The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 43

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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 43
The Midterm Tournament Concludes
As Kang Hyun entered the Infirmary, Han Tae-ho was just waking up.
The man, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, started at the sight of him and pushed himself up on his elbows.
“P-Professor!”
“Your jaw—is it alright?”
That simple, detached question brought Han Tae-ho fully back to reality.
‘Ah, I lost.’
Cleanly, at that.
Han Tae-ho found himself touching his jaw without thinking.
It ached, but didn’t seem broken.
If anything, his chest hurt worse than his jaw.
“I’m fine…….”
He bit his lip briefly, then his head dropped.
“And I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For losing.”
His defeat meant more than just his own setback.
Professor Kang Hyun would be dismissed, and his seniors would fail to achieve what they desired.
That weighed on Han Tae-ho far more than the loss itself.
“You lost, so why apologize?”
“Sir?”
“It’s not over yet, is it?”
“……?”
Han Tae-ho lifted his head in confusion, and Kang Hyun asked unhurriedly.
“Don’t tell me you’re giving up already?”
The meaning didn’t sink in right away.
He’d lost in the Round of 8.
He’d collapsed right there in front of everyone, in full view.
What more could he possibly do from here?
“I never told you to beat Do Jeong-hyuk. I told you to make the Top Five.”
“……!”
Surely not.
Did he mean to somehow coax the professors into granting him fifth place?
That was impossible.
The professors didn’t merely dislike the Five Virtuous Men—they outright despised them.
But Kang Hyun said nothing more on the subject.
He wasn’t concerned about dismissal, and he had no intention of backing away from the terms he’d set at the start.
If Han Tae-ho made the Top Five, he’d hand over the secret technique. If not, that would be the end of it.
The well is always dug by the thirsty man.
Kang Hyun had nothing to lose in this situation.
Then why had he come to the Infirmary?
In truth, Kang Hyun’s ultimate reason for coming to the Academy had been to seek out the makings of a Seven-Day Gem.
And he’d found them here.
Baek Yu-yeon, Baek Yu-seol, Do Jeong-hyuk.
His original purpose was fulfilled.
But Kang Hyun had made an inward vow.
That while saving the world was important, he would also fully care for his own life, this once.
That as a professor, he would take his duties seriously.
“Why did you pull back at the end?”
At Kang Hyun’s sudden question, Han Tae-ho’s shoulders flinched.
He hadn’t told anyone.
It felt like an excuse; he’d had no intention of bringing it up.
But the man before him saw even that.
“……It looked like my opponent might die.”
So he spoke the honest truth.
“If I’d pushed the blade in as planned, he really might have. But this was a tournament match……that’s not right, is it?”
A brief silence fell.
Kang Hyun looked down at him for a moment, then spoke without emotion.
“You did well.”
“Pardon?”
“You did well.”
If Han Tae-ho had lost himself to the exam and failed to control his Killing Intent, Kang Hyun would have cast him down without mercy.
A martial artist consumed by murderous aura ultimately falls to their own techniques.
“If that had been a real blade instead of a wooden sword, and real combat instead of a training match, you would have won.”
He meant every word.
Even with the Adamantine Body, a severed neck meant death all the same.
“……Thank you for acknowledging that.”
Han Tae-ho’s eyes grew slightly red.
Those words comforted him more than anything else could have.
“Good work is good work.”
Kang Hyun turned away, his words tossed over his shoulder.
“Don’t wear that pathetic expression like everything’s finished. I never taught you to surrender so easily.”

* * *
“Pffhaha!”
Professor Park Gwang-woo made no effort to suppress his laughter.
“I knew it! However you look at it, how could they possibly defeat the top-ranked incoming student with the Samjae Sword Technique?”
“It’s quite satisfying.”
Professor Kim’s smile stretched so wide it nearly reached his ears.
“Did you see him running away?”
“I did. He was scrambling out of there.”
“Exactly—a contract professor should stay in his place instead of meddling with the cadets. Hahaha!”
“What do you say to some grilled pork and soju after this?”
“Excellent! We should celebrate a day like this properly!”
This time, Jin Myeong-hun didn’t bother restraining the professors’ exuberance.
Unless something extraordinary happened, Kang Hyun’s dismissal was assured.
He listened to their mockery with satisfaction, his focus already turning to the next match.

* * *
The atmosphere among the Five Virtuous Men gathered in the waiting room was heavy.
“Sigh.”
Gwak Do-jin ran his fingers through his hair irritably.
“What do we do now?”
“…….”
All the energy seemed to drain away.
What good would it do to win here?
The professor would be forced out regardless.
Seo Hae-in had gone limp as well, while Yun Hyun-jong sat in silence, absently stroking his left arm in its plaster cast.
“Listen.”
Cha Yu-sik broke the silence.
“Everyone do your absolute best.”
“What about the professor?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
He had a headache too, but he knew he had to show them something.
“Focus on us. We need to show the other cadets that the professor’s methods weren’t wrong.”
“Ah.”
Yun Hyun-jong’s eyes widened.
“You mean make the cadets want the professor so much that they demand he stay!”
“Something like that, anyway.”
If every cadet wanted Kang Hyun, how could they possibly dismiss him?
They’d face a serious backlash if they tried.
– Next match! Cadet Seo Hae-in!
“Seo Hae-in.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best.”
“You’re going to win.”
“What?”
“You’re just going to win, that’s all.”
Cha Yu-sik had blocked her sword before. He knew.
Even he, among the top ranks of the nineteenth generation, had felt that numbing sting—there was no way his juniors could withstand it.
“Y-yes, thank you.”
Seo Hae-in bowed deeply and stepped onto the stage, and in less than ten seconds that followed.
– V-victor! Cadet Seo Hae-in!
The referee’s voice rang out.
The three remaining cadets felt their skin prickle.
“Insane.”
Gwak Do-jin cursed aloud.
“No joke, our junior Seo.”
A strange feeling stirred in them.
Every dawn they climbed the cliff face together, sweat and blood mingling, and now this fellow student was out there astonishing the world.
‘Have we grown this strong too?’
The way he thought of them — we.
Somewhere along the way, a sense of belonging had taken root.
The fierce bond of being students under Professor Kang Hyun!
“Can’t lose now.”
Yun Hyun-jong rose to his feet.
“I won’t beat Hae-in with this arm, but I should at least carry us to the finals, shouldn’t I?”
“That’s right, Hyun-jong. Go show them.”
Gwak Do-jin gave Yun Hyun-jong a sharp clap on the back.
Time passed in that way, though none could say how much.
– Victor! Yun Hyun-jong!
He had wielded only the Samjae Sword Technique with his injured arm, pulling off a stunning upset to reach the semifinals.
That fighting spirit in the face of injury set the spectator stands ablaze like never before.
By now, far more cadets were cheering for the Five Virtuous Men than for anyone else.
“I’ve won and returned, seniors!”
“Well done!”
Now it was the nineteenth cohort’s turn.
“Don’t worry about us.”
“We’ll be back soon.”
The results unfolded as expected.
Gwak Do-jin crushed his opponent with his characteristic venom, and Cha Yu-sik claimed victory with ease, using only the Samjae Sword Technique.
With that, all of the Five Virtuous Men save Han Tae-ho had secured their place in the semifinals.

* * *
The next day.
The semifinals and finals, which began early morning, swept down like a tempest.
– Twenty-first cohort semifinals! Cadet Do Jeong-hyuk versus Cadet Kim Jin-chul!
Shrill whistle!
The moment the horn sounded, thunder erupted.
Crash!
“Gasp!”
Do Jeong-hyuk’s spear slash sent his opponent flying clear out of the Training Grounds.
– V-victor! Cadet Do Jeong-hyuk!
The spectator stands began to murmur.
How could the semifinals be less fierce than the quarterfinals?
Was this truly a preview of the finals?
– Next, the twenty-first cohort finals!
The finals were even more brutal.
Crack!
The moment they engaged, Do Jeong-hyuk thrust with his spear, then drove his fist into his bewildered opponent’s abdomen.
“Retch!”
Blood spilled from his mouth as Do Jeong-hyuk claimed an overwhelming championship in a single blow.
The entire match had lasted just eight seconds.
One of the professors swallowed hard at the sight.
‘How is this supposed to work?’
Han Tae-ho was meant to place eighth… or at least sixth….
‘Jeong-hyuk, if you keep tearing it up like this, how am I supposed to give him sixth?’
The shock continued into the twentieth cohort’s matches.
Seo Hae-in and Yun Hyun-jong handily won their semifinals and faced each other in the finals.
There, Yun Hyun-jong threw down the white towel.
“Are you conceding?”
“Yes, I took too many pain relievers a moment ago, and my body isn’t responding properly.”
“……I understand.”
The instructor nodded.
It was a disappointing outcome, but there was nothing for it.
Her arm was in agony.
Reaching the finals with that arm was little short of a miracle.
– Champion! Cadet Seo Hae-in!
The moment the perpetual last-place finisher became first in her generation!
Professor Kim’s face drained of color.
Now it wasn’t a matter of whether Professor Kang would be dismissed.
The real problem was his own failure to recognize such a monster.
Of course, the cadets cheered lustily as Seo Hae-in descended from the platform.
No cadet would call her the perpetual last-place finisher ever again.
And.
The highlight of the Midterm Examination!
The nineteenth generation’s matches!
There were no surprises here either.
Cha Yu-sik and Gwak Do-jin both advanced to the finals, etching into every cadet’s mind that the Five Virtuous Men remained unshaken.
Han Tae-ho’s narrow loss wasn’t because he was weak!
It was simply that Do Jeong-hyuk was a monster!
Cha Yu-sik had demonstrated this clearly.
– Nineteenth generation finals! Cadet Cha Yu-sik! Cadet Gwak Do-jin! Please take the stage!
“You’re up, junior.”
Gwak Do-jin called out awkwardly, rotating his arms to loosen them.
“Yes, senior.”
“You’re going all out, right?”
“Of course.”
Cha Yu-sik had to win.
The Wolf Fang name was on the line.
‘I can’t ask for the Guildmaster position from my senior who graduated top of the class with a pathetic runner-up record, can I?’
“I hate losing to someone who concedes or throws it the way Hyun-jong did. I’m going to beat you with everything I have.”
“I never asked you to lose.”
The two cadets’ eyes grew cold and sharp.
Shrieeek!
With the whistle’s sound, both charged toward each other.
Clash-clash-clash!
At first, both used the Samjae Sword Technique.
But it was on an entirely different level from the earlier matches.
Each time their simple sword strikes—downward slashes, blocks, and thrusts—collided, thunderous booms erupted across the arena.
“Whoa whoa whoa!”
“That’s the Samjae Sword Technique?”
“I’m seriously selling only the Samjae technique from tomorrow. Don’t try to stop me.”
They roared their approval at the weighty impact, despite the lack of flashy secret arts.
As Gwak Do-jin’s wooden sword remained unbroken even after dozens of exchanges, Cha Yu-sik reflected.
‘I have to admit—his sheer tenacity is something.’
Putting the mad dog down with just the Samjae Sword Technique alone wouldn’t work.
Then what?
Cha Yu-sik’s footwork shifted mysteriously.
Smooth.
The arc traced by his wooden sword suddenly bent sharp and vicious.
“What—!”
Gwak Do-jin’s alarm came too late; the blade was already diving into his blind spot like a starving wolf’s fang.
The Wolf Fang Guild’s Wolf Fang Sword Art!
In moments, the wooden sword’s tip rested against Gwak Do-jin’s throat.
“Tch, cheap move.”
“Didn’t we agree to only use the Samjae Sword Technique until we made the Top Five?”
“A wolf pretending to be a dog—you sly fox.”
“A common misconception, really. Wolves are actually more cunning than foxes.”
“I yield! I’m defeated!”
– Nineteenth Generation Champion! Cha Yu-sik!
“Roooooaaarrr!”
The standing ovation and roar erupting from the stands shook the very sky above the Academy.
Han Tae-ho’s Five Virtuous Men, with most advancing to the Top Five of their respective years, were closing out an unprecedented, never-before-seen miracle.
And from that moment onward.
Akanet exploded with vindication.

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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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