Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

9 – The Golden Generation of the Hunter Academy

Fifteen years ago, a great upheaval occurred on Earth, and humanity faced a huge threat.

Monsters ran rampant, and in these dark times, the awakened ones appeared like a glimmer of hope.

As the world began to find stability thanks to their existence,

The government sought ways to effectively foster these awakened ones.

The Hunter Academy.

On the surface, it was a place to develop the awakened hunters, but in reality, there was a plan to attract a lot of investments, as the national loss would be huge if they died shortly after awakening.

Regardless of the actual purpose, the academy received much support.

Who would oppose a place that vowed to train professional hunters to protect their lives?

With unanimous support from both ruling and opposition parties, the establishment of the Hunter Academy proceeded fairly quickly, from its foundation to the admission of the first freshmen.

And I, a graduate of the fourth batch, which was called the golden generation of the Hunter Academy.

[Hunter Academy 4th Graduation, Lee Gang-hyun]

Of course, I was the lowest-ranked.

But still, a graduate is a graduate.

* * *

If I graduated at the bottom of the golden batch of the academy, there must have been a top student as well.

– Today, we have a very special guest. You must be curious to know who it is, right?

They say when you speak of a tiger, it appears; and the top graduate appeared on the TV screen just in time.

– The sacred knight who protects our country just like his name, Kim Suho!

As the host spoke, inducing applause, the audience clapped and smiled.

– hahahahaha, it’s an honor to be welcomed like this.

The guy, who looked like a parasite, smiled and spoke, and the cheers grew even louder.

With light brown hair and a fair face, who would dislike him?

Kim Suho.

Grade A hunter.

The eldest son of Korea’s number one Sacred Guild’s guild leader.

Valedictorian of the Hunter Academy’s fourth batch.

Just these qualifications alone were staggering, but as expected, the world was unfair.

Even with all of this, he had visited the El Dorado continent.

Furthermore, unlike me who was expelled for being powerless, Kim Suho had joined the only religious order on the continent—the White Order and officially became a sacred knight.

The story of him receiving a sacred sword as a gift during that process was already a famous tale.

Ah, of course, although the holy sword was a mass-produced model, it had an enormous influence on his achievement as an A-class hunter.

So it was only natural that he was called a holy knight after returning to Earth.

From noble mtl dot com

Moreover, he was even given the title of “promising leader who will lead our country in the future.”

– A little while ago, Mr. Kim Suho accomplished an incredible feat by single-handedly subjugating a C-class dungeon…

The host was reminding and listing each of Kim Suho’s accomplishments one by one.

I, too, had no intention of belittling his achievements.

Dungeons were inherently places with many uncertainties.

Clearing a dungeon on one’s own was quite challenging, as various elemental monsters would appear.

In fact, unless there was a significant difference in class levels, it was almost impossible.

But to single-handedly defeat a C-class dungeon?

That’s an accomplishment worthy of praise even by kindergarteners.

Surely so, but…

– Ah! Speaking of which, there was a rumor that Mr. Kim Suho was an angel during his academy days, right? Apparently, he would lead and help out fellow students who couldn’t adapt well… How’s that?

– hahahaha, an angel? Not at all. I just did what I thought was right.

As Kim Suho showed a slight retreating behavior, the host joked that humility could also be a poison, prompting laughter from the audience.

This is ridiculous.

But to my eyes, Kim Suho looked unimpressive.

What? There was a rumor that he was an angel during his academy days?

He helped fellow students adapt?

Is that Kim Suho from some alternate Earth?

Absolutely not.

The reason I’m so certain is that I have a valid justification.

If the Kim Suho on the screen was really such an angelic person with that kind of character, I wouldn’t have been hit throughout my four years of academy life.

That guy was an elite with a sense of entitlement.

He belonged to a category that regarded people without abilities as bugs and tried to crush them.

To Kim Suho, I belonged to the realm of bugs.

A hunter without a status window.

Waking up without a status window was a sin.

I made enormous efforts not to be expelled from the academy.

I cut down on my sleeping hours and caught up with classes because I thought I would have nowhere else to go if I were kicked out of here.

If only he had looked like an earnest student, but that didn’t seem to be the case in Kim Suho’s eyes.

His gaze was like that of looking at an insect.

Every time he saw me, he tried to find even the smallest flaw to pick on.

That’s how I was treated as less than human until graduation.

– Then, could you send a video message to the friend who received help from Mr. Kim Suho? If that friend is watching the broadcast somewhere, wouldn’t they feel happy?

No, not at all.

Far from feeling happy, it felt like nausea would overwhelm me.

At the host’s words, Kim Suho’s lips curled up slightly. Then he looked straight at the camera.

– Sure. My friend, are you doing well? It’s been three years since we graduated from the academy. Let’s meet up sometime and hang out…

I turned off the TV without even listening to the end.

It wasn’t worth hearing that nonsense.

Pretending to be a good person.

I’ll say it again, Kim Suho was in the position of a so-called bully at the academy, stepping on weaker people.

And Kim Suho, who led the violence within the academy, appears on the broadcast and talks like that?

I felt bile rising in my throat.

“Putting a steel plate on the chopping block, how cheeky.”

He was a shameless bastard.

Having no conscience, he babbled on the broadcast without hesitation.

At that moment, I was overwhelmed with the urge to write an exposé about Kim Suho on an internet forum.

If I had let my composure go, I would have already written and uploaded it long ago.

But my sanity stopped me from taking action.

Whether in a regular school or a Hunter’s academy, the awakened ones are the top predators.

There might be countless people like me who have suffered at their hands.

Yet, the reason they stay quiet is not because they are fools.

Even among the awakened ones, the high-ranking ones could cripple an ordinary person with just a flick of their finger.

In such a world, what would happen if I revealed what I had suffered?

If I were lucky, it would end with a quick death, but the world wasn’t forgiving.

What if I immediately posted an article about Kim Suho?

For a moment, public opinion would be interested.

But that’s all it would be.

Soon enough, the interest would gradually fade away, and the Holy Guild, which included Kim Suho, would begin to move discreetly.

In the meantime, wouldn’t I be dragged somewhere along the way and be tortured to my heart’s content until I finally say, “Please, kill me?”

The world was too treacherous for a single subject to continue to burn fiercely.

Above all, it was the hunters who protected them from the monsters, and if they were to shun them, the result was clear without even having to see it.

Their lives would be at risk right now.

Everyone knew that fact.

So, they would just keep the past buried deep in their hearts, and the likes of Kim Suho would live on, their past selves now glorified images.

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh.

Even in this situation, I was resentful of my own inability to do anything.

No matter how late my status window appeared, I was nowhere near Kim Suho’s level.

Just the other day, after taking the magic examination, I encountered a fellow student, Kang Jinsoo.

He had been in the middle to lower tier during our academy days, but now he had become an untouchable existence to me.

He had become a civil servant working at the Awakener Center, so he didn’t do anything more than talk to me, but it once again reminded me of my powerlessness.

“But it’s just the beginning now.”

What was comforting was the fact that I now had a status window.

If I didn’t even have that, my chances of catching up would have been 0%, but now it had risen to at least 0.1%, so it wasn’t totally impossible.

Though it was a distant future, I still had the potential to grow stronger.

That’s why I had to prepare now.

As an F-rank hunter, it was a stretch for me to hunt monsters immediately.

For the time being, I would have to earn money by working as a porter.

The money earned that way would be used to buy equipment, and that equipment would be used to target the lives of monsters.

The dead monsters would leave me with experience points.

In this way, I would slowly progress, little by little. I would grow stronger.

And when the day comes that I surpass them all…

At that time, I would become the predator who devours you.

* * *

Celia was busy running around the dungeon.

“Yes, please make this area broader and rounder in shape, like a playground.”

A few days ago, she had successfully finished the contract with the merchant guild, and the dungeon interior was now undergoing construction.

Celia’s top priority was expanding the size of the dungeon.

In her mind, a proper dungeon had to be large.

That way, it would take time for intruders to reach the center of the dungeon, making it easier to defend in the meantime.

To carry out the expansion, she hired craftsmen affiliated with the trading company.

The workforce consisted of skeletons, orcs, and golems. The only ones who could be called craftsmen were the two dwarves who managed and supervised them.

‘Indeed, getting rid of the paladin was the right decision.’

The priest and paladin who had dared to invade her master’s dungeon without fear.

The priest was sacrificed, and the paladin was left neglected after being trapped in a dream.

The paladin was a somewhat bothersome existence.

He couldn’t be released, but it was also awkward to make use of him.

Then, she suddenly thought of selling the paladin when dealing with the trading company.

Celia knew that humans were not a significant trade item for the trading company, as she had heard. After all, humans were plentiful throughout the continent.

However, humans affiliated with orders like the paladin were different. They were considered to be valuable, rare commodities.

Moreover, the paladin she prepared was in perfect, pristine condition. Well, it was only natural since she had subdued him by manipulating his dreams.

As expected, the trading company expressed their intention to buy the paladin at the highest price.

Celia made a counterproposal.

She asked them to include dwarves in the craftsmen needed for the construction.

The trading company was a profit-seeking group.

They wouldn’t willingly send high-quality workers like the dwarves to a dungeon they were dealing with for the first time.

However, Celia managed to bring dwarves into the dungeon construction by using the paladin as bait.

The presence or absence of the dwarves made a significant difference.

Thanks to them, the construction time was greatly reduced, while the quality noticeably increased, which she experienced in real-time.

“hehehe, I hope my master would be pleased to see this.”

The thought of the newly transformed dungeon made her smile.

Celia was solely devoted to her master. That’s why she believed her master’s happiness was her own.

“Anyway, there’s not much time left.”

In a few days, the stealth effect on the dungeon would end. The ongoing dungeon construction was also expected to finish around the same time.

Once all the preparations were complete, Celia would begin her full-scale activities.

Her expression brightened with anticipation of presenting her master with numerous sacrifices.

“I will create the day when everyone looks up to our great master.”