The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 20

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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 020
If you’re curious, come back tomorrow.
‘Huh? That one there.’
‘Who is that?’
The cadets warming up in the Training Ground exchanged puzzled glances.
The roster should have been five, yet here came a female cadet in athletic wear, hesitating as she approached.
“Baek Yuyeon?”
Cha Yusik’s brow furrowed.
No Academy cadet could fail to recognize her.
A walking encyclopedia and a prodigy of martial arts medicine.
Her elegant features had made her popular too.
The fact that Hwang Minwoo, a quasi-chaebol heir himself, chased after her relentlessly said it all.
“Ahem, ahem!”
Spotting Baek Yuyeon, Gwak Dojin cleared his throat and looked up at the platform.
There sat Professor Kang Hyun, sipping whiskey since morning.
‘Did you see, Professor? I finally pulled it off! I brought her!’
The way he puffed out his shoulders and sent his gaze upward looked exactly like a loyal dog awaiting its master’s praise.
But Kang Hyun’s response was lukewarm.
Not because of Gwak Dojin’s persuasion, but because he already knew that she had bitten the bait he’d thrown yesterday and come of her own accord.
“You came? Get ready.”
“Yes, Professor!”
With a resounding reply, five cadets fell into formation without a moment’s delay.
There was no awkwardness whatsoever.
“Today we begin with the Samjae Sword Technique, Earth form. One thousand strokes to start.”
“Yes!”
Whoosh!
Five wooden swords cut through the air in unison.
A horizontal slash that extended straight and true.
And at the end of that trajectory, the blade halted with a weighty, resolute stance as if bracing against a massive boulder.
It was a form that embodied the solidity of the earth itself.
Baek Yuyeon, standing motionless, held her breath at the overwhelming momentum.
‘That’s…… the Samjae Sword Technique?’
As a third-year cadet, she could not have failed to know the Samjae Sword Technique.
Strike down, hold firm, thrust forward.
In modern times, even neighborhood children knew this most commonplace of trivial techniques.
Yet this was unlike anything she had ever seen.
A flawless ensemble that refused to release her gaze!
Even the stride length, direction, and angle of the blades were perfectly synchronized.
Remarkable as that was, she possessed the Cheonmaek Eye and witnessed something more.
‘The meridians flowing from the Dantian turn through the lower body, rise along the waist, pass through the shoulders, and travel to the sword’s tip…… with almost no waste at all.’
What of ordinary cadets?
Nine times out of ten, their energy would scatter partway.
There were countless reasons—unnecessary tension in the shoulders, a subtle wobble in the lower center of gravity, and more.
Even if they drew up a hundred units of power, only thirty might actually reach the blade’s edge.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Baek Yuyeon’s spine.
This was something only she could see.
She possessed a special ability to perceive meridian energy flowing through the blood vessels directly with her eyes.
So she often found herself offering advice, moved by compassion, to classmates and juniors.
It would be better, she would say, not to summon brute power, but to solidify the foundations so that energy didn’t leak beyond the meridians.
Of course, they never listened.
The problem was the professors were no different.
Clearly visible to her eyes was how the cadets’ energy dispersed uselessly midway, yet the professors saw only the flashy destructive power on display and clapped, declaring it perfect.
But now.
‘These five have almost no energy leakage from their meridians.’
Why that was, she needed not ask.
It had to be thanks to Professor Kang Hyun.
Did that mean Professor Kang Hyun could perceive the flow of energy the way she could?
Was that why he could give them such instruction?
“You there.”
Then Kang Hyun’s cold voice rang out.
“Stop standing there like a fool. What are you doing?”
“……Pardon?”
“You came to join the lesson, didn’t you? Come here.”
“Yes, sir!”
Baek Yuyeon scurried over.
She was hopeful.
Was he finally going to explain in detail the principle of the Yeondan Technique—about keeping that pot lid open, as he’d mentioned?
Or could it be……!
He’d skimmed through martial medical arts at the Library the other day—surely he hadn’t mastered that field too?
As she approached with gleaming eyes, Kang Hyeon simply tossed out his words.
“Take your stance.”
“What stance, sir?”
“Spread your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and bend your knees. Until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keep your back straight and your gaze forward.”
“……The Horse Stance?”
“Is your ear canal blocked?”
“N-no, sir!”
She flustered and bent her knees.
The inferno had begun.

* * *
Three hours later.
“Hah—haah, haah!”
Thud.
Baek Yuyeon simply collapsed onto the floor.
Her neatly tied hair had come undone into wild tangles, and her practice uniform was soaked through with sweat like a drowned rat.
From her thighs down to her calves, her muscles convulsed madly as though they belonged to someone else.
‘I’m going to die.’
Truthfully, over those three hours she’d wanted to quit dozens of times.
She was a non-combatant, a cadet majoring in martial medicine, after all.
She resented him for summoning her here and forcing her into this absurdly intense Horse Stance.
Yet she never gave up.
Each time her legs threatened to buckle and send her tumbling, Kang Hyeon materialized at her side like a ghost and whispered.
– Aren’t you curious how I came to know that Yeondan Technique yesterday?
– If you want to quit, go ahead. But you may never hear the answer—not even if you rack your brain for the rest of your life.
It was nothing short of a devil’s whisper.
Resentful and bitter as she was, desperation kept her going.
“Hey, Baek Yuyeon. You all right?”
Gwak Dojin approached and extended a hand.
Tap.
Baek Yuyeon knocked it away lightly.
“Do I look all right?”
Gwak was the worst of them all.
Who calls this hellhole “morning exercise” without a single warning?
What? It won’t interfere with the schedule?
Now she won’t even make it to her lectures, much less the Library!
“Hrgh!”
Baek Yuyeon gritted her teeth, forced her trembling legs to obey, and made her way straight toward the platform.
He’d threatened her not to quit, and she hadn’t—so now it was time for the answer.
“Professor!”
“There’s that sharp look in your eyes. I quite like that hunger.”
“Tell me now! That Yeondan Technique from yesterday! How did you know about it? Not a single line of that process appeared in any of the books I’ve read!”
“Well, fair is fair. A promise must be kept.”
Kang Hyeon swirled the Whiskey bottle with about half its contents remaining.
“Five volumes.”
“Sir?”
“The books you had spread across your desk yesterday. That Secret Manual only reaches completion when all five volumes are assembled.”
“……!”
Baek Yuyeon felt as though struck by a club.
‘Five volumes!’
In truth, she’d been sensing a dissonance these past several days.
The logic should fit together perfectly, yet there was an uncanny sense that a single cog was missing from the machinery.
For a moment, she’d done nothing but suspect whether there might be some hidden process or other text she didn’t know about.
And then that suspicion turned out to be absolutely correct!
“S-so……”
Baek Yuyeon stepped closer, her voice urgent.
“What’s the title of the other book?”
“Where’s the fun in telling you everything?”
“……What?”
A mischievous smile played at the corner of Kang Hyeon’s mouth.
“One question per day. If you’re curious, come to my class tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Is your ear clogged or something?”
“My ear’s fine—my patience is the problem!”
She had to sit through this hellish class again?
Baek Yuyeon finally let out a bitter question.
“Why are you making a martial medicine major do physical conditioning in the first place?”
“Then why should I teach a cadet who doesn’t even attend my lessons?”
“……That’s just cruel.”
“Nothing in this world is free.”
Even the government had stopped paying him properly lately.
He needed to start earning money somehow.
“But I’ll make you a promise.”
Kang Hyeon’s eyes grew serious for a moment.
“For every drop of sweat you shed on this Training Ground, I swear I’ll never give you a careless answer to any question you ask.”

* * *
In the end, Baek Yuyeon had to taste hell again the next day.
“Hhgh, hah……!”
It felt like her soul was leaving her body, but she clenched her teeth and endured.
She needed to hear the answer.
“Wh-what’s the name of that book?”
Kang Hyeon took a sip of whiskey before answering matter-of-factly.
“Anyuanjue.”
“Anyuanjue……!”
She didn’t ask what kind of text it was.
That would cost her a question.
“Thank you!”
The moment she had her answer, Baek Yuyeon dragged her trembling legs toward the Martial Arts Library.
But no matter how thoroughly she searched the Library, no secret manual called Anyuanjue existed there.
It wasn’t on the Academy network either, nor on any secret manual information site.
Finally, she found it buried in a corner of the Chinese global web.
‘It’s right there.’
In China, just as Kang Hyeon had said, Anyuanjue was sold as part of a set of five books called the Yeondan Basics Five Principles.
‘Ah.’
There it was.
The reason China dominated as the world’s greatest Hunter power.
When we obtain secret manuals, we must interpret them—but they’re born with linguistic roots already in place.
Accepting classical language comes naturally to them.
In any case.
‘So I have to somehow get that book……’
Secret manual trafficking is usually strictly controlled at the state level.
Especially for an individual to obtain a Yeondan secret manual from overseas—that’s like plucking a star from the sky.
In her moment of despair, Kang Hyeon’s words came back to her.
– For every drop of sweat you shed on this Training Ground, I swear I’ll never give you a careless answer to any question you ask.
So then……
Would he know the contents of Anyuanjue as well?
“Ah.”
She let out a sigh.
There was no escaping it—she’d have to go again tomorrow.
She was already hooked.
The moment training ended the next day, I blurted out a question without ceremony.
“Professor! Could you possibly find me that book?”
“Mm, is that a question?”
“Oh, no! Wait!”
Baek Yuyeon flustered as though she’d just heard something perfectly dreadful.
If she phrased it as a question?
Then it would end with “yes” or “no,” wouldn’t it?
She needed to ask differently.
“Please teach me the contents of that book!”
Watching Baek Yuyeon ask while breathing heavily, a smile curved at the corners of Kang Hyeon’s mouth.
“I knew you’d come at me like that.”
“Sir?”
Slick.
Kang Hyeon’s hand slipped into the inner pocket of his coat.
Then he drew out a thick notebook and tossed it into her arms.
Anyuanjue.
“Huh?!”
She was genuinely startled.
How could he have it when there wasn’t a single copy left in the entire country, no matter how thoroughly she’d searched?
When she opened it, she found a handwritten manuscript in classical language.
She had no idea that Kang Hyeon had recently been copying secret manuals.
“Read it. But understanding is your responsibility. Whenever you need an explanation, sit in on my lectures and ask questions. My advice: don’t go to other interpreters about it.”
“You’ll explain the classical language too?”
“I told you already. If you ask, I’ll answer.”
“……Why are you doing all this for me?”
Now that she thought about it, ever since the contract incident, the professor had been looking out for her.
Like a parent quietly cheering from behind.
“Why I’m being good to you?”
“……Yes.”
“Remember only this.”
“What is it?”
“There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world.”
For now, that’s all you need to know.
Later, you may have to walk a terrible path, one that pits you against demons.

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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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