The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 14

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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 Absolute Professor 014
At last, he’d shed that stray dog look
After class ended and the others dispersed, Gwak Do-jin lingered alone.
Kang Hyun sipped his Whiskey, watching him with an altered gaze.
Not the usual light in those eyes.
The eyes of a man who’d already made his peace.
“Professor.”
“What, thirsty again?”
“I was grateful for the Whiskey back then.”
“Then pay for it next time instead of just talking.”
Even at the blunt quip, Gwak Do-jin bowed deeply.
Kang Hyun felt it then.
This one’s made up his mind completely.
He would shed that ill-fitting third-rate delinquent costume and return to who he’d been.
Yes, that’s what suits you.
Better than half-hearted barking.
“I’m truly grateful for everything you’ve taught me. Because of you, I learned what fundamentals are, what I’d been overlooking.”
It sounded less like gratitude than farewell.
‘He’s prepared to be expelled.’
Rather than watch Baek Yu-yeon continue dragging him down, he’d decided to abandon the Academy.
But Kang Hyun didn’t bother trying to talk him out of it or prying further.
To question a decision born from anguished deliberation would be disrespectful to a warrior.
“Whatever it is, you’ve made your decision clear enough.”
“Yes.”
Gwak Do-jin bit his lip hard.
No regrets.
But longing remained.
When he’d seen Kang Hyun unleash the Three Calamities Sword Technique just moments ago, his heart had burned for the first time in years.
That overwhelming pressure he’d longed to reach the day he first gripped a blade—Kang Hyun had shown it to him in its pure form.
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“If I’m no longer an Academy student, could I still receive your instruction?”
Silence hung between them for a moment.
Gulp.
Kang Hyun swallowed a mouthful of Whiskey before answering.
“You won’t even pay for Whiskey, and now you want lessons without tuition? Cha Yu-sik said the same thing the other day—you all have no conscience.”
“But didn’t you once tell me I was the exception? That I couldn’t miss class? You taught me a man doesn’t speak with a forked tongue.”
In truth, no matter how renowned a professor’s lectures he’d attended, Gwak Do-jin had never felt the urge to hear them again.
But Kang Hyun’s classes were different.
He wanted to keep attending.
Now he understood why private tutoring thrived in the world outside.
Even if he gave up his Academy diploma, if he could only remain Kang Hyun’s student, that alone seemed certainty enough.
“You’re misunderstanding something, dog.”
“Sir?”
“When have we ever held classes during regular instruction hours?”
“……!”
Gwak Do-jin’s pupils dilated sharply.
The regular classes were held Saturdays at ten.
Which meant all other instruction times were open to anyone, whether they were students or not.
“…Thank you, Professor. I’ll take my leave now.”
Gwak Do-jin turned away quickly so no one would see his reddened eyes.
Of course, Kang Hyun didn’t miss it.
‘Tsk, a man crying.’

* * *
Behind the Female Student Dormitory, an Alley.
Someone approached carefully toward Gwak Do-jin, who leaned against the brick wall.
A Cap Hat pulled low, a white Mask across the face.
“Why did you call me here?”
It was Baek Yu-yeon.
It was plain to see that she was trying to avoid someone, and Gwak Do-jin found himself reassured by the sight.
‘She hasn’t signed the contract yet!’
Otherwise, why would she bother dodging Hwang Min-woo?
“I told you already. Don’t interfere. Why do you keep coming after me?”
“The contract?”
Gwak Do-jin asked flatly.
He needed to know for certain.
“Sigh.”
Baek Yu-yeon exhaled a short breath.
A sharp pang of guilt twisted in her chest.
‘My senior, broken trying to save me.’
She couldn’t bear to watch him get expelled, and she wanted to warn him against becoming a hooligan.
“Listen carefully.”
So she drew the line firmly.
“Because you’re my lifesaver, I’ll do everything in my power to help you graduate safely. That’s my responsibility and my duty to you.”
……
“So you live your own life. Stop behaving badly and going astray, and attend your classes properly. You can’t keep doing this when you think of your grandmother, can you?”
After a moment of silence, Gwak Do-jin answered.
“I’m not going astray anymore.”
“What?”
“I’m not living like a hooligan. I made a vow. So answer me.”
Gwak Do-jin stepped closer and asked.
“Did you sign that ten-year slave contract?”
“Ah, that.”
Baek Yu-yeon’s lips twitched.
“I didn’t.”
“You didn’t?”
“Actually, I couldn’t.”
Baek Yu-yeon pressed her brow together, murmuring.
Not doing something and being unable to do something are entirely different matters.
“How couldn’t you? Did that bastard Hwang Min-woo just let it go?”
“I was about to seal it completely, but then…….”
A look of bewilderment crossed Baek Yu-yeon’s face.
“You know that professor who always carries a Whiskey bottle around, the new contract professor? Kang Hyeon?”
“Professor Kang Hyeon?”
“Yes, that one. He suddenly appeared stumbling from somewhere, saying ‘Oh my, I’m drunk!’ and lurched about, spilling the Whiskey he was holding all over the contract.”
……What?
His eyes went wide as saucers.
“And it wasn’t just once. After that, Hwang Min-woo got furious and brought out a fresh contract, but that professor appeared like a ghost again and said his feet had slipped, then just tore the whole thing in half.”
……
Gwak Do-jin’s heart thundered.
“Because of that, Hwang Min-woo’s absolutely seething now, ranting and raving. I figured the professor did it twice, so maybe it’s fate telling me something, so I made excuses, postponed the promise, and I’ve been running around ever since.”
As Gwak Do-jin listened to Baek Yu-yeon’s complaints, his mind turned white.
‘The professor did that?’
Gwak Do-jin had no way of knowing that Kang Hyeon had marked Baek Yu-yeon and caused the chaos because of it.
So his nose stung with emotion.
‘……He’s been helping me all along!’
He was moved.
Gwak Do-jin steadied his swelling heart and brought out what he’d really meant to say.
This was why he’d called her here.
“I’m leaving the Academy.”
……What did you just say?
Horror flooded Baek Yu-yeon’s eyes.
“Senior! What do you mean now!”
“I’m leaving on my own terms before I get expelled.”
“I told you I’d do whatever it takes to stop that.”
“That’s exactly why!”
Gwak Do-jin’s voice rose slightly.
“If you do things like that, I’m leaving. If you put your seal on that contract, how could I ever thank you sincerely?”
Senior!
“I’ll handle my own life. If I get expelled, you won’t have any reason to be blackmailed by that bastard Hwang Min-woo anyway!”
“Senior, doesn’t it feel unfair to you?”
“It used to, but not anymore.”
Gwak Do-jin meant it sincerely.
Life’s fortunes turn without warning, they say.
If his life hadn’t plummeted into the gutter, would he ever have attended Professor Kang’s lectures?
“I’ve already found my way forward. So please, think of yourself. Don’t destroy your life by using me as an excuse.”
Their emotions collided, the air between them drawn taut.
Clap, clap, clap.
A slow, mocking applause cut through the silence.
“Oh, what a touching youth drama we have here.”
Gwak Do-jin and Baek Yu-yeon both turned toward the sound.
A man emerged from the darkness, his expression rigid with fury.
It was Hwang Min-woo.
He looked thoroughly enraged.
“So I’m the villain in this story? Fine. Damn it. Let me play the villain role properly.”
He approached with a twisted smile, his eyes wild with jealous rage.
He fixed his gaze on Gwak Do-jin.
“Senior, you think you can just walk out on your own two feet?”
He snorted contemptuously.
“Don’t fool yourself, you mad dog. You think leaving the Academy will make things easier? Whether you’re expelled or withdraw, if you try to scratch out a Hunter’s living on the outside, you really think our Guild’s reach won’t extend there?”
“…….”
“And Baek Yu-yeon.”
Hwang Min-woo pulled a fresh, crisp contract from his pocket and waved it mockingly.
“That lunatic drunk of a professor destroyed the contracts twice, so they flew away. But this time I’ve even had it laminated and printed fresh. But after watching you two in that touching little scene just now, my mood has become absolutely shit.”
A venomous glint crystallized in Hwang Min-woo’s eyes.
“Let’s revise it. Not ten years—fifteen. Rot for fifteen years in our Guild’s Medical Corps. Otherwise, I’ll cut off this bastard’s limbs so he can’t call himself a Hunter even on the outside.”
“You, you really……!”
Baek Yu-yeon’s face drained of all color.
Gwak Do-jin, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke.
“Hwang Min-woo.”
His voice remained calm, unagitated.
He’d made his choice.
Not to live like a hooligan anymore.
“I was originally planning to just slip out quietly, leave the Academy on my own terms.”
Gwak Do-jin cracked his neck side to side.
Crack, crack—the sound of bone and cartilage echoed through the alley.
“But thinking about it now, that won’t do.”
“What?”
“Let’s just make sure—expulsion it is.”
“Suddenly talking such nonsense…….”
Hwang Min-woo’s words never finished.
Whoosh!
Gwak Do-jin closed the distance in a single, powerful step.
His trained lower body drove into the ground, the recoil traveling cleanly through his hips and shoulders.
‘The professor said it.’
If your feet leave the ground, you’re dead.
Power flows from the earth upward.
“Senior, no!”
Baek Yu-yeon reached out in alarm to stop him, but Gwak Do-jin’s fist was already cleaving through the air.
Even if you wanted to play the delinquent, you needed basic martial strength to back it up.
Gwak Do-jin had always possessed far greater real-world combat ability than someone like Hwang Min-woo.
And now, with Professor Kang’s teachings anchoring his center perfectly, a single blow landed with absolute precision.
Crack!
Hwang Min-woo’s head snapped sideways.
One punch.
The force of that single, weighted blow rattled his brain; he lost consciousness before he could even scream properly.
Silence fell across the alley, and Baek Yu-yeon clapped both hands over her mouth.
“Phew.”
Gwak Do-jin exhaled a clean, relieved breath.
“Look, you see? This is grounds for certain expulsion. Not self-defense, nothing like that—he beat him down flat out.”
“Wait, senior. What are you saying?”
“Which is why you’re not signing that garbage contract, not even if it kills you.”
A declaration from Gwak Do-jin, the Martial Warrior!
On the rooftop above, Kang Hyeon’s lips curled upward as he watched.
‘He’s finally shaking off that stray-dog reputation.’

* * *
Moments later.
The Infirmary door burst open.
Every eye inside—students and the on-duty nurses alike—snapped toward the entrance.
It was Gwak Do-jin who stepped through.
The Academy’s notorious wild card.
“Gasp—!”
“What—what is this?”
Draped across his shoulder like a sack of grain was Hwang Min-woo, unconscious with his neck bent at an unnatural angle.
Behind him rushed Baek Yu-yeon, her face drained of color.
“Senior! Don’t do this! Please!”
Thud!
Gwak Do-jin hurled Hwang Min-woo from his shoulder onto an empty bed with brutal force.
“What on earth is going on?”
A woman in a white coat bolted from the examination room at the sound of commotion.
It was Professor Hwang Ye-rim.
“Gwak Do-jin? You caused trouble again?”
“Yes, Professor.”
He straightened his spine and spoke with complete calm.
“I did it. Wasn’t self-defense, wasn’t anything—just his face pissed me off, so I beat it in.”
“What?”
“What I’m saying is.”
Gwak Do-jin looked directly at Hwang Ye-rim.
“Treat him, and convene the Disciplinary Committee.”

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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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