Chap 53-Public Figure X

 

“…….”

Elise stood before me, holding a small, sharp blade that resembled a surgical scalpel.

Her hand trembled like an aspen leaf.

Her face looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment, unable to bring herself to approach me.

‘Haa… this is really frustrating.’

I sat on the bed, looking at her with a pathetic gaze.

“Hey, how long are you going to keep doing that? Hurry up and do it?”

I snapped irritably.

“But… but behind…”

Elise trailed off, her voice choked with tears.

“Haa…”

I didn’t hide my pathetic expression, and this time, I snapped towards the back of Elise.

“Hey. If you keep staring like that, how can she do anything? Can you please stop staring?”

At my words, the three women standing awkwardly behind Elise flinched simultaneously.

‘…Wait, why are these people even here?’

Lina, Bella, and Professor Emilia.

The three of them were watching Elise with fierce eyes, like guards or protectors.

Lina with eyes mixed with worry and anxiety, Bella with eyes filled with displeasure and a hint of anger, and Professor Emilia… with a complex and guilty expression.

It was clear that their intense gazes were making Elise even more intimidated.

I sighed once more and urged the trembling Elise.

I wanted to quickly end this frustrating and awkward situation.

“Hey, Elise. Hurry up, will you?”

At my urging, Elise made an annoyed expression.

Then, she roughly grabbed my wrist and placed the blade in her trembling hand directly into my hand.

“…What?”

I asked, dumbfounded, and Elise shouted in an almost tearful voice.

“I’m too scared to do it! So, do it yourself!”

“No, wait a minute.”

I asked back, dumbfounded.

“What’s so scary about an alchemist drawing a little blood? You’re always cooped up in your room making strange chemicals and blowing things up?”

“I’m scared! I’m scared!!!”

Elise suddenly shouted as if she was having a seizure.

Tears welled up in her eyes again.

“It’s already suffocating with too many people in this small space, and those people keep staring at me with scary eyes! I’m too scared, my hands are shaking, I can’t do it!”

She pleaded, almost sobbing.

‘Um… Elise?’

I was momentarily speechless.

There were only five people in this large alchemy lab.

And she’s suffocating?

‘How does she even attend classes normally?’

I knew she had social anxiety, but I didn’t know it was this bad…

‘Haa… you would be like that.’

I sighed inwardly.

With no other choice, I decided to do it myself and end it quickly. With a sigh, I raised the blade in my hand.

The moment I was about to bring it to my forearm.

Suddenly, a chilling realization flashed through my mind.

‘…Wait a minute. This… this situation… I’m directly hurting myself in front of others, in a public place?’

As a person, there were times when I had an unbearable urge.

Because of this damn ability, once I tasted the pleasure of pain, there were moments when it was impossible to resist.

At those times, I would secretly go to a place where no one was around and hurt myself.

So…

This act I’m about to do…

This act of directly hurting my body…

Is practically…

‘Masturbation’ or something…?

“…….”

“Absolutely not!!!”

I shouted and shook my head violently.

Then, I shoved the blade back into Elise’s hand as if passing it off to her and snapped.

“No! You were supposed to do this! It’s something your family ordered! So, do it yourself! Now!”

At my sudden change in attitude, not only Elise but also the three people watching from behind looked bewildered.

But right now, I didn’t care about their reactions.

I had to avoid this shameful situation at all costs.

“Yeon, calm down! What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

Bella tried to approach me worriedly, but I didn’t allow her to approach.

“Don’t come any closer!”

I shouted sharply and stepped back.

“Everyone get out! Get out of here right now!”

I grabbed the experimental tools scattered around and started throwing them at them indiscriminately.

Beakers, test tubes, even glass bottles containing unknown chemicals.

Clang! Crash!

With the sound of glass breaking, liquid spilled onto the floor, emitting a foul odor.

“Yeon! Stop!”

“Please calm down!”

“It’s dangerous!”

The three shouted simultaneously, dodging or blocking the flying objects.

They seemed hesitant to approach any further, as if they were overwhelmed by my seemingly irrational behavior.

At the chaotic scene in the lab, the three eventually looked at each other as if there was no other choice, and then stepped back.

“…We’ll be outside for now.”

Professor Emilia said as the representative, and then took Bella and Lina out of the lab.

Just before the door closed, I felt their complex and worried gazes towards me, but I tried to ignore them.

Bang!

The door closed, and only Elise and I were left in the lab again.

I glared at her, breathing heavily.

Bang!

The door closed, and only Elise and I were left in the lab again.

Amidst the messy floor and broken glass shards, Elise was still looking at me with a terrified expression.

As if completely overwhelmed by my mad behavior just now, she couldn’t even move.

I picked up the blade that Elise had dropped earlier, or that I had thrown away, from among the scattered experimental tools, breathing heavily.

The cold and smooth sensation of metal.

And I strode towards Elise.

“…!”

As I approached, Elise became even more frightened and tried to step back, but she was already blocked by the wall and had nowhere else to retreat.

I stood right in front of her and forced the blade into her hand once again. The cold metal touched her trembling palm.

“Hiek…!”

Elise let out a terrified whimper and tried to drop the blade, but I grabbed her wrist tightly to stop her.

“You. Do it. Yourself.”

I glared at her with menacing eyes and growled lowly.

…

Considering the commotion I had caused, the blood collection itself ended quickly and anticlimactically.

In the end, Elise couldn’t resist my threats and pressure, and barely managed to draw a small amount of blood from my arm with her trembling hand.

Of course, she did make a few minor cuts on my arm in the process, but I could let that slide as a cute mistake.

Right now, Elise was putting the collected blood into a test tube and analyzing it on top of a complex magic circle floating in front of her.

She was trying to figure something out by decomposing and reconstructing the components of my blood using various reagents and magical power.

“So, how is it? Did anything come out?”

I asked, sitting in a chair with my arms crossed.

Elise answered curtly without even making eye contact.

“There’s no way the results would come out that quickly. Can you be quiet? I can’t concentrate.”

It was a completely different attitude from her usual trembling, wimpy self.

She seemed to be quite sharp and focused when she was immersed in research.

Seeing this side of her made her look a bit different.

‘…She does what she needs to do when she needs to.’

I thought she would just be a pushover, but she’s quite the expert in her field.

Well, she is the daughter of the Rapelasia Dukedom, so it’s only natural.

There was a simple reason why Elise was researching my blood like this.

That was the condition.

Thanks to the new headmaster, I was able to avoid the worst-case scenario of being dragged to the Rapelasia territory right away.

Instead, the Duchess set this condition.

In exchange for staying at the academy until the midterm exams, I would regularly cooperate with Rapelasia’s research.

It was obvious that the research was ultimately aimed at uncovering the secrets of my body condition, especially my Contamination resistance.

Since I only needed to stay at the academy until the midterm exams, I accepted the condition.

Of course, once the midterm exams were over, I would be inevitably dragged to the Rapelasia territory.

And what awaited me there was… probably a cold operating table and a sharp scalpel.

‘…Dissection.’

The word made a pleasant smile spread across my face without me realizing it.

The image of cold metal tools cutting through my skin, rummaging through my flesh, and taking out my organs one by one to analyze them.

The sensation of watching my body being helplessly disassembled while my consciousness was clear…

It was thrilling just thinking about it.

Hehet.

Ah… Anyway…!

That wasn’t important right now!

There were a mountain of problems to solve right away.

And the most concerning of them was…

The academy’s ‘new headmaster.’

The sudden news of her appointment that I heard through the proctor. And the powerful divine power that made the Rapelasia Duke back down.

A new guardian who descended from the spirit world to fill the void left by Master’s departure.

Her identity.

I already knew.

Because she was an unforgettable existence that appeared in the game .

Blonde hair, transcendent beauty, and the appearance of an angel with one wing missing.

She was the former Celestial god who once ruled the Celestial race, and the one who was sealed after losing the fight against the System administrator.

And the final boss of Chapter 3 who plunged players into despair in the original game, Elaha.

‘Haa…’

I let out a deep sigh.

I had no idea what I had touched to make the game’s settings change so drastically.

According to the original story, Elaha should still be sealed.

But why was she released from the seal, and even took the position of guardian of Terra and headmaster of the academy?

Was it related to Master’s disappearance? Or was there another variable at play that I didn’t know about? My head was getting complicated.

Before the possession, I was frustrated.

I couldn’t understand why the protagonists of web novels or game possession stories didn’t try to change the original story and only tried to follow the predetermined path.

I thought they could create a better future if they were just a little more courageous, but why were they so passive?

But now that I was in that position, I felt like I understood.

Changing the story was a lot more dangerous than I thought.

Just like how a small flap of a butterfly’s wings can cause a huge storm.

I had directly experienced how each of my small choices had changed the world to a level that I couldn’t control…

I could understand a little why they tried so hard to stick to the original story.

Anyway, one thing was certain: she was neither on the side of humanity nor on the side of the Evil God.

She would only move for her own purposes.

If so, there might be no reason for her to directly clash with me for the time being.

I thought I would have to quietly watch her actions for now.

Actually, it wasn’t even a situation where I could watch or do anything.

She was a transcendent of level 10.

If I dared to rebel against her in my current state, I would really disappear like dust with just one gesture of her hand.

The difference in power was too overwhelming.

I had no idea why she had stood up to the Rapelasia Duke for my sake and kept me at the academy.

Was it just a whim? Or did she find some other value in me?

But… whatever the reason, I should use her whim as much as I can.

With Master gone, I desperately needed any small opportunity.

There wasn’t much time left until the midterm exams.

There was no more time to be confused or hesitant.

Author’s Note

Another chapter will be uploaded tomorrow!