"I do not get paid enough for this."

"If you did your job correctly, you would not be called here right now," the Grandmaster countered. "You let a first-year student enter the Ruined Kingdom of Eden without ensuring he read the mandatory rulebooks."

Balzac sat up on the cart and scratched his messy hair. "The dwarf at the Requisition Room should have stopped him at the gate."

The Grandmaster ignored the excuse and pointed to the glowing footage on the wall. He quickly detailed the dimensional malfunction and the escaped monsters. "I need you to analyze this recording. Explain exactly how an unregistered novice defeated an S-Rank Undead Paladin. An enemy of that caliber requires an S-Rank hunter to defeat."

Balzac crossed his arms and let out an annoyed sigh. "I am not the sword training professor. I am just a proxy for the theoretical classes. You should call Professor Holard or Professor Vakir for combat analysis."

The Grandmaster leaned forward and placed his hands flat on his desk. "I will triple your annual research budget and give you three months of paid vacation if you figure out his secret."

Balzac’s eyes snapped wide open. He tossed the pillow aside and jumped off the cart. His sleepiness vanished entirely.

Balzac stood in front of the projected footage, watching the battle in the ruined chamber with a completely blank expression. The recording captured Solomon explaining to Lune and the chat how the fight was supposedly easy.

The boy listed a long string of logical excuses, detailing the Paladin’s restricted movement patterns, the structural layout of the arena, and the predictable timing of the boss’s attacks.

Balzac pointed lazily at the screen. "He just told you exactly how he did it, Grandmaster. He memorized the attack loops and exploited the terrain. It is entirely obvious."

He pulled the silk sleeping mask back down over his eyes and turned around. "I have completed your requested analysis. Please call the attendants back in so they can wheel me to my desk. I will send you the paperwork for my budget increase tomorrow morning."

"Take the mask off," the Grandmaster ordered, his voice echoing with warning. "Watch the live feed. I want you to meticulously inspect and analyze his actual sword techniques. Do not rely on his verbal excuses."

Balzac let out a long, exaggerated groan. He pushed the mask up and turned back to the wall as the projector switched from the recording to the live broadcast.

Solomon was currently standing in the center of the dungeon’s second-floor boss room. A massive, heavily armored orc swung a giant battleaxe toward the boy’s head.

Instead of drawing the enormous executioner’s sword strapped to his back, Solomon simply stepped to the side, ducked under the weapon, and drove a brutal kick into the orc’s knee.

He climbed on top of the orc and a few rapid strikes later, the monster collapsed onto the stone floor. Then, he crushed the orc’s neck and killed him.

The live feed seamlessly transitioned to the third floor. A large stone golem stomped through the corridor. Solomon approached it, still completely refusing to unsheathe Eden’s Penance. He dismantled the golem using nothing but his bare hands and raw agility.

Balzac rubbed his eyes and let out a bored sigh. "Grandmaster, can I watch this in 2x speed instead?"

The Grandmaster slammed his fist against his oak desk. "It is a live feed, Balzac! You cannot fast-forward reality!"

Balzac leaned against the utility cart and crossed his arms, staring at the live feed. "Furthermore," he began, settling into his usual lecture tone, "you must consider the dimensional instability of the Ruined Kingdom of Eden itself. Dimensional Archaeologists first discovered the initial fragment sixty-seven years ago—"

Sixty-nine years ago," the Grandmaster corrected him sharply.

"Ah, yes. My mistake," Balzac replied dryly. "They discovered a minor fragment sixty-nine years ago, but the primary dimensional excavation didn’t officially begin until sixty-seven years ago.

According to their mana-dating experiments and chronological tests, the kingdom collapsed and was swallowed by the void roughly seven hundred years ago. Because it was lost in dimensional stasis for seven centuries, the vast majority of its high-tier loot, physical materials, and historical records deteriorated completely. It is essentially a barren zone."

The Grandmaster nodded. "Over the next two decades, those archaeologists believed they had mapped all the major fragments. They utilized their spatial manipulation talents, which remain the most sought-after and rare profession globally to stitch those fragments together with stabilized portals, creating the cohesive dungeon instance we use today."

"Exactly," Balzac agreed. "And as per interdimensional law, whichever kingdom or country discovers the first fragment claims the primary exploration rights. Sometimes they keep the instance classified for their own military, sometimes they sell the spatial coordinates, and sometimes they commercialize it by charging entry fees.

The Ruined Kingdom of Eden requires a massive entry toll for standard adventurers, but due to the Academy’s contract and our annual research contributions, our students are granted free access."

Balzac gestured to the screen. "They opened Eden to the public exactly eighteen years ago. The dimensional archaeologists mapped the difficulty of each sector using magical frequency readers and ambient energy scales.

The labyrinth and upper dungeon floors are restricted to Rank D and below. Rank C and B hunters are permitted direct portal access to the lower dungeon floors. To teleport directly to the kingdom ruins, you must be Rank A or higher. And to enter the Eden Palace sector, you must hold an S-Rank license."

"But the high-ranking hunters never go there," the Grandmaster stated. "I was thinking of ending the contract soon as it’s costing us more money to keep it open."

"It’s because it simply isn’t worth the risk-to-reward ratio," Balzac explained. "The S-Rank and SS-Rank veterans know there is nothing valuable left in those ruins. They are fully aware of the Undead Paladin’s existence.

The creature’s spatial coordinates were never fixed as it constantly wandered the perimeter between the kingdom and the palace. Several S-Rank hunters died trying to subjugate it early on. The general consensus was that risking your life fighting a wandering demigod in a barren wasteland was a terrible career choice."

The Grandmaster stared intently at the screen. "And yet, a first-year student just killed it."

While they were discussing the history of the realm, the live broadcast showed Solomon entering the boss chamber of the fourth floor.

A massive, multi-armed demonic ape dropped from the ceiling, roaring violently.

Solomon completely ignored the greatsword strapped to his back. He dashed forward. As the ape swung two massive fists down, Solomon channeled his physical strength and leaped vertically, clearing the attack.

He landed directly on the creature’s thick shoulders, wrapped his legs tightly around its neck, and drove his elbows viciously into the crown of its skull.

The ape shrieked and reached up to grab him. Solomon seamlessly transitioned his weight, rolling off the monster’s back while gripping its outstretched arm. He twisted the limb against its natural joint with maximum leverage and snapped the bone cleanly.

As the ape collapsed in agony, Solomon delivered a punishing axe-kick to the back of its neck, crushing its cervical spine. The boss shattered into digital fragments.

The live feed blinked, displaying Solomon standing quietly at the entrance to the fifth floor.

"Are you sure he is going to use a sword?" Balzac yawned and said, "How about you wake me up when he pulls a sword?"