The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 37

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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 37
Want to learn how to do this yourself?
Screech!
The car came to a stop, and Lee Se-ah and Kang Hyeon stepped out.
“This is a Korean restaurant?”
Kang Hyeon frowned at the tile-roofed house with no sign hanging above it.
“Yes.”
Lee Se-ah shrugged her shoulders.
“It’s a partner facility of the Management Bureau. A place used for VIP entertainment and highly confidential meetings.”
“They really do have places for everything.”
“I just found out about it myself this time. Let’s go in. The director should already be here.”
Following Lee Se-ah’s guidance inside, they found a private room decorated in the finest cypress wood stretching down a long corridor.
Guided by a staff member, they slid open the wooden door and entered.
“Welcome. Bl… No, Professor Kang.”
Kim Hyeong-seok sprang to his feet and bowed respectfully.
He was more tense than usual.
‘It’s Black. That Black.’
The monster from the East Sea who destroyed that enormous Leviathan with a single gesture.
This was only the second time Kim Hyeong-seok was seeing Black.
“Well, how are you finding the academic life?”
“I can’t complain.”
He answered casually, but the moment his eyes met those of Kang Hyeon, who was studying him intently—
Gulp.
Kim Hyeong-seok swallowed involuntarily.
For all the countless S-rank Hunters he had dealt with over the years, this man was unmistakably different.
It was as if he could see straight through to one’s very core.
“Please, sit.”
“Of course.”
Kim Hyeong-seok took his seat, swallowing dryly.
His gaze drifted naturally toward Lee Se-ah.
A rookie agent in a neat hoodie and jeans.
The moment she sat down, she wiped her hands with a wet towel and gazed at the menu.
‘… Quite the character.’
Kim Hyeong-seok found himself newly impressed by the rookie agent before him.
He himself could barely breathe from the tension of a single glance from those eyes.
Yet this agent shared living quarters with that monster, and even ground inksticks beside him in a mortar every single day, didn’t she?
‘What on earth have I burdened this young recruit with?’
Now he finally understood why the other agents had been so reluctant.
‘I’m sorry, agent. I will ensure your advancement…’
Kim Hyeong-seok was steeling himself with this resolve when—
“Kang Hyeon!”
“Hmm?”
“Can I order the Korean beef course they have here?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because the director will pay for it only if you give the okay.”
“Is that so? Order it then.”
“Thank you! Coming right up!”
Kim Hyeong-seok’s eyes widened as he watched Lee Se-ah cheerfully ring the bell.
‘She treats Black with such ease?’
Lee Se-ah naturally ordered the most expensive course and even arranged for the whiskey service.
Ahem.
Kim Hyeong-seok cleared his throat awkwardly and carefully broached the subject.
“Kang Hyeon, I first wanted to sincerely thank you for clarifying the Matter of the Shadowless Technique last time, and for providing the Silver Vein Deep Technique…”
“Spare me the ancient history that kills the appetite.”
Kang Hyeon cut off Kim Hyeong-seok’s words abruptly.
“Let’s talk about money.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Business matters. You let the Hidden Wind Treasure and the Silver Vein Deep Technique slide last time, but surely you’re not thinking of pocketing the profits from the Severe Wind Treasure sales as well?”
“H-how could that be?”
Kim Hyeong-seok hurriedly waved his hands and straightened his posture.
“Of course we’ll settle accounts with you properly. The state would never seize a citizen’s intellectual property. We’ve already established internal guidelines for revenue distribution.”
“Hmm?”
Kang Hyeon fingered his whiskey glass with evident interest.
“Do tell. I’m curious how much conscience the state actually possesses.”
“Fifty-fifty.”
Fifty?
Fifty what?
He didn’t crack the joke.
Because he genuinely believed there was no conscience to speak of.
The moment that thought settled, his presence naturally radiated outward—and Kim Hyeong-seok felt the sensation of his skin prickling.
“Of course, we’re well aware that your contribution is absolute, Director Kang.”
Kim Hyeong-seok hurried on.
“The infrastructure the Management Bureau provides is nothing to scoff at either. Not only can we distribute it stably across the country through the Association’s distribution network, but we can also sell it worldwide under the Association’s name with full credibility. The scale is entirely different from what a private enterprise could manage.”
Outwardly, Kang Hyeon remained unmoved, but inwardly he nodded.
‘That’s a fair point.’
In truth, there was a reason he’d chosen to partner with the state rather than go through Tae Jeong Corporation alone.
‘Illegal counterfeiting crackdown.’
The low-price interpretation market was war against counterfeit editions.
Chasing them down one by one would be tedious, but with the state’s name attached, they’d be suppressed automatically.
Especially if the Management Bureau was involved—they had connections to intelligence agencies, making enforcement far easier.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’m accepting this nonsense split.’
“Eighty-twenty.”
Kang Hyeon’s voice cut short and clean.
“On the condition that you commission similar popular interpretations from me periodically going forward.”
“……!”
Kim Hyeong-seok’s eyes flickered.
The temptation was irresistible.
He’d seen what the Severe Wind Treasure interpretation could do.
The more secrets it unlocked, the higher South Korea’s standing would climb—and the nation’s global prestige along with it.
“Even so, twenty percent is too little.”
“Why’s that?”
“The bigger the business grows, the more manpower we’ll need to deploy. Given the Management Bureau’s operational costs, we’d need at least forty percent. Why not split it cleanly—sixty-forty?”
It was the moment Kim Hyeong-seok made his final pitch with all the gravity he could muster.
“That’s unreasonable.”
Lee Se-ah interjected abruptly.
“Director, you can’t possibly be unaware of what this interpretation is worth, can you? If we generate proper revenue selling to the entire world, forty percent—even twenty—leaves the Management Bureau’s budget overflowing. What good is stuffing that money away?”
“Agent Lee?”
“National projects just end up taxed and filed away in some warehouse. What’s the point of stacking it up like that? Better to push the ratio up so Director Kang gets motivated to want writing more secret formulas.”
Kim Hyeong-seok’s expression turned baffled.
“Well, I’ll be—are you on the nation’s side, or on Director Kang’s side?”
“I’m on the nation’s side—that’s exactly why I’m saying this. You need to think bigger!”
At her bold declaration, Kang Hyeon let the corner of his mouth rise slightly as he sent a silent transmission.
– You’re doing well, chick.
She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug.
That’s right.
Keep chirping from over there.
I’ll make sure the bonus is solid.
Kang Hyeon stood with his arms crossed, wearing a satisfied smile.
“Pardon the interruption. We’ll prepare the Korean beef course you’ve ordered.”
Just then, staff entered, lit the brazier, and began arranging premium cuts of beef and side dishes.
As the meat sizzled and browned, the tense air in the room softened perceptibly.
Kang Hyeon swirled his whiskey glass lightly, shifting the atmosphere.
“Director, if I may ask one more thing.”
“Of course, go ahead.”
“Is it possible to set up a personal equity stake for Lee Se-ah in this venture?”
“My own equity?”
Lee Se-ah, who’d been staring intently at the cooking meat, gasped in surprise and looked up.
Kang Hyeon spoke matter-of-factly.
“Her face is already out there, so I’d like to look after her a bit.”
But Kim Hyeong-seok shook his head firmly.
“That’s absolutely impossible on public service ethics grounds. This agent is a civil servant drawing a state salary. A bonus is permissible, but equity stakes are not.”
Damn.
So I’d have to quit being an agent to take care of her properly?
“No, really, I’m fine! Just receiving this much is already incredible.”
“That so?”
Kang Hyeon scratched his jaw and looked at Kim Hyeong-seok.
“Then let’s do this cleanly—seventy-five to twenty-five.”
“Pardon?”
“Seventy-five for me, twenty-five for the state. And from my seventy-five, I set aside five percent in Tae Jeong Corporation. When Lee Se-ah quits the Management Bureau down the road, I give it to her privately—no issue with that, right?”
At Kang Hyeon’s bluntly roundabout proposal, Kim Hyeong-seok let out a dry cough.
“Ahem. Well, I’m not particularly knowledgeable about fund management conducted within private enterprises.”
That amounted to tacit approval.
“Wait, no—I’m really okay with—”
“Stop talking and eat.”
Kang Hyeon flicked a piece of meat onto her plate and cut her off.
“You’ve got mountains of work ahead. Grinding ink and helping while I create secret formulas is just baseline, you’ll handle Interpreter assignments externally, and you’ll have to run operational tasks I assign. Five percent is the bare minimum—anything less doesn’t make sense.”
“……”
Lee Se-ah bit her lip hard and stopped protesting.
Something caught in her chest.
That man’s way of grumbling all the while yet taking care of his people to the very end had grown familiar to her by now, and she was grateful for it.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyeong-seok was experiencing something of a fresh shock.
‘Unexpected.’
According to agent reports, he was supposed to be utterly coldhearted, and Kim hadn’t put much stock in Lee Se-ah’s observation logs either.
‘He actually has feelings?’
Kim Hyeong-seok was a bureaucrat who’d been through fire and ice.
He understood instinctively how to handle men of this temperament.
This wasn’t the moment to haggle petulantly for a few more crumbs of profit.
If he yielded generously instead, this man would repay him generously in turn, someday.
“Excellent.”
Kim Hyeong-seok raised his whiskey glass with genuine cheer and smiled broadly.
“Then let’s proceed with seventy-five to twenty-five in good spirits. I look forward to our continued partnership, Kang Hyeon.”
Clink!
The glasses struck together.

* * *
After the meal, Kang Hyeon had just returned to his quarters and was changing into comfortable clothes when he felt it.
‘Hmm?’
A presence from outside.
An unmistakable aura—no attempt at concealment.
‘Ma Chul-ung?’
He narrowed his eyes slightly and opened the window to step out.
A massive bear of a man stood in the empty lot before the Professor Dormitory.
“My apologies for the late visit,” Ma Chul-ung said, his stance respectful.
“What’s this about?”
Kang Hyeon straightened and asked bluntly.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
“What was.”
“I couldn’t make sense of it no matter how I thought it through. It seemed like your doing, so in front of the reporters I went ahead and credited that Interpreter young lady instead.”
Ma Chul-ung scratched his chin and continued.
“There’s no way a green Interpreter could grasp every secret formula detail just by flipping through pages in an instant. I don’t believe it’s possible.”
“And I’m capable of it?”
“You’re an unfathomable person, after all.”
A glimmer of interest crossed Kang Hyeon’s eyes.
‘Sharp fellow.’
As he’d mentioned before, Martial Artists of a certain level often proved sharper than most scholars.
When Kang Hyeon neither affirmed nor denied, standing perfectly still, Ma Chul-ung rummaged in his jacket and pulled something out.
“Please accept this.”
A crisp sound.
What Ma Chul-ung produced was a thick stack of cheques.
Kang Hyeon’s gaze locked onto the numbers written on them.
‘One billion… five checks?’
Fifty billion won in total.
“This is part of the compensation I recovered from Dae Sung Market thanks to you. If it weren’t for you, I would have wasted all that time. I might even have fallen into Demonic Obsession and ruined my life. I hope you’ll accept this sincerely.”
Kang Hyeon was startled.
Five billion won — was that a small sum?
Even an S-rank Hunter couldn’t easily gather that much money without running a business.
And yet he offered it without hesitation, calling it repayment?
‘This man has real character.’
A person’s true heart reveals itself not in words but in action.
Especially when money is involved — that’s when someone’s true measure is laid bare.
‘Straightforward nature, genuine loyalty, and real magnanimity.’
A thought naturally surfaced in Kang Hyeon’s mind.
The condition he had set for the five disciples who had bowed their heads asking to become his students.
‘Wouldn’t this one be perfect?’
Kang Hyeon took the check for five billion won without ceremony and stuffed it into his pocket.
Then he fixed Ma Chul-ung with a steady gaze, and a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“Ma Chul-ung.”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to learn the O-Ho Dan-Mun Do?”

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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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