The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor [Novel] Chapter 26

Chapter 026

Are You Prepared to Give Your Life?

Baek Yuyeon flinched.

‘Sacrifice my life?’

She was already doing just that, but hearing it from Kang Hyeon felt different.

It sounded like a devil demanding a terrible price.

She quickly regained her senses.

‘Why is he asking me this?’

To Yuyeon, asking such a conditional question meant he already had a premise in mind.

“Professor, do you mean…”

She swallowed hard.

“Is there a way to cure my sister?”

[TL/N: Apologies for the confusion everyone It turns out the younger sibling is a sister not a brother The gender wasn’t clearly specified in the previous chapter]

It was impossible.

Even Professor Hwang Yerim had sought advice from renowned overseas experts, yet found no answer.

But Yuyeon desperately hoped Kang Hyeon would say yes.

“There is.”

“…!”

“But it’s as good as none.”

She was confused.

What did that mean?

Kang Hyeon continued.

“To melt away the freezing energy of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians in a single breath, you would need something on the level of the inner core of a Sun Fire Carp. But in this modern era, there’s no way a divine creature that lives for centuries inside boiling magma actually exists.”

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped Yuyeon’s lips.

Professor Hwang Yerim had said the same thing.

To melt the freezing energy blocking the nine acupoints, they would need an elixir possessing a staggering amount of Yang energy.

That was exactly why she had devoted herself so desperately to elixir alchemy.

If such an elixir didn’t exist in the world, she was determined to make it herself.

“As expected, there is no way.”

“I didn’t say there was only one way.”

“Then is there another way?”

“First, can I see your sister?”

“My sister?”

Yuyeon hesitated for a moment.

Her sister was extremely uncomfortable around people.

The long years of battling her illness were partly to blame, but mostly, it was because she couldn’t endure the stares of strangers.

She refused to let anyone into her room other than their parents, Yuyeon, and Professor Hwang Yerim.

But.

‘This professor knows something.’

She thought about everything Kang Hyeon had shown so far.

He had completed the formula for the Ki-Circulating Pill, and his knowledge of Martial Medical Arts seemed profound. He even handled Cha Yusik, the notorious troublemaker among the professors, like a child.

Yuyeon wanted to grasp at straws.

That was how desperate she was.

“…Please follow me.”

* * *

An ordinary apartment in downtown Seoul.

As soon as they opened the front door and stepped inside, a middle-aged woman greeted them.

“Yuyeon, what brings you home at this hour?”

It was Baek Yuyeon’s mother.

Her gaunt face clearly showed the exhaustion of long-term caregiving.

“Mom, where’s Yuseol?”

“She just took her painkillers and barely managed to fall asleep. But who is the gentleman next to you?”

“He’s a professor from the Academy. I brought him to ask for his advice on Yuseol’s symptoms.”

“Oh my, you’re a professor. I’ll bring out some tea immediately.”

“That won’t be necessary. Let’s see your sister first.”

The mother paused at the mention of seeing Yuseol, but Yuyeon hurriedly stroked her arm.

“Mom, I’ll take care of it. You go rest.”

Leaving her mother’s worried gaze behind, Yuyeon cautiously opened the door at the end of the hallway.

A chill rushed out.

Contrary to their mother’s words, a young girl was half-sitting on the bed, reading a book.
‘Hoh.’

A strange light flickered in Kang Hyeon’s eyes.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, a fact that even her pale complexion couldn’t hide. Her skin was so pale and clear it almost seemed translucent, and her features were coldly composed.

If a solitary, noble flower blooming on ice existed, it would look exactly like her.

‘She really has the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.’

A constitution known to grant overwhelming talent and soul-stealing beauty in exchange for an early death.

“Sister?”

At the unfamiliar presence, Baek Yuseol raised her head.

“Yuseol, I’m sorry. This is a professor from the Academy, and he really wanted to see you.”

Just then, Yuseol’s gaze met Kang Hyeon’s.

In that instant.

“…!”

Yuseol’s transparent eyes shook violently.

In truth, there was a specific reason why Yuseol avoided people.

She could read emotions through the eyes of others.

Pity, worry, desire, possessiveness, curiosity…

She wished those emotions were pure, but most people were sticky and disgusting.

‘But.’

This man was different.

Or rather, strange.

‘Is he glad to see me?’

It was the emotion one felt when finally finding something they had been searching for.

Why on earth?

Just as she was bewildered by this completely foreign gaze.

“Ugh.”

Yuseol unknowingly clutched her chest, her brow furrowing.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The moment she looked deep into Kang Hyeon’s eyes, a horrific illusion came crashing in.

It was a living hell where the sky was dyed blood-red.

A man standing alone in the center of an endless mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, reeking of iron. The illusions of seven old masters looking down, crushing that man, and the form of an overwhelming monster tearing through the sky!

“Huff, huff!”

Panting heavily, Yuseol trembled like a leaf.

She saw the traces of unimaginable agony.

She herself had endured the day-and-night torment of a rare disease since she was young. Yet even to her, her own pain felt insignificant compared to the agony this man carried.

Just what kind of life had he lived to harbor such a living hell within his soul?

As Yuseol panted in confusion.

“Let me check your pulse.”

Kang Hyeon abruptly reached out his hand.

Yuseol was extremely averse to physical contact. Whenever anyone other than her family tried to touch her, she would react hysterically and shrink away.

But this time was different.

“…Yes.”

Seeing Yuseol offer her wrist so obediently, Yuyeon’s eyes widened in sheer shock from behind.

‘Yuseol is letting a complete stranger touch her?’

Whether Yuyeon was shocked or not, Kang Hyeon casually placed three fingers on the girl’s thin wrist.

“Don’t try to steady your breathing. Just stay as you are.”

“Yes.”

Silence fell over the room for a moment.

Only Yuseol’s shallow, unstable breathing could be heard.

A short while passed.

Retracting his hand, Kang Hyeon spoke flatly.

“It has progressed quite far. Once the heart meridians close completely, it’s over. It doesn’t look like you have even half a year left.”

Yuyeon’s heart sank at those words.

She already knew.

Lately, the time her sister spent knocked out on painkillers had grown vastly longer than the time she spent awake.

“I-Is there a way? Professor! Please!”

Yuyeon grabbed Kang Hyeon’s sleeve, begging.

“I told you there was.”

“Pardon?”

“But before that.”

Kang Hyeon stared straight at Yuseol.

“Do you want to live?”

Yuseol bit her lip.

Did she want to live?

Throughout her long battle with the illness, she had wanted to give up countless times. There were too many nights when she wished she could just close her eyes and never wake up.

But.

The moment Kang Hyeon asked that question, something hot surged from the very bottom of her chest.

She wanted to live.

Not just breathing and clinging to a thread of life, but like everyone else.

She wanted to run around like the ordinary people on TV. She wanted to run until she was completely out of breath, and she wanted to walk on two healthy legs alongside her sister.

“I want to live.”

“Good. That’s enough.”

Slide.

Kang Hyeon pulled two worn-out old books from his coat and placed them on the bed.

[Extreme Yin Mind Art]
[Moon Zenith Swordsmanship]

The exclusive martial arts created by Seol Muwol herself.

“Master these.”

“…You want me to learn martial arts?”

“You’re probably smarter than the rest, so you’ll catch on quickly. Start by studying the archaic language step by step. Contact me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

The two sisters looked completely dumbfounded.

Telling a patient who couldn’t even walk properly without help to learn martial arts.

But Kang Hyeon’s expression was so confident and serious that they couldn’t even voice a complaint.

“How old are you now?”

“Nineteen. I’m three years younger than my sister.”

“Perfect. You’ll be able to enter the Academy as a freshman next year.”

Yuyeon almost burst into laughter.

It was absolute nonsense.

What kind of place was the National Hunter Academy?

It was a gathering place for monsters who awakened at a young age and trained until they spat blood for over ten years, only to still fail the entrance exam.

And a patient who had spent her entire life lying in bed was going to learn martial arts in just one year and enter the Academy?

“Just by continuously practicing that martial art, your life will be extended. The pain will subside as well.”

If an ordinary person practiced the Extreme Yin Mind Art, their blood would freeze entirely, leading to certain death. It was a vicious martial art that required an immense amount of innate Yin energy.

However, if someone with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians practiced this mind art, it would instead use the freezing energy as fuel. With every circulation of energy, the blocked blood vessels would loosen slightly.

“R-Really?”

“But you can’t be completely cured with just that. To cure it, the Water Luminary Formation is required.”

“The Water Luminary Formation? Is it a type of formation art?”

“Yes. To execute the Water Luminary Formation, one’s knowledge of Martial Medical Arts and acupuncture must truly reach the absolute pinnacle, and the Heavenly Vein Eyes are necessary.”

The Heavenly Vein Eyes weren’t strictly required, but he didn’t bother mentioning that. Anyway, having them would allow the Water Luminary Formation to reach its full potential.

“I mean those eyes of yours that can see the flow of energy.”

“…!”

“From now on, don’t just come at dawn.”

Kang Hyeon dropped his languid gaze, exuding the heavy momentum of an absolute master.

“Come straight to my faculty office and learn from me.”

Only then did Yuyeon realize.

The question he had thrown at her in the training ground.

– Even if it means sacrificing your life entirely?

The true meaning behind those words.

Kang Hyeon was telling her right now.

To abandon any thought of going under Professor Hwang Yerim, and to come solely to him to learn everything.

To bet her life on him.

It was a matter that required deep thought.

Whether she could trust Kang Hyeon’s words was one issue, and turning her back on Professor Hwang Yerim required a firm resolution.

Perhaps he read that hesitation.

Slide.

Kang Hyeon pulled one last secret manual from his coat and tossed it against Yuyeon’s chest.

Hurriedly catching it, Yuyeon checked the cover.

[Comprehensive Theory of the Heavenly Veins]

The secret text of the Mad Doctor; the entire mystery of the human body was contained within this book.

“If you truly intend to learn properly under me.”

Turning around and stepping out the door, Kang Hyeon tossed out his final words.

“Memorize all of it without missing a single syllable within a week. Then, I will accept you as my disciple.”

It was a proposal he could only make because she had an eidetic memory.

The sisters’ mother came out carrying tea, but Kang Hyeon politely declined and left the apartment.

The two sisters stared at each other blankly.

The three secret manuals resting before them.

‘What on earth is all this?’

He had completely stolen their minds with a brief examination.

“Sister, who is that man?”

“Mmm…”

How should she explain it?

Honestly, she wasn’t quite sure herself.

But why was it?

She felt that if she missed this opportunity, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

So she told her.

“…Someone who might just change our lives?”