The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 27

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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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Absolute Professor of the Academy 027
Falling short of that person’s very footsteps,
an ancient book lay waiting in Baek Yuyeon’s room when she returned to the Dormitory.
The Cheonmaek Chongnon
The sheer thickness of it was staggering.
It seemed to be the combined volume of at least two standard martial technique texts.
‘Memorize all this in a week? And then I’ll be accepted as a disciple?’
It was absurd.
She’d never even said she wanted to become a disciple in the first place.
‘Let me at least look at what’s inside.’
Baek Yuyeon took a deep breath and began turning the pages.
Rustle, rustle!
For the first ten pages, it was nothing but a fundamental diagram of the human meridian system.
The Twelve Primary Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, along with three hundred sixty-five Qi Points.
Any martial medicine major would have memorized this foundational knowledge by rote in their first semester.
Rustle, rustle!
But as she turned page after page, her expression began to shift subtly.
‘It connects like this?’
At first, she’d thought it was merely an unusual approach.
But after turning twenty pages, then thirty, a chill crawled down Baek Yuyeon’s spine.
‘What in the world is this?’
Each Qi Point was drawn like a precise technical blueprint, and beyond merely showing the pathways through which Qi flowed, the text meticulously detailed how each point interacted with particular organs and the principles of generation and constraint that emerged between them.
Rustle, rustle!
The speed of her page-turning quickened.
She’d been pulled in without realizing it.
‘This is a completely new framework! A theory that didn’t exist before!’
Darkness fell beyond the window, and a crimson dawn began to brighten.
She forgot even the hunger gnawing at her stomach.
“This is insane…… absolutely insane.”
She uttered gasps of amazement, sighs of awe.
Problems that had never been solved before—she found their answers here.
And in that moment, she understood.
Why modern martial medicine had hit a ceiling in its advancement.
‘The foundational framework had gaps everywhere, so progress was bound to stagnate.’
If this book were released to the academic community right now?
Without question, the entire world of martial medicine would be thrown into upheaval.
An entirely new paradigm would open.
A sudden, pressing question rose to the surface.
‘How on earth does the professor possess this book?’
A secret treatise of this magnitude should have been registered with the Association.
Otherwise, the major Guilds would have arrived with hundreds of billions, desperate to monopolize it.
Yet she’d tossed this treasure to her as though it were nothing?
Kang Hyun had said it plainly:
memorize this book in a week.
Then come to the Professor’s Office and continue learning.
Which meant?
This book was only the beginning.
There was more to learn.
“Sigh.”
A breath escaped her.
How could she possibly go to Hwang Yerim now?
Having seen the boundless ocean with her own eyes, how could she return to a narrow well?
‘I’m sorry, Professor Hwang.’
I have to save Yu Seol-i.
And…….
As a scholar, my blood is boiling.
Rustle, rustle!
She continued turning the pages, beginning to commit the contents to memory at a frightening pace.

* * *
“Next pair, step forward.”
Regular swordsmanship class.
Across the Martial Training Ground where the female trainees were sparring in full swing, Seo Haein of the 20th cohort made her way forward.
Her constant epithet was eternal last place.
“Basic stance only—up to the third form of Cheongpung Swordsmanship. Improvisation is strictly forbidden. Begin!”
The duel commenced with the professor’s command.
Clang!
A single clash.
Seo Haein’s body was driven backward helplessly.
Her opponent was a classmate who maintained solid mid-tier grades.
‘No—I’m being pushed back again.’
She tried to continue the forms of Cheongpung Swordsmanship as she always did, but the opponent’s rapid, sharp strikes left no opening.
At this rate, she’d lose her grip on the wooden sword and be defeated—as always.
In that desperate moment, her body reacted before her mind could.
That movement she’d drilled every dawn until her breath came ragged to her throat.
‘Lower, hold, thrust.’
Seo Haein dropped her center of gravity in one fluid motion.
She planted her lower body firmly against the ground, raised her wooden sword, and met the opponent’s blade head-on.
Samjae Swordsmanship, Earth Form!
Clang!
“What—huh?”
Something extraordinary had happened.
Seo Haein, who always gave ground, had held her position—and the opponent’s attacking blade had bounced clean away.
‘Next—the Heaven Form?’
The moment she saw the opponent’s balance shatter, she smoothly raised and brought down her wooden sword.
“Agh!”
Her opponent tried to block, lost grip on the sword, and tumbled backward.
Seo Haein stared at the scene, dazed.
‘Is this… actually working?’
Her heart soared.
The technique that wouldn’t yield no matter how much she trained—it was working! Once she used Professor Kang Hyun’s Samjae Swordsmanship, everything unlocked!
A thrill unlike anything she’d known before coursed through her.
“That’s enough.”
But that exhilaration lasted no more than three seconds.
“Seo Haein. Disqualified. Marked as a loss.”
“Pardon?”
Seo Haein looked up, bewildered.
“Professor, I won that match—”
“Won? Does that look like winning to you?”
The Swordsmanship professor clicked his tongue coldly.
“This is an evaluation for Cheongpung Swordsmanship. Yet here you are swinging some amateur street trick. Don’t confuse a lucky takedown with proper technique.”
“But—”
She wanted to argue.
No matter how she thought about it, Cheongpung Swordsmanship simply didn’t suit her.
And if you were to judge swordsmanship by right and wrong, wasn’t the stronger technique ultimately the correct one?
“I’m deducting points. Out.”
Seo Haein bit her lower lip hard.
It was unfair.
‘The professor is wrong.’
And now she was certain.
In this Academy, there was only one person who truly taught her what the sword was—and that was Professor Kang Hyun.

* * *
Unlike Seo Haein, who was reserved with words, Han Taeho was quite sociable.
As a result, he had plenty of friends.
“Hey, Han Taeho.”
As he headed to class, a group of classmates approached him.
“You still going to that class?”
“Professor Kang Hyun’s class?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“Isn’t it tough? What are you learning from a drunken professor?”
Among all those newcomers, Han Taeho was the only cadet taking Professor Kang Hyun’s class.
Because of that, several of them had started to show interest.
“Just picking things up here and there.”
Han Taeho brushed it off casually, but inside he was barely suppressing a smirk.
‘Drunken? Nothing to learn?’
These know-nothing frogs in a well didn’t have a clue.
Even Cha Yusik, second son of the Cheonrang clan, and that mad dog Gwak Dojin didn’t dare breathe loudly in front of Professor Kang Hyun.
And hadn’t he seen it with his own eyes just days ago?
The overwhelming presence of the Imperial Swordsmanship, the way he wielded a single twig as if pressing down the heavens themselves.
‘If anything, I’m grateful.’
The less his classmates understood Professor Kang Hyun’s true worth, the better for Han Taeho.
They were rivals, after all.
“Hey, is that really true? That the professor only teaches Samjae Swordsmanship in class?”
“What’s wrong with Samjae Swordsmanship?”
“Honestly, it’s a scam. Teaching a sword technique that every neighborhood kid knows at the Academy? That doesn’t make sense.”
The other cadets chimed in at that remark.
“I mean, I feel like my tuition’s wasted.”
“We got played.”
“What, we’re supposed to tell Guild employers we learned Samjae Swordsmanship?”
As the others snickered around him, irritation began to bubble up in Han Taeho.
“Hey, if you don’t know, don’t run your mouth. How good is Samjae Swordsmanship? Don’t you know you can’t learn Advanced Martial Techniques unless your foundation is solid?”
At Han Taeho’s stern tone, his classmates hesitated for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha!”
“What’s he talking about? Is he actually brainwashed?”
“Make sure you use Samjae Swordsmanship during Dungeon Practice.”
“Or better yet, only use Samjae Swordsmanship during the Midterm Exam.”
Han Taeho couldn’t help but bite at that one.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m planning to do.”
“What?”
Unable to contain his youthful pride, Han Taeho blurted it out in frustration.
“The professor already promised me. If I make the top five of our class in this tournament using only Samjae Swordsmanship, he’ll teach me Advanced Martial Techniques. Just watch. I’ll show you.”
Han Taeho finished speaking and strode away with long steps.
He didn’t want to waste any more energy arguing with such ignorant people.
“……What’s he saying?”
“Is he insane?”
The other cadets watched Han Taeho’s retreating back with disdain.

* * *
[Did you hear? That drunken professor told him to only use Samjae Swordsmanship on the Midterm Exam]
└ ???
└ What’s that supposed to mean?
└ More specifically, the professor said he’d teach him Advanced Martial Techniques if he makes top five using Samjae Swordsmanship lol
└ Total con artist
└ fr like he obviously has no such thing to teach so he set an impossible condition he can never keep and is trying to brush it off
└ Why does that professor even stick around being so annoying?
└ I wish we didn’t have to see him;
Han Taeho’s slip-up caused the rumor to spread quickly, and it soon reached the ears of the other professors.
A few days later, swordsmanship practice resumed.
“Hah!”
Seo Haein, who had been desperately evading with Cheongpung Swordsmanship, finally resorted to using Samjae Swordsmanship.
Crack!
“Ow!”
Her opponent’s wooden sword went flying and clattered to the ground.
It was a perfect suppression.
‘That’s strange.’
How could an opponent so strong become this easy to defeat with just Samjae Swordsmanship?
Seo Haein honestly wanted to erase Cheongpung Swordsmanship from her mind entirely.
“Seo Haein!”
But the instructor had caught sight of it anyway.
He strode down from the platform and stepped into her path.
“I distinctly told you to practice only with the Cheongpung Swordsmanship. Are you mocking my words?”
“I apologize. My body reacted before I could think…”
“Your body acted on its own? What?”
The instructor let out a sharp, contemptuous laugh.
“There’s been a most unpleasant rumor circulating the Academy these past few days. That you’d crack the top five of the Midterm Exam using some trivial Samjae Swordsmanship? Is that what this is about?”
“…”
Seo Haein bit her lip as the instructor pressed on with bitter words.
“That addled lunatic of a professor has been blowing hot air about teaching you Advanced Martial Technique, it seems. Don’t fool yourself. He only teaches such provincial rubbish because that’s all the wretched man possesses. I can hardly stomach watching you play the dupe to some incompetent professor’s con.”
Public humiliation, delivered in front of everyone.
Her classmates gathered in the Martial Training Ground began to snicker, mocking Seo Haein openly.
The old Seo Haein would have withered under the shame, hanging her head in silence.
That was always her way.
But this time.
Seo Haein’s fists tightened.
Professor Kang Hyun was incompetent?
A fraudster?
“…Professor Kang Hyun is nothing like that. He’s no charlatan, and he’s anything but incompetent.”
“What did you just say?”
The instructor laughed harshly.
“How dare you talk back to me like that?”
Normally she should have stopped there.
But Seo Haein had seen what Akanet held, and everything that had built up inside her suddenly burst free.
“…Honestly, you don’t even come close to his heel! Stop spouting off about things you don’t understand!”
“…!”
Silence fell over the Training Ground.
No one had expected such a bombshell to come from Seo Haein’s mouth.
“So you’ve finally lost your mind!”
The instructor, his grip on reason shattered, swung hard and struck Seo Haein across the face.
Crack!
Her head snapped to the side with a sharp, stinging sound.
A vivid red handprint bloomed across her white cheek, but Seo Haein didn’t flinch. Instead, she turned back to face the instructor with steady, unwavering eyes.
“…Still haven’t come to your senses, I see. That acid tongue—did the drunk fool teach you that too? Fine. Since you won’t learn, I’ll beat some discipline into you until you do, and restore the authority this profession deserves.”
The instructor began rolling up his sleeves, his breathing sharp with anger.
“What’s going on here?”
A languid voice drifted from the entrance of the Training Ground.
Everyone’s gaze shifted toward the sound.
There stood Kang Hyun, a Whiskey Bottle in his hand, leaning against the doorframe with an off-kilter stance.

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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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