"Wow, it looks delicious!"

Kim Somi smiled happily at the manaberries I had brought from the dungeon. She said she had never seen berries this large and appetizing before. It was only natural. Manaberries had never existed in the world before.

Kim Somi also knew where this tree grew. But she showed no hesitation in eating the fruit.

However, there was no need to mention it and spoil the mood.

"Ah! How did you know I like blueberries!"

Kim Yeonseo, who had come in after playing with the wolves, picked up a berry from the table and popped it into her mouth.

"Yeonseo!"

"Yes, Dad?"

She asked her father back after already swallowing one.

"Ah, nothing... If your stomach hurts, tell me right away, okay?"

"This is so delicious! I think it would be even better with yogurt! It would probably be delicious with ice cream too!"

"Oh! That's a good idea?"

Kim Somi and Kim Yeonseo got along very well.

"But why did this fruit suddenly grow?"

Kim Somi asked belatedly.

"I don't know either. If you want, there's plenty, so you can pick them yourself."

"We've secured a great ingredient! I wish we could have more food like this. Should we try farming?"

"There's no one here who's ever farmed before, what are you talking about?"

Farming. It was an activity that had become a kind of trend among hunters. It involved taking specific plants from dungeons and increasing their yield, and while there were many initial failures, success stories were gradually increasing. However, the return on investment was still not good enough to jump in wholeheartedly. Even if it became more active, most of the plants could only be touched or eaten by hunters, making it difficult for ordinary people to participate.

"What's so special about farming? We've already succeeded in farming manaberry trees, haven't we?"

When I heard it that way, it was true. There's a difference between growing crops and growing tree fruits, but broadly speaking, it couldn't be classified as anything other than agriculture.

‘I was told more things like this could appear.’

While not yet definitively proven, according to Kim Kyeongsu, the expert, the environment itself is so new that it's not unusual for anything to appear. If more things like manaberry trees are discovered and they can be cultivated, becoming a full-fledged farmer wouldn't be bad.

‘If it's as easy to grow as the manaberry tree.’

It would be possible to grow any number of crops.

"Do you know that eating this increases your mana?"

"Whoa! I said that before, didn't I? Is it really true?"

"Yes."

I saw the message. Even if Kim Somi and Kim Yeonseo didn't see the same type of message, they couldn't help but feel it.

"Should we try it?"

Kim Yeonseo made a mischievous expression and placed her palm on my chest. Although we were teacher and student, it was a sudden physical contact.

"Heal!"

Light emanated from beneath her palm. Since my stamina wasn't depleted and I wasn't injured, I only felt refreshed.

"Heal!"

"Heal!"

Kim Yeonseo, who kept casting the same skill repeatedly, stuck out her tongue and made an exhausted puppy-like expression.

"Pant pant, my mana is depleted."

Then she grabbed a handful of manaberries and began popping them into her mouth. Kim Kyeongsu watched his daughter anxiously. Soon, Kim Yeonseo's eyes widened.

"It's true! My mana has recovered!"

She put her hand on my chest again and used the skill.

"Heal!"

"Heal!"

The same skill was cast repeatedly. This proved my assumption was correct. Although it was a 'minuscule amount' to me, the effect these manaberries would have on A-rank hunters or lower would be considerable. If this was the effect on A-rank, the lower ranks, especially F-rank hunters, would see a tremendous effect from just one berry.

"Do you understand? Eating this doesn't just restore mana, it permanently increases your mana pool."

Of course, the effect of permanently increasing mana would be much less than the recovery effect. Even so, the fact that it was a groundbreaking fruit could not be denied.

"Permanently? Really?"

Kim Yeonseo looked incredulous. There are fundamental processes that hunters must go through to grow stronger. For most, this process was far from easy. But if they could permanently increase their mana pool just by eating something, this was a revolution.

"I didn't know that... I ate a lot... It's incredibly expensive, isn't it?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to charge you."

"Amazing! To be able to eat a fruit that permanently increases mana pool so easily! Truly incredible things keep happening."

Kim Somi smiled happily and popped a manaberry into her mouth.

"Yeonseo!"

Cha Eunhee opened Kim Yeonseo's room door as she usually did to meet her friend. But only the bed was there; her friend was nowhere to be seen. Looking closely, it seemed that quite a few of her belongings were missing.

‘Where did she go?’

She called Kim Yeonseo on her phone. After a long ring, Kim Yeonseo answered.

[Hello?]

"Yeonseo! Where are you?"

[I'm here… I don't know where, but I'm in the countryside anyway.]

"The countryside?"

[The chairperson brought me. My dad is here, and Professor Han Hyunho is too.]

"Professor Han Hyunho?"

[Yeah, he was here when I arrived.]

"Did the chairperson really bring you?"

[Yes! Eunhee, I'm sorry, but I'm not going back. Let's meet again when the curfew is lifted. Oh! My battery's dead! I'll call you later, bye~]

[Cha Eunhee stared at her phone, dumbfounded.]

‘The countryside? What's with her being with Professor Han Hyunho?’

Professor Han Hyunho. Until he was fired from the academy, she didn't miss him, let alone feel any sympathy. It wasn't just her; the whole academy, all the students, felt the same way. But over time, what was it? She felt a growing longing for him. She didn't want to admit it, but she found herself comparing him to other professors, feeling like she couldn't manage without him.

A fact revealed recently: the culprit who committed the disgusting act with the female students' underwear was not Han Hyunho but Kim Hogun. After that revelation, her distrust of him was lifted.

"I want to see him too…"

She whispered softly, holding her phone to her chest.

‘She said the chairperson, right?’

After the unfortunate incident with the former chairperson, a new chairperson was appointed. The inauguration ceremony was this morning. Surprisingly, she was a woman in her twenties and an alumnus of this school. It was a bit different from the image she had expected, but she confidently expressed her intentions to normalize the academy and work for the students' welfare.

‘Why did she only take Yeonseo?’

As far as she knew, she thought the relationship between this academy and Professor Han Hyunho was bad. Even if she was an alumnus of this academy, it was strange that Lee Seunghee, the new chairperson, had taken Kim Yeonseo to meet Han Hyunho.

‘Should I ask to meet him too?’

She didn't know if it would work. But wasn't there already a precedent with Kim Yeonseo? The thought of being able to meet Professor Han Hyunho again made her heart race uncontrollably. She wanted to see Professor Han Hyunho far more than she wanted to see her friend again.

As she left Kim Yeonseo's room, a boy in the hallway called out to her.

"Hey, Eunhee!"

Kim Hyunwoo. A male student who was treated specially, unlike other students in the academy. Indeed, he had awakened as an S-rank during his studies. He was also a case who had grown rapidly after studying under Professor Han Hyunho.

"Ah, Hyunwoo…"

"Why don't you come to my room with Yeonseo? We're going to have a drink, how about it?"

The words "have a drink" meant to drink alcohol. As adults, drinking alcohol itself wasn't a problem. But this academy had strict rules. Moreover, wasn't there a curfew and an order to stay in the dormitory?

‘This guy is an exception.’

Kim Hyunwoo wasn't bound by the academy's rules. He was from a wealthy family and received special treatment from the moment he entered. The amount he donated to the academy was enormous. Now that he's also awakened as an S-rank, no one dared touch him. He formed a gang, swaggering and causing trouble in the academy. Occasionally, professors would point out his misconduct, but it was always just, "Don't do that next time," or, "Don't do it where other students can see." Perhaps because even the chairperson was protecting him.

"Yeonseo's not here right now."

"What? Where did she go? The bathroom?"

"No, she's not here."

"What are you talking about?"

Kim Hyunwoo strode forward and looked into Kim Yeonseo's room.

"She's really not here?"

Cha Eunhee knew why Kim Hyunwoo was doing this. It was because he had a crush on Kim Yeonseo. This was also well known among the students. He had even confessed openly.

Kim Yeonseo had replied without changing her expression, "I don't date friends." After that, Kim Hyunwoo dated various girls, seemingly to provoke Kim Yeonseo's jealousy, but Kim Yeonseo didn't even flinch. However, no male student could approach Kim Yeonseo because Kim Hyunwoo had his eye on her. Kim Yeonseo was even happy about it, though.

Cha Eunhee's heart pounded. She knew what kind of person Kim Hyunwoo was. He was known for being incredibly generous when he was in a good mood, but when he was in a bad mood, he would even hit his friends. There were always many people around him, but they were also afraid of him. Because Kim Hyunwoo was like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

"I, I don't know…"

As Cha Eunhee answered, Kim Hyunwoo came very close to her.

"You really don't know? It seems like you do know."

"No, I just came in here and found out."

"Then why did you say 'she's not here'? She could be in the bathroom, or in another friend's room."

"That's… Ouch!"

Kim Hyunwoo snatched the phone from Cha Eunhee's hand.

"Damn it, you wouldn't tell me even if I asked nicely, would you?"

"Give, give it back…"

Cha Eunhee pleaded, stroking her wrist. Her wrist was red and swollen from being forcefully grabbed by an S-rank hunter.

Kim Hyunwoo ignored her and turned on Cha Eunhee's phone. He forcibly used Cha Eunhee's hand again to unlock the fingerprint-recognition phone.

"You called her just now~"

Kim Hyunwoo smirked, pressed the call button. After waiting for a while for the call to connect, he angrily threw the phone away.

Crack!

The phone fell to the ground and shattered.

"Damn it! Why didn't you answer!"

Cha Eunhee saw Kim Hyunwoo's eyes turn wild with rage, and she cowered against the wall in fear.

"Tell me! Where did Kim Yeonseo go!"

"What's going on?"

Suddenly, someone's voice was heard. Cha Eunhee saw the new chairperson appear in the hallway and hid behind her, as if she had met her savior. Lee Seunghee's gaze turned to Kim Hyunwoo.