Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Mudal's Demise
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"Just in case, let's leave one alive."
"Yes, sir."
The stairs leading up to the seventh floor.
One of the bald beastkin who had been locked in combat with the student council let out a scream and dropped dead.
It was the aftermath of a surprise attack from the Martial Force, who had pierced straight through the pile of stones and rebar from the collapsed building.
'You broke through that in one go?'
The beastkin's eyes went wide in shock at suddenly losing his comrade.
From the perspective of the one who had rigged barricades by exploding the third and sixth floors and stacking the wrecked framework and debris layer upon layer, the Martial Force's breakthrough power was utterly astonishing.
The Martial Force members' gazes locked onto him.
"What kind of beastkin is bald?"
"He doesn't have a single beastkin trait. Aside from the baldness, he's 100% human-looking."
"Doesn't our captain count as a beastkin if you look closely?"
"......"
The beastkin's tension peaked.
The fox beastkin who should have arrived ages ago was nowhere to be seen.
He realized something had gone terribly wrong.
'First, I need to survive.'
The bald beastkin abandoned his mission.
He launched himself toward the students to survive by any means.
His plan was to grab any one as a hostage and force an escape route.
But the student council members were no pushovers.
"Two of you couldn't handle us, and now you think you can alone?"
It started with Ban Hui-yeol's slashing gale slowing the beastkin down, followed by the student council's weapons and skills raining down on him.
Thud!
Ban Hui-yeol finished him with a kick that spun the beastkin's jaw, then bowed his head to the Martial Force members.
"Thank you. Thanks to your earlier-than-expected arrival, we wrapped it up without major casualties."
Why else would the beastkin have caused those explosions?
Ban Hui-yeol had already guessed they'd set up some device to prevent entry from outside.
He'd expected the Martial Force to be delayed, so their timely arrival was a relief.
The Martial Force waved it off.
"When it's about helping Young Lord Ban, we roll up our sleeves without hesitation."
The Martial Force and students operated in different spheres.
Unless it involved security, they rarely crossed paths.
But Ban Hui-yeol was one of the rare exceptions.
Many Martial Force members respected his father and family.
"There's a guy named Mudal on the tenth floor."
Ban Hui-yeol explained the situation in detail.
Professors Lee So-young and the student council president were each handling a monster.
"Mudal...!"
"A berserker beastkin?"
The Martial Force members, who had looked like they were out for a stroll, turned serious.
The name Mudal especially tensed even the squad leaders.
Back when Mudal had been infamous, they were all just rookies. It'd be a lie to say they weren't scared.
"Let's hurry."
The Martial Force and students rushed up the stairs.
"Professor Lee!"
They arrived at the tenth floor soon after and were stunned by the sight.
A corridor in ruins.
Red and blue blood smeared everywhere.
Traces of fierce combat lingered all over the scene.
'No way...'
The Martial Force and students climbed over the debris piled like obstacles toward the end of the hall.
The deathly silence of the corridor sent chills down their spines.
The overwhelming amount of red blood compared to blue made them imagine Lee So-young's defeat or death.
"Ah...!"
As if their fears might make it true.
The Martial Force and students, who had clamped their mouths shut in dread, gasped in unison.
The red carpet of blood on the floor turned blue starting at a certain point.
Hurrying their steps, they spotted the bald beastkin's corpse sprawled out in the corridor.
"Is that Mudal? He looks younger than I thought."
"Face is totally different. No shape-shifting either, so probably not..."
"It's Mudal."
"Professor Lee!!"
As the Martial Force and students inspected the corpse, their expressions brightened dramatically.
At the end of the corridor, in a room.
Lee So-young emerged, supported by Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop.
"Even ghosts of the past can't match a Grandmaster! As expected of Professor Lee! Ah, but this isn't the time. Hurry and send reinforcements to the thirteenth floor!"
It was the moment the squad leaders, relieved to see her unharmed, issued a belated order.
"The thirteenth floor's already cleared."
A boy with thick eyebrows approached confidently and announced.
A boy with clear, calf-like eyes.
It was the student council secretary, Mun Jong-pil.
"Did the president take him down? The beastkin claimed the berserker who hit the thirteenth was as strong as Mudal, but the president sure is something else."
"It was all bluff."
Mun Jong-pil shrugged.
"Just a regular guy. With the president away, I handled it myself."
"What?"
Ban Hui-yeol frowned.
What caught his attention was that the president had been 'away.'
"No wonder there were no orders from above. She steps out at a time like this?"
The key to this operation was safely protecting Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop.
Enemies might attack—and they had—so for their top firepower to vanish without a word?
Especially the overall commander?
That was no way for a president to act.
Just as Ban Hui-yeol, who had secretly admired the president, felt a disappointment bordering on betrayal.
Crash!
One of the few intact windows on the tenth floor shattered.
"I thought there was just one beastkin."
A girl made a flashy entrance.
The girl in the pristine white uniform permitted only to one student in the entire school crouched on the window frame, grumbling.
"Legs. Close your legs a bit."
Did she forget she was wearing a skirt?
Mun Jong-pil, horrified, hurriedly shrugged off his uniform jacket and draped it over her legs.
"We got word from Professor Woo that he'd found a beastkin. When he said it was the one we were looking for, how could I ignore it?"
Student council president Hae-yul.
She explained to the people staring blankly at her, looking extremely aggrieved.
"Professor Woo did?"
Lee So-young reacted sharply.
"Yes, he really tracked one down. A blind mole beastkin. He was wearing sunglasses, pretending to be blind, but he ran into Professor Woo of all people and got found out."
Hae-yul nodded, smiling warmly at Lee So-young as if pleased to see her.
"He said the guy dug a tunnel under the student council building, so Vice President, you go check it out."
"Was he handling the escape route...? Understood."
So the president hadn't been slacking.
Ban Hui-yeol shook off his resentment, understanding the situation, and led the students underground.
"I'll collect the beastkin bodies."
"You'll do that?"
"Yeah, need to investigate them."
"I'll at least help move them."
"No need. You're busy—head back."
Lee So-young sent the Martial Force away.
She needed time to sort her thoughts.
Tactics professor Woo Kyo-hwan.
How did he know to tip off the student council president about a beastkin?
Her collaboration with the student council to hunt beastkin had been top secret.
She'd even suspected beastkin among the teachers.
Which meant Woo Kyo-hwan shouldn't have known they were searching.
Yet he'd reported one and lured the president away?
'As a result, no one almost stopped the berserker.'
What if Kang Jae-hyeok hadn't shown up?
'I'd have been killed by Mudal, and the berserker would have massacred the students.'
Lee So-young shuddered at the thought.
She even felt awe toward Jae-hyeok for arriving just in time to help.
"This isn't Professor Lee's handiwork, is it?"
A sudden voice snapped her back to reality.
Hae-yul was crouched by Mudal's corpse, flashing a meaningful smile.
"Looks like there was another helper."
"Uh... President, I'll explain that later."
Mun Jong-pil said with an awkward smile.
His uncharacteristic behavior only piqued Hae-yul's interest more.
"You got help from him too, Jong-pil? So the berserker who broke into my room was the real deal?"
"Let's move and talk."
New people were arriving at the scene.
Cleanup crews for the damaged building and investigators dispatched to assess the incident.
Mun Jong-pil didn't want Kang Jae-hyeok's name reaching their ears.
A first-year who took down the berserker beastkin and then Mudal.
If word got out about his National Treasure Candidate-level feats, it could bring the guy unwanted trouble.
Lee So-young, who seemed to have received his help too, was keeping quiet.
Her attitude probably matched what Jae-hyeok wanted.
"Who the heck is he? I'm dying to know."
Only Hae-yul grinned smugly.
***
"Ha...!"
Back at the dorm, Jae-hyeok flopped onto his bed, beaming.
He'd wiped out the beastkin without a single casualty.
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop were safe.
Master Song's position was secure.
On top of seven level-ups, he'd earned two achievements.
Especially the one from killing Mudal: a 'miraculous achievement.'
It boosted all stats by 5 and gave 20,000 community points.
'The system must've noticed Mudal's past infamy.'
No matter how he replayed it, everything had gone too perfectly.
Grinning in satisfaction, Jae-hyeok pulled out a pair of black gloves.
A item Lee So-young had retrieved from Mudal's corpse for him.
<Shape-Shifter>
Grade: Legendary
An artifact made from the fang of a wolf beastkin who performed legendary feats.
Normally forms as gloves, but claws emerge from the back of the hand as needed.
Five claws total, adjustable in length and shape at will.
*Indestructible.
Another legendary item in hand.
He liked how it specialized in creating variables, like Iyarugut.
Jae-hyeok was confident he could make full use of gear with many functions.
'To hand this over so readily.'
Professor Lee must be warming up to me...
With a pleased smile, Jae-hyeok drifted into sweet sleep for the first time in ages.