Unqualified
"A fake?"
Ma Chul-woong's expression turned peculiar. But he had already pressed the bid button on the auction panel.
— Thirty billion! We have thirty billion!
He had just casually thrown another five billion on top of the previous twenty-five billion.
— Any higher? Thirty billion! Starting the countdown! Three, two, one…!
"…Wait."
Ma Chul-woong's eyes wavered. What was this? Everyone had been matching him just fine until now—why had the bidding suddenly stopped? If this kept up…!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
— Congratulations! The original Ohodanmundo has been sold for thirty billion!
Thunderous applause erupted from the first floor. Under normal circumstances he would have been leaping for joy. Even with thirty-two billion in hand, he had half-doubted he could actually win the bid. But right now Kang Hyun's words had him completely hooked, and celebration was the last thing on his mind.
"What do you mean by that, hyung-nim? You're saying that thing is fake?"
"Yeah."
"You know the Ohodanmundo?"
Ma Chul-woong couldn't make sense of it.
"To know it's a fake, you'd have to know the real Ohodanmundo, wouldn't you?"
You had to know the genuine article to spot a counterfeit. Kang Hyun, who had been watching him steadily, sent a voice transmission to Lee Se-ah.
— Chick.
Hwek?
The woman beside him jumped. She had heard of the technique called voice transmission, but this was her first time experiencing it.
— Tell him you figured it out.
What? Me?
Lee Se-ah's eyes trembled. Treating an item guaranteed by the American Hunter Association and the Daesung Group as a fake? Touch this the wrong way and her entire career could go up in smoke.
— Actually, this works out perfectly. Let's use the chance to blow up your reputation as a manual interpreter a bit.
And my life doesn't blow up instead?
Lee Se-ah shot Kang Hyun a sidelong glance. The man was calmly sipping his whiskey, utterly unbothered.
Well… he's a Black the government itself can't touch. He'll protect me if it comes to that, right?
"I'll explain," Lee Se-ah stepped forward with quick resolve. "There's a high probability it's a counterfeit."
"…?"
He tilted his head, the question plain on his face: And who are you supposed to be? Ma Chul-woong handled special operations for the Bureau, but Lee Se-ah was a rookie; the two had never met.
"I'm Lee Se-ah. I assist Kang Hyun-nim as a manual interpreter."
Her throat was bone-dry and her palms were sweating. But so what? She had already jumped.
Ah, whatever. Come what may!
Since the bid had already closed, Ma Chul-woong went to collect the item.
"Congratulations on your successful bid, Hunter."
"Mm."
The Daesung employee flinched at the hard set of the man's jaw as he rubbed his chin.
"One thing, though."
"Yes, please go ahead."
"What happens if this manual turns out to be fake?"
"Surely that couldn't be the case?"
"There's no reason it couldn't be, is there?"
"…Daesung never puts items of unverified authenticity on the auction block. Should it be determined a forgery, the contract stipulates compensation of three times the hammer price."
Three times thirty billion was ninety billion. Even for the Daesung Group, that was not a sum to shrug off.
"Thirty billion, then."
Even Ma Chul-woong did not take every word of Kang Hyun's as absolute gospel. He had seized the opportunity, so he would take the manual. And if it was confirmed a fake afterward? He would wring every last coin of compensation out of them.
"Process the payment."
"Yes, sir."
After completing the formalities and receiving the manual, Ma Chul-woong still wore a sour look. Judging by the employee's face, the man did not seem to be lying.
Rustle.
He flipped through the pages, skimming the manual lightly—and the more he read, the more astonished he became.
This is the real thing, isn't it?
As he read the formulas, a tyrannical aura took shape in his mind. A man gripping a saber was dyeing every direction crimson with a rain of blood.
Thud.
After a rough check, Ma Chul-woong returned to the second floor. Ordinarily he was not the type to casually show a thirty-billion-won manual to anyone else. But the man who had called it a fake possessed absurd power—his hyung-nim—and he could not simply let it slide.
"Interpreter lady."
"Yes."
"Can you check it again in front of me?"
"I'll try."
Lee Se-ah carefully accepted the manual and turned the pages.
— Flip faster. I'm watching.
Rustle, rustle-rustle!
As her flipping accelerated under the voice transmission, a look of puzzlement settled in Ma Chul-woong's eyes.
She's interpreting that fast?
Of course, Lee Se-ah could not make out a single character. That was partly why she flipped even faster. She had no real sense of how long an ordinary interpreter needed for a single page.
— Recite exactly what I say.
Lee Se-ah hastily cleared her throat and schooled her expression. Kang Hyun's transmission continued.
— That thing is garbage—three separate saber arts of a tyrannical bent cleverly stitched together.
"It looks like three saber arts have been mixed together rather convincingly."
— The skeleton is the Heavenly Wind Saber Art, with the continuous strikes of the Blood Lion Saber forced over the top? They jammed tyrannical-type formulas between every chapter to sew it into something that looks like a single art. A fairly meticulous forgery. Enough to fool most people.
Lee Se-ah recited it word for word. Ma Chul-woong's jaw dropped. Both of those saber arts were third-class and hard to obtain under ordinary circumstances—and she had identified them this easily?
"Hoo."
He let out a rough breath and gathered up the manual.
"I'll take this manual to the Association myself and have it verified."
Any acquired manual had to be registered with the Association as a matter of duty. The contents were treated as confidential, of course, but under special circumstances like these, inspection was permitted. This fake Ohodanmundo was already registered, and so were the Heavenly Wind Saber Art and the Blood Lion Saber; confirming authenticity would be straightforward.
"Hyung-nim, you said you work at the Academy? I'll contact you again."
Ma Chul-woong growled and left.
On the road back to the Academy.
"What are you planning to do about this?"
"About what."
"That manual—is it really a fake?"
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
"True enough."
The fact that Kang Hyun knew the Ohodanmundo no longer surprised either of the two women much. Baek Yu-yeon in particular had already experienced a whole new world through the Heavenly Pulse Compendium and the Heavenly Physician's Returning Needles.
"Then who would do something like that? They've got some nerve."
"Probably not Daesung."
Daesung had nothing to gain by selling fakes. They raked in money by the trillions; they would never trash their brand credit over a few hundred billion.
"So you're saying it's the American Hunter Association?"
"Could be. Could not be."
"What?"
"It's one of two things. Either the American Association side is lying, or there's a professional organization selling fakes sophisticated enough to completely fool even the American Association's appraisers. And if this is a scam, they absolutely would not have stopped at just that one piece."
"That makes sense."
Lee Se-ah nodded.
"Anyone who'd scam a major conglomerate would be looking to hit big and vanish before anyone grabs their tail. Wow, there's going to be chaos everywhere pretty soon, isn't there?"
"Don't worry about it. Ma Chul-woong will handle everything on that end himself."
Kang Hyun turned his gaze out the car window. He had already read what kind of man Ma Chul-woong was. Outwardly blunt and easygoing—but once he bared his claws, he would not let go until the other party's windpipe was crushed.
"Once the verification is done, your reputation will have climbed even higher."
At that same hour, on AcaNet.
A full ten professors had stormed into the dean's office to complain. Not every one of them was going to keep their mouth shut, and the rumor began to spread on its own.
And that rumor reached the ears of the five cadets without fail. Kwak Do-jin immediately opened a group chat and invited the others.
Everyone had already seen it; the unread count dropped in an instant.
A short silence followed.
Everyone else cursed him as the drunk professor, but these five knew. They knew how extraordinary Professor Kang Hyun truly was. They knew what an enormous opportunity it was simply to receive his instruction. And those damned full professors kept throwing up roadblocks—trying to drive Professor Kang Hyun out!
Cha Yu-sik in particular was locked in a succession fight, so his need was sharper than the rest.
At those words, the chat fell silent.
What?
Disciple?
…She gets to learn all day?
What was this feeling? Betrayal? Hurt? Or jealousy?
For Seo Hae-in especially, simply attending class had been hell ever since the trouble with her previous professor. The other cadets whispered the moment she did anything.
All five had been thinking along similar lines; they banded together at once, united in purpose, and made their way to the door of the professor's office.
"Professor!"
Kwak Do-jin called out.
"Come in."
The door opened. Just as the rumors said, Baek Yu-yeon was there, inserting needles. The three-hundred-million-won needles she had been gifted.
"What brings you all here?"
Kang Hyun, who had been writing out a manual with a brush, asked in a listless tone. At that indifferent question, Cha Yu-sik stepped forward as the representative of the five. His fists were clenched tight.
"We heard you staked your professorship because of us."
"Why would that be because of you?"
"Pardon?"
"And if that's what you're worried about, you shouldn't be here—you should be swinging a wooden sword at least one more time."
"More than that, please teach us yourself, Professor."
"What?"
"We'll drop all our regular classes."
"That's right!"
Kwak Do-jin burst out from beside him.
"Why take only Yu-yeon as a disciple? Take us too!"
"Please take us!"
Yoon Hyun-jong, Han Tae-ho, and Seo Hae-in all bowed their heads in unison. Baek Yu-yeon blinked in surprise. That stiff-backed Cha Yu-sik, bowing his head like that? Between Ma Chul-woong and this, she had been seeing a lot of strange sights lately.
A brief silence settled over the room.
Softly.
Kang Hyun set down his brush. He studied the bowed cadets one by one, then slowly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but you still lack the qualifications to become my disciples."