Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Professor's Surrender
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"Volume 2, Appendix on the Formative Foundations of the German Constitution, page 38, third line onward: three sources cited to illustrate views on the burden of proof in German law. Volume 2, page 140: explanation of the scope and extent of negligence pursued in recent German case law."
"What the hell are you doing right now?"
"I'm reciting the sources that were quoted without permission from the original authors or used without translation approval."
"Sh-shut up!"
"Volume 3, Rule of Law in the Basic Law, page 48 from the first line to the end of the paragraph. Page 61, all cited content. Volume 4 is truly astonishing—it's unclear if translation permission was obtained from the original author at all. It happens occasionally, but if formally reported..."
"Stop!"
"I haven't even touched on Volume 1, your main reference book, and you want me to stop?"
Professor Yoo Dong-hee seemed to have lost all reason. His outburst was captured fully on video by the students, and only then did he grasp the situation and start screaming.
"Stop filming! Stop it! I said stop filming, you bastards!"
Despite his ravings, the students kept recording, buzzing with excitement and refusing to let up.
The students' fury, now fully awakened to Professor Yoo's misdeeds, spread like wildfire, cornering him like a rat in a trap.
Kang Hyun stepped closer to Professor Yoo. With each step Kang Hyun took, he seemed to grow larger while Yoo shrank smaller.
"I gave you a chance, but you refused it."
"I'll explain. It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding? Do you really think anyone here would buy that?"
Kang Hyun swept his gaze around the room as he spoke.
"I'll pursue every violation of copyright law connected to you, Professor. By the time this long fight is over, you might finally realize your mistakes."
Yoon Chan-rim sat frozen in his seat, unable to even blink as he watched the scene.
'Kang Hyun.' In his eyes, Kang Hyun loomed like a towering mountain. He was overwhelming the professor, silencing him completely, while forcing him into a corner where he had no choice but to reflect.
"W-wait a second! Calm down, let's resolve this through dialogue! Dialogue!"
"Dialogue? Sure, dialogue sounds great."
Only then did Kang Hyun smile with satisfaction at having led things exactly as planned.
"This is your last chance to admit everything yourself, Professor. And conveniently, the victims—your students—are right here in front of you."
Professor Yoo flinched under Kang Hyun's piercing gaze, pushed back until he stumbled onto the podium again. He raised both hands wide as if to resist, opening his mouth to speak, but when he glanced around at the students' sharp stares, fear overtook him. Then, stammering, he began. "...Everyone." The students held their breath, watching intently to see what would come out of Professor Yoo's mouth. The lecture hall was packed, their eyes fierce. "...I'm sorry. I'll cancel this class. Another professor will take over the required course later." When words no one ever thought they'd hear from Professor Yoo echoed through the room, the students stared at him in shock. In the tense, urgent atmosphere, no one dared respond or nod vigorously, playing it safe. But their hands were busy.
- Huge scandal! Prof. Yoo canceling class!
- Insane, he's been plagiarizing and selling it expensive all this time!
- He's getting roasted right now.
News spread across every SNS platform, university bulletin boards, and the 'Eta' app, erupting with student posts.
Professor Yoo's words and the incident propagated at the speed of light.
"...?" Amid it all, Kang Hyun felt a itch on the back of his head and glanced behind him. Someone was staring at him with burning eyes—Yoon Chan-rim, who had been peeking out from his seat.
"Hyung, you're the best!"
Yoon Chan-rim shot a venomous glance at the thoroughly crushed Professor Yoo, then gave Kang Hyun a thumbs-up. Having witnessed Kang Hyun pinning down the professor with pure logic, he looked at him with eyes sparkling in admiration and respect. But Kang Hyun, seemingly indifferent, strode out of the lecture hall with the air of someone whose business was done. The students, including Yoon Chan-rim, were left dumbfounded by his exit. Kang Hyun had demolished entrenched school customs and traditions head-on in one fell swoop, but his calm departure left no room even for applause.
The incident reached its climax in a head-on clash between Kang Hyun, who had drawn his sword, and the petty Professor Yoo—ending dramatically in Kang Hyun's victory.
It was like a scene straight out of a drama or movie.
Whether out of self-inflicted shame or fear that his "perfect" crime would be exposed, Professor Yoo swiftly resigned from his professorship and vanished.
Strangely, the moment this label stuck to him, the media sprang into action as if they'd been waiting.
Plagiarism, inserting books by family and friends, conspiracy theories about taking bribes to favor campus businesses.
At the center of the rumors was reporter Jeong Eun-seong.
Jeong's outlet published a massive front-page article covering Yoo's disappearance alongside the Korea University photocopy room scandal, ultimately triggering an internal investigation.
As the case unfolded this way, Yi Mi-yeon simultaneously escaped the media's arrows.
The press also began fiercely whipping the pattern of professors abusing power for personal gain.
This atmosphere ignited further, becoming a hot topic among students.
Of course, Kang Hyun's actions wouldn't uproot every evil custom in Korean society. But even so, what he did was far from small or meaningless.
Like a small stone tossed into a pond creating massive ripples, his influence was sure to grow.
And Kang Hyun had one final task left.
It would take a long time, be tedious, and no one could predict if it was even feasible.
But to put a proper end to this incident, it had to be done.
"Ever been to a PC bang?"
"Of course! What do you take me for? I love games, hyung!"
The large PC bang in front of the school.
Kang Hyun and Yoon Chan-rim wove through the noisy crowd of students to a quiet corner seat.
Kang Hyun had once enjoyed gaming and hanging out thoughtlessly with friends at PC bangs, but after a pivotal experience that steeled his resolve, this was his first time back.
Plus, his hands were full of Professor Yoo's textbooks.
The unusual sight drew eyes to the books, then instinctively to the tall, handsome duo of Kang Hyun and Yoon Chan-rim.
"Honestly, it's been ages for me. A few years? Anyway, I've been too busy to come."
Yoon Chan-rim said that, then pondered intently over the remote order screen: jjajang ramen, tteokbokki, mini pork cutlet, and more.
"I'll cover today. Order what you want."
"Got it!"
"And thanks for helping out despite being busy. This doesn't look like it'll wrap up in a day or two."
"I saw it as a good cause, so I'm grateful you offered me the chance, hyung."
The "good cause" Yoon Chan-rim mentioned.
And the task Kang Hyun deemed essential to cap off this incident.
It was creating and distributing an alternative resource packet to replace Professor Yoo's books.
No matter how the case turned out, Yoo was a prominent scholar in the field. Even if he faced legal judgment after vanishing, his books would keep selling in academia and to students.
Copyright violations or not.
Kang Hyun couldn't let that stand.
His own work might pale compared to decades of expertise from field specialists, but in this chaotic time, it could serve as a useful stopgap for students and a reference for anyone interested in the subject.
It was entirely feasible with Kang Hyun's abilities. The issue was the time it would take.
But when Yoon Chan-rim learned of it and jumped in to help, Kang Hyun was overjoyed.
'It won't be easy...' The field of "German Constitution" involved pulling constitutional articles and interpretations from the source country, adding personal annotations, or presenting related theories, doctrines, terminology, and approaches from papers. Over 80% came from translations. Meaning, producing translations free of copyright issues would be a solid success. 'Under copyright law, common elements in books or papers, or materials based on those theories, lack copyright. But explanations of discussed theories and issues, expressed in the author's unique way, exhibit creativity and thus hold copyright.' The challenge was resolving countless copyright hurdles.
"Now we'll interpret the entire German Constitution, create original text annotations in footnotes, compile it, and distribute to students. That way, we dodge all the copyright issues with Yoo's books."
"What about overseas original authors' copyrights?"
"We'll get approvals one by one via email or SNS. Most are active professors with lively communication, so we can secure consents at a pace that keeps the work flowing."
"I'll help as much as I can."
Yoon Chan-rim was fluent in German at a native level. To Kang Hyun, it was like gaining an army. He was also excellent in English and Japanese, but his German—honed from long years abroad—extended to cultural nuances, idiomatic expressions, everything. Without him, Kang Hyun would've had to hunt English translations of originals, complicating copyrights and dragging out the timeline.
"Alright, let's start."
"Yep. Looking forward to working with you, hyung."
"No, I'm the one grateful. We'll be seeing a lot of each other."
With that, the massive undertaking to wrap up the incident finally began. Creating a resource packet that erased "Professor Yoo"—tied to his books by not a single copyright. First up: sorting papers. Famous ones were often already translated into Korean and freely distributable, needing no extra editing. But papers from lesser-known German scholars or obscure citations for novel points naturally lacked translations. So, they had to identify materials needing new translations first. Hands flew as they cross-checked sources and scoured overseas sites.
"Not easy."
What they'd hoped would stack up smoothly saw their resolve tested after two weeks of sluggish progress.
But Kang Hyun and Yoon Chan-rim had committed fully upon sitting down. And they weren't alone.
Second week passed, third week.
A full month went by.
Time flew like an arrow, constantly tempting them to quit. Piling assignments, classes, studies—they began tightening around their necks.
Kang Hyun's load was heavier.
Endless weekday classes, nighttime part-time jobs.
Sometimes, utterly drained after classes, before heading to Han Hyun-ho's meat restaurant, he'd burn his precious spare couple of hours on errands for Professor Kim Jong-hwan.
Even when Yoo officially began police questioning, Professor Kim said nothing to Kang Hyun.