Who the Hell Would Commit Such an Insane Act?
He saw a student thrashing around and vomiting blood.
Behind him stood Lee Seah, who had somehow heard the commotion and rushed over.
Her horrified expression seemed to scream.
‘What on earth are you planning to do?!’
“Hoo.”
He let out a short sigh.
The reason he had tolerated the professors causing such an uproar until now was simple.
He wanted to survive and live peacefully in South Korea, on the Earth he had longed to return to.
He wanted to adapt and follow the rules of this world.
And apparently, the rules here dictated that a mere professor applicant should never step forward in a situation like this.
“What nonsense are you spewing right now? His heart will burst?!”
The professor who tried to block him shouted, veins popping in his neck.
For a fleeting moment, Kang Hyeon’s lips twisted into a sneer, and his genuine thoughts nearly spilled out.
‘You idiots. If you block the hole with sheer force, where do you think the trapped smoke in a burning house will go? Naturally, it will reverse its flow and burst straight through the weakest point—the heart.’
Yet he held it in.
He recalled the warning the chick had hammered into him on their way here.
“You must not speak informally there like you did to me! You must use strict formal language no matter what! Understood? You said you wanted to become a professor. If you cause another accident here, even the Management Bureau won’t be able to save you!”
Honestly, it felt awkward.
He had plummeted into Murim at the age of thirteen and used only Chinese for 20 years.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know Korean formal language, but it refused to roll off his tongue naturally.
But what else could he do?
This was merely another inevitable trial he had to endure to properly adapt to this world.
“His energy is twisted once at the Middle Cavity and twice at the Expectation Gate.”
“What?! How could you know that?!”
Normally, it was impossible to know without checking the pulse.
Yet Kang Hyeon had learned his medical arts from the Mad Hand, a lunatic old man who had imparted his teachings even to the Divine Physician, Demonic Physician, and the Medicine Immortal.
The Mad Hand, one of the seven old men who had trained him, read the flow of qi with a mere glance and diagnosed diseases through scent.
“Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you, but shouldn’t we save the student first?”
“What are you trying to do?!”
Head Professor Jin Myeonghun stepped forward, but lacking the luxury of time, Kang Hyeon strode toward the agonizing student.
He pressed his hand roughly two inches below the navel, directly onto the Sea of Qi acupoint.
“W-Wait! What are you doing?!”
The eyes of the student watching the situation filled with terror.
Look at that.
If it were actual Qi Deviation, the victim wouldn’t even have the mental capacity to comprehend the situation.
“You lunatic! That’s his energy core!”
“What kind of insane bastard dares to lay a hand on the energy core of someone suffering from Qi Deviation?! Step away from him right this instant!”
The professors erupted in chaos.
‘It’s so loud I could die.’
Kang Hyeon paid no attention to their buzzing voices, treating them like a swarm of flies, and struck the acupoint.
“Kghk!”
A clump of dark red blood erupted from the student’s mouth like a geyser.
Splat!
The droplets of blood that splattered everywhere dyed the training ground floor crimson.
After vomiting blood, the student collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
‘Treatment complete.’
Through his strike just now, the twisted blood vessels had been flawlessly unknotted.
However.
“Y-You crazy bastard! You actually killed the student!”
The training ground descended into chaos.
Even Lee Seah, who was watching from the far entrance, turned pale and covered her mouth in horror.
Just then.
Clang!
A sharp metallic clang rang out.
Jin Myeonghun had drawn his blade.
“How dare you murder an Academy student?! I will hold you responsible for this catastrophe!”
Radiating a lethal aura as he closed the distance, Kang Hyeon merely stared at him blankly.
Normally, the moment he drew that weapon, his head would have flown off.
Because that was the brutal way of the Murim he had inhabited for 20 years.
In that brief, tense moment, Kang Hyeon pondered.
Should he follow the violent instincts ingrained by Murim, or the rationale required by Earth?
Amidst that cold contemplation, the one who ultimately saved Jin Myeonghun was none other than the Dean.
“Stop, Professor Jin!”
He decisively blocked Jin Myeonghun’s path.
The Dean’s expression seemingly screamed.
‘Please just stay still! Unless you genuinely want to die!’
“Dean!”
“Sheathe your sword! You are far too agitated right now.”
“B-But didn’t this bastard just strike the student dead?!”
“Even if that were true, do you have any valid justification to draw your sword right now?”
“…”
Jin Myeonghun was rendered speechless by the Dean’s reprimand.
“Dean! Are you taking the side of an outsider you just met?! Is it perhaps because he has strong ties to the Management Bureau?!”
“Do not cross the line.”
The Dean’s voice sank low.
The gaze of the old Dean who always smiled cheerfully turned heavy.
“Even if that man harmed the student, it is up to the Academy’s Disciplinary Committee and the Association’s Inspection Bureau to investigate and dish out the punishment. It is absolutely not a matter for a mere professor to personally draw his sword and pass judgment.”
“Urgh.”
“Sheathe that blade right this instant. Unless my words mean nothing to you.”
Jin Myeonghun’s face contorted at the Dean’s warning.
Right as he reluctantly moved to sheathe his sword.
Cough!
A cough shattered the heavy silence in the center of the training ground.
Everyone’s gaze instantly shifted toward the floor.
Cough, kghk!
The body of the student, who had collapsed covered in blood, suddenly convulsed, and he spat out a heavy breath.
Then, he slowly staggered and pushed his upper body up.
His pale face was slowly regaining its color, and the rampaging energy that threatened to burst out had calmed down.
Huff, huff.
Panting heavily, the student touched his chest and stomach as he mumbled blankly.
“I-It doesn’t hurt…”
Even the Dean was astonished by the sight.
No, everyone who witnessed that scene wore a dumbfounded expression.
“H-He lived?”
“He cured Qi Deviation simply by striking the energy core?”
“What on earth… is this?”
The Dean was the one who swiftly took control of the situation.
Code Name: Black was a classified national secret.
The Dean knew better than anyone that drawing unnecessary attention would yield no benefits.
“What are you all doing?! Move the student to the medical center immediately and let him rest!”
At the Dean’s thunderous command, the professors frantically supported the student and rushed out of the training ground.
Having organized the situation, the Dean discreetly turned to face Kang Hyeon.
“Ahem. Mr. Kang Hyeon?”
“You can just call me Hyeon.”
“Haha, is that so? I apologize for making you experience such an unpleasant commotion.”
“It is fine. Thanks to you, it was resolved cleanly.”
“Thank you for handling the student. It might be slightly bothersome, but would you mind waiting in the reception room? We will resume our discussion as soon as everything is settled.”
“Understood.”
* * *
Medical Center.
Professor Hwang Yerim, who had just rushed back from her business trip, carefully checked the student’s pulse.
“He is stable.”
The tension drained from the shoulders of the faculty members awaiting the results at her calm voice.
“You said someone struck the Sea of Qi? That was a precise emergency measure. There are distinct traces of twisting near the Middle Cavity and Expectation Gate. In such cases, you must open the pathway of qi and blood and make them vomit the blocked dead blood all at once.”
Admiration lingered in Hwang Yerim’s eyes.
Even if someone possessed the theoretical knowledge, they needed a profound mastery over energy medical arts to execute such a flawless treatment.
“Who was it?”
“…”
“Who prescribed such a flawless treatment?”
Utter silence.
Neither Jin Myeonghun nor the other professors dared to open their mouths.
To discover that the very method they had criticized turned out to be perfect!
Just how humiliating was this?!
At that moment.
The Dean, who had been quietly observing the situation with his arms crossed, opened his mouth.
“Professor Hwang. Let me ask you one thing.”
“Yes, Dean.”
“If…”
The Dean’s gaze shifted toward the stiffened faces of the faculty members.
“If someone had deployed a Qi Net from the outside to suppress the true qi. What would have happened to this student?”
Rather than shifting blame, it was meant to highlight the reality.
“Hmm.”
Professor Hwang’s brow furrowed slightly.
Her answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“Who the hell would commit such an insane act?”
“…”
“If external pressure is applied when the twisted energy has already lost its path and is wildly rampaging, it will reverse its flow straight toward the weakest point, the heart. If that happened… the heart meridian would have burst, leading to instant death.”
Jin Myeonghun’s legs staggered.
He had almost killed the student himself, and the parachute hire he had drawn his sword against was actually the benefactor who rescued the boy.
The Dean did not ask any further questions.
What could those professors who only knew how to blindly swing swords possibly know?
He understood that their intentions to save the student were also genuine.
However.
“I believe the applicant’s qualifications as a professor have been sufficiently verified with this, so what does everyone think?”
He needed to use this momentum to crush the remaining opposition.
Not a single professor answered.
Even if they possessed ten mouths, they likely wouldn’t have a single word to say.
Because Kang Hyeon had cleaned up their mistake.
“Then, I will accept that as full agreement.”
Jin Myeonghun bit his lip as he watched the Dean nod and walk out.
He reluctantly acknowledged this particular incident.
However.
Whether possessing a little medical knowledge proved his qualifications to stand at the podium was an entirely different issue.
‘Let’s see you try. Let’s see if that medical knowledge of yours actually works while teaching.’
Jin Myeonghun turned away, suppressing the rage boiling inside him.
* * *
“Mr. Kang Hyeon! No, I suppose I should call you Professor now!”
Inside the car heading back to the safe house.
Lee Seah, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, made a huge fuss.
Kang Hyeon, sitting silently in the backseat, held the Special Professor Appointment Letter handed to him by the Dean.
National Hunter Academy
Special Professor Appointment Letter
Name: Kang Hyeon
Position: Special Professor
Course: Special Guidance
Employment Period: 1 Year
The above individual is officially appointed as a Special Professor of the National Hunter Academy.
Dean of the National Hunter Academy, Seo Ilhyeon (Seal)
‘Special Guidance.’
They mentioned it was scheduled exactly for two hours on a single day, Saturday.
They requested his understanding that since he was not a full-time professor, they could not assign him a major subject, so he simply agreed.
“That was genuinely incredible! How on earth did you know without even checking his pulse? When you struck his energy core, he vomited blood and instantly came back to life! Did you see the expression on that guy called Professor Jin Myeonghun or whatever?!”
Chatter, chatter.
Lee Seah’s mouth moved endlessly through the rearview mirror.
Initially, she trembled just making eye contact, but she seemed to have become more comfortable now.
Kang Hyeon didn’t even bother responding.
He simply.
Gulp, gulp.
Chugged the whiskey in the backseat as if it were mere bottled water.
“Kuh.”
He suppressed the agonizing pain in his energy core and the demonic aura of Asura using the liquor.
“And you did incredibly well! You strictly used formal language until the very end, just as I begged. But ‘step aside’… was a bit.”
[TL/N: “Step aside” reflects an old-fashioned, overly formal Korean phrase. Lee Seah is joking about how unnatural it sounds.]
“Hey.”
Kang Hyeon struck the back of the front seat, deeply furrowing his brows.
“Y-Yes?!”
“It’s loud, so just drive faster.”
A faint groan of agony mixed in at the end of his words.
The quick-witted Lee Seah immediately caught it.
‘Gasp, again.’
She hastily stole a quick glance at Kang Hyeon’s pale face through the rearview mirror.
‘As expected.’
Black was undoubtedly suffering from a severe illness somewhere.
Lee Seah slammed on the accelerator. Vrooom!
“Are you alright? If it hurts severely…”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said be quiet.”
“Yes.”
Shortly after, they arrived at the safe house.
Slam!
The door shut.
For some inexplicable reason, Lee Seah felt that Kang Hyeon’s back looked incredibly desolate.
Just what on earth is it?
Why does he refuse to show it?
When he could effortlessly pop the Leviathan with a single flick of his hand.
Lee Seah slowly began to grow curious about what kind of hell he was enduring all alone to act like that.
Comment