Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Stars of the Scientific World (3)
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No.
I stared blankly at Riccardo and explained the sequence of events in more detail. It was true that I was a weirdo, and there was no harm in uncovering that...
*Snap!*
A flick to the forehead came flying.
“Ow!”
A hot sting shot across my forehead. I let out a cry and reflexively clutched it.
Wow. That really hurts.
“Looks like your life motivation flew off with your memories too, huh?”
Riccardo flashed a menacing smile.
The moment I spotted that smile, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This was bad. I hurriedly stuck out one hand to halt the conversation.
He’s mad again.
“No, sir!”
“What’s that.”
“Well, you see.”
I racked my brain for words that might calm him down.
Then I gave up and decided to just be honest.
“W-Well, I...”
“You what?”
His smiling, probing expression was terrifying. I reflexively swallowed hard.
People passed by behind us, chatting. It was evening, so their footsteps sounded light and carefree. Amid the noise, I carefully chose my words before speaking.
“What if I’m a humanoid creature?”
Riccardo blinked.
A long silence followed. A silence so profound it made me embarrassed of what I’d just said.
“Why the sudden thought like that~?”
My senior, observing me like some alien specimen, finally spoke after a while.
“That’s a pretty dumb idea...”
“Is it? Good, then I’m relieved.”
“It’s so dumb it’s got me curious why you’d even think it... Did someone say something?”
“No, not really. I just watched that video.”
I briefly explained how I’d seen Ye-hyeon’s famous video that morning. I hesitated over whether to admit I’d cried watching it but ended up confessing that too.
Even so, Riccardo didn’t drop his look of having seen the world’s biggest idiot.
“Do you even know what a humanoid creature is?”
“No, not in detail... Just that the more humanoid, the higher the rank.”
“Yeah~... And point one, that’s not you...”
Ouch, right in the bones.
I had no choice but to nod at Riccardo’s assertion that there was no way a loser like me could be a humanoid creature.
That’s a perfectly logical counterargument.
I shot him a serious look.
“Excellent point, sir.”
“Good you get it right away~.”
Somehow, it felt sad.
Happy yet sad. A mix of emotions. As I felt them swirling, Riccardo glanced at me and chuckled. Guess my face showed it.
The green-eyed man lowered his arm from around my shoulders.
“That creature in the video burned to ash after death, so they couldn’t even study it... I heard it was the only one among those we’ve faced that spoke human language~.”
“It could talk?”
My god.
My senior nodded and continued smoothly.
“It’s not that there are no talking creatures, but a humanoid one that spoke fluently like that? One of a kind... But there’s hardly any info left... Pretty much every surviving Black Badger rushed in back then, and almost none saw the end with their own eyes. Maybe Tvein and Ye-hyeon? The other 1st Generation were out of it...”
“What about the one who filmed it?”
“Dead~.”
Oh.
Every time I recalled that video, emotions surged. Riccardo’s words eased me a bit, but the churning didn’t fully subside.
Whatever was in that video clearly tied to my erased past. I wanted to uncover it—the source of these intense feelings.
Spending half a weekend with some quirky scientist wouldn’t magically reveal everything, ghost-style.
“Ye-hyeon accepted you, right~?”
His sudden words made me blink at my senior.
“Yes, he did.”
“You’re the only one left in the world who’s faced a Rank 10 up close... Supreme Commander Lee Ye-hyeon. There’s a reason he took you in~.”
Ah.
Come to think of it, asking Ye-hyeon directly would be fastest.
The problem was he was my top boss. If only that cabin hadn’t been wrecked. Then I could’ve casually asked when we crossed paths.
Anyway, Riccardo’s points were all valid.
I had no intention of retracting what I’d told John Mullen, but my mind felt clearer.
Yeah. If there was really something wrong with me, Ye-hyeon wouldn’t have accepted me like this. He even forged admin docs to assemble all the Black Badgers in the auditorium.
If I’d been in his shoes, I wouldn’t have so eagerly integrated a potential liability...
Does Ye-hyeon know something?
The question flashed through my mind, but I didn’t let it show. No point in showing it—nothing good would come of it. I just nodded.
Then I greeted my observant green-eyed senior.
“Thank you.”
“For what~?”
“Just, you know, always with this and that... Have you had dinner?”
“Why... Gonna buy if I haven’t?”
“Yes.”
He snickered at my bold reply.
He pulled his hand from his pocket and ruffled my white hair.
“What’s a chick with no dry blood on its head gonna do~. Go tell John Mullen to reconsider...”
“Chicks get paid too, sir.”
“Dodging already... C’mon. I’m starving.”
Riccardo withdrew the hand tousling my hair and started walking. I hurried after him.
All while thinking I’d play nice and beat him to the bill.
The corridor, bathed in sunset light, was beautiful.
***
We entered a pasta place on a neat street a bit away from HQ.
We were devouring amazingly delicious pasta when we ran into familiar faces.
It hadn’t been that long since I’d seen them. Jason Tvein.
“Oh, it’s the half-pint.”
He smirked at me.
Looked like they’d finished eating. An unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. Short-sleeved black shirt. I nodded at the blond man. Good thing I had pasta in my mouth—it gave me an excuse to keep it shut.
Tvein thumped my back.
Ow.
“Rookie treating to dinner?”
“Y-Yeah...”
“Nice. This kid’s alright. Sword-swinging showoff for a half-pint, though. Take good care of him, yeah? I’ll add dinner to your tab.”
“What... I won’t say no~.”
I wanted to decline.
I was planning to buy dinner. Tvein just said his piece and whistled off. I gave a half-hearted wave and focused on my pasta.
Why do I just not vibe with that guy?
Riccardo, who’d received him indifferently, turned to me once he was gone.
“Why’s that guy suddenly like you...?”
“Surprisingly, because I said I’d never seen Ye-hyeon’s video.”
“Ah~.”
Riccardo accepted it readily.
Is that something to accept so easily? I still didn’t get it.
As I twirled seafood oil pasta on my fork and asked about Tvein’s behavior, a succinct answer came.
“He thinks Ye-hyeon hogged all the credit for killing the Rank 10~.”
What a petty jerk.
I slurped the oil pasta, my face conveying utter disbelief. My senior let out a small laugh at my expression.
“Well, I heard he looked down on Ye-hyeon even before clashing with the Rank 10~. Guy’s only got his combat skills going for him off-duty... Kinda mild-mannered too... Ah... You’ve never seen him off-duty?”
“No. But he seems nice.”
“Nice is an understatement—he’s bland as hell~.”
No way.
Riccardo’s words mildly shocked me. In my image, the Supreme Commander exuded veteran poise in every move. A man who wielded form-shifting weapons fluidly and drew his greatsword with flawless form.
Riccardo polished off his pasta cleanly.
“So whatever that guy says off-duty, Ye-hyeon just smiles it off... Tvein’s nothing special outside combat, so don’t get too chummy~.”
“Yes. Honestly, Senior Tvein makes me a bit uncomfortable too.”
“But what’s this about a sword?”
A sharp question came back.
I gave an awkward smile. Telling someone who’d seen me drop out of the portal that I’d apparently used a sword felt embarrassing.
But I was honest again. Riccardo tilted his head after hearing.
“Yoon allowed it?”
“Yoon handed me the sword himself. Because of that butterfly, I think.”
“Ah.”
Riccardo smiled cynically, as if recalling that moment. I swallowed hard at his smile, sharp all around.
“Right. Even the way you pulled that kitchen knife from your arm was pro-level.”
“...Sorry about that time.”
“Whatever... So you used a sword again outside this time...”
“Hey!”
A loud shout echoed through the shop.
Riccardo and I turned.
We spotted a man waving as he approached our table. Curly hair, striped shirt. Steps that somehow seemed cocky.
He was one of the first people I’d met in this world too.
Giacomo Ro.
Ro plopped down naturally beside me.
“Long time, man. You good?”
“Yes. Long time, Senior.”
“Ah, perfect timing~ Ro, can you talk John Mullen down?”
Why’s John Mullen coming up all of a sudden?
I eyed Riccardo, who spoke to Ro like it was fortuitous, with round eyes. Ro, slouched crookedly in his chair, widened his eyes at the opposite side.
“What’s up with that punk suddenly?”
Irritation laced Ro’s voice oddly.
“Why should I rein him in? What for? If he buries himself in research like a plant and ends up dragged to the hospital, that’s not my problem.”
“John got Hilde’s number.”
Ro’s jaw dropped. I buried my face in my plate, glancing at the senior beside me.
Riccardo waved his fork as he gave Ro a brief rundown. Ro stayed still while listening.
Once the explanation ended, he turned to me seriously.
“What’re you gonna do?”
“...Why...”
“That guy gets obsessed with one thing, and it’s game over.”
He reached over and snatched the garlic bread atop my pasta.
The man chewed my garlic bread oh-so-naturally.
“Totally fucked. That guy taking interest in a person? Man, what now?”
“...So what exactly is John Mullen like that everyone’s reacting like this...”
“Told you, when he fixates on one thing, it’s hopeless. Ah, thinking about it pisses me off again! Anyway, you’re screwed. My place is full of weird shit rolling around. Ah, what if you end up in my bathtub later?”
“Your place?”
“Shared apartment. He barely comes, so I’ve got it solo.”
So that’s why Riccardo told Ro to rein him in.
But bathtub? Why would I end up in a bathtub? Is John Mullen that much of a mad scientist?
I belatedly started panicking a little.
Regardless, Ro said his piece.
He looked oddly amused.
“But that’d be hilarious, man.”
“Senior, are you enjoying this?”
“Yeah, a bit. Man, what if I look up from breakfast and lock eyes with you?”
“Quit yapping excitedly and talk him down~?”
“Nah, that’s tough.”
Ro wiped the grin off his face and replied.
He shook garlic crumb-covered hands and met Riccardo’s green eyes.
“Told you. Once he fixates, it’s hopeless.”
“Figured as much... Hilde~ Just go to Yoon and beg for rescue. He said he’d help, right? Don’t get cocky and end up dissected in Giacomo’s sharehouse tub~.”
“So why the tub... You don’t mean like dismembered and soaked, right?”
“But why’d you say yeah?”
Ro naturally swiped the last garlic bread from my pasta plate as he asked.
I stared seriously at the curly-haired senior munching the oil-smeared garlic bread. Ro and Riccardo fit the shop perfectly.
Pasta joint with vintage paintings on peeling wallpaper. Neat wine bottles on wall shelves.
Savory pizza scent wafted from the kitchen.
I gulped down my last pasta.
“In case I’m a humanoid creature.”
Ro stared holes through me until he finished the garlic bread.
He brushed crumbs off his striped shirt before breaking the silence.
“You look human?”
...Fair point.
Lost for words, I chugged water.
Soon we left the shop. Sandwiched between Riccardo urging me to retract and Ro saying it’s too late, you’re doomed, but I can’t help.
Whatever. It’ll work out adapting to training and life.
Having decided not to dwell on the video anymore, I headed back to the dorm.
***
The long-awaited weekend.
I let go and went to the lab.
Unlike before, hardly anyone there. John Mullen stood like an old tree, immersed in research. Long lab coat, black turtleneck.
Mullen whipped his head around the moment I entered.
“Hello.”
“What’d you have for breakfast?”
His first words.
I slowed my steps. Once stopped, I quietly took in the scene.
Quiet weekend morning lab.
This guy standing like an NPC. From what I’d looked up online midweek, a genius scientist rivaling Einstein himself, acknowledged by all...
“Cereal...?”
John Mullen drew my blood.
As he did, he said,
“Shall we meet fasting next time?”