"Oh, Chairperson, hello?"

Kim Hyunwoo bowed his head. He was still breathing heavily, unable to contain his anger, but he was definitely the type to quickly bow to someone stronger than himself.

"Long time no see. How's your father?"

"I haven't seen him for a while either, but I understand he's doing well."

"But what's going on?"

Lee Seunghee glanced at Cha Eunhee and asked.

"Ah, that's... We were just playing around a bit as friends..."

Lee Seunghee's gaze turned to the broken phone on the floor.

"It doesn't look like you were just playing around a little?"

"Ah... As you know, I'm very strong. Hahaha! I accidentally broke Eunhee's phone. Naturally, I'll compensate and take responsibility."

"Compensation... You're just trying to settle it with money, just like your father. You shouldn't use the words 'take responsibility' lightly. More than anything."

Lee Seunghee narrowed her brows and continued.

"This isn't your room. Do you know what time it is? Leaving the dormitory, and even contact between students, must be careful."

"I came to see Yeonseo, but she wasn't here. So I asked Eunhee, and she reacted rather coldly."

"Yeonseo left the academy due to personal circumstances. I was going to tell the students soon anyway. It would be even better if you two told the other students instead."

"What? Yeonseo is leaving the academy? Why? Does she not have enough tuition money?"

"I told you. There were personal circumstances. Don't talk about money. Yeonseo was a scholarship student."

"This... crap..."

"What did you say?"

"Ah, nothing. Chairperson, I'm sorry for causing a disturbance. As I said, I'll compensate for Eunhee's phone. Eunhee, I'm really sorry."

After saying this, Kim Hyunwoo left the room. He briefly bumped shoulders with Lee Seunghee in the narrow doorway, and he tilted his head as if he found it strange.

"Now, everyone, go back to your rooms!"

The students who had been watching from the hallway quickly went back to their rooms. Kim Hyunwoo looked back at Lee Seunghee one more time as he walked away. Lee Seunghee felt a tightness in her chest, but she forced herself to meet his gaze bravely.

"Whew…"

"Chairperson, I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault. Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, Chairperson. Can I request a meeting?"

"Now?"

"Yes…"

"Alright."

Lee Seunghee took Cha Eunhee and left the dormitory.

"I talked to Yeonseo. She said she's in the countryside right now... that she's with Professor Han Hyunho…"

"Yeonseo went to see her father. There were circumstances, so I took her. It's unfortunate, but every family has its own circumstances. You'll be able to see your friend once the curfew is lifted."

"About that curfew… when will it be lifted?"

"I just received a report that there's nothing unusual today. It will be lifted soon, so don't worry."

"I… would it be possible to let me meet Professor Han Hyunho?"

"Professor Han Hyunho? Why? He's not a professor at our academy anymore."

"I feel so sorry to him. We had misunderstandings, and I didn't get to properly say goodbye…"

"I'll pass that message on for you. But how about Kim Hyunwoo? Do you feel threatened by him or anything?"

"I'm a little worried. He's... so strong… many kids are afraid of him."

"Hmm, alright. If anything happens, be sure to tell me. Okay?"

"Yes, Chairperson."

Cha Eunhee got up and left the chairperson's office with a lingering sense of regret.

Lee Seunghee felt a sense of unease from her demeanor.

‘She wants to meet Professor Han Hyunho?’

The original purpose of the consultation was about why her friend had suddenly quit. But Cha Eunhee seemed more interested in Han Hyunho than her friend, Kim Yeonseo. It seemed that her regret at the end was because she had lost the opportunity to meet him.

‘What's going on?’

Previously, Kim Yeonseo also seemed to be happier to see Professor Han Hyunho than her father. While it's common for female students to have a crush on male professors, this seemed to be a bit excessive. More than anything, she herself couldn't stop thinking about him. Even though her rank had dropped, she was more worried about displeasing Han Hyunho than about her rank.

‘Kim Hyunwoo…’

He had already become an S-rank during his studies. Moreover, his family was the large conglomerate SG. His father, though a branch member, held considerable power. With his glorious background and S-rank status, his attitude was arrogant, his head held high.

‘I noticed.’

She recalled his gaze when he looked at her. At the moment their shoulders bumped, he looked at her being pushed, and he seemed suspicious. The way he looked back and subtly smiled at the end clearly showed that he had noticed her weakening.

"Ah…"

Lee Seunghee covered her face with both hands. She lamented why she had gotten involved in such a troublesome matter, giving up her comfortable life, but her desire to help Han Hyunho was even greater.

"Professor…"

She felt sorry for him, secretly remembering him.

"What is this."

I was dumbfounded by the sight that unfolded in the dungeon.

"Cluck! Cluck!"

Because the eagle I had saved from near-death this morning was clinging to a manaberry tree, frantically picking and eating the fruit. It was probably just my imagination, but it seemed like the bird's size had increased since I saw it earlier. It turned sharply towards me, sensing my presence.

Its face, stained with dark juice, was unpleasant to look at.

‘I came to pick berries.’

Kim Somi had asked me to pick some manaberries, saying she would need them for dinner. I had come up for a walk, but to see this…

"Creak! Creak!"

The eagle looked at me with joy. It spread its wings wide, came closer, and rubbed its face against mine. It looked large and sharp, but its actions were no different from those of the wolf awakened creatures.

"Oh, are you happy because you're full?"

"Creak! Creak!"

• The eagle-type awakened creature's mana is full.
• You can grow it quickly even with low experience points now.

‘What's this nonsense?’

I was surprised by the message that suddenly appeared.

‘If mana is full, it can grow quickly even with low experience points?’

This was unexpected, information I didn't know beforehand.

I stared down at the eagle.

"Creak! Creak!"

It seems absolutely certain that I can tame this awakened creature. But I still didn't have a clear reason to raise it. More than anything, the only thing I had seen was it eating manaberries.

‘Since it says it takes less experience points.’

Should I just raise it to A-rank?

I placed my hand on the eagle's head.

"Creak!"

It seemed to think I was petting it, and the eagle happily narrowed its eyes. Then, it was startled by the experience points entering through my hand.

Whoosh- Whoosh-

Its size began to increase. The rate at which its body grew was much faster than that of the wolves.

"Oh…"

The A-rank eagle was almost eye-level with me.

• Acquired special ability ‘Clairvoyance’.

‘Clairvoyance.’

It's a literal ability to see far, I guess. Since it's well-known that eagles have good eyesight, I thought it had acquired an ability suited to its nature.

‘This is useful.’

I was planning to make the land where I lived into a fortress. Because enemies could attack at any time. Moreover, since I had learned how valuable the dungeon was, it was necessary to value this land even more.

This eagle flying in the sky, discovering enemies, and finding necessary things to inform me would be a great help.

‘It really did take very little experience.’

To grow it to A-rank, I only used about half the experience points I had used to grow the wolves. It's probably not simply that eagles take less experience than wolves. After all, it's much larger than a wolf. Looking at its sharp, thick claws, I couldn't overlook its fighting ability. Eagles are at the top of the food chain, so it was clear that the manaberry tree had accelerated its growth, as the message stated earlier.

‘It's more amazing than I thought.’

I thought it only increased mana, but it also had the effect of restoring mana and accelerating growth.

"K-k-k-k…"

The eagle, which should have been happy about its growth, suddenly looked gloomy. Seeing it put its wing against its stomach, it seemed like it was expressing hunger.

"Do you have a bottomless pit in your stomach?"

It has poor fuel efficiency. Its shortcoming was its poorer fuel efficiency than the wolves. Moreover, having developed a taste for manaberries, there was a good chance it would keep wanting them.

"Creak…"

"Alright!"

I crouched down and infused experience points into the corpse on the ground.

Whoosh-

Plump…

The branches, which had been bare after the eagle devoured them, began to bear manaberries again.

"Creak!"

The eagle let out a joyful cry.

"You can eat them."

As soon as my permission was given, it quickly rushed to eat the berries. Meanwhile, I went to the other corpses and infused experience points into them one by one. The size of the trees that grew from the corpses varied. Whether this was affected by the hunter's rank before they died, or if there were other environmental factors, I couldn't tell. Each time I infused experience points, the manaberry trees that grew from the corpses blossomed richly, and plump berries began to grow.

‘Since there are so many.’

Even after we humans eat, there's still a considerable amount left. Since the experience points required to obtain manaberry fruits were not great, there seemed to be no need to save them.

The eagle frantically ate manaberries.

"Hey, don't eat the branches!"

Only after it had eaten all the berries from one tree did it pat its stomach and look satisfied.

"Burp~~"

"Well done?"

It was a large animal belching, but since it was after eating fruit, it didn't smell bad.

I went to the eagle.

"Let's call you Food Fighter."

"Creak?"

I spoke to the eagle, which tilted its head sideways as if it didn't like it.

"Consider yourself lucky I didn't call you 'Bug Eater'."

I put my hand on its head. As I infused experience points, its eyes widened, and its already large body began to grow even larger.

• ‘Food Fighter’ has reached S-rank.
• Acquired new trait ‘Stiffness Wave’.

‘Stiffness Wave?’

A skill that shoots waves to inflict stiffness? Whatever it is, the S-rank Food Fighter, from the color of its feathers to its impressive appearance, showed satisfactory growth.