The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 40

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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 40
Two more matches yet to come.
With Hwang Ye-rim’s departure, preparations for the next bout began.
Today only the Round of 16 would be held.
Eight matches per year, twenty-four matches in total, flowing without pause.
‘Worth a look, then.’
In truth, Kang Hyun had been quietly anticipating this Main Tournament stage.
‘For the past two months I’ve been absorbed in dawn training, tutoring Baek Yu-yeon, and crafting secret techniques—I haven’t had time to scout other talent.’
There was no need to wear out his shoes hunting.
Not when the Martial Arts Tournament was here.
The real prodigies—the ones who’d soared through each year—would all gather in this place today.
Crackle, crackle.
While sipping Whiskey and glancing at the match bracket, Lee Se-ah was rummaging through her pockets for something.
“What’s that?”
“A snack to go with it, sir.”
“A snack?”
Lee Se-ah rattled a bag containing Shredded Squid Snack and Beef Jerky.
Kang Hyun replied in disbelief.
“Anyone seeing this would think we’re here for leisure.”
“Just enjoy a snack while you watch, sir.”
“Never mind. Put it away.”
“Oh, come on, sir.”
Lee Se-ah smoothly placed a handful of Beef Jerky into Kang Hyun’s empty hand.
“If you keep drinking straight Whiskey without food, you’ll damage your liver.”
“Now that we’re in business together, you’re concerned about my health?”
“Of course! My retirement depends on you, after all. Please stay healthy and live long so you can build up that pension for me.”
“Ha.”
Kang Hyun let out a dry laugh and bit into the Beef Jerky.
It worked better with the Whiskey than he’d expected.
* * *
– And now, the long-awaited Round of 16 begins! The order will proceed from the 21st Year, then the 20th Year, then the 19th Year!
The matches would unfold in reverse year order.
After the Round of 16 today, the Quarterfinals would follow tomorrow, then the Semifinals and Finals the day after.
– The first match: Cadet Han Tae-ho and Cadet Kim Dong-sik! Please take the stage!
“Oh! Professor! The first match is Tae-ho!”
Lee Se-ah called out in a voice tight with tension.
“At least we’re fortunate.”
“How so?”
“His first opponent is Cadet Kim Dong-sik. Look at the preliminary results—he barely scraped into the Round of 16 at sixteenth place.”
Kang Hyun chewed the Beef Jerky thoughtfully.
It was turning out tastier than expected; he’d probably make it a regular habit.
Whistle!
With the signal, the match began.
Thrust!
Kim Dong-sik struck first, pressing forward.
Closing the distance with an elaborate footwork technique, he unleashed a flurry of strikes at Han Tae-ho.
Clang, clang-clang! Clang!
Han Tae-ho was driven backward.
Samjae Swordsmanship, Earth Stance.
He blocked each blow with nothing but pure defense.
How difficult it was to repel such varied attacks from a single posture alone!
“See that?”
Whispers rippled through the spectator stands.
“It doesn’t work in the Main Tournament, like I said.”
“He might have talent, sure. But how’s he supposed to win against Main Tournament opponents with just Samjae Swordsmanship?”
The professors watched with keen eyes.
The moment Han Tae-ho switched to any martial art other than Samjae Swordsmanship, Kang Hyun would be immediately dismissed.
“P-Professor!”
Lee Se-ah’s insides churned with anxiety.
“Tae-ho’s getting pushed back too hard! At this rate he’ll fall right out of the ring!”
But Kang Hyun simply took another sip of Whiskey without expression.
On stage again, the corner of Kim Dong-sik’s mouth twisted.
“It’s over!”
As he spun his body sharply and raised the Wooden Sword high—
Thump.
His lower center of gravity lifted, just for an instant.
Han Tae-ho’s eyes, which had been defending, flashed with light.
Crack!
His back foot, planted firmly into the ground, exploded forward.
The blade he’d been holding transformed into a thrust in a heartbeat.
Samjae Swordsmanship, the Human form.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
Kim Dong-sik, struck in the solar plexus, crumpled with a cry of pain.
Combat incapacity!
“Winner! Cadet Han Tae-ho, Class of 21!”
“Haah!”
Han Tae-ho clenched his fists and let out a sharp, victorious shout.
Still on his knees, he clasped his hands together and shook them.
“Phew……”
Lee Se-ah, who’d been holding her breath, finally exhaled in relief.
“That was close. He almost lost.”
“Lost? Not a chance.”
“What?”
“Do you really think he barely won?”
“But he was being pushed hard.”
“All calculated.”
The corner of Kang Hyun’s mouth lifted as he chewed on Beef Jerky.
“Does that bastard Han Tae-ho think his goal is just making it past the Round of 16? He has to go at least to the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals. So what’s the play?”
“……Don’t tell me. Baiting overconfidence?”
“Exactly. That joy he’s displaying up there—it’s all an act.”
Making it look to anyone watching as though he’d barely scraped by on luck.
Kang Hyun appreciated that aspect of it.
‘The kid’s gotten clever.’
The ones who lasted longest weren’t those driven by vanity to win dominantly, but those shrewd enough to secure their interests regardless of appearances.
In the Martial World, too, those obsessed with feeding their pride rarely died of natural causes.
The matches continued.
Kang Hyun observed the stage methodically.
He was looking for any promising material, and one cadet did catch his eye.
‘Do Jung-hyuk?’
There was something slightly refined about him.
By any measure, a model student.
Yet the power he possessed seemed extraordinary.
What stood out was that he fought with a spear—and because of its length and force, the other cadets couldn’t approach him easily.
‘That one would probably suit fists better than a spear……’
Still, it seemed he should observe a bit longer.
* * *
After lunch, the afternoon matches began.
The crowd’s energy was far more intense than it had been in the morning.
The Round of 16 for Class of 20 cadets!
Being the backbone of the Academy, they figured there’d be far more to see than with the new intake.
– Next match! Cadet Yun Hyun-jong! Cadet Choi Min-soo! Please come to the stage!
“Hmm.”
Lee Se-ah’s brow furrowed as she checked the matchup.
“Choi Min-soo isn’t easy, is he? He placed fourth in last year’s tournament. They say he’s known as the textbook of orthodox Academy swordsmanship?”
“Textbook? In a place like this?”
Kang Hyun chuckled.
“Two months is enough time for a dog to become a tiger. Look at these kids—see how they’ve changed in just sixty days.”
Whistle!
With the sound of the referee’s whistle, the match began.
As Se-ah had feared, Choi Min-soo’s blade was fierce and precise.
Yun Hyun-jong, barely holding his ground with Samjae Swordsmanship, surrendered an arm to secure a narrow victory.
– Winner: Yun Hyun-jong! However, medical attention appears necessary!
He headed straight for the infirmary after winning, and soon reappeared before Kang Hyun with his arm wrapped in bandages.
“Professor! It hurts! It really, truly hurts!”
“You sacrificed flesh to gain bone—of course it hurts.”
“It’s not just pain, Professor. The doctor said it’s a fracture.”
“Whimpering over a mere fracture?”
“Sir?”
Yun Hyun-jong was floored.
His bone was actually broken, and Kang Hyun called it whimpering?
Se-ah’s face drained of color as she stood up.
“Wait—what do we do? We never considered an injury like this. Won’t he have to forfeit tomorrow’s Quarterfinals match?”
“Forfeit, nothing.”
Clink.
Kang Hyun shook a Whiskey bottle with leisurely ease.
“If you can’t fight over a broken arm, you might as well bite your tongue and die.”
“…Yes? That’s—that’s rather cold, sir!”
Kang Hyun, who’d spent most of his life in the Martial World, genuinely didn’t understand.
Particularly, he couldn’t recall a time when he’d trained with old masters and didn’t suffer fractures.
“Stop complaining and focus on recovery. The next match starts soon.”
* * *
Meanwhile, the professors’ faces had grown decidedly tense.
“Does this even make sense?”
Professor Park Gwang-woo wiped his dry face and continued.
“Fine, Han Tae-ho defeated Kim Dong-sik. But Yun Hyun-jong beating Choi Min-soo—that’s another matter entirely.”
“Please compose yourself, Professor Park.”
Professor Jin Myung-hun, seated beside him, tried to sound calm despite his efforts.
But he too was clearly uneasy.
“In any case, Yun Hyun-jong just fractured his arm in combat. He can’t possibly perform normally in tomorrow’s Quarterfinals. And Han Tae-ho barely scraped by.”
“But if those five end up advancing to the Quarterfinals altogether…!”
“They won’t all advance.”
Jin Myung-hun cut him off with finality, gesturing with his chin toward the arena’s scoreboard.
“Look at who fights next.”
The next match appeared on the scoreboard in red letters.
[Match 5: Seo Hae-in VS Song Ki-chul]
“Seo Hae-in? Well, she’s no longer just the eternal bottom-ranked cadet—she made it to the Main Tournament.”
“No, not her.”
Jin Myung-hun smiled with quiet confidence.
“Look at Song Ki-chul.”
“Ah.”
Song Ki-chul.
Currently ranked second in his Year class, and a finalist in last year’s Martial Arts Tournament.
A promising talent watched by many guilds.
“Hmm, quite right. If it’s Song Ki-chul…”
The professors were beginning to acknowledge it, at least somewhat.
Professor Kang Hyun was indeed an extraordinary man.
He clearly possessed special abilities.
And yet.
“No matter how talented he is, raising an eternal bottom-ranker to contend with a championship favorite in just two months—it makes no sense.”
– We will now begin Match 5. Cadets, please take the stage!
As the announcement echoed through the arena, two figures emerged from the waiting area.
“Wooooooo!”
“Song Ki-chul! Song Ki-chul!”
“Don’t go easy on her just because she’s a woman!”
One-sided cheers poured from the stands toward Song Ki-chul.
For Seo Hae-in, there was only the occasional sneer.
‘Always like this.’
She, lacking talent and introverted by nature, had endured quiet ostracism.
In fact, she’d once resolved to withdraw from the Academy.
Because she’d truly believed she lacked talent, that this path wasn’t meant for her.
But now everything was different.
Seo Hae-in drew a slow breath.
Once, that sneer would have shrunk her heart; now it left her untouched.
‘Say whatever you want.’
The professor’s voice echoed suddenly in her mind.
– Upset? Then grow stronger.
She raised the wooden sword, her eyes drifting past Song Ki-chul to the spectators.
There sat Kang Hyun, tilting a bottle of whiskey.
The only professor who believed in her, who gave freely of spirit medicine and martial knowledge.
‘I’ll show you. How much stronger I’ve become.’
As Seo Hae-in readied her wooden sword, Song Ki-chul laughed.
“I’ll give you credit for passing the preliminaries.”
……
“But you’d do well to drop any idea of playing around with Samjae Swordsmanship in front of me.”
She had no such intention.
Seo Hae-in knew her opponent was strong.
‘Heaven, earth, man—just those three. Nothing else.’
The Cheongpung Swordsmanship she’d learned before had long since been erased from her mind.
‘Yu-sik told me something.’
– You’re stronger than you think. So don’t even consider defending. When the match starts, strike with everything you have. Hold your ground. Then thrust with all your strength. That’s all you need.
That was her plan.
Shrill!
The whistle sounded, and Song Ki-chul gripped his wooden sword, widening the distance between them.
Though his words had been contemptuous, his stance showed no slackness.
They watched each other intently as the gap narrowed moment by moment.
“Haa!”
Following her plan, Seo Hae-in charged first.
The first of Samjae—Heaven.
‘Strike downward.’
Song Ki-chul’s mouth twisted upward as he saw it.
What was the greatest weakness of Samjae Swordsmanship?
Your next move could be read perfectly.
‘Some girl’s downward strike with a wooden sword.’
He laid his wooden sword horizontally.
His calculation was to brush her blade aside lightly, then pivot his hips and smash the undefended side of her ribs.
Screech!
At the precise instant their two wooden swords clashed, wind tore apart.
Crash!
‘What?’
Song Ki-chul’s eyes bulged from their sockets.
His entire arm was crushed beneath an overwhelming weight.
The force of a boulder crashing down, not a wooden sword.
‘What in the—’
Crack!
The sturdy wooden sword shattered like dried straw, and Seo Hae-in’s blade, its momentum unreleased, continued straight toward the crown of his skull.
‘…damn…’
It would hurt.
Badly.
But to dodge it now was already——
Boom!
‘Oof.’
‘Insane…’
‘Hiss!’
A sharp, sickening crack resounded across the entire stage.
“Ack—cough…!”
Song Ki-chul’s mouth gaped open, his eyes rolling white.
His expression still seemed unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, he toppled backward and crashed to the floor.
Silence fell across the arena.
The teaching assistant serving as referee stood frozen like stone, flag still raised, while every professor in the VIP section had their mouth hanging open.
‘What?’
Seo Hae-in blinked, her expression equally stunned.
She’d barely executed the first move of the technique.
‘There are still…… two more strikes left……..’

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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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