Alexandr, Now You Have to Live Quietly
└ NotSnacks: The abyssal entity speaks Korean
└ Anon: Oh, good luck then
└ Anon: Try psych ward hotline 1577-0199
Ignoring Monica as she tapped away on her phone, I turned to Alexandr.
His silver hair, viewed under the star-filled night sky, looked almost like it belonged on a decent-looking boy.
"Boy, are you lost? I thought you'd died for good…."
Alexandr let out heavy sighs as he plopped down on the beach.
"I wouldn't know, I've never died before. So that's what resurrection means."
"?"
"It means the Arcran lineage continues, I guess."
"What in the world does that mean?"
"You don't even know that?"
"Hm…."
I nodded along to his half-hearted explanation.
"Indeed, throughout history, there's always a way in times like these."
While maintaining my casting hold, I approached to flick his forehead.
"Wait, hold on! I'm just a frail abyssal entity who's lost his mental image and all his powers!"
Frowning as I examined him, sure enough, only faint ether waves drifted around him.
"Fine, then."
I released the casting hold and threw a punch.
Crack
Thwack
"Ow! Argh! Hey! Eek! Wait a sec! Ack!"
I gave him some solid punches and kicks to the sore spots.
Thud
Splat
Soon enough, he started talking sense.
"Teacher! I'm sorry!"
"Hand."
Alexandr bit his lip at my command but placed his fist in my palm. As I stroked his silver hair, he snapped.
"Am I a dog or what?!"
"You reek like a stray."
"……."
His ears turned bright red at that.
"Haven't bathed in days."
"It's not like I didn't wash…?"
"……."
His head drooped.
I grabbed his face and turned it toward me.
"Hygiene is basic common sense, boy."
I stroked his head once more.
"More importantly, explain why you're here."
"Hm…."
Alexandr hung his head and launched into a long, rambling story.
"In the primordial universe, there were four clans. Those were the four founding clans…."
He sped up cutely as I clenched my fist.
"And I'm from the Aran'kal clan lineage, so technically we're cousins but a different branch of humanity…."
Unable to endure it, I swung.
Smack
"Summarize in three lines."
Rubbing his head at my command, Alexandr said,
"I was originally a free abyssal entity, but Spectrum captured me and raised me as a tuner."
"Free abyssal entity?"
"Free folk who roam the Abyss freely."
As I tilted my head, he added,
"Abyssal entities are originally one branch of humanity. They just have the trait of reviving after death."
"One branch of humanity? You mean there are multiple kinds?"
"Four kinds of humans, the four founding clans. I just said that."
"……."
As I stared at him like he was some weeb, Monica approached.
"Four kinds of humanity: Aria, Ainz, Asis, Arcran. Right?"
"Yeah."
"?"
I shot her a look like Monica, you a weeb too? She scratched her cheek.
"There was a stele found on floor 41 of the American Abyss. That's the translation."
The boy shrugged.
"That's all I know too—that abyssal entities are close to the Arcran."
"Hmm, so abyssal entities were originally human?"
"Not were—they are human. Ah, of course, most of the ones you fight are mindless wraiths who've lost their egos."
I shook Alexandr's head.
"So you're saying you're one of these Arcran humans, but why are you here?"
"I just explained the revival trait!"
"So why did you revive here!"
"I don't know either! If I did, I'd have let you kill me for good!"
"Fair…."
The boy flopped onto the beach, looking wronged.
"What am I supposed to do now? Killed by some crazy loli and bound here."
"Can't leave?"
"No! I have no mental image left!"
He showed me his empty core.
"For Arcran, the mental core is life itself. I'm basically a ghost now."
At that, I made a strange face.
"Hm…."
Just then, a blue bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
Kaboom
It was definitely Im Gwangcheol's blue lightning.
I need to deal with this sudden mental image, and it'd be good to keep this guy around.
He was a Spectrum tuner, so he must have talent.
Seems good-natured at heart, so if I play him right, he'll be useful.
After some thought, I said to Alexandr,
"Boy, there's a way."
"What?"
"A way for you to gain a mental image."
"……."
I grinned at him.
"If I give you new life, what will you give me?"
The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes.
His yellow eyes met my black ones, then he bowed his head.
"If you give me another chance, I'll do anything."
I smiled at him.
"Liar."
"Huh…?"
"I hate liars. No helping it."
"W-Wait, give me a chance! I was just flustered…!"
Smack
"Obedience starts with fear."
Splat
"And is completed with discipline and respect."
Thud
"Guhhh. That's too much."
"Lying is too much?"
He shut his mouth.
"Boy. I want to become the greatest mage."
"Suddenly?"
He backed away, scared by my eyes.
"……."
"In this mad world, I want to be overwhelmingly the best."
Alexandr shook his head at my gaze.
"You're not right in the head…."
I looked at the fallen boy.
"What do you want to be?"
"……."
"Are you some drifter swept along by the waves with no goals?"
"I have dreams too!"
"Good, then we're set."
With that, I tied him up with rope.
"Kid, what're you…?"
I pointed at the sky in response to Monica.
"I'm gonna shove that blue lightning's mental image into this guy."
"What?!"
Monica blinked in surprise, then tilted her head.
"How?"
"Keep zapping him with lightning till he gets it."
The boy tied to the tree flailed.
"No! Hey! You think that'll work?!"
"Yeah, though he'll probably die first?"
I shrugged at Alexandr and Monica.
"Didn't you say you're a ghost? Ghosts don't vanish till they ascend."
I continued nonchalantly.
"And even if he dies, he'll revive here. Worth a shot."
The boy's face went pale.
"W-Wait, teacher!"
"Yes?"
"Isn't there another way?"
"Speak, I'll listen."
He racked his brain desperately.
"Uh…. Hm…."
"No? Then lightning first."
"Waaah! Wait! For real? I'll die!"
"And revive."
"……."
Monica snapped her fingers as she watched us bicker.
"Oh! I know a spell to reconstruct a mental core."
"Reconstruct?"
"High floors in the Abyss can shatter cores sometimes. Made it as a precaution."
"Ah! As expected of a 7-level mage!"
The desperate boy looked at her, and Monica pondered before saying,
"Hm…. Still gotta take the lightning hit though?"
Alexandr's face hardened.
"Please no!"
Tied to the beach, the boy flailed as he stared at the starry night sky.
His legs shook every time a blue flash lit the sky.
"Y-You're really doing this? I can't understand it! Giving me a mental image—what does that even mean?!"
"That's how it is. I ended up with an uncontrollable one by chance, so I'll just pass it on as is."
"Tha-That's why! That's nonsense!"
"Just a quick zap. My instincts say so."
"Yeah right! A quick zap from lightning?!"
Undeterred, the girl impassively stuck a makeshift lightning rod into her own core.
"Simple make, but better than nothing."
"Right, so when the lightning hits and electrocutes him."
"Cast the core reconstruction spell. Got it."
"Yep."
The boy stopped flailing, realizing how serious they were.
This is insane, but what if it actually works?
He'd tried to kill the girl before, even pushed her to the brink once.
Yet she was helping him?
Why? What's her angle?
What if he got the image and turned on her? Or ran?
"What'll you do if I actually get a mental image?"
Yu Eunha answered indifferently.
"Ask what your dream is."
He blinked at the non sequitur.
"Dream?"
Her cold black eyes fixed on him.
"You died once. Isn't this your chance to break free from Spectrum's chains?"
Her words hit like cold water, clearing his vision.
"Ah?"
"Whatever you moved for before, this life's for chasing your dream. Like I did."
Alexandr froze, staring blankly at the girl.
Her mysterious sky-blue gradient hair suddenly seemed pretty.
And in that moment.
A blue bolt from the sky stretched toward his core.
Time seemed to slow, every instant crawling by.