Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: World of Illusion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I barely made it through morning classes without incident, scarfed down lunch alone in a quiet corner away from the crowds, and deliberately ignored my smartphone exploding with message notifications.
Wol Ha-yeon. Yoon Seo-rin. And probably Sophia too. I had no desire to check any of their messages right now.
The backlash waiting for me later was terrifying, but...
Right now, I had something else I needed to take care of first.
I headed as quickly as possible to the third floor of the main building, where all the club rooms were clustered.
This floor was deserted.
Most people had gone down to the practice building or the cafeteria.
Club room names were lined up along the hallway.
"Spirit Engineering Research Club"
"Magic Tome Analysis Team"
"Academic Conference Records Department"
And— I stopped in my tracks.
"Psychology Research Club - Lost Illusion"
I took a slow breath in front of the door, then knocked.
Knock. Knock.
A brief silence.
Then a slow, calm voice from inside.
"...Come in. The door... is unlocked."
I grabbed the handle and opened the door.
The club room was quiet.
The curtains were half-drawn, the lights dim.
Ha Yun-seok, sitting at the central desk, looked up at me with a dazed gaze.
"...You came."
"Yeah, looking forward to it today too."
During the last midterms, I'd succeeded in breaking the Illusion Tuning—one of the conditions for befriending Ha Yun-seok—faster than anyone else.
Thanks to that, I'd earned the chance to acquire Fragment Mirror, one of the illusion magic skills,
and afterward, I'd been visiting his club whenever I had time, sharing something like psychological counseling to solidify our bond.
All to get Fragment Mirror as quickly as possible.
"Let's see... what kind of... troubles brought you here... today...?"
Ha Yun-seok asked, still gazing at me with half-lidded eyes.
I sat in the chair opposite him, took a deep breath, and opened my mouth very seriously.
"Lately... I've developed a huge problem."
"What is it...?"
"I can't hold back."
"...?"
That's right.
At this point in the story, I should have, at most, made some minor progress with one or two heroines.
But because of the Book of Restraints—specifically, that damn Oath of Indulgence—the relationship progress was accelerating way too fast.
No, even that would be fine if it were just friendly approaches like Sophia, Amelia, or Yoon Seo-rin... the problem was...
Chae Yeon-hwa, Yoo Ji-an, and now the unexpected powerhouse Wol Ha-yeon who showed up today. Meeting even one occasionally was tough enough, but having to encounter them one by one, once a day without fail, was making it harder and harder to endure.
'That wicked woman Chae Yeon-hwa... if only she'd stop with that damn scent...'
In any case, with this deep anguish weighing on me, I'd decided to get some counseling today to sort out my troubled mind even a little.
Of course, one might wonder what illusion magic has to do with psychological counseling, but it was surprisingly simple.
Illusion magic was a technique that 'guided' senses and thoughts with mana.
In other words, deceiving sight, distorting hearing, inducing emotions,
tampering with memories, leading states in specific directions.
And those who wielded such techniques naturally understood the structure of the human mind better than anyone.
"......"
Ha Yun-seok stared silently at my face and spoke.
"...I see. You can't... hold back... huh."
His tone was slow and soft, as always.
Like a voice gently floating on deep, still water.
I nodded.
"Yeah... my head feels like it's going to explode lately."
"...Mm."
Ha Yun-seok lightly tapped the table with a wooden chopstick.
"Precisely... what can't you hold back...? What exact feeling... is making it so hard?"
I shouted with all my might.
"There are too many girls around me!!! The girls keep clinging to me, and it's exhausting!"
"......"
"......"
The air in the room froze for a moment.
At the same time, Ha Yun-seok's dazed expression turned to bewilderment.
I, of course, paid it no mind and continued my explanation.
"I can't give the exact reason, but I absolutely can't give in to temptation... yet the girls keep tormenting me, ugh."
"It's... quite bewildering, but... I get it. That kind of... trouble can happen... how exactly are they... making it hard?"
"Yoon Seo-rin doesn't show her feelings much but expresses everything through her actions, Professor Chae Yeon-hwa seduces me outright,
Student Council President Yoo Ji-an is... even worse, Sophia wants to be with me without fail every single day,
and Wol Ha-yeon... today she nearly got me killed because of my stupid actions."
Ha Yun-seok blinked slowly.
"Mm... I see. That must be dizzying."
"Yeah... it's too dizzying. Honestly, part of me just wants to... you know... but I have no choice, ugh..."
I clutched my head.
"I really... can't hold back. Seriously... it's killing me every day. If it were just one, I could endure, but they all drag me into anguish without fail, day after day."
"......"
As soon as I finished speaking, Ha Yun-seok stared at me silently for a moment.
Then he nodded very slowly.
"...Alright. Today, let's not just counsel—let's do some tuning."
His eyes sharpened.
"The sounds of emotions in your head... are all ringing out at once. If you keep trying to endure with willpower alone in this state... it'll be too late. You'll fail in the end."
"Fail?"
Ha Yun-seok slowly drank the remaining cold water from his cup and spoke.
"Yes... whatever it is, it means you can't have a relationship, right...? But emotions don't bend to your will... so I'll help you."
With that, he snapped his fingers.
Snap—.
A gentle illusion barrier unfolded across the club room walls.
Light flowed, colors blurred, faint emotions seeped in.
"In the illusion... release all your... desires... then you'll be able to endure from now on."
"Wait, hold on, what? You're saying I should indulge all my desires in the illusion and become a sage or something? Is that what I think you mean?"
"You can do it. Your head is... full of desire."
I swallowed hard.
No way—this incredible opportunity was being handed to me?
I could release all the pent-up desires in my mind? For real?
"Uh, yeah... please take good care of me."
I had zero intention of refusing.
Why kick away such a golden chance? Time to enjoy it.
"Alright... then just wait a bit..."
"Yeah, thanks."
And so, I slowly stepped into the illusion.
When I opened my eyes,
I was blankly staring at the white conference room ceiling, where fluorescent lights softly reflected.
"...Where is this...?"
Looking down at my hands while seated, I saw familiar black suit pants and shirt.
On the desk: a folder stained with coffee marks. On the bookshelf: neatly filed documents like 'Annual Project Report' and 'Task Assignment Chart'.
"This is the company I used to work at?"
It was so vivid it was hard to believe it was an illusion.
The weight of my body, the dryness of the air, even the hum of the monitor fan.
This was the company from my previous life, before possession, when I was just an ordinary office worker.
I slowly stood and looked around.
The distant sound of a printer in the hallway.
The languid air unique to post-lunch hours.
'...Who knew I'd feel this atmosphere again...'
And at that moment.
"Sunbae."
A very familiar voice came from behind.
I reflexively turned around.
"...! You?"
There stood Sophia Litwell.
But different from her academy look.
Neat ponytail. Thin silver-framed glasses. White blouse hugging her waist with a black skirt. Lightly holding a folder.
Perfect office attire.
"Sunbae, there you are. Took me a bit to find you."
I stood there dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
"You... Sophia? Why are you here?"
"Huh? Why am I here? Because I work here now?"
Sophia tilted her head slightly and smiled softly, just like always.
Of course, here her smile felt a bit more relaxed and composed.
As if we'd known each other for years.
"The conference room was empty anyway, so I thought we could chat for a bit."
She set the folder down on my desk and said,
"Sunbae, you look... really worn out lately."
"......"
That single line strangely tightened my chest.
The sensation of always enduring, from back then to now, felt exactly the same.
"...Yeah. Pretty worn out."
Sophia gazed at me for a moment, then slowly approached.
She leaned against the edge of the desk, aligning her eyes with mine.
"It's okay. The reason everyone wants to lean on you is simple."
"...Why?"
Sophia smiled quietly.
"Because you're the kind of person who makes others feel like they can rely on you."
"...?"
Her words were strangely warm, yet too close.
Sophia reached out and gently straightened my shirt collar.
The brush of her fingertips. The short, hot breath vividly felt.
"So, you know."
Sophia glanced downward.
A bit shy, then looked back up.
"...You can rely on me a little too, Sunbae."
The air changed.
The desk, chair, fluorescent lights of the conference room—all backgrounds faded, leaving only the space between me and Sophia.
Sophia slowly, deliberately leaned toward me.
"Right now... you don't have to think about anyone else, do you?"
A distance where breaths mingled.
Just a handspan between Sophia and me.
No—precisely, breaths about to touch lips.
I instinctively tried to pull back, but Sophia reached out first, lightly gripping the back of my chair.
"...Trying to run?"
Her voice was low, clear, unwavering.
"It's fine right now. This isn't reality."
"...What? How did you...?"
My voice trembled ever so slightly.
"How I know isn't important."
Sophia smiled softly.
"What's important is, in reality, you'd never let me get this close."
She slowly lowered her gaze.
Long lashes cast shadows.
"But—"
Her fingertips lightly settled on the back of my hand.
Truly... lightly.
"In an illusion... you and I... we can be a little honest, right?"
I bit my lip.
"Sophia."
"...Yes."
"You right now—"
"You like me?"
My breath caught.
The answer came first through her eyes.
Soft, warm, confident eyes.
"Yes."
That single syllable reverberated through the entire illusory world.
Light and shadow blurred, air heated up, heart pounding precisely behind my ear.
I let out a deep breath and tried to speak.
"...Sophi—"
But in that instant.
It wasn't Sophia drawing closer.
My head was unconsciously tilting toward her.
"...!"
Half a beat.
My heart moved first, body followed, thoughts too late.
Then Sophia whispered, very softly.
"That expression... show it only to me."