A Dangerous Invitation
"Whoa!! She's finally here!!"
For some reason, the research students erupted into celebration. They tossed aside whatever they'd been working on and threw their arms around each other with wild cheers, sending pens, magic scrolls, and wooden mana carvings flying into the air all at once.
It looked just like a graduation ceremony at some elite university.
...Except what they were staring at with those beaming faces wasn't a diploma.
"Pecia! Pecia!"
They even linked arms and chanted my name at the top of their lungs. I turned to Professor Griebe in sheer bewilderment.
"What's going on here?"
Professor Griebe replied with a look of pure satisfaction.
"What's going on? They're welcoming a new research student, of course."
"Pecia! Pecia!"
......
I had absolutely zero intention of becoming a research student.
But something told me that blurting out the truth right here would cause a disaster, so I kept my cool and started by establishing the facts.
"There's no way they'd react like that just because a newbie showed up. Looking at them, it seems like they'd already heard about my teddy bears. There's something more to this, isn't there?"
"Beats me. Let's discuss your working hours first."
"Working hours?"
"Weekends are mandatory for us, but I'm generous enough that if you join the weekday night research sessions, I'll let you take Sundays off. And since today's your first day, you don't have to stay for the night shift."
"Ah......"
"Though if you want to get on the seniors' good side, volunteering wouldn't hurt."
This man was beyond insane. "Crazy" didn't even begin to cover it.
I had no intention of becoming a research student, but I was so thoroughly floored that I couldn't help but press him further.
"So you're saying Saturday is mandatory...?"
"That's right."
"When do we sleep?"
Professor Griebe waved his hand dismissively, looking offended.
"What do you take me for, some slave-driving teacher who won't even let you sleep? Of course meal times and sleep times are fully guaranteed."
"What time do we clock in on Saturday, and what time do we leave?"
"Just come whenever you want and leave when that day's experiment is done. If you show up at nine, it usually wraps up around ten...? Doesn't take that long....."
I eyed Professor Griebe suspiciously as his voice trailed off.
"Nine in the morning to ten in the morning, right?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm asking if going at nine in the morning means leaving at ten in the morning."
Professor Griebe blinked.
"Leave where?"
"I'm asking if Saturday is a one-hour shift. Can you hear me?"
"......"
"Hello?"
After a moment of silence, Professor Griebe finally managed a reply.
"Well, that's a difficult question to ask me. How am I supposed to know whether a student will work hard or not, or whether the research will produce results?"
"So if we don't do well, it's unlimited overtime?"
"Naturally, that happens sometimes."
Suddenly the hollow, dark circles under the research students' eyes made perfect sense.
How could this be? Professor and teacher — the titles were slightly different, but the people of both worlds were carbon copies of each other down to the last detail.
I was so stunned I could only blink, and Professor Griebe, apparently giving up on the pretense, laid it out bluntly.
"Sometimes you come in the morning and leave in the morning. Just... a different date."
"Heheheheh."
Suddenly a male student in the corner of the lab collapsed to the floor, laughing like a madman. He glanced our way and mouthed something.
R u n
a w a y
......
I was going to lose my mind.
No wonder people shuddered at the mere mention of research labs. Was this the kind of place Elaine had been trying to dump me into?
I'd occasionally come across news stories about graduate students murdering their professors, and in this moment I understood that feeling a hundred times over.
"Hey, if you hate it that much, don't come. I'm not exactly heartbroken over it. I've already got twenty research students to look after — more bodies just means more work for me."
As we exchanged a silent look, Professor Griebe clicked his tongue. He'd only recommended research work because I seemed to have some talent, he muttered, and he hadn't expected to be looked at like this — making a point of how offended he was.
I bowed my head.
"Alright then. Goodbye."
I still needed campus store approval, but I had zero intention of cooperating with a scumbag like this. I'd just give away the Party Bears for free. The budget would get a bit tight, but I could just run more gates. If I asked Elaine to let me do magic shows on the side, that would bring in solid income too.
"......"
Professor Griebe stared at me with wide eyes. Was he angry at a mere freshman's rudeness? Or was that closer to bewilderment...?
Whatever. Not my problem.
"Wahahahaha! Wait, wait just a second!"
The tallest male student laughed exaggeratedly and grabbed me.
"Professor, she seems not to understand because she's still a freshman. Let me talk some sense into her."
Professor Griebe answered immediately.
"Would you......?"
Thud!
The moment we entered the break room, the male student dropped to his knees.
My eyes went round.
Huh?
"Join us."
"Excuse me?"
"Join us. Just once. Please, just once."
"What are you doing......"
Whatever his circumstances, I did not want to be a research student.
I didn't need a degree, and I didn't need extra credit. Even if Professor Griebe hadn't been such a tyrant, I never had any intention of becoming a slave from the start.
But the male student clung to me desperately as I tried to leave, begging me to just hear him out once. Figuring I might as well find out what was going on, I asked him for the story — and his long-winded explanation began.
"So, the thing is, a little while ago the professor brought a teddy bear into the lab......"
.
.
.
"Jun-sik. Take this apart."
"Sir?"
"Figure out how it was made."
"Uh... this doesn't look like something an ordinary craftsman made."
"If it breaks, we'll just buy another one from the estate. Just take it apart."
As Professor Griebe strode over with a knife in hand, the teddy bear suddenly stood up with a sharp squeak—!
The professor and the research students froze in shock.
"Beep-beep (Put the knife down)."
"......"
"Beep (Right now)!"
.
.
.
"After that he completely lost his mind... said we absolutely had to figure out the manufacturing method. He called it the greatest toy golem ever made purely for play."
It analyzed human behavior and displayed appropriate "reactions." Apparently no toy golem in the world could act that realistically.
From the perspective of people who didn't know the Party Bear was actually alive, of course their eyes would spin.
None of you can ever just sit still, can you?
If it had just escaped properly and reported back to me, things would have been a lot simpler... but I supposed that was beyond those empty little heads of theirs.
Anyway, I'd have to track it down and bring it home when I had time.
I let out a sigh.
"So he worked the research students to the bone over it?"
"Yeah. Because no matter how long he waited, you never came looking for it."
"......He doesn't even know the manufacturing method himself, and he's telling students to figure it out?"
"With a finished product, if you take it apart enough times you can reverse-engineer something pretty close. We've been on full shifts for two weeks already."
......?
For a second I frowned, wondering if that meant they'd dismantled the Party Bear.
"What happened to the teddy bear?"
The research student shook his head with a sigh.
"It vanished overnight. Looking at the wall it smashed through, that thing has serious strength. Is that really a toy golem?"
Thankfully it hadn't been dismantled to death. I settled my nerves and listened to the rest of the story.
When the teddy bear disappeared, Professor Griebe had gone to the Ispellen Estate. But Elaine's mother, Edina, had abruptly refused to sell any more — claiming a defect had been discovered that the manufacturer hadn't reported.
Of course she was shocked. It spent the night eating and playing around.
From there I could roughly guess how things had played out, so I cut him off and asked.
"So once the teddy bear supply got cut off, he went completely berserk? Driving the research students even harder?"
"That's right."
"Why didn't you just report him to the police? That's actual research student abuse."
"Well, he does take care of us that much in return... Of course, we'd rather skip the perks and just get some rest."
Ironically, their manufacturing skills had improved dramatically in a short time. For all the grinding, the know-how had been passed down along with it.
So there are rules of a sort. Maybe I can use this.
Either way, this whole mess had started because of me. Even if I hadn't intended it, I had a moral responsibility toward these people.
If I refused, the atmosphere here would turn even more funereal. Compromising a little and putting the lab to good use for myself didn't seem like a bad direction either.
As I was turning it over, the male student suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, so."
"Yes?"
"Can I stand up? My legs are falling asleep."
"......Then just stand up. Why are you asking me for permission?"
"No, it's just that you're currently—"
He pointed at me. Only then did I look down and check my own posture.
Sitting in a chair, arms crossed, legs crossed. An utterly arrogant pose in front of a kneeling person.
I hastily uncrossed everything and stood up.
"Ah, I was just sitting like that because it was comfortable. It's not like I developed a master complex because you were acting like a slave or anything."
"Ah, haha. I see. Almost misunderstood there."
"......"
Something about a slave laughing at me felt a little insolent.
Slap!
I smacked my own cheek.
Crushing people with status was the thing I'd always hated most! Why was I suddenly thinking like this?
Lately my head's been feeling a little off...
Whatever. Solving this situation came first.
I turned to the wide-eyed male student.
"Listen, Mr. Yang Jung-dae."
"It's Yang Jun-sik. And, uh, I'm a senior quite a bit ahead of you."
I nodded.
"Then Jun-sik oppa. Answer the questions I'm about to ask."
The corner of his mouth twitched upward.
"Oppa?"
"Yes. If you don't like oppa, should I call you something else?"
"N-no, no. Call me oppa. So what do you want to know?"
"Hmm...... How long have you been here? How many years as a research student?"
"Sixth year."
When we came out of the break room, Professor Griebe was gone. He'd left a text telling me to come to his private consultation office, so I went — and found him standing with his hands behind his back, staring out the window.
"You're here...?"
"I'm not doing it."
"Hmm?"
"I'm not becoming a research student. Just give me a product warranty for this."
I held out the Party Bear nestled in my arms.
He wasn't going to agree easily, but I figured I'd probe first.
Professor Griebe gazed at it for a moment, then replied.
"I don't know what Jun-sik told you, but I'm not that strict a person."
"I know. You work people to the bone until results come out, but you don't withhold graduation or anything."
"Then why won't you join?"
"Because I have no intention of coming in on weekends, and no intention of doing night research."
"......"
I held the Party Bear out again.
"Please give me a product warranty for this."
Squeak— The Party Bear made an adorable sound and wiggled its arms and legs.
Professor Griebe swallowed hard, then boldly proposed an unfair deal.
"Become a research student and I'll do it right away."
"...Earlier you told me not to bother?"
"Of course, not joining is fine too."
"Then I won't."
"You won't?"
"No. It's not like you particularly want me anyway, so why would I join?"
"That was a lie, actually. I'd really like you to join."
"......"
That damn pride of his.
Fine. I'd use him however I pleased.