# Chapter 51. Practical Class (3)
Jangsan Beast.
A monster said to appear in the Jangsan region, resembling a tiger, it is known for mimicking various human voices to lure civilians in and devour them.
Of course, I am aware that this is merely an urban legend fabricated by people.
“I didn’t expect to see one here…”
Its body length is nearly 3 meters tall, its height surpasses my own by about two heads, and its tiger-like body is completely covered in white fur. Given the red stains sporadically visible in its fur, it seems to have successfully hunted a few times already.
Its fur-covered face resembles that of an emaciated person, but its grotesque and horrifyingly distorted appearance makes it difficult to discern whether it’s male or female.
The creature’s mouth, drooling saliva, was densely lined with double rows of razor-sharp teeth, and between the teeth, traces resembling bits of meat were barely visible.
Then, from between those teeth, a frail female voice emerged.
“Please… help me… someone, please help!”
“Damn.”
The ordinary female voice, which anyone might have heard at least once in their life, was so urgent in tone that anyone walking by would feel compelled to rush over.
“How could you not tell me something like this exists, Professor?”
Monsters that appear near the forest’s entrance are generally weak.
For instance, the wolf-like monster I saw earlier—or the small, rodent- and cat-sized creatures—all lacked any real intellect. They were mostly harmless, no bigger than a baby bear.
As you proceed from the entrance toward the forest’s center, the monsters become more ferocious and intelligent, but the creature in front of me (hereafter referred to as the Jangsan Beast) was clearly not of the level expected at the forest’s entrance.
Ssssiiiiiiickk!
“Grrr!”
Crackkk!
While muttering something in its imitation voice, the creature lunged at me with its teeth once again.
Fortunately, I was already in a ready position, allowing me to dodge relatively easily this time.
“Fo, food… sa, sa… save?”
The creature tilted its head as if puzzled that its second attack hadn’t worked. Seizing this opportunity, I pulled out an emergency signal from my pocket.
An emergency signal device designed to summon the instructors during critical situations.
Before the creature could attack again, I pressed the button on the signal device—
…nothing happened.
“Wait, what? Is this thing defective?”
Now? In this situation? At this timing?
The creature observed me, as if comprehending my realization that the signal was faulty, and then grinned broadly, its ears stretched wide.
‘So it understands the situation and can even read human emotions! This is definitely a creature suited for the forest’s core.’
Realizing there was no way I could defeat this opponent in my current condition, I immediately turned and started running.
“Food! Sa, save!”
Crack! Crack!
As I fled at full speed, the Jangsan Beast followed me like a pet dog on a walk, its mouth hanging open as it chased after me.
The metaphor might sound cute, but looking back, I could see the monster smashing through trees across the entire forest, which was anything but cute.
‘What should I do? Should I fight? Or should I just keep running toward the entrance? But I don’t even know where the entrance is?!’
Teleportation magic is considered a high-difficulty spell with potential for misuse, so it’s classified as confidential and cannot be learned until reaching a certain level. Personally, my spatial perception skills aren’t very good, so even if I tried teleportation now, I might just waste all my mana and fail to properly execute it.
If I attempted to teleport too close and wasted mana, I’d surely be eaten without resistance.
On the other hand, if I continue fleeing through the forest and encounter another student, who’s currently out roaming to gain points, that student would likely be devoured instantly.
Thankfully, since I was moved far away from others, I haven’t met anyone so far, but if I keep fleeing in this state, my stamina will keep dropping. And if I met someone else, I wouldn’t have the strength to protect them while fighting.
Thinking about this, I stopped running and turned around to face the creature.
Seeing me stop, it seemed to smirk, assuming I had given up.
Crunch!
Bracing my legs and creating an explosive burst at my feet, I propelled myself forward and swung my fist at it. The beast, in turn, opened its torn mouth wide, ready to swallow me whole as it charged at me.
When the distance between us was less than a meter:
‘Now!’
Diving low, I slid beneath its guard toward its abdomen. Reaching the center of its body, I unleashed all the mana I’d stored in my fist.
Boom!
“Kyaaaaaa! Kyaarrrrrr!!”
Struck by my powerful blow, the creature collapsed onto the ground, writhing and screaming a sound between an animal’s roar and a woman’s scream.
Confident due to its belief in being the top predator, the creature had let its guard down, giving me this opportunity.
I silently thanked the creature for underestimating me and approached it to finish it off.
Crunch… Crunch…
“?!’
Suddenly, an eerie sound emanated from the beast’s abdomen.
No longer smiling, but now glaring with bloodshot eyes, the creature’s wound began to rapidly regenerate, closing the hole I had created in its midsection.
“Damn, this is a Phase 2 transformation…”
With the wound fully healed in an instant, the beast’s fur began to darken, turning black. Then, in the blink of an eye, it disappeared.
“Shit!”
Sassh! Sassh!
Pasaasaas!
From the rustling sound of the surrounding trees, it seemed the creature was moving at an incredible speed through the branches.
The issue was the speed—much faster than when it was chasing me.
‘So it was just toying with me before.’
At this point, the only way was to destroy its head with one powerful strike. No matter how monstrous it may be, if the brain is destroyed, it won’t be able to function.
Sassh!
Recoiling quickly from a suspicious sound, I narrowly avoided its massive claws swinging toward where I had been.
‘I can react to its speed! The problem is…’
The problem was its camouflage.
When its fur was white, it was easier to see against the forest backdrop, but now its black fur made it nearly invisible against the dark forest, blending with the trees as it moved.
“Food!”
“Kk-ck!”
I was caught off guard by a surprise attack, leaving a severe gash on my left arm.
‘Judging by the fact my body isn’t stiffening, it seems there’s no poison. If it had been an otter-like creature, it would have been quite troublesome.’
Its long claws, camouflage, regeneration, and voice mimicry seem to be the extent of its abilities. If it had invisibility or splitting abilities, I would have already been doomed.
“Dammit, if I could just restrain it for a few seconds…”
A few seconds.
If I could only buy myself a few seconds, I could defeat it with one strike.
‘But how?’
Though I could freeze the moisture in the air, the creature’s speed would outpace my ability to control it. Likewise, wind magic would be difficult to manage at its current speed.
If I could set a trap… trap?
The idea of a trap prompted me to conjure up a magical fog and spread it around.
The sudden fog that spread moderately around me seemed to confuse the creature, as it made a startled sound.
I then manipulated the dirt around me into creating an earthen statue resembling my body, sending it flying outside the fog.
Hiiiiiiiik!
“Muuuuuuuh!!”
The moment something resembling me sprang out of the fog, the creature lunged without hesitation.
However, the earthen statue shattered under its claws as the creature froze in place. Seizing this opportunity, I used earth magic to bind its body with dirt, immobilizing it.
“Ugguuuuugh!”
Its mouth sealed and deprived of speech, I conjured up a massive spear of ice and hurled it toward its head—
Clang! Crash!
“Shit, it wasn’t just camouflage!”
Apparently, it wasn’t just camouflage—it also had a hardening ability, as the ice merely scratched its skin before shattering.
Kwaang!
The creature broke free of the dirt covering its body and swung its long tail toward me, sending me flying.
Crunch!
“Kk-ck!!”
Its tail was hard enough to break bones. I tumbled and collided with a tree, slumping to the ground.
“Ugh… feels like my ribs are broken…”
Clenching the pain that crushed my entire body, I staggered up, holding my knees. In the distance, the creature stood with a menacing gaze, clearly recognizing me as its opponent.
Its eyes seemed to confirm that it considered me done for.
Instead, a mocking laugh escaped my lips.
“Right, it’s the end. But I wasn’t the one you were talking about, was it, you?”
I summoned mana from my core and concentrated it in my legs and arms.
I fortified my bones, muscles, blood vessels, and skin with mana and took a stance to charge.
Realizing I wasn’t giving up, the creature began to exude a killing intent, preparing itself for a deadly strike.
…
…
Sassh.
Thud!
Kwaang!
With all our might, we charged at each other.
“Uuuuuuuaaaaaahhhh!!!”
“Kyyyaaahhhhhh!!!!”
30 meters… 20 meters… 10 meters. The distance closed, and just as the distance between me and the creature was closing to a few meters, the beast lowered its body.
It seemed to remember my previous low attack and was taking steps to prevent it this time.
The unexpected learning ability, rarely found among beasts, was on display.
“Bastard.”
Its footing suddenly gave way!
The ground beneath it collapsed.
When it was struck by my tail earlier, I had used magic to turn the area into quicksand, which its legs were now sinking into, completely disrupting its posture.
I directed all the mana I had gathered toward its head.
“Like I’d use the same trick twice, bastard.”
“Sh-sh-sh… spare me…”
Crack!
Kwaang!
With an enormous sandstorm, the creature’s head exploded.
After the deafening roar of the explosion subsided, I checked the remnants of the creature. It seemed truly dead as the remainder of its torso didn’t move at all.
The head must have been carried away by the storm, as no traces of it could be seen around me.
“Haa… haa… I won.”
Collapsing beside the creature, I decided to rest for a moment before heading toward the entrance.
Since the signal device didn’t work, it might be too late to reach the rendezvous on time, so it would be better to walk there myself.
“Damn tired… but if this creature is considered, would they rank me first?”
With such empty thoughts in mind, I managed to take a brief moment of rest.
