The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor [Novel] Chapter 35

Chapter 35
You Do Not Have the Qualifications

“A fake?”

Ma Cheolwoong’s expression turned strange.

However, he had already pressed the bid button on the panel.

– 30 Billion! We have 30 Billion!

And he had slammed an extra 5 billion on top of the 25 billion bid.

– Any further bids? 30 Billion! Beginning the countdown! Three, two, one…!

“…Wait.”

Ma Cheolwoong’s eyes wavered.

What was going on?

They had been aggressively driving up the price until now, so why did everyone suddenly stop bidding?

If it went like this…!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

– Congratulations! The original secret manual of the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber has been sold for 30 Billion Won!

Thunderous applause erupted from the first floor.

Normally, he would have jumped for joy.

Even though he brought 32 billion, he had secretly doubted whether he could actually win the bid.

But right now, his mind was so fixated on Kang Hyeon’s words that he could not celebrate.

“What do you mean, brother? That is a fake?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber?”

Ma Cheolwoong did not understand.

“Don’t you have to know the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber to realize that is a fake?”

You had to know the genuine article to recognize a counterfeit.

Staring at him intently, Kang Hyeon sent a telepathic message to Seah.

– Chick.

‘Hiiik?’

Standing next to him, she jumped in surprise.

She had heard of a technique called telepathy, but this was her first time experiencing it.

– Tell him you were the one who figured it out.

Me?

Me?

Seah’s eyes wavered.

Treat an item guaranteed by the US Hunter Association and Daeseong Group as a fake?

Touch that the wrong way, and her life could be ruined.

– Better yet. Let’s use this chance to detonate your reputation as a secret manual translator.

And what about detonating my life?

Seah glanced sideways at Kang Hyeon.

The carefree man sipping his whiskey.

‘Well… he’s Black, a man the nation can’t even control. I’m sure he’ll protect me somehow.’

“I will explain it.”

Seah thought on her feet and stepped forward.

“It seems highly likely that it is a fake.”

“…?”

He tilted his head.

Who are you?

Ma Cheolwoong was also managed by the Special Task Force, but since Seah was a rookie, he had never met her.

“I am Lee Seah. A secret manual translator assisting Sir Kang Hyeon.”

Her throat went dry, and sweat coated her palms.

But?

She had already crossed the line.

‘Ah, I don’t care. Whatever happens, happens!’

* * *

Since he won the bid, Ma Cheolwoong went to retrieve the item first.

“Congratulations on the winning bid, Hunter.”

“Hm.”

The Daeseong employee flinched at his stiff expression as he rubbed his chin.

“By the way.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“What happens if this manual turns out to be a fake?”

“How could that be?”

“There is no law saying it couldn’t be, right?”

“…Daeseong does not auction items whose authenticity has not been verified. If it is proven to be a forgery, we will compensate you three times the winning bid, per the contract clause.”

Three times 30 billion was 90 billion.

Even for Daeseong Group, that was not a sum to take lightly.

“30 billion for now.”

Even Ma Cheolwoong did not trust Kang Hyeon’s words blindly.

He seized the opportunity, so he would take it.

And if it was confirmed as a fake later?

He would squeeze that compensation out of them no matter what.

“Process the payment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Having completed the process and received the manual, Ma Cheolwoong wore an uncomfortable expression.

Judging by the employee’s face, it did not seem like a lie.

Rustle!

Flipping through the pages, the more he skimmed the manual, the more amazed he became.

‘It looks real though?’

The more he read the chants, the more a tyrannical momentum painted itself in his mind.

A man wielding a saber, dyeing his surroundings in a storm of blood.

Thud.

After a rough check, Ma Cheolwoong returned to the second floor.

He was not the type to blindly show the contents of a 30 billion won manual to others.

But since the person who called it a fake was a brother with absurd power, he could not just let it go.

“Miss Translator.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Can you verify it again in front of me?”

“I will try.”

Carefully taking the manual, Seah flipped the page.

– Flip faster. I am watching.

Rustle, rustle!

As the speed of her page-turning increased at the telepathic command, doubt crept into Ma Cheolwoong’s eyes.

‘She translates that fast?’

Of course, Seah could not read a single character.

That was partly why she flipped so fast.

She did not know how long it usually took a normal translator to decipher a single page.

– Recite exactly what I say.

Seah hurriedly cleared her throat and hardened her expression.

Kang Hyeon’s telepathy continued.

– That is trash cleverly cobbled together from three different saber arts of tyrannical nature.

“It seems three different saber arts have been convincingly mixed together.”

– Did they force the consecutive strikes of the Blood Lion Saber over the framework of the Heavenly Wind Saber Arts? They stitched it together by inserting tyrannical chants between the chapters to make it look like a single saber art. A quite elaborate forgery. Enough to fool most people.

Seah recited it word for word.

Ma Cheolwoong’s jaw dropped.

Both saber arts were Grade 3, incredibly difficult to come by… and she figured it out that easily?

“Huu.”

Breathing out roughly, he grabbed the manual.

“I will take this to the Association and get it verified myself.”

Once you obtained a secret manual, mandatory registration with the Association was required.

Naturally, the contents remained classified, but in special situations like this, viewing was permitted.

This fake Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber was registered, and both the Heavenly Wind Saber Arts and the Blood Lion Saber were as well, so verifying its authenticity would be simple.

“Brother, you mentioned you work at the Academy, right? I will contact you again.”

Ma Cheolwoong growled and left the room.

* * *

On the way back to the Academy.

“What are you going to do?”

“About what.”

“Is that manual really a fake?”

“Why would I bother lying about that?”

“That is true.”

The fact that Kang Hyeon knew the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber was no longer that surprising to the two women.

Yuyeon, in particular, had already experienced a new world through the Comprehensive Theory of the Heavenly Veins and the Divine Physician’s Ghost Needles.

“Then who did it? They have some nerve.”

“It probably was not Daeseong.”

Daeseong had nothing to gain from selling fakes.

They dealt in trillions; they would not tank their brand credibility for a mere few tens of billions.

“Then it was the US Hunter Association?”

“Could be, could not be.”

“Pardon?”

“It is one of two things. Either the US Association pulled a scam, or there is a professional syndicate crafting fakes elaborate enough to flawlessly deceive even the US Association’s appraisers. And if this is a scam, they wouldn’t have hit just one place.”

“That makes sense.”

Seah nodded.

“If they are planning to scam a conglomerate, they would aim for one massive score and run before getting caught. Wow, it’s going to be chaos everywhere soon, isn’t it?”

“Pay it no mind. Ma Cheolwoong will handle everything on that end anyway.”

Kang Hyeon turned his gaze out the car window.

He had already read what kind of man Ma Cheolwoong was.

Honest and blunt on the outside, but once he bears his fangs, he is the type who will never let go until his prey stops breathing.

“Once the verification is complete, your reputation will probably skyrocket.”

* * *

At that time, Acanet.

[Hey, hey, hey, guys, did you hear?]

– What?
– Heard the drunkard professor made a bet with the full professors this time.
– Eh? A bet?
– What kind?
– What is it, what is it!

Ten professors had marched into the Dean’s office to complain.

There was no way all of them kept their mouths shut, and rumors naturally began to spread.

[Massive news! The five cadets of the contract professor make the top five using only the Three Calamities Swordsmanship during midterms VS They fail!]

– Note) If they fail, Professor Kang Hyeon is immediately fired.
– For real?
– Is that the bet he made with the full professors? lol
– Top five with the Three Calamities Swordsmanship… Thought it was just a campus ghost story, but I guess it was real.
– Heard ten full professors stormed the Dean’s office as a group.
– Wow, even the Dean can’t block that…
– Good, hated seeing that drunkard professor anyway… Bye, don’t let the door hit you on the way out~

And that rumor reached the ears of the five cadets without fail.

Kwak Dojin immediately created a group chat and invited the cadets.

[Kwak Dojin: (Link) Check this out. It’s a mess right now.]

As if they were all watching, the read count vanished in an instant.

[Yoon Hyeonjong: I saw it too, Senior. That the professor put his position on the line because of us.]
[Kwak Dojin: Exactly, it’s a headache. It’s a burden, but I’m also touched by the professor.]
[Yoon Hyeonjong: Don’t we just have to prove it?]
[Kwak Dojin: Me and Yusik can put up a fight. But you? And the freshman?]
[Han Taeho: I have no problems!]
[Kwak Dojin: Seo Haein, what about you?]

After a brief silence.

[Seo Haein: I will make it happen.]

Everyone else insulted him as a drunkard professor, but the five here knew.

Just how incredible Professor Kang Hyeon was.

How massive of an opportunity it was just to attend his class.

But those damn full professors kept getting in the way!

Trying to kick Professor Kang Hyeon out!

[Cha Yusik: I will be honest.]

Cha Yusik, in particular, was desperate due to the succession battle.

[Cha Yusik: I am sitting in regular class right now, and this is a massive waste of time.]
[Kwak Dojin: You too, Junior Cha?]
[Cha Yusik: Ah, Senior Kwak. I heard a rumor that Baek Yuyeon has been reporting to Professor Kang Hyeon’s office lately. Is that true?]
[Kwak Dojin: Ah, yeah. That’s what I heard. Apparently, she became his official disciple. She dropped all other classes and goes to his office to learn all day.]

The chat paused at those words.

‘What?’

‘Disciple?’

‘…She gets to learn all day?’

What was this emotion?

Betrayal? Disappointment?

Or was it jealousy?

[Cha Yusik: What about us? If I could take the professor’s class, I’m confident I could drop all my others too.]
[Kwak Dojin: Me too.]
[Yoon Hyeonjong: Same here.]
[Han Taeho: Of course.]
[Seo Haein: Me too.]

Seo Haein, especially, found attending classes to be hell after the incident with the professor.

Because the cadets whispered no matter what she did.

[Kwak Dojin: This won’t do. Let’s gather.]
[Yoon Hyeonjong: Gather?]
[Kwak Dojin: Let’s go see the professor.]
[Yoon Hyeonjong: What?]
[Kwak Dojin: Let’s go and tell him. That we want him to keep teaching us too. To accept us as disciples.]

As if all five shared the same thought, they quickly united and marched to the faculty office in high spirits.

“Professor!”

When Kwak Dojin shouted.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

Just as the rumor said, Baek Yuyeon was practicing acupuncture in there.

With the 300 million won needles she received as a gift.

“What brings you all here?”

Kang Hyeon, who was writing a manual with his brush, asked indifferently.

At that apathetic question, Cha Yusik stepped forward representing the five.

Both of his fists were clenched tight.

“We heard you put your professorship on the line because of us.”

“Why would that be because of you?”

“Pardon?”

“And if you’re worried about that, you shouldn’t be here. You should be swinging your wooden swords even one more time.”

“Instead of that, please teach us directly, Professor.”

“What?”

“We will drop all our regular classes too.”

“That’s right!”

Kwak Dojin, standing next to him, also stepped up.

“Why is Yuyeon the only one you accepted as a disciple? Accept us as well!”

“Please accept us!”

Yoon Hyeonjong, Han Taeho, and Seo Haein bowed their heads in unison.

Startled, Baek Yuyeon blinked.

That unyielding Cha Yusik bowing his head like that?

Following Ma Cheolwoong, she was witnessing many miraculous sights lately.

A brief silence fell.

Slip.

Kang Hyeon set his brush down.

He slowly swept his gaze over the bowing cadets, then shook his head.

“You do not yet possess the qualifications to become my disciples.”