Ch.106106 – I Reflected

# 106 – I’ve Reflected

Monk Myungho had prepared himself.

Even for the task of removing Oknodie’s corpse.

It was just ahead.

The distinctive musty smell of fungal monsters reached him first, carried by the wind.

Monk Myungho entered with firm mental preparation.

What greeted his eyes was a <Clawman> holding its blade-like claws against Oknodie’s neck.

“Aah!”

Oknodie screamed.

Monk Myungho’s hand shot out like lightning.

“How dare you!!”

With a face contorted fiercely like a yaksha from hell, Monk Myungho delivered a strike.

Following his hand, the Clawman’s body was reduced to a handful of flesh pieces splattered against the dungeon wall.

Fearing the spread of spores, he gathered them with <Collection> along with the surrounding air and smashed them against the wall, killing the Clawman instantly.

“Eh?”

Oknodie blinked, unable to catch up with what had just happened.

Monk Myungho’s heart ached at her pitiful appearance.

How much mental suffering must this young one have endured, surrounded by vicious monsters?

“It’s alright now. Do you remember me? I’m Monk Myungho who was in charge of the first entrance exam.”

“Why did you kill it?!”

“If you’re worried about spores, there’s no need. I eliminated it without leaving a single particle to escape, in case you were being controlled by the fungal monster.”

You can rest assured now.

As he was about to say this with a kind smile, cracks began to appear in his expression.

Oknodie was looking at him accusingly, as if he had done something terrible.

“Why did you do that?!”

“…Was it not a dangerous situation?”

“Of course not!”

Had he underestimated the group’s top student?

Oknodie wasn’t afraid of the monsters at all.

Beyond fear, she was even sad as if she had lost a pet.

What on earth had happened?

How could she display such a bold attitude?

“What exactly were you doing here?”

“I was getting a haircut!”

“A haircut…?”

“Geez. You might be fine as a bald monk, but my hair is long, you know!”

“……”

Oknodie.

She had been using the Clawman as a substitute barber.

* * *

Wild monsters are often thought to be merciless creatures that kill and eat each other on sight, but surprisingly, many enjoy symbiotic relationships.

For instance, Clawmen, commonly faced by bronze-rank adventurers, have very clear power dynamics.

As weak monsters, they brandish their blade-like claws and rampage like Lü Bu, but in front of stronger monsters, they’re busy proving their harmlessness.

That they’re good monsters.

That they’d be useful if not killed.

And the way they appeal is through grooming services using their blade claws.

“Perfect timing. Cut my hair a bit!”

The Clawman stood there blankly before turning to look at the Red Fang Mushrooms.

The Red Fang Mushrooms shook their heads, sighing as if to say just do what the human wants.

This was the result of humans being recognized as “stronger” by these creatures.

‘After seniors captured and experimented on all of us, how could humans look like prey rather than predators? Absolutely not.’

In truth, monsters aren’t much different from animals.

They cower before larger creatures, feel threatened by intimidating sounds, and become anxious when behaviors or colors seem strange.

I guarantee that if Titosoga just held up a spotlight and flashed it, he could intimidate the top 20% of monsters worldwide with that alone.

Bronze rank. Top 90%. Pushovers.

Copper rank. Top 50%. Monsters.

Iron rank. Top 10%. Dangerous targets.

Silver rank. Top 1%. Regional evacuation order.

Gold rank. Top 0.1%. National disaster.

Platinum rank. Top 0.01%. Global crisis.

This is roughly how monsters break down by percentage.

Among them, Clawmen are at the level where you can just barely call them monsters.

They’re dangerous, but once you show them the power difference, they obey like whimpering puppies.

“Cut just 1 centimeter more!”

Snip.

“Hey!! Who told you to give me a bowl cut?!”

When I shouted, its shoulders hunched up, looking completely intimidated.

Look at how it’s checking my reaction, afraid I might harm it—typical behavior for a copper-rank monster.

“How do you expect to survive in this harsh academy like that? You need to cut hair well to get a job as a hairstylist, you know?”

If even dangerous monsters can coexist with each other, there’s no reason they can’t with humans.

I’m not just having it cut my hair because it’s too long and takes too much time to wash.

It’s also to appeal to the academy about these poor creatures’ harmlessness so they can get jobs.

‘If I tame monsters often enough, I’ll get the Taming title!’

A well-intentioned effort for titles or achievements!

Whatever the impure motive, it’s mutually beneficial.

I get to achieve titles or accomplishments for stat bonuses, and the monsters get to receive wages instead of dying as experimental subjects for seniors.

“Aah!”

So they need to cut hair well, but these stupid monsters just cut my hair crookedly without any care.

I shouted in frustration, and then the monk appeared out of nowhere and blew the Clawman to pieces.

That was the whole story of what happened to me.

* * *

“Have you finished your reflection paper?”

“Yes…”

In the end, I was dragged to the main building and made to submit a reflection paper.

The reason: recklessly doing dangerous things.

It’s a clear violation of rules for a student without professional taming training to attempt to train monsters.

“Mocking baldness is a terrible insult that could get you killed at the academy. It’s something you should reflect on even more than treating dangerous beasts as friends.”

“Yes…”

“I hope you’re sincerely remorseful, not just giving good answers.”

Monk Myungho was so angry that he kept admonishing me even after receiving my reflection paper.

I ended up missing the second period <Adventure Tales of a Retired Hero> lecture, but fortunately, thanks to Monk Myungho contacting them separately, I didn’t receive any penalty points.

“As expected of an aspiring Adventure Department student, you’ve had quite the adventure.”

Professor Destroyer personally came to the reflection room to give me a piece of his mind.

“Monk Myungho. May I take this child now?”

“Of course. I apologize for keeping your student.”

“Not at all. I’ll make sure to scold her thoroughly on your behalf as well.”

Professor Destroyer took custody of me as if receiving a handover.

He looked down at me while stroking his rough beard with his fingertips.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine. You didn’t really do anything wrong to me.”

“You’re not angry?”

“If I got angry over something like this, I would have killed Niallatotep with my own hands a hundred times over. That guy was a real troublemaker.”

“What kind of trouble did he cause?”

“He tried to experiment in the rapid cultivation room to see if breeding flying monsters with broken wings would produce offspring with broken wings, and ended up creating the earth dragon Drake.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t be impressed. That Drake still devours 1 billion tons of grain annually in the western agricultural belt. It’s fortunate that he created some foundation and makes enough money to pay compensation to farmers every year. Otherwise, the hero party would have been on national wanted lists.”

This cycle’s legendary hero Niallatotep seems to be living quite an interesting life.

But that foundation couldn’t be the Wiheomhae Foundation, could it?

“Your friend is here. I’ll stop the lecture now. You must have been quite shocked, so let her comfort you.”

A cool adult knows when to step back.

Destroyer put his hands in his pockets and went on his way after our brief conversation.

“Oknodie!”

“Ow-ow-ow-ow!”

“Do you know how worried I was?!”

“Ow-ow-ow-ow!”

“I heard you even let a monster cut your hair! There’s no pirate as crazy as you!”

“S-stop sh-shaking me-!”

“What if you had died? Were you planning to drive me mad with guilt?”

“……”

I think I’m about to suffer injuries I didn’t even get from monsters.

My head is being shaken so hard I might get a concussion!

* * *

The student who had watched even Oknodie and Zigoku’s reunion from around the corridor corner quietly turned away.

“I see you’re safe too, student. Please be careful not to have accidents falling into waterways in the future.”

“Thank you, Monk Myungho.”

The lower-class student received Monk Myungho’s greeting with an awkward smile.

As the monk’s concerned gaze left, the smile on the student’s face turned cold.

‘Bad luck. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get things done without lifting a finger.’

Monk Myungho frequently hovered around Oknodie.

Whether it was surveillance or protection, it was impossible to make a move against her while he was watching.

Wanting to seize this opportunity, the student had distracted Monk Myungho at the right moment, but Oknodie had opened the beast storage and returned alive and well.

‘As expected, the foundation’s top scholarship student isn’t easy to deal with.’

The anonymous lower-class student gathered their disappointed feelings.

There would be plenty of opportunities.

‘If it weren’t for you, I could have been the most successful scholarship student in this class. Whenever the opportunity comes, I’ll definitely get rid of you, Oknodie.’

The anonymous student’s identity was that of a Wiheomhae Foundation scholarship recipient.

A competitor from the foundation targeting Oknodie.

“Hooh. How interesting that there’s a student harboring hostility toward that child.”

And watching this student was Destroyer, walking upside down on the ceiling.