The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 16

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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 Episode 016
That choice—don’t let it break.
When did he get up there?
Song Cheol-ho’s pupils trembled finely.
Even with a Grade A Hunter’s keen senses, he hadn’t detected a presence?
How was that even possible?
“And who might you be?”
“Why.”
Whoosh.
Kang Hyeon descended to the ground and tilted his head back lazily.
A mobile phone was still held in his right hand.
“You think knowing who I am gives you the right to trample all over my life?”
Song Cheol-ho’s lips tightened imperceptibly.
Kang Hyeon glanced down at his mobile phone’s screen and tilted it slightly toward Baek Yu-yeon.
“You there. Student.”
“Y-yes, Professor?”
“This is recording right now, isn’t it?”
Red letters blinked clearly across the screen.
[REC – 06:15]
Song Cheol-ho’s heart sank.
‘He’s been recording the whole time!’
If that footage leaked, it would be impossible to contain.
He had to recover that phone by any means necessary, but resorting to open violence was problematic.
If a Taeking Guild executive laid hands on someone within Academy grounds, it would become far more than a disciplinary matter.
“Y-yes, that’s right, Professor!”
Baek Yu-yeon had been astonished all this time.
‘It’s this professor again!’
The first time, when he’d poured whiskey on the contract, she’d genuinely thought it was coincidence.
The second time, when he’d torn the contract in half, she’d merely harbored suspicion.
But by the third occurrence, she couldn’t help but be certain.
‘It wasn’t coincidence!’
He’d been helping her from the start.
But then—why?
She had no prior acquaintance with him, no common ground.
Click.
Kang Hyeon stopped the recording and slipped the mobile phone into his pocket.
Song Cheol-ho’s gaze naturally followed it there.
‘A professor? What kind of professor drinks whiskey sitting on an alley wall?’
Of course, he didn’t voice those thoughts aloud.
If the man was a professor, he had to approach far more carefully.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Song Cheol-ho, an executive director of Taeking Guild. If I may ask, what was your intention in filming that footage?”
“There’s an outsider coercing an Academy student within these grounds. Obviously, I need to preserve evidence.”
“Ah, I see. Ha ha. It was less coercion than a complicated personal matter that got tangled up somehow. I suppose there’s been a misunderstanding.”
Song Cheol-ho forced a smile and continued softly.
“However, keeping video footage of my face without my consent is rather problematic. Since I’d prefer not to create unnecessary trouble, might I ask to examine that mobile phone for a moment?”
The words were courteous, but the true intent was simple: hand over the phone.
Gulp, gulp.
Kang Hyeon swallowed his drink with a movement of his throat and laughed harshly.
“Evidence, you say? What kind of idiot hands evidence over to the criminal?”
“Ha.”
Song Cheol-ho exhaled a short, resigned sigh.
Words wouldn’t work on this man.
Then there was only one answer left.
Song Cheol-ho drew an elegant leather wallet from his inner pocket.
Swish.
A thick stack of crisp checks emerged from inside the wallet.
All of them were one-million-won notes.
He counted out ten checks and waved them lightly.
“So here’s what I propose. Ten million won. Can I buy that footage from you with this money? It seems more than enough for your drinking expenses.”
He knew what a professor’s salary looked like, and he assumed that ten million won as payment for erasing a single video would be more than enough to make the man bow and accept gratefully.
It happened in an instant.
Snap!
Kang Hyeon’s figure blurred, and the next moment, ten checks that had been in his hand vanished.
“……!”
Song Cheol-ho’s eyes went wide as saucers.
‘I didn’t even see it coming.’
Just like before—there had been no warning at all. This was no ordinary professor.
Leaving the stunned Song Cheol-ho behind, Kang Hyeon counted the checks he’d snatched and glanced back at Baek Yu-yeon.
“Student.”
“……Yes?”
“That mobile phone of yours that broke earlier—how much was it?”
“……I’m sorry?”
Baek Yu-yeon answered hesitantly, her expression bewildered.
“Probably around 1.4 million won, I’d say……”
“Is that so?”
Kang Hyeon pulled three checks from the stack.
Then he forced them into Baek Yu-yeon’s hand.
“Here’s 3 million won.”
“Why are you giving this to me……?”
“The replacement cost plus emotional damages—I’ve been generous. Get yourself a new one.”
Leaving Baek Yu-yeon speechless, Kang Hyeon turned around.
Then he held out the remaining seven checks to Song Cheol-ho.
“Here. The balance. 7 million.”
“What—what are you doing?”
It was absurd.
Who was he to seize someone else’s money and force a settlement?
Kang Hyeon’s eyes turned cold and sharp.
“You try to buy off the professor with money, yet intimidate a defenseless student into submission?”
“This guy is unbelievable. I was trying to be reasonable……!”
“Stop here and leave. Unless you’d like to see what happens next.”
“Damn lunatic!”
Just as Song Cheol-ho, having decided he would steal that mobile phone one way or another, was gathering strength in his legs—
Kang Hyeon finally revealed his true aura.
It was directed only at Song Cheol-ho; Baek Yu-yeon felt nothing.
‘Gasp—?’
Song Cheol-ho’s breath caught as he faced the full force of that presence.
‘What—what is this?’
An invisible, towering mountain seemed to crush down upon him.
The pressure was so suffocating that his lungs shrank and he couldn’t breathe.
Primal terror seized his entire body.
A Grade A Hunter—him—brought completely to his knees by nothing more than a glance and an aura?
It felt like a nightmare, yet the sensation of every bone in his body screaming was undeniably real.
When the oppressive force finally released him, Kang Hyeon spoke flatly.
“Why are you still here?”
“I—I’ll withdraw now.”
Drained of all color, Song Cheol-ho disappeared into the darkness without a shred of dignity left.
For a moment, silence settled over the alley.
Baek Yu-yeon’s face was still dazed.
She knew this drunken professor too.
The man everyone on Acanet called the Academy’s disgrace.
‘It was all just rumors.’
How could he be a disgrace when he could chase away a Taeking Guild executive with mere words—someone that even most tenured professors found daunting?
She was curious.
Why Kang Hyeon had helped her.
Why he’d prevented the contract and gathered evidence for her.
She believed kindness without reason was rare in this world, which made her wonder all the more.
And yet.
“Thank you.”
She spoke her gratitude first.
“Thank you for this, and thank you for stopping me from signing that contract before.”
Suspicion is an easy and quick defense mechanism, but sometimes it makes people forget the most basic human decency.
No matter how troubled the world becomes, there are things one must say before calculation and doubt.
Gratitude to the person who saved you.
Kang Hyeon appreciated that.
‘Constitution matters, yes, but character is an important factor too.’
The Chilyo Formation was necessary, but that didn’t mean just anyone should learn it.
If one wasn’t careful, those terrible old monsters might be born again.
“It’s nothing special.”
Kang Hyeon tilted a bottle of Whiskey and spoke without much interest.
“I just liked your choice, that’s all.”
She hadn’t bent to Taeking’s threats, nor had she hidden behind Gwak Do-jin’s bumbling concern.
She had her own standards, and regardless of what others barked around her, she chose a path she could handle herself.
Baek Yu-yeon was solid.
That’s why she doesn’t get swayed by others.
“Don’t let that choice break.”
Keep your eyes fixed only on the path you believe is right.
The garbage that tries to grab at your heels—I’ll clean that up myself.
There was no need for long explanations.
She understood well enough already.
Without hesitation, Kang Hyeon turned away and took another drink from the bottle.
“The taste is pretty good today too.”
Then.
“Ah.”
As if remembering something, he turned his head.
“What’s your dream?”
“My dream?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Can’t a professor ask his student about her dreams?”
She rolled her eyes, hesitating for a moment.
She did have a dream.
To restore her younger sister’s body—the one who had been sickly since birth.
But it wasn’t something she could casually mention to someone she’d just met.
“I don’t really have any grand dreams like that.”
“Maybe I made it sound too grand by calling it a dream. I meant your plans—what are you thinking of doing after graduation?”
It was a question about where she would go, she who hadn’t signed that contract.
Baek Yu-yeon understood the implication and answered.
“I’d imagine I’ll probably end up working under Professor Hwang Ye-rim.”
“Why?”
“Well……”
After a brief pause, she continued.
“Because Professor Hwang is the highest authority in the field of Martial Arts Medicine domestically, isn’t she? There’s the most to learn.”
“No other reason?”
“Another reason?”
“For instance, whether that professor’s character impressed you so deeply that it was exceptional, or whether there’s some special circumstance that makes it absolutely have to be that professor and no other.”
“No, there’s nothing like that in particular.”
“Is that so?”
Kang Hyeon turned his head again.
‘Looks like it’ll be easier to bring her over than expected.’
All I need to do is teach her Martial Arts Medicine well?
‘Better tell the chick.’
To buy some materials to make tonics.
A faint smile curled at the corner of Kang Hyeon’s lips.
‘Should I start with the Secret of the Muscles and Sinews? Or the Treatise on the Golden Chamber?’
The legendary medical texts of the Jianghu were still perfectly preserved in his mind.

* * *
The top floor of Taeking Guild Headquarters.
“So…… you’re telling me you came back after letting some mere Contract Professor steal the blackmail video of Baek Yu-yeon?”
Deep wrinkles were carved into Hwang Tae-gwang’s forehead—the Master of Taeking Guild and father of Hwang Min-woo.
“That’s the thing, sir. I know it sounds like an excuse, but that professor—he’s no ordinary man.”
Song Cheol-ho wiped cold sweat from his brow and continued.
“Forget the fact that he appeared behind my back without a sound—the sheer presence radiating off him was nothing to scoff at.”
“Want me to read it?”
Hwang Tae-gwang rattled the documents that had come up from the intelligence department with visible irritation.
“Professor Kang Hyeon—perpetual Whiskey bottle in hand, alcoholic. Goes by ‘Drunk’ and ‘Parachute’ among the Academy students. This is the fearsome man you’re talking about?”
“The drunk part seems accurate enough, but the parachute accusation—absolutely not, sir. Definitely not.”
A long exhale escaped him.
Stress from his son was already killing him, and now even his brother-in-law, usually so reliable, was spouting nonsense. His stomach twisted.
“Wait. Let me check this myself.”
He pulled out his Mobile Phone and deftly punched in a speed-dial number.
A short ring tone sounded, followed by a gruff voice.
– Director Choi? What brings you calling at this hour?
“Director Choi, my apologies for the late call. It’s nothing major—just need a background check on some punk. Could you help?”
The Taeking Guild had connections that reached even to the upper echelons of police intelligence.
– Ha, who’s stepped on Taeking’s toes this time? Who is it?
“A man named Kang Hyeon. Recently hired on as a Contract Professor. What’s his background?”
– Contract Professor? Shouldn’t take long. Hold on a moment.
On the other end of the line came the rapid click-clack of keyboard keys.
Then.
– Hmm?
Suddenly the typing stopped.
– Hold on, Director.
“Yes?”
– Something’s very wrong here.
“What do you mean?”
– I’ve run checks on all sorts of people, but I’ve never seen a screen go completely red like this before…… Wait, what’s this—!
“…Director?”
– Damn it! This is a mess. A counter-tracking alert just came in from the Management Bureau’s Special Division. What? Management Bureau Security Classification Level Zero target?
“Security Classification Level Zero?”
Hwang Tae-gwang had never encountered such a code designation in his life.
– Christ, explaining this is going to cost me. Director, what exactly did you touch? You weren’t trying to set me up, were you?
“That, that couldn’t possibly be the case, sir.”
– Listen, I’ve got another call coming in. Don’t contact me for a while, Director.
Click.
The call dropped without warning.
Sensing something had gone wrong, Song Cheol-ho spoke up carefully.
“Sir? What happened?”
“Hmm.”
He’d done nothing but a simple background check, and yet a classified Management Bureau code had appeared, followed immediately by a counter-tracking trace from the Special Division?
Goosebumps crawled up his spine.
“I’m afraid we’ve touched someone we shouldn’t have.”

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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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