The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 21

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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 21
Creatures of flesh and blood are far more terrifying than beasts.
Inside the Professor’s Office.
Scratch, scratch, scratch-scratch!
Kang Hyun’s brush moved without hesitation across the page.
He was cataloguing the secret manuals in the Martial Arts Library and filling in the gaps.
‘Lee Seia is Lee Seia, but.’
He had to think ahead to his other future disciples as well.
The Seven Celestial Formation they would need to master wasn’t the kind of martial art one could pick up by simply being handed a single secret manual.
It resonated with the Heavenly Divine Scripture in that regard.
Comprehensive foundational knowledge about martial arts had to be in place before they could even turn the first page.
That was why he’d surveyed the library.
To fill in the empty spaces.
“Wow…….”
Lee Seia, watching from beside him, let out a gasp of admiration.
‘Did he study calligraphy too?’
Kang Hyun’s brushwork was elegant and commanding, stirring something deep in the chest of anyone who gazed upon it.
Ancient Language—the kind you only saw in the most expensive secret manuals!
Lee Seia swallowed hard.
The hottest thing in the Hunter Society right now was precisely this ability to decode Ancient Language.
A guild’s power rose and fell based on how accurately its translators could interpret a single secret manual—such was the age they lived in.
‘But this isn’t just knowledge. He’s practically a native speaker?’
Scratch-scratch! Thump.
That was when Kang Hyun’s brush came to a halt.
“Stop staring.”
“Yes?”
“Go find something useful to do instead. You’re distracting me.”
“Ah, okay……!”
Pouting, she turned toward the liquor cabinet.
Right.
Her task at the moment was to replenish Kang Hyun’s lifeblood—his Whiskey supply.
Clink, clink.
The sound of fresh bottles settling into the cabinet filled the quiet office.
At that sound, Kang Hyun paused and looked up.
Something felt off.
“Wasn’t there some issue with the government not providing alcohol funding?”
“Oh, well, about that.”
Lee Seia’s eyes darted back and forth, then she grinned.
“So, Kang Hyun, couldn’t you maybe push the government for some support? Just one thing?”
Kang Hyun’s brow furrowed.
He stared at her eyes for a long moment.
“You don’t mean you’ve been buying all of this yourself?”
Jump!
Lee Seia’s shoulders flinched upward slightly.
“Sigh.”
Kang Hyun exhaled deeply.
What on earth was she doing?
How could an agent’s salary possibly cover those expensive bottles?
He’d been noticing this for a while now—it was time he started making serious money.
To face Asura, he’d need capital; and to raise seven disciples to the level of the old masters, he’d require an astronomical amount of spirit stones.
Beyond that, before Asura’s emergence, there were already countless troublemakers sowing chaos across the world.
Asura didn’t come alone—he’d bring an army with him.
To contend with that, he needed information networks.
“You’re right, I did spend some of my own money. So I’ll pull my weight in other ways. Actually, I bought the brush, the ink, and the paper all myself, so please just help me out.”
“Help you with what?”
“Help me get promoted. If you’d just resolve one thing on that Tablet, my performance review would skyrocket.”
Of course, she wasn’t entirely sincere.
Simply by flagging Black, she’d already secured the highest possible evaluation.
But she knew that if this absolute being of overwhelming power would just step forward once, this entire nation would become far more prosperous and secure—so she was merely throwing a calculated tantrum.
And Kang Hyun wasn’t about to miss that.
“From now on, don’t use your own money for this.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Go fetch that Tablet for me.”
Lee Seia’s eyes widened like saucers.
“Really? You mean it?”
“Just this once, understand?”
“Yes!”
Lee Seia let out a whoop of joy and was about to present the Tablet from the desk in a flash when—
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped gently at the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened to reveal a solid, dignified man.
“Forgive the intrusion during your work. Would you be Professor Kang Hyun?”
“Yes, that’s me. What can I do for you?”
“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Yun Tae-jeong, the representative of Tae-jeong Commerce.”
Yun Tae-jeong bowed respectfully.
‘Tae-jeong Commerce?’
Kang Hyun tilted his head in puzzlement.
“I’m also the father of student Yun Hyun-jong.”
“Ah, so you’re his father.”
Only then did Kang Hyun rise from his seat.
“If my sudden visit startled you, I apologize. I simply felt I had to come in person and offer my respects. I couldn’t let the debt pass through my son’s courtesy alone.”
“If it’s about saving your son, I already received a fine bottle of whiskey from him last time.”
“That was merely the boy settling a debt. But I, as his father, nearly lost a child. You spared us a tragedy—how could I let such gratitude rest on my son’s shoulders? I was taught that true respect demands a father bow to his benefactor with his own hands.”
With that, Yun Tae-jeong withdrew a carefully wrapped paulownia box from his breast and placed it on the table.
“A Four Treasures of the Study Set, crafted by Tae-jeong Commerce.”
A soft rustle.
As Kang Hyun opened the box, the rich scent of ink mingled with the luminous sheen of an inkstone, and beside it lay a brush meticulously crafted from animal hair.
Even at a glance, it was a masterwork—the labor of a skilled artisan who had poured his heart into every stroke of the chisel and file.
Lee Seia, standing behind, quietly swallowed her tears.
‘Sigh—so that family does have some means after all.’
Just days ago, the moment Gwak Do-jin brought whiskey, Yun Hyun-jong appeared at a perfectly timed moment and produced an expensive vintage wine!
And now, after she’d gathered her courage and spent her savings on a brush and ink, he was making them look shabby?
Kang Hyun picked up the brush silently, running his fingers along its end.
The texture curling around his fingertips and the elasticity of the bristles were superb.
Even in the Martial World, this would be considered premium grade.
“I’ll put it to good use.”
As Kang Hyun nodded readily, a faint smile spread across Yun Tae-jeong’s lips.
The man seemed pleased by his frankness—accepting without hesitation or false modesty, with a generosity of spirit.
Kang Hyun felt the same approval in return.
‘A man of substance.’
In the Martial World, there were plenty who received favors and sent gifts in return.
But sending an item through a subordinate and having the head of an organization walk personally to meet your eyes and pay proper respect were worlds apart.
Men like this understood faith and trust.
They did not take lightly the weight of a bond once forged.
‘And those eyes.’
Kang Hyun’s gaze settled on Yun Tae-jeong’s eyes.
They held a keenness that pierced through the nature of things and the currents of circumstance.
Kang Hyun had seen such eyes a few times before in the Martial World.
‘Eyes brimming with Commercial Talent.’
Those were the eyes of Great Merchants who held the strings of the world’s commerce and shook them.
‘So Yun Hyun-jong’s steadfast nature comes from his father, does it?’
Kang Hyun, inwardly smiling, noticed something else.
‘Hmm?’
His Qi/Life Force seemed off.
Around the cardiac meridian, dark crimson Qi clung like a residue—the mark of prolonged poison exposure.
Kang Hyun, gently stroking the box, tossed out a question casually.
“You haven’t been waking refreshed lately, and there’s a heaviness around your chest—wouldn’t you say?”
“Eh? Ah, well… running a business does leave me with some chronic fatigue.”
“Show me your wrist, then.”
“Your wrist?”
Yun Tae-jeong’s expression flickered with confusion for a moment, but then his son’s words came back to him.
– Father, our professor is genuinely a monster! Not just his martial prowess—he even seems to have knowledge in medicine.
‘Is he trying to check if there’s something wrong with me?’
Yun Tae-jeong rolled up his sleeve slightly and extended his wrist.
Kang Hyun rested three fingers lightly upon it.
One could see the movement of Qi with the eyes, but to identify the specific poison, he needed to channel True Qi into it.
How much time passed.
‘As expected.’
Sticky foreign matter clogged the blood vessels throughout his body, obstructing the circulation of Qi and Life Force.
‘Cinnabar Musk diluted with a minute amount of Seven-Point Spider Venom.’
A mixture that saw frequent use in covert struggles.
For the first few months it would give the illusion of lightness in the body, but gradually it hardened the heart’s blood vessels—a vicious Silent Poison that could masquerade as sudden death.
‘At this concentration, he’s been taking it steadily for about two years now.’
Kang Hyun withdrew his hand and spoke bluntly.
“Is there something you’ve been consuming regularly of late?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Yun Tae-jeong blinked.
“Supplements or medicine, that sort of thing?”
“Tea, perhaps, or a fatigue-recovery tonic. Something you take without fail every single day.”
“There is a tea that arrives each morning…….”
“Mm.”
Kang Hyun clicked his tongue silently.
He didn’t know the circumstances, but since he’d been given an expensive gift, he could offer at least this much of a hint.
“From tomorrow onward, stop taking that tea.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Instead, brew White Lotus Root, Licorice, and Poria together in a three-to-one-to-one ratio and drink it steadily. Oh—and when you brew it, you must do so yourself, without fail.”
Yun Tae-jeong’s eyes wavered almost imperceptibly.
A man with discernment.
He was not dull enough to miss the weight beneath these brief words that Kang Hyun had thrown at him.
‘Someone has been poisoning my body?’
“Beasts are less frightening than humans, in the end. However close the bond, never trust so blindly in tonics someone else has brewed for you. You could drop dead without warning.”
“…….”
“I’ll make good use of the fine brush.”

* * *
Yun Hyun-jong rushed back after class and greeted his father warmly.
“Father, what brings you all the way to the Academy? You should have let me know in advance.”
“You’ve talked so much about that professor of yours, I thought I’d come see his face for myself.”
The reply was blunt, yet Yun Hyun-jong understood perfectly well what lay beneath it.
His father was always coldly calculating profits and losses, but there was a firm philosophy behind that demeanor.
‘Trust only takes root when you walk the ground yourself and meet the other’s gaze.’
In the end, he had traveled all this distance in person to bow before the benefactor who had saved his son’s life.
“So, what did you think?”
Yun Hyun-jong asked, unable to hide his quiet anticipation.
“He doesn’t seem to be an ordinary person, as you said.”
“That’s right, isn’t it? I have a feeling—he might be stronger than any of the other professors here.”
“It wasn’t just strength I sensed.”
“What do you mean?”
“The presence that emanates from him. If I had to describe it, it’s as though…… he’s walked the line between life and death countless times.”
“……Really?”
“Learn well from him. The chance to study under someone like that is an opportunity no amount of treasure could buy.”
Yun Hyun-jong was taken aback.
He’d hoped for praise, but he hadn’t expected such a high evaluation.
“Well, I should be going. Work awaits.”
“Yes, of course!”
“Make many connections here.”
Yun Tae-jeong had not sent his son to the Academy hoping he would become a mighty hunter.
Rather, it was for the connections he would forge with the strong.
For sometimes, such bonds held greater power than strength alone.
Yun Tae-jeong pushed his son’s back, turned him away, and climbed into the rear seat of the sedan.
As the door closed, his expression hardened with something like dread.
– “In truth, people are far more terrifying than beasts.”
Kang Hyun’s warning echoed in his mind.
Yun Tae-jeong clenched at his chest.
Lately the shortness of breath, the tightness gripping his heart—symptoms he’d written off as simple overwork.
‘So it wasn’t just exhaustion after all?’
The moment he reached the office, he called the secretariat.
“One thing. Just tell me about the car that comes every morning.”
– “You mean the scented car, sir?”
“Yes, that one. Who ordered it to start coming?”
Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap!
The sound of keyboard keys rattled through the receiver.
– “According to the records, it began two years ago. Executive Director Park Dong-chul ordered it, sir.”
“…All right. I see.”
Click.
Yun Tae-jeong set the phone down slowly.
‘It was you?’
The man with whom he’d clawed his way up from nothing before Tae-jeong Commerce had grown large, watching each other’s backs in the mud and filth.
Now his only true friend—the one man who shared the company’s stakes alongside him.
“Ha, ha-ha-ha!”
He laughed aloud, a harsh, brittle sound.
Of course, he wasn’t confirming anything yet.
Whether Park Dong-chul was truly the traitor—that remained to be seen.

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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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