The Predator's Shadow
Soon after the Predator incident unfolded, the rescue team arrived on the scene and began to restore order. They transported the injured and erected temporary barriers around the breached partition wall. I had thought everything had gone smoothly. Not only had we eliminated the higher-grade monsters that crossed into the northern sector, but we had also succeeded in taking down the most formidable foe—the Aetheranus variant. I had even been the first to register its identification tag on the recognition device. I hadn't missed a single cooperative or monster-slaying point either. Honestly, I figured first place was already in the bag. My plan had been to return and use the mentor priority selection right to name Yeon Minha.
"You're insane. Truly insane."
But now I was kneeling on the floor of a temporary tent.
"This is completely out of your mind. What on earth were you thinking, pulling stunts like that? Huh?"
In front of me, a female professor stood with her arms crossed, delivering a furious lecture. She had a short bob and an outwardly gentle appearance, but her face was now filled with genuine anger.
"Just because people praise you as amazing, you think you're something special? Is that it?"
At least I wasn't facing her wrath alone. Beside me, three other students knelt in the same posture. All four of us shared the common trait of our barrier suits being soaked in monster fluids and blood. Jin Yeseo, with her blonde hair and green eyes, wore a thoroughly sulky expression. Choi Woojin looked like he was only half-listening. The only one showing even a hint of remorse was Ryu Seungheon, Seohwa noona's younger brother.
"Professor, a Rank 2 monster isn't really that big of a deal—"
"Mages like you are extremely rare at your age. Do you know why? Because arrogant fools like you die young!"
Choi Woojin's excuse only poured oil on the fire. Faced with the outburst of rage, he quickly shut his mouth.
"Woojin has always been like that! But Yeseo, Seungheon—you two are a real disappointment! A complete disappointment!"
Jin Yeseo, suddenly caught in the crossfire, shot a resentful glance sideways.
"You don't have the authority to act on your own in an emergency situation! This is grounds for severe disciplinary action! You should have fired off a flare spell and retreated to safety as fast as possible!"
The professor's blazing eyes now turned to the gentle-looking male student.
"Especially you, Seungheon! What if something had happened to you? What would happen to our Yeoul? Trying to make her a widow before she's even married, is that it?"
"I-I'm sorry… Even with ten mouths, I have nothing to say…"
He bowed his head deeply to the floor. I had to admit, I was a little surprised myself. He always wore a gentle smile, but it turned out he shared the same competitive streak as Seohwa noona…
"And you, Jinhyun! What were you thinking…!!"
The lecture had finally reached me. I didn't feel like I had done anything terribly wrong. If anything, I felt a bit wronged. Still, there was no need to act cocky. I tried to show a properly repentant attitude, but suddenly an elegant voice echoed from the tent entrance.
"Professor Mun. That's enough."
I turned reflexively. A woman who appeared to be around the same age as Professor Mun lifted the tent flap and stepped inside.
"Principal Hae Wolhwa!"
"They're still young and full of vigor. Experiencing all sorts of things in their youth is how they learn not to make the same mistakes as adults."
The principal offered a seemingly benevolent smile.
"It's true they violated military discipline, but they did help prevent the monsters from spreading further. They clearly deserve credit for minimizing the damage."
"Even so…"
At Hae Wolhwa's words, the short-haired professor visibly softened and hesitated.
"Now, all of you, stand up. I'll use my authority to let this matter slide, so there's no need to worry too much. However, next time, think twice before acting. Understood?"
We carefully rose at Hae Wolhwa's instruction. Just as we were about to leave the tent under the female professor's guidance, a voice from behind stopped me in my tracks.
"Ah, and Student Yu Jinhyun? I'd like a word with you, so stay behind for a moment."
I turned back at the principal's words. The others glanced at me curiously for a moment before continuing out of the tent. Only Seungheon exchanged a brief nod with me.
"Professor Shin Jae-yu has been a bad influence on the kids… I need to give her a stern talking-to…"
With the female professor's grumbling, silence fell over the tent. I approached the chair by the table and sat down again. The principal's expression had shifted from benevolent to deeply weary and troubled.
"…Are you all right?"
"Don't even ask. I just came from the emergency committee meeting straight here. What on earth is going on…"
The principal pressed her forehead and sighed. Then she looked at me with a peculiar tone.
"By the way, you certainly made quite the flashy debut with your very first exam, didn't you?"
"…You said you'd let it slide…"
"I'm not scolding you. I told you, you clearly have merit. Honestly, I think your contribution was far greater. And compared to the others, your share was overwhelmingly significant. In fact, it's incomparable…"
"I wasn't trying to do a good deed. At first, I really thought it was part of the exam. So…"
"Puhuhu… I suppose living on the front lines made it hard to gauge the exam's difficulty."
Hae Wolhwa covered her mouth and let out a small laugh.
"But sometimes the result matters more than the intent. I think this is exactly one of those situations."
"…"
"I knew you were skilled, but I never imagined you'd hunt the Feelersnake alone."
"The Feelersnake?"
"That's the identification name of the Aetheranus variant you hunted. It's the strongest monster in the Celestial Basin. We observed it entering hibernation, which is why we proceeded with this practical exercise. We still need further investigation into why it woke up…"
Hae Wolhwa, who had been explaining, suddenly wore an apologetic expression.
"In any case, thank you sincerely. As the principal of the Cradle, I am deeply grateful to you. However, it seems unlikely you'll receive any separate reward for this incident…"
Her meaning was that this exam had been the first conducted under a revised curriculum after the Cradle accepted a strong request from the National Supreme Council. With such a major accident occurring right at the first exam, it could severely damage the prestige of both the Cradle and the Council. Fortunately, there were no fatalities and the situation was contained, allowing them to downplay the incident. But if they properly assessed fault and issued official rewards or punishments, it would all come to nothing—that was her point.
"…I'm sorry. If it were just me, it wouldn't matter, but so many people will suffer because of this…"
"It's fine. I wasn't doing it for a reward anyway."
"It's not much of a substitute, but I can still offer personal rewards. Is there anything you want from me?"
"…Hmm… Nothing really…"
A hint of disappointment seemed to flicker across the principal's face. But soon she smiled lightly and nodded.
"Huhu, I suppose it's too sudden. Understood. Take your time to think about it, and if anything comes to mind later, don't hesitate to tell me."
"Understood. By the way, what happens to the exam rankings?"
The principal's eyes widened as if she hadn't expected the question.
"You're worried about that at a time like this?"
"Yes. It's important. And it should be important to you as well, Principal."
"What do you mean… Ah."
She looked momentarily puzzled, but soon understood my meaning without difficulty.
"You clever child. You've got quite the head on your shoulders. I was just worrying whether you were doing well. You're so diligent, completely unlike your squad leader."
Hae Wolhwa's face was filled with a pleased smile…
"Well, the professors are already racking their brains over it. The exam went to pieces, but there's no time for a retest because of the following curriculum. Still, you don't need to worry too much. Even if the Feelersnake subjugation isn't recorded, you're already high enough…"
"…First place."
"Huh??"
"I registered the identification tag on the machine as first. Doesn't that make me first place? There should also be monster-slaying and cooperative points."
"You even registered the tag in the middle of all that?"
Hae Wolhwa looked surprised for a moment, but soon nodded with a satisfied laugh.
"Then… There's no need to say anything more."
Even after Lee Hyun had left for quite some time, Hae Wolhwa remained seated, lost in thought. Beside her sat Professor Mun Seon-kyung, the short-haired female professor, who had returned after sending the students away.
"Professor Mun. Have you ensured their silence?"
"Don't worry. They're clever children. They understand the repercussions if this leaks out. It's just that their young blood sometimes gets the better of them…"
Hae Wolhwa nodded lightly at the professor's words.
"That's a relief. What about the on-site personnel?"
"They're a group composed only of our Cradle staff… We should be able to cover it up somehow."
"And the investigation team?"
"Professor No is out at the site. After investigating around the partition wall, he's planning to head straight to the Feelersnake's hibernation site."
"Good, good."
Hae Wolhwa finally leaned back with a deep sigh of relief. No matter how much the institution emphasized practical training, the situation was entirely different now. If the on-site response had been even slightly delayed, the students who entered the northern sector would have been caught in the Feelersnake's rampage and turned to mincemeat. It could have been the worst disaster in the Cradle's history—a generation of future gems wiped out entirely. Not to mention the families, it would have been a painful loss for the nation to lose such valuable mages.
And the person who contributed the most to suppressing this incident early was, without a doubt, Yu Jinhyun. In truth, it was something no personal reward could adequately compensate for, so Hae Wolhwa had been internally preparing for the possibility that he might demand credit. However, perhaps because he resembled his superior, he didn't seem particularly interested in that sort of thing.
Yet even after the incident was resolved, Hae Wolhwa's mind was filled with questions. She couldn't fathom how he had managed to defeat the Feelersnake. According to the other three's testimony, when they arrived, Yu Jinhyun had already been resting atop the Feelersnake's corpse. But even the original Aetheranus species was so powerful that some suggested creating a separate classification for it. It instinctively used primitive lightning magic and possessed a hard exoskeleton resistant to particles. Even the most skilled mage would find it extremely difficult to face it alone, and usually, groups were formed to divide roles for the subjugation. The Feelersnake had mutated even further from there, so its strength went without saying. The Cradle had only been tracking and observing it out of concern for collateral damage during subjugation. If even veteran soldiers with decades of field experience struggled, then a student-level mage single-handedly subjugating it was naturally impossible. No matter how talented he was.
What puzzled her even more was that there were no traces of magic damage anywhere on his body. Unless he was some kind of squirrel, he couldn't have dodged every attack. Moreover, the only particle trace remaining at the scene belonged to one person, making it difficult to assume someone had helped him.
"…"
Hae Wolhwa thought. She didn't know the full story yet, but that bastard Sa Jaehyuk had sent something ridiculous into the Cradle. They weren't blood-related, so where on earth had he picked up such a specimen? And why had someone who had never shown interest in such things suddenly done this? If he truly was capable of defeating an Aetheranus variant alone, chaos would erupt once his abilities became known to others.
"Hmm…"
Hae Wolhwa briefly redirected her wandering thoughts. There were other strange points as well. Every student who encountered the monsters testified that the creatures seemed to have been stimulated by something and forced out of their territory, while also appearing frightened. The other monsters could have been scared by the Feelersnake's rampage, but the problem was Yu Jinhyun's testimony that the Feelersnake itself had shown similar signs. The very fact that a high-grade monster in hibernation had suddenly awakened was an abnormal situation. An adult Rank 1 monster sits at the very top of the local ecosystem's food chain. It's extremely rare for such creatures to feel fear. In fact, it's almost unheard of. There had only been one instance where such a phenomenon was observed—during the Witch Incident fifteen years ago.
"…Surely not…"
Hae Wolhwa shook her head, denying the possibility, but the suspicion had already taken firm root in her mind. And what she thought of again was Sa Jaehyuk.
"Foolish boy…"
A truly pitiful and pathetic former disciple, still trapped in the past within his necklace.
"Ang?"
A group was investigating the accident beyond the breached partition wall into the southern sector. Among them, Professor No Jong-ha, with his mustache and arrogant demeanor, spotted something strange among the fallen leaves. He carefully picked it up with his hand. It was a rectangular mechanical device that fit in one hand. At its center sat a processed Stellite resonance stone as its power source.
"This is…"
He could easily identify the device's nature. A monster trapper. A device designed to amplify specific wavelength patterns to stimulate nearby high-grade monsters with developed fields. It was commonly used when establishing pioneer villages or colonies in the east. Activating it would throw nearby monsters into extreme confusion, drawing them toward the device, allowing the gathered beasts to be easily subjugated like moths to a flame.
"…Someone played a trick."
The mustached professor muttered with displeasure.
"But this crosses the line. To pull such a stunt in the sacred academy."
He soon took out a polarizing stone particle filter and put it on before examining the device again.
"As expected, it's another scheme by those lowly bastards. If I catch them, I'll personally give them a thrashing…"
A monster trapper required a mage to directly inject particles into its internal power source to activate. Therefore, by checking the remaining particle traces and comparing them, the culprit could be easily identified. Particle traces were never the same between individuals, and the number of people who could access this location was extremely limited.
"…?"
But the confident expression on his face soon turned to bewilderment. Even with the filter equipped, there were no traces at all, as if someone had simply blown in atmospheric ether. He removed the particle filter and examined the device with his naked eyes again. There were clearly signs it had been activated.
-Rustle
Suddenly, he heard movement behind him, as if startled by a ghost.
"…? You are…"
The professor turned around and soon saw someone's silhouette. At that moment, an inexplicable pounding began in his heart. His pupils then dimmed and lost focus. He couldn't even finish what he was saying and froze in place.
"It seems you've developed some lustful thoughts upon seeing me… How could a professor do such a thing to a student…"
Someone standing before the professor muttered softly.
"But I suppose we can call it fortunate. At least I won't have to kill you…"
The voice seemed filled with sorrow.
"…You didn't find any suspicious objects here. Go back and report as usual, and live your life normally as if nothing happened. And give that to me."
When the voice finished speaking, the professor's dimmed eyes regained focus. He silently handed the monster trapper to someone. Then he turned and headed toward the grassland outside the basin. Seeing him leave, the voice crushed the monster trapper in their hand.
"I'm sorry… Sob…"
Tears fell from light brown eyes. She soon hurried away to collect the remaining devices.