Ch.166Second Year (1)

I and Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein became second-year students.

“Today we welcome the juniors who will be with us for the next two years. Please do your best to avoid any mistakes.”

The secretary distributed booklets and manuals to the officers. Today was the entrance ceremony. A day when student council members work together harmoniously.

Everyone moved with high morale at the thought of welcoming their juniors.

“Vice President, a moment.”

After everyone else had left, Zernya stopped me as I was about to follow.

“It’s happening soon.”

“What is?”

“I’m settling family matters. By the end of this month, I’ll become the head of the family.”

I nodded.

The main flow is similar to the original story.

Of course, the cause is different but the result is the same. From here on, nobody knows what will happen.

“Vice President, see you later.”

Zernya and I parted ways in the middle of the amphitheater stairs. As I was checking the schedule, the entrance ceremony was about to begin.

“As freshmen of the prestigious Stellarium College, you must possess an elite spirit to contribute to federal society…”

The chancellor’s speech remains the same as always.

“Hey, Eidel!”

I heard a voice. I was in charge of supervising the Engineering and Natural Sciences departments. So it wasn’t difficult to guess who the voice belonged to.

I turned around with a slight smile.

Welton Yusoford. And Mathers Byteling. The two were sitting not far away.

“It’s been a while.”

“About a month?”

I shook hands lightly with both of them. As expected, I knew they would pass the entrance exam.

After offering brief congratulations, I sat down next to Welton. He said:

“I thought someone like you would be in a lab instead of being here, haha!”

“It’s student council work. If I don’t do it, the president will give me hell.”

That’s what I said, but it wasn’t the main reason. The reason I postponed important research was to strengthen friendships with these fresh main characters.

“Welton, Mathers. Have you thought about interning at research labs in your departments?”

“What…”

Both men’s expressions turned dumbfounded at my question.

Welton burst into laughter as if he had expected this, while Mathers almost cursed but sighed instead.

“What? What’s the problem?”

“We made a bet about what you’d say when we met. If you mentioned ‘graduate school,’ ‘research lab,’ or ‘internship’ within 30 minutes of meeting, he would buy me meals for a week.”

“Oh my.”

“But it wasn’t 30 minutes, it was 30 seconds. Ah, shit. My money.”

I felt sorry for Mathers’ financial situation, having to support his two younger sisters, but what could I do? It was their bet. I should treat him to a hearty meal later.

“Besides, Mathers has to do an internship anyway. Mechanical engineering students need to write a paper before graduation.”

“Hey, you bastard. What does an internship have to do with writing a paper? And you have to write one too. Do you think Electronic Muon Engineering is any different?”

“In our department, we can substitute it with a graduation project.”

“Ah, that’s bullshit.”

I stood up as I watched the two bickering. How heartwarming.

If these two could go through graduate school and participate in research with me in a few years, it would be very reassuring. After all, I need engineers’ help to build large experimental equipment.

That said, I don’t see her anywhere.

I guess I’ll have to go look for her myself.

My next destination was the College of Natural Sciences.

“Ireh, there you are.”

“…Rheinland, no. Eidel.”

Ireh Hazlen. She had been sitting with her head buried in her legs, only her eyes peeking out, and now she looked up at me.

Needless to say, she had passed the entrance exam. However, she entered the Physics Department, not Military Studies. She seemed quite unfamiliar with her surroundings, surrounded by unknown faces. Huddling in a corner was just a bonus.

“It was hard to find you. With your black hair and dark eyes, you don’t stand out much.”

“Sorry.”

“Or did you want to be alone?”

“No, just…”

Ireh trailed off. She had been staring at the center of the stage where Zernya was reading her congratulatory speech as the student council president.

“…Therefore, we must always be considerate and respectful of others, becoming talented individuals with humility and virtue.”

Confident and assured. With a loud voice like a child giving a speech.

There was no arrogance or laxity in the current Zernya. What emanated from her refined confidence was charisma and leadership.

“Ah.”

Ireh exclaimed.

“I might be able to win this time.”

She smiled and took out her textbook from her bag.

“I should do my best too.”

“That’s a good attitude.”

The textbook Ireh was reading wasn’t too difficult. It was friendly with more text than equations, and the illustrations to aid understanding were more elaborate than in other books. Despite the commotion, Ireh began to read with concentration.

This was also a pleasing sight. Just watching her made me proud. If I have children of my own someday, would I feel similar emotions in this regard?

The entrance ceremony was almost over. Until then, I didn’t disturb Ireh and just kept an eye on the surroundings. All I had to do was guide freshmen who occasionally asked simple questions like “Where is the bathroom?”

Right after the ceremony ended, Ireh slowly stood up with her textbook tucked under her arm.

“Shall we do a mid-point check?”

“Check?”

“Feedback. I ask you something, and you answer freely.”

“I’m still lacking.”

“Come on, don’t say that. Is there anyone in the world who’s perfectly prepared? Everyone learns one step at a time by getting advice and making corrections.”

Ireh hesitated, then nodded.

“…Alright. I’ll try.”

My questions were quite standard. I asked about concepts and had her explain the meaning of equations. Ireh answered without much difficulty.

“Your skills have improved a lot in such a short time.”

“Really?”

“You may be lacking in quantitative aspects, but your direction is correct. And you know all the basic mathematical knowledge.”

How reassuring that the protagonist of “Surviving the Outer Gods” is my junior in the Physics Department.

“Honestly, it’s still not something I find that interesting.”

Just as I was thinking this, Ireh threw cold water on my thoughts.

“You don’t find it fun?”

“It’s not that I don’t enjoy it at all. As I do it, I feel it’s okay. But if you ask me if it’s insanely fun… I don’t think it’s quite there yet.”

“So you’re doing it out of a sense of duty.”

Ireh answered by blinking her eyes.

“Ireh, I have something to discuss with you.”

“Research?”

“No.”

I carefully changed the topic of conversation.

“Rustila Kersil has contracted with Virgo.”

***

Come to think of it, I’ve been reincarnated into a novel.

To be precise, “Surviving the Outer Gods” is a novel with Ireh as the protagonist, and it’s also a diary written by her. It’s said to be a collection of the essence of various events that occurred over 88 million iterations.

Naturally, there were many events I hadn’t read about. This meant that Ireh knew much more about this world than I did.

“Do you know anything about Virgo’s complete form?”

Inside the cafeteria next to the Natural Sciences building.

I brought two cups of coffee and a shortcake and casually asked Ireh.

“For instance, if the ‘restrictions’ are less strict…”

“I can’t guarantee I know everything either. The previous user of Virgo’s complete form is already dead. No matter how many times I regressed, I couldn’t go back to when she was alive.”

Ireh sipped her coffee and spread her fingers.

“Three things are certain.”

“What are they?”

“First, Rustila will become incredibly strong from now on. Second, she will be appointed as the Southern Commander. Third, the end is closer than we think.”

I see. I roughly understand what she means.

“That’s because Virgo counters Darwin’s system, right?”

This was information that appeared in the original work. Virgo excels against Darwin-type monsters or incarnate bodies. Simply put, it has an advantageous matchup.

One of the biggest characteristics of Darwin-type incarnate bodies is that they try to reproduce with every organic matter they see, and humans are no exception. Once someone is caught by them…

[“They get pregnant.”]

Cartesia is right. Regardless of gender or age, they suffer such a terrible fate.

[“They infinitely get pregnant and give birth, according to the definition of complete organisms. I once found it quite interesting. I was even interested in studying their ecology at one point. Well, there were so many violent ones that I eventually gave up.”]

I was a bit surprised. Had Cartesia ever shared her personal history like this before?

Slurp.

Ireh put down her cup after inhaling her coffee so deeply that her cheeks hollowed. She smoothed her side hair and continued.

“Darwin-type creatures love reproduction that much. But the passive effect of Virgo’s ‘Purity’ skill nullifies all of that. That’s why the person who was called the Virgin of the Previous Generation was never violated even though she was defeated. Ugh…”

“Are you okay?”

“…Sorry. Thinking about the Darwin era makes me a bit disgusted.”

“I understand.”

She pounded her chest vigorously. I waited for a moment and pondered.

I understand that Virgo requires virginity as a price. But because of that, one cannot love someone? Even for a constellation, the standard for this seemed ambiguous.

Eventually, my thoughts delved into what the criteria and types of love might be.

Hmm.

I still don’t know. It’s not my research topic, and thinking deeply about such things gives me a headache.

That’s when Ireh spoke up.

“You know Mezulen Hueritia, right?”

Mezulen. The genius girl who will become an outer god biologist in the future.

“If you want to know more about this matter, you should help that child walk the path of a researcher in a good environment. As you probably know, Mezulen is a genius in that field, comparable to you.”

“That makes sense.”

Constellations and outer gods are known to have the same emergence patterns. The difference is that constellations appear from stars, while outer gods emerge from black holes.

If Mezulen could create a theory to analyze the behavior of constellations, it might bring progress to the current ambiguous relationship. Moreover, such research alone could map out the behavioral patterns of constellations, making it easier to deal with outer gods.

Of course, for that to happen, we would first need to get Mezulen’s mother out of prison.