Even Lives Are Like Having Odd-Numbered Parents
The academy felt a lot like a university campus. Department buildings scattered around, essential facilities clustered nearby—it was the real deal.
It must've been bustling during the day, but now that classes were over and curfew had passed, the place was deserted.
Self-study until 9 or 11? Total bullshit. That's just how schools work.
What, modern cafeterias aren't like that anymore? Back in my day!
"We've arrived. The chairman is waiting."
"In there?"
The old gentleman led me to a small, unlit warehouse-like building.
Something felt off. In 2,500 chapters, the chairman only appeared outside his office a handful of times.
Just brief cameos in major illustrated episodes.
"Keep bringing these unpredictable futures, and there's sorrow ahead."
"Pardon?"
I'd muttered it under my breath, but somehow he heard.
"Nothing. Shall I go in?"
The old man smiled faintly and opened the warehouse door.
Pitch-black darkness.
- Thud.
As I stepped inside, he shut the door behind me. Even the sliver of moonlight vanished, leaving me blind.
This was bad.
"Mind telling me why you summoned me here?"
No presence in the unknown dark. Still, I opened my mouth brazenly.
"You sought me out first, but now you're playing games. What's the deal?"
The room stayed silent despite my questions. Just darkness, no reply.
I had no idea what he was after, but this standoff wouldn't cut it.
Time to lay out some bait.
"Why show up in person at first, only to pull this now?"
You came to see me yourself.
As I dangled the secret no one else knew, a pair of red eyes flashed in the dark.
"How did you know?"
A neutral voice laced with static. Voice-altering magic, probably.
"Gut feeling."
I'd never seen a side character like that in the original.
"Gut feeling?"
"He didn't act like a subordinate. Too clumsy at hosting. More like someone used to giving orders from above."
Not really. It hadn't felt awkward at all. But you always scatter chum before reeling in the conclusion.
"When we first met, I set the schedule unilaterally, and you agreed without hesitation."
"…."
"Would a mere messenger extend it by over two weeks without permission?"
When in doubt, process of elimination.
Old man not in the original. Old man setting his own schedule.
And in this era, only one vampire: the chairman.
So, who was this mystery geezer?
Ding ding ding! The chairman himself!
A riddle-master professor would've laughed and handed out shiny coins for that deduction.
"I brought you here to inspect the filth clinging to your body."
The two red lights flickered. Then darkness began swirling toward them, centering on those eyes.
The warehouse wasn't unlit. It was just shrouded in darkness over the light.
"And you've added another in the meantime."
The sucked-in shadows coalesced into a lump around the red eyes.
A formless mass—you couldn't guess what was inside.
But what was this "filth" crap?
"I'm afraid I don't follow. I'm just an ordinary human."
"If a human bearing both a dragon's blessing and a twist of causality is ordinary, then the rest aren't human at all."
I got the dragon blessing, but twist of causality? What the hell?
Was it the possession perk? Me taking over Grid's body?
"The dragon's blessing was bestowed by Lady Aurelia before I came here, a gift to a lowly worm like me. But I've never heard of this twist of causality."
No need to fake it. I genuinely had no clue.
Man, author—if there was this setting, why not serialize another 3,000 chapters as straight fantasy instead of rofan?
Despite my most honest explanation since arriving in this world, the chairman didn't buy it.
"You don't know…? Don't know…."
His shadow-wrapped arm extended toward me.
"I'll show you a method even a fool could grasp."
Blood beaded at his fingertip.
"Know you the best way to strip away possessions?"
- Spurt.
"Eh?"
With his words, a stream of blood pierced me.
"Make it threaten the host's life."
Looking down, there was a hole in my left chest. No blood, no pain.
"First, one lizard scale."
Maybe because it didn't hurt. It didn't feel real. Or was I already dead, senses gone?
I reached for the hole over my heart.
Whoa, my finger went in. So that's where my heart is.
Wait—does that mean I'm dying?
"H-heck!"
The moment death registered, strength drained from my body rapidly.
How do people think they die?
People! Die! When their heart gets pierced!
"Such a drama queen. I even cast pain-block magic."
I heard the chairman, but that wasn't the point.
I'm dying. Done for. People die like this!
As panic hit from the life threat—
- Whoosh!
A blue aura burst from my pierced chest.
It instantly wove into a thread, sealing the hole.
My chest reverted like time rewound—even my clothes were fine.
One layer stripped away. Far less repulsive now.
So he just yoinked my life because it bugged him?
No! My original coin!
"You're a total psycho bitch!"
I dropped the concept and hurled curses at the chairman.
"What?"
"Who the hell are you to boss me around and strip my buffs? What are you, huh!?"
There's a thing called anger management. It refers to people who lose it on the weak but stay cool with the strong.
I knew the chairman's power. If he snapped, my remaining lives were toast. But screw it—even knowing that, you can't just do this!
"Ha… haha… hahahaha!!!"
With filters off, my rage made him laugh instead—like he was enjoying it.
"What's so funny, you prick? Who the hell are you?"
"I'll throw it back: What are you, charging at me after losing your blessing?"
"If I was that picky, I'd have been licking your feet the second my chest got ventilated."
I wasn't totally without backup.
Summoning was a modern man's ultimate weapon.
Time to show him the gun law.
"Try getting a hole yourself, you mosquito bastard!"
As I reached sideways for the sub-space item—
[Insufficient balance.]
What.
I didn't know the pistol's price, but apparently over 150 gold.
Damn, should've jacked up the price on Amelie's peppers.
"Ho, so you had a last resort after all."
The shadows around the chairman's face rippled creepily. No expression visible, but probably smirking.
At the same time, more blood droplets formed at his fingertips—the same ones that prettied up my chest earlier.
"Those whose final card fails get no second chance."
No Aurelia blessing now—taking those would be 100% instant death.
"Hey… it's funny you pull this now, but wanna check out that causality twist thing together?"
Full grovel mode. Head cleared realizing no gun meant this death was real.
"Irrelevant. If it's tied to your life, it'll strip away. If not, you'll die and it'll vanish anyway."
The chairman gathered the blood droplets without a second thought.
"This time, I'll pierce for better airflow."
The droplets spun into a line, flying at my chest like before.
I could see it. Just dodge.
Compared to the slow-mo bloodline, my body moved like it was in ultra-slow high-speed footage.
Ah. So this is the life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing.
As the bloodline sluggishly neared my chest again—
Rejoice. You're the first brat in thousands of years to lose the blessing in a single day.
A denser blue aura than before drew a magic circle from my chest—the voice I'd just heard.
- Sizzle.
The bloodline hit the circle, boiling and evaporating.
"Lizard…!"
The chairman's eyes burned redder, his surrounding darkness boiling too.
I'd planned to stay hidden after unintentionally harming you.
- Creeeak.
The warehouse door swung open. A blue-haired woman entered.
Golden eyes no human could have, and reptilian arms revealed her identity.
"Don't you know what happens when you touch what others have claimed, mosquito?"
"Lady Aurelia?"
I'd never seen her polymorphed, but aside from the arms, she matched the novel's description.
She glanced at the chairman, then at me.
"Let's get out first."
"Pardon?"
- Thump.
She grabbed my nape and leaped backward.
"Uwooooah!"
"Situation's urgent; forgive the roughness."
Confused mid-flight, I glanced back at the warehouse.
"…."
Darkness enveloped it entirely, spilling outside.
If I'd stayed, I'd have ended up as "Grid/blackwashing controversy" in a single forum line?
Short flight over, Aurelia set me down in a corner training ground of the academy.
"Should be safe here. He doesn't want a commotion in the academy."
"Thank you. How can I repay this grace?"
She waved off my thanks.
"Without my blessing, you wouldn't have been in danger. Sorry it escalated because of me."
Was that it? But he mentioned something extra.
"Lady Aurelia, do you know what a twist of causality is?"
Her face registered shock at the question.
"How does a mortal know that? What did the mosquito say?"
"Yes, he said I have your blessing and a twist of causality attached."
"Impossible! No mere human could bear that. The mosquito must've mistaken…."
She cut off, pressing her hand to my forehead.
"L-Lady Aurelia!?"
"Hold still a moment."
Then she gripped hard!
It hurts! Hurts!
"Ow! I'm dying! Dying!"
"…Hah."
Aurelia released her grip. I backpedaled away.
"Why the sudden—?!"
No answer, just cryptic mutters.
"How are you alive after encountering that?"
"Pardon?"
"Sword Saint, mosquito, and now me. None ordinary, but that is on another level."
Her sharp eyes fixed on my forehead, then the core question.
"You. Are you really from this world?"
