Chapter 114

I stepped outside the Magic Tower and buried the crushed tentacle eggs in the backyard.

Truth be told, most of the seedlings I intended to distribute to the students weren’t ordinary tentacles. They were special specimens taken from those that had begun breeding in the Necropolis.

Naturally, tentacles possessed such vigorous reproductive power that they could thrive anywhere in the Demon Realm, capable of exploding in number through breeding. They could even perform asexual and sexual reproduction simultaneously. While obtaining seedlings wasn’t difficult, I hadn’t been able to secure eggs from every type of tentacle I used as an awakened ability.

Digestion, in particular, stubbornly refused to breed no matter how much I wheedled or coaxed her. She claimed she would never mate until a partner she actually acknowledged appeared.

When I stepped up to personally act as a matchmaker and asked for her criteria, she bombarded me with a staggering amount of paperwork that looked like something meant for a professional marriage consulting agency.

She wanted a male who was at least 185cm tall, kind, attentive, and humorous, with no history of hair loss or genetic diseases. He had to have no disqualifications for overseas travel and hold a stable job. Even if his accumulated assets were low, he needed a fixed monthly income of at least 8 million won ($8000 USD). Above all, she gave a long-winded lecture about how he had to serve Mala-nim devoutly and be stronger than herself for her to even consider him.

When I suggested Deluge as a candidate, she just snorted, bent my finger backward, and retreated into my sleeve.

At any rate, I ended up filling the remaining spots with ordinary tentacles, excluding Digestion and the other single-digit rank tentacles. Since Cheon So-baek—or rather, my assistant Soso—had accidentally stepped on and popped the egg for Transparency, I had no choice but to replace that one with an ordinary one as well.

Then came the first day of class.

I handed out the tentacle seedlings one by one to the students gathered in the lecture hall and spoke.

“These are the tentacles you will be raising for the next month. I will award higher grades to those whose specimens grow large and healthy.”

“What do tentacles eat?”

“It depends on the individual, but most are omnivores and will eat anything you give them. Though, their favorite is definitely the body fluids of a living human.”

“Eek—!”

At my answer to the curious student’s question, the class erupted in a collective scream. A few who seemed close to one another began to seriously contemplate withdrawing from the course.

This was problematic.

To boost the students’ motivation, I announced the hidden curriculum I’d prepared.

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll all find it quite interesting as the lessons progress. In the third week, we’ve even prepared a battle royale using the tentacles you’ve raised.”

“…….”

The atmosphere turned so cold it couldn’t possibly get any chillier. As I stood on the podium wanting nothing more than to run away, I was unexpectedly saved by Cheon So-baek, who was participating as the teaching assistant.

“Now, now, listen up everyone. Our professor just lacks a way with words, but this lecture is all for your benefit.”

“Raising tentacles is?”

“Of course. Has any of you actually faced a monster for a long period? Have you ever studied their physiology?”

Since they knew how to use magic, most of the students had experience raiding Rank-2 or Rank-3 Gates. However, encountering monsters was strictly a combat situation for them. In the heat of a frantic battlefield, even five minutes felt like an eternity; there was no time to grasp the details of their enemies.

“There’s a limit to learning only through theory. Haven’t you heard the news from the Special Unit lately? Everyone’s skills have supposedly jumped several levels since the Necropolis was opened. Of course, they were fighting the demons in the underground temple, but they also benefited from these tentacles that lined the paths leading to them.”

“That’s true…”

“But it’s hard to accept that we have to raise tentacles just for that reason. There are hundreds of types of monsters.”

“If it’s for observing ecology, wouldn’t it be better to employ as wide a variety of monsters as possible?”

“Well, I wonder if that’s really the right answer?”

To the students offering logical counterarguments, Cheon So-baek threw out a small doubt. Her voice, clear as a nightingale’s, rippled through the lecture hall. Before anyone noticed, mana corresponding to an Upper Level Awakened was dominating the entire space.

It was a subtle way of implying that if the assistant’s magic was this high, the professor who used her as a graduate student must be remarkably skilled.

As she drew every eye in the room to her, she spoke in a chilling tone.

“Some of you here may have already heard. The threat we face now isn’t just the Archdukes and their subordinates.”

The Apostle of the Outer God.

His existence hadn’t been officially announced yet, but because so many guild Awakened had been inside the Thirteen Palaces of Emptiness, information was slowly leaking out.

However, the stories were so absurd—claims that he had dragged a Constellation down from the sky, or that he had blocked the Sword Immortal’s desperate strike with ease before vanishing—that most people kept quiet. The fact that those in the King’s audience chamber suffered severe mental contamination also made it difficult to verify the truth of the rumors.

Nevertheless, there was one fact that everyone seemed to agree on without a shadow of a doubt.

It was that the Apostle of the Outer God primarily used tentacles.

“The number of wild tentacles growing in Seoul and the waters off the West Sea is steadily increasing. According to rumors, a tentacle was even discovered recently in the garden of the secret villa on Mount Cheonsan, which served as the headquarters for The Old Gods’ Wound,” Soso remarked.

“No way…”

“It’s likely no coincidence that the Red Tower opened a Magical Creature Ecology course this summer session. It means there will surely be good results for students who study hard in this class.”

“That makes sense…”

“Let’s just give it a try for now.”

Persuaded by Cheon So-baek’s logic, the students returned to their seats. The fellow who had asked what tentacles ate was already stroking his flowerpot with an expression that could only be described as ‘adoring.’

‘Yep, that one’s definitely a fetishist.’

Having marked a person of interest, I successfully concluded the orientation by spending about three hours explaining the basics of magical creature ecology.

On the way back to the research office, Cheon So-baek led the way with brisk steps, acting as if she knew every inch of the building. Somewhere along the line, I had ended up carrying the attendance sheets and materials used for the lecture.

She probably didn’t know that I knew her true identity, but it felt strange that our dynamic hadn’t reversed even though our social statuses had. I couldn’t just keep acting like a pushover.

I tried to exert a bit of my professorial authority.

“Good work, Miss Soso. As a reward, I’ll let you eat dinner at the desk today instead of on the floor.”

“Oh my, were you hoping to see me groveling at your feet, Professor?”

“That’s not—ahem, is there a problem?”

“Not really. I just thought, ‘So the Professor has that kind of taste~’.”

My reputation was only sinking further into the abyss. Should I just confess that I knew who she was right now and prostrate myself?

Just then, I heard a small mumble from beside me.

“It would have been easier to conquer him if he were actually like that…”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s nothing. More importantly, I’m fine with eating on the floor, so instead, could you give me a reward for helping the lecture go so smoothly?”

“What is it you want?”

“I want to raise one too.”

‘Oh, is she talking about a tentacle?’

I immediately brightened up and walked past Cheon So-baek. The research office was piled high with tentacle seedlings. They were spares I’d prepared just in case. I figured there was a possibility people would swarm in asking for one after seeing the students raising them.

To recognize that possibility before anyone else and ask for a tentacle herself—as expected of my assistant, her foresight was excellent. I quickly grabbed Cheon So-baek’s hand and led her toward the office.

“An excellent choice! Popular breeds will sell out fast, so securing one early is essential. You said you only wanted one, but I recommend raising at least four simultaneously: for gifts, for decoration, for collection, and for practical use. Ah, and by ‘practical use,’ I absolutely don’t mean anything strange. There are tentacles that help with sleep or provide massages, you see.”

“Ugh… I feel this every time, but Professor, you really are a pervert, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean ‘every time’?”

“I mean—well, we’re meeting for the first time today, but still. Anyway, it hurts, so let go of my hand.”

‘Ah, did I grab it too hard?’

I calmed my fluttering heart and released her hand. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the research office located in the Sublevels of the Red Tower. After stepping inside, she looked at the tentacle seedlings on the desk and shook her head.

“What I want isn’t here.”

“You have picky tastes. Tell me the appearance and use you desire, and I’ll do my best to match it.”

“Hmm… well, for starters…”

Cheon So-baek tapped her chin with a slender finger. Her lips parted a few times as if she were thinking of a favorite drink, and then she began to describe her ideal ‘tentacle’ to me.

“He should be over 185cm tall, gentle, kind, and though a bit eccentric at times, full of humor.”

“That’s not difficult. Then this little number 91 over here…”

“He shouldn’t have any particular health issues. Genetic diseases or hair loss… oh, mental defects are fine!”

“Mental defects?”

Tentacles didn’t have things like that. Setting aside the pickiness, her physical preferences seemed to overlap strangely with Digestion’s. I felt a chill down my spine, but I decided to keep listening.

“He doesn’t need money; I can support him. Still, I’d like him to have pride in his work and work hard. Someone from the Special Unit who is good at magic—older than me but with a younger-brother charm, yet someone whose serious side makes my heart race occasionally. I’ll tolerate him being a foot-obsessed pervert since I’m fairly confident in that area myself. What else was there… I’d like him to cut back on the gaming, but I’ll work on fixing that. And the weird habit of talking to himself…”

“Miss Soso!”

I hurriedly cut her off and explained.

“I’m sorry, but no such tentacle exists.”

“Oh? I never said I wanted to raise a tentacle, did I?”

“What?”

Click!

I was clearly the one standing by the door, but the lock engaged by itself. I grabbed the handle and tried to turn it, but it was locked tight. The distance between us began to shrink. We were the only two people in this space.

“The major subject we’re teaching the students is Magical Creature Ecology, isn’t it?”

“It’s not ‘we,’ it’s the subject I’m teaching—”

“Among magical creatures, if someone is lying right in front of you saying ‘Please eat me~’ and you fail to take the hint and keep talking nonsense, you can’t complain if you get eaten instead.”

“…….”

Cheon So-baek approached me with light, airy steps, her sleeves fluttering like a beautiful butterfly.

“Right?”

However, her ruby eyes, sparkling like jewels, looked more like those of a predator.