The S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy - Chapter 78

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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 78

The Organization Member let out a hollow laugh.
‘Ridiculous.’
There was no way that person would be walking around openly on the surface like this.
And an Academy professor, no less.
As if someone of that caliber would be stuck doing something as mundane as tending hothouse flowers.
Besides, that VIP was….
It was then that the Organization Member’s gaze shifted to the black-haired boy.
‘Wait—the professor in charge of Lee Ha-je?’
S-rank Lee Ha-je, who commanded attention with his brilliant blonde hair and exotic features.
Because that dazzling image had been seared into memory, the connection had never occurred to him.
But now that he looked closely….
‘They do look alike.’
Sharp eyes and a cold impression.
Aside from the dark hair and eye color, the boy’s face was nearly identical to Lee Ha-je’s.
‘Could it actually be Lee Ha-je?’
Was Lee Ha-je a comrade?
Even among members of the same Organization, those who operated under codenames kept their true identities hidden from one another.
Given that this man was a core figure of the organization, and what they were seeing now was simply a disguise, there would be nothing strange about it at all.
‘Then the man who Lee Ha-je calls his master….’
The echo of Lee Ha-je’s voice from moments ago surfaced in his mind.

‘He appears to be an Organization Member infiltrating this place, sir.’
‘Mind your manners. This person,’

An almost obsessive reverence.
Would an Organization Member—let alone one in a position of power—treat an Academy professor with such deference?
His breath caught.
‘No. That can’t be.’
In a flash, his own words from before came rushing back like a lantern show of memories.

‘Can we even trust these greenhorns?’
‘You’ve been acting out of line. What makes a kid like you think you’re anything special?’
‘That item is beyond what a rookie like you can handle.’

‘No! I couldn’t possibly fail to recognize that person!’
While the Organization Member’s pupils trembled as if shaken by an earthquake.
“…Huh? What did you say, sir?”
Tae Eun-o blinked in confusion.
“The Mirror Mask? You’re talking about that instructor, right?”
“Well, I’m not certain, but it does seem like a plausible hypothesis.”
The VIP customer replied with a serene smile.
Yeom Sa-hyeon exhaled with irritation.
‘The rumor’s already spread that far….’
This was becoming troublesome.
As he knitted his brows, Lee Ha-je, noticing this with sharp perception, slowly parted his lips.
“Inquisitor? I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
As he finished speaking, he cast a deliberate, vacant glance toward Kim Juwim.
Kim Juwim, who had been watching nervously, caught sight of Yeom Sa-hyeon’s furrowed brow and went silent with alarm.
‘We’re done for!’
There were plenty of examples of people who’d pushed further in this mood and ended up dead!
Kim Juwim hurried to add something.
“R-right! Our tea— I mean, our boss isn’t an Inquisitor or anything…!”
He moistened his lips and hesitated briefly, then decided to let fate take its course.
In any case, he was already in disguise, so being rumored to be an Inquisitor had to be better than this!
“He’s our organization’s boss!”
“…Boss?”
The VIP customer asked again, eyes wide with disbelief.
A flurry of reactions rippled through the group.
Lee Ha-je’s eyebrows twitched with disapproval, while Yeom Sa-hyeon, the one directly in question, remained unmoved—his hands casually thrust into his pockets as if none of it concerned him.
Seeing their muted responses, the Organization Member finally managed to steady himself.
‘…Right. There’s no way he’d come up to the surface.’
He tried to suppress the unease still clinging to his chest.
“W-wait, our teacher is the boss?!?”
Tae Eun-o’s eyes went wide as saucers.

* * *

“I heard it straight from his lips myself!”
The Academy Cafeteria during lunch hour, packed wall-to-wall with students.
Cutting through the deafening noise, Tae Eun-o announced it boldly.
Ha Jae-yun’s face went ashen as he processed what had happened at the Auction House.
“R-really?”
“Yes! I heard it clear as day!”
“You’re sure?”
Go Gyeol narrowed his eyes and asked. Tae Eun-o, exasperated, thumped his chest insistently.
“This guy who looked like he worked for the teacher said exactly, ‘He’s our Organization’s boss!’ You heard it too, didn’t you, Lee Ha-je?”
Tae Eun-o appealed to Lee Ha-je for confirmation.
But Lee Ha-je merely continued eating, his expression unchanged.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“What—hey, you’re really betraying me like this?!”
“? We were never on the same side to begin with.”
Tae Eun-o let out a hollow laugh at the flat response.
“Fine, you bastard…. And you—you’re saving up six hundred million?”
“Do you have any conscience, Eun-o?”
“You said you’d pay!”
“Here we go again….”
Go Gyeol let their bickering go in one ear and out the other, chewing his meat with detached indifference.
Those two had gone along with Teacher Sa-hyeon and come back even closer, it seemed.
He swallowed his food and opened his mouth.
“But here’s the thing. Did the teacher actually acknowledge what was said?”
As Go Gyeol posed the question, Tae Eun-o’s head snapped around from bickering with Lee Ha-je.
“Huh?”
“He just had that usual attitude of his, like ‘let’s see what comes out,’ without saying anything to confirm it, right?”
A Mafia boss, of all things.
Judging by Sa-hyeon’s usual conduct, it was plausible enough to accept—yet something about it didn’t quite fit.
“Well… I guess that’s how it seemed?”
Tae Eun-o trailed off, eyes rolling.
So he was right, then.
“That settles it, then.”
At first, he’d been curious about Teacher Sa-hyeon’s true identity, but now he couldn’t really bring himself to care what it was.
Go Gyeol was about to tune out and focus back on his meal—
“—Speaking of Professor Yeom?”
“Agh! What the—?!”
A voice suddenly rang out beside his ear, and Go Gyeol dropped his chopsticks onto his tray.
Beside him, leaning in close, was a head of pink hair.
“I think the secret Association agent theory is the right one.”
Jun-yeong nodded with deliberate seriousness.
“Think about it! He spares no effort to protect himself, yet throws himself without hesitation into danger for his students!”
“Come on… we’re talking about the same person, right? That actually happened?”
Tae Eun-o tilted his head in confusion.
Only Lee Ha-je smiled with quiet satisfaction.
Jun-yeong waved his hand dismissively, cutting off Tae Eun-o’s protest firmly.
“Either way! The Organization boss theory and the Inquisitor theory—they don’t make sense! Our Professor Yeom couldn’t possibly be such a heinous person!”
“The brainwashing still hasn’t worn off, I see….”
Go Gyeol let out a weary sigh.
The Cafeteria was unusually loud that day.
The reason was obvious.
The Academy was abuzz with rumors about Yeom Sa-hyeon’s true identity.
And it wasn’t just the Academy.

[Academy Professor Yeom Sa-hyeon, False Identity Suspected… What Is His Real Identity?]
[Professor Who Subdued Runaway Student, Four Questions Surrounding His True Identity]
…….

Students and internet users alike were pouring out countless theories about Yeom Sa-hyeon’s identity.
Jun-yeong was one of the voices actively contributing to the speculation.
“Phew… Forget this—I need to go draft a request for a special lecture from Professor Yeom Sa-hyeon. You all sign it too!”
Jun-yeong offered brightly before vanishing just as suddenly. Tae Eun-o muttered skeptically in his wake.
“A special lecture? Professor’s going to be furious.”
“They need to experience it firsthand before they wise up.”
Go Gyeol made a disapproving sound.
His gaze, which had dropped back to his tray, suddenly shifted across the table.
Food that looked barely touched.
“…? Hey, Jae-yun—you doing okay?”
“…Huh? What do you…?”
Ha Jae-yun, who’d been idly pushing rice around with his chopsticks, answered with an awkward smile.
Eun-o leaned over to peer at Jae-yun’s tray as well, his eyes widening.
“? That’s right! Did you get a fresh tray?”
“Oh, I’m just not that hungry…”
Watching Jae-yun’s feeble smile, Eun-o’s expression went blank as he glanced back and forth between the tray and the boy.
“But today’s eel rice bowl is really good? Don’t you like seafood?”
“That’s not it…”
Seeing Jae-yun force his mouth upward despite the darkness in his face, Go Gyeol fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“You’re still upset about yesterday’s match, aren’t you?”
Ever since his defeat in yesterday’s bout, Jae-yun’s complexion had been poor.
At Gyeol’s subtle question, Jae-yun simply cast his eyes down and pressed his lips together without answering.
“Bingo.”
As Gyeol raised an eyebrow, Eun-o scrunched his face in protest.
“What? Go Gyuwonn used every dirty trick in the book and still barely won—the fact that you lasted that long is seriously impressive!”
“He’s right. You don’t need to be discouraged.”
Go Gyeol dabbed his mouth with a napkin and nodded steadily.
“But… the fact remains that I lost.”
Still seeing no change in Jae-yun’s expression, Eun-o raised his voice in frustration.
“Listen, if it wasn’t for that, you would’ve won! Yeah, Hae-seong even said—!”
Eun-o was about to launch into a passionate rebuttal when—
“—Is your injury healing well?”
“Where is the professor—”
The Cafeteria suddenly grew loud and chaotic.
Eun-o’s gaze naturally drifted toward the center of the commotion.
“…Whoa!”
A man standing in front of the food counter, tray in hand, held up by students.
“They say even tigers appear when you mention them!”
Eun-o waved cheerfully.
“Hae-seong! Enjoy your lunch~!”
“…! Ah, Eun-o!”
Hae-seong’s eyes lit up as he belatedly spotted the group, warmth crossing his face.
He made his way over, barely pushing past the students surrounding him.
His eyes were vacant, as though his very soul had been drained away.
It seemed the students not yet fully Purified had worn him down considerably.
“But…”
Go Gyeol, watching Hae-seong carefully, narrowed his eyes.
“Why is Hae-seong walking like that?”
Eun-o’s gaze shifted to Hae-seong’s legs.
They trembled precariously beneath him.
Shiver-shiver-shiver.
Even his arms, which held the tray, quivered as though vibrating under the weight.
The broth in the bowl sloshed precariously, threatening to spill over the rim.
“Hmm? Really?”
Tae Eun-o blinked.
“Why are you swaying around like some half-asleep sloth?”

S-Rank Warden Devours the Academy — Chapter 78

Author
Baek Ru-ga
Publisher
Daon Creative
Planning / Editing / Production
Yun Tae-ri
Cover Art
Thonp

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260512043.0078

ⓒ 2026, Baek Ru-ga

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