Even Parasites Should Read the Room
The next morning, in the grand conference room.
Unusually, Dean Seo Il-hyun sat at the head of the table.
"Well, since everyone's here, let's begin."
He made no effort to hide the heavy pressure of his aura…
The reason was simple.
I don't hate you all. Not if the real reason you tried to dismiss Professor Kang Hyun was genuine concern for the academy.
Seo Il-hyun admitted it himself. If he hadn't seen the classified files the Bureau had sent over, he too would have viewed Kang Hyun through a jaundiced eye.
But if you still refuse to accept results this clear-cut… then I might truly be disappointed.
That would mean their petty pride mattered more than the academy's progress.
As dean, he could never overlook such a thing.
So he crushed them with his aura.
Please, he thought. Don't throw away even your last shred of conscience as educators.
Don't force me to cut you out with my own hands.
"Before we get to the agenda, there's something we need to address first. The rumor has already spread all over campus, so I'm sure you all know. I'm talking about the ten full professors here who came to my office not long ago."
Seo Il-hyun's gaze slowly swept the room.
"I will maintain fairness as a mediator. Therefore, I do not intend to exercise my own voting rights today."
"As expected of the Dean!"
Park Gwang-woo jumped in without reading the room, only to flinch and shut his mouth when Seo Il-hyun fixed him with a sharp glare.
"Instead."
The dean spoke with heavy finality.
"There will be no secret ballots in today's meeting."
"What?"
"We will vote one by one by show of hands. And each of you will state, out loud and in front of me, exactly why you assigned that particular ranking to the student in question."
"Dean, wait!"
Park Gwang-woo spoke up again.
"Go on."
"Isn't this different from the usual custom?"
"So you have a problem with it?"
Seo Il-hyun asked back with an expression that said he couldn't understand the objection.
"Isn't the entire point of this meeting to discuss things transparently so no one can later pick apart the results?"
In the end, Seo Il-hyun had not followed Kang Hyun's advice.
Instead of quietly watching, he was issuing a warning and applying pressure.
The dean loved the academy, and he wanted to protect these inadequate professors as well.
He hoped they would seize this final chance themselves.
"Then begin."
Silence filled the conference room.
Just as a tense standoff of who-would-speak-first stretched on—
"I'll go first."
Professor Hwang Ye-rim stood.
"The biggest issue is the overall ranking of Han Tae-ho of the 21st batch, correct? In my view, fifth place is right. And frankly, I know most of the professors here think the same."
"Professor Hwang!"
Park Gwang-woo lowered his voice in a shout, but she paid him no mind.
"I have no time for a meaningless meeting here. Please record my vote as fifth place. I have a patient in the infirmary, so I'll be going."
Hwang Ye-rim opened the conference room door and left without looking back.
It was her way of saying she wanted no part of this childish fight.
As the door closed, Park Gwang-woo's face flushed red and purple.
"Th-th-that…! What kind of disgraceful behavior is this!"
He huffed and looked to the dean, but Seo Il-hyun merely shook his head calmly.
"Disgraceful? She simply stated her conviction. Continue. Is it your turn next, Professor Park?"
"Ahem!"
Park Gwang-woo cleared his throat and took the microphone.
Somehow, he had to push Han Tae-ho out of the top five.
Only then could they dismiss Kang Hyun and nullify the academy land donation pledge they had made.
"I acknowledge that Han Tae-ho is strong. But is the academy stage a joke? He has real skill, yet he insisted on using only the Three Talents Sword Style to the very end. Out of sheer spite, I can only concede as far as sixth place."
At those words, Jin Myeong-hoon clutched his forehead.
What kind of ridiculous logic was that?
Anyone could see it was a biased evaluation dripping with personal feelings.
Haa.
Jin Myeong-hoon despaired.
He had no clever way to flip this atmosphere right now either.
"So you believe sixth is correct?"
"That's right."
"I will respect that. This too is your own conviction, after all."
When Seo Il-hyun nodded blandly, Professor Kim, emboldened, raised his hand as well.
He was the middle-aged professor who had once slapped Seo Hae-in's cheek.
"I also believe sixth is correct. Giving him fifth place solely because of the luck of the draw against Do Jeong-hyeok would be unfair to the other students. Separately, Cadet Han Tae-ho's attendance in regular classes was low. No matter how important tournament results are, this evaluation is for the midterms. We cannot ignore his poor everyday learning attitude."
Once a plausible excuse was added, two more professors who had been hesitating agreed and put forward sixth place.
Seo Il-hyun quietly nodded.
"Four for sixth. Good. Next?"
The four who had stated their convictions waited with arms crossed.
There!
We built the boat, so all you have to do is climb aboard!
Hadn't they clinked soju glasses over pork belly and promised to ride the same ship?
And yet—
"I'll go with fifth."
One of the professors shamelessly switched boats.
"I'm sorry. In good conscience… this case really does seem like fifth place."
With that as the spark, other professors raised their hands and spoke.
"I'm for fifth as well."
"Me too. If I don't, I won't be able to face the students."
"Wh-what are you all doing right now!"
Park Gwang-woo shouted, face full of betrayal.
How could this be happening?
But they too could feel it.
The current had already tilted toward Professor Kang Hyun.
Seo Il-hyun's gaze settled on one place.
"Professor Jin Myeong-hoon. You've been quiet. What are your thoughts?"
In that instant, every professor's eyes locked onto Jin Myeong-hoon.
The de facto leader of the anti-Kang Hyun faction.
Park Gwang-woo and Professor Kim stared at him with desperate eyes, hoping he would drive the final nail with a sixth-place vote.
What do you want me to do about it?
Jin Myeong-hoon furrowed his brow.
Find your own way to survive.
He cleared his throat and slowly opened his mouth.
"…Cadet Han Tae-ho deserves fifth place."
"Professor Jin? What are you saying!"
"How could you do this to us…!"
The four professors' faces filled with shock, but Jin Myeong-hoon deliberately avoided their gazes.
Once even the real leader raised the white flag, the remaining professors who had been watching the room all cast their votes for fifth.
Even if they still wanted to insist on sixth, with Jin Myeong-hoon having turned, they no longer had any justification left.
Unanimous agreement.
"Good."
Seo Il-hyun unclasped his hands and declared with weight.
"In accordance with the majority opinion, Cadet Han Tae-ho of the 21st batch is confirmed in fifth place overall."
With that, the entry of the Five Contract Professors' students into the top five was officially recognized, and the motion to dismiss Kang Hyun was nullified as well.
"Ah, and one more thing."
Seo Il-hyun continued.
"Park Gwang-woo, Kim Dong-il, and you two over there. Stand up."
They were the four professors who had just argued for sixth place.
They rose awkwardly from their seats, not understanding.
"As of today, return your professor badges, pack your things, and leave the academy."
"…What?"
"No, what do you mean!"
Park Gwang-woo questioned, doubting his own ears.
"What did you just say? Pack our things?"
"It means you're dismissed. Did you not understand?"
"Dean! Even if you are the dean, this is an outrageous abuse of power! We didn't commit some major crime—we merely offered our opinions on a student evaluation, and you're dismissing us? We will formally protest to the Ministry of Education!"
"Go ahead and protest."
Seo Il-hyun slowly rose from his seat.
In that moment, the presence of an S-rank hunter crushed the entire conference room.
Under a pressure so heavy it was hard even to breathe, the professors' faces turned deathly pale.
"I too am prepared to stake my deanship and my neck on this: I have no intention of sharing this academy ship any longer with people like you."
It was the first time.
The first time the dean had unleashed his true aura on the professors.
"Ah, earlier you clearly said you would conduct the meeting fairly as a mediator, didn't you?"
Professor Kim protested, shrinking into himself.
Seo Il-hyun looked him straight in the eye.
"And if it isn't fair?"
"…?"
"What are you going to do about it?"
This was not the always-generous dean they knew.
"Do you really think you were fair to Cadet Han Tae-ho just now?"
"Th-that is…"
"Before you teach the kids, please develop some awareness first. Don't you even look at AcaNet? Can you not read where the students' thoughts are heading?"
Seo Il-hyun was truly furious.
It seemed the realization that he had been running the academy with people like these all this time had hit him hard.
No wonder they get ignored all the time!
"Have I ever openly cursed you for eating away at the academy like woodworms? Fine, you can eat the wood. But even if you're going to be a parasite, at least read the room while you do it!"
It was an enormous insult, yet the four professors could say nothing.
They felt that whatever they uttered here might truly cost them their heads.
Seo Il-hyun glared at them for a moment, then turned his back and walked toward the conference room door.
"Never let me see your faces again."
Kang Hyun's professor office.
"Wooooah!"
Lee Se-ah, who had been staring nonstop at her tablet, jumped up and down.
"Kang Hyun-nim! Fifth place! Han Tae-ho is confirmed fifth! The official announcement just dropped!"
"You're making a fuss."
"Hwaaaaah, do you know how much I've been fretting this whole time? I'm allowed to make a fuss over this!"
The corner of Kang Hyun's mouth had also lifted slightly.
In truth, he had never worried, because he could feel that the dean wanted to keep him.
Would an S-rank hunter throw something away so carelessly?
Seo Il-hyun resembled the old master of the Cheongseong Sect.
And that old master had never been able to endure injustice when he saw it.
Knock knock knock.
Someone pounded urgently on the research lab door just then.
"Come in."
Bang!
The door flew open and the Five rushed in.
"Professoooor!"
"We heard! We made the top five!"
"Hwaaaang!"
What is with these kids?
Kang Hyun frowned at the students charging toward him in an unpleasantly sticky way.
Han Tae-ho in particular was approaching with tears and snot, far too burdensomely.
"Get away from me, will you?"
Whoosh!
Kang Hyun flicked his hand lightly, as if annoyed.
"Uwaaaaagh!"
Crash-bang-thud!
An invisible, massive blast of wind pressure slammed into the five who had been charging and plastered them against the wall.
They were stunned.
What was that just now?
We got sent flying with a single hand wave?
What kind of hand motion creates wind pressure like that…!
They had known their professor was strong.
But even so—to send the top students of their year flying like scarecrows with one gesture!
As they sat there dazed, Kang Hyun spoke indifferently.
"All of you, sit somewhere appropriate. A promise is a promise."
At those words, the students' hearts began to pound madly.
The promise.
The promise that if they made the top five in the midterms, he would give them real secret manuals!
Kang Hyun turned his head.
"Chick."
"Yes!"
"Bring out the manuals."
"Yes!"
She had prepared them in advance, so she found them easily and set them one by one on the table.
The students swallowed dryly.
Just what kind of secret manuals were those going to be?
The corner of Kang Hyun's mouth curved into a deep arc.
"Congratulations. As of today, you have graduated from the Three Talents Sword Style."