The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 32

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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’s Absolute Professor Episode 32
The Secret Manual Interpreter, Lee Se-ah
Management Bureau Seoul Branch Annex.
After a long absence, Lee Se-ah appeared once more.
“Oh, this agent?”
“Long time no see. You’re still alive!”
“Your face looks so vibrant, though? Must be eating well out there?”
The moment she stepped into the Special Task Force area, senior agents broke into cheers to welcome her.
“Ha, thanks for the greeting, seniors.”
“So, how’s Black to work with?”
Lee Se-ah laughed.
“Pretty good! To be honest, it’s such a sweet deal I wish you seniors would all take turns with it.”
“Ha, I’ll pass.”
“But you’d get the highest performance rating and a 300% salary increase?”
“Nope, not doing it. Our rookie likes to joke around, doesn’t she?”
Exchanging banter, she made her way toward the director’s office.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
As she entered, Kim Hyung-seok, who had been reviewing documents, lifted his head.
“Agent Lee Se-ah! The interpreted manual?”
His usual stern demeanor had vanished entirely, replaced by visible anxiety.
“I brought them here.”
Thump, thump-thump.
Lee Se-ah set four thick books on the desk.
⪡Hidden Vein Heart Method⪢
⪡Hidden Vein Heart Method – Interpreted Manual⪢
⪡Shadow Step – Interpreted Manual⪢
⪡Soul-Chasing Short Sword Technique – Interpreted Manual⪢
“Hidden Vein Heart Method?”
“He said it’s a martial art to replace Shadow Energy Technique. He said that learning it won’t consume your lifespan, and it has perfect synergy with footwork and short sword techniques.”
“……”
The director exhaled a heavy sigh.
Immediately after receiving Lee Se-ah’s report, Kim Hyung-seok had quietly re-examined the records of retired agents.
Black’s words had been true.
Some had already died young, and most of the rest were hospitalized or bedridden.
“Your report was correct.”
He felt bitter.
“All this time, we’ve been forcing our agents to swallow poison. If not for Black, we would have driven them to their deaths without ever knowing the truth.”
Kim Hyung-seok carefully set the secret manual aside.
It was a mistake born from ignorance.
Yet he couldn’t simply blame himself and do nothing.
Now that the error was clear, it was a leader’s duty to set things right immediately.
“You and Black have saved the entire Management Bureau. Please convey my sincere gratitude to Black as well.”
“Black asked only that you give him proper publicity.”
<Secret Manual Interpreter – Lee Se-ah>
“Under your name?”
“Yes, he wanted me to be credited publicly for the work.”
“I understand for now.”
He could arrange publicity support easily enough.
But no matter who provided these secret manuals, verification was absolutely essential.

* * *
Not long afterward, the director’s office door opened again.
“You called for me, Director?”
Two men entered, their frames emanating a weighty presence.
Field Response Team Leader Kang Tae-woong and Counter-Terrorism Team Leader Eom Min-gi.
Veterans who had walked through countless danger zones at the nation’s frontlines, among the country’s finest A-Class Hunters.
Kim Hyung-seok slid two books across the desk toward them.
“Take these.”
“What is this, sir?”
Kang Tae-woong checked with a puzzled expression.
It was the Shadow Step and the Soul-Chasing Short Sword Technique – Interpreted Manual.
Both team leaders’ brows furrowed simultaneously.
“A new interpreted manual?”
“Hmm, if it’s the Shadow Step and the Soul-Chasing Short Sword Technique, our agents should already be able to deploy them with their eyes closed. What good is seeing yet another interpreted manual at this point……”
They were A-Class Hunters, after all.
Their pride in the martial arts they had mastered and honed knew no bounds.
“Just read it. And immediately incorporate the content of this interpreted manual into your personal training as well. This isn’t a recommendation—it’s an order.”
……
The two team leaders exchanged a subtle glance.
It was rare for the bureau chief to come down so forcefully.
Naturally, their eyes drifted to the name of the interpreter.
‘Lee Se-ah?’
‘I’ve never heard of this interpreter before.’
Special Task Force operatives were handled with classified strictness even within the Management Bureau, so the team leaders didn’t know about them.
‘Nothing to be done about it.’
‘If ordered, we obey.’
Though discontent filled them, following a superior’s orders was simply the fate of a civil servant.
“Understood.”
“We accept the order.”
The two men took the books and left.

* * *
A few days later.
The two men rushed urgently to find the bureau chief.
“Sir!”
“Are you in?”
Their entire bodies were drenched in sweat, yet their eyes blazed with intensity.
“What’s gotten into you two?”
As Kim Hyung-seok started to rise in alarm, Kang Tae-woong slammed his thick hand onto the desk and shouted.
“Sir! What exactly is the identity of interpreter Lee Se-ah?”
“What?”
“It’s incredible! This is absolutely incredible!”
“Calm yourself and speak slowly.”
“The Shadow Step we’ve learned all this time—it was never a footwork technique at all.”
The moment he heard those words, Kim Hyung-seok felt a chill run through his entire body.
Eom Min-gi, his face flushed with excitement, chimed in.
“Captain Kang is right. If the existing interpreted manual was just a dictionary that explained word meanings, this is on an entirely different level! The movement pathways, the breathing, the angle of the feet, even the sight-line management during landing—all the details are captured. The Soul-Chasing Short Sword Technique is the same. The operatives are calling it revolutionary.”
“Is that so?”
“You won’t understand until you experience it yourself. I still can’t quite believe it.”
The interpreted manuals that the Management Bureau had previously used were completion versions that had undergone cross-validation by two interpreters who were hailed as the nation’s finest.
Yet those premier interpreted manuals were now being treated as worthless.
“To be honest, I spent ten years repeating the Shadow Step tens of thousands of times before I finally grasped a certain knack. I thought it was my own secret technique.”
Kang Tae-woong flipped through the manual and pointed to a specific section.
“But it’s written right here. And not just casually—it’s laid out so meticulously and kindly, as if a master instructor were drilling it directly into your skull.”
“Well…… I understand. Please, sit down.”
Kim Hyung-seok drew a deep breath.
He had already held Black’s abilities in high regard, but now he had to believe in them completely.
Once the two team leaders were seated, the bureau chief slowly lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sir?”
“Why would you say that?”
As the two team leaders looked bewildered, he explained calmly.
“While interpreter Lee Se-ah was analyzing the Shadow Step, she also uncovered the truth about the Shadow Energy Technique.”
The fact that the Shadow Energy Technique was a heart method that drew power at the cost of one’s lifespan.
“I’ve been making you—loyal servants of this nation—swallow poison. Operatives who suffered from illness after retirement… that was because of this all along. I will reflect deeply and take responsibility.”
“Ah.”
“There… was such a truth?”
The two team leaders’ faces went rigid.
They knew the bureau chief hadn’t intended this.
But Shadow Energy Technique was…… a martial art they’d all learned themselves.
“First, we’ll halt all training in the Shadow Energy Technique. And.”
The director opened his desk drawer and slid a weighty Secret Manual across to them.
⪡Hidden Vein Heart Method – Interpreted Manual⪢
“I’d recommend this martial art. It’s one that can perfectly replace the Shadow Energy Technique. Have it copied at once and distributed to all field operatives, and send it to the retired agents in the hospital as well. It’s classified material, so take care it doesn’t leak.”
“……!”
“Ah, and once you master this, they say the vitality that’s been worn away will recover to some degree.”
Both team leaders were startled.
If this too was written by Lee Se-ah the Interpreter?
“We’ll implement it at once, sir.”
Kim Hyung-seok watched the two team leaders leave his office, his thoughts turning inward.
‘The Management Bureau…… no, the nation itself has received an immeasurable debt of gratitude.’
Without her, countless agents would have died in some nameless shadow, without ever knowing why.
This debt had to be repaid.
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock.
“Director, I’m here.”
Lee Se-ah peeked through the door and stepped inside.
The director sprang from his seat with delight.
“Oh! Our hero! Agent Lee Se-ah!”
“Come now, Director. It wasn’t me—it was Black who did that.”
Lee Se-ah laughed, a touch embarrassed, and pulled a new book from her document bag, sliding it across the desk.
“What’s this?”
“Black gave it to me and asked that I request you to properly promote her name in the Secret Manual market.”
⪡Swift Wind Step – Interpreted Manual⪢
The director’s eyes widened.
“Swift Wind Step? This is…….”
“Yes, exactly. Nine out of every ten hunters in South Korea currently learn this stepping technique.”
Kim Hyung-seok instantly grasped Black’s intention.
Most Interpreters try to elevate their reputation by working with rare and difficult high-level Secret Manuals.
But?
The truly skilled Interpreters tackle the more common martial arts.
Because there’s real competitive advantage in it.
She wanted to show what happens when this worn, mundane stepping technique encounters a properly considered interpretation.
“We’ll mobilize every resource the nation can bring to bear for the promotion.”
There were many methods available.
They could coordinate with the Hunter Association, distribute it through famous hunter communities and large bookstores.
Besides, Black wouldn’t be thinking about making money from this anyway.
Once distributed this way, illegal copies would inevitably circulate.
“Ah, and.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell her we’ll deposit the compensation for the Secret Manual into Black’s account under the name of a commendation reward. However…… there’s a limit to the budget, so we can’t offer much.”
Large budget disbursements leave traces.
No matter how classified, sustained large payments would create gossip along the approval chain.
Black’s identity had to be protected at all costs.
“How much are we talking?”
“Two billion won.”
“That really is exactly the limit, isn’t it.”
“For now, let’s proceed this way.”
“Understood!”
In truth, Black had only asked for promotion in the first place.
This manual too had come about only because Lee Se-ah had helped beside her.
But Lee Se-ah didn’t mention that fact.
‘Might as well take what’s offered.’
Yep.

* * *
The peaks of Bukhansan Mountain stretched out, wide and clean.
“Huff, huff!”
“Ahhh, ahhh!”
Taking pleasure in the suffering of five cadets desperately clawing their way up the steep rock face.
“The whisky tastes good.”
Glug, glug!
Kang Hyun was tilting a glass of whiskey.
Sure enough, with proper incentives, their stamina climbs noticeably.
In the first few days, some of them couldn’t make it to the top and fell halfway down, but now they’re all clawing and gutting it out, managing somehow to hear at least the opening of the incantations.
Kang Hyun recited the appropriate incantation to each one in the order they reached the summit, guiding them through the flow of energy.
And so exactly three hours filled out.
“That’s enough.”
Kang Hyun declared, capping the whiskey bottle.
“P-Professor! Please, just one more verse!”
“Huff, huff! If you stop here, my energy meridian will…….”
The cadets clung to him desperately, but Kang Hyun rose from the rock.
His movements held not a trace of regret.
“If you regretted missing that one verse,”
Only his voice remained in their ears as he threw himself off the cliff.
“Then you should have climbed faster.”
After class ended, Kang Hyun moved to his office.
Upon opening the door, Lee Se-ah was already at work grinding ink, while Baek Yu-yeon was threading millet-sized beads one by one onto a thread thin as hair.
“Baek Yu-yeon.”
“Yes!”
“You’re putting too much tension in your fingertips. Go faster and more precisely, and maintain an even rhythm.”
“Yes!”
Most people mistakenly think medicine is a discipline where vast knowledge is crammed into one’s head.
But the medical arts, acupuncture in particular, are a craft requiring more technical skill than any other field.
“Once you’ve grown comfortable threading beads, the next step is the anatomical model.”
Kang Hyun continued, gesturing to a model set on the edge of the desk.
“Practice as if it were a real person. No matter how perfect your theory, acupuncture is ultimately practical application.”
“I’ll bear that in mind!”
And then come lunchtime?
Lee Se-ah goes out and brings back boxed lunches.
“Please have lunch! Today’s the cafeteria’s special!”
Work on the secret manual begins after lunch.
By then, Baek Yu-yeon also stops training and carefully reads the Thousand Thread Precious Needle.
Scritch, scritch!
How many times had Kang Hyun’s brush been drawn across the paper.
Ding!
The screen of a smartphone lying on the corner of the desk lit up.
[Deposit: 2,000,000,000 won]
[Sender: National Treasury—Management Bureau Reward]
“What is this now? Two billion?”
“Oh, it came through?”
Lee Se-ah, who had been grinding ink, broke into a broad smile.
“A reward?”
“The Director said he simply cannot overlook the Shadow Energy matter. He actually apologized, saying that according to regulations, he can only offer this much.”
“That so?”
Kang Hyun rubbed his jaw and nodded.
‘Good timing.’
Tap.
Kang Hyun set down the brush he’d been holding and rose from his seat.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“Everyone, on your feet.”
“……What?”
Kang Hyun let out a small laugh.
“When you get paid, you spend it.”

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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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