The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 104

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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 104
Have you seen the rumors?
[Professor Kang Hyun’s secret Practice Grounds story uncovered (Photo attached)]
(Photo of the inside of the Practice Grounds taken with a smartphone)
[Seriously, it’s impossibly huge. Thought I’d walked into a full sports arena?]
└ Photoshop
└ Post author) Not photoshopped
└ How is that even possible?
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ For real though
└ We’ve been to the grounds behind the New Training Hall before, and there’s no way something that size could exist ㅋㅋ
└ Post author) “Taejeong Space”
└ ???
└ Wait, could it be?
└ Post author) You guys, the building literally has “Taejeong Main Hall” written on it — didn’t you think of Taejeong Space? Do you not watch the news?
└ We never got to go in there though…….
└ That building is Taejeong Main Hall? We didn’t even know the name…….
└ But hey, what are those faintly glowing lines on the floor? Is that a Formation Array too?
└ Post author) That’s classified sorry. We can only take photos in authorized areas.
└ Ugh
└ That lying bastard
└ I’m so jealous!
└ Ham it up! Ham it up! Spin that hamster wheel!
On AcaNet, the newly admitted second cohort students were posting one by one.
[Nothing to do in the new dorms so might as well browse the net ㅋㅋ]
[Here goes! I’m posting too!]
(Photo of the interior of Taejeong Residential Hall)
└ ???
└ ?????
└ What the hell is this?
└ A hotel?
└ Why is it so spacious and fancy? You’re telling me we actually live here?
└ Post author) Yeah
└ This is practically a five-star hotel suite;
└ Wait, all that construction noise and this is what they were building? Why can’t we use something like that when we’re students at the same academy?
└ That space has a spatial expansion Formation Array on it too;
└ Is that Min Seo-jun again?
Practice Grounds bragging, then dormitory bragging.
And the finale?
Naturally, it was professor bragging.
[Did you see the breaking news that just dropped?]
[Breaking: S-rank Hunter Ma Chul-ung and Gye Mu-jin appointed as contract professors at National Hunter Academy!]
[Breaking: Both registered new guilds — Tiger Research Institute and Changkwi Group?]
└ ???
└ What the hell is this now
└ Post author) ㅎ Actually we already knew
└ Knew what?
└ Post author) They’re the Special Guidance Studies team leaders. We’re supposed to train together at that Practice Grounds that just came up.
└ ???
└ Please don’t be bullshitting, please
└ Why are S-rank Hunters suddenly going there?
└ Ahhhhhhh seriously!!!!
└ My stomach hurts, I think I’m gonna die. I ranked around 22nd or something;;;
└ But what the hell is Professor Kang Hyun’s real identity?
└ No clue. He wasn’t even a drunk till last semester?
└ He still drinks though;;
AcaNet remained flooded with talk about Kang Hyun, stretching all the way until dawn.

* * *
“This is data from AcaNet?”
“Yes.”
Kim, the executive secretary, handed over the documents.
Screenshots of everything that had been buzzing on AcaNet, brought straight to his desk.
Reading through it, those arrogant Academy students were singing the praises of only one professor—Kang Hyun.
‘Is this even possible?’
Jo Tae-hwan’s gaze deepened.
“What about the inquiry I made into Professor Kang Hyun?”
“There’s no information, sir.”
“What?”
“His past record, educational background, family relations—everything appears to be filed away with the Management Bureau.”
A personnel matter the Management Bureau had suppressed, and yet Ma Chul-ung and Gye Mu-jin had gone under his command?
Something stank about this.
The smell of a state hiding something from its people.
Jo Tae-hwan, who had spent a lifetime rolling through the political arena, felt his instincts screaming at him to leave this alone.
But.
‘That Jo Ah-young.’
He couldn’t turn a blind eye to the girl who had once been the family’s pride now wilting away like that.
“Contact Dean Seo Il-hyun for me.”
“Sir, surely you’re not thinking of pressuring him directly…….”
“Am I insane? Pressuring an S-rank Hunter? I just want to talk, that’s all. Just talk.”
Seo Il-hyun and Jo Tae-hwan maintained a relationship of mutual respect.
Seo Il-hyun was sensitive about the Academy’s budget, and one of the people most closely positioned to influence it was Jo Tae-hwan, chairman of the Security Committee.
Not long after, the dean came on the line.
– Chairman, it’s been a while.
“Ha, Dean Seo. I was actually planning to visit you soon regarding the budget proposal. I hope all is well?”
– All is well enough, but busy. As you know, we just started the new term.
“Indeed. I hear there’s even a rather special class this term…….”
– Ah, come to think of it, I owe you an apology, Chairman.
Seo Il-hyun’s voice was warm.
– I’m sorry about Ah-young. She showed remarkable promise, but luck simply wasn’t on her side. She must be quite disheartened, and I found myself feeling for her.
“Ah, yes, well. She does seem a bit down. Ha.”
– Chairman.
Seo Il-hyun’s voice was soft, yet unmistakably carried the weight of experience.
– Regarding Academy facility support and budgeting, I’m always in your debt, so I’d assist you a hundred times over without hesitation. However, I must say this out of an abundance of caution—that Professor Kang Hyun’s class is entirely within the professor’s own exclusive authority, and I’m unable to intervene.
“I beg your pardon?”
– Ha, well. I know you surely didn’t call about that, Chairman, but I’m just being overcautious, you understand. Overcautious.
By making the request first and declining before being asked, he had preempted any awkwardness.
With the line drawn so diplomatically, Jo Tae-hwan had nothing to say in response.
“Ha, you’re something else, Dean. I was simply asking because the girl was upset. I understand. We’ll meet regarding the budget proposal soon.”
– Right. Do comfort Ah-young for me. Even so, you know she’s among the very top students at the Academy, yes?”
“Yes, Dean.”
Click.
The call ended, and Jo Tae-hwan set his smartphone down on the table.
“Ha?”
He let out a hollow laugh, utterly bewildered.
That aloof Seo Il-hyun going this far?
That evening, Jo Tae-hwan returned home after work and drained a glass of cold water in one gulp.
‘Who on earth could he be?’
He was a well-connected man of politics.
He thought he knew all the major figures in business and politics, all the top-tier Hunters, yet the name Kang Hyun had never crossed his ears before.
Where had this man suddenly emerged from, for the Management Bureau to suppress his information and for the seasoned Seo Il-hyun to erect such an iron wall in advance?
That was when it happened.
Click.
The door opened, and his daughter, Jo Ah-young, stepped into the living room.
For someone who had been locked away crying all day, there was a cold fire burning in her eyes.
It seemed she had finally come to her senses.
Jo Tae-hwan spoke in a deliberately stern voice, chiding her.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been moping around all day just because you couldn’t get into one class from some professor named Kang Hyun or whatever?”
“What do you mean, Dad?”
In that instant, Jo Ah-young’s eyes widened.
“Dad, don’t tell me you contacted the dean or something?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Please don’t. I’m telling you this just in case—that Professor Kang Hyun is completely off-limits. Don’t touch him.”
Any student worth their salt had intuition.
They understood what Kang Hyun was capable of.
Though it wasn’t widely known to the public, everyone at the Academy sensed he was far from ordinary.
In Jo Ah-young’s judgment, even if he were her father, she doubted he could walk away unscathed from provoking Kang Hyun.
“For this boy to show such disrespect to his father…”
“Dad!”
She spoke with finality.
“This is my business, so please drop it. I’m asking you.”
Having said her piece, Jo Ah-young turned and disappeared back into her room.
“Ha.”
How many hollow laughs was that today alone?
First his chief aide, then Seo Il-hyun, and now even his daughter?
‘And here I am—Jo Tae-hwan, the man who can knock birds from the sky with a single word.’
Jo Tae-hwan found himself growing increasingly curious about Kang Hyun.

* * *
Taejeong Main Hall, Professor’s Office.
Kang Hyun was deep in his third Secret Technique interpretation project with Lee Se-ah.
The Swift Wind Step had been a massive success as the national foundation technique, and during the break, the Clear Heart Technique, too, had launched without incident.
So what remained?
⪡Samjae Sword Technique – Interpretation Version⪢
None other than the Samjae Sword Technique itself—the national sword art.
It was the fundamentals of fundamentals, what the Five Principles disciples had trained to the bone, what the second-year students were now learning!
“This is the last of the national-level techniques. After this, we’ll build your reputation on martial arts that mid-sized guilds use as their backbone.”
“Yes, I’ll send this to the Director tomorrow morning. Ah…”
Lee Se-ah yawned comfortably now.
She had earned it.
It was already eight o’clock at night—overtime, by any measure.
“You’ve worked hard. Go get some rest.”
“What about dinner?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
“Seriously! Days like this, when we finish a big project, we should celebrate with something delicious. Why don’t we go grab a drink somewhere? Properly?”
“Drink?”
Kang Hyun swirled the glass of Whiskey in his hand.
“I’m already drinking, aren’t I?”
“You always drink alone! No appetizers, nothing! Let’s go out and eat—actually go out.”
Lee Se-ah grabbed Kang Hyun’s sleeve and dragged him along.
Kang Hyun followed.
When it came to drinking, he never refused.
Since it was late evening, they made their way to a quiet pub on the Academy grounds, and they’d just settled by the window when Kang Hyun was listening to Lee Se-ah complain.
Ding.
The pub door opened, and a middle-aged man with a hat pulled low and a mask covering his face walked straight to Kang Hyun’s table.
“Who are you?”
Lee Se-ah was startled, and the man spoke.
“Are you Professor Kang Hyun?”
“I am.”
“Ha.”
He lowered his mask, revealing Jo Tae-hwan’s face.
“Oh!”
Lee Se-ah recognized him immediately.
As befitted the Special Forces Team, she kept the profiles of all key figures filed away in her mind.
‘Four-term Congressman Jo Tae-hwan. And… Jo Ah-young’s father.’
“Do you know who I am?”
“…Who are you?”
Kang Hyun asked genuinely.
‘Some random stranger… Is he drunk? But he doesn’t smell like alcohol.’
Kang Hyun only knew people if they were absurdly famous—even celebrities barely registered. A mere politician stood no chance.
Jo Tae-hwan, for his part, seemed taken aback.
“She’s a member of parliament. You remember that female student who cried after failing this time? That’s her father.”
Once Lee Se-ah explained in a whisper, Kang Hyun nodded.
“Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”
Scrape.
Jo Tae-hwan pulled out a chair and sat down uninvited, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He was clearly no ordinary man.
Kang Hyun drank in silence, and Jo Tae-hwan quietly withdrew a document envelope, placing it on the table.
<Hunter Talent Development Scholarship Fund: One Billion Won>
“Professor, I’ll be direct. I heard my daughter failed your class.”
“Representative Jo Tae-hwan?”
Lee Se-ah was the one who responded.
“Surely you’re aware that a person of your standing involving themselves in their daughter’s affairs could invite unwanted rumors?”
“I’m well aware. But if my daughter was rejected unreasonably, that changes things, doesn’t it?”
Jo Tae-hwan looked straight at Kang Hyun.
“I had it investigated. Ah-young reached the summit in seventeenth place, and she contributed significantly to the joint effort with her classmates. And yet she failed? Well, of course—you’re a professor, so I understand you have your own special evaluation criteria. But here’s the thing.”
Swoosh.
He slid the envelope toward Kang Hyun.
“I believe you could accommodate more students.”
“…….”
“Ha, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying you should unconditionally admit my daughter. What I’m suggesting is—couldn’t you simply expand the class capacity a bit to give a fair chance to Ah-young and the other students who were unfairly rejected? In that process, Ah-young doesn’t even need to pass. At the very least, wouldn’t you give her a chance to retake the exam?”
His tone was unmistakably that of a seasoned politician.
“All you need to do is sign, Professor, and I can process this donation today.”
If this were back when Kang Hyun had caught Leviathan and collapsed?
He might have been tempted, even if just for a moment.
But things were different now.
For someone running Taejeong Holdings and holding High-Grade Magic Stones, one billion won was…….
Frankly, weightless.
Kang Hyun sipped his whiskey in silence before suddenly asking a question.
“Representative.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why your daughter cried?”
His voice was as lazily detached as always.
“Out of frustration, I’d imagine. If she reached the summit in seventeenth place, yet still failed…….”
As if his weak point had been struck, the corners of Kang Hyun’s mouth curled up at an angle.
“Did you ask her?”

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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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