The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 45

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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 045
I should eat while being a bit careful.
The next morning, in the Conference Room.
Unusually, Dean Seo Il-hyeon sat at the head of the table.
“Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s begin.”
He made no effort to hide the weight pressing down on him.
The reason was simple.
‘I don’t dislike you all. If the reason for trying to dismiss Professor Kang Hyeon was truly concern for the Academy, then it would be different.’
It was something Seo Il-hyeon himself acknowledged.
Had he not seen the classified materials sent by the Management Bureau, he too would have viewed Kang Hyeon through a lens of prejudice.
‘But if they refuse to accept such clear results… then I may truly find myself disappointed.’
That would mean their meager pride mattered more to them than the Academy’s progress.
As dean, it was something he could never allow to stand.
So he pressed down with that weight of gravity.
Please, he prayed silently, don’t abandon your last conscience as educators.
Don’t force my hand to cut you out myself.
“Before we move to the agenda, there’s something we need to address first. It’s already spread widely through campus, so you all know it—the matter of ten full professors visiting my office not long ago.”
Seo Il-hyeon’s gaze swept slowly across the conference room.
“I will maintain fairness as a mediator. So today, I won’t be exercising my voting right.”
“As expected of the dean.”
Park Gwang-woo stepped forward without reading the room, but when Seo Il-hyeon fixed him with a sharp stare, he faltered and closed his mouth.
“However.”
The dean opened his mouth deliberately.
“There will be no secret ballot in today’s meeting.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll vote by hand, one at a time. And you must state directly before me in your own voice exactly why you’ve ranked that cadet the way you have.”
“But Dean!”
Park Gwang-woo stepped forward again.
“Speak.”
“Isn’t this different from the established practice?”
“So you object?”
Seo Il-hyeon replied with an expression of incomprehension.
“Isn’t the whole point of this meeting so that no one can challenge the results afterward—so we can discuss this transparently?”
In the end, Seo Il-hyeon had not followed Kang Hyeon’s advice.
He ignored the suggestion to simply observe, and instead pressed them with warnings.
The dean loved the Academy just as much as he wished to protect these imperfect professors.
He hoped they would seize this final chance themselves.
“Then let’s begin.”
Silence fell over the conference room.
A tense standoff where no one dared to speak first was about to unfold.
“I’ll go first.”
Professor Hwang Ye-rim stood up first.
“The Comprehensive Ranking for Cadet Han Tae-ho of the 21st Generation is the biggest issue, isn’t it? In my view, fifth place is correct. And honestly, I’m well aware that most professors here think the same.”
“Professor Hwang!”
Park Gwang-woo cried out, lowering his voice, but she paid him no mind.
“I don’t have time for meaningless meetings like this. Please record my vote as fifth place. I have a patient in the Medical Office, so I’ll be going now.”
Hwang Ye-rim turned and left the conference room without looking back.
It was her way of saying she wanted no part in this petty dispute.
As the door closed, Park Gwang-woo’s face flushed crimson.
“This, this, this…! What kind of shameful conduct is this!”
He glared at the dean, but Seo Il-hyeon simply shook his head calmly.
“Shameful? She merely stated her position, didn’t she? Let’s continue. Is it your turn next, Professor Park?”
“Ahem!”
Park Gwang-woo cleared his throat and grabbed the microphone.
He had to push Han Tae-ho out of the top five no matter what.
Only then could he remove Kang Hyeon from his position and nullify the Academy land donation pledge they had made.
“I acknowledge that Han Tae-ho is strong. But is the Academy stage a joke? Even with clear skill, to use only the Samjae Swordsmanship throughout—I find it offensive. I can only concede as far as sixth place.”
At those words, Jin Myeong-hun pressed his palm to his forehead.
What kind of twisted logic was that?
Anyone could see it was a biased evaluation steeped in personal spite.
‘Ugh.’
Jin Myeong-hun sagged with disappointment.
And he had no clever move to flip the room’s mood right now.
“So you’re saying sixth place is correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I respect that. It’s your own conviction, after all.”
Seo Il-hyeon gave a calm nod, and emboldened by his stance, Kim Dong-il raised his hand as well.
He was the middle-aged professor who’d struck Seo Hae-in’s cheek.
“I also believe sixth place is correct. If we hand out fifth place based solely on the luck of facing Do Jeong-hyeok, we undermine fairness with the other trainees. Separately, trainee Han Tae-ho showed poor attendance in regular classes. No matter how important tournament results are, this is a midterm evaluation. We cannot ignore his poor study habits.”
With plausible justification added, the two wavering professors relented and sided with sixth place.
Seo Il-hyeon nodded quietly.
“Four vote for sixth. Good. Next?”
The four who’d taken their stand waited with arms folded.
Right!
We built the boat together—now you just have to ride in it!
Didn’t we promise to share the same vessel, clinking soju glasses over grilled pork belly?
But then.
“I’ll go with fifth place.”
One of the professors quietly jumped ship.
“I apologize. For conscience’s sake… I think fifth place is actually correct.”
Following his lead, the other professors raised their hands and spoke.
“Fifth place for me, too.”
“Same here. Otherwise, I won’t be able to face the trainees.”
“What—what in the world are you all doing!”
Park Gwang-woo cried out, his face stricken with betrayal.
How could this be happening?
Yet they all felt it too.
The current had already shifted toward Professor Kang Hyeon.
Seo Il-hyeon’s gaze fixed on one person.
“Jin Myeong-hun. You haven’t spoken. What do you think?”
In that instant, every professor’s eyes converged on Jin Myeong-hun.
The de facto leader of the opposition to Kang Hyeon.
Park Gwang-woo and Kim Dong-il stared at him with desperate eyes.
Hoping he would drive a wedge with sixth place.
‘What do you expect me to do?’
Jin Myeong-hun furrowed his brow.
‘I have to find my own way out of this.’
Jin Myeong-hun cleared his throat and opened his mouth slowly.
“…Trainee Han Tae-ho deserves fifth place.”
“Professor Jin? What are you saying!”
“How could you do this to us!”
Four professors’ faces turned ashen, but Jin Myeong-hun deliberately looked away from their stares.
With even the de facto leader surrendering, the remaining professors who’d been watching the winds all cast their votes for fifth.
There was no justification left to stand on—not when even Jin Myeong-hun had turned.
Unanimous agreement.
“Good.”
Seo Il-hyeon uncrossed his hands and declared with gravity.
“By majority consensus, trainee Han Tae-ho of the 21st Generation is hereby confirmed as fifth in the comprehensive ranking.”
With this, contractual professor O In-bang’s entry into the top five was officially recognized, and Kang Hyeon’s dismissal motion was nullified as well.
“Ah, and one more thing.”
Seo Il-hyeon continued.
“Park Gwang-woo, Kim Dong-il, and you two there—stand up.”
The four professors who’d just advocated for sixth place.
They rose uncertainly, bewildered.
“As of today, you’ll surrender your faculty credentials and pack your things. You’re dismissed from the Academy.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“What—no!”
Park Gwang-woo questioned his own ears.
“What did you just say? Pack our things?!”
“Dismissal. Did you not understand?”
“Dean, sir! Regardless of your position, this is absolutely an abuse of power! We haven’t committed any serious crime—we merely expressed our opinions during the cadet evaluation. Dismissal is outrageous! I’ll file a formal complaint with the Ministry of Education!”
“Go ahead.”
Seo Il-hyeon rose slowly from his seat.
In that instant, the killing intent of an S-rank Hunter pressed down on the entire Conference Room.
The professors’ faces drained of color under the suffocating weight.
“I, too, am prepared to stake my position as dean and my very neck if it means I won’t share this vessel called the Academy with the likes of you any longer.”
It was the first time.
The dean had ever shown his true nature to the professors.
“But, sir—didn’t you say just a moment ago that you would proceed fairly as a mediator?”
Kim shrunk into himself and protested weakly.
Seo Il-hyeon fixed him with a steady gaze.
“What if I’m not fair?”
“……?”
“What will you do about it?”
This was not the lenient dean they knew.
“Do you truly believe you treated cadet Han Tae-ho fairly?”
“That is to say…”
“Before you teach the students, for heaven’s sake, develop some awareness. Don’t you monitor AcaNet? Can’t you read where the cadets’ opinions are drifting?”
Seo Il-hyeon was genuinely furious.
A wave of disillusionment crashed over him—the realization that he’d been running this Academy with people like these all along.
No wonder the Academy was always being dismissed!
“Did I openly curse at you, saying you were termites infesting the Academy? Yes, perhaps you do consume it. But if you’re going to consume it, have the decency to do so carefully!”
It was a tremendous insult, yet the four professors couldn’t utter a word.
Any remark they made now felt as though it might cost them their actual lives.
Seo Il-hyeon glared at them for a moment, then turned and walked toward the Conference Room door.
“Don’t let me see your faces again.”

* * *
Kang Hyeon’s Professor’s Office.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Yi Se-a, who had been staring at the Tablet, leaped into the air.
“Professor! Fifth place! Han Tae-ho confirmed fifth! The official announcement just came out!”
“Don’t get so worked up.”
“Huh? Do you know how much I’ve been stressed this whole time? I’m allowed to be excited!”
The corner of Kang Hyeon’s mouth lifted slightly.
In truth, he’d never been worried once he sensed that the dean wanted to keep Han Tae-ho enrolled.
Would an S-rank Hunter let something like that slip away carelessly?
Seo Il-hyeon reminded him of the Elder of the Heavenly Star Sect.
And that Elder could never tolerate such injustice.
Tap-tap-tap.
Someone knocked urgently on the office door.
“Come in.”
Bang!
O In-bang burst through the opening door.
“Professoooooor!”
“We made it! We made the top five!”
“Whoooooah!”
‘What is this?’
Kang Hyeon frowned, watching the cadets rush at him so obnoxiously.
Han Tae-ho in particular came forward with tears and snot streaming down his face, uncomfortably emotional.
“Aren’t you going to step back?”
Whoosh!
Kang Hyeon waved his hand dismissively with a light gesture.
“Gaaahhhhh!”
Boom-boom-boom!
An invisible torrent of wind pressure crashed down, slamming all five rushing cadets directly into the wall.
They gasped in shock.
‘What was that just now?’
‘Did one hand gesture just send us flying?’
‘What kind of hand technique produced such wind pressure……!’
I knew the professor was strong.
But even so, to sweep away the top students of the year like scarecrows with a single gesture!
As they stood dazed, Kang Hyeon opened his mouth with an indifferent air.
“Everyone, find yourselves a decent seat. A promise is a promise.”
At those words, the cadets’ hearts began pounding like mad.
A promise.
The promise to give them the real Secret Techniques if they ranked in the top five on the Midterm Examination!
Kang Hyeon turned his head.
“Yi Se-a.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring out the Secret Techniques.”
“Yes, sir!”
Since she’d prepared them in advance, she found them easily and laid them out on the table with practiced efficiency.
The cadets swallowed hard.
Just what kind of Secret Techniques were all of those?
A faint smile curved the corners of Kang Hyeon’s mouth.
“Congratulations. As of today, your training in Samjae Swordsmanship is complete.”

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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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