I Hate the Professor (1)
I Hate the Professor (1)
"Ha-yul, was the bedding uncomfortable last night?"
"?"
"You look really tired."
In the end, I hadn't slept a wink. I lay wide awake all through the night until morning arrived. As a result, my condition stayed firmly below average.
I dragged myself up, rumpled and sluggish, and got ready to move out with my party members.
Packing didn't take long. The gear was expensive, designed to balance portability with performance, so retrieval was simple.
At the temporary base camp, most of the cleanup was done.
We gathered in the center and had a quick breakfast. It was the same as yesterday—just warming up some field rations—but everyone's faces were bright, likely because we were about to leave the dungeon.
As we finished packing and set out on the return route.
Ellia, who had been tilting her head and studying me since morning, asked. My complexion must have looked bad from the outside.
[I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep much.]
It wasn't a lie. Maybe it was nerves, but sleep just wouldn't come, so in the end I just lay there with my eyes closed all night.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
'...Ah, seriously.'
During my shift at watch, Aiden had been apologizing and threw out that remark about jealousy, and thanks to that I'd gotten caught up in pointless thoughts and sunk into a gloom all by myself.
Old memories just surfaced for no reason. I whiled away the time silently taking it out on poor Aiden and wallowing in pointless self-loathing.
After I swapped shifts with Attila, who took the next watch, I squirmed back into my sleeping bag. Once my head had gradually cooled down like that, I could only realize what kind of thoughts I'd been having.
All that pre-dawn sentimentality. It was pretty mortifying, realizing I'd been digging myself into a hole, drunk on the camp-like atmosphere with its heating Magic Tool and no campfire.
It was a deeper shame than the time right before I'd been possessed, when I'd banged my arm on my desk alone and had lain there flopping around.
The one mercy was that I hadn't blurted any of that nonsense out. That pre-dawn dark history stays with me alone, and this is as far as it goes.
If it had leaked to someone else, if that dark history had spread in all directions, I might have hanged myself.
"When you get back to the dorms, have a good long sleep, Ha-yul. And make sure you take some nutritional supplements too."
[Yes, thank you]
Ellia must have thought I looked close to death, because she gave me advice about looking after my health with worried eyes.
Our steps lighter than the day before, we cut through the forest. Whenever I caught a monster, I launched a Mana Strike at it.
A quadrupedal beast-type monster. Ranked 8th Rank. The distance was a little over forty meters. But the trees grew thick between us, so neither side could see the other with the naked eye.
Lowest-Grade Magic
｢Mana Strike｣
The slash, fired on a diagonal, sliced cleanly through the trees and struck the monster. Its waist was sheared straight through, and it split into two pieces and collapsed.
Split entrails and vivid red blood splattered across the ground. The sight of the leaves being dyed crimson was grotesque.
'Hmm...'
I frowned a little and worked my fingers. I'd tried it just in case, and the power level was exactly as elevated as it had been yesterday.
What on earth was the cause? Was it really my Spatial Perception? Not Mana Affinity, but Spatial Perception—does it really affect magic like this?
Or was it because we were inside the dungeon? But then, why?
'I don't know...'
As I thought, I'd have to get out and ask Professor Liana for advice. My magical knowledge was still too meager to judge on my own.
Right now, my total mana is extremely meager compared to the other cadets. My manipulation, though... according to Professor Liana, it's exceptional; my Mana Affinity seems to be pulling its weight properly.
But even so, I had only begun learning magic at most two weeks ago.
Compared to cadets who have trained their mana, Core, and Circuits for well over a decade and stuffed themselves with Elixirs, I'm sadly lacking.
Even now, just after a few uses of magic, nearly half my mana had been consumed. And that was with the staff's mana used alongside my own.
'I'll have to pay attention to my mana capacity, too.'
As expected, the easiest way to increase mana capacity is with an Elixir... but if Elixirs just lay around on the ground, they wouldn't be called Elixirs.
If this were the original story, you could just find various Hidden Pieces early on and sell them, or even commit outright fraud to devour funds and Elixirs.
But here, there's no money, and I can't find Hidden Pieces.
For now, there's probably no choice but to accumulate little by little through the direct approach, like the 1st Iteration.
Soon enough, I'll also be entering the Tower of Growth. At that point, I'll be able to resolve the mana problem at least a little, as well as gain a few other advantages.
On top of that, if that Hidden Piece still exists in the Tower of Growth... that... is a bit of a dilemma.
This isn't a game, so even if I did get it, its uses are a bit tricky. Though it's just premature fussing, since I still don't even know if it exists.
Before long, a blue vortex was detected. It was the dungeon hole I had first set foot through yesterday.
"Alright, let's head back."
Attila adjusted her shield and took the lead.
Attila confirmed the danger on the other side of the dungeon first, and Aiden, in the rear guard position, stood at the very back to watch for ambushes from behind.
Her form was swallowed by the vortex, and then her presence vanished with a snap. One by one, the rest of us followed and stepped into the vortex.
.
.
.
After a brief wave of nausea and a moment of dizziness, my Spatial Perception captured the grounds of Siyoram. Thanks to the range and precision, now several times greater than before, it felt completely different.
I drew a breath. The dungeon itself was a forest packed thick with trees, so the air had been fairly clean, but still, the air of Siyoram felt more comfortable.
The tension drained away. I was a little worn out from maintaining that tension until the very end, in case something happened.
While I was loosening my stiff body, Attila led the party straight to a nearby administrative facility.
"Ipchun Class, Team 11... Attila and four others, exit confirmed at Tuesday, 10:46 AM. Your grades will be collated at a later time. Good work."
We registered in person with the facility manager, and electronically as well.
With the manager's words, we stepped outside the facility.
"Ahh, it's finally over."
Ellia said it with a great big stretch, raising both arms high into the sky and arching her back. Because of the rather prominently visible chest area, I immediately filtered out that part of the perception.
- Clap
Attila, who had been operating her smartwatch, clapped to gather everyone's attention. Once she confirmed that eyes had briefly turned her way, she smiled.
"That ended far more easily and quickly than I'd expected. Thank you all, party members, for your cooperation. And, I'm especially grateful to you, Lee Ha-yul."
She was finishing her formality of a closing remark when she suddenly tacked on praise for me. When I tilted my head, Attila grinned playfully.
"Thanks to you, Lee Ha-yul, we saved an absurd amount of scouting time. I'm late saying this from yesterday, but there are probably cases where people wandered around all through the night."
"This subjugation really did go unusually smoothly."
"Right. My dungeon experience is limited, but it's never been this easy."
It's true that in a dungeon with that sort of breadth, there'd be a lot of inconveniences to directly hunting down the monsters.
Other teams might not even have a Detection-type Unique Ability, and even if they do, with at most one Detection type, they'd have difficulty scouting.
And it's not like being a Detection type automatically guarantees smooth scouting.
Even in the original story, if you tried to scout with a half-baked Detection ability, it ate up at least several days.
Of course, Spatial Perception isn't so ordinary that it can just be classified as a simple Detection type. It's basically in a category that's close to an all-rounder, to begin with, and with luck also on my side I'd managed to cut the time enormously.
[Thank you]
I had trouble reacting to the sudden golden shower of praise. When I answered with a bit of awkwardness, Attila nodded and continued.
"I've rambled on too long. We've also gotten to know each other over these two days. And since we're already in the same class, let's stay on good terms going forward. Who knows when we might need each other's help."
In short, the conclusion was networking, and staying friendly from now on. As Attila said so, she handed around her contact info.
"Well then, let's really disband now and get some rest. Great work, everyone."
With those words, the exercise was truly over.
Attila said she was still tired and wanted to rest, and returned to the dormitory.
Aiden and Nam Yeon-jung walked off in the same direction. Something about renting a sparring arena and having a bout. It was an extension of yesterday's sword-vs-spear debate.
"Ha-yul, do you have any plans?"
Ellia, who had been checking her reconnected smartwatch, looked my way and asked. I nodded as I checked through the messages that had come in over two days.
[I'm thinking of stopping by the library. I still have things I'm curious about, and there's the magic issue too.]
"Ah... right."
It wasn't just the Mana Strike. I'd tested other spells in the dungeon too. Most had increased output. It was a complete mystery.
To confirm that, at least, I planned to stop by the library and look up some materials. It wouldn't matter even if I couldn't figure it out. I'll study on the side anyway, and if I really can't find anything, I can just go see Professor Liana.
"I'll be off too, then. When you get back to the dorm, make sure you take your supplements, and have a good long sleep! I'll see you tomorrow in the lecture hall!"
[Yes, thank you]
I parted ways with Ellia, who was still expressing worry. It was a little awkward, how she kept fretting as if I were a small child.
Ellia waved her hand in a big motion and finally disappeared beyond the range of my Spatial Perception.
After confirming that, I started walking too.
My destination was the library. My mind was tired, but not to the point of collapsing.
And besides, a lingering unease remained. I wouldn't be able to sleep easily until I got some clue about the magic's power.
'Oh.'
As I moved, my Spatial Perception caught a familiar figure.
Blonde hair grown to the shoulders, and a distance that shrank sharply every time long legs stretched forward.
It was Professor Atra.
She looked to be frowning slightly, as if something was bothering her.
Thanks to the increased precision of my Spatial Perception, the mana inside Professor Atra felt even more vivid than before.
Mana with a ferocious momentum, flashing like light.
Even though it was edged as if ready to tear into everything around it at any moment, feeling that mana holding its breath like a predator waiting for an opening sometimes brought me out in a cold sweat.
Professor Atra's gaze also turned towards me. Even from several hundred meters away, it was a look that precisely pierced this way.
I turned my body and walked towards Professor Atra. Now that our eyes—well, um—had met somehow, I should at least greet her.
The schedule had gone smoothly thanks to multiple strokes of luck, but at its foundation, the knowledge and equipment Professor Atra had packed into me had played an enormous part.
I'd been thinking I should at least thank her: the mission had gone smoothly thanks to her.
"Is your schedule all finished?"
Once the distance closed, Professor Atra asked. From the sound of her voice, she didn't seem greatly angered. Thinking that was a relief, I started to operate my smartwatch.
Disgusting.
"?"
Abruptly, that word surfaced. A random thought. All of a sudden? Disgusting? Why? Toward Professor Atra? It was a strange thought.
My head tilted. My hand wouldn't move. My legs were the same. As if frozen solid, they wouldn't move.
'What.'
My body was off. A ringing—beeeep—sounded in my ears. A bewildering phenomenon.
Filthy?
I didn't know why these thoughts were suddenly surfacing.
I didn't think of Professor Atra like that. The training was harsh, but the results matched. And I think, I believe, it's not intentional bullying.
In the dungeon survival methods, though she'd seemed a little clumsy, I'd at least felt an emotion that she wanted me not to die.
Either way, Professor Atra was diligently educating me.
- ...Sniff, sniff
Suddenly, my nose twitched. It was a bodily organ that couldn't smell anything because of my curse.
The scent of early morning air, the gentle sunshine and the scent of innocent grass, the sweet fragrance of occasional blossoms,
I couldn't smell it. It had been stolen by the curse.
Repulsive.
Filthy.
Vulgar and foul.
I smelled it. No, that's not it.
I just knew, instinctively.
The lowly stench and presence I'd felt since childhood—too base to ever be called a scent.
The vulgar odor, mixed with mana, of the cheap perfume my profligate parents doused themselves in with what little money they had—a repulsive smell that made them abandon what little reason and intellect they possessed.
The presence of my abhorrent parents.
"Urgh...!"
My body staggered. I came to my senses to find myself slowly stepping backwards. My trembling legs desperately tried to widen the distance.
"What... are you alr—"
My Spatial Perception wavered uneasily. The bewildered Professor Atra...
- I should never have given birth to something like you. Why was something like this even born? Fuck...
Professor Atra... was approaching...
- That little rat can't do anything except eat and shit. What the hell are you even alive for? Huh?
Atra, the professor... was
- As my child, you do nothing for your parents. Aren't you so sickly and scrawny that they wouldn't even take your organs? Or should I just throw you away?
My parents... a knife, a knife was approaching—
"Hrg, urrggh...!"
My body jerked forward as a tearing pain seized my stomach. My insides churned and boiled. With an unbearable nausea, the contents surged up.
Frantically I clamped both hands over my mouth. My shoulders heaved. The contents threatened to burst through my barely sealed mouth.
"Krggh...!"
My Spatial Perception read a presence. My Mana Affinity took in that repulsive, foul mana.
But I realized it on instinct.
Before my Spatial Perception had detected it, before my Mana Affinity had sensed the mana, my body had already reacted. The moment she drew near, my body locked up, and I stepped backward on instinct.
Even if I retracted my Spatial Perception, even if that disgusting, filthy mana vanished, I would still feel that presence—unconsciously, in the realm of instinct.
"What's the matter! Are—are you alright?!"
She approached urgently. The filthy, repulsive presence closed in rapidly. My nausea surged twice as violently.
'Don't come... p, please.'
"Do—, —hrghkk...!"
Without realizing, I opened my mouth. Retribution followed at once: the pain of my throat tearing, blended with my boiling insides. It was utterly unbearable.
"Krgh! Hrk! Hrk...! Urp...! Blaarghhh!"
Vomit surged back up my throat and poured out through the opening I hadn't been able to seal in time.
- Beeeeep—!
The ringing in my ears swelled drastically. The world was swallowed by a single sound. My head hurt as if it would shatter.
"Calm yourself! There's nothing here that could be a threat—"
Before I knew it, she had closed to point-blank distance and extended a hand. Seeing that hand approaching slowly, I acted reflexively.
- Smack!
I swung my arm wide and swatted away the approaching threat. It was a natural action, taken by survival instinct without passing through reason.
"......"
Her expression crumbled apart.