Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: The Beastkin Intruder
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Yi So-young with low blood sugar was sensitive.
She often got angry easily and made poor judgments.
How desperate must she have been to approach the Yaksha's son and end up on the losing side?
“…….”
But once she began to concentrate, she turned into a completely different person.
Sugar deficiency be damned—she displayed the true bearing of a Grandmaster.
‘The domain spans about 420 square meters.’
The domain created by the mysterious entity was eerily still.
There wasn’t even a hint of monsters, small animals, or insects.
Soon enough, even the plants would start to wither.
‘A resolute rejection of coexistence. A duality that leaves behind a scent to ward off outsiders while meticulously erasing every other trace…’
Yi So-young’s mana operation bordered on the divine.
She spread her mana across the entire domain, combing through it for any potential clues.
Yet she found not a single trace left by the domain’s owner.
‘Not a single strand of fur shed—it has to be a beastkin.’
It left its scent while thoroughly erasing all traces?
This dual approach was a tactic favored by highly intelligent beastkin.
By revealing their presence while concealing their true form, they stimulated the intruders’ imaginations and amplified their terror.
‘It’s a beastkin very close to human among beastkin.’
Beastkin were half-human, half-beast.
Half their body was monstrous, the other half human-like.
But there were individuals with thick human bloodlines.
Beastkin with one human parent.
Their outward appearance was virtually human, save for parts like ears, noses, or tails.
With clothes or accessories, they could disguise themselves perfectly as humans.
Such types usually had sparse body hair, making depilation easy.
“This place is being used as a hideout by a beastkin.”
It was only as the sun began to set.
After completing her investigation, Yi So-young reached a firm conclusion.
“For it to infiltrate the school so skillfully, it must be well-adapted to human society. It’s probably been at least ten years since it crossed through a Gate. It might already be seamlessly blended in around us.”
Beastkin awakened as well.
The vast majority of beastkin that crossed through Gates to Earth could be considered Players.
It wouldn’t be strange for one to possess skills helpful for impersonating a human at school.
‘A beastkin.’
Jae-hyeok’s expression grew grave.
He recalled the beastkin that Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop had encountered while fetching the Song family craftsman.
There had been testimony that the beastkin was desperate to seize an item called the ‘Dragon Harpoon’ from the Song family craftsman.
‘Did it chase the Song family craftsman all the way to Seoul?’
If it had infiltrated Lion’s Castle to track down the Song family craftsman via Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop?
‘Those two are in danger.’
Jae-hyeok quickly grasped the situation and asked,
“You could easily track down a beastkin, right, Professor?”
A beastkin in its normal state would completely erase its scent.
But wouldn’t the nature or wavelength of its mana differ from a human’s?
If so, Yi So-young could spot it easily…
“No.”
Unfortunately, Yi So-young dashed his hopes.
“There are plenty of people in Lion’s Castle with senses as sharp as mine. The Chairman, the Martial Force captains, for example. Even I would struggle to easily find one that slipped through their surveillance net and blended into our midst… but I’ll give it a shot. Yeah, I’ll do my best, so don’t say another word. I get it without you spelling it out.”
“? Thank you.”
Yi So-young’s attitude was exceedingly polite, yet carried a strange sense of distance.
It was pleasant but somehow awkward to deal with.
As Jae-hyeok wore an ambiguous expression, Yi So-young’s words quickened.
“Protecting the school’s peace and the students’ safety is also a professor’s duty. So there’s no need to thank me. It’s not something a student like you should worry about—drop it.”
“It seems like this beastkin’s target is my friends.”
“Your friends? What…? Friends?”
What is this kid saying?
Friends?
He has friends?
Absurdity deflated her like a popped balloon, and Yi So-young recalled one particular anecdote with the Yaksha.
—You’re offering me a drink? After sharing a few life-and-death struggles, you mistake us for buddies? How odd. Given the gap in our levels, you shouldn’t even be capable of such a delusion.
She had said this to a comrade she’d raided Gates with for years.
And this was at the celebratory party on the night they succeeded in an SS-grade Gate raid.
The other party was a healer who had saved the Yaksha’s life multiple times.
Remembering that incident made her head throb, and Yi So-young pressed her forehead.
She assumed Jae-hyeok’s so-called friends were simply ‘convenient humans’.
“Who are these friends?”
“That’s…”
Jae-hyeok hesitated for a moment.
Was it okay to mention Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop?
Tracing the incident back through them might leak information about the Song family craftsman.
‘It should be fine, right?’
Yi So-young was a professor, after all.
If she wanted, she could easily pull up his activity logs, see who he associated with, and uncover every incident they’d been involved in together.
“Jang Yeon-ju sunbae and No Jun-yeop.”
“…?”
There were thousands of students enrolled at Lion’s Castle.
Even professors couldn’t memorize every name.
But Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop were exceptionally famous.
The granddaughter of Gungseong and the genius boy archer of immense talent.
They lived like sworn siblings and occasionally stirred up incidents, so their names weren’t unfamiliar to Yi So-young.
That’s right.
She knew they were second-years.
“Why is it No Jun-yeop for No Jun-yeop but ‘sunbae’ for Jang Yeon-ju?”
The point Yi So-young wanted to highlight was the latter.
Why call a senior ‘sunbae’?
In Lion’s Castle, already lax with school customs, for no one other than the Yaksha’s son to treat an upperclassman with such deference?
This was an extremely dangerous signal.
“You don’t mean… you’ve got your eye on that girl, do you?”
“Pardon?”
“The Yaksha’s son wouldn’t fall for mere looks…”
Was he aiming for a connection to Gungseong?
That’s why he diligently called her ‘sunbae’ to build favor?
Yi So-young’s expression grew increasingly serious.
One girl’s life.
The life of Gungseong’s granddaughter was on the verge of going down the drain, which worried her on multiple fronts.
“…….”
Jae-hyeok’s expression was steadily cooling.
They were on the verge of discussing something crucial, yet she was muttering to herself.
Watching Yi So-young mumble off-topic soliloquies, he finally caught on.
‘This lady’s not right in the head.’
He’d suspected it since their meeting in the staff room.
To be honest, he’d suspected it from their very first encounter.
The odds of a teacher who stuffed her cheeks full of cream puffs during class being sane were low.
He just hadn’t wanted to admit it.
Because he respected her.
“Anyone else is fine, but not Jang Yeon-ju. If her grandfather flips out, the whole school will erupt in chaos. You have no intention of taking responsibility for her anyway! Just banking on that pretty face… Hic!”
In the midst of lecturing while recalling Kang Dae-seong’s scandalously promiscuous student days, Yi So-young hiccupped.
Jae-hyeok’s face had sunk cold.
No emotion could be read in those pitch-black eyes.
It resembled the Yaksha’s gaze too closely, snapping her back to her senses.
“Never mind. Just tell me how to solve this. Personally, I think the simplest fix is to hole up here, ambush it when the beastkin returns, and kill it. What do you think, Professor?”
Murder.
Even Players who had hunted hundreds of thousands of monsters wouldn’t utter such a word lightly.
Watching the boy say it so matter-of-factly,
“Hehe.”
Yi So-young laughed.
Just in case she offended him.
“That method won’t work. Beastkin have highly developed senses beyond hearing or smell—intuition too. High chance it notices any anomaly in its hideout right away. We shouldn’t wait here; we need to go hunt for Baldy.”
“Baldy out of nowhere?”
The word ‘baldy’ naturally brought Kim Jin-myeong to Jae-hyeok’s mind.
Yi So-young, reading his thoughts plainly, added an explanation.
“Not patchy baldness—truly bald, not a single hair on their head. The domain’s owner would have depilated thoroughly. Might not even have eyebrows…”
“Hmm…”
“Leave it to me. First, I’ll pull staff profile photos, pick out the baldies, summon them, and we might nail the beastkin surprisingly easily.”
“It could be mixed in with the students, so we should investigate everyone.”
“No. Leave that to me too. How long would it take you alone to check all the students?”
“I have plenty of manpower. I’ll pitch in.”
His team members, the Archery Club, the B-Class students, Kim Jin-myeong, Park Ju-bong.
Jae-hyeok had many people he could call on for help.
If that still wasn’t enough, he could borrow manpower from Noble, whom he had leverage over.
‘And besides…’
As Jae-hyeok pictured Student Council Vice President Ban Hui-yeol, a faint smile played on his lips.
Yi So-young gulped dryly.
‘He’s already made slaves out of them.’
***
Bae Eujin, a member of Raid Squad 2, Team 3.
Famous for his sharp instincts, he’d lately been fixated on Kang Jae-hyeok.
The Death Knight’s troll lord theft incident and the taming monster assault on the Ryeong Pharmaceuticals facility.
The common thread in both cases: Kang Jae-hyeok had been at the scene.
It could be mere coincidence, but he wanted to investigate further.
Assault Team operations and student activities were largely segregated, however.
He was so busy that chances to observe Jae-hyeok were rare.
“Huh? That guy.”
But today.
While returning to Assault Team HQ, Bae Eujin spotted Jae-hyeok’s back.
The boy was heading toward a white building towering ahead.
“The Student Council building? What business does a first-year have there?”
Normally, none.
Bae Eujin’s eyes narrowed as the thought struck him.
‘The Student Council guys smelled it too, just like me.’
The Student Council was, as the name implied, run by students.
But it was an organization granted significant autonomy.
Lion’s Castle could be broadly divided into three pillars: the Foundation, the Martial Force, and the Student Council.
‘A den of prodigies—they’d spot Jae-hyeok’s suspicious points in no time.’
Tsk.
Confirming Jae-hyeok entering the building, Bae Eujin smacked his lips.
His chance to step in had vanished—boring n—
“What the hell?”
Bae Eujin doubted his own eyes.
Student Council Vice President Ban Hui-yeol.
The haughty noble boy who traveled by palanquin rain or shine was being dragged out of the building by Jae-hyeok, who had him by the ear.
“Jeez.”
Boring, my ass.
A massive grin spread across Bae Eujin’s face as he incinerated his cigarette butt.