Chapter 9

You Have Just Crossed Death

Saturday morning.

Professor Hwang Ye-rim was enjoying the rare luxury of sleeping in at her faculty residence when her tablet suddenly blared with a loud alarm.

“Mmm…”

Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she checked the screen.

[Emergency Call!]
[Multiple patients admitted to the infirmary!]

“…On a weekend morning?”

Throwing on her white coat, she hurried to the infirmary.

The place was already in complete chaos.

Cadets occupied every bed, wrapped tightly in blankets as they trembled uncontrollably.

“What happened here?”

She grabbed the nurse on duty.

“The cadets all came in together, but there aren’t any signs of external or internal injuries. It doesn’t look like qi deviation either.”

“What about their pulse?”

“It’s unstable. Their heart rates keep spiking, and their breathing is irregular. It seems they’ve all suffered severe psychological trauma.”

Hwang Ye-rim’s expression darkened.

Something serious enough to leave an entire group like this…

In the middle of the Academy?

She approached the cadet who appeared to be in the best condition.

His eyes were unfocused, but he could at least speak.

“You. What’s your name?”

“Twenty-first class… Yoo Sang-cheol.”

“A freshman, then. What happened?”

“I… I went to attend a class.”

A class?

Her brow twitched.

“Which class?”

“The Saturday special lecture. Special Guidance Studies.”

“…Ah.”

She knew exactly which one.

The lecture taught by the contract professor who had become the hottest topic in the Academy.

“What happened during the class?”

“The professor drew a line.”

“…A line?”

“Yes. He used his sword to draw a line on the ground… then told us to cross it.”

“And?”

“He said that anyone who crossed it was qualified to receive his teachings… and anyone who couldn’t never had to attend his class again.”

His pupils trembled.

“But then…”

“I thought I was going to die.”

“…”

“I mean it. It wasn’t just scary… I really felt like my head was about to be cut off right there. I honestly tried to cross it… but my legs wouldn’t move. My whole body froze…”

His voice cracked in frustration.

Without a word, Hwang Ye-rim checked his pulse again.

It was still unstable…

But calmer than before.

His body isn’t damaged.

His dantian was perfectly healthy.

There wasn’t a single trace of damaged meridians.

“The professor didn’t actually touch you?”

“N-No. He just… stood there.”

That made even less sense.

He hadn’t struck them.

He hadn’t injected qi into their bodies.

He hadn’t disrupted their meridians.

Yet merely by releasing his presence, he had sent this many cadets to the infirmary?

That’s impossible.

And…

She carefully circulated a strand of her own qi through his body.

Her eyes widened.

The qi flowing through his blood vessels is unusually pure…

It resembled the condition of someone who had just consumed a rare spiritual herb or elixir.

Impossible.

Nah… I must be imagining things.

Standing up, she checked another cadet.

Then another.

The result was identical.

“…Seriously?”

She stared blankly.

He purified the impurities in their qi channels… with nothing but killing intent?

Not perfectly…

But still.

It completely defied common sense.

Just what… happened out there?

The training grounds.

Kang Hyun looked down at the five cadets who had managed to cross the line and were now gasping for breath.

“Pathetic.”

His gaze settled on Cha Yoo-sik.

Hadn’t he confidently claimed he could easily defeat any student here?

Well?

Had he gotten his answer?

“…”

Cha Yoo-sik couldn’t even lift his head.

It wasn’t shame.

He simply felt that if he opened his mouth, he would throw up.

Crazy…

The first wave of killing intent had been bearable.

Barely.

But that had only been the beginning.

One step.

Then another.

The closer he got to the line…

The denser the killing intent became.

The moment I crossed it…

He had vividly felt his own head being cleanly severed.

Honestly… I thought I died.

Even now, he couldn’t tell.

Am I already dead?

Is this all just an illusion after death?

“Y-You…”

Cha Yoo-sik finally forced the words out.

“What… are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m just a parachuted contract professor.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Though Cha Yoo-sik snapped back, Kang Hyun answered indifferently.

“Does it matter?”

“I said I’d teach those willing to become stronger.”

“And I clearly stated the condition.”

“Only those prepared to face death should come.”

His eyes slowly swept across the five survivors.

“And…”

His deep voice echoed across the training ground.

“You have just crossed death.”

All five cadets flinched and looked up at him.

Kang Hyun smiled.

He liked those eyes.

“Good.”

“Now you finally have eyes worth teaching.”

Completely different from the fifteen who had frozen in terror.

These five still carried fear…

But beneath it burned stubborn determination.

They looked like people willing to fight no matter what.

At the very least… these aren’t the type who would commit suicide the moment they laid eyes on an Asura.

In other words…

They were worth teaching.

“So.”

“As promised…”

“I’ll teach you how to become stronger.”

He reached into his coat and pulled out an unopened bottle of whiskey.

“Tomorrow.”

“Six in the morning.”

“Training grounds.”

“Be there.”

“B-But tomorrow’s Sunday…”

Kwak Do-jin muttered hoarsely from where he had crawled across the ground.

Kang Hyun ignored him.

Come.

Or don’t.

It was entirely their choice.

After all…

It wasn’t an official class.

“Ghah…”

Taking another long swig straight from the bottle, he wiped the liquor from his lips with the back of his hand.

“The whiskey tastes especially good today.”

Then he walked away.

None of the remaining five spoke a single word until his figure disappeared completely.

Despite it being the weekend, the rumors spread like wildfire.

The disturbance at the infirmary had already caught the attention of countless students.

“Hey, did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“That Saturday special lecture.”

“Special Guidance Studies? The one taught by the contract professor?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

“Everyone who attended ended up in the infirmary.”

“What? Why?”

“No idea. Maybe the professor beat them up?”

Back in the day, rumors traveled a thousand miles without legs.

Nowadays…

A few fingers on a keyboard could spread them ten thousand miles.

AcaNet

Posts soon flooded the cadet-exclusive online community.

Did the professor beat the students?

Apparently not. The nurse said there weren’t any injuries.

Wait, wasn’t that class supposed to be canceled?

Nope. The Dean personally assigned the problem students to it.

Seriously?? That’s allowed?

Well… he’s the Dean. If anyone can do it, he can.

I heard Cha Yoo-sik and Mad Dog were there too.

Cha Yoo-sik??

No way.

Damn.

Did Cha Yoo-sik also end up in the infirmary?

No, he wasn’t there.

Maybe Cha Yoo-sik beat everyone up?

Nah. If anyone did, it’d be Mad Dog. Cha Yoo-sik’s actually pretty polite toward other students.

There wasn’t much real information.

Most of it was speculation.

Still…

The uproar eventually reached Jin Myung-hoon’s ears.

After straightening his clothes, he immediately headed for the Dean’s office.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in.”

“Dean.”

“I figured you’d be coming.”

Dean Seo Il-hyun calmly sipped his tea.

His relaxed attitude only irritated Jin Myung-hoon even more.

“If it weren’t for you, that course would already have been shut down.”

“Why are you insisting on protecting it?”

“Sit down first.”

“Anyone listening would think you had some personal grudge against Professor Kang.”

Jin Myung-hoon’s frown deepened.

Instead of sitting, he remained standing.

“I’m speaking as the Head Professor.”

“A single loach has suddenly fallen into the Academy and is throwing everything into disorder.”

“If I ignore it, I’d be neglecting my duties.”

Seo Il-hyun quietly looked at him.

You fool.

That man isn’t a loach.

He’s a dragon.

“What order has Professor Kang disrupted?”

“I can’t even count them all.”

“He drinks alcohol on campus.”

“He sent students to the infirmary.”

“And I heard he expelled fifteen cadets simply because he judged them unqualified.”

“Hmm.”

Setting down his teacup, the Dean asked calmly,

“Professor Jin.”

“Did Professor Kang lay a hand on any of them?”

“…What?”

“Did he swing his sword and injure anyone?”

“…No.”

“I heard he merely released killing intent.”

“The cadets here are supposed to be the finest elite in South Korea.”

“If they collapse in terror because they can’t endure a professor’s mere aura…”

“Is that Professor Kang’s fault?”

“…”

“Shouldn’t they instead be ashamed that their weakness has been exposed?”

“What will they do inside a real dungeon?”

“Complain about regulations and abuse while monsters tear them apart?”

Unable to answer, Jin Myung-hoon merely bit his lip.

“The matter of expelling students is the same.”

“The professor in charge has every right to determine who can and cannot be taught.”

“Besides…”

“Weren’t those seventeen students the very ones all of you had already given up on?”

“…”

“I’ll warn him about drinking.”

“But, Professor Jin.”

The Dean’s gaze turned cold.

“A piece of advice.”

“Mind your own responsibilities.”

“Dean…”

“Professor Kang is only here on a one-year contract.”

“Does it really suit the Head Professor to become this obsessed over one contract instructor’s special lecture?”

“…”

“I trust I’ve made myself clear.”

“You’re dismissed.”

Faced with the unmistakable order to leave, Jin Myung-hoon’s fists trembled with rage.

Meanwhile…

At the safe house.

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

Lee Se-ah held her tablet and clutched her head.

“Making this kind of incident on your very first day of teaching…”

“Enough whining.”

“Read me the list.”

“The list?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s time I looked at them properly.”

“I thought you said you didn’t need to.”

“Last time there were people mixed in who weren’t worth looking at.”

“…One moment.”

After tapping her tablet a few times, she displayed the profiles of the five survivors.

Cha Yoo-sik
Kwak Do-jin
Yoon Hyun-jong
Han Tae-ho
Seo Hae-in

“Let’s start with Cha Yoo-sik.”

“Go ahead.”

“He’s famous even among the public. He’s the second son of the Cheonrang Guild Master.”

“Cheonrang?”

“One of the three major guilds.”

“His older brother, Cha Doo-sik, graduated first in the Academy’s 17th class.”

“The two brothers have been fighting viciously over the succession.”

“After Cha Yoo-sik got suspended, everyone considers him to have basically lost.”

“Tsk.”

“So he still hasn’t fixed that temper.”

“…What?”

“Nothing.”

“Next.”

“Kwak Do-jin.”

“Nickname: Mad Dog.”

“Twenty-one disciplinary actions.”

“And he was even held back this year.”

“With that many violations, shouldn’t he have been expelled already?”

“Apparently there’s a story behind it.”

“All those punishments happened during his third year.”

“Until his second year, he was known as an exceptionally kind student.”

“Really?”

A faint smile appeared on Kang Hyun’s lips.

He remembered Kwak Do-jin crawling desperately across the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face…

Driven only by sheer determination.

If he were just another street punk…

He never would have crawled through that killing intent.

Something burned inside that boy.

Hatred.

Determination.

Or perhaps something even fiercer.

“Next is Yoon Hyun-jong.”

“Oh!”

Lee Se-ah’s voice brightened.

“He’s the student whose dantian you saved!”

“His father owns Taejung Trading.”

“They distribute martial manuals, spiritual medicines, and dungeon relics.”

“A merchant family.”

“Yep.”

“They got rich early by selling dungeon materials, but lately they’ve been losing business to the big corporations backed by major guilds.”

“…Though honestly…”

“I’m kind of jealous.”

“Why?”

“You became the benefactor of a rich heir.”

“Won’t he come back someday carrying piles of spiritual medicine to repay you?”

“He hasn’t.”

“…What an ungrateful student.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Next is Han Tae-ho.”

“He’s a first-year freshman.”

“Almost no information.”

“No powerful family.”

“But since he got into the Academy, he must have some talent.”

“He’ll do fine.”

Because otherwise…

He never would have crossed that line.

“And finally…”

“Oh.”

“A girl.”

Female Hunters—especially combat specialists—made up less than ten percent of the profession.

It was simply too brutal a line of work.

“Seo Hae-in.”

“She’s dead last in her class.”

“No disciplinary record…”

“But every single grade is an F.”

“I honestly think she’s just lacking ability.”

Kang Hyun narrowed his eyes.

He remembered her.

The tiny girl who had crawled desperately across the ground behind Kwak Do-jin, right beside Han Tae-ho.

It’s not that she lacks talent.

She simply never had a teacher capable of recognizing what was wrong with her.

After silently reviewing all their records, Kang Hyun handed the tablet back.

“Oh.”

“Yes?”

“We’re moving out tomorrow.”

“…What?”

“We’re leaving this place.”

“We’re moving into the professors’ residence at the Academy.”

“…You’re abandoning the safe house?”

“Yeah.”

Now that he would be teaching students…

And searching in earnest for suitable vessels…

It would be far more convenient to stay at the Academy full-time.