The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 105

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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 105
The Tiger Does Not Compromise with the Squirrel
Jo Tae-hwan’s eyes flickered with tension.
Was this man really taking a jab at him now?
A mere contract professor?
At a four-term assemblyman?
He’d moved without hesitation the moment he heard his daughter Ah-yeong was crying, which meant the professor had struck a nerve.
That made his pride sting all the more.
But he was a politician who had weathered every storm, and he knew how to let such barbs pass lightly.
“I didn’t ask.”
He continued with composed dignity.
“That doesn’t justify your opaque selection criteria, Professor.”
Kang Hyun didn’t answer, simply taking another drink.
If anything, Lee Se-ah’s expression hardened further.
‘The professor does things his own way in his own class—what right does he have to make demands?’
She knew such incidents happened all the time.
Especially at the Academy, where there were no shortage of students with powerful backing.
There was even a saying that the most difficult part of being an Academy professor was dealing with students’ parents.
‘…I wonder if Kang Hyun finds this difficult too. Does Black struggle with things like this?’
Lee Se-ah looked at Kang Hyun’s face with worry.
Kang Hyun was thinking about Jo Ah-yeong.
She was quite a talented prospect.
She had aptitude, her basic conditioning wasn’t poor.
Left to her own devices, she was the type who would eventually join a major guild and make a name for herself.
From what Kang Hyun could see, she was still developing.
There would definitely be something to gain from this failure.
‘If she were beyond saving, he would have come here complaining.’
That it was unfair.
That because his father was someone important, she deserved to get in too.
In fact, Kang Hyun asking whether he’d inquired was his way of checking for that.
If Jo Ah-yeong had moved her father for her own sake?
‘Then she fails next semester too, plain and simple.’
With a soft scrape, Kang Hyun slid the 1 billion won document envelope back across the table toward Jo Tae-hwan.
A gesture of refusal.
“Your daughter was a first-year, correct?”
“…Yes, she was.”
“Exceptional talent. Her main flaw is that her weight shifts excessively to the left when she runs, but she’s working hard to overcome it. This time simply wasn’t the right moment. Tell her to try again next semester if she wishes.”
“….”
Jo Tae-hwan was genuinely taken aback.
According to the briefing materials, the man was described as nothing more than a self-indulgent, careless drunk….
Yet he knew his daughter’s name, her year, and even her specific weak point?
‘Especially…that.’
It must have been from her right ankle ligament injury in elementary school.
After receiving medical clearance, he’d stopped thinking about it, but this professor had caught it.
‘So he’s not a man who acts recklessly without thought.’
Jo Tae-hwan’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“I was out of line. I suppose parental anxiety got the better of me.”
“It’s fine. Through this failure, Ah-yeong will become a stronger warrior.”
Jo Tae-hwan heard Kang Hyun’s words this way:
A truly good parent knows how to witness their child’s failure.
Honestly, it stung.
But he held it in.
“Ha. Your educational philosophy is quite firm indeed. I’ve learned much today.”
Instead, he rose from his seat and offered a respectful bow.
“It seems we’ll have many occasions to meet in the future. I’ll take my leave now.”
As he left the bar, Kang Hyun simply continued turning his glass without apparent concern.
“Sigh.”
Only then did Lee Se-ah let out a deep breath.
“What on earth were you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”
“That person is incredibly difficult to deal with. Even the National Intelligence Director tries to avoid him when he can. He’s a politician who pulls every string in finance and the media.”
Irritation crept into her voice.
“He’s well-connected across business and finance, controls the press with a twist of his hand. If he wanted to, he could drag the Academy’s entire budget into question—or dig into your personal affairs. All of it.”
“Then let him. Did I say something false?”
“Sigh, well. You probably have nothing to worry about. If Jo Tae-hwan digs in, it’s our Special Forces Team that goes on red alert.”
Of course, Kang Hyun understood this.
No matter how formidable his martial power, so long as he lived within the framework of law, he couldn’t simply do as he pleased.
But he wasn’t particularly concerned.
“Don’t worry. He doesn’t strike me as stupid.”
“Sir?”
“If he were truly stupid, he’d have started with threats and name-dropping before even offering that 1 billion won envelope. Have you ever seen a villain who backs off quietly when you tell him no?”
“Isn’t a villain who backs off quietly supposed to be the scarier kind?”
“Fair point.”
Even so, it made no difference to him.
From Kang Hyun’s perspective, facing Asura, Jo Tae-hwan was merely a fly circling annoyingly in the background.

* * *
Meanwhile, Jo Tae-hwan stepped into the back seat of a sedan as he left the pub.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Congressman.”
The night streets slipped past the car window.
Anger?
Insult?
Neither—he couldn’t place what emotion this was.
If he had to name it……
It was closer to an unsettling curiosity.
He placed a call to Kim.
— Yes, Congressman.
“Look into Professor Kang Hyun again.”
— Sir, actually I reached out to the National Intelligence Service just now, but they only came back with: don’t ask any further.
“Isn’t that strange?”
A mere contract professor doesn’t carry himself that way without reason.
“Take your time. Start with the people around him—something will turn up eventually.”
— Understood, sir.
It wasn’t purely out of hostility.
To survive in politics, you had to understand how the nation was moving, and this was part of that necessity.
Knowledge was power, after all.

* * *
The following afternoon.
Seo Il-hyun entered the Taejeong Main Hall behind the New Training Hall.
“Ah, as wondrous as ever. I could believe an immortal actually lives here.”
Because Min Seo-jun had registered the location in his academic logs, Seo Il-hyun didn’t lose his way in the mist.
When he reached the Taejeong Main Hall, he found Kang Hyun polishing a glass in the central lounge.
“Professor Kang.”
“Welcome, Director.”
“I wondered what glasses you might be wiping now—and sure enough, it’s on the rocks.”
“That’s just my habit. What brings you here?”
“Must I have business to visit you?”
“No, but your expression says you have much on your mind.”
“……You’re not easy to fool.”
Scrape.
Seo Il-hyun pulled out a chair and settled into it with a deep sigh.
In truth, what drove him here was the unease he’d felt during yesterday’s call with Congressman Jo Tae-hwan.
“Something feels off about the atmosphere.”
Seo Il-hyun continued.
“Last semester, your classes had enrollment shortfalls, didn’t they? Back then, the students you’d taken in were problems beyond control, so other students and their parents had nothing to say. If anything, there was quiet approval.”
“That’s true.”
“But now things are different. Nearly every student wants your classes. Yet only twenty-four were selected. Parents of those admitted will celebrate with open hands, but the students who didn’t make it will inevitably feel left out, won’t they?”
Dissatisfied students will summon their parents, and that could balloon into a real problem.
This is a national institution, not a private one.
The facilities built on this land alone could invite scrutiny, and if Jo Tae-hwan—who’s skilled in media warfare—gets involved, then what?
‘This is getting frustrating.’
Because Seo Il-hyun authorized it under his authority as dean, his head was starting to throb as well.
“I understand.”
Kang Hyun nodded.
Just this morning, Lee Se-ah had arrived at work and shown him the reactions on AcaNet with concern.
At first there were only a few boastful posts and envious comments, but as time passed, messages brimming with jealousy and discontent began flooding in.
“In fact, that assemblyman Jo Tae-hwan paid a visit yesterday.”
“What? That bastard actually—”
Irritation flashed across Seo Il-hyun’s face.
As far as he was concerned, he had to protect Kang Hyun.
Whether it was illegal, a privilege, or anything else.
The very presence of Kang Hyun would elevate the Academy to world-class standards, and that served the national interest of South Korea itself.
But to have to watch the nation’s opportunity shake because some fool was blinded by his children’s problems!
“I’ll draw a line. If anyone’s going to say something, they can say it to me.”
“No.”
Kang Hyun stopped him with an unruffled expression.
“It’s a natural reaction. I don’t think they’re wrong.”
Kang Hyun was the one who chose to be a professor.
Honestly, he didn’t need to do it anymore.
Just a professor?
Besides, hadn’t he already confirmed there was no talent for Hwayojin within the Academy?
But he had made a promise to himself.
‘This is my life now, too.’
If that was the case, then this kind of noise arising from entanglement with the countless people of the world was a problem he would have to face and embrace someday.
He had no intention of running away or simply crushing it with force.
“Leave it to me. I’ll handle it myself.”
“Hmm, Professor Kang.”
Seo Il-hyun considered for a moment, then spoke carefully.
“Is there any chance you’d expand the enrollment quota a bit? Jo Tae-hwan surely proposed something along those lines. He’s not the type to push recklessly, so I could overlook that much. More than that, he might even take it upon himself to do the dirty work behind you.”
Perhaps that was the most realistic and prudent solution that adults could offer.
Joining hands with the powerful, dividing the spoils appropriately, and hushing the noise.
But.
“I have no intention of that.”
Kang Hyun’s mouth curved upward.
Compromise only happens when both sides are equal.
A tiger doesn’t bother hunting a squirrel, but it doesn’t compromise with it either.
When something blocks its path, it simply cuts off the breath.
“Try practicing the Cheongeo Heart Method. It’s been a while since I’ve shown you.”

* * *
That night.
“Did you find it?”
“Yes, Assemblyman. I dug from the periphery as you instructed.”
Kim handed over a folder.
“What caught my attention was that the name of the building constructed behind the Academy’s New Training Hall contains ‘Taejeong.'”
“Taejeong? That Taejeong from Taejeong Space?”
“Exactly. The key technology developer at Taejeong Space is none other than Min Seo-jun, a student currently enrolled at the National Academy.”
Jo Tae-hwan’s eyebrows twitched.
“And this student Min Seo-jun is… a direct disciple of Professor Kang Hyun.”
“That could be coincidence, couldn’t it?”
“Perhaps—except Yun Hyun-jong, the son of Chairman Yun Tae-jung, is also a student in Professor Kang Hyun’s class. On AcaNet they call him Orinbang.”
Flip, flip!
Jo Tae-hwan leafed through the documents rapidly.
Various irregularities from Taejeong Materials had been compiled, starting with the incident of Park Dong-chul, the late executive director, who died in an accident years ago. The most striking detail was the equity structure.
Especially the holding company created recently—Taejeong Holdings!
“Chairman Yun Tae-jung holds only 50% of the shares?”
“Yes.”
“And the other half?”
“It’s registered under a special management shareholder. The actual owner can’t be identified. Even the financial sector says they lack the authority to look it up.”
“What?”
The Management Bureau’s fingerprints on a private company’s equity transfer?
“Surely not.”
“I can’t say for certain, but the connections overlap too much to ignore.”
“……Could it be that Professor Kang Hyun owns half of Taejeong Holdings?”
Jo Tae-hwan’s instincts were animal-sharp.
So even with only circumstantial evidence, his mind had already rendered a verdict.
‘The hidden master of the hottest company around right now?’
If so, that aloof manner of his finally made sense.
“Ha—ha ha!”
Jo Tae-hwan laughed.
How absurd he must have looked, dangling a billion won in front of such a man and laying down conditions.
It was no wonder the offer had fallen on deaf ears.
“……A contract professor.”
Jo Tae-hwan’s curiosity about Kang Hyun deepened.
What else was the Management Bureau hiding?

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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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