The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 48

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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 48

“…So that’s how the system works.”
Lee Won exhaled sharply.
The blank spaces in the Quest window were never hidden to begin with.
The system collected data and generated Quests on the fly based on circumstances.
“…A new type. The Gate researchers are going to have their hands full.”
If he had been the one to attack first, a custom penalty would have been imposed accordingly.
Lee Won concluded it was simply an anomaly of a rogue Gate.
But Sa Hyeon thought differently.
The fact that a new type of Quest had appeared in precisely this suspicious Gate didn’t sit right with him.
“By the way, your Mental Realm Immunity is gone—will you be all right?”
With Sa Hyeon’s trait immunity gone, he’d be defenseless against Mental Contamination during combat.
Lee Won raised his right arm, displaying the Bracelet on his wrist.
“Use this instead. My weapon also has a decent amount of Mental Realm resistance.”
“Who was it sprawled on the floor earlier?”
“…That wasn’t during combat, was it?”
Lee Won’s eyes narrowed indignantly.
“Not necessary.”
Sa Hyeon chuckled softly and moved toward the stairwell railing.
He gripped a section of the iron fence, and with an eerie screech of metal, the steel bent beneath his hand.
The railing, torn away as easily as paper.
Moments later.
“…!”
Black smoke curled from the hand holding the metal, and the elongated piece of steel transformed in an instant into a black spear.
“As long as I don’t touch them directly.”
He slipped Gloves onto his other hand, the one not gripping the weapon.
An item Cheol Jung had specially crafted long ago.
It blocked all manner of skills that affected the mind.
Though its use would be different this time.
Whoosh.
Sa Hyeon swung the spear in a wide arc.
As if in response to a signal, dozens of glinting eyes turned toward him.
Over a hundred monsters, now bearing human form.
Roaarrr!
The creatures, their bodies covered in blood-red markings like veins, rushed at them as one.
Sa Hyeon and Lee Won leaped simultaneously.
Shing.
Lee Won drew his Holy Sword.
A brief slash through empty air.
The distance between him and the monster collapsed in an instant.
As he raised the blade to strike—
“…….”
Their eyes met. The monster’s gaze locked with his own.
An unmistakably human face.
Lee Won hesitated.
Grrk.
An eerie sound emanated from between the creature’s lips.
Only then did Lee Won suppress his revulsion and swing the blade in a wide arc.
Kieeeee!
The monster struck by the sword became thin liquid and evaporated.
He exhaled in frustration, shaking his platinum hair.
An instinctive resistance—the resistance to cut down something bearing human form.
As he bit his lip and drew a short breath—

[B-rank or Higher Monster 5/5,000]
[B-rank or Higher Monster 6/5,000]
[B-rank or Higher Monster 7/5,000]
….
[B-rank or Higher Monster 14/5,000]

The numbers in the Quest window were climbing rapidly.
Lee Won slashed toward the next target while stealing a glance at Sa Hyeon’s combat.
Splorch—shriek! Kyaaaah!
Monster blood sprayed ceaselessly.
At the tip of Sa Hyeon’s spear, aimed at the creature’s head, there was no hesitation whatsoever.
The way he cut down monsters wearing human forms without so much as flinching—there was something unsettling about the sight.

[B-rank or Higher Monster 57/5,000]
….
[B-rank or Higher Monster 99/5,000]
[B-rank or Higher Monster 100/5,000]

Barely five minutes.
Every monster Sa Hyeon had summoned was annihilated.
The floor was drenched in liquefied remains.
“Not a bad pace, all things considered.”
Sa Hyeon spoke in an even tone.
“It’s far better than merely acceptable, actually.”
Lee Won took a measured breath.
The monsters’ skill grades seemed formidable, yet their actual bodies were weaker than anticipated.
C-rank, or perhaps lower.
And yet Sa Hyeon’s speed was incomparable.
‘Perhaps it’s because he shows no hesitation in wielding the weapon.’
In the instant Lee Won was clicking his tongue at how barely a breath disturbed Sa Hyeon’s composure—
Ding.
The Quest window flickered with a notification.
Another blank field filled in.

[Time Limit 04:00:00]

…Five thousand of them, in four hours?
The condition seemed designed by someone calculating their monster-slaying rate precisely.
“At this pace, it’s not impossible, but….”
Lee Won exhaled with difficulty.
“The Boss is the problem.”

[B-rank or Higher Monster 100/5,000]
[OOOO]
[! ‘Mental Realm Immunity’ is restricted.]
[Time Limit 03:59:51]

The Boss’s type had not yet been revealed.
That seemed like it could be a variable….
“We’ll worry about that later.”
Sa Hyeon flicked the liquid from his spear and removed one of his Gloves.
“This time, let’s double the intake.”
He moved toward the tank without hesitation.
Red liquid rippled inside the tank.
His hand pressed against the glass.
Sa Hyeon’s eyes flared again with the color of blood.

[‘Whisper of the Dead (S)’ skill has been activated!]

The liquid responded once more, churning and surging.
In that moment.
“…!”
His red eyes widened abruptly.
A sharp phantom pain crashed down all at once.
It felt as though thousands of needles were scraping the inside of his skull.

—Save me it’s so hot I don’t want to die please I can’t see anything come with me….

Nausea rose all the way to his throat. His eyes burned as if immersed in flame.
Terrible sensations surged backward through his mind, tearing it to shreds.
“…Interrogator?”
Sa Hyeon stood gripping the aquarium, his head bowed.
Lee Won, who had been watching his back, sensed something wrong and rushed over.
Sa Hyeon’s condition looked far from normal.
Ragged breathing, lips drained of color, veins bulging at his temples.
His crimson eyes twisted with agony.
“…Damn it.”
Sa Hyeon bit his own tongue.
His Mental Realm Immunity had vanished.
His own skill had nearly consumed him instead.
Gradually, the light returned to his eyes.
Lee Won gripped Sa Hyeon’s shoulder.
“…This won’t do. Let me take over this time,”
“No.”
Sa Hyeon straightened his breathing and lifted his head.
Cold sweat that had beaded at his brow trickled down his jaw.
“It irritates me too much. I can’t just let it be.”
His eyes blazed with sharp intensity.
Without thinking, Lee Won wetted his lips.
Splash—
In that moment, chunks began raining down onto the floor.
Both of them leapt up at once, dodging the falling liquid.
Ooze, ooze, ooze—
Far more of them than before.
The chunks began taking on shape.
What had been plastered to the floor rose up in elongated forms.
“No point in waiting any longer.”
Sa Hyeon pulled on his Gloves and charged toward the horde of monsters.
Slice, slash!
The formless liquid mass split apart.
Against his earlier caution, his attacks had become far more brutal and reckless.
There was something almost frenzied about the way he moved.
‘…Right. Why would I worry about that Interrogator.’
Lee Won cast aside his idle thoughts and tightened his grip on the Holy Sword.
Screech—eeeeak!
Since these were not human but grotesque liquid creatures, his blade met them without hesitation.

[B-rank or Higher Monster 197/5,000]

Nearly half their number already culled.
The remaining monsters had by now recovered their human forms.
Grrrrr—
The creatures, which had been faltering under the relentless momentum of the two, suddenly rushed in a single direction.
“…?”
“What are they doing?”
Faced with this incomprehensible behavior, Lee Won and Sa Hyeon’s movements stalled.
Shrieeeek!
The monsters threw themselves against the aquarium all at once—
Crash! Crash!
And began hurling their heads against it.
“No way….”
Were they trying to spill the water?
As Lee Won rushed to stop them, Sa Hyeon blocked his path.
“Leave it alone.”
He stood with his weight on one leg, watching dispassionately.
“Actually, this works out. No wasted skill points on a refill now.”
“…I suppose you’re right.”
But if all that liquid poured out, could they handle the numbers?
Lee Won’s face creased with doubt as he furrowed his brow.
The relentless impacts sent cracks racing through the tank.
Bang! Crash! Shatter—
Fissures spiderwebbed across the surface.
And then, at last.
Boom!
Glass exploded into fragments as the crimson liquid cascaded down like a waterfall.
Waves surged forward in torrents.
Both men leapt onto the metal stairs to escape the deluge.
The liquid pooled on the floor writhed grotesquely before swirling inward, converging into a single point.
Squelch—squelch—
The mass coalesced into a colossal form the size of an enormous elephant.
Its surface rippled with disturbing fluidity.
Beneath translucent skin, blood-red ichor churned visibly, raw and exposed.
And at the center of its head, a jet-black eye.
Within it, a small, brilliant crimson light flickered.
A fragment of the core Sa Hyeon had been searching for.
‘Found it.’
His lips curved upward as he adjusted his grip on his spear.
Ding.
And the final empty slot revealed itself.

[The Boss of Laggard’s Laboratory has appeared.]
[Defeat the Boss.]
[Boss 0/1]

Sa Hyeon vaulted over the railing, launching himself upward.
Tentacle-like appendages erupted from the Boss’s torso.
Sa Hyeon twisted out of their reach and raised his weapon.
His gaze locked onto one target alone.
The stone embedded in the Boss’s eye.
Slice—
His blade carved through the liquid flesh.
But…
“It’s lodged deeper than I’d like.”
Sa Hyeon clicked his tongue and landed.
Squirm—squirm—
In the meantime.
Pieces of the Boss’s body sloughed off and differentiated into new monsters.
“If that’s how we breed monsters, so be it.”
Let’s fill the headcount first.
Sa Hyeon dodged the lashing tentacles and sliced them apart methodically.
Thud, thunk.
Monsters multiplied rapidly as fragments hit the floor.
Lee Won caught on instantly to his strategy and swiftly hacked away at the writhing masses.

[B-rank or Higher Monsters 251/5,000]
…
[B-rank or Higher Monsters 336/5,000]
[B-rank or Higher Monsters 409/5,000]

The hunt had become far more manageable.
The Boss’s body shrank steadily in turn.
‘At this rate, I should be able to reach it…’
Sa Hyeon seized the opening, pushed off the floor, and extended his spear-wielding arm behind him as he rose.
Just as he was about to drive the blade into those dark eyes.
“Sa Hyeon!”
At Lee Won’s shout, he turned his head.
A long, thin tentacle stretched from the Boss’s lower body, striking at Sa Hyeon’s flank.
He was twisting his body to evade when—
A thick, viscous liquid coiled around his ankle.

His vision lurched suddenly, the world tilting into horrible distance.
Stagger—
Mental Contamination burrowed into his skull in an instant, shaking the very foundation of his consciousness.
Sa Hyeon bit down on his lip and swung his spear.
Shrrk.
The tentacle wrapped around his ankle severed cleanly.
Hisssss—
The liquid clinging to his ankle burned away with a searing pain.
“…Damn it.”
This leaves a bad taste.
As he rolled his tongue and lifted his head.
A massive shadow blotted out his vision.
The Boss opened its maw, revealing thousands of slender, razor-sharp teeth.
At the same instant as Lee Won’s cry.
“Sa Hyeon—!”
Glub.
The liquid swallowed him whole.

S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy Chapter 48

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0049

ⓒ2026, Baek Ruga

※ This e-book is protected under the Copyright Law of the Republic of Korea.
No part or whole 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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