CHAPTER 123

Long before she was called Great Master, Lee So-Yeong had been known as South Korea’s greatest genius. Her ability to sense and control mana had always been excellent and was of great use to any team attacking gates.

In less than a year after her debut as a player, she had been recruited by an S-class party. Her rise had been so impressive that it had caused Lee So-Yeong Syndrome among the population.

Since then, she had fought countless enemies alongside the top players of South Korea and accumulated an immense amount of experience. It wasn’t wrong to say she was a walking library of knowledge that most would consider unfathomable.

And yet—Is there really such a beastman so similar to a human?—This bald beastman stumped Lee So-Yeong. He didn’t have any characteristics of a beastman except for his baldness. As for his five long nails, judging from the flow of mana, it was the result of an artifact rather than an innate beastman characteristic.

Lee So-Yeong walked a quarter circle around the beastman, who followed her with his eyes.

She glanced at his butt. His uniform pants were well-fitted with no bulges. It doesn’t look like he has a tail either.

What was most confusing was his blood. Since it was blue, it meant this beastman was likely a reptilian-type. However, Reptilian beastmen would always have abnormally large eyes or long tongues, even if one of their parents was human...

“Is looking at a young boy’s butt something a professor should be doing?”

The bald beastman asked as he blinked his round eyes.

Seeing his pretty face and innocent expression, Lee So-Yeong couldn’t help feeling a strange sense of guilt, which caused the beastman to laugh.

“I didn’t expect such a stupid reaction in a situation like this. As expected, the morality of humans is funny.”

The beastman wasn’t intimidated even after recognizing Lee So-Yeong’s identity.

First, he wasn’t alone.

Second, he believed in his Skills. “Get your head straight. Just as I was injured for being careless, I’ll make sure you’ll lose your head if you drop your guard for even a moment.

Mudal was his name. It meant ‘wise warrior’ among the beastmen.

He was strong.

If he couldn’t even handle an A-class player, he wouldn’t have received the mission to infiltrate Lion’s Castle.

The Great Master might be different from ordinary A-class players, but I’m not ordinary either.

Suddenly, explosions broke out in various parts of the Student Council building.

Lee So-Yeong wanted to read the mana waves and identify the exact locations of the explosions, but Mudal didn’t give her the time.

He boldly charged forward and swung his dagger-like claws.

How annoying.

The injured Student Council member was still behind her, so she couldn’t retreat and could only withstand Mudal’s onslaught head-on.

Lee So-Yeong’s ability to sense the surrounding mana weakened as she was forced to shift more and more of her concentration on Mudal’s attacks.

“You think you can afford to be distracted? Arrogant.”

Mudal’s five nails rapidly changed between long and short as his thrusts and swipes dug into Lee So-Yeong’s magic shield. Mudal was clearly relying on a shape-shifting artifact, but the speed of its transformations was absurd.

He attacked along different paths with every swing of his arm—his five nails like the joint attack of five different swordsmen; they repeatedly overwhelmed Lee So-Yeong’s magic barrier enough to scrape at her skin.

“Heavenly Transformation!” Lee So-Yeong exclaimed, finally recognizing the identity of the beastman’s shape-shifting item. Heavenly Transformation was the known weapon of an infamous beastman encountered ten years ago.

“You’re Mudal? I heard you died ten years ago.”

“The Yaksha didn’t finish the kill.”

“...That guy didn’t finish the kill? Impossible.”

“I agree. I couldn’t believe it at the time. I almost gave myself away by sneaking a breath while pretending to be dead. But looking back now... I fully understand. Aren’t you humans inherently like this?”

Lee So-Yeong didn’t reply. The Yaksha ten years ago was definitely different from his usual self. Although he hadn’t shown outwardly, he must’ve been drowning in grief at the loss of his wife.

The Yaksha is also a person. Bitterness crossed Lee So-Yeong’s face before she redoubled her focus.

Mudal was a wraith, a monster notorious in the golden age of South Korea when the Yaksha was still active. It was Lee So-Yeong’s first time actually meeting him, but she had no doubt that he wouldn't be an easy opponent.

“Professor!”

The Student Council members coming up the stairs arrived at the tenth floor and aimed their Skills at Mudal.

It would’ve been a very reassuring sight if the opponent had been an ordinary beastman. But Mudal was far from ordinary. She knew she needed to disperse the students as quickly as possible.

Even with Mudal’s distraction, Lee So-Yeong finished sensing the mana waves just as the students arrived and said,

“The third floor, seventh floor, and thirteenth floor—these are the places where the explosions just happened. There are beastmen at every site. The ones on the third and seventh floors are magicians. The one on the thirteenth floor uses a roar-type Skill, so he must be a warrior. Their auras are weak compared to this monster. Work together and subdue them. Go.”

Although it was dangerous, Lee So-Yeong didn’t tell them to flee.

All the students in the Student Council were talented Awakened. If they hadn’t entered Lion’s Castle, they would likely have already become active players who went from gate to gate.

“Yes, as you command.” Ban Hee-Yeol replied as he covered his mouth with his fan. The Student Council wasn’t obliged to follow the orders of ordinary professors. However, this wasn’t the time to be stubborn.

Ban Hee-Yeol glanced at Mudal and his whole body trembled. What a monster. He was glad he was wearing a robe over his school uniform. Otherwise, his disgraceful state would have been obvious.

Swallowing, Ban Hee-Yeol winked at his teammates and turned around. “Let’s go—”

"—Going?”

Bang!

Mudal shot forward and extended his nails toward Ban Hee-Yeol, tearing his yellow-green robe.

If Lee So-Yeong hadn’t urgently created a magic hand and restrained Mudal’s arm, Ban Hee-Yeol would’ve been cut to pieces.

“Quickly!”

Lee So-Yeong instantly created three more magic hands that latched onto Mudal while she threw the Student Council boy at Ban Hee-Yeol.

Demonic Hands.

This famous technique of Lee So-Yeong’s wasn’t a Skill. Rather, it was the manifestation of pure mana, condensed through her mana control.

Anyone who could create martial arts, Skills, or techniques was rare—Lee So-Yeong was a great master indeed.

“You can’t trap me with such worthless tricks.” Mudal grabbed the demonic hands that were wrapped around his body and crushed them.

Materialized mana was susceptible to physical force, and Mudal’s strength was beyond imagination. He was exceptional even among the already powerful beastmen.

Such power... A creature like this could never be born on Earth.

Lee So-Yeong felt sweat running down her back as she rummaged through her pockets.

She stood with her back to the end of the hallway where Roh Jun-Yeop and Jang Yeon-Ju were staying while hurriedly rummaging through her pockets. Then, she slowly withdrew her hand, now holding a cream puff, and carefully undid the wrapper.

“You shouldn’t look down on the innovations of this new era. They aren’t mere tricks. Just like this cream puff, the chemistry behind it is quite advanced.”

“New era? Haha! Just because I secluded myself for ten years doesn’t mean I’m unaware of what goes on in the world. Ever since the Yaksha fell, the South Korean players have become weaker day by day. You’re people are idiots who bow their heads to foreign countries in the name of peace and have forgotten how to fight. Yet you dare to call this a new era?”

Lee So-Yeong tilted her head as she listened to the beastman lament over the state of South Korea. “...You talk like an ancestor. Are you worried about the future of South Korea? How about turning over a new leaf?”

Lee So-Yeong had absorbed most of the world’s knowledge in no small part because she had an endless curiosity for things she didn’t know.

If possible, she had wanted to secure Mudal alive and conduct all types of experiments on him. She even went so far as to persuade him. But...

“That’s impossible.”

Mudal attacked without asking any further questions. The fluid movement of his waist, which bent like a spring, caused Mudal’s attacks to be unpredictable and as explosive as a whip.

Mudal changed his claws’ lengths; shot up from below or slammed down from above, and always approached along Lee So-Yeong’s blind spots.

The shifting transformations of Heavenly Transformation were made from the claws of an S-class wolf beast. In Mudal’s hands, his power was nothing short of a disaster for his opponent.

“One blink and your head will fly off.”

Mudal continued gaining momentum. As the number of cuts from his claws increased and he saw Lee So-Yeong being gradually pushed back, he was certain victory was his.

Hmph. I had no reason to be nervous.

It was true that he was intimidated by Lee So-Yeong’s name. But now that he was dealing with her personally, he felt she wasn’t qualified. It’s only natural. The overall quality of players had declined compared to the Yaksha’s era—back then, waves of foreign players had visited South Korea one after another. Some had come to learn from the Yaksha; others, to challenge him; and still others, to claim his life.

Back then, Mudal’s days had been hell in South Korea, with powerful players breathing down his neck wherever he’d gone.

But thanks to that, my skills improved rapidly.

Yes, he was a survivor of that hellish era. But even the Yaksha was hardly alive now. He had nothing to fear from this miserable human.

Mudal dug his claws into the marble wall and scooped out a spray of rocks toward Lee So-Yeong.

Lee So-Yeong responded. Two large demonic hands condensed between them and blocked the rock shards.

Mudal followed with a ferocious punch, intent on shattering Lee So-Yeong’s demonic hands and then shattering her.

However, his eyes widened. There was no resistance. His fist plunged through Lee So-Yeong’s demonic hands, and they turned into a swirling mist that disappeared inside his arm.

His stomach twisted.

“This!”

Lee So-Yeong’s demonic hands had reverted from condensed to immaterial and directly entered his arm.

“I told you that it isn’t some type of cheap trick.”

Lee So-Yeong waved her hand, and Mudal’s arm, which was already visibly eroding, made a horrific sound as it was twisted.

"Kuaack!"

Mudal’s scream echoed through the hallway.

Lee So-Yeong took advantage of the moment to catch her breath and glance toward the stairs.

Will they be okay?

Lee So-Yeong hadn’t expected there to be four beastmen in Lion’s Castle. She could only scold herself for assuming there was only one. She had only come across one beastman territory, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t more.

Her arrogance had put the students in a crisis.

Calm down.The armed forces will arrive soon. The students will be fine.

The beastmen had caused a big commotion. Especially after the explosions, the armed forces must’ve noticed the situation immediately.

“Sigh.”

Lee So-Yeong regained her composure and unleashed five more demonic hands.

She reminded herself that Kang Jae-Hyeok’s slaves were in the room at the end of this corridor. If I can’t hold on here, it’s over in many ways.

Mudal, the vengeful wraith of the past, had eyes bloodshot with rage.

Lee So-Yeong wrinkled her brow and mobilized her mana.