Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 4
EP2 – The New Professor (3)

A spring day with a cool breeze drifting through the classroom windows.
Students filtered into the Classroom one by one.
To attend the first lecture of the newly appointed Professor Dante Hiakkapo: “Assassination and Ability Comprehension.”

Roughly thirty of them in total.

Among them was Hoakin, a red-haired student from Wolryeong Academy, who walked in with his hands jammed in his pockets, leading a gang of seven or so.
And he headed straight for the punching bag.

“Forte.”

Forte from Wolryeong Academy didn’t turn around. Beside him, Hwaru and Dominic merely glanced over with blank expressions.

“You idiot. Heard you got totally demolished by the new professor.”

Forte’s eyes twitched slightly.
Hwaru and Dominic, stung by the words, looked away.
‘Those bastards.’

“…Get lost.”
“Look at these morons having a blast together.”

Laughter erupted, spreading to the seven or so students behind him.

“Why are you still even clinging to Wolryeong Academy anyway? You failed the year. You got beaten by a professor you didn’t even attend class with. Your gun was taken. Stop embarrassing us and just leave.”
“I told you to get lost, Hoakin.”
“You’re a disgrace, you bastard. You’re dragging the whole academy’s name through the mud.”

That’s when it happened.
Forte shot up from his seat and grabbed Hoakin by the collar.

“I said get lost, you crazy son of a bitch.”

Then Hoakin’s teammates moved in.

“Has he lost his mind?”
“Hey. You letting go or not?”

Just as they tried to shove Forte away by his collar, his fist drove into one of the teammates.
Crunch!
The man’s head snapped back, and two others tumbled backward.
The air in the Classroom went dead. Tension rippled through the students.
Hoakin’s expression hardened.

“You want it?”
“Try it, you bastard. I was already sick of looking at you, but I’m going to kill you today.”
“You think I can’t?”

The tension kept climbing. Then one of the students shouted: “Hey. Cut it out. Class is starting.” And indeed, it was time for the professor to arrive.

“…What now?”

“Watch what I do. You and your incompetent friends. I’m the one walking out of here with a diploma today, not you.”

Hwaru’s voice choked with emotion.

“……I’m not incompetent, am I?”

Forte wished Hwaru would just shut up for once.

“Let’s go.”

Hoakin moved with his team members in tow.
He drew a short sword from his belt and melted into the space around them. It was Form Concealment, an intermediate-tier concealment ability.
His teammates deployed Concealment as well, positioning themselves near the door. They waited there—some flanking the entrance, others suspended in the air.
Waiting for the prey to walk in.

“Hey. This is the professor’s first class, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we stop them…?”
“Leave it. Better not to get involved.”

A few students worried about what was about to unfold.

“…How crass.”
“I wonder what they’re thinking.”

Other students frowned but watched with curiosity. The level of Concealment these students had achieved was remarkably high.
A mediocre professor might actually fall for an ambush like this.
Tick. Tick.
Class time approaching.
The students felt uneasy, yet their curiosity about what was to come kept their eyes fixed on the scene.
Tick.
The hour arrived.
But something was wrong. The door didn’t open.
Yet footsteps could be heard.

“…….”

Hoakin’s brow furrowed.
What was this?
Footsteps sounded.
They grew closer.
The professor had reached the door.
The footsteps were quite loud, in fact—as if whoever was making them had no idea assassination existed.
Yet they stopped before the door.

Click—

The next moment, a rifle’s chambering sound came from outside the door.
A lever action rifle, to be precise.

— Professor?

Right after teaching assistant Adel’s voice rang out, Hoakin gestured in panic.
The professor was about to fire!
The gang dropped their Concealment and scrambled for distance.
Then the door swung open, and the professor entered the classroom with a lever action rifle slung over his shoulder.

That’s when the Guillotine Trap, rigged beforehand, activated.
The blade fell! Straight toward the professor’s head——!!

Clang——!!

With a tremendous crash, the trap exploded outward entirely.
The professor had fired his rifle to destroy it!
Hoakin’s face twisted into fury, while Forte gnawed his teeth. It had been his gun.
Yet Hoakin remained focused. There was still a chance. Professor Dante rotated the Lever Action Rifle in his grip to work the mechanism, advancing step by step.
Three steps.
Two steps….
Just one more step would do it.
If he came just one step closer.

……The gun barrel touched his head.

“Did you orchestrate this assassination?”

Hoakin’s eyes widened. Professor Dante had aimed the rifle at him.
At him!

‘……!’

He threw himself aside, tumbling to the ground.
Bang!
Wolryeong Academy was an institution of students gifted with extraordinary talent. Among the twelve hundred first-year Assassination Studies students, only thirty were the true elite.
And his Concealment rivaled even active assassins of considerable skill. So much so that even Chamryong Academy—where only seven students held the rank of first-tier—acknowledged the caliber of his Concealment.
Under such circumstances, there had been no indication he would attempt Concealment at all, and his seven conspirators had moved openly enough to cause commotion. Yet the professor had seen through him instantly?
Hoakin spoke, his voice unsteady.

“……How did you perceive it, sir?”
“Perceive what.”
“My Concealment is the finest in the year.”

Before the assassination came a flicker of genuine curiosity.

“What are you saying? Even a blind man would have spotted you.”

Laughter rippled through the students.
With dozens of student eyes fixed on him, and the subtle mockery etched across Forte’s face, Hoakin’s expression hardened.

“This professor certainly has keen eyes.”

Returning to his seat, he spoke with the intention of somehow belittling the man, but the professor ignored his words.
Only the next words struck Hoakin like a hammer to the back of his skull.

“When were you planning to stop watching?”

Hoakin was seized by confusion in that instant—because Dante had spoken while looking directly at the direction where he had been hiding.
What could possibly be over there……?
In that moment, a human figure materialized in the empty space directly behind the ceiling where he’d been concealed.

“……!”

Hoakin felt his blood run cold. A female student descended—pale pink hair, features as innocent as a puppy’s.
She was Elise, a student of Chamryong Academy and the daughter of the legendary assassin known as the Moonless Star.
It was shocking.
She had been in Concealment behind him the entire time?
Since when?
……The professor had perceived what even he did not know?

“Return to your seat.”
“Yes, sir.”

Elise bowed her head and turned to go.
Dante turned his head and swept his gaze across the classroom. Though he hadn’t uttered a single word, every student found themselves reading his every gesture, his every expression. They all knew exactly how accomplished Hoakin and Elise were.

The moment Elise settled into her seat, he moved.
Then he took his place on the podium.

* * *

In my estimation, an assassin is a beast socialized into human form.

“I am Dante Hiakkapo, the new professor of the Assassination Studies Department.”

A lion crawling through the reeds, measuring its stride toward a gazelle—that same predator wearing the mask of a man.

“From today forward, I intend to use this class to teach you all an understanding of assassination and Ability for the remainder of this semester.”

I’ve been tasked with teaching such beasts. I must never appear weak. I must never show my back.

“The ultimate purpose and direction of this course lies in your weakness—in how understanding Ability will make you stronger.”

Though in truth, I’m the weakest one here.

Fortunately, my stratagem of identifying the assassination-minded students through the name tags floating above their heads had apparently worked on everyone. None of them are making a move to kill me just yet.
The emotions displayed in the Script are varied—doubts about me, anger, fear, shock. Yet beneath all those thoughts lay a common thread.

They’re on edge.
Every beast in this room.
With respect to me.

‘…Wait, what?’

But then the problem struck. As I was about to begin the lesson, my mind suddenly went blank.

‘What was I supposed to say first?’

Time had been short, but I’d definitely prepared something.
There’d been an order to what I needed to say. Now I couldn’t remember any of it.

‘Why can’t I remember…?’

The real problem was that forty-five minutes of class time still remained.
At the moment, all eyes were on me. But as I continued to stand in silence, questions began to surface in those watching faces.
The longer I said nothing, the more the doubt in their eyes grew, and the larger the white void in my mind became.

‘Damn it.’

Right now, I need to say something.
But what…?
As I stood there motionless, the atmosphere began to turn strange.

【 Assassination Studies, First Year, Evelyn : ‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’ 】
【 Wolryeong Academy, First Year, Hoakin : ‘What’s with this guy.’ 】
【 Assassination Studies, First Year, Derek : ‘Should I attempt an assassination now?’ 】

I opened my mouth with the first thing that came to mind.

“Well, before we begin the lesson…”

In that split second, I reconsidered. Should I even say this?
But I had nothing else to fall back on.

“I find myself disappointed in the caliber of the Hiakka Assassination Studies Department.”

In that instant, the air in the classroom grew heavy.
They regard me with bewilderment.

“This is my first day of employment. My first class. From this morning until now, exactly ten students have attempted to assassinate me. Every single one has failed.”

Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure what I’m saying myself.
I simply let each word fall from my mouth with deliberate slowness.

“Failure is inevitable. Just as a child cannot overcome an adult, your immature level cannot possibly match a professor. And yet… not one of you demonstrated a shred of sincerity.”

My voice cuts through the room with a coldness that startles even me. Forte and Hoakin’s expressions stiffen further.

“Because your clumsy assassination succeeded against a clumsy professor, you now believe yourselves trapped in a narrow well, ignorant of the world beyond. You dare attempt such shallow traps and concealment against me? Did you truly think I came to this place to indulge in child’s games?”

That was when a message appeared before me.

⧉ Tip: Raise your hand.

What is this.
I raise my hand as instructed.

Ping!

Hell. It startles me.
Something ricochets off the back of my hand and embeds itself in the table.
A shuriken.
Is this student insane? Throwing projectiles while I’m lecturing from the podium?

【 Wolryeong Academy First Year, Forte: ‘What!?’ 】
【 Assassination Studies First Year, Derek: ‘He deflected Hoakin’s shuriken without even looking…’ 】
【 Assassination Studies First Year, Evelyn: ‘This professor’s reflexes… what in the world…’ 】

Every student recoils in shock.
In the tense silence, I turn to face the one who threw the shuriken.
He averts his gaze, jaw clenched.

【 Wolryeong Academy First Year, Hoakin: ‘Damn it all…’ 】

It was him. The one who led those hiding earlier.
He nearly died just now.
My heart hammers against my ribs. I force it down and open my mouth.

“Student.”
“Y—yes?”
“What was I just saying?”
“To assassinate with sincerity, sir…”
“Your throwing stance was unnecessarily wide, and appallingly slow.”
“….”
“Your target selection: the neck, the most delicate point on the upper body. Your timing: abysmal. A target already heightened by successive assassination attempts would be primed for an ambush—you knew this, and yet you proceeded with such pitiful technique. Even a sewer rat hunting insects shows more cunning than that.”
“….”

He says nothing.
Only his jaw trembles with barely suppressed fury.

“This is the second time now.”

For a few seconds I study him. Then I speak.

“Withdraw from this course.”

Hoakin froze in shock, and the students gasped audibly.
It was because the person who’d spoken was a professor.

I turned my head and surveyed the classroom broadly. This first lesson carried weight—it would set the tone for everything between us, the foundation of our relationship. So I’d prepared myself accordingly.
Memories that had been white and blurred began to surface gradually. Now I could teach.

“If this is the kind of trivial game you’ve come here to play, I find I have no heart for teaching it.”

But I’d changed my mind.
The hands of the students, who had been fidgeting with their textbooks, went still.
If those who claim they wish to learn show such indifference, then the professor must make a different choice.

“Today’s class will not be held.”

In the heavy silence that followed.
I turned and walked out of the classroom.

EP2

The New Professor

END

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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