Academy's Silver Gatekeeper
Ch. 119

"There's an absurd monster in the main building, Professor! Corpse piles combined together..."

"Right now Examiner Baek Seojin and the student council president plus a few others are dealing with it..."

As soon as he heard that news, Ma Hakjun left the professors to handle the rest and headed to the main building.

According to the students who evacuated from the main building, it was an entity they'd never seen before.

Different from the undead monsters they'd known until now. Like some giant corpse wave.

Even fire magic, which is poison to undead, doesn't work properly on it.

'This is bad.'

Upon hearing those words, Ma Hakjun immediately drew his sword and rushed to that place.

When existing weaknesses no longer become weaknesses.

Most of the time, there's a very high probability it's either a boss monster or something even higher.

'It's not that I don't trust Baek Seojin, that friend...'

But there's still a very high chance he's reached quite a difficult situation.

Having even one more helping hand would be much better for them.

So he increased his speed to the point of becoming slightly breathless and finally reached the main building.

What entered Ma Hakjun's sight was Baek Seojin hanging onto the edge of the corpse wave.

Gritting his teeth and slashing away flesh and debris.

No, that's not slashing - that's just beating it up.

Just as Ma Hakjun was about to kick off the ground to help him.

Uuuu!—

A familiar yet absolutely inappropriate sound to be heard here reached his ears.

Startled, Ma Hakjun looked up and soon he could see.

'That's...!'

The scene of Baek Seojin, who had thrown away his sword, grabbing an ice spear that flew from somewhere.

And the stance he took, the aura he manifested, even the concentrated killing intent gathering at its end.

It was definitely the scene of Kwak Hyuk's unique killing technique being deployed.

How exactly is Baek Seojin deploying that?

Just as that question arose, a roar came rushing in like a storm.

Kwaang!— Kwajjik!—

The wave that seemed like it would swallow the entire academy collapsed in an instant.

Corpses and debris crumbled in all directions, forming mountains of filth.

And Baek Seojin, who had been at the tip, was blown backward by the impact.

"Ah!"

"Examiner!"

The two female students, Kim Suhyeon and Kang Hana, rushed there in shock.

"Oryacha-cha-cha!!"

Meanwhile, the male student Lee Hyunwoo who managed to catch Baek Seojin with his own body.

Finally, Yoo Dasom who overtook the two female students running and arrived first.

"Where are you hurt! The injured area!"

"...Nothing, nothing. Yoo Dasom. Rather than me, look after Lee Hyunwoo underneath. I might have crushed something when I fell on him."

"I'm fine, Examiner!"

"That's a relief, Lee Hyunwoo. Then move aside a bit. It's uncomfortable as hell being held by a male student."

The way they're all gathered together being noisy, it doesn't seem like people who just fought that giant monster.

Very peaceful. It's just like conversations shared after finishing some exam.

'Come to think of it, didn't they say he'd enter Magic Tower Clan like that.'

Baek Seojin hasn't said it yet, but I heard through Kang Minseong last night.

The Magic Tower Clan Master called saying Baek Seojin would enter the Magic Tower.

Instead he'd form his own team and put his granddaughter in it.

'It was quite an ordeal listening to a story I wasn't even curious about.'

But seeing that appearance, Baek Seojin's judgment seems to have been quite a good decision.

The team chemistry seems pretty good and they can appropriately cover each other's shortcomings.

'Most importantly... now isn't a time when you can stay safely at the academy.'

Ttiring—.

At the alarm sound from his phone, Ma Hakjun checked the content.

Then he bit his lips and let out a short sigh.

[ National disaster state declared as of this time ]

[ Casualty count in progress, minimum hundreds to thousands expected nationwide ]

[ Same situation reported in countries worldwide ]

◎ Numbers Blocked : 397 ( 397 / ??? )

...Ah, at this point, should I just say it's not updating.

Shouldn't they give me the answer now since they'd understand whatever I say?

How long are those damn question marks going to keep floating around?

I'm already tired to death from wrestling with that corpse wave.

After barely defeating that thing, all that appeared were frustrating question marks.

'Well... I don't urgently need trait changes right now...'

But still, I can't help feeling unsettled about it.

It feels like the reward I should receive keeps getting pushed back?

If this continues, even an angel would start saying 'fuck.'

"Huu..."

"Ah!? Examiner. What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere even now?!"

No, Suhyeon. This examiner is perfectly fine in all limbs.

It's just that the trait that was always reliable like hearty soup hasn't been great lately.

It's nothing you're imagining, so could you move away a bit?

"Shh. I can't hear well."

Yoo Dasom, who was sitting next to me, warned Suhyeon then focused on the news.

[ Breaking news. The gate incident that occurred throughout Seoul has just ended. With the last gate that appeared in the Gangseo-gu area... ]

[ ...Due to multiple gates appearing in downtown Busan... ]

[ As electricity was cut to nearby hospitals, a nerve-wracking situation continued... ]

[ The entire city of Chungju was caught up in gate incidents, resulting in many casualties... ]

"...It wasn't just the academy."

"I roughly expected it, but I didn't know it would be this severe."

There was no external support at all. That means the outside was quite busy too.

Rather, the academy could be said to be in a better situation since almost everyone has abilities.

In contrast, urban areas have far too many civilians.

While ability users are supposedly on standby at all times, this time was completely different.

Gates were pouring down like rain, to put it with slight exaggeration.

"Still, Incheon area has much less damage than other places?"

At Yoo Dasom's words, I nodded saying 'That's inevitable.'

It was coincidental that Han Jiyoon was out in the Incheon area.

'She said she went there following traces of the disappeared Hyun Sujin.'

It seems she didn't catch Hyun Sujin as desired.

Instead, she single-handedly suppressed almost all the gates and monsters that appeared in Incheon.

Thanks to that, they say the miracle of Incheon casualties being only in double digits was achieved.

Other than that, Daejeon, Sejong, and Gyeonggi regions where other S-ranks were present had little damage.

It really proved why S-ranks are called demigods.

Seoul was actually only this level because S-ranks on standby really went crazy.

With countless gates appearing where ten million people live, this level is miraculous.

If they could rampage without worrying about civilians getting involved, it would have ended faster.

'Still, there will be a lot of criticism...'

Uuung— Uuuung!—

[ These fucking idiots, what kind of bullshit is telling people to be careful of buildings while fighting monsters ]

[ After barely dealing with all the monsters, why is everyone saying stuff like that, Seojin oppa? ]

Right, right. I wondered why Irina was being so quiet.

She definitely fought as an S-rank somewhere too.

The problem is our Irina is absolutely not a gentle person like other S-ranks.

Right now on the news, there's Irina smashing buildings along with monsters while eliminating them.

[ Kwang! Kwaang! ]

[ My goodness, what is this chaos! ]

...Right, just like that news. That seems to be footage of her activity after going to a local area.

It's good that she splendidly beats monsters to death, but why specifically toward the apartment complex?

They said people all evacuated, but still, if she was going to throw punches, the opposite direction was possible too.

"That woman really doesn't seem right in the head."

Suhyeon, who was leaning against me watching the video together, quietly parted her lips.

I completely agree with that. It's really amazing she didn't become a villain.

"Examiner Baek Seojin."

I looked up to see Ma Hakjun looking at me.

With a gesture suggesting we have a brief chat.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Is the internal cleanup roughly finished? To talk as soon as I arrive.

Could it be, I saw him nearby earlier, is this because of that thrust?

"You worked hard. It seemed like you were having trouble dealing with that new entity in the main building."

Ma Hakjun, who offered me a seat, let out a 'huu' sigh.

I think it would be better to take the initiative in a situation like this.

"Um, if it's about that spear technique you saw earlier..."

I started to say.

"Forget it. How many times have you been involved with Kwak Hyuk? You could coincidentally try to imitate it."

Well, I only tried to imitate it, but it succeeded.

Are you really okay with that, Principal? You won't say anything different later, right?

"You probably already know from the news. The whole country is in chaos."

"I was watching the news just a moment ago. The damage is considerable."

"Places where S-rank juniors were present were relatively better. Other regions..."

Unable to finish his words, Ma Hakjun sighed once more.

The reason Ma Hakjun is acting like this. It's not just because damage occurred.

The suppressors installed in each urban area. They all became useless at once.

What had been an excellent wall or shield until now became garbage in an instant.

"Suppressor uselessness theory is spreading exponentially. The fear that was barely put to sleep might sweep the world once again."

"But... since that chaos, there haven't been any more gates ignoring suppressors, right?"

"That's true. If suppressors had become completely useless, this situation wouldn't have stopped."

I can't give a definitive answer right now either. I never thought it would be like this.

The suppressor breaches were supposed to increase gradually, but I didn't know they'd explode like this.

"The problem is that today's situation wasn't just national, but occurred worldwide..."

Uuuung!—

Suddenly Ma Hakjun's phone rings loudly.

"Excuse me."

Ma Hakjun quickly checks the content. But his expression doesn't look good.

Why. Why are you acting like that again. What problem has erupted now...

Uung!—

[ Seojin oppa. This. ]

A message from Irina.

And the content written below it...

[ Classified - British S-rank Bernard Shaw Killed ]