The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 54

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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 54

“Ji Se-yong, a sparring match? What are you talking about? Did you hear something?”
Ryu A leaned forward eagerly, pressing for details.
The entire Combat Class A reacted as if they were hearing this for the first time.
Yoo Wol didn’t spare a glance, only tapping his chin slowly with one finger.
Se-yong let out a short, bitter laugh.
“This guy calling himself a teacher doesn’t even tell his own students about the sparring schedule. Talk about lacking basic qualifications.”
In that instant, Yoo Wol’s tapping finger went rigid.
Se-yong twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Then again, teaching such a hack course, why would he manage the basics?”
“…….”
Yoo Wol slowly lifted his head.
Go Gyeol, who’d caught the expression that surfaced on Yoo Wol’s face in passing, sensed something ominous.
‘This guy… his eyes look a bit off.’
Yoo Wol opened his mouth.
“Just to confirm — when you said that ‘guy’ a moment ago, were you perhaps referring to our instructor?”
His voice had sunk to a low, measured tone.
Se-yong burst out laughing.
“An instructor? What, are we making a film? And what kind of instructor is some parachute hire with no credentials?”
“…….”
The light in Yoo Wol’s eyes gradually grew cold.
‘Yeah, he should really shut his mouth now…’
In the moment Go Gyeol considered whether to stop Yoo Wol instead of loosening his grip on Tae Eun-o’s arm—
Yoo Wol slowly lowered the hand he’d been resting on his chin.
“Since that mouth of yours seems only good for spouting nonsense, why don’t you sit quietly and look in a mirror while you’re at it — maybe you’ll learn some self-reflection. And if that doesn’t work either, stop wasting air and just dive into the Lake nearby.”
He wore a thin, bloodless smile as he tilted his head.
The blunt delivery of his scathing remark was relentless and detached.
“……?”
Words poured out without hesitation, spoken in a flat monotone.
Se-yong lost his words entirely, blinking blankly.
“Huh….”
Ha Jae-yun slowly covered his mouth.
Go Gyeol muttered quietly.
“…Wow. He’s actually been incredibly kind to us.”
“Yoo Wol, I don’t like him much either, but… that was actually pretty refreshing, yeah?”
Tae Eun-o folded his arms and nodded thoughtfully.
“That guy’s not normal….”
Ryu A, who’d drifted over beside Se-yong, let out a pure note of admiration.
“…That bastard.”
Se-yong clenched his teeth hard.
In the empty air, Yoo Wol’s and Se-yong’s gazes collided sharply.
The atmosphere plummeted abruptly.
A dark, steely aura began seeping up from beneath Se-yong’s feet.
“Whoa! Hey, don’t release Killing Intent in here!”
Ryu A yelped and jumped backward.
The Lecture Hall was flooded in an instant with biting cold.
“This situation’s taking a weird turn….”
Go Gyeol swallowed hard and shot a glance at Tae Eun-o.
“Hey, shouldn’t we stop this?”
“Hold on. Watching a fight is always the best entertainment.”
‘…That’s not something the guy who was just about to fight should be saying.’
Whether or not Go Gyeol narrowed his eyes while looking at him, Tae Eun-o casually brushed off his arms.
“Ooh, it is a bit chilly though. It’s kind of like the air conditioning was cranked up — not so bad, actually.”
The aura grew steadily thicker.
Some of the students reacted first.
Weighed down by the S-Rank pressure, they began voicing their discomfort one by one.
But Yoo Wol remained utterly still.
“Your mentor’s all talk too. Why don’t you try throwing your weight around like you did a moment ago?”
Ji Se-yong twisted his mouth into a sneer.
“…Well.”
Yoo Wol curled his lips upward.
“Looking at you now, I don’t think you’re worth restraining anymore.”
Those ice-cold eyes fixed on Ji Se-yong.
In that instant.
“!”
A crushing weight suddenly bore down on the Lecture Hall, as if a fist had driven straight through his chest.
“Ugh—”
“What is this?!”
The students’ bodies went rigid.
Some stumbled, their legs nearly giving way beneath them.
An overwhelming presence.
“Yoo Wol! Stop it right now!”
Tae Eun-o cried out through clenched teeth.
Go Gyeol’s eyes flickered for an instant.
‘Damn it. This is going south fast.’
It looked like a real disaster was about to unfold.
Tae Eun-o had provoked Yoo Wol before, but this time felt different.
Yoo Wol had an unusual attachment to Professor Yeom Sa-hyeon.
Almost excessive, even.
And Ji Se-yong had struck right at that exact nerve.
Ji Se-yong, too, sensed that disaster was looming.
‘…Damn.’
Ji Se-yong’s eyelids began to twitch.
…If he backed down now, he’d look like a coward.
The tension had wound tight enough to make breathing difficult.
A pressure far heavier than anything Ji Se-yong could muster.
‘…Ji Se-yong will crack before Tae Eun-o does.’
Beads of cold sweat formed on Go Gyeol’s forehead.
Could he actually stop this?
As Go Gyeol turned desperately to look at Yoo Wol—
“…!”
Suddenly, Yoo Wol’s eyes brightened, alive again.
‘What?’
Go Gyeol’s brow furrowed for just a moment.
“!”
He too felt the familiar presence.
Creak—
The rear door opened.
At the same moment, the Killing Intent that had been crushing the Lecture Hall vanished without a trace.
“—Haaah!”
“Holy— I thought I was dead!”
As the students exhaled the breath they’d been holding—
“Professor, you’ve arrived!”
Yoo Wol sprang to his feet, bowing deeply toward the rear door.
An abrupt change in demeanor.
‘What was that?’
The students’ heads turned in unison.
A figure stood in the rear doorway.
“…Professor!”
Tae Eun-o called out happily.
“—Professor?”
“If it’s Tae’s professor, you mean that new practical combat instructor?”
The students breathed sighs of relief.
Meanwhile.
“…….”
The moment he saw Sa-hyeon, Ji Se-yong’s breath caught.
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
‘Damn it, why won’t my leg stop?’
Against his will, his right foot began to tremble violently.
The moment Ji Se-yong’s gaze dropped, the oppressive aura that had hung around him dissipated.
A faint tension still lingered in the Lecture Hall air.
“Wasting stamina like that won’t help anyone.”
Yeom Sa-hyeon clicked his tongue briefly and gestured toward Combat Class A.
“Stop throwing away energy for nothing. Come on.”

* * *

Beneath the sharp glare of the midday sun.
Four students from Combat Class A stood in a line on the Sports Field.
“Is that guy the Combat professor?”
“What kind of training is this all of a sudden?”
Word had spread, and students crowded the Lecture Building windows, pressed shoulder to shoulder.
Hae-seong delivered the situation in brief.
“…And so, in two weeks’ time, we have a joint sparring match scheduled with the students from Professor Ji Jae-hyeok’s class.”
So what Ji Se-yong had said was true after all.
Go Gyeol exhaled a bewildered breath.
“A sparring match, really?”
“And just two weeks from now?”
“Against the graduating class, no less?!”
Ha Jae-yun’s face had gone pale, but Tae Eun-o’s eyes suddenly brightened.
“I cannot allow our Master’s honor to be tarnished. We will win, without fail.”
Yoo Wol’s eyes blazed with determination.
The light that had seemed dead in his gaze had returned.
‘What genre is this guy performing in, all by himself?’ Go Gyeol sighed in exasperation and opened his mouth.
“So our opponents are the Body Technique Class, right?”
“And?”
Yeom Sa-hyeon tilted his head.
“That’s just it—the Body Technique Class is inherently focused on one-on-one combat and close-quarters fighting. Because of that, their curriculum has a heavy emphasis on practical combat training against actual opponents.”
Go Gyeol paused before continuing.
“In the end, a sparring match is just person versus person, fighting head-to-head.”
“That’s fair to say.”
Hae-seong nodded in agreement.
Go Gyeol raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘see?’ and went on.
“But our Combat Class focuses on monster hunting. We’re bound to be at a disadvantage because we lack experience in human combat.”
And they were graduating class students to boot.
Surely many of them were already out on practical missions.
“Under these conditions, why would we even—”
“It’s not a bad thing to properly learn from this opportunity.”
Yeom Sa-hyeon cut him off decisively, his lips curving into a smile.
“The world is far too unstable these days.”
Hunter conflicts that were an international issue.
The domestic Hunter Prison’s reputation was vicious enough that things stayed relatively quiet, but every so often, major incidents would erupt.
“I suppose you’re right about that.”
Go Gyeol yielded reluctantly.
But the unease about this sparring match remained unchanged.
“However…”
Ha Jae-yun raised his hand hesitantly.
“Sparring matches prohibit weapons, don’t they? Go Gyeol’s main weapon is a Dagger… will he be all right?”
Go Gyeol exhaled a long sigh through his nose.
That was the problem.
According to Academy rules, the use of items except Armor is forbidden during sparring matches.
Go Gyeol, who had always relied on his Dagger, had no idea how he’d manage without a weapon.
The same would likely hold true for Yoo Wol, who used a Magic Gun.
And besides, the Body Technique Class was made up mostly of people who’d been doing combat sports since before their Awakening.
“It’s a ridiculous rule. They ban it for student safety, they say… but weapon proficiency is a skill too.”
Yeom Sa-hyeon let out a low chuckle and adjusted the edge of his Leather Gloves.
“Hunting Monsters is easy. You just kill them and you’re done.”
He shrugged with casual indifference.
“Fighting people is tricky business. Generally speaking, you’re not supposed to kill them, right?”
Jae-yun swallowed hard, muttering to himself.
“…’Generally speaking’…?”
“Our instructor really does say the most chilling things without batting an eye.”
Go Gyeol narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
Sa-hyeon raised an eyebrow calmly.
“But you all have something they don’t.”
“There’s plenty we have!”
Eun-o’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
“Boldness, persistence, physical strength, mental fortitude?”
Just as Yoo Wol frowned as if exasperated, preparing to glare at Eun-o—
“Skills.”
Sa-hyeon answered tersely.

The biggest difference between the Body Technique Class and the Combat Class lay in this.
Using your body versus using Skills.
The Body Technique Class excelled at fundamental physical prowess.
Their Skills, however, were limited to simple defense.
The Combat Class was the reverse.
A diverse arsenal of Skills applicable in multiple ways—that was the very essence of the Combat Class.
Sa-hyeon spoke with declarative certainty.
“From today on, you’re going to learn how to control your Skills.”
“Oh, this is going to be fun!”
Eun-o’s lips curved upward, his face alight with anticipation.
Go Gyeol blinked.
…Without weapons? Only Skills?
‘Is that even possible with my attribute?’
Doubt flickered through his mind.
Was it even possible?
Yet somehow, Sa-hyeon seemed to already know the answer.
‘…Though that answer is unlikely to be anything ordinary.’
He’d make the impossible possible.
“Well then, before lunch ends, let’s get a quick taste of it.”
Sa-hyeon checked his watch.
Ten minutes remained.
He cleared his throat lightly and spoke.
“Starting now, try to last five minutes against me.”
“…What?!”
“Five minutes? We can’t even manage one!”
Jae-yun and Go Gyeol practically leaped up in unison.
Eun-o, meanwhile, was overflowing with joy.
“Finally—sparring with the instructor!!”
“To face off directly with my teacher… it’s an honor…!”
While Yoo Wol struggled to hold back tears of emotion—
“Absolutely not. I can’t do this!”
Go Gyeol clutched his head with both hands.
‘I don’t want to become disabled at my age from training like this!’
Jae-yun felt the same.
“…Sir, I have a younger sibling at home I need to care for!!”
Based on everything they’d witnessed of Sa-hyeon’s conduct, it seemed unlikely anyone would walk away without needing to be carried out!
“The method is simple.”
Sa-hyeon breezed past their desperate protests and continued.
“Survive however you can—solo or with coordinated attacks. Your choice.”
…Your choice?
The students held their breath, waiting for his next words.
“Whichever one of you manages to land a touch on me…”
Sa-hyeon’s smile turned cool and measured.
“…gets armor made by Gwak Cheol-joong.”
…!
“Yes, yes?!”
Go Gyeol’s voice shot up.
That equipment you can’t obtain even with money? The kind that gives you a half-rank boost just by equipping a single piece…!
If he actually started before his Hunter debut with Gwak Cheol-joong Equipment….
‘The starting line would be completely different.’
And he was giving it to just one person.
Go Gyeol let out a shaky breath and turned his gaze away.
His eyes met Ha Jae-yun’s, whose pupils trembled as if from an earthquake.
No words were spoken, but they were thinking the same thing.
This….
This was completely individual combat.
‘If it’s Gwak Cheol-joong Equipment….’
It might be worth taking a shot at.

S-Rank Prison Guard Devours the Academy: Episode 54

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

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0054

ⓒ 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 the 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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