Chapter 147: Drug Incident at the Academy (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: Drug Incident at the Academy (2)
With weekend morning training finished, I was looking forward to a pleasant breakfast when some strange bastard came staggering toward me.
To be honest, I didn’t think much of it at first.
Even though he was radiating sudden, baseless hostility and his gaze was rather unpleasant, I was willing to let it slide, thinking maybe he was just having a shitty morning.
That was, until his eyes began leering obscenely at my sister and the professor.
As I stood up and naturally stepped in front of the professor to block his view, the guy glared at me with unmistakable rage.
“What the hell are you? You piece of shit. Why the fuck are you getting in my way?”
…Is this guy insane? Did he really expect me to just let him stare at someone’s sweat-drenched cleavage like that?
I could understand a brief, accidental glance. Both of them were incredibly beautiful and had great figures, so honestly, it would be weirder not to have a reaction.
But this was different.
Not only did he walk right up to us and scan them with those filthy eyes, but the moment he started throwing a fit because I blocked him, I was certain he wasn’t exactly sane.
The guy reached out toward me.
He moved so incredibly slowly that I couldn’t even tell what his goal was at first, but to my surprise, he was actually trying to grab my collar with that sluggish movement.
If he had reached out slowly just to make me lower my guard, he would have been a genius regardless of his personality—but amazingly, it seemed that was simply the best he could do.
“Who do you think you are, acting so tough?”
Wait, what? I’ve felt this vibe somewhere before. Ah, right. It’s a bit like when Ga-eul and her friends used to bully me at the start of the semester.
But even those kids weren’t this stupid.
He was grabbing my collar first in a situation where I had the professor, my sister (who was an inspector), and two friends as witnesses? Even if I took this as an insult and fought back, I already had the moral high ground.
The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant. Everyone glared at him, but the guy, seemingly emboldened, tightened his grip on my collar as if he enjoyed the attention.
“Let go.”
“Shut up, you brat. You picked the wrong guy today. A punk like you is nothing once you’re alone.”
He really was a lunatic.
To establish a final justification, and betting on the slim chance that a miracle might happen and this moron would snap out of it, I decided to make one last gentlemanly request.
“Right, I guess my words were too difficult for you. My apologies, you moron. Was ‘let go’ too hard to understand? Why don’t you relax your grip and slowly release me?”
“This son of a bitch, I’ve been trying to be patient, but—!”
…When were you ever patient, man? You haven’t held back once.
Perhaps because his right hand was busy holding my collar, he swung a punch with his left. It was painfully slow.
Is this guy even a Superhuman? I won’t kill him if I hit him, will I?
I hesitated for a brief moment, but I soon realized it was a pointless worry.
So, I simply dodged and tripped him.
Even though I didn’t put any martial arts finesse into it, the guy, who was swinging his fists like a common street thug, couldn’t resist and rolled pathetically across the ground.
I mean, he threw the first punch, so what does it matter?
“You bastard…!”
Fortunately, it seemed he was indeed a Superhuman. The area around him began to tremble, and chunks of rock started to float into the air.
Honestly, he didn’t seem worth the effort of persuading with words. I figured this was another case like those Health Food Enthusiasts Club bastards.
That thought changed the moment his power—which clearly looked to be around D-rank—suddenly spiked.
He wasn’t hiding his strength.
His eyes flickered purple, and the actual output of his ability surged.
He seemed to be a psychokinesis user, so there were no specific physical changes other than his eyes, but given the circumstances, it was almost certain he had swallowed a Berserk Drug.
Aha, no wonder he was acting like such a moron. A human being shouldn’t act like that, but if he took a Berserk Drug, it made sense.
He’d entered a contract where he traded his reason and intellect for power. Of course he couldn’t see straight.
He was likely a member of a delinquent circle, and after being given the drug to “get used to it,” he probably failed to overcome the impulse to use it.
While I waited, he managed to heave up a fairly large boulder by rupturing the ground around him.
Drunk on his own power, he let out a satisfied laugh and looked back at the professor.
…What? Does he want a gold star for doing a good job? Or does he think she’d be impressed by a loser like him?
“…You’re starting to piss me off.”
I didn’t like him being distracted, but more than that, I hated him looking at the professor with those disgusting eyes.
She isn’t someone a piece of trash like you can just leer at.
I reverted Ruyi from its short sword form back to its original staff form and aimed it at him.
“You think you’ve become hot shit just because you lifted one pathetic rock?”
The boulder flew toward me.
In the past, everyone would have worried about me, but now, they only watched with eyes full of trust.
“Grow, Ruyi.”
Ruyi easily pulverized the boulder the guy had thrown and came to a halt right in front of his face.
“Watch where you’re looking, you prick.”
I returned Ruyi to its original size, closed the distance in an instant, and gave the startled guy a heavy blow to the head.
Don’t feel wronged, okay?
If you didn’t have those intentions in the first place, you wouldn’t have picked a fight with me or failed to control your eyes just because you popped some pills.
“You… you bastard…!”
The guy I hit tried to use his talent again in a rage, but this time, the impressive output from before didn’t manifest. He only managed to lift a small stone, just like at the beginning.
“Huh…? Why is this…?”
Of course it’s like that, man. When I hit you just now, I used Touch of the Devil to tear apart the source of the power that was buffing you—the ‘contract through demonic energy.’ Now, what you swallowed is just an ordinary vitamin.
And since I nullified the contract, the reason you lost will naturally start to return.
As proof, confusion and doubt began to bloom in his eyes.
But I had no intention of going easy on him.
If I let him off now, it would look weird, wouldn’t it?
Don’t worry, though. I won’t hit you that hard.
* * *
As I’ve mentioned before, the trick behind the Berserk Drug is simpler than you’d think.
The culprit behind the incident is one of the demon subordinates of the Demon King—the final boss of the first-year arc. The starting point of this whole mess was when that demon figured out a way to make the explanation and consent for a contract—a mandatory requirement for dealing with demons—as simple as possible.
So, what was the method he came up with? It was a “medicine instruction manual.”
He wrote all the terms of the contract in the instruction manual and set up a system where consuming the pill counted as agreeing to the contract.
He even kindly added a note saying the effects would only manifest after checking the manual.
The problem was that most people barely skimmed the contract disguised as a manual, and many who did read it properly thought, ‘Well, if it just makes me stronger, I guess it’s fine.’
The most terrifying part of this contract was that since it wasn’t a face-to-face deal, the price appeared small at first.
While their abilities definitely grew stronger through the demon’s power, the payment made through the incomplete contract planted an illusion: ‘I can handle this much,’ or ‘This is nothing.’ This led to the abuse of the drug.
However, repeated consumption is eventually recognized as a full intent to agree to the contract. The moment the contract is finalized, the user becomes a mindless puppet.
Ah, of course, in the case of those with weak wills—like the guy I beat up today—they lose their minds almost immediately.
Personally, I had wanted to find a sample before the ranking tournament to see if anything had changed, so I was actually quite grateful.
I was so grateful, in fact, that I beat him just enough so that even a ten-year friend wouldn’t recognize him before sending him on his way alive.
Anyway, thanks to him, I was certain.
“Nothing has changed.”
Then I can go ahead and plan with peace of mind.
Time to start the “Kids’ Level-Up Project.”
* * *
Cathy went straight to the shower after returning home.
As the slightly cool water poured down, soaking her from her head down the curves of her body, she finally felt her heated skin begin to calm.
Though there had been one unpleasant incident, today was still a very good day by her standards.
If she had to pick the best part, it was undoubtedly the growth of her disciple.
A swordsmanship designed to focus on what he could do better rather than worrying about what he couldn’t.
She loved being able to personally feel So-hyun moving forward as his swordsmanship became more complex and difficult to counter by the day.
And then there were those movements.
In the past, he had struggled just to swing his artifact, but now, not only did he wield it perfectly, he used it freely to close the distance. She had been truly startled.
“Hmm-hmm~”
On a pleasant day like this, she needed to enjoy a fitting reward.
She carefully dried herself with a towel to ensure her “treasures” weren’t damaged, then used a hairdryer to make sure every drop of moisture was gone before changing her clothes.
Then, she carefully took a towel from her bag—one that still held his scent.
Honestly, she understood that this was an unhealthy habit.
It wasn’t like she had intended to be like this from the start.
It was just that small desires—like ‘I wish he’d stroke my head again’ or ‘Ah, I want to hold him in my arms’—kept piling up. Then, the towel she had used to wipe his sweat caught her eye.
She had been possessed.
There was no other way to explain it.
Otherwise, there was no way she would do something like smelling a towel that held her disciple’s scent.
But the first time was the only hard part; the first time was the only scary part.
After that first day, it had become a precious “healing time” that was now part of her daily routine.
To say she felt no guilt would be a lie, but So-hyun was also at fault.
How could a person’s sweat smell this good? It was cheating. Surely any woman close to him would struggle with the same temptation at least once.
She carefully laid out the towels she had pre-sealed to prevent the scent from fading, excluding today’s, onto her bed.
Immediately, she felt intoxicated by the faint floral scent, falling into the illusion that she was being held in the boy’s arms.
She slowly stroked her own head.
Though she had become accustomed to the motion she had repeated often since that day, it felt strangely different from his. Still, his scent allowed her to trick her senses to some extent.
Ah, what a waste.
The fact that this scent would eventually vanish entirely was unbearably tragic.
Of course, she could naturally get another one tomorrow, but the regret was still there.
“Hehe…”
So-hyun, who had been shy at first, now unconsciously turned his face to make it easier for her to wipe whenever she approached with a towel.
Was it wrong to feel happy, thinking that he was gradually allowing her into his personal space?
The more he permitted her presence, the more she felt the urge to playfully fiddle with his cheeks through the towel. A desire to leave her own mark on him from an even closer distance began to bloom.
Even though she was doing something this creepy, perhaps, if she were honest, wouldn’t So-hyun accept even this side of her?
The thought crossed her mind, but she shook her head.
Even if that were true, now was not the time.
She had to endure. Because she had decided to. She had promised to wait until he reached an answer.
Sometimes, the anxiety that his choice might not be her but someone else would wash over her, but when that happened, she would have no choice but to try the “last resort” that Unnie A-ram had told her about.
“Seeing how I catch his gaze sometimes, I think it might be effective.”
She bunched up a towel into a ball, imagined it was his head, and hugged it tight.
Would he like it?
Would it be okay to hug him a little tighter? This was bad.
Now that she was imagining it, she couldn’t let go. If she actually hugged him, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to let go next time.
“Haa.”
Despite being somewhat satisfied, a strange sense of unpleasantness remained in her chest.
“…I want to hear So-hyun’s voice. I want to see him.”
If she endured just a little longer, they would meet again, right?
* * *
…I was in the middle of swinging my sword when a sudden chill ran down my spine.
“What the hell?”
— What’s wrong all of a sudden?
“No, it’s just… I got goosebumps. I felt this sudden, creepy sensation.”
— I’d like to say it’s just because your body is weak, but since your physical form has reached a certain level, you can’t ignore your sixth sense. Perhaps those bastards are targeting you because of what happened this morning.
“…Maybe. It felt like being watched by a wild beast. Like I was prey that just ran into a predator.”
— All the more reason to train harder. One can never be too prepared.
He was right.
There was nothing wrong with having the power to protect myself.
“Then, I’ll ask for your help again!”
— Very well. As long as you don’t overdo it, I shall spar with you as much as you like. Now, show me your form again, slowly.
The thought that some unknown enemy might be targeting me made me snap to attention.
Thanks to that, I was able to maintain my tension and focus on my training today, receiving posture corrections from Sun Wukong.