WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

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Chapter 4: The New Professor (3)

It was a spring day, with a cool breeze drifting in through the window.

Cadets filed into the lecture hall one by one for the first session of Understanding Assassination and Abilities, taught by the newly appointed professor, Dante Hiakapo. 

There were about thirty of them in total.

Among them, Joaquin, a crimson-haired cadet from the Moon Shadow Division, walked in with his hands tucked into his pockets, flanked by several followers. He headed straight for his punching bag.

“Forte.”

The Moon Shadow cadet, Forte, didn’t turn around. Next to him, Hwaru and Dominic merely glanced over, their expressions unreadable. 

“Hey, I heard you got totally thrashed by the new professor like a dumbass.”

Forte’s eyes twitched. Hwaru and Dominic averted their gazes, guilt flickering across their faces.

These assholes…

“…Fuck off.”

“Man, look at these losers hanging out together.”

Laughter erupted among the half-dozen cadets behind Joaquin.

“Why are you still clinging to the Moon Shadow Division?” Joaquin sneered. “You got held back, got destroyed by a professor who hasn’t even started teaching and even lost your gun. Stop embarrassing us and leave already.”

“I said, fuck off, Joaquin.”

“You’re a disgrace, loser. You’re dragging down our division’s reputation.”

Forte abruptly stood and grabbed Joaquin by the collar.

“You deaf or something? I said, fuck off.”

Unsurprisingly, Joaquin’s crew moved in.

“This guy’s lost his mind.”

“Oi, get your hands off of him.”

Just as one of them reached for Forte—

Wham! 

Forte’s fist smashed into a cadet’s face. The impact sent the poor bastard reeling, knocking over another as both crashed to the floor.

A heavy silence fell over the classroom. Tension rippled through the cadets. Joaquin’s smirk faded, his face hardening.

“Go on, then. Try me.”

“You want one too?” Forte growled.

“Yeah, come on, you prick. You’ve been getting on my nerves for a while. I’ll finally get to kill you today.”

“You think I won’t do it?”

Forte’s hand slid to the revolver at his waist. Joaquin’s fingers brushed against the dagger tucked into his belt. 

The atmosphere grew suffocating. 

“Hey, enough already. Class is about to start,” a cadet called out.

“Watch carefully, you fuckwit,” Joaquin called out.

Forte’s eyes darkened. “…What did you just say?”

“I told you to watch me. Both you and your pathetic friends. I’ll be the one taking that diploma today in your place.”

Hwaru frowned. “…Hey, I’m not pathetic.”

Forte clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to tell Hwaru to shut up. 

“Let’s go.”

Joaquin turned and walked off, leading his crew. As he moved, he drew his dagger and vanished into thin air, activating Form Concealment, a mid-grade stealth ability. His team followed suit, activating Stealth as they faded into the shadows, clung to the walls, perched overhead, waiting like predators for their unsuspecting prey. 

“Hey… this is the professor’s first class. Shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Leave it. Don’t get involved…”

Some cadets worried uneasily. Others simply watched with disinterest or mild amusement. 

“…They’re so crude.”

“Seriously, what’s their problem?”

Still, for cadets, their Stealth was impressively advanced. An incompetent professor could easily fall for such an ambush.

Tick, tock.

It was nearly time for class to start. The atmosphere was thick with anxiety, yet it carried a strange sense of anticipation for what might happen.

Tick.

Finally, it was time.

But the door didn’t open despite the footsteps approaching. 

Joaquin narrowed his eyes.

What’s going on?

He had heard footsteps—loud ones, like a clueless prey announcing itself to its hunters. The professor was right outside the door. But the steps had suddenly stopped.

Click—

The sound of a rifle being cocked echoed from the other side of the door. 

“…Professor?”

When he heard Assistant Adele’s muffled voice, Joaquin gestured to his crew.

The professor was about to shoot!

Panicking, he signaled his team. The others immediately dropped their Stealth and leaped back, scrambling for cover and distance.

Right then, the door swung open.

The professor strode into the classroom, a lever-action rifle slung over his shoulder.

Above him, the Guillotine Trap was triggered,

A blade dropped, aiming straight for his head—

Bang―!!

The professor fired the shot.

The rifle’s blast shattered the trap into splinters. 

Joaquin grimaced. Forte clenched his teeth. After all, that was his rifle.

Still, Joaquin stayed focused. He was still hidden, so there was still a chance.

Dante spun the rifle in a single smooth arc to work the lever and stepped forward.

One step.

Two steps.

Just one more, and—

Suddenly, the rifle’s muzzle pressed against Joaquin’s forehead.

“Was this assassination your idea?”

Joaquin’s eyes widened. Dante was aiming... right at him.

He flinched and tumbled backward. 

Crash!

The Moon Shadow Division was composed of elite cadets, each possessing extraordinary talent. Out of 1,200-odd first-year Assassin Department cadets, only 30 belonged to this division.

Joaquin’s Stealth was on par with that of many active assassins. Even the seven first-class cadets of the Black Dragon Division acknowledged his incredible skill.

The professor wasn't given any indication that there was someone lurking in Stealth. Joaquin had remained silent even as his crew made a commotion while distancing themselves.

So, how on earth did the professor know exactly where to aim?

Stunned, Joaquin asked, “How did you figure it out?”

Dante tilted his head. “Figure out what?”

“…My Stealth is one of the best in our entire grade. How did you find me?”

His curiosity outweighed his desire to kill.

“What are you talking about? Even a blind man would have noticed you.”

Laughter rippled through the room. Dozens of eyes landed on Joaquin, and Forte smirked faintly.

Joaquin's face stiffened as he clenched his jaw.

“Looks like our new professor’s got a sharp eye.”

Muttering under his breath as if to downplay the man’s skills, he returned to his seat. But before he could settle, Dante spoke again. 

“You plan on watching all day?”

Joaquin froze. Dante was staring directly at the spot where he had just been hiding. 

Who was he talking to…?

A faint shimmer appeared on the ceiling, right behind where Joaquin had been hiding moments ago.

He nearly gasped aloud.

A female cadet with soft pink hair and a puppy-like face dropped silently from above.

Elize. 

A member of the Black Dragon Division and the daughter of the legendary assassin known as the Shadowless Constellation○.

It was astonishing.

Had she been hiding behind him this entire time? Since when?

More importantly... how had this professor sensed her when he himself had failed to do so?

“Head to your seat,” Dante instructed.

“Yes, sir.”

Elize nodded and walked off.

Dante's gaze swept across the classroom. He said nothing, but the cadets sat in a wary silence, careful not to provoke him. Their minds raced, trying to gauge his thoughts through the smallest of expressions and actions. After all, they were fully aware of Joaquin and Elize’s skills and reputations.

Once Elize had also taken a seat, Dante moved to stand at the podium at the front of the room.

* * *

In my eyes, assassins were tamed beasts.

“I am Dante Hiakapo, your new professor in the Assassin Department.”

They were lions creeping through the savanna, poised to pounce on a gazelle. Apex predators wearing human skin.

“Starting today, I’ll be teaching you for the rest of the semester in this course, Understanding Assassination and Abilities.”

And now, I was expected to train these lions. I couldn’t afford to show them my back or any other weakness.

“The ultimate goal of this class is for you pathetic lot to grow stronger by understanding abilities.”

Honestly, I was the weakest one here.

But thankfully, the fact that I had found and called out the hidden cadets in front of everyone seemed to have worked. That must have intimidated most of them since no one looked particularly inclined to kill me at the moment.

However, I only found those two students because of the ● Name Tags hovering over their heads.

According to the text box, the cadets' emotions toward me varied—confusion, anger, fear, and shock.

But one thing they all shared was tension.

Every single predator in this room… was on edge around me.

…Wait.

Suddenly, a problem arose. Just as I was about to begin the lecture, my mind went blank.

What was I going to say?

I had prepared. Even in my limited time, I had put together a list of things I wanted to say in order. But now, nothing came to mind. 

Why can’t I remember anything…?

There were still 45 minutes left. Every eye in the room was fixed on me. As my silence stretched on, the cadets’ expressions shifted from anticipation to confusion. Their suspicions grew, and my mind only became more jumbled.

Crap.

I had to say something. Anything.

But what…?

As I stood there motionless, the atmosphere in the room turned strange.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Evelyn: Why isn’t he saying anything? 】

【 Moon Shadow Division, First-Year, Joaquin: What’s with him? 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: Maybe I should try assassinating him right now… 】

Desperate, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“But before we begin class…”

In that split second, I questioned whether I should really say what I was thinking. 

However, nothing else came to me, so I went with it.

“I find the standards of Hiaka Academy’s Assassin Department… quite disappointing.”

In an instant, the room chilled. The cadets clearly found my words baffling.

“Today is my first day on the job, and this is my first class. Since this morning, a total of ten cadets have tried to assassinate me.” I paused, letting my words sink in. “And they all failed.”

I had no idea what I was babbling about, but somehow, I kept going.

“Their failure was to be expected. Just as a child can’t defeat an adult, you amateurs have no chance against a professor like me. But… I saw no sign of real effort nor sincerity from any of you.”

My voice sounded shockingly cold, even to my own ears. 

Forte and Joaquin’s expressions tensed. Their faces turned rigid.

“Because your half-baked attempts worked on some half-baked professor before, you believed yourselves to be some genius assassins. But to use such sloppy traps and stealth tricks to kill me… Did you think I came all this way just to play children’s games with you?”

Just then, a message popped up out of nowhere.

⧉ Tip: Raise your hand.

What was this about?

For now, I did as it instructed and lifted my hand.

Clink—!

A sharp impact struck the back of my hand. Something bounced off and embedded itself in the podium.

A throwing knife.

Fucking hell, that scared me.

Had they lost their mind? Who the hell throws a weapon at a professor mid-lecture? Especially when he’s in the middle of admonishing everyone…!

【 Moon Shadow Division, First-Year, Forte: Huh?! 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: He deflected Joaquin’s throwing knife without even looking at it…! 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Evelyn: This professor has insane reflexes… 】

All the cadets gaped.

In that tense moment, I shot a glare at the cadet who had thrown it, but he avoided my eyes with a stiff expression.

【 Moon Shadow Division, First-Year, Joaquin: Ah, fuck me… 】

It was that guy again—the ringleader of the group that had been hiding by the door earlier. 

I seriously could’ve died just now. This place was a freaking minefield.

I forced my racing heart to calm and spoke up.

“You there.”

“…Yes?”

“Remind me what I was just saying.”

“You said we should put in more effort when we try to assassinate…”

“The way you threw that knife was unnecessarily broad and painfully slow.”

He remained silent. 

“You aimed at the narrowest part of my upper body, the neck, and your timing was terrible. You knew your target would be on high alert after multiple assassination attempts, yet you still went for a half-baked attack. Even a sewer rat hunting a bug would be more careful and thorough.”

The cadet trembled with frustration and anger but remained silent.

“And that’s the second time now.”

I let my gaze linger on him for a few seconds before speaking again. 

“Withdraw from my course, boy.”

Joaquin's eyes widened in shock. The cadets around him were equally stunned. None of them had expected the professor to say those words.

I swept my gaze over the room. This first class would determine my relationship with these cadets, so I had to be careful.

Finally, my blanked-out memories began returning, and I could actually start teaching properly. But I changed my mind. 

“…In fact, if this is the kind of childish nonsense you plan to pull during my classes, I have no desire to teach any of you.”

The air in the lecture hall shifted. Those who had been idly fiddling with their textbooks froze.

If students showed severe disrespect during a class, professors had another option available to them.

“Today’s class is canceled.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Without another word, I turned around and walked out of the lecture hall.

The New Professor – END

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