The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 78

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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 Absolute Professor Episode 78
This is your real playground
The gate was vast.
Strictly speaking, it was less a gate than a threshold.
Invisible to ordinary eyes, but Min Seo-jun, who perceived other dimensions, would see it plainly.
The power of crystalline force folded the space so that both sides of the doorway pressed together like sheets of paper, perfectly aligned.
“Master! Let me go first and take a look!”
The moment Min Seo-jun stepped across the boundary line and thrust his head forward, Yun Tae-jeong stumbled backward, his face drained of color.
“Uh, uh-eek! What, what is that?”
It certainly looked grotesque.
His body remained here, yet everything above his neck appeared cleanly severed.
“Wow! Korea really is refreshing, isn’t it? The air feels different!”
And the strangest part?
Min Seo-jun’s voice came through with perfect clarity.
Kang Hyun smiled with satisfaction as he explained.
“It’s called the Spatial Transfer Formation. A formation that connects two gates and overlaps two spaces into one. Seo-jun, step all the way through.”
“Yes, sir!”
With that answer, Min Seo-jun’s body vanished as if sucked into the empty air.
Kang Hyun gestured to Yun Tae-jeong, who stood frozen.
“Go on through. You’ll be safe as long as no one disturbs the formation.”
Of course, if someone were to rip away the crystal while he was straddling the threshold, it would be a catastrophe.
A horrific severing accident beyond imagining would occur.
So the area around the formation would have to be designed so no one could approach it.
The formation itself would need to be layered more densely.
“So, I just… step over that line?”
Yun Tae-jeong’s voice trembled.
Being asked to perform space-teleportation with his bare body—something impossible by modern science—naturally made him afraid.
“Just think of it as a Dungeon entrance. Hunters don’t hesitate when they enter, do they?”
“Ha ha… that’s true. Never been inside one myself, but I understand. What the hell—let’s give it a try.”
He took a step forward.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the humid, hot sea breeze vanished, replaced by cool air and the smell of cement from a construction site.
“This is…”
“You made it through, sir?”
Before Yun Tae-jeong’s eyes unfolded the view behind the New Training Hall of the Korean National Academy.
“Huh…”
He stumbled backward again, his mind reeling.
Shhhhhh!
The refreshing sound of waves crashing against his ears.
‘I’m, I’m going crazy.’
Plop.
Yun Tae-jeong collapsed to the ground right there.
Was this a dream or reality?
Only now did he understand why Kang Hyun had told him to book a one-way ticket.
He would need to eventually fly for official return documentation, but physically he could now travel between Korea and the Philippines as easily as stepping over a threshold.
“Professor, or rather, Major Shareholder…! What on earth is this?”
“Didn’t you just experience it firsthand? Judging by your expression, you seem to grasp its value already.”
“This, this is impossible!”
He scrambled to his feet and crossed back and forth through the gate several times.
Korea’s cool air, then back to the Philippines’ heat.
The construction site’s smell, then the ocean’s scent.
After that repetition, Yun Tae-jeong had no choice but to admit it.
At first, it was merely astonishing.
But then came the fear.
A warning bell tolled in his mind.
“This technology… is far too dangerous.”
The moment this became commercialized?
International borders would lose meaning, and the very concept of tariffs would collapse.
The entire world’s logistics industry could be swallowed whole at a stroke.
His mind, sharp with commercial acumen, spun furiously.
‘What’s truly terrifying is the military potential.’
If Paradise Island became a hub, with gates established in the United States, China, Europe, and beyond?
America’s elite forces could pour into the heart of Beijing in mere seconds.
Once the world’s superpowers learned of such technology, would they sit idle?
They’d form alliances—entire nations, massive guilds—all to seize this Formation.
“You’d become a target for the entire world. However powerful you are, sir, you can’t withstand the military might of sovereign nations…….”
But Kang Hyun smiled with ease.
‘Just as I thought.’
Yun Tae-jeong was a man who calculated future risks before getting intoxicated by immediate profits.
Perfect judgment for someone destined to lead the global Black Market.
“Don’t worry too much. I have no intention of revealing this Formation to the public anytime soon.”
“Then how…….”
“Developing an island this vast requires astronomical capital. Naturally, we’ll need investment—but only from an exclusive few VVIPs with tremendous influence.”
Yun Tae-jeong’s eyes gleamed.
“Ah! You’re saying we distribute stakes to powerful figures who can shield us.”
“Precisely.”
Yun Tae-jeong marveled.
A masterful move.
Monopolize it alone and you become the world’s enemy; draw in the powerbrokers who control nations as co-conspirators, and the calculus changes entirely.
Once the interests of the establishment are woven together like a spider’s web?
Eventually, even nations themselves become reluctant to touch it.
But Kang Hyun’s true thoughts ran differently.
‘By the time any of this comes to light…… I won’t need such shields.’
By then, the Water Yang Formation through Baek Yu-yeon will be complete, and I’ll have purged the venom of Asura from my Dantian.
‘By that time…… no one will dare lay a hand on me.’
“Sir.”
“Yes……!”
“We don’t have time to daydream. Shall we start sketching out a blueprint?”
“Of course.”
Yun Tae-jeong hastily pulled out his notebook and pen.
“I want to construct a massive Gate House at the island’s summit to accommodate the Spatial Transfer Formations. It needs to be vast and grand for the future—we may house hundreds of gates.”
“Hun, hundreds……. Understood. A Gate House.”
Yun Tae-jeong visualized it in his mind.
Paradise sprawling before visitors the moment they stepped through the gates.
“In the island’s center, I’ll build Taejeong Market’s main headquarters. Along the coastline, I’d like to construct luxury resorts and accommodations with ocean views.”
We could run the resort directly, or attract investment from luxury corporations.
That would be Yun Tae-jeong’s domain and his choice.
“Underground, we’ll bore through the entire island to create storage vaults and large auction houses. Since it’s a tourist destination, a casino would be excellent too.”
“I’ll keep it all in mind. There’s quite a lot to handle.”
The island was so vast that there were countless immediate concerns.
From material procurement to massive construction crews, and independent security personnel to protect the island before and after completion.
The obstacles were mountainous.
“Work closely with the boy.”
“You mean Min Seo-jun?”
“Yes.”
Kang Hyun grinned and gave Min Seo-jun’s shoulder a playful tap.
“Ask him about whatever comes to mind—Security Formations, Climate Formations to control weather and typhoons, you name it. He’ll find ingenious solutions.”
Yun Tae-jeong’s pupils widened.
Having witnessed the miracle of spatial transfer, this didn’t sound like bragging at all.
‘He’s truly a pillar.’
“Seo-jun, once you’ve fully loosened up at the Academy, spend your time here from now on.”
Kang Hyun gestured toward Paradise Island.
“This is your real playground.”
“Yaaaay!”
Fireworks exploded in Min Seo-jun’s mind.
Pure, unbridled joy!
Gulp.
Watching him, Yun Tae-jeong swallowed hard.
His heart raced.
Ambition surged within him.
‘Yes, if I’m going to build one anyway…… I’ll create a Black Market that will go down in history.’

* * *
With the Spatial Transfer Formation’s performance confirmed, there was nothing left to do.
We headed back to Manila Airport and returned to Korea.
“Mr. Yun.”
“Yes.”
“Keep the workers intimidated for a while. Make sure they don’t come anywhere near the formation.”
“I’ll establish a restricted zone and seal it off.”
There was no need for serious concern.
The energy was already radiating outward from the formation anyway, so most ordinary people would be too frightened to approach it.
After parting with Yun Tae-jeong, I headed back to the Academy.
“Kang Hyun! You’re here now?”
Lee Se-ah rushed toward me urgently.
“I told you I was going on a brief business trip. Why are you tracking me down like this?”
I hadn’t set up roaming when I went to the Philippines, and I had a mountain of missed calls.
“I sent you a message! The Dean and the Director are about to go at it.”
“……Those two? Why?”
I thought they were on good terms.
The Director had pressured the Dean into giving me a contract professorship back then.
“Why else! It’s because of you, Kang Hyun!”
“Me?”
“Just come on! It’s urgent! At first they were just having a discussion, but now they’re raising their voices!”
Lee Se-ah grabbed my sleeve and pulled, and I let out a sigh.
“Ugh, what a hassle.”
Still, if they were fighting because of me, I had to go at least out of curiosity about why.
As we approached the Dean’s Office, I could see the secretaries standing around nervously.
And through the closed soundproof door, muffled raised voices were leaking out.
Listening briefly…
‘Looks like they’re arguing about whether to send me to the tournament or not.’
I let out a hollow laugh and knocked before pushing the door open.
“The person in question isn’t even here, yet you two are being awfully heated.”
“Professor Kang!”
“So you’ve arrived?”
Ignoring the flushed faces of the two agitated men, I sat down on the sofa and pulled out a bottle of liquor.
“So, what is it? While I was away, why were you two scheduling my calendar? I’d like an explanation.”
Lee Se-ah quietly closed the door and excused herself.
It was Seo Il-hyun who broke the silence first.
“Perfect timing. As you know, in two weeks the Global Exchange Tournament will be held. It’s a golden opportunity to showcase Korea’s strength to the world, so naturally you should lead the students there.”
“Dean!”
Kim Hyung-seok bristled at that.
“I’ve already said absolutely not! Even this Mongolia situation—the Management Bureau has already made a hundred concessions. Do you have any idea what kind of schemes our bureau has orchestrated to conceal your strength?”
And that’s not all.
I had turned over three High-Grade Magic Stones as well, but he didn’t mention that part.
Probably didn’t want to hurt your feelings.
“How long are we going to keep hiding? If our country has strong hunters, we should show them off!”
“You need to think about national interest! We’re still a developing nation! Attracting world attention is something we can do later, once you’re more established and the students reach an appropriate level. What will happen if we rush forward now and face interference?”
“Isn’t that what the state is for—to overcome such interference? I can’t bear to see Jin Myung-hun sending people again! Do you know how discouraged our kids were last year?”
The standoff was deadlocked.
Both of them weren’t entirely wrong.
The Dean was thinking of the Academy’s prosperity, and the Director was thinking of national security.
I sat with my chin resting in my hand, listening silently to their dispute.
‘The Global Exchange Tournament, then.’
Either way, I had already decided to go.
Wasn’t it a gathering of geniuses from around the world?
‘There’s no better place to find the materials for the remaining formations.’
My lips curved upward.
If I played these two old men right, there was plenty to squeeze out of them.
“Both of you, that’s enough.”
The first person I looked at was the Dean.
“As you’ve said, Dean, I’ll go. I just need to escort the students, right?”
“Oh, Professor Kang! Is that truly the case?”
Seo Il-hyun’s face brightened, while Kim Hyung-seok’s paled.
“In exchange.”
Kang Hyun extended his index finger.
“I’ll need one Wish Token, like last time.”
The same thing he’d used when Min Seo-jun was admitted early.
“Ha ha ha, of course! If you’ll go, then absolutely! It’s a deal!”
Having received the clear affirmation, Kang Hyun turned his attention to the Director.
“What you dislike is me drawing the world’s attention, isn’t it, Director?”
“Well, yes.”
“Then as long as no one finds out, there’s no problem.”
“Hmm?”
“On the surface, Professor Jin Myung-hun will be the escort. I’ll participate as a tourist and guide from a distance. How does that sound?”
“You’d really do that?”
Kim Hyung-seok’s eyes widened.
If that were the case, he had no grounds to object.
“Yes, but you’ll need to give me something as well, Director.”
“That Wish Token thing?”
“A promise that whatever I ask of the Management Bureau, you’ll grant it—within reason.”
“Hmm….”
Kim Hyung-seok felt as though something had been carefully boxed in, but had no choice but to nod.
“Very well. So it shall be.”

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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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