The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 53
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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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Episode 53
As the thick glass door swung open, a wave of oppressive heat rolled through.
The air was so stifling it caught in the throat.
Hae-seong took a shallow breath to steady himself, then stepped inside.
He stopped in front of a door marked “Research Room” at one corner of the Workshop.
He turned the handle.
“Oh, Yeom Sa-hyeon! So you were here after all.”
Sa-hyeon lifted his head from where he’d been sprawled across the sofa.
“What is it now.”
“Oh! Hae-seong’s here. You eaten lunch already?”
Chul-jung, who was sitting across from Sa-hyeon, greeted him warmly.
“Yes, I had something simple. It looks like you two have eaten.”
Hae-seong let his gaze drift down to sweep across the table.
Two trays sat on the table between them.
Food delivered from the Academy Cafeteria.
Unlike Sa-hyeon’s tray, which looked barely touched, Chul-jung’s was completely empty.
Sa-hyeon exhaled a thin sigh.
“He won’t eat lunch alone, so of course he’s being a complete nuisance about it….”
“Here he is, acting like he’s doing me some huge favor by eating with me. Meanwhile, I’m the one going through hell because of him, and he doesn’t even think about that!”
Chul-jung griped as he reached for the dessert remaining on Sa-hyeon’s tray.
Sa-hyeon shook his head with a slight squint, barely listening.
Hae-seong smiled softly and said, “The two of you really do get along well.”
Hae-seong’s eyes crinkled as he remarked, “You two really do get along well.”
“What, us?”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Both of them denied it in unison.
When Hae-seong laughed silently, Chul-jung cleared his throat awkwardly and nodded at him.
“You could’ve just called. Why’d you come all the way here? Don’t tell me Hae-seong ignored your calls again.”
“I didn’t get a call.”
Sa-hyeon held up his quiet smartphone as he answered.
Hae-seong’s lips curved up awkwardly, and he scratched his cheek.
“Ah, yes. That’s right…. I can’t use my phone at the moment, unfortunately.”
“Can’t use your phone? Why, did you break it?”
Chul-jung asked.
Sa-hyeon let out a hollow laugh.
“You’d think Hae-seong was middle-aged or something….”
“…Well.”
Hae-seong held up his smartphone, looking uncomfortable.
Buzz—buzz, buzz—buzz—
The screen flashed.
A call was coming in from an unsaved number.
Before long the call cut off, and a small notification popped up above it.
[Missed Call – 135]
The moment it fell silent, his phone rang again.
This time from a different number than before.
“This keeps happening…. I can’t use it at all.”
“Looks like your number got leaked.”
Sa-hyeon tossed out the speculation idly.
“…Yes.”
“Leaked? To where? …Don’t tell me it’s because of that news story yesterday?”
“Yes, the fallout is bigger than I expected.”
Hae-seong wet his lips, his expression troubled.
“I’m getting calls from journalists, distant relatives, even classmates from kindergarten….”
“Just turn it off.”
Sa-hyeon offered the advice casually.
“Still, there’s always the chance an urgent call might come through.”
Hae-seong gave an awkward laugh and switched his phone to silent before tucking it away.
‘Now I understand why Sa-hyeon avoided—or rather, fled—from the Gate entrance….’
Sa-hyeon had given Yu-wol the pretext of having a ‘guardian.’
Even he was receiving this level of attention, so what must it be like for Sa-hyeon?
‘…His phone number, his family—it all seems to have been exposed.’
It’s only a matter of time before Sa-hyeon’s identity as an Interrogator becomes public knowledge.
And when it does, things will explode into chaos beyond what they are now.
“Anyway, speaking of which.”
Chul-jung cut through Hae-seong’s thoughts.
“…Ah, yes?”
“Why did you suddenly come looking for me?”
“That’s….”
Hae-seong explained the situation carefully.
“Yesterday, I had to follow Sa-hyeon right away, so I wasn’t able to inform the students about the Combat Training schedule.”
After leaving the Gate, he’d been cornered by reporters, arranged Chul-jung’s lodging, and even reported the situation to the Chancellor.
In the midst of handling everything frantically, he’d clean forgotten to notify them of the training dates.
With only two weeks left, it seemed best to inform them as soon as possible.
“Since it’s lunch time now, I thought I’d go tell them the training schedule right away.”
“Oh, that?”
Sa-hyeon replied flatly.
“Since you mention it, let’s do it now.”
“N-now?”
Sa-hyeon tapped his crossed leg for a moment, then jerked his chin toward Chul-jung.
“Old man, do you have any spare equipment lying around?”
“…Equipment? Well, I’ve made plenty. But why?”
“Perfect.”
Sa-hyeon slowly pushed himself to his feet.
“If I’m going to do this properly, I need to be prepared for this much.”
Sa-hyeon gave a brief laugh.
…Properly? Hae-seong bit his lip. Would the students be all right?
Chul-jung clicked his tongue with a look of resignation.
“Sheesh, those poor kids. They’ve really drawn the short straw.”
* * *
Meanwhile, the Academy Classroom was in an uproar as if a celebrity had just walked in.
“Yu-wol, did you really go through a Gate with Hunter Baek Iwon?”
“I’m so jealous! What was it like seeing him in person?”
“Was that cheetah your Summoning? It was insanely strong!”
“Which Guild are you joining?”
“Obviously Go-yo!”
The students crowding around Yu-wol’s desk fired questions at her without pause.
‘It’s deafening….’
Yu-wol herself sat with her mouth firmly shut, propping her chin on her hand.
She was staying quiet as her teacher had told her—no trouble, just patience—but….
The Chancellor had been calling her in pointlessly all yesterday and today, so she hadn’t even gotten to greet her teacher, and that bothered her deeply.
Besides, today wasn’t even a day for Sa-hyeon’s practical lessons.
Yu-wol’s eyes were completely dead.
“Wow… even with all this fuss, she doesn’t even flinch.”
Ryu-a, who had been watching Yu-wol, let out a genuine sigh of admiration.
This was quite the spectacle every break time.
“At this point, she’d have every right to get annoyed. Right, Kang Mu-geon?”
“Hmm, is that eyebrow piercing an item for Yu-wol or something?”
“…….”
My classmate’s attention seems to be wandering to strange places again.
She turned her focus elsewhere with a grimace.
“Hey, hey, Go Gyeol. Is she normally this quiet?”
As Ryu-a turned around to ask, Go Gyeol answered without stopping his note-taking.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t really talked much with her either.”
“Honestly, why doesn’t anyone care about their classmates?”
Ryu-a’s gaze, which had been grumbling, suddenly drifted toward the seat next to Go Gyeol.
“…By the way, what’s wrong with Eun-o?”
Tae Eun-o sat with his forehead planted on the desk, groaning softly.
Go Gyeol glanced sideways at him and released a short sigh.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“But you three are always hanging around together—you’re really telling me you have no idea?”
“That’s just because we’re in the same class, so we end up going places together.”
Go Gyeol set his expression firmly and twitched an eyebrow, then let slip a remark.
“He’s probably down with frustration, that’s all.”
“Frustration? Why? What about?”
Was he upset that he’d been the only one to stand out?
At Ryu-a’s question, Ha Jae-yun, who had been listening from the seat behind, carefully opened his mouth.
“I think… it’s because of the news this morning.”
“Huh? The news?”
Ryu-a blinked.
“…Oh! You mean Yu-wol and Hae-seong’s appearance on the broadcast? But why is he upset about that?”
The moment she tilted her head in confusion.
Bang!
“Whoa! You scared me!”
Ryu-a clutched at her racing heart.
Tae Eun-o suddenly shoved his desk away and shot to his feet.
“Ugh, the more I think about it, the more I’m pissed, seriously!”
“What are you about to do now….”
Go Gyeol furrowed his brow and set down his pen.
While Ha Jae-yun watched him with worried eyes.
Tae Eun-o snorted through his nose and pushed his way through the gathered students.
“Hey, Yu-wol!”
“?”
Yu-wol rolled only her eyes, shifting her gaze.
Tae Eun-o’s face had flushed red and pale in turn.
“You sneaky bastard—you went to the Gate with the instructor all by yourself?!”
…Ah, so that was what had gotten him so worked up?
Ryu-a narrowed her eyes and swallowed a sigh.
Surrounded by incomprehensible people, as always.
Meanwhile, Yu-wol replied coolly.
“I would have only been dead weight anyway, so it’s probably better I didn’t know sooner.”
“…!”
This girl—seriously—
Tae Eun-o’s mouth fell silent, his lips working soundlessly.
Go Gyeol, who had foreseen the coming trouble, set down his pen.
“Hey, Jae-yun.”
“Yes?”
Ha Jae-yun, who had immediately grasped the unspoken meaning, sprang to his feet.
“You disrespectful bastard—”
The moment Tae Eun-o’s body tensed violently, two figures quickly seized both his arms.
“Let go! This time I’m really going to throw down with her!”
“Idiot, you don’t even need to fight—you’d lose before you started.”
“Argh! This guy, seriously!”
The classroom had erupted into chaos.
The gathered students had begun to shrink back from the commotion.
“You’re all goofing around.”
From the back of the classroom came a voice like cold water poured over flames.
The students’ gazes turned toward it.
“Stop making such a fuss because it’s noisy, will you? Keep it quiet.”
Se-yong furrowed his brow and leaned on one leg.
The leg that Tae Eun-o had been swinging slowly lowered.
“…Wait, when did that senior get discharged? Can he even walk now?”
……
At Tae Eun-o’s thoughtless remark, the tendons on Se-yong’s forehead stood out sharply.
…That bastard’s doing it on purpose, isn’t he?
Se-yong tensed the muscles of his right leg, which had gone numb without him realizing it.
“…You all won’t be walking around with your heads held so high much longer.”
The corners of Se-yong’s mouth twisted upward.
“You’re about to get humiliated in the sparring matches.”
He’d heard it from his uncle last night.
A sparring date had been set between his uncle’s class and Professor Yeom Sa-hyeon’s students.
They wouldn’t be able to land a single move—they’d be utterly crushed.
‘My uncle’s class has a non-awakened National Team athlete in it, after all.’
Those bastards too, and…that dog of a professor.
Their noses would get flattened.
It was just as Se-yong ground his teeth and broke into a satisfied smile.
“…Sparring?”
“With whom?”
The response was unexpected.
Ha Jae-yun and Go Gyeol tilted their heads, confusion written across their faces.
“Sparring? Me and that bastard? I wouldn’t mind going a round, actually.”
Tae Eun-o even pointed at Yu-wol, who was resting her chin on her hand with an air of indifference.
…What? Why doesn’t anyone know about this?
Caught off guard by their reactions, Se-yong was the one left flustered.
S-rank Instructor Devours the Academy 53
Author
Baek Ru-ga
Publisher
Da On Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Tae-ri
Cover Art
Thump
UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0053
ⓒ2026, Baek Ru-ga
※ This e-book is protected under the copyright laws of the Republic of Korea.
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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