Ch.116Your Student Was Awesome (8)

Professor Stranov’s email had a video attached.

“Would you like to say your name and student number to the camera?”

“Eidel von Rheinland, class of ’24.”

“Shall we do something nice?”

“Resonator research! Resonator research!”

“Would you take off your clothes?”

“I’ve changed into clean room attire, Professor.”

Professor Feynman’s mouth fell wide open.

“A master’s isn’t enough, is it? I’ll take responsibility for your doctorate too. Mr. Rheinland, no, student Eidel. So please, please stay in our lab, continue to stay.”

“I will! I’ll join your lab, Professor!”

Eidel fell into Stranov’s embrace. The two became one in body and soul.

“From now on, I declare myself one with Professor Stranov. Any attack on the professor will be considered an attack on me.”

The video continued for five more hours. It was in vlog format, showing Eidel researching and Stranov watching him with satisfaction.

The sweet scenes continued. Feynman clutched his heart. Just watching it felt like his teeth were rotting.

“Would you sign the employment contract?”

“Yes, Professor…”

For a moment, he thought he’d misheard.

“From today, I will be doing paid work in Professor Stranov’s lab…”

“No.”

This must be a dream. It has to be a dream.

“Professor…”

“This can’t be. This can’t be. This can’t be—!!”

Feynman pounded the desk as tears flowed.

He had been robbed. He had lost the prospective graduate student he’d been watching most closely.

“Please! What did I do wrong…”

He banged his head on the desk. His head throbbed and his vision went dark.

Crackle.

That’s when the video’s atmosphere suddenly changed.

“Hello, Richard?”

It was a post-credits scene. The screen was dimly lit, and in the center was a woman with a sinister smile.

“Hehe, it’s been a while since I called you by name. Have you been well?”

“Stranov…”

“I’m not sorry, but I’ll be taking Eidel. Too bad for you. Losing an undergraduate student you’ve been in contact with for so long.”

“You, you really!”

“Don’t be too depressed though. And don’t go making trouble with lawyers. I never forced or threatened the student. Rather, think of it as a genius finding the right nest.”

“…”

“You’re not angry, are you? That would be shameless.”

“What?”

“Richard, you brought this on yourself.”

The light disappeared from the woman’s eyes. The lighting went out with a click. In the deep darkness, only a single candlestick flickered.

Stranov pressed her face close to the camera and continued.

“You rejected me. Three times, even. No, actually was it four? Yes, if we count you ignoring my love letter, it would be four.”

“…”

“I liked you so much, loved you so much. How could you be so cold? Is research such a big deal?”

“…”

“Look at this. Between you and me now, who’s the better researcher? Who’s the winner? For your information, I’m also wealthy. I do both theory and experiments. Unlike you who only reads books and deals with abstractions, I receive substantial corporate support.”

Venom gathered in her eyes.

As if trying to vent all her pent-up resentment. As if trying to avenge every humiliation.

“So regret it. Regret rejecting me back then, slap your cheeks and regret it.”

“Kallis…!”

“You need to know the pain of rejection too.”

A deep, high-pitched laughter echoed.

Joy.

Anger.

Sadness.

Various emotions transmitted through the speaker.

The video faded to black and the player turned off. Simultaneously, a DM was updated.

[Your student was awesome lol]

“Ugh, aaaaargh!!”

[Oh, by the way. Do you know what our next research topic is?]

[It’s discovering gravitons.]

“Ugh, wh-what…!”

[I heard from Eidel. You’re researching gravitons too, right?]

[Oh my? You should be careful not to get scooped! Eidel’s research speed is beyond imagination, you know? Haha]

[But can you afford accelerator usage fees with your chicken-sized government funding?]

[Good luck]

[Well, I need to go research now, so~]

[Ah]

[And]

[I loved you, you son of a bitch]

Ding!

[Notice: The other person has gone offline.]

“This can’t… be happening.”

Feynman opened his mailbox. There must still be something he could do.

[DM: Student Eidel von Rheinland]

[Student Eidel]

[Are you available now?]

[Let’s have a chat]

[Please reply as soon as you see this]

A time of waiting that felt like soy sauce burning. And after dozens of minutes.

[Sorry for seeing this late, Professor.]

Feynman hurriedly read the message. The phrase “(typing…)” appeared at the bottom of the DM window. Reading “typing” backwards gives “gnipit,” gravity, graviton, tears flowing.

Finally, the reply came.

[I have something sudden to tell you, Professor.]

Wait.

[I’m sorry, but I’ll need to pursue graduate studies at another school.]

No.

Don’t do this.

[After interning elsewhere, I discovered that lab suits me better than Professor Feynman’s lab.]

Lies. These are lies.

[…So I’ve decided to pursue my combined master’s and doctoral program at Stranov Professor’s lab at Irvoyel Academy.]

You came looking specifically for me right after entering Academia. It’s not right to notify me so suddenly without any warning.

[Student Eidel]

[Did I do something wrong?]

[If you think there’s something that needs improvement in our lab, please tell me candidly]

[I’ll try to fix it right away]

[No, Professor]

[There’s nothing that needs improvement.]

[It’s just that my personal research interests have changed.]

[That’s a lie]

[I heard you’re researching gravitons with Professor Stranov]

[Please don’t lie to me]

There was no reply for several minutes after that.

Feynman continued typing with tears in his eyes.

[We still have so much research to do together]

[(graviton_research_paper.pdf)]

[This is the paper we’re currently working on]

[It’s just a draft without much yet, but I’d like student Eidel to review and edit it]

[It’s my life’s greatest wish]

[Student Eidel]

[Student]

[Student]

[We shouldn’t end like this]

And soon, a reply came.

[I’m sorry, Professor.]

Just one sentence of apology.

“Ah.”

The ceiling turns yellow. (Actually, it was already yellow due to lack of maintenance.)

“Professor…? Professor!”

“Wake up, Professor Feynman!!”

When he regained consciousness, several hours had passed. He had lost his paper, his time, and his student. It was the worst day a professor could experience.

From evening, Feynman began screaming in earnest.

He screamed and screamed and screamed until his throat was raw, then soothed it with honey water, only to scream again until his vocal cords bled.

That day, the graduate students couldn’t go home.

But.

Feynman wasn’t one to completely collapse like this.

“…Let’s go on a *cough* business trip.”

The professor assembled an expedition team with the sole determination to somehow reclaim his stolen prospective disciple.

And.

“I never thought things would turn out like this.”

“At this rate, we really won’t graduate!”

“We have to get our junior back somehow.”

Three lab slaves—no, our smart and brave graduate students who would do anything for their papers and graduation.

Ian, Frans, and Mercury.

“Though we may have different surnames, we are bound by the ties of graduate school!”

“We shall share our hearts and combine our strength to help each other through the shittiest and worst of times.”

“We only wish to repay our professor above and bring peace to our junior below.”

“Though we did not enter on the same day, we hope to graduate together, and may the cosmic energy and constellations look down upon our hearts, and may those who betray righteousness and principles be punished by foreign gods and spirits to pay the monthly dinner bill.”

The three doctoral students who became sworn brothers through the Universal Peach Garden Oath left the Academy.

By the way, the dropout rate in the Quantum Gravity Theory lab exceeds 80%.

That’s why they don’t have any master’s juniors…

***

BANG BANG BANG!

“Kallis! Come out right now!”

A familiar voice. An unfamiliar tone.

I was smiling happily as I approached the end of my resonator fabrication research when I jumped at the sudden shout.

Professor Stranov hurriedly covered me with an outer garment and said:

“Go into the separate room.”

“But that voice is…”

“It’s probably nothing important. I’ll handle it and come back.”

But it seemed too late already. BANG! The locked door opened with a violent sound.

The lab instantly became ice-cold. And the look in Professor Feynman’s eyes when our gazes met was even colder.

“Student Eidel… I’ve come to rescue you.”

“Ha!”

Stranov blocked me and confronted Feynman. She spoke lightly:

“Are those graduate students behind you? Just three?”

“Not three, Kallis. Four.”

“Looks like there’s one more in your lab. But it doesn’t seem to be student Eidel von Rheinland.”

“That student belongs to our lab. Step aside.”

“My goodness, what nonsense, forgetting all decorum. You’re a professor. Can’t you converse more dignifiedly?”

“No matter how undignified I am, I’m still better than you, right? Hmm, Kallis.”

Professor Feynman displayed a message window in mid-air. Everyone could see it—me, Professor Stranov, and the graduate students working in the lab.

“What’s going on suddenly.”

“Ah, Zernya, welcome.”

“That… ‘Can you afford accelerator usage fees with your chicken-sized government funding?’ ‘I loved you, you son of a bitch?’ Wow, what kind of ill-mannered person wrote such vulgar insults?”

“Professor Stranov.”

Zernya froze.

Anyway, my plan was progressing steadily. I had anticipated Professor Feynman coming here.

I quietly took out a corn snack wrapper from my pocket and handed it to Zernya. Her expression turned sulky.

“…Why, what.”

“Microwave, 5 minutes 30 seconds.”

It’s popcorn time now.