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The first-year Introduction to Monster Studies class is held every Tuesday.

The instructor in charge, Instructor Kim Gae-soo, spent Monday catching up on work that had piled up over the weekend while restoring the Academy.

By Tuesday morning, he finally had some free time to go buy a corpse, but there was no place to get a fully intact monster corpse in just one day.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should’ve just asked the Administrative Office…’

The Association had apparently sold all their available corpses on Friday.

The remaining corpses were all already allocated, so the Association couldn’t help.

He even reached out to large guilds through his connections, but they all said they had no extra corpses.

In the past, a few phone calls were enough to get a monster corpse, even if magic stones were harder to come by. But now, everything was difficult.

“Why has the number of monsters decreased so sharply…?”

He knew the number of monsters had been declining recently, but he hadn’t realized it was this severe.

The new curriculum required monster corpses, so they were absolutely necessary.

Kim Gae-soo didn’t give up and even contacted small-to-medium guilds.

After skipping lunch and running around all day, he finally found a place with a monster corpse.

“We might be able to sell you one Red Jaguar corpse.”

Red Jaguar.

A common species with high-temperature, burning skin that makes it tricky to approach.

It’s highly vulnerable to long-range attacks, making it a weak monster that even E-rank heroes can handle.

“How long has it been dead?”

“It’s been two days today.”

The Red Jaguar’s skin continues to burn for five days after death.

The heat is intense enough to cause severe burns even to Physical Category heroes.

“Do you have any that have been dead for over five days? I need a safe specimen to show the students…”

“The monsters are drying up. It was hard to even get this one.”

“You have a few more types in the guild, right? Could we exchange them? I’ll even pay extra…”

Even small-to-medium guilds should have a few more types of corpses.

Kim Gae-soo wanted to exchange them, even if it meant paying extra.

“…It’s not an exaggeration to say they’re drying up. Species that used to be more common than stray cats are now considered lucky if you catch five in a day.”

Small-to-medium guilds, unable to recruit skilled heroes or Awakened Ones, rely on common monster species for their main income.

With the recent sharp decline in monsters, many small-to-medium guilds are closing down, so the employee’s words weren’t lies.

“Fine… Please deliver it to the Hero Academy.”

“Understood. As for the payment…”

“The Academy will handle it. Call us when it’s almost here, and we’ll send an administrative staff member. How much is it?”

“Let’s say 28 million won. Since it’s for the students and not personal use… and it’s been two days, I’ll give you a discount.”

“…Thank you.”

Just a year ago, a Red Jaguar corpse would’ve cost around 10 million won, but recently, the price has nearly tripled.

Common species corpses without magic stones usually don’t sell for high prices.

However, the burning skin, though difficult to handle, has high utility and consistent demand.

But that price is for a fresh corpse. A two-day-old corpse should naturally be cheaper.

If Kim Gae-soo had more time, he could’ve gotten it for around 20 million won.

The guild’s claim of giving a discount was nonsense.

They were selling the two-day-old Red Jaguar corpse at a high price, but Kim Gae-soo had no choice but to buy it.

Of course, if he had to pay out of pocket, he would’ve hesitated for a long time.

“Oh, should we send some Ironclad Boar meat along with the Red Jaguar? This is on the house. We’re slaughtering an Ironclad Boar in about ten minutes.”

“…Ironclad Boar?”

The employee, excited to have caught a sucker, added a few more words.

Kim Gae-soo couldn’t help but be flustered.

Seeing his reaction, the employee smiled knowingly and continued.

“Because of the prejudice against monster corpses, most people don’t know or avoid it, but those in the monster slaughtering or corpse disposal business know it’s a delicacy.”

Kim Gae-soo, the instructor for the Gourmet Club, was well aware that Ironclad Boar was delicious.

But his fluster was for a different reason.

‘They clearly said they had no other monster corpses…’

If it was an Ironclad Boar before processing, it could’ve been exchanged.

If they hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t have known.

He was flustered, wondering if the guild employee was messing with him.

But seeing the employee’s cheerful smile, it didn’t seem intentional.

He was probably just clueless.

“…I’d appreciate it if you could send some.”

“Sure, I’ll send it along!”

Instructor Kim Gae-soo managed to buy the monster corpse and return to the Academy just in time.

The Introduction to Monster Studies class was at 1:30 PM.

It wasn’t too late to have lunch now, but…

Worried about the club members, Kim Gae-soo headed straight to the club room.

Although the club’s closure was confirmed, he had no intention of stopping eating monster cuisine with these kids.

Since they were expecting monster meat today, he wanted to share the good news with the students.

“!@#$!@#$!@#$”

“$#@!$#@!$#@!”

“@#$!@#$!@#$!”

Arriving at the building where the clubs gathered, Kim Gae-soo walked toward the Gourmet Club.

The Gourmet Club was located at the highest and innermost part of the building.

On the way, he heard noises from other rooms.

Kim Gae-soo couldn’t hide his frustration.

Other clubs were always so lively, and new members never stopped joining.

But the Gourmet Club’s numbers kept dwindling.

“I’ll keep working with the two students, but it’s really a shame the club is disappearing.”

As expected, the Gourmet Club’s area was eerily quiet.

Forcing a bright smile, he opened the club room door.

And a surprising sight greeted him.

“…Who are they?”

Four female students wearing headsets were sitting in the center, playing on computers.

“Chae Song-unni, this is serious…”

“Sorry, sorry!”

“That’s not how you do it…”

“It’s my first time playing…”

“Hayan! Come gank here!”

“…I’m already babysitting bot lane, and you’re asking for a gank again?”

“Their ADC is almost Challenger! They’re insanely good!”

“I checked their match history, and they’re just a smurf account…”

“No, they’re not! It’s definitely a smurf account!”

“Even so, their support left, and it’s 2v1. I even got you a kill with a gank, but you’re still losing…”

Kim Dong-joo, who noticed the door opening, greeted Instructor Kim Gae-soo.

The girls were too busy playing their game to notice who had arrived.

“Ah, Instructor, you’re here?”

“Who are those girls? Why are they playing games in our club room?”

Students in the club room should naturally be members, but…

Instructor Kim Gae-soo couldn’t believe those four girls were new members.

“…Of course, they’re new members!”

“What? New members? What kind of scam are you pulling this time…?”

Kim Dong-joo confidently declared they were new members.

This had happened a few times before, so Instructor Kim Gae-soo’s headache returned.

“A scam? How could you say something so hurtful!”

“You’ve been called to the Administrative Office four times for tricking students into joining… You even pretended to be the Gourmet Club at the promotion booth earlier… Just give it up.”

He tried to persuade Kim Dong-joo with a stern expression, but it didn’t work.

“Hoho, we haven’t given up on the club, and that’s why we’ve achieved this great success. Do you know who those students are?”

“…I don’t know who they are, but I do know I’m about to be called to the Administrative Office again.”

The record for most Administrative Office calls due to club issues was tied between the Gourmet Club and the MMA Club, both at four times.

Today, the Gourmet Club was about to break the record with a fifth call.

“That’s not it! We explained all the club activities and got their membership applications.”

“…Is that true?!”

The surprising news that they joined after hearing about the club.

Instructor Kim Gae-soo’s heart swelled with emotion.

“Tu, turn off the computers! I need to talk to the students!”

“What are you saying? Absolutely not!”

“Why not? As the club advisor, I need to talk to the students…”

Kim Dong-joo, with her eyes tightly shut, shouted at Instructor Kim Gae-soo.

“That’s the condition!”

“…What?”

As the commotion grew louder, the girls wearing headsets turned around.

“Hey, we agreed not to disturb us during the game, so why is it so noisy?”

“Sorry, Gyeoul! Let’s just focus on the game!”

“…Please be more careful.”

Instructor Kim Gae-soo was shocked when he saw the four girls.

‘Aren’t they from Class 12D? And even Jeong Gyeoul and Lee Ha-yoon…’

He quickly urged Kim Dong-joo to explain.

Prompted by his gaze, Kim Dong-joo took a deep breath and continued.

“So… this is how it happened…”

***

They had no intention of joining, but they got really excited on their own.

They hugged, jumped around, and caused a ruckus.

“…There’s ten minutes left for lunch. We’ll head out now.”

“W, wait! You can’t just leave like this!”

“…Do you have something to say?”

“Let’s negotiate, negotiate!”

What could I possibly negotiate with the Gourmet Club…?

I absolutely refuse.

“If you join our club, you can freely use everything here… and we’ll buy you whatever food you want! We’ll pay for it all!”

Hesitation.

Unlimited snacks and free access to the multi-room.

It was a tempting offer, enough to make me pause, but…

“I still don’t want to. Eating monster cuisine just for snacks? That’s absurd.”

Right, the girls were already generously providing snacks.

Jeong Ha-yul even gave me a black card to buy whatever I wanted.

I’m not foolish enough to join just for that.

“No! You don’t have to eat monster cuisine! You don’t have to do it!”

“…?”

But you’re the Gourmet Club.

If the Gourmet Club doesn’t eat monster cuisine… what do you do?

Are you abandoning your identity?

“You just play games to your heart’s content, please just join. We’ll handle the monster cuisine!”

“Really? You won’t bother us or talk to us while we’re playing?”

“Of course! Think of this place as your own PC bang!”

“Give me the application form right now!”

“Here!”

In an instant, I filled out the application form.

From now on, I’m a member of the Gaming… no, the Gourmet Club.

 

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