The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 102

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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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Academy’s Absolute Professor Episode 102
Let no one brush past your collar
“Huff, huff, huff!”
Peak of Cheonmubong.
The first to touch dirt beneath his feet, breathing ragged and heavy, was second-year Student Song Tae-min.
No one else was visible yet behind him.
An overwhelming first place!
A bright smile spread across his face.
His heart was screaming at him to end this suffering, but the surge of pride drowned out the pain.
‘My instinct was right.’
While his classmates spent money during the break to attend combat training, he had doubled down on physical conditioning.
All that crude training—running up the mountain with weighted sandbags—was finally paying off.
‘Never mind that I’ve barely touched sword practice because of it.’
It didn’t matter.
What good was fumbling around with mediocre swordwork?
As long as he could take Special Guidance Studies, Professor Kang Hyeon would teach him real martial arts anyway!
It was an elite’s clever judgment, and everything had unfolded as expected.
As he glanced around, Do Jeong-hyeok was leaning his back against a large boulder in the corner.
A junior from a lower class year than Song Tae-min.
“Do Jeong-hyeok.”
He waved his hand with an air of ease.
“I’m ahead of you. You’ve worked hard. Hand over a tablet.”
As if demanding something entrusted to him be produced.
There was no way to interpret it otherwise.
Professor Kang Hyeon had told Do Jeong-hyeok to retrieve it after all.
But.
Do Jeong-hyeok simply stared at Song Tae-min, rotating only his wrist.
Song Tae-min’s brows drew together.
“What are you doing? Won’t you hand it over? I came in first.”
Only then did Do Jeong-hyeok gesture with his chin toward his rear.
On the broad boulder.
There, twenty wooden tablets that Kang Hyeon had handed him were laid out in perfect order.
“Please take them.”
At Do Jeong-hyeok’s flat reply, Song Tae-min’s mood soured instantly.
‘This arrogant bastard. Just because he’s Professor Kang’s student, he doesn’t show a senior any respect.’
It was too much, even by any standard.
Right here in front of him, being told to ask, and yet he’s told to just grab them himself.
“Fine, whatever. I’ll take them.”
Song Tae-min scoffed and was just about to reach past Do Jeong-hyeok toward the boulder when—
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of air splitting suddenly struck his ear.
‘What?’
At the edge of his vision, a massive boulder seemed to be flying toward him.
Of course, it was not a boulder at all, but Do Jeong-hyeok’s fist.
“Are you insane?”
Startled, Song Tae-min reflexively drew his sword from his waist to block.
Boom!
“Aaarggh!”
The impact hit him as if he’d been in a traffic accident, and his body flew up, skidding backward several meters.
Skrape!
Dust erupted in a long trail, and Song Tae-min, barely managing to stop, felt both arms trembling.
Had he not defended himself, his bones might well have shattered from the sheer force of that blow.
“You—you—what the hell are you doing!”
Song Tae-min was shouting in outrage when—
“Huff, huff… what?”
“What’s going on? Gasp, gasp!”
The second and third-place students, who had climbed the mountain late, finally reached the summit.
Seeing what appeared to be the first-place finisher holding a drawn sword, they halted in their tracks.
As bewildered gazes fixed upon him, Do Jeong-hyeok rotated his fist again and assumed his stance.
“Professor Kang Hyeon surely only asked me to retrieve the tablets.”
“Exactly! So why are you fighting if I’m taking the tablet?”
“Because whether I give it or not is my choice.”
“…What?”
Do Jeong-hyeok planted his feet shoulder-width apart and assumed the Iron Fist stance.
His two legs, rooted firmly, seemed to bore into the ground like ancient trees.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or classmate.”
Whieeee!
Just then, wind swept harshly through Do Jeong-hyeok’s hair, and through the strands that whipped about, his eyes gleamed like those of a predator.
“Whoever brushes even the fabric of my clothing—I’ll hand over the tablet.”

* * *
“The fabric of your clothing?”
Do Jeong-hyeok’s provocation struck a nerve with his seniors.
“Top first-year or not, this is shameless.”
“The fabric? Easy enough. Let me try first.”
Whoosh!
The third student charged forward without hesitation.
Crack!
“Ahhhhh!”
He flew even farther than Song Tae-min had.
He was driven back so far he nearly tumbled over the cliff.
“Hey, hey! This won’t do. What kind of strength is that…! I swear I just got hit by a truck!”
“Is that all you’ve got?”
The second student to arrive took his turn, but the outcome was identical.
One punch from Do Jeong-hyeok sent his internal organs twisting.
And since he’d just sprinted up here moments ago—
“Urgh!”
He retched.
Shock flickered across Song Tae-min’s face.
So he really was the professor’s disciple?
At this level, he’d already surpassed student rank—he was easily at professor grade or higher.
“Do, junior. You really can keep the tablet, right?”
Anxiety crept in.
Right now.
A fourth and fifth student were arriving, glancing around and assessing the situation.
If this dragged on, everyone would make it up here.
“Tae-min.”
The fourth to arrive was his classmate Kim Cheol-su.
Currently ranked third among second-year midterm exams, and the star who’d won awards at the recent Paris exchange tournament!
“What’s going on?”
Once Kim Cheol-su heard what Song Tae-min had to say, he gathered the students around him.
“This approach won’t work as a competition.”
Kim Cheol-su already knew just how powerful and skilled Do Jeong-hyeok was.
Masters like Cha Yu-sik and Gwak Do-jin found him difficult to face—what were general students like us supposed to do against him one-on-one?
It was absolutely impossible.
“We can’t go at this alone—we have to join forces. If we don’t trust each other and divide our roles, we won’t even get close to that tablet, let alone touch his clothing. More of them are arriving now, right? We’ve got until twenty. Before that, we absolutely have to get the tablet and get down.”
At his words, the students’ eyes lit up with new resolve.
He was right.
The more people who made it up from below, the lower the odds that this tablet would be mine.
In other words, every moment wasted made our position worse.
Do Jeong-hyeok felt a flicker of tension at Kim Cheol-su’s leadership.
‘My master said something about this.’
— Don’t hit too hard. Leave the Hyeonmu Fist Armor off and take it easy on them. If you fight with all your strength right now… you might kill them outright. You didn’t come here to pass out tablets and end up a murderer, did you?
‘Control your strength.’
So as Kim Cheol-su said, if they truly united their efforts, it would definitely be overwhelming.
“Let’s go!”
At Kim Cheol-su’s signal, the students who surged forward suddenly numbered ten.
While one blocked Do Jeong-hyeok’s fist, Song Tae-min swung his blade from the flank, and the others relentlessly carved at his lower half and rear.
And then.
One of them turned his gaze toward the tablet.
What if I just snatch that tablet while they’re fighting and head down?
Wouldn’t that work?
“Get your head in the game!”
Kim Cheol-su, reading that look in his eyes, shouted.
“This is our last chance—we have to coordinate! Anyone who backstabs this team can forget about being treated like a person later! You! Kim Tae-in! Focus!”
“Yeah, got it!”
Startled, Kim Tae-in swung his blade harder.
Do Jeong-hyeok made a note of Kim Cheol-su.
‘He has command ability.’
He was already thinking of mentioning this to his master later.
Maybe an entirely new team could form from this.
Crash! Boom!
No matter how much he’d been told to hold back, Do Jeong-hyeok wasn’t taking it easy.
Instead, he kept his Iron Fist sharp, imagining the chaos of that one-versus-many scenario.
‘This assignment from my master is ultimately just another part of my training.’
These people were desperate.
They’d rushed all the way here for the sake of a tablet.
Simply enduring their coordinated assault had become an immense learning experience for Do Jeong-hyeok.
As the fierce combined attack pressed him harder and harder,
“I got you! I did! I touched you!”
One student shouted in delight, his sleeve having grazed Do Jeong-hyeok.
Do Jeong-hyeok nodded coolly.
“Acknowledged. Take it.”
“Woohoo!”
The student rushed over to the rocks in ecstasy and snatched up a tablet.
Do Jeong-hyeok grabbed another tablet and tossed it toward someone.
Tap.
The one who caught it reflexively was none other than Song Tae-min.
“What?”
Song Tae-min looked confused, glancing back and forth between the tablet and Do Jeong-hyeok.
He hadn’t even been touched.
Do Jeong-hyeok wiped the sweat from his brow and spoke matter-of-factly.
“In that last strike, your contribution was the greatest. If you hadn’t drawn my attention from the front, the others wouldn’t have had an opening to press in. I acknowledge it.”
Song Tae-min’s eyes wavered as his dedication was recognized.
Just then, another student cried out in protest.
“Hey! That’s not fair! You said you only give them if you’re touched!”
Do Jeong-hyeok shrugged.
“As I said, giving out tablets is my choice. If a pretty girl came up right now and batted her eyes at me, I might just hand one over. But seeing as it’s only sweaty men around here, I don’t think that’ll be happening.”
A laugh burst out.
“Crazy bastard.”
The tension that had gripped the group dissolved in an instant, and quiet chuckles rippled through the students.
Do Jeong-hyeok certainly looked composed.
The casual ease of a strong man who could jest while enduring countless coordinated attacks.
‘I want to be like that.’
‘I’m more convinced now. I have to take the Special Instruction Class.’
“……Thank you.”
Song Tae-min gripped the tablet and spoke with genuine gratitude.
A moment ago there had been a slight disappointment, but now it vanished entirely.
All he had to do was head down the mountain, and his enrollment would be confirmed.
And yet.
‘Should I leave right now?’
These people had helped considerably in getting the tablet.
“Huff, huff!”
Just then, the eleventh student arrived.
Time was running short.
Soon the reinforcements would come flooding in.
‘If I go down alone… they might lose their formation and fail to get a tablet.’
The old Song Tae-min would have left without looking back.
But he was clever.
When something happened, he felt compelled to analyze it.
That’s why they underwent physical training too.
‘Those who chose their comrades over themselves in the first trial passed immediately without a second round.’
Here, Professor Kang Hyeon’s intention revealed itself.
He seemed to prefer students who cared for their comrades over those with sharp instincts and superior stamina.
‘What choice do I have?’
Song Tae-min laughed dryly.
“I got help from ten people, so I can help exactly ten times. I’m in. But from the eleventh tablet onward, I’m not looking back—I’m heading straight down!”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
The students roared in unison and charged forward once more with ferocious intensity.

* * *
Moments later, at the Old Training Hall Practice Grounds.
Kang Hyeon sat on the platform drinking when Lee Se-ah started nagging him to eat something with his drink.
“Huff, whew! First place!”
Song Tae-min, who arrived first, gasped for breath.
Kang Hyeon gestured with his chin.
“Line up.”
More kept arriving after that, and the descent was faster than expected.
Less than ten minutes had passed when the fifteenth student came down.
Kang Hyeon questioned him.
“How’s the situation up there?”
“Huff, well…”
The student answered between gasps.
“We’re restraining Do Jeong-hyeok through cooperative attack. Doing it that way made obtaining tablets much easier than expected.”
“When you got your tablet, what rank had you climbed to?”
“From what I heard, I was thirtieth.”
“Is that so?”
The corners of Kang Hyeon’s mouth rose slightly.
‘It unfolded as intended.’
What would have happened if they hadn’t cooperated and instead rushed at Do Jeong-hyeok, each driven by their own greed?
Nine times out of ten, they’d have tangled and hindered one another, unable to obtain tablets until all the stragglers reached the summit.
Then the advantage of arriving early would vanish entirely, and at the peak—transformed into bedlam—a dog-eat-dog scramble would unfold, with the lucky few grabbing the scattered tablets.
Kang Hyeon believed they would deserve such a fate.
But what was this?
The whelps had abandoned their greed and cooperated instead.
He actually preferred it.
It meant this second cohort he’d selected was not only strong but wise as well.
Of course, this test wasn’t perfectly fair.
There would certainly be students with legitimate grievances.
For instance, those who’d fail by finishing twenty-first or twenty-second without securing tablets.
Among them, there were surely some who’d arrived at the peak fifteenth or eighteenth, contributed to the cooperative effort, yet lost their chance to latecomers after failing to grab a tablet at the crucial moment.
‘But what can you do.’
Kang Hyeon tossed the last of his drink down his throat.
Society, the world itself, was always this unfair.
When strength hovered on an ambiguous line, fortune and circumstance alone determined who was cut loose.
If one didn’t want to suffer injustice?
They should have possessed overwhelming power and stamina—like the dominant first and second arrivals—strong enough that luck played no role whatsoever.
Saving the world followed the same principle.
Mediocre strength helped no one.
Time passed a little longer.
The twentieth student came running from far off and crossed the line.
He wasn’t rushing desperately.
The tablets were surely all distributed by now.
Behind him came the students who’d failed to obtain tablets and Do Jeong-hyeok, and among them, one female student was weeping heavily.
“Why is she crying?”
When Kang Hyeon asked, the twentieth arrival answered.
“……She arrived seventeenth, apparently. She was helping through cooperative attack, but……ended up not getting her own tablet.”
She could be forgiven for thinking she’d failed because she was too busy helping others.
But there’s a difference between helping others and being swept away without even protecting your own share.
If she had executed a proper cooperative attack, what then?
Do Jeong-hyeok must have given her the Wooden Tablet.
That’s why Kang Hyeon hadn’t comforted her.
“Goodwill is a tool wielded by the strong. Those who wield it with mediocre skill die fastest to Demonic Beasts.”
She swallowed hard.
Kang Hyeon’s voice cut like a blade.
“Those who passed, remain. The rest of you are dismissed.”
He jerked his chin at O In-bang, sending the failures back.
The disappointed ones would have another chance next year, should they choose to try again.
Though the competition wouldn’t be any less fierce by then.

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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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