Why This Professor, of All People?
“Oh, the professor’s at a conference today, so another professor is covering the lecture.”
“Really? Orientation was just next week, and he’s already off somewhere.”
“Still, they said there’d be one substitute lecture and one canceled class. He’s making an effort, I guess.”
We were sitting in the lecture hall, only now noticing the announcement that had been posted on the department bulletin board.
The enthusiastic professor who had left us rattled on orientation day was suddenly taking the day off, and I found myself a little disappointed. I’d been curious what kind of class he would run, but it looked like I’d have to wait a good while to find out.
“But isn’t this just going to be completely basic stuff?”
“Probably. It’ll be things we mostly already know anyway. This is machine learning, after all.”
The class we’d signed up for covered machine learning, including deep learning.
And the product TA Medical was building was an AI that dealt with deep learning.
In plain terms, it was the sort of course we’d chosen because we figured it would be an easy way to earn credits.
“Are we even supposed to be taking this?”
“I do feel a little bad for the people actually taking the class with us.”
“Still, if we want to run a business, we don’t really have a choice.”
“But which professor is covering today?”
None of us knew who the substitute lecturer was.
Maybe that was why the classroom stayed noisy with conversation, even though the professor still hadn’t arrived.
“The professor’s really late, though. Class started ten minutes ago.”
We were still chatting quietly among ourselves when, all of a sudden, the front door of the lecture hall swung open.
“I’m taking attendance. Sit down.”
And then that familiar, unforgettable professor walked in with a sullen expression.
“What the hell.”
“This isn’t even a class with Ji Minhwan in it, so why is he here?”
“Ugh, even after all this time, that face still makes me angry.”
The professor who was tangled up in every rumor surrounding Ji Minhwan’s family.
Of all people, he had walked into our class.
“Kim Siwon.”
“Yes.”
Even having my name called for attendance didn’t exactly improve my mood.
I had knocked Ji Minhwan down a peg at the last Hackathon, sure, but he wasn’t the kind of person I wanted to keep seeing on good terms, coolly or otherwise.
“Hmm. Attendance’s done, and look at this—some of the students who always show up on our university banners are here.”
The professor suddenly mentioned us, and the students in the lecture hall glanced our way before looking back at him.
We just managed a few strained smiles.
There wasn’t much else to say.
“Wow, now that you’ve started a company, you don’t even bother answering your professor?”
But then the professor suddenly picked a fight with us.
He was smiling when he said it, but anyone could hear the real meaning underneath.
“I was just embarrassed. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
I answered politely, wearing a quick professional smile.
But it didn’t look like he had any intention of letting it go.
“Then you must know machine learning pretty well, right? You’re the ones making and handling deep learning products. Isn’t that so?”
As expected, this conversation was going to go on for a while.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I kept my answer short so he wouldn’t have anything to seize on.
But the professor seemed determined to keep dragging the conversation out.
“Then you can’t just be at the level of ordinary students, can you? You should know how deep learning is actually being applied in the real world. That’s the sort of thing you need if you’re going to throw yourself into that field and call it a business!”
To be precise, he looked like he just wanted to pick a fight.
His voice had even gotten louder, so there was no reason to expect anything remotely gentlemanly from him.
“Yes, that’s right.”
And, just as I expected, he kept pushing.
“Then you’d know all about how places like Google are trying to use deep learning, wouldn’t you?”
This was before AlphaGo had become a nationwide sensation.
So naturally, asking undergraduates about corporate applications of deep learning was already a bit much.
And to bring up Google as a specific example, no less.
He was basically telling me not to answer vaguely.
“Well, you’re the one claiming to run a business. Of course you’d know. Why don’t you share something you know with your classmates?”
I was speechless at his so-called friendly question.
I had no idea why he was turning valuable class time—time paid for by everyone’s tuition—into some petty contest of ego.
“Would you like me to talk about Professor Andrew Ng at Stanford University, or would you prefer an explanation of Google Brain, Google Research’s in-house deep learning team? I happen to have a great deal of respect for Professor Ng.”
So instead of giving a vague answer, I gave him a specific one.
Pathetic man.
He must have been hoping I’d just stammer and freeze up.
“Oh. Andrew Ng, huh. So you’ve heard the name.”
“Of course. He’s the one who used GPUs, which had mostly been used for graphics processing, to implement AI models. He’s someone I hope to meet someday.”
At my answer, the professor’s expression seemed to break.
He was smiling, but the smile belonged to someone who had just received the answer he absolutely did not want.
“I have a lot of respect for Jeff Dean and Greg Corrado as well. I’ve also kept a steady interest in venture companies working in artificial intelligence beyond Google.”
I was about to go on to DeepMind Technologies, but I stopped myself.
The professor had already gone a little stiff and was just nodding silently at that point.
“Right. Well. Yes. I see.”
He couldn’t think of anything else to say and just looked down at the lecture materials.
It seemed he’d become terribly uncomfortable when I refused to move according to the scenario he’d imagined.
“Fine. Anyway, today I’ll be explaining the basics of deep learning.”
Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere by asking more questions, he proceeded with the lecture wearing a bitter look, as if he’d bitten into something rotten.
He was a professor, so he didn’t outright teach the concepts wrong, but since he hadn’t achieved the goal he wanted, the way he half-read everything out loud was hard to watch.
He simply raced through the slides.
“Professor, there’s something I didn’t understand.”
“Then review it later. Don’t interrupt the flow of class.”
With the professor already snapping at everyone, it was only natural that the students’ reactions turned sour.
“What’s his problem?”
“He tried to start something with Kim Siwon earlier and it didn’t work, that’s all.”
“But is that any way to teach a class?”
“What a waste of tuition.”
Even my teammates were muttering in irritation, and similar complaints kept drifting up from all around us.
“Why is everyone talking so much? Can’t you listen to class?”
His annoyed tone did make everyone fall quiet for a moment.
But that only made the resentment worse.
“Class is over. Anyone have any questions?”
He had moved through the material so quickly that the lecture ended far earlier than scheduled.
But not many people had actually understood the content.
And by the time anyone might have wanted to ask a question, the professor had already packed up his laptop and all his materials with an expression that said he could not be bothered.
“I finished early, so study on your own.”
The instant the professor coolly walked out the door, the lecture hall exploded into noise.
“What the hell was that guy? Is that what he calls teaching?”
“If he acts like that to graduate students too when he’s having one of his fits, then what the hell is he like behind closed doors?”
“Did you see him picking a fight with Kim Siwon earlier?”
“Why was he acting like that toward Senior Siwon, though?”
From the way everyone was talking, it was obvious they’d all realized I’d been the only one on the receiving end of his petty hostility.
Honestly, it would have been stranger if they hadn’t noticed.
“Siwon, I didn’t understand one of the concepts earlier. Could you explain it to me?”
“Sure. Which part?”
The students who hadn’t been able to follow the lecture came over to ask me questions.
In order to listen in on the answers, almost every student in the room gathered around me.
“Senior, could you also explain why this part was drawn like that?”
“It’s a figure introducing a concept in deep learning. Let me draw it out and explain it step by step.”
Fortunately, since it was all basic deep learning material, I was able to explain it simply.
Everyone listening was genuinely impressed by my explanation.
It wasn’t like I’d said anything earth-shattering, but after that professor had made a mess of the lecture, my explanation probably sounded especially clear by comparison.
“But why was that professor acting like that toward you, Senior?”
Then a naive question from one of the freshmen came in.
And for that, I didn’t have a good answer.
“That professor was taking a huge amount of research funding from Ji Minhwan’s parents, but they got rid of him because they were tired of him. He was getting paid and still couldn’t do better than Kim Siwon, apparently.”
But instead of me, one of my classmates who had nothing to do with TA Medical explained the situation for us.
The explanation was so detailed that I almost wondered how he knew all that.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I guess Ji Minhwan thinks the Hackathon went badly because of you.”
“Who said that?”
“Ji Minhwan said it himself when he came to the freshman welcome gathering.”
So that bastard had really been running his mouth about this over drinks.
Why didn’t he realize how bad that made him look?
“Whoa. A professor really isn’t supposed to take money like that, is he?”
“I know. If he had any kind of moral compass, do you think he would’ve acted like that toward Kim Siwon just now?”
“Still, I’m glad Senior answered so well.”
“Ugh, but seriously, this guy’s way too much of a genius. My grade is definitely screwed.”
“Ah. Really? Should I drop the class?”
And just like that, everyone followed the flow of conversation wherever it led, before gradually heading off to their next lectures.
“Should we head back to the club room too?”
“Yeah, we should.”
“Let’s buy coffee on the way. I’m drained.”
But the one who was about to be more exhausted than us was someone else entirely.
After class, the corrupt professor sat in his office and let out an irritated click of his tongue.
He had gone out of his way to attend the lecture, only to gain absolutely nothing from it. It made him furious.
“Tch. When that professor comes back, I’ll take a canceled lecture too, so he can cover for me.”
But worrying about skipping class was the least of his concerns right then.
What had happened that day was already spreading quickly through the campus community.
Computer Science Professor A was dumped after extracting research funding through improper means from the parents of Student B. The reason? B couldn’t beat top student C. Furious at being thrown out, Professor A tried to screw C over, but C was too smart, so the attempt failed. In the end, the loser barged into someone else’s lecture, ruined it, and stormed out. A touching true story.
As the post kept drawing attention, complaints about the professors in Korea University’s Computer Science Department started coming in one after another.
And once the complaints began, the audit team had no choice but to move.
“Ah. I think I know exactly which shady bastard this is.”
Thanks to that, the audit staff, who had only ever had suspicions before, were now delighted to plan a full investigation.
A happy ending was waiting for everyone—except the professors and Ji Minhwan, who were about to have a very bad time.