Chapter 296: Can’t a Common Sense Alteration Villain Dream of Pure Love? (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 296: Can’t a Common Sense Alteration Villain Dream of Pure Love? (4)
In all my life, there had never been a day I was as proud of Lilac as I was today.
To be honest, I would have understood if he’d done nothing but keep his wits about him, but Lilac had surprisingly managed to gather quite a bit of information on his own.
And from a completely different angle than mine, no less!
“I see. I was wondering what was going on, but basically, everyone thinks you, Yu-hak, and I are famous idols right now?”
On the flip side, Lilac was nodding along to the information I had uncovered.
“I’m more impressed by you. How did you figure all that out?”
To put it simply, Lilac had discovered that a powerful hypnotic wave was radiating around the Academy. Even people with decent resistance were falling into a trance-like state without a fight.
“Ah, it’s not really that I’m amazing or anything.”
As Lilac spoke, he gave a signal, and the Spirit of the Holy Sword—whom I’d seen briefly before—manifested.
“Aha, the spirit told you?”
“Yeah. She’s using a lot of strength right now to resist the hypnosis, so you won’t be able to hear her voice.”
Right. In the original story, after awakening the Spirit of the Holy Sword, Lilac was almost entirely immune to mental attacks.
Similarly, I was likely able to resist because of my Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils. The occasional headaches I’d been feeling since morning were probably the backlash from resisting the hypnosis.
“There are probably other people besides us who are still sane, though we don’t know who they are.”
“That’s true. There won’t be many, but anyone with a complete resistance to hypnosis or a specific artifact would have held out.”
Still, setting aside how bizarre the application of the ability was, it was truly a formidable power.
To cast hypnosis on such a massive scale, have everyone accept it naturally, and maintain it for this long… it was incredible.
What if that guy had made everyone inside the Academy hate each other? Or worse, what if he’d used a much more cruel brainwashing to make everyone perceive each other as enemies?
We wouldn’t be able to just brush it off as an annoying prank like we were doing now.
…I couldn’t understand why someone would use such a threatening and magnificent power for this kind of nonsense, but one thing was certain: this guy couldn’t be left to his own devices.
The problem was how to find him.
On that front, neither Lilac nor I had any good ideas.
“He’s probably somewhere inside the Academy, right?”
“Most likely. Unless he’s a total psychopath whose only goal is to cause panic and doesn’t care about the aftermath, he probably did this because he wants to watch the results.”
As our deliberation stretched on, Lilac suddenly made a suggestion.
“…What if we ask the seniors for help?”
“The seniors? You mean Baek Seol and Master?”
“Yeah. It might be hard for the other seniors, but I think those two might be okay.”
Hmm. I wasn’t sure about Baek Seol, though she did have all sorts of resistance-type artifacts. As for Master… I had my doubts.
It wasn’t that Master lacked resistance, but the hypnosis in question wasn’t something you could withstand just by having a high resistance stat.
Still, it wasn’t like we had any other options.
If those two could help, the search would definitely become easier.
“…Should we try to find them first, then?”
“Let’s do that.”
* * *
“I can’t let this continue.”
Meanwhile, the culprit, who had been tracking their movements, stood up almost the moment they started looking for him.
Was he trying to avoid the tightening net of the investigation? No, he didn’t care about that.
He was someone who was originally destined to die a lonely death at the bottom of Labyrinthos anyway. Being caught and sent back to prison was one thing, but he couldn’t go back without achieving anything.
He couldn’t just let this miraculously found opportunity slip away.
To put it simply:
“I didn’t want to use forceful methods, so I was trying to hold back, but even if I have to use sheer stubbornness, I will see some sweet, heart-fluttering ‘pure love’ that makes the observer’s teeth rot.”
The protagonist had a pretty face, was popular with the girls, and had supporting male characters around him—he was the perfect lead…!
If he left that guy alone like this, he might literally die of frustration.
“I have no choice but to bring out my secret weapon…!”
Though he’d struggled because the two of them were resistant to hypnosis, he had eventually managed to place them under an incomplete spell.
A beautiful silver-haired elf and a blonde little witch.
Their original forms weren’t bad, but after some perfect “tuning,” they were now flawless heroines.
“Subjugating people through force isn’t my style, but don’t worry. Once you fall into this world through focused hypnosis, you’ll find it so enjoyable you won’t be able to stand it…!”
“Go! Bring that guy to me!”
* * *
Fortunately, Baek Seol and Master picked up their phones.
As expected, Baek Seol had successfully defended herself using artifacts. Master had been in danger, but since she happened to be with Baek Seol, she was able to borrow an artifact.
As we ran toward our meeting point, we continued to exchange information.
“…Shameful desires?”
“Yeah. The spirit said that people under brainwashing can’t do things they truly hate. Aside from perceiving us as idols, their behavior reflects something they wanted deep in their hearts.”
“…The spirit told you that too?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
At first, I wanted to argue that it was nonsense, but thinking back, a few things clicked.
Cathy Noona had occasionally mentioned that she wished she were closer to my age, and she often seemed envious of Ha-ni, who was always by my side.
Ha-ni, too, generally maintained her distance as a friend or potential partner, but sometimes she strangely tried to take care of me, showing a flash of maternal instinct.
Of course, they weren’t showing their true selves exactly as they were—it was likely heavily distorted—but did that mean their current behavior was still based on their own desires?
— Hey, you want to do it here?
— Is that any way to talk to your mother~?
One who wants to do it outside, and one who wants to be a mother…?
Uh, yeah. I started to feel like I shouldn’t think too deeply about this.
Let’s stop. There’s a reason secrets are meant to be kept.
Prying into them is never the right thing to do.
It’s just morally wrong, that’s all. It’s definitely not because I’m scared.
Just as I reached the meeting point while entertaining these stupid thoughts…
“Stop right there! Oppa!”
I heard a voice that was familiar, yet unfamiliar.
It sounded a bit more childish than usual—or perhaps I should say it was filled with aegyo.
And the title… if it was the person I was thinking of, she would never use that word. Oppa?
“Hey!? I told you to stop! Why are you accelerating instead!?”
Unfortunately, no matter how I listened to it, the voice of the person chasing me belonged to someone I knew very well.
Giving up, I turned around, and as expected, a very familiar face came into view.
“Hmph! You’re trying to get my attention, aren’t you? It won’t work! Oppa!”
I wondered where she’d ditched her trademark witch hat; she was wearing a yellow chick hat that made her look like an actual child.
“…Professor Park A-ram.”
“Hmm? Why are you calling me that? I mean, I am a professor, but please don’t call me that in private.”
…I see. Despite her appearance, she seemed to at least realize she was an Academy professor.
“You can call me ‘Little Sister’ with lots of affection. Oppa-nim!”
But that didn’t mean she was sane.
Her cackling laughter and confident attitude were the same as always, but the subtle details made her feel like a different person, making it hard to deal with her.
Specifically, her usual cynical and mature aura had vanished, replaced by a truly childlike vibe. I didn’t know how to react.
…Was that also a shameful desire she harbored?
“Um, Professor… do you perhaps usually have a desire to act like a spoiled child?”
“Hmm? Well, of course! I want to be pampered all the time! The world is a pretty rotten place, you know!”
…Looking at it that way, she wasn’t that different from her usual self.
“So, Oppa-nim, get ready to offer up your lap and some headpats…!”
I just couldn’t get used to this “little sister” concept.
“Lilac. Let’s wrap this up quickly before the Professor builds up any more karma.”
I really, truly hoped she wouldn’t use her True Form Release.
“No, I’m sorry, but that will be difficult, Cadet Kang So-hyun. If you’ve caused trouble, you shouldn’t run away; you should think about how to fix it.”
“…Even the Chairperson. Is the setting now that we’re running away after causing trouble?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll apologize with you. We have to make sure it doesn’t interfere with the next concert.”
And that was when the absolute worst reinforcement arrived.
Honestly, Professor Park A-ram alone was a handful.
She was a handful in many ways, but adding the Chairperson to the mix?
I wondered just how broken and insane the Chairperson’s appearance would be.
I was terrified, but I couldn’t close my eyes against an S-rank Hero. I turned my gaze, and there stood the Chairperson, looking surprisingly normal—no, she looked exactly the same as usual.
…Why is the Chairperson normal?
Ah, since she usually hides her true form anyway, was she already projecting the image of who she wanted to be?
Or perhaps, as a High Elf, she was simply satisfied with her original appearance.
Either way, I was relieved that there didn’t seem to be an additional mental assault…
“But before we begin, let me check one thing, Cadet Kang So-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“If possible, could you stop calling me ‘Chairperson’ so stiffly?”
“…Huh? Then what should I call you?”
“It’s not good for a cadet to be too close, but it’s not like we have a huge age gap. You can speak comfortably in private. Oh, and that goes for Cadet Lilac as well.”
…Not a huge age gap?
Who? Me and the Chairperson?
“I’m still only twenty-six. O-of course, from a cadet’s perspective, you might think that’s an age gap, but nine years is still a single digit, right?”
The reactions of me, who knew the Chairperson’s true identity, and Lilac, who didn’t quite know, were polar opposites.
I see.
I had just learned another one of the Chairperson’s shameful desires.
I never knew because she was always so dignified, but she was actually self-conscious about her age.
“So-hyun, what is she talking about? Do you get it?”
“One person carrying the burden of karma is enough. Don’t be curious. It could get dangerous if you find out.”
Lilac didn’t seem to understand my consideration, but no meant no.
Considering what she did in the dungeon to erase her own dark history, she might try to wipe our memories once this incident was over.
“Now, come here quietly! Oppa-nim!”
“Mistakes can be corrected, but if you run away, you lose even that chance. Cadets. Oh, wait, I’m not being a kkondae, am I? T-this much advice isn’t being a boomer, right?”
To see the broken forms of those I admired… it felt so hollow.
“Hey, So-hyun. Honestly, I don’t think I can win.”
“Me neither.”
Winning through Reinforcement was one thing, but subduing them was a different matter entirely.
If I could use the Touch of the Devil or the Will of the Saint, it might be a different story, but both were in bad shape right now.
How was I supposed to escape this crisis?
While I was worrying, something strange happened.
“But you know, Leilan. Why have you been acting like a young girl for a while now?”
“…Why are you calling Cadet Kang So-hyun ‘Oppa’?”
I didn’t know what triggered it, but their worldviews, which hadn’t clashed once until now, were finally colliding.
It was painful to watch the two of them look at each other as if the other were being pathetic, but perhaps this would be our breakthrough.