The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 1

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

Academy’s Absolute Professor Episode 1
Code Name: Black
Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.
A private whiskey bar that only those in the know find their way to.
“So in the end, who are we talking about? Yoon Tae-sung? Han Baek-san?”
“Well, I’d have to say Yoon Tae-sung is the strongest in Korea. That’s my vote.”
“Come on, that’s something I genuinely don’t know. Yoon Tae-sung is powerful, sure, but isn’t he specialized in Dungeon work? He falls a bit short if we’re talking pure one-on-one strength.”
“So you’re saying Han Baek-san?”
That’s how I see it. There’s even a rumor going around that he picked up some major Secret Grade Artifact from a Dungeon run recently.
The National Management Bureau executives, already having made it through the first round at a meat restaurant, were getting heated here at the second venue.
The subject that stirs men’s blood is always simple.
Who’s the strongest?
“A Secret Grade Artifact? Wouldn’t that need to be registered with the Alliance? I don’t recall any recent registrations.”
“Why so naive? In this world, whoever actually pulls out the real prize doesn’t go reporting it so readily.”
“Fair point. Though didn’t Yoon Tae-sung himself get his hands on some legendary item recently? And listen here—just because this guy found a Secret Grade Artifact doesn’t mean he suddenly becomes the strongest overnight.”
“Even accounting for all that, it comes down to Han Baek-san. The man reached the apex with a single sword from the beginning. His epithet is the Sword Sage—the Sword Sage! Han Baek-san the Sword Sage! Don’t you know?”
“Enough. Director. What’s your take on it?”
“Hmm.”
Clink.
The Director’s wrist, as he swirled the on-the-rocks glass, carried such a weariness about it.
“What does it matter?”
They’ll never actually fight anyway.
Both are national assets that can’t afford to be lost.
The moment any sign of conflict appears, the higher-ups will move heaven and earth to stop it.
“In the end, they’re both acorns.”
“Sir?”
“What do you—”
“Measuring acorns. That’s what you’re doing.”
The executives exchanged glances with one another.
Has the Director had too much to drink?
To compare S-rank Hunters—strategic weapons and the nation’s highest military assets—to mere acorns.
“You fools. The world is vast, and talented eccentrics are everywhere. So stop talking nonsense and drink more.”
Glug.
The amber liquid descended smoothly down his throat.
“Aah.”
A heavy body forged through long years of patience within oak barrels.
‘He loved this whiskey too.’
Director Kim Hyeong-seok set down the empty glass and narrowed his eyes.
His unfocused gaze drifted through empty space before being pulled into the memory of that day a month ago.
* * *
A month prior.
The Leviathan subjugation operation that unfolded on the East Sea.
That day had nearly been recorded as the worst in South Korean history.
The measurement device’s numbers climbed wildly with red warning lights, and then—!
Kaboom!
It burst.
The emergence of the first Immeasurable Grade Monster.
Naturally, the world’s attention turned toward it, but salvation came from nowhere.
“The Americans say they’d like to help, but all their key Hunters are on deployment!”
“What about China? They’re right next door!”
“A Monster appeared in the West Sea. We regret to say our territorial waters are our first priority!”
“These fucking bastards.”
At that moment, Kim Hyeong-seok bit his lip until blood came.
The so-called World Hunter Alliance was nothing but cowards protecting their own Hunters from harm.
They were asking Korea to take the bullets, to extract the data.
There was no choice—this was the reality.
But what if the tables were turned?
If such a monster appeared in another nation’s waters?
If that country had come begging Korea for aid?
Would we truly have sent our finest Hunters into a battle with unknown odds of survival?
National Interest.
Before those cursed two characters, loyalty and honor meant nothing.
“In the end, it falls to us. Activate the emergency mobilization order. Assemble all S-rank Hunters!”
Kim Hyeong-seok took five of the nation’s top ten Hunters and descended into the fray himself.
Even gathering that much had been a miracle.
Han Baek-san and Yoon Tae-sung, whom the executives kept mentioning?
Their excuses ranged from unconfirmed Dungeons to training injuries—nothing but transparent lies.
“You are fools. But thank God this nation still has fools like you—five of them. Please, I beg you, let me not carry the debt of your deaths for the rest of my life.”
The result was catastrophic.
“Gaaahhh!”
“P-please, save me!”
Ten minutes.
That was how long it took for five S-rank Hunters to be reduced to rags.
Two of them lay cold in the depths of the sea, and one—limbless—had become a vegetable.
“……This is.”
Kim Hyeong-seok, watching from the command center, sensed death approaching.
The two remaining Hunters likely felt the same.
Then, in that instant.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
The sky…….
tore open.
With a blinding flash, the atmosphere above the East Sea let out a horrible scream.
Simultaneously, every monitor and instrument in the command center blazed with light before exploding with sharp cracks.
“What—what is this! Satellite signal lost!”
“Mana levels exceed measurement range. We’re losing all transmissions!”
“All field camera lenses are destroyed!”
As chaos consumed the command center, Kim Hyeong-seok witnessed it.
From the tear in space itself, a single man fell.
Dressed in tatters, he hung suspended, staring down at the massive calamity roaring beneath him.
Then his brow furrowed.
“What is this trash?”
His voice cut clean through the deafening roar.
‘Trash?’
That Immeasurable Grade catastrophe—and he called it trash?
Then, with casual indifference, he swung his hand.
A motion so light, so careless—like swatting a fly.
Splat!
One swing.
The Leviathan’s head burst open like a watermelon.
Blood rained down in torrents.
Kim Hyeong-seok stared at the sea turning crimson, his jaw trembling.
‘What—what the hell is that?’
A monster had slain the monster—only to reveal itself as something far worse.
And that creature……
“Ugh. I’m dizzy.”
With those words, it plummeted into the sea like a puppet with its strings cut.
That shock had been burned into Kim Hyeong-seok’s mind like a brand of fire.
* * *
Hannam-dong, Seoul.
Before a premium safe house.
“Huff…… huff……”
Lee Se-a, a newly assigned operative of the National Management Bureau’s special task force, clutched her racing heart.
With trembling hands, she checked the Tablet PC she held once more.
It displayed the highest-classified profile in the nation—Code Name: Black.
[CONFIDENTIAL: PERSONNEL FILE]
Name: Kang Hyeon
Age: 33
Rank: Immeasurable Grade
Remarks:
– Appeared above the East Sea concurrent with Dimensional Rift phenomenon.
– Slew the Monster Leviathan with a single wave of his hand.
– Severe alcohol dependence, particularly fond of Whiskey.
– Difficulty in communication.
– High probability of foreign powers attempting to secure him. Maintenance of security equivalent to top-tier strategic asset required.
She hadn’t believed it at first.
‘Leviathan…… This person caught it, not S-rank Hunters?’
But there was no choice but to believe it.
It was classified, an official state document.
Only a handful of people in South Korea knew of this document’s existence.
The President, the Chief of Staff, the National Intelligence Service Director, the National Management Bureau Director, two surviving S-rank Hunters, and a select few operatives from an ultra-specialized task force within the National Management Bureau itself.
‘I was thrilled at first.’
Having access to such classified material was proof that she’d stepped onto an elite fast-track promotion course.
So she’d even popped champagne.
But?
Now, her feelings were like holding a cup of poison instead of champagne.
She’d realized that this great secret was actually a bomb no one on the team wanted to touch.
Today, too.
“Who’s going to visit Black?”
At the Director’s single remark, an arctic chill swept through the conference room.
The eyes of seasoned veterans who’d seen it all suddenly turned in unison toward the ceiling, the floor, or their own fingernails.
“Um, Director. I’ve suddenly come down with lower back pain……. Good grief, why is it aching so much today?”
“I have a meeting with the Cheonlang Guild Master this afternoon. Apparently they acquired a Secret Grade Artifact.”
“Huh? Manager Kim, didn’t you say last time you wouldn’t have anything to do with the Cheonlang Guild?”
“Director? One must separate public and private matters. Even if I won’t touch them personally, I should still monitor state-managed assets, shouldn’t I?”
It was cowardly.
The same seniors who’d brag about their exploits at office gatherings were trembling at just the two-syllable name Kang Hyeon.
As a result.
“Hmm, I suppose there’s no help for it. Agent Lee Se-a?”
“Yes?”
“You came in at the top of your class, right? Show me you’re fundamentally different from these spineless ones.”
‘I, I still have no field experience at all…….’
She couldn’t voice such words aloud.
What kind of rookie would say that to a Director?
“Just go and come back. I’ll fill your personnel evaluation with five stars.”
Lee Se-a swallowed hard.
That was the whole story of how this had happened.
‘Well.’
How tough could it possibly be?
Just as Lee Se-a clenched her teeth and reached for the doorbell.
‘Huh?’
The door of the safe house was slightly ajar.
‘Could there be an intruder?’
No.
That couldn’t be.
The security system here was far more stringent than the Blue House itself.
Besides, thinking of the monster—no, the person inside made one feel sorry for any intruder.
“Excuse me? This is the National Management Bureau.”
No answer came from within, no matter how many times she called.
Swish-swish.
Wiping her damp palms on her trousers, Lee Se-a carefully stepped into the entrance.
The interior was dark.
Every curtain was drawn, and a chill hung in the air.
And the acrid stench of alcohol.
“Um…….”
Her gaze turned toward the living room sofa.
At the same moment, it froze.
Stretched-out training pants, matted hair that hadn’t been combed in days, and dozens of empty Whiskey bottles scattered across the floor.
‘This derelict caught Leviathan?’
She was seriously considering whether the data might be corrupted.
“Hey.”
A fractured voice came through.
“Yes, yes?”
“Whiskey.”
The man hauled himself upright with effort.
His eyes were hollow, his complexion pale as paper.
Lee Se-a couldn’t understand it.
At that level of intoxication, shouldn’t he be drinking water instead of alcohol?
‘Just give him what he’s asking for!’
Lee Se-a quickly thrust forward the Whiskey that Kim Hyeong-seok had pressed into her hands before leaving.
Whoosh!
The man snatched it and downed it—gulp, gulp, gulp!—that potent spirit like water.
‘He’s insane.’
How could anyone drink something so strong without a flicker of expression?
No, his expression was almost rapturous—like a desert traveler stumbling upon an oasis.
“Ah, now I feel like I can breathe again.”
Only then did the man’s gaze properly settle on Lee Se-a.
“Who are you? I made sure the nation understood clearly. You shouldn’t come any closer than necessary.”
In that instant, Lee Se-a forgot how to breathe.
Eyes visible through disheveled hair.
A cold force pierced through her.
A sharp intake of breath.
She felt like an herbivore confronting the apex predator of the food chain.
A chill ran up her spine, and every hair on her body stood on end.
‘I have to speak. I have to tell him.’
The body of the contaminated Leviathan in the East Sea needed disposal.
Its toxins were too potent—even S-rank Hunters couldn’t approach it.
Their resources were stretched thin, so she needed to ask him for this one thing.
But her lips wouldn’t move.
“Well, good timing. I need a favor anyway.”
At those words, the pressure bearing down on Lee Se-a suddenly lifted.
‘A favor?’
Lee Se-a felt a wave of relief.
If this anomalous creature was asking them for something first, it meant—conversely—there was room for negotiation.
“What kind of favor do you need?”
“Over there.”
The man’s listless gesture pointed toward one wall.
It was only then that Lee Se-a realized an 80-inch television was on, filling the living room wall.
The screen showed news coverage of the National Academy, South Korea’s foremost Hunter training institution, its grand campus in full view alongside elite trainees engaged in their drills.
“Can you get me in there?”
Silence fell.
A monster of Immeasurable Grade at a Hunter academy?
Why?
Surely not as a student?
The answer came quickly.
“Ideally as a professor.”
Academy Absolute Professor
Im Je-yeol Fusion Fantasy Novel
Author
: Im Je-yeol
Publisher
: Kwon Tae-wan, Woo Cheon-je
E-book Publication Date
: 2026-07-14
Price Per Episode
: 100 won (Episodes 1-15 provided free)
Provided By
: KWBOOKS
Address
: Room 203, Ace Art Forum, 62 Digital-ro 31-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul
UCI
G720:N+A014-20260702062
This book has been published as an e-book by KWBOOKS in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder.
Unauthorized reproduction of the contents of this book without permission from the publisher is prohibited by copyright law.

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