A few weeks had passed since the incident, and Yulli had finally moved out of his old, crumbling house into the academy dorms. The building was massive, towering over him like some kind of palace, and when he first stepped inside, he felt like a peasant who had somehow wandered into the royal chambers.
It was nice. Too nice.
The floors were polished, the walls were actually standing, and, best of all, there was no mold growing in the corners. The bed was softer than anything he had ever slept on, and for the first time in forever, he didn't have to worry about the ceiling collapsing on his face in the middle of the night.
Everything was perfect.
And yet…
"This is so boring."
He was miserable.
At first, he had been excited. He thought about all the amazing things he was going to do—the battles, the training, the badass weapons he would get to wield. He imagined himself running through the fields, slaying beasts, and earning the respect of his peers.
Instead?
He studied.
And then he studied some more.
And then he trained until his body felt like it was held together by sheer spite.
And then he studied again.
It was an endless loop of reading, training, not dying, and sleep deprivation.
His classmates had it easier—they could use mana, which helped them get through lessons faster. But Yulli?
Yulli had nothing.
So while they channelled magic to enhance their physical abilities, he was stuck doing twice the workload just to keep up. And because the universe had a personal vendetta against him, every single instructor seemed determined to make his life even harder.
Sleep became a luxury.
Rest was a myth.
And one day, after what felt like weeks of non-stop exhaustion, it finally happened—
He passed out in class.
And of course, because fate had a terrible sense of humor, it just had to be during Professor Damen's lecture.
Professor Damen—the man built like a brick wall, with a glare so sharp it could probably cut steel. The kind of instructor that could strike fear into the hearts of even the most fearless warriors.
So when Yulli's head smashed against his desk mid-lecture, the whole class went silent.
All eyes turned toward him.
Someone coughed.
Even Professor Damen paused.
For a brief, blissful second, Yulli remained unconscious, unaware of the absolute horror that awaited him.
Then—
SLAM!
A book slammed onto his desk, making him jolt awake with a strangled yelp.
"What—who—huh?!" Yulli snapped upright, eyes wide, hair a complete mess.
Professor Damen loomed over him like a demon from the depths of hell, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
"Having a good nap, cadet?" His voice was calm. Too calm.
Yulli, still not fully awake, blinked up at him. His brain was running on 1% battery, and for some reason, his mouth decided to move before his common sense could stop it.
"Uh… yeah?"
Silence.
The entire class collectively inhaled.
Professor Damen's eye twitched.
"Oh, is that so?" Damen said, his tone deceptively polite. "Well then, since you're so well-rested, why don't you come up here and demonstrate the technique I just explained?"
Yulli froze.
Wait. What?
His brain screamed at him to think—what technique?! What the hell was Damen even talking about?!
He frantically glanced at his classmates for help. Eliches avoided eye contact, Muetaki gave him a look of silent disappointment and Hare—
Hare was grinning.
The absolute traitor.
"I, uh…" Yulli stammered.
Damen tapped his foot impatiently. "Oh? You don't know?" His voice was mocking. "What a surprise. Maybe next time, instead of drooling on my desk, you'll actually pay attention."
The class erupted into laughter.
Yulli died inside.
And from that moment on, he learned a valuable lesson:
Never fall asleep in Professor Damen's class.
Yulli's forehead hit the table with an audible thunk. He exhaled a long, exhausted sigh as if his very soul was deflating.
"Uh," he groaned into his crossed arms. "How does anyone even manage this?"
Across from him, Eliches was busy massacring his grilled chicken, chewing with the slow, smug satisfaction of someone who wasn't absolutely dying inside. He paused long enough to glance up.
"Well… nobody said becoming a hunter was easy, don't you think?" He popped another bite into his mouth.
Yulli groaned, lifting his head just enough to glare. "Yeah, yeah, but I thought we'd at least do some, I don't know… actual hunting. Not just study, train, get my ass kicked, rinse, repeat, and die of boredom."
Hare dropped her fork and shot him a deadpan look. "Welcome to the only job where 'barely surviving' is considered success. You signed up for this, genius."
"Yeah, but I didn't sign up for this cafeteria slop," Yulli muttered, pushing his plate away like it was infected. "What is this?" He poked at the overcooked chicken with his fork. "It's like chewing on a dead guy's boot."
Eliches barely raised an eyebrow as he took another bite. "That's the highest quality mystery meat you'll ever get in the lower ranks. It's full of protein. Builds muscles. Keeps you alive."
"Sounds fake, but okay."
Hare, who had been busy stuffing her face, wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Yulli, just eat it. You need all the food you can get before afternoon training."
"Yeah, yeah..." He let out another groan before finally taking a slow, reluctant bite. Immediately, his jaw stopped working. "Gods, why is it so dry?"
"Eat more," Eliches ordered. "You need it."
Yulli glared at him, his chewing sluggish and pained. "Why do I feel like I'm munching on dried leather?"
"Protein."
"This is not protein. This is regret."
"Then swallow the regret and bulk up already," Eliches deadpanned, taking another bite.
Before Yulli could complain further, he caught a few voices from the table nearby. He could feel their eyes cutting through his already fragile patience like dull knives.
"Hey, isn't that him?"
"Yeah, the guy who—"
"You mean the one who killed his own mother?"
"I heard she was a beast, but still... I'd never be able to do it."
"He doesn't even have a Mark. What the hell is he even doing here?"
Yulli froze mid-chew. The chicken turned to sandpaper in his mouth.
The whispers weren't new. They had been following him since he set foot in this academy, clinging to him like a bad smell that no amount of training or studying could wash away.
"I can hear them, you know," he muttered, prodding at his rice like it had personally offended him.
Eliches set down his fork with a sigh. "Looks like those rumors are never truly gone, huh?"
Yulli forced himself to swallow the tasteless lump in his mouth and shrugged. "It is what it is, I guess."
Hare scoffed. "Tch. I still say we should break a few kneecaps."
Eliches shook his head. "And I still say that's a bad idea."
Yulli chuckled under his breath. "Well, if we did, at least then I'd get some peace. And maybe they'd finally have a reason to talk about me."
Eliches snorted. "Yeah. 'Did you hear? That crazy kid who killed his mom is now snapping legs like twigs. Real nice, Yulli. Way to clear your reputation."
Yulli gave him a tired glare before finally forcing another bite of chicken down. He didn't even chew this time. Just swallowed and prayed for mercy.
while Muetaki was just there...listening
Theories and Nightmares
After lunch, the three of them parted ways for their separate classes.
Yulli shuffled into the dim classroom, shoulders heavy, heart heavier. He hadn't had much of an issue with the lessons so far—if anything, he liked learning about the world. It made the hell he lived in feel a little less senseless. But with the exhaustion piling up, today's lecture was quickly turning into a battle of willpower.
He sank into his chair, listening to the professor's voice drone on.
"So… where do beasts come from?" The professor, an older hunter with deep scars marring his face, wrote the question on the board. "That is the question scholars have debated for centuries. Some say an ancient entity descended upon the world and left us this curse—a punishment, perhaps, for sins long forgotten." He turned to face the class, his expression grim.
"Theories vary. Some claim there is a city hidden beneath the surface of the world—a place where the curse festers, bubbling up like a disease, spreading and growing stronger every year."
Yulli lifted his head slightly. That part caught his attention.
"Regardless of the origins, what concerns us most is the increase in cases over the years." The professor tapped his chalk against the board. "And that is why we are here, in Gonseng—the last true haven. Strong chains hold our city above the ground, keeping us free from the spread of corruption. It is the last stand. Our sanctuary against the plague below."
At the mention of chains, Yulli's stomach turned. His hand went to his own, the mark hidden beneath his uniform.
Safe haven, huh? He wasn't sure if he believed that.
The sound of someone snoring cut through his thoughts. He turned to see a student slumped against their desk, mouth wide open, drooling. Another had their head resting on their arms, dead asleep.
The professor's eye twitched. "You lot have the attention span of a drunk pigeon."
A hand shot up from the back of the room. "Sir, have we considered just… asking the beasts where they come from?"
The entire class turned to look at the student.
Yulli pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh gods, here we go.
The professor, to his credit, didn't explode right away. "And how exactly do you propose we do that, Mr. Lawlet?"
Lawlet grinned. **"Easy! We send someone down there and have them knock on the beast's door—"
"Where?"
"Uh… the underground city?"
"The one we're not even sure exists?"
"...Yes."
"You're volunteering to walk into a pit of monsters and ask them where they're from?"
Lawlet wavered for a moment. "Well, yeah, but like, maybe they're just misunderstood?"
Someone snorted. "Yeah, they only eat people because they're lonely."
Laughter rippled through the class. Even Yulli couldn't help but chuckle.
The professor sighed, rubbing his temples. "Moving on…"
Yulli stared at the board, still thinking about what the professor had said. Where did the beasts really come from?
He barely noticed the rest of the class slipping by. His mind kept replaying the moment he had killed his mother, over and over, her face fading from human to something else—something monstrous.
Did she even know who she was in those final moments?
Did she remember him?
The bell rang, jolting Yulli out of his thoughts.
A few students shot him nervous glances before gathering their things and rushing out. He sighed, rubbing his face before slowly standing. The exhaustion clung to him like a second skin.
Then, from the hallway, he heard Eliches' voice calling out, "YULLI! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR TRAINING, GET YOUR ASS MOVING!"
Hare's voice chimed in after. "You don't want Roche to come drag you out by the collar again, do you? 'Cause I'll be laughing."
Yulli groaned. Gods, how am I supposed to survive this?
No one said being a hunter would be easy. He just didn't think it would be this much of a pain in the ass.