Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Chapter 4: Eyelid (6)
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Glug-
Sleep drifts further away. The faintly candlelit surface recedes into the distance, swallowed by pitch-black darkness.
‘This is one hell of a deep well.’
Staring at the surface now reduced to a tiny speck, the Professor shook his bound legs. There was no sign of ascending.
‘At this rate, all I can do is wait until they pull me up...’
How many minutes would he have to endure? No, what good was holding his breath underwater like this anyway? He’d be lucky not to get the bends.
Glug- Grrk-
‘78, 79...’
Stay still underwater, and in the extreme silence, his own heartbeat starts pounding unusually loud. Blood surges fiercely through his veins, and as he focuses on it, imagining his heart slowing deliberately—
His pulse slows. In the midst of that mirror-still calm, a sweet scent accompanies small red eyes flickering like candle flames. Instinct tells him it’s “that thing”—the one that had whispered sickening songs in his ear nonstop for days.
The eyes glowing in the darkness curve into thin crescents.
‘Met... again...?’
Fucking bastard. Annoying infection factor. Wait, wasn’t an infection factor supposed to be like a cell? How could it talk to him like this? Or was it just a hallucination from oxygen deprivation?
‘Hee hee...’
Creepy laugh. What’s so damn funny?
‘You... always think useless thoughts.’
About what?
‘Whether I’m truly in your head... or just your hallucination... what does it matter? Either way, you have no choice but to talk to me...’
A mama’s boy not even a month old sure talks big.
‘I was born and raised in your head... so of course I speak as well as you... It’s been so long since I separated from... Mother... I was made to operate alone as a cell... Now that I no longer feel... Mother’s whip-like call after so long... it doesn’t feel... bad...’
Deeper. Sinking deeper. At the edge of consciousness, he faces its form. Rippling black smoke. Two glaring red eyes atop it.
‘Being freed from something... feels good... doesn’t it...? You felt good too... being freed... right?’
...What a prick. Just a chunk of game data acting like it knows everything.
‘Hee hee...’
The black mass ripples largely. Eyes curving into thicker crescents. From between the smoky body, a small mouth emerges. No lips—just teeth bared in a grin.
‘Kekeke... Still... caught up in those useless thoughts... Data or hallucination... it doesn’t matter... I’m inside your consciousness... I’ve seen your deepest memories... your subconscious... everything...’
The Professor knows instinctively. It’s thinking of the exact memory he fears.
And that recalling it fills it with ecstasy.
Kekeke,
kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke
‘Disgusting.’
The whisper burrows slowly into his heart. Crimson emotion erupts.
‘You know it well... better than you do... You think your mother’s death is your deepest darkness... but there’s something far deeper... Since we’re here... why not face it for a moment?’
Father, who died for me. Mother, who died because of me. And in that guilt... reuniting with them... I...
‘You missed them, right? So much you didn’t know what to do? That’s why, huh? See? It doesn’t matter. Real or fake. That’s not the point, is it?’
I have to kill it. Crush those eyeballs, rip out that tongue, erase it from existence.
‘Hee hee... If you live in such agony... what’s left? A life where death feels like rest? A life where guilt trails every happy memory like a tag? What meaning is there in that?’
Blub-blub! Grrk!
Water rises. The conscious space twists and shrinks, filling with water.
‘Time’s up...’
I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you...!
‘No need to rush... You’ll hand your body to me eventually... shell... kekeke’
Blubblub!
His heart burns. Throat aches, chest aches, lungs squeezed in agony—as he’s dragged along, the speck of light swells instantly—
Splash-!
And hurls him back to reality.
“Gah! *Cough*! *Hack*! *Cough cough!”
“3 minutes 52 seconds. Close call, wasn’t it? I calculated based on your heartbeat through the water, so no aftereffects. Ah, I should remove the gag. You need to spit out the water.”
“*Cough cough*! *Grah*! *Urk*!”
“To have a will strong enough to change the laws of the world, you first need unshakable faith in yourself. To gain that, you must confront your own darkness. That deep, cold darkness is the perfect environment for reflecting on yourself.”
“*Cough*! *Krrgh*, *hngh*, *huuu-”
“Professor? What did you see?”
What did he see? Panting raggedly, the Professor recalls. Yeah. He saw something. A memory he never wants to recall again, dissected and shoved in his face by that entity.
“Never...”
Having spat out all the water, the Professor growls at Roman like a wounded beast.
“Never... think of throwing me in there again...”
What had burrowed into his mind was far more vicious than he’d imagined.
***
Day 6 of house arrest at the Count of Mandalius’s estate.
“Pwah!”
“4 minutes 45 seconds. You felt it a lot this time!”
Leaning against the well’s edge, Roman watches the Professor greedily gulping air, his face beaming with genuine delight.
Naturally, even as the Professor glares daggers and yells ‘Don’t do it!’, Count Mandalius wasn’t about to say ‘Alright, we’ll stop.’
Since that day, the Professor was thrown into the well every lunch, and fortunately, after the first day, ‘that thing’ hadn’t spoken to him again...
“*Urgh*! *Grah*! St-stop! Spare me! I was wrong! I don’t know what, but just stop!”
...Allowing him to focus fully on the agony of drowning.
“Hahaha! Increased submersion time is a key indicator! Proof your body’s getting comfortable with water before enlightenment hits! The training’s bearing fruit!”
“Training? What training! I nearly died for real this time! Saw my life flash before my eyes! Is this the secret of that last 30%? I don’t remember, but I saw something huge! People with wings debating immigrant issues seriously while staring at me!”
“Well, I get it. First time I did this training, I wanted to quit magic and run. Hahaha!”
“It’s already day three, and what do I have? Mana? Not a drop. All I learned about water is it’s cold, dark, and scary!”
To the Professor’s fierce protests, Roman nods enthusiastically, as if it’s great news.
“That’s exactly it. That’s what the training’s for. To master water-affinity magic, you must first treat water like your own body. During drowning training, didn’t there come a moment when your mind suddenly cleared—*snap*—your tension melted away, and peace washed over you?”
The Professor nods unwittingly. Yeah. Plenty of times. Desperately thrashing to surface, then ‘Ah, this is it...’
“That’s your deepest fear reaching its limit, scattering because it has nowhere left to go. Fear stems from the unknown. Embrace it so deeply there’s nothing left unknown, and understanding takes root where fear once was.”
“Uh... People usually call that ‘right before death’, you know?”
The unknown in that fear—isn’t it death itself? The moment you face death.
“Exactly—that! ‘Right before’ death! The goal is to teeter on that edge, coming and going, stripping away all fear of water while making it familiar. Dangerous, sure. But you’re alive and well, aren’t you?”
The Professor is speechless at Roman’s brazen attitude.
“Short break, then back in.”
“?!!!”
“Gradually ramping up the harshness keeps you from getting too comfortable—that’s the core of this method.”
“You son of— *Mmph*!”
“Ahaha! Curse away! In the Magic Tower, it’s rule—senior mages pretend not to hear curses during this training!”
“Ugh...”
Eyes squeezed shut, the Professor watches the well draw near.
***
Day 8 of house arrest.
No more need for test subjects, so no more limb-slicing. Instead, recovery time’s replaced by drowning drills. Now it starts from morning.
“Don’t resist the water! Humans form in our mother’s amniotic fluid before birth! Water is our origin—don’t separate it from your body! The moment water touching your skin feels like your own flesh! That’s when you become a fine Leadflow school water mage!”
“Roman! Wait! Even so, 10 minutes is impossible! Humans need to breathe to live!”
“Don’t hold your breath—accept the water!”
“Wait! Truth is, I get tremors and cold sweats in tight, dark spaces—”
“Ah! I had the same symptoms as a trainee mage! Good sign! We’re almost there!”
“N-no! That’s not—”
“Off we go~”
“Roman! Mage Roman—*Blubblub*!”
Splash-
Straight into the water, no mercy. No special ingredients—just a well full of plain water. Every near-death return makes him wonder if they’re not training mages but running bizarre thought experiments.
Ding-!
[Trait - Water Mana Affinity (In Progress 47%)]
But it works, so it’s frustratingly effective. Wet clothes no longer cling unpleasantly. If not for the breathing issue, being underwater feels cool, free of stray thoughts—pretty nice—
‘Aaaah! What am I thinking!’
Damn. Water must’ve seeped into my brain.
***
2 PM.
Morning drowning drills end safely (fainting, dizziness, hallucinations, vomiting count as safe). Then late lunch with Roman.
Today’s menu: Dalamia sashimi, chilled jelly from squeezed freshwater eel skin, assorted seaweeds.
“Uh, Roman?”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“We’ve eaten together the past four days, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So explain why the menu’s only sashimi, cold salads, seaweed, and chilled fish!”
First time, great. Fresh sashimi undreamt of in reality. But three meals a day? Shivering from cold water, and this is lunch? Other mages get hot soup and steak—why are we stuck with fish?!
‘Fish? Water? Wait... don’t tell me...’
“By any chance... because of water mage... stuff?”
“Obviously? A water mage is water incarnate. Putting non-water-derived stuff in your body seems... bad, right? So no grains or meat from land—just water-sourced foods. Uncooked, no fire touched.”
Insane. This guy—no, mage—is truly mad.
‘Seems bad’? That’s it? Proven fact that mismatched food harms mages?”
“Hm... Not specifically proven.”
“Then why!”
“Because we’re mages. Once ‘it seems that way’ roots in your mind, it becomes law for a mage.
Asceticism is the easiest way to justify your beliefs and actions. Unproven, but mages on this diet report ‘feeling’ smoother mana flow.”
“@#)(*&!$&(*)!!!!”
In his head, the Professor unleashes the filthiest curses imaginable, vowing: If he escapes, he’ll hunt down the Leadflow school’s Magic Tower that invented this. Find them, bury the whole tower with its crazed propagators.
***
Day 9 of house arrest, morning.
Creak-
“Ready?”
“Don’t ask—just yank it? You know the flick to the forehead hurts more right before it hits, right?”
“Hahaha! Confidence building nicely! See? Gets easier with practice.”
“Just learned to go with the flow.”
“Hm! Excellent attitude!”
Splash!
How many times now? This routine’s fully routine. Half the day in water, bloated body, tasteless meals—all adaptable. Humans are resilient survivors.
Familiarity frees time. Drowning drills need no real rest now, leaving spare moments to scout surroundings.
‘I’ve rusted the iron door’s hinges beyond usability. Saws are sufficiently corroded too. Plenty. Issue’s timing the escape...’
Infection factor countermeasures half-planned. If it works, he can suppress it even after escaping.
Blub!
Sinking, the Professor sketches the mansion’s interior—from eyeballing these days—into his status window. Being underwater feels comfy now. More so than being out.
‘My room’s basement level 1, well’s two rooms over. Dining next. Count Mandalius stays deepest in the lab mostly. Problem’s the exit to ground level.’
Post-training yesterday, he faked panic, bolted out, scouted paths.
‘Glances during moves, mages heading that way after dinner. They don’t sleep here, so late-night mage traffic leads to...’
Found it: Stairs to basement 1, iron-grated exit.
‘Leaving room’s easy. Decent weapon prepped. Grate’s the issue... Keyholder’s... Isaac?’
Always stuck here. No way to overpower the Count. 6th-circle, stable water mage—bare-handed?
Ding-!
[Trait - Water Mana Affinity (In Progress 95%)]
‘Gonna become a real mage at this rate?’
Affinity surged past a point, stuck at 95%. Probably Roman’s ‘enlightenment’ for the last 5%.
‘Enlightenment... Still nada. Water’s water.’
Roman says it comes naturally, but even now, with water feeling like his body, no grasp on ‘understanding’ it.
‘...Tch. Escape means no more private lessons. Guess I’ll swim laps outside.’
-Boom.
Enjoying a swim, confirming plans—a massive thud echoes through the well wall.
‘Hm? What? Shock to ring this basement well. Lab explosion?’
Boom!
Blub!
Again. Heavy impact. Once could be accident; repeated changes things. Professor floats up slowly. Past 80% affinity, body floats effortlessly.
Splash!
“Pwah! Roman? What’s happening out—”
“Get down!”
“What...!”
No time to ask—he ducks head back in.
Shing!
A mantis-like forelimb slices the well’s upper rim diagonally.
‘Mutant! Not just infected—gene-spliced, 7th rank or higher!’
Crack, drip, crunch!
Roman’s hand twists into a spell form. One toward the mutant, the other dips into the well as he finishes incantation.
“Dorman Baldanis’s Piercing Waves!”
Splash!
Well water surges, splits into four streams, crashing toward the mantis mutant.
“Kreee! Keeek!”
‘That’s real magic.’
Isaac cast Slip too fast to observe. Streams bore savagely into the mutant, drilling holes. It thrashes briefly, then stills.
Fwoosh!
Throb!
Familiar dull pain. Forced info cram.
‘Door, ceiling, footsteps. Tons of footsteps. All mages moving. That unique rupture... magic? Battle’s broken out? Not just one!’
Mental Fragility screams everywhere, not just his head.
Slice!
“Hah, hah... Combat magic’s not my specialty... tough.”
Roman cuts the Professor’s ropes with a small dagger, face urgently tense—unseen before.
“Professor, no time. Hurry and hide.”
“What’s happeni—”
Boom!
Earth-shaking roar; dust rains from the basement lab ceiling.
“Kyaaaak!”
“No time! They’re burrowing underground! City’s total chaos!”
Kabloom!
Battle noise approaches Roman and him. Roman rummages pockets, shoves something into his hand.
“Wanted to help, but I must join upstairs. Facility key. Opens rooms with anesthetics, mutant blood, other lab drugs. Stay inside, suppress infection, hide. Even if overrun, we’ll rescue once outside’s clear.”
“H-hey! Roman! Wait!”
Ignoring calls, Roman bolts out. Soon, fierce combat joins a tank-burst sound.
Clink.
Gazing at the key thoughtfully, the Professor dashes from well room to the bathtub room.
‘Burrowing tunnels. Turan’s short on troops—hard to hold. Mages fight valiantly, but best they punch through and evac.’
Affirming his guess, magic sounds recede; mutant metal-scraping shrieks close in.
‘Can’t leave anyway. Still need stuff here to block infection factor.’
Room reached, he dives into solution, slams wooden lid, seals himself in.
‘Other cities fighting too—no quick reinforcements. Turan falls. For now... hide here.’
Holding breath quietly amid approaching thuds.
***