Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor

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I became a professor in a game by accident.

To make matters worse, I even messed up the difficulty settings.

Now, I’m stuck playing on Hell Mode.

A world on the brink of war with the Demon King.

An Assassin Department where mu*der is legal… as long as you aren’t caught.

I thought I’d have to claw my way through just to survive in this wretched place, and that was the case at first.

But nowadays…

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t be like you, Professor… How do you do it?”

“Please… become our god.”

“What do you know? What is it you know? Why do you make me want to live…?”

One by one, everyone at the academy began to obsess over me.

Associated Names
One entry per line
SAAGP
암살학교 천재교수
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
A Villain’s Will to Survive (1)
Academy’s Undercover Professor (1)
Kidnapped Dragons (1)
The Main Heroines are Trying to Kill Me (1)
The Novel’s Extra (1)
The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines (1)
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Latest Release

Date Group Release
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c20
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c19
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c18
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c17
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c16
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c15
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c14
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c13
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c12
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c11
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c10
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c9
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c8
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c7
05/08/25 WeTried Translations c6
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5 Reviews sorted by


Summer_Daze
Summer_Daze rated it
April 15, 2025
Status: c74
This is a series that I wanted to really like because the premise is fun - Imagine Assassination Classroom as a game where you get to play as students trying to assassinate the professor for a diploma.

The MC is really good at the game so he clears levels Easy, Medium, Hard. Then, a DLC patch for H*ll mode is added, and he is transferred to the game. But not as a student. He becomes a very weak professor that has to avoid getting killed by students every moment of the... more>> day and become stronger because he starts as a Level 1 scrub who needs to pretend to be Lv 100 expert.

It starts off really good, but my issue with the story is that I believe the writer's true colors are coming out, and this is becoming a harem story between a male teacher and his female students (their ages are unclear, but I'm assuming 16-20 since some of them sneak away to drink, have tattoos, etc while others are described as young looking).

I let it slide when he was getting close to an assassin student called Elise (Her lineage is one of dogs so she's like a golden retriever. He tells her sit/wait to stop her battle bloodlust, gives her bones to get close, etc.). It seemed innocent and right up her personality as an innocent airhead assassin.

But the author has been letting his inner thoughts loose. For example, the MC Dante was making a deal with another female student, and when she asks him why he wants to help her, his exact words are:

"You have pretty feet?"

"Feet?"

"Yes. Without exaggeration, they are the most beautiful feet."

Completely unprovoked. It had nothing to do with the conversation except that he pulled a power move earlier to force her to remove her shoes in his house (which is fair).

Then, he proceeds to wash her injured feet and bandage them while plotting to betray her. The amount of interaction like this is slowly increasing (Gray (a female student described as having a hot body, wearing tight clothes that emphasize her body, tattoos, being clingy, underage drinking, etc) being drunk, more Elise silliness, Eve (cemetary ghost/witch with no knowledge like a blank slate), etc.), and I can see it trend toward the harem vibe, which I'm not a fan of, especially with girls described as young-looking and a professor described as being in his 30's.

Storywise, without the odd writing toward girl characters, I'd give it a 3.5 since he's gotten so strong too quickly, so it's less fun. With the odd writing toward the girl characters, it's a 2.5 rounded down to 2. <<less
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loveleefishy
loveleefishy rated it
May 8, 2025
Status: c34
As someone who truly values strong plotlines, clever humor woven into the narrative, and slow-burn yet progressive character development, Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor hits all the right notes. Even in its early chapters, this story is shaping up to be one of my favorite reads.

From the start, you're drawn into the world through the MC’s perspective. His sharp, intimidating pink eyes and stoic expression hide the fact that he’s constantly scrambling to survive. The layers of irony are excellent: He's supposed to be this enigmatic professor,... more>> but internally, he’s panicking half the time. The contrast between his outer image and inner chaos adds both tension and humor to the story.

Some might argue he’s overpowered due to the help from the system, but I disagree. The real skill lies in how he reacts and adapts. Think about it... You were playing a game as a student, with the end goal of assassinating your professor for a diploma, and suddenly, you’re reincarnated into the game as that very professor. And to top it off, the game difficulty has been cranked up to Hell Mode. It’s a twist that makes the MC’s situation far more perilous, and even with assistance, nothing comes easy.

The action chapters are intense and well-written; they keep me on edge and deeply immersed. Every encounter feels like it could be his last, and the tension remains consistently high as the MC deals with various scenarios and adversaries.

Character-wise, while the development may not yet be as emotionally layered as the author's previous work (Kidnapped Dragons), there’s clear growth in the MC’s relationships. Despite being targeted by his students, the MC begins to genuinely care for them. His dynamic with the students, especially as they slowly shift from adversaries to something more complex, is a major hook for me. (Not to mention all the variety of pet references and characteristics!)

I’ve seen some claims about the story containing inappropriate or fetishizing content, but based on what’s actually written—especially in the original Korean—it seems like a misinterpretation. The metaphorical language used reflects trauma, endurance, and survival, not anything inappropriate. While everyone is entitled to their interpretations, I encourage readers to experience the story fully before making judgments.

If you’re into novels with action, humor, and a unique twist on the reincarnation game trope, this one is absolutely worth your time. Massive thanks to the author for sharing this story with us.

It's a 5/5 so far for me, and I'm excited to see how the plot develops! <<less
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TIKONIKO
TIKONIKO rated it
May 8, 2025
Status: --
I don't get what the people are talking about in this review, but base from what I have read I find this story very interesting. I love stories that have comedy, action, and misunderstanding. Compare to other novels the MC here is very much unique. Its a fun novel that turns the reader into a thirsty beast waiting for the next chapter to drop, and I'm all for it.

I get that some people have there own taste and others might not find this novel good, but to me its amazing.... more>> Its a story about a guy who plays games and finished playing the most difficult game mode, or so he thought (I know its sounds like a topical reincarnation story but pls bair with me). He was then transported into the game as a professor, he's looks adds so much to the story. He's face exerts an aura thats intimidating, serous and charming at the same time. This school where he's gonna work on is a strange and definitely deadly one (if you're in the assassin's department). Students will get there school diploma by killing there advisor, and thats why I was hooked in the story. It fuels my mind with curiosity as to how will this professor survive this school. He's past (the professor not the mc) is also a mystery.

If you want to read a noval thats funny, filled with action, and misunderstanding than this is the right one for you.

Thank you author for giving us the chance to read this wonderful story. I can't wait for whats to come. Keep up the good work, your doing fantastic.

Sincerely yours-

Fan <<less
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm rated it
May 8, 2025
Status: c55
(5/30/25, c55, 0 stars) : Let me just put this out there: this novel is decent if you just turn your brain off while reading. It is nothing more, nothing less. Doubling down on the bad writing, as of Chapter 55, the plot has slowly been shifting from a misunderstanding trope novel to an OP academy munchkin type of novel where the assassin part isn't even relevant. Generic OP munchkin tropes are just shoehorned into the plot with no thought put into it. As the author didn't even try... more>> to differentiate their novel from the many other generic Korean OP munchkin novels out there, I would give 0 stars if I could. Spoilers ahead explain why the novel deserves a 0 star rating.

Spoiler

In Chapter 36, after the author conveniently introduces a demon and it being eliminated using the conveniently introduced demon-killing weapon that he just conveniently happened to find, posts are made online and reporters from news agencies come to interview him, as only a few people saw what happened that day. Here we get to witness peak humor in action, with the punchline being 'lol it's just like the real world but assassin-themed'. You got 'The New York Times'? We got 'The Assassin Times'. You got the 'Pulitzer Prize'? We got the 'Pulichev Prize'. You got 'Reddit'? We got 'Assassin Town'. There's absurdist humor, and then there's just lazy writing.

Speaking of assassin-themed things, people in this novel communicate using 'a watch-like gadget featuring a protruding crystal lens that projected holograms, often referred to as a "crystal ball"', which is equivalent to a phone in this universe. Like, why have this James Bond type of gadget instead of having normal phones? Oh yeah: assassins. This technology has been introduced and used since Chapter 5 to share phone numbers, send messages, and now to view posts on Assassin Town. A simple thing that I've seen nobody ask about is what time period the novel takes place in. Due to this, initially, I thought this novel took place in contemporary time, as there are cars and holograms, which are pretty advanced technology. The unknown time period is finally revealed in Chapter 47, which gives the year 501. This is an example of how little effort the author puts into world-building, as even with my limited knowledge of history, the printing press was invented way later than that, so newspapers and phone-like devices shouldn't even be in circulation.

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So far, everything I mentioned can be considered minor/nitpicking. However, the next few events are massive errors in writing.
Spoiler

The first thing I take issue with is that the author is close-minded and only writes the bare minimum. After the first demon attack, the MC continues steadily training to raise their stats and World Forgery progress. At the end of Chapter 38, the MC reaches 89% proficiency in World Forgery. It is described that growth would be significantly slowed and once it crosses 90%, it's like a whole new realm. This is painted as a significant power-up, so the MC should be striving to get this upgrade as soon as possible as he is on the hardest difficulty, and World Forgery is his main ability. One thing that could be done to help speed up this process is to use Star Shards to raise the proficiency, as he did before when he first got World Forgery. Even if it costs a bit due to growth being significantly slowed, the option should at least be glossed over just in case. The author does not mention this at all. I will mention this issue again later.

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Spoiler

The second thing I take issue with is Dante's relationship with Eve. The author portrays her as a major character, as many chapters have snippets of information about her. With the highest potential value ever seen, Dante also tries to build a relationship with her. He visited her everyday at Mount Stargaze without fail, with the goal of using her. In Chapter 39, the MC visits Eve with his assistant, Adale. Here, we find out that the MC is incredibly dense when it comes to human relationships, and has to be told advice from Adale. This type of pathetic behavior only reminds me how hard the system is carrying the MC through the game. Then suddenly, the MC stops visiting Eve. His goal was to turn Eve into a potential asset, and he just stops? After three weeks of his absence, Eve descended Mount Stargaze for the first time to look for him, but failing to do so. Again, Adale has to ask the MC about visiting Mount Stargaze, wondering why they haven't gone there recently. And his response?

"Why would we go there?"

I have no words.

In fact, the MC's relationship with literally everybody aren't even relationships at all. Some people might say that he slowly starts to genuinely care for his students, but he does not care about any of the characters, only seeing them as tools to be used. We've already discussed Eve, so let's talk about Elize and Rebecca. In Chapter 17, the MC is improving his relationship with Elize and gets this 'revelation' about forging bonds. But in Chapter 49, Rebecca orders Elize to kill the MC, but he uses his relationship with her to stop her. In response to this, Rebecca ditches Elize, so she follows the MC. Elize, being described as deeply unsettled and depressed, sits inside of a tr*sh can and tells the MC about her thoughts. In response to this, the MC offers no words of sympathy, tells her to leave, and when she doesn't leave, he leaves the room to go do something else. In Chapter 54, Rebecca opens up to the MC a little and asks him if he will betray her. The MC, feigning kindness, says that he won't betray her while internally thinking that he would use Rebecca for his own purposes. Do you guys see the care that the MC gives? I'd love to see it.

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Spoiler

The third thing that I take issue with is the generic tropes. One of them, which can be considered the greatest crime in all of writing, is making other characters dumb to make the MC look smart. Some might argue that the MC's true skill relies in reacting and adapting well, but I disagree. Anyone could do what the MC has done so far as long as they have a pulse. An example of other characters having stunted IQ can be seen in Chapter 47, where the characters are devising a plan against the second demon named Jinxsite, which has appeared earlier than expected. Since none of the professors have ever seen this type of monster before, the MC tells them exactly what to do. Some professors question how the MC knows this information, and the response that they're given is that the MC has encountered it before in the past. I can overlook this behavior since lives were at stake, but what I can't overlook is that in Chapter 47, the MC tells them that he will kill Jinxsite alone. Not 'the demon', Jinxsite. He drops the monster's name several times, and nobody questions it at all. How can someone make this massive blunder and not be punished for it unless the world revolves around them? Everyone keeps throwing around the words 'Hell difficulty' without even describing what that type of difficulty would actually look like. Nothing that has happened so far comes even remotely close to it. The MC has a completely broken ability, and everyone just follows the words of the MC with little to no questions asked. There is little quantification for power levels, and relationships are formed at the slightest touch that the MC gives. To support this statement, remember that issue I mentioned earlier? During the first encounter with Jinxsite, Dante and Gray, an Illusion Arts cadet, are in a sinking airship due to the demon's attack. Gray casts an illusion to put wings on the sides of the airship for it to safely glide down, but fails due to it not being able to handle the airship's weight or drag. The MC calculates that with the mana that he has, he won't be able to do it alone. Instead of using his Star Shards to raise the proficiency of World Forgery or to raise his mana stat, he tells Gray to make wings again, saying that he believes in her. This contrived scenario works, and he gets 30 more Star Shards as a reward for their bond (30), which is a significant amount. For reference, the MC's bond with Elize and Rebecca is 20. One thing that I did not mention was Gray was also insanely drunk on the airship, souring this moment even further. So instead of using his Star Shards to upgrade his mana or his ability as insurance in case Gray fails again, he put the responsibility on a drunk teenager. Also, how does this even register as a bond? Did the author forget that people experience memory loss when intoxicated? The answer is that they didn't forget, since in Chapter 52, it turns out Gray did experience memory loss. So, where is the bond? There was no bond to be made: the MC just told Gray to do it and she miraculously succeeded. This trope where characters succeed in critical moments is pathetic to read. The MC had plenty of shards: raising the proficiency of World Forgery should correlate to less mana usage: he could have used his shards to at least lessen some of the burden for Gray, but he didn't because the author either didn't think of it or purposefully ignored it for this 'bond' to be created.

If you think that those scenarios are not the author making other characters dumb to make the MC look intelligent, get a load of this. In Chapter 51, it is revealed that many other people were brought into the game world. This was expected, so it's whatever. Due to the game being single-player, each other person brought into the game has their own different world. It is also revealed that there were other people who chose Hell Mode, and guess what? Everyone else who selected Hell Mode is dead, leaving the MC as the only remaining player and sole survivor of the Hell difficulty. Even better, it is also revealed that the servers would eventually merge so that the game is multiplayer. It's like the world was made for the MC, and the MC alone. Genius? What kind of 'I'm the Max Level Newbie' nonsense is this? Also, in my earlier review I mentioned how the author didn't even try to create past records for Dante Hiakapo, blaming it on the 'mysterious board director'. Well, in Chapter 53, we finally get a response to this. Someone asks who the MC is, and the chairman, the guy who brought the MC in, says "I don't know".

...

...

... bruh.

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With that aside, let's talk about the academy itself for a second. The goal of the cadets is that they have to kill their professor to graduate. If they fail, they're expelled with no diploma. This entire premise is ridiculous.
Spoiler

The goal is to assassinate the professor. It's been stated that professors lack motivation and drive to teach the students. I mean, obviously, why would you teach them how to assassinate you? With no passion, most of the professors just focus on making money. Later, some professors betray them stating that they should have been paid better. That's the best excuse that the author could come up with? Constantly being targeted by your students is not a valid reason to betray your nation? When other professors try to think why they could have betrayed them, the FIRST thing that the author wrote is 'they were blinded by money', citing it as a 'major factor'. Really? No other reason as to why? Good lord.

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Again, the novel is fine if you don't think. Dropping it here, but might come back and edit this review after a looooong break.

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(5/10/25, c33, 1 star) : Incredibly disappointing compared to the author's previous work. Before the MC was dropped into the game, the author paints the MC as an incredibly pathetic individual. Not even bothering to give him a name, he wanted to become a professor, but was backstabbed, had his thesis stolen from him, and is now drowning in debt on top of being diagnosed with cancer. Using the game as a method to cope, a DLC patch adds in Hell difficulty, he selects it, and he wakes up inside the game.

Freshly transported, the MC is now given a name: Dante Hiakapo, a professor at Hiaka Academy that has to constantly avoid being assassinated by his students. Expecting a standard misunderstanding trope novel, I really tried to give this novel a shot. I have read a few misunderstanding trope novels such as I'm Really Not the Demon God's Lackey and Fake Saint of the Year, so I understand the appeal of the misunderstanding trope. However, the humor in this novel is nonexistent to me. The main reason as to why the humor fails to hit is due to the system.

Students talking about assassinating him? Display floating textboxes stating all of their dialogue and thoughts.

MC does not know where the assassination is coming from? Minimap feature that shows where the assassins are.

Does an item looks suspicious? Inspect it with the system to see if it's considered dangerous.

None of the above applies? Enable the tip feature that literally tells him exactly what to do. No, this is not a joke. In one of the beginning chapters, one of the students throws a knife at the MC, and the system tip tells him to raise his hand, which makes the knife bounce off it. As of where I have read up to, this never happens again.

Author forgets about writing tips because it's an incredibly broken feature? The reward from surviving the scenario that I described above gives him enough currency to buy a forbidden ability called World Forgery, the ability to create dreams and illusions which have tangible form. Because of this backseating system, all action & conflict thus far has been solved not with the MC's intellect, but by being carried by constant plot armor dubbed 'the system'.

This, along with everything else mentioned so far, eliminated all of the misunderstanding humor for me. The reason why a misunderstanding novel such as I'm Really Not the Demon God's Lackey was entertaining to read was due to both parties misunderstanding what was happening, creating a new type of misunderstanding. Fake Saint of the Year's misunderstandings were enjoyable due to the protagonist actually being extremely selfish and self-centered, with the goal of achieving happiness. Yet people saw her as a real saint, even after they were told that she was not chosen as one. Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor falls short as the professor is not even a genius; the goal is just surviving with the 'humor' coming from being carried by the system.

The writing is average at best, if not straight up lazy. The author does not bother to explain even the most basic things, such as how he got hired in the first place or what the MC has on his character when he gets transmigrated. Similarly, the author doesn't even try to create past records for Dante Hiakapo, blaming it on this 'mysterious board director' who hired him. You're telling me this director hired someone who is incredibly weak and has no skills or training? Even more unbelievably, you're telling me this person randomly became an Illusion Arts master overnight and the director is just fine with that? For all intents and purposes, to all of the other characters, Dante Hiakapo is a mysterious existence that just appeared out of nowhere, so it's understandable that they don't know. But you're telling me the director isn't slightly interested about how the MC got these skills out of thin air? Some may like the mysteries that are presented here, but I call this a lack of character depth. If you want a better, similar style of humor to this that has character depth, I recommend 'Is It Bad That the Main Character's a Roleplayer?', as it actually has a fleshed-out backstory for both the MC in-and-out the game. The reason why the humor works for this novel in particular is due to the MC thinking he is still in the VR game, he roleplays as the chuunibyou character he created. Once he realizes too late that he's stuck in the game, due to the traits he selected for his character, he has to keep maintaining his character.

There also seems to be no limit of what World Forgery can do other than not having enough mana, quite literally allowing him to do anything.
Spoiler

During one of the assassination attempts, the MC creates illusions of himself and the students. This causes the students to start attacking each other out of fear. Due to this contrived scenario, the MC has to step in. How does he de-escalate the situation? BY STOPPING TIME. No explanation given. He just briefly stops time. Obviously, this news spreads and now people think the MC is on the level of an archmage on top of being an Illusion Arts master.

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Hell difficulty? Where's the Hell difficulty? You'd have to be an idiot to die with that kind of ability.

Another example of the poor writing is how the author addresses the issue of not being able to deal a lot of damage with World Forgery. One of the flaws of World Forgery is that it can't deal a lot of damage, which can be simply solved by using some of the confiscated weapons collected from students or by buying some weapons, using illusions to distract enemies. This has not been used yet.
Spoiler

During one of the chapters, the MC goes to sell off the confiscated weapons he collected from the students trying to assassinate him to raise money to pay off a fine. In one of the shops, specifically the one 'full of tr*sh', he finds an unappraised weapon. Surprise, surprise, this weapon turns out to be a stigma weapon, having the blessing of the stars and being worth 7, 500, 000 hika. Even more of a surprise, this weapon deals extra damage to demons, the undead and counters dark magic when there is an upcoming war with demons. What a coincidence. Even more of a coincidence, the moment he starts thinking about assassinating demons, the author conveniently introduces a demon.

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Again, where's the Hell difficulty? Being given handout after handout, the difficulty borderlines on Easy/Medium.

Not even going to get into the perverse writing. Read this if you have nothing better to read. <<less
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Madrastis
Madrastis rated it
May 10, 2025
Status: c34
A very good novel which put the character in an unfamiliar role but inside an all too familiar world to him.

As of now (c34) the character encountered plenty of highly dangerous situations thanks to skills, knowledge and fortunate misunderstandings.

The situation are properly depicted and explained causing no issue with imagining the scenes and it is pretty efficient at it too (there was no point in which I would feel bored or want a description to end sooner).

There are a few hints as to what his actual situation is, which adds... more>> mystery to the plot (related to "bugs" in the game-world and inexplicable dissonances between him and the character he is incarnating).

While the character still is trying with difficulty to survive, it is not all there is in it.

A good read for sure, properly paced and entertaining, I would recommend it to whoever may read this. <<less
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