The professor fixed his gaze on me, studying my face as if to weigh each word.

“…Excellent,” Jeon Yangoh said at last, voice calm but brightening. “That is precisely the thread I wished someone to pull.”

A low stir rippled across the room.

“Let’s formalize what Nam Yein just outlined.” He tapped the screen; bullet points bloomed behind him.

“These are not accidents of geology or the improvisations of beasts,” he continued. “They are artifacts—evidence of process, planning, and tool use. In other words, the Dungeon layers carry the fingerprints of civilization.”

He glanced over the class. “So here is our real question: whose civilization?”

No one answered. Even Iris, lips pressed thin, kept silent.

Jeon Yangoh brought up a schematic of a disassembled Sea Cavern trap: gears meshed in ratios, a sprung latch, a trip-plate cut to uniform thickness.

“Note the tolerances. This is repeatable manufacture. Whether by humans, near-humans, or something else entirely, it implies workshops, standards, and knowledge transfer. In Demon Realm Studies, we call this constellation of features the Civil Project Hypothesis—that a directed intelligence curates or retrofits Dungeon spaces.”

Toby’s hand went up. “Professor, are you suggesting a builder caste within the Dungeons?”

“A possibility.” Jeon Yangoh smiled. “There are three leading frames:

He let that hang, then rapped his knuckles once on the lectern. “Evidence intersects with all three. Which is why method matters more than answers today.”

His eyes came back to me. “Nam Yein, one more step. If we accept artifact presence at those three sites, what test would you design to differentiate between native and exogenic origin?”

A few heads turned my way—curious, skeptical, irritated. Meiling, finally awake, blinked like she’d been dragged onto a stage.

I spoke evenly. “I’d start with pattern drift across resets. Independent Dungeons ‘re-instantiate’ between entries. If native builders are reconstructing, we should see local variance anchored to resource availability and labor constraints—tool marks, material substitutions, uneven tolerances. If an external system is stamping modules, we’ll see global regularities—identical gear ratios, identical alloy composition, and repeatable layouts at statistically significant rates.”

Silence, then a soft mm from the professor.

“Sampling method?” he prompted.

“Core sample and spectrographic analysis from trap components across different regions and time windows; micro-mark profiling under magnification to identify tool signatures; layout graphing to compare room-adjacency probabilities. If feasible, in situ observation of a reset boundary to log the order objects ‘reappear.’”

A chair creaked somewhere. Iris’s nails clicked once against her desk, then went still.

Jeon Yangoh’s smile reached his eyes. “That, everyone, is method. We will not solve the Dungeons in two weeks—but we can learn how to ask them the right questions.”

He turned back to the class. “Two takeaways before we break:

He flicked to the next slide. “Assignment for tomorrow: each squad will select one observed feature from today’s climb—trap, robot, or environmental quirk—and submit a one-page protocol proposing how to test whether it’s system-stamped or locally built. No field work today—design only. I’ll grade for clarity and falsifiability.”

A few groans. A few pens already scribbling.

“Questions?”

Toby raised his hand again. “If we document near-identical tolerances across distant sites, would that favor the exogenic model?”

“It would strengthen it,” the professor said, “but beware convergent constraints. Different makers can arrive at the same ratios under the same physics. Your job is to layer multiple signals, not crown a king from a single clue.”

His gaze swept the room one last time. “Good work. Especially you, Nam Yein—thank you for pushing us past the surface.”

Heat touched the tips of my ears. Across the aisle, Jang Taeil’s expression sharpened; the hostility I’d felt earlier condensed into something colder.

Beside me, Meiling leaned in, whispering through a faint yawn, “Ugh… fine, that was kinda cool.”

Lumina’s eyes were bright. “Yein, that was brilliant.”

Seoyui gave me a small, approving nod.

“Alright,” Jeon Yangoh said, closing his tablet. “Ten-minute break. Then we begin Part Two: System Economics—Why Loot Drops the Way It Does. Don’t wander.”

Chairs scraped back. Conversations flared. As I stretched my fingers, I caught Iris watching me—not the old, sharp contempt, but something narrower, measuring.

Our eyes met.

She looked away first.

“I should try to score a few more points.”

I opened my mouth again.

“The traces discovered inside dungeons vary widely in both style and era. This suggests that intelligent life once existed in the Demon Realm, that they built several civilizations, and that those civilizations were destroyed by monsters. Wouldn’t it make sense to form such a hypothesis?”

As I added that, the professor’s eyes widened. He glanced between his tablet and my face several times.

“Nam Yein. The records say you’re a first-year student at Gwangcheon Academy. Is that true?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Have you studied Demon Realm Studies separately?”

“No. These are just thoughts I had while exploring dungeons.”

“I see… Very well explained. Quite surprising, in fact. You may sit down now.”

I sat back in my seat.

Gazes stabbed into me from every direction, sharp enough to hurt.

“Wow.”

“As expected.”

It was Lumina and Seo Yui’s voices.

When I glanced back, Meiling snorted and turned her head away.

“As Yein explained, the Demon Realm is scattered with traces of diverse civilizations. However, despite continued exploration by Awakeners and Hunters, no human or human-like intelligent beings have ever been discovered. Thus, Yein’s idea of civilizations in the Demon Realm being destroyed by monsters is indeed one of the existing hypotheses.”

Gasps of admiration spread through the room.

‘Of course, that hypothesis is wrong.’

I had read countless settings about what the Demon Realm truly was and what lay beyond it—I had them memorized word for word.

But if a mere Hunter trainee started spouting that knowledge, suspicion would fall on me immediately.

So I stuck to the knowledge accepted at this point in time, enough to impress the professor but not deep enough to raise eyebrows.

“There are many other hypotheses about the civilizations of the Demon Realm. The topics we’ve discussed today—its system and its civilizations—present two perspectives. One suggests the Demon Realm may be an artificial world created by something. The other suggests it is a world not so different from ours, with its own history. My hope is that this class gives you all an opportunity to share your ideas and think more deeply about the Demon Realm itself.”

After that, nearly two hours of Demon Realm Studies continued.

“That will be all for today’s class. Good work, everyone.”

The students collapsed onto their desks.

To me, who already knew all the settings, the Demon Realm doctor’s lecture was a refreshing review. But for the others, it was like having knowledge crammed forcefully into their heads.

“Ugh, my head’s burning.”

Lumina groaned as she lay sprawled over her desk.

“HAUT’s theory classes are seriously high-level. Honestly, it’s overwhelming.”

Seo Yui let out a short sigh.

As for Meiling, she had already buried her face into her desk.

That was when footsteps approached.

I turned my head to see Professor Jeon Yangoh walking up beside me.

“Yein, could you spare a moment?”

“What is it, Professor?”

Something about his gaze sent a chill through me.

Those eyes…

What was this feeling?

It reminded me of something I had felt in a dungeon…

“I could tell earlier that you have a strong interest in the Demon Realm. Have you already decided what career you’ll pursue after graduation?”

The moment he said that, goosebumps ran across my whole body.

I realized what that look in his eyes meant.

It was the gaze of a predator who had just discovered a tempting prey.

“Yes. My goal is to become a professional Hunter. As soon as I graduate, I intend to head straight into real combat.”

I blurted out words I didn’t mean.

In truth, my goal was to clear every scenario and return to my original world—but I couldn’t say that.

And if I left even the slightest opening, I felt like he’d swallow me whole.

“I see…”

The professor muttered, looking genuinely regretful, before handing me a business card.

“If you ever wish to learn more about the Demon Realm or need my help for anything, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“…”

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He met my eyes directly as he spoke, then left the classroom.

“Yein, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Lumina asked when she saw me staring at the door, cold sweat running down my face.

“Ah… it’s nothing. I was just a little startled.”

“Maybe the professor really took a liking to you.”

Seo Yui’s words made me want to scream.

If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve given a more half-hearted answer.

It was my mistake—greedy for points, I’d said far more than I needed to.

During the Monster Studies class that followed, I kept my answers at a safer, more moderate level.

Thankfully, that professor didn’t hand me a business card.

But the wary looks my classmates gave me only grew sharper.

When Monster Studies ended, Abel walked into the classroom.

“Alright, everyone. Good work getting through those theory classes. You must feel stiff from sitting so long, so cheer up. From now on, you’ll get to move around as much as you want.”

The students’ faces immediately hardened with tension.

(End of Chapter)

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