Food Fighter devoured a tremendous amount of manaberries, but I produced far more. Every manaberry tree here bore fruit. I picked enough to fill my inventory.

"Don't gobble everything up without permission from now on."

"Creak?"

"You're dead."

"K-k-k-k…"

"Alright, let's go."

I took Food Fighter out of the dungeon. The twilight scenery was breathtaking. A view I could never have seen while living in the academy. Though it looked like I was expelled, quitting as an academy professor was ultimately a good thing. I needed to live a different life. Of course, I wouldn't stop my revenge.

"Creak!"

Food Fighter spread its wings wide, as if exhilarated, and waddled.

"Cik! Cik!"

It seemed to be trying to tell me something, so I asked.

"Why?"

Food Fighter lowered its body in front of me. Seeing it stretch out its back in a piggyback position, its intentions were clear.

"You want me to get on your back?"

"Creak!"

Both Semo and this guy kept trying to let me ride on their backs. But there was a clear difference between riding Semo and this guy.

‘Should I get on?’

Semo could only run across fields, but this guy could fly. Naturally, I'd never flown before. I'd never even thought that I'd end up riding on an eagle's back.

‘It might be fun.’

Since it's S-rank, even if I fall, I won't die. Having made up my mind, I climbed onto Food Fighter's back.

"Creak!"

Flap-

Without any preparation, it took off. My field of vision suddenly widened.

"Whoa!"

I almost slipped and grabbed onto its feathers tightly, but Food Fighter didn't seem to feel the pain and didn't even look back. Its back was more stable than I'd worried about.

It spread its wings wide and soared through the sky.

‘So this is what it looks like.’

I'd seen it on maps, but I'd never seen this area from this altitude. I could overlook the land I owned.

Three dungeons were precisely located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. I usually only went between home and the dungeon with the manaberry trees, but naturally, this land was much larger and had a lot of potential for development.

A place with limitless possibilities. What I can do will be determined by the results of Kim Kyeongsu's research.

‘Not bad.’

Riding on an eagle's back and taking a night flight. This was also a kind of luxury. It was funny to think that the outside world might not even know that such awakened creatures existed.

‘Damn it!’

Kim Hyunwoo called Kim Yeonseo using the number saved on his phone. But no matter how many times he called, she didn't answer. Even leaving a message received no response. She had been cold towards him even when she was here.

This attitude was nothing new.

‘I don't know what she's thinking, but…’

Kim Hyunwoo had absolutely no intention of letting go of Kim Yeonseo. He had awakened as an S-rank during his time at the academy, and even without that, he came from a wealthy family. There were very few women who could reject him. In fact, he had never worried or agonized about dating women. He considered it so simple it was almost boring. But when Kim Yeonseo rejected his public confession, he felt as if he'd been hit on the head.

‘It’s all the same in the end.’

The reason he hadn't pressed her within the academy was because he knew she had nowhere to escape. But now the situation was different. Kim Hyunwoo felt a growing sense of urgency.

He had prepared for this situation. More than anything, Kim Yeonseo was in a position where she couldn't escape his grasp. Her father was on SG's payroll. The logic of the world was simple. There were very few people who could live without a job. Moreover, a company the size of SG could easily crush anyone's life.

He made a call to another number saved in his phone.

"Uncle, how have you been?"

Very well, sir. And yourself?

"I called because I have a request. Is it alright?"

"What's this guy, Professor?"

Kim Yeonseo was playing with the wolves in front of the house. She quickly befriended the wolves, and the wolves liked her. She felt like she didn’t easily get close to Kim Somi, so this reaction from the wolves was strange.

Kim Yeonseo, surprised to see me descending on an eagle, asked.

"I found it in front of the dungeon."

"What?"

"Woof! Woof!"

"Grrrr…"

The wolves growled, wary of the eagle they had never seen before. Food Fighter didn't react to them. It wasn't interested in the two A-rank wolves; it only locked eyes with Semo. It seemed like the strongest of them were having a power struggle. Even though it seems peaceful now, if the two were to fight, there's no telling what kind of disaster might happen.

"Don't do it! They're friends, friends!"

I gestured and explained to the two awakened creatures that they weren't enemies.

A comradely relationship will be formed between awakened creatures with high familiarity with you.

They will not perceive each other as enemies and will become allies when necessary to fight enemies.

‘I see.’

Looking at the message, I realized I had been needlessly worried. The fact that Food Fighter and Semo were locking eyes wasn't because they were wary of each other and were about to fight; they were recognizing each other as comrades.

"Wow~ That's awesome~~"

Kim Yeonseo approached Food Fighter with her arms crossed behind her back.

"What's its name?"

"Food Fighter."

"Hahaha! What kind of name is that? Can't we give it a prettier name?"

"This guy ate all the manaberries in the dungeon."

"Haha! Really? Then there's nothing we can do~ You'll just have to be Food Fighter~"

Kim Yeonseo had a bright and fearless personality. Then I remembered what happened at the academy. Kim Hyunwoo's public confession to her.

Kim Hyunwoo was an incredibly disobedient guy. His arrogance was sky-high, yet he was so talented that he reached S-rank without much effort. Of course, without my guidance, he wouldn't have grown that much.

That cocky guy who lived for himself got rejected by Kim Yeonseo. Watching that from afar, I felt a sense of satisfaction. He was the kind of guy who would go around with his gang doing all sorts of bad things, but I thought, "So there's really such a thing as a natural enemy."

"Yeonseo, did you tell your friends you were coming here?"

"No. The chairperson suddenly called and said that I should go see the professor. I only packed a few things and left. Ah! I talked to Eunhee earlier. She was so surprised when I told her I was with the professor?"

"Cha Eunhee?"

"Yes."

"Try not to tell other kids you're here. I don't intend to take any more students."

"Professor, are you still angry?"

"It's not a matter of whether I'm angry or not. I'm not a professor anymore, and I don't intend to teach anyone like I used to."

"Ah… really? You won't teach me either?"

"Your father wanted to take you out of Alpha. That was without my consent. It's fine that you're here with your father, but don't expect to learn anything from me."

"Wow, cold…"

But Kim Yeonseo nodded.

"I understand. If I were in your position, I wouldn't have forgiven them either. I don't know how to say this, but I really want to apologize. I misunderstood you, Professor. When I found out that Kim Hogun had saved my picture on his phone, I got goosebumps. Everyone else who was hurt will probably regret misunderstanding you, too."

I shrugged and went inside.

"Did you bring back the manaberries?"

Kim Somi, who was preparing dinner, asked.

"Yes."

"To make a dish with ingredients that increase mana. We're really enjoying incredible luxuries."

"There's plenty, so you can pick and eat as much as you want. For now, I'm not going to sell them."

"But you could sell them, couldn't you? If everyone just tried them once, they'd line up to buy them. Didn't you say it's good to have more money?"

"The manaberries are too effective. They'll attract too much attention. Making money is good, but unnecessary attention is a no-go."

"That's so Hyunho. I agree with that, though. If there's too much attention, we'll get into trouble."

I transferred the manaberries from my inventory to a large bowl. Then I sat down in the living room.

The materials for making equipment and weapons had been delivered today.

‘I have enough money from this.’

Since acquiring the designer ability, fresh ideas kept popping into my head. Last night, I even jotted down the ideas that sprang up from time to time in a notebook.

I felt excited at the thought of finally being able to make something new with the delivered materials.

[Kim Yeonseo's father tried to take her out of Alpha Academy. This sudden turn of events seems to be related to that.]

Kim Hyunwoo frowned as he received the report.

"He tried to take Yeonseo out of here? Why?"

[It seems related to Professor Han Hyunho quitting. It seems that Kim Kyeongsu, Yeonseo's father, trusted Han Hyunho excessively. He believed that without Han Hyunho, there would be no reason to keep his daughter at Alpha Academy.]

"Hmph! Is that the reason? So that's why Yeonseo is with her father now."

[We haven't been able to confirm that yet. We are currently tracking Kim Kyeongsu's location and will contact you as soon as we know.]

"Thank you, Uncle."

[Then I'll contact you again, sir.]

Kim Hyunwoo hung up and tilted his head.

"Han Hyunho?"

He knew exactly what kind of person he was at this academy. He had also been taught by him.

‘He was a really unlucky guy.’

No matter how talented he was, he came from a humble background. He was not even comparable to himself. Even though they were professor and student, he didn't show any special consideration to Kim Hyunwoo. Instead, he openly pointed out his rule-breaking and misconduct. He never considered his dignity, regardless of who was watching.

More than anything, there was a crucial reason he disliked him.

‘That day…’

The day he confessed to Kim Yeonseo and got rejected, he was dumbfounded. At that moment, he casually looked up and saw Han Hyunho looking down on him as if mocking him. He turned away and walked on, and that look was extremely arrogant and unpleasant. Even now, thinking about it makes his teeth grind. If he hadn't been a professor, he would have chased him down and beaten him up.

‘What's so great about that kind of person.’

There were countless professors at the academy. More important than a professor's guidance was the hunter's own talent. Kim Hyunwoo still believed that he became an S-rank because he was talented.