion, Professor Ji.”
At the unfamiliar voice, Jae Hyeok lifted his gaze from the documents and raised his head.
Hae Sung, who had washed hastily, swept his still-damp hair back as he spoke.
“Do you have a moment to spare?”
“You are….”
Jae Hyeok’s eyes narrowed.
Was this the man who’d been sitting beside Sa Hyeon in the dining hall?
The moment he realized the visitor’s identity, Hae Sung entered behind him.
“Oh, so you’re the Combat Arts instructor?”
Sa Hyeon raised an eyebrow.
The instant Jae Hyeok confirmed who it was, his neat brow furrowed sharply.
The man had shown up unannounced—what on earth did he want? Jae Hyeok set down his papers with an exasperated breath.
“Have you come looking for a quarrel, sir?”
“Do I strike you as that idle?”
Sa Hyeon approached the desk where Jae Hyeok sat, his expression unmoved, moving with deliberate slowness.
Then he casually pushed away the chair across from him with the toe of his shoe and settled in without ceremony.
“There’s someone I need to teach.”
Audacious, doing so without even being invited to sit.
Jae Hyeok answered with a frosty gaze.
“Who, precisely?”
So even the elite Combat A-class had stragglers in need of remedial instruction?
“That one. Hunter Hae Sung.”
Sa Hyeon gestured indifferently toward Hae Sung standing behind him.
Hae Sung, finding himself singled out, could only manage an awkward smile.
To Jae Hyeok, watching without context, Sa Hyeon’s unilateral decision was abundantly clear.
The corner of Jae Hyeok’s mouth twisted upward.
“…Are you asking me to give private lessons to your non-combat-type assistant, then?”
“And if I am?”
Sa Hyeon’s confident demand made Jae Hyeok’s expression harden.
“I teach students as a group. I’m not a private tutor.”
He turned his gaze back to his papers, driving home his point.
“And I don’t take on non-combat-type Awakeners. I won’t saddled myself with menial work that would tarnish my career, so if you’ll excuse me.”
His voice dripped with naked contempt.
Hae Sung bit down on his lip.
Work that would tarnish his career.
This response—it followed him everywhere, always.
‘I’d hoped he might at least offer structured instruction…’
A sigh of resignation was slipping between his lips when—
“That tiresome ‘non-combat-type’ nonsense. You’re fond of dividing people by strength, aren’t you?”
Sa Hyeon leaned forward slowly, meeting Jae Hyeok’s gaze.
“You’re fine with me treating you the same way?”
……
Jae Hyeok’s eyes went cold.
For someone within the top hundred of the South Korean Hunter rankings, it was an arrogance that no parachuted professor—no one of unknown pedigree—should dare to speak.
“Where does your confidence come from?”
“Who knows. I can tell without even testing it.”
Sa Hyeon shrugged his shoulders.
That casual composure pushed Jae Hyeok’s patience to its breaking point.
Fire flickered in his eyes.
“If you’re so certain, shall we test it directly?”
“Oh, not a bad show of spirit.”
Sa Hyeon let out a hollow laugh.
His bearing made it clear he was looking down on his opponent.
“…Should I take that as acceptance of a duel?”
Veins stood out on Jae Hyeok’s brow.
The tension between two formidable forces was straining toward explosive release.
“P-please, wait! We can’t!”
Hae Sung stepped between them, his face drained of color, flailing his arms.
“During the semester, private duels between professors are strictly forbidden by regulation, aren’t they?”
Jae Hyeok maintained his glare at Sa Hyeon, but a thin smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“…You’re right. Regulations must be upheld.”
Such insolence couldn’t be tolerated at the Academy.
Breaking him early would prevent him from becoming an obstacle to his own career later.
“Then what about this?”
Jae Hyeok quickly conceived of a way to legitimately crush Sa Hyeon’s presumption.
“Professor Yeom’s students are having matches with our class.”
Hae Sung’s head snapped up.
Combat A-class against Combat Arts C-class…?
Jae Hyeok added, tilting his chin upward.
“If Professor Yeom’s students win, the Assistant will fulfill any request they make—personal training or otherwise—without objection. And naturally, the same terms apply if the reverse occurs. Does that work?”
Hae Sung cast an anxious look toward Sa Hyeon, but unfortunately that desperate appeal didn’t reach him.
Sa Hyeon’s lips curled upward as if the matter barely warranted consideration.
“Good—saves me from a few tedious tasks.”

* * *

Click.
The door to Jae Hyeok’s Research Office closed.
Hae Sung’s shoulders sagged as he stepped into the corridor.
“Are you really sure about this, Sa Hyeon?”
“About what.”
Sa Hyeon answered indifferently, walking ahead.
How could he make such an enormous promise and remain so unruffled about it!
Hae Sung’s face fell.
“The students Professor Jae Hyeok oversees are seasoned elites facing graduation. But our students…”
They hadn’t even passed the first evaluation yet—raw recruits in every sense.
Forget real combat experience; they had zero dueling experience among themselves.
Sa Hyeon, by contrast, brushed it off lightly.
“Actually, that’s fine. People need a tough target to break through—keeps them motivated.”
So those tough targets are Professor Jae Hyeok’s students, then….
“…I understand that, but…”
Hae Sung licked his lips, his face clouded with unease.
Still, his worry wouldn’t settle.
If Sa Hyeon had stepped in himself, he wouldn’t be fretting like this.
It bothered him that his students would be caught up in this difficult situation because of his class.
Though he also burned with the desire to prove himself and shatter Jae Hyeok’s prejudices….
“What if Professor Jae makes an unreasonable request if our class loses?”
Hae Sung studied Sa Hyeon’s face with worried eyes.
“There’s no need to strain yourself…”
“The kids are the ones who’ll take the hits anyway. Why would it strain me.”
“…Oh!”
Hae Sung let out a gasp of realization.
Right. This wasn’t someone who’d take a losing deal.
He should’ve been worrying about the students, not about Sa Hyeon!
“You’re right, we should let the students know about the match soon. We’ll need to train together before evening plans.”
The match was set for two weeks from now.
Time was running short.
Hae Sung checked his phone and pulled up his schedule.
“It’s already so late! What time were you planning to visit Master Gwak?”
“We didn’t set a specific time.”
“I see.”
Whether the match had kindled excess motivation or not, Hae Sung’s eyes burned fiercely as he clenched his fists.
“Then I’ll train intensively with the students first. We can head to Master Gwak’s workshop after dinner and leave right away.”
“Whatever works.”
Sa Hyeon nodded with indifference.
He could spend the time in the Research Office tapping away at Lee Ha Je’s tablet password.
The moment he turned to leave.

Beeeeeep—!

A shrill mechanical alarm blared.
At the same instant, both Sa Hyeon’s and Hae Sung’s watches convulsed with vibration.
“S-Sa Hyeon! It’s a Sudden Gate!”
Hae Sung, having checked the alert first, cried out urgently.
“What now?”
Sa Hyeon furrowed his brow and checked his wrist.
A bright red glow bloomed across the Watch screen.
Above it, a disaster alert was flashing.

[! Emergency Alert: Sudden Gate Detected
All B-rank and above Hunters, assemble immediately
Predicted Gate Rank: A-rank
…….]

“Again.”
He’d thought it strange how quiet things had been since the last Dungeon Break.
The moment Sa Hyeon let out a thin sigh between his lips.
“Sa Hyeon, the coordinates of the sudden Gate that’s just appeared—”
Hae Sung’s trembling gaze fixed on him.
“It’s in the Underground Market sector.”
Sa Hyeon’s footsteps froze mid-stride.
A hairline fracture appeared in his otherwise composed expression.
“…What?”
“It’s where Master Gwak Chul Jung’s workshop is located.”

An S-rank Instructor Devours the Academy Chapter 44

Author
Baek Roo-ga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yoon Tae-ri
Cover
Tong

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0045

ⓒ2026, Baek Roo-ga

This e-book is protected under the copyright law of the Republic of Korea.
No part of this work may be reproduced or repurposed in any form without the express 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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