Chapter 41: Growth 2
Chapter 41: Growth 2
Unlike Han Ye-ji, who was showing dazzling growth, Lee Ha-rin was still buried in theoretical study.
[Talent Awakening: Extreme]—acquired by participating in The Incinerating Tyrant's event—was a trait that channeled all growth potential in one direction.
It was also an unhelpful trait that didn't tell you which direction that was.
In fact, according to Ha-rin, "Extreme" growth potential was exactly as extreme as it sounded.
It wasn't some ambiguous thing where you'd get a little worse at physical tasks and a little better at magic.
Becoming physically useless while all other magical talents vanished except one specific element,
or losing every form of magic, strategy, and tactical thinking in favor of a single weapon skill like swordsmanship or spearmanship—
that was what the trait called Extreme meant.
"Seeing as my stamina is declining, I think it's leaning toward magic."
"Even so, the specific trait is the real issue, isn't it?"
Because of that, she had declared that her stamina rating had plummeted from barely clinging to the top tier down to the upper end of Grade 1,
ruled out physical talents, and immediately dove into studying Magic Studies.
The problem was that Magic Studies boasted a volume of material far beyond what I'd imagined.
'Is this what science-track students deal with...'
Fantasy magic. It started with elemental magic like fire and lightning—the things that spring to mind immediately—
then branched into whether things like holy magic and curses counted as magic at all.
On top of that, necromancy, spirit-binding, talisman arts, magical engineering, runic language, magic circles, contract spell formulas—
hundreds of magics that Constellations from countless worlds had spread through their Incarnations.
"Don't feel too rushed. The Extreme trait is the highest grade among late-bloomer traits. No matter how late its discovery, it is never truly late."
"Yes, I understand."
Perhaps for that reason, the wrinkled Magic Studies instructor smiled kindly as she encouraged her.
This gracefully aged, intellectual old woman had the air of a professor rather than a mere instructor,
and without a trace of irritation she was looking after Ha-rin with dozens of basic Magic Studies textbooks at hand.
The slightly funny thing was that the other instructors all thought she was being psychologically cornered or suffering mental stress.
Even the instructors running basic testing—not just the Magic Studies instructor—were all walking on eggshells around her.
[Constellation, Lethargic Nightmare advises you to rest a little.]
"Ah, yes. I'll just finish what I'm working on here."
They had no idea that her otaku tendencies had kicked in, driving her to immerse herself so joyfully it threatened her health.
Apart from morning exercise, she had been glued to her desk all day for months now.
Was this how a parent felt watching their kid glued to a game console?
Watching her happily fiddle with documents and all sorts of magical reagents all day made me a little anxious.
Before, she'd repeated a routine of exercise, meals, and training on a regular schedule, but lately that balance had crumbled.
It wasn't that her exercise time had decreased, but if you looked closely, the intensity had dropped and her meals were getting simpler.
Was it the effect of her declining physical abilities?
What was more astonishing was that she actually talked back to me once when I told her to do something.
'Good god, did she just talk back to me?'
As a Constellation, I ought to be happy about an Incarnation's growth.
I shouldn't stop her self-improvement, and since she was doing it for me, I should even praise her.
If only it weren't Lee Ha-rin.
This was the girl who, at our first meeting, had prostrated herself in penance and pressed her forehead to the stone library floor,
and who, when I bestowed an Authority on her, had fainted foaming at the mouth at the thought of meeting me in a dream.
And yet here she was, after I'd directly told her to rest, putting it off by saying "in a little while."
When you suggest a drink with dinner to an alcoholic, and they say "later"—
this was more shocking than that.
Shocking enough to make me wonder if I'd sent the wrong message.
I zoomed in on the screen and looked at her with her head buried deep over her desk.
Her bright eyes were half-closed and bleary, the skin beneath them dark.
Skin that used to be clear even without basic makeup now looked rough and irritated, like a middle-aged man who'd skipped his lotion.
At this rate, I'd be watching another Incarnation collapse, so I focused my mind.
[Constellation, Lethargic Nightmare's avatar manifests.]
The fatigue still lingered, so I couldn't sustain it for even five minutes, but that would be enough.
"Ah, Constellation!"
Behind Lee Ha-rin, who bolted upright in surprise,
documents and parchment slipped and tumbled messily across the desk.
I walked over slowly, took her by the shoulders, and sat her back down in the chair.
"Did I not tell you to pace yourself? You've been visibly sleep-deprived for days now."
Was it the effect of her sharply decreasing stamina combined with cutting back on sleep?
Her appearance had rapidly morphed from a healthy, vibrant girl into a new hire on her fourth day of overtime.
Honestly, if I left her alone just a few more days, a hospital bed would suit her better than a lecture-hall desk.
She sat quietly in the chair, and I reached out to gently stroke the area around her eyebrows.
My fingertips traced her brow—free of any trace of makeup—then pressed her eyelids closed,
rubbing very lightly over her dark circles and eyelids while I whispered softly.
The texture against my fingertips was noticeably different.
What had once felt like a soft, plush, squishy doll now felt like one of those dolls made of rough mesh grass.
I couldn't leave her like this. I cradled her head in my arms and whispered.
"I suspect you have been cutting your dream-hours far too short."
With those final words, I released the Clone and returned to my studio apartment.
I felt out of breath and dizzy, as if I'd been swimming for a long time.
As I caught my ragged breath and turned back to the screen, I saw Lee Ha-rin, having tidied her messy desk, hurriedly getting ready for bed.
※
In the dream world, Lee Ha-rin was pacing around awkwardly, not knowing what to do with herself, like a child who'd done something wrong.
I was half inclined to pat her and tell her not to worry, and half inclined to mess with her a little.
So I said nothing, just sat on the sofa and sipped my coffee. Like everything else in this similar world, the instant coffee mix tasted exactly the same.
The fizzy drinks had been different.
For the time it took me to drink the entire cup of warm coffee mix, Lee Ha-rin couldn't bring herself to approach me
but also couldn't flee somewhere else, so she just lingered around awkwardly nearby.
Then, as if a thought had just struck her, she fetched a chocolate cake from the kitchen.
Did she figure that since I'm a man, I'd like sweets?
Chocolate bread layered with gooey chocolate mousse, dusted on top with cocoa powder.
Not a food that pairs well with sweet coffee mix,
but the sight of her stealthily placing the chocolate cake on the table and stealing glances at me from the side was so cute I picked up the fork.
A sweetness so intense it felt like it would jolt my tongue and brain.
'Women—no, men in this world—like things this sweet?'
A sweetness so dizzying that stereotypes like "girls like tteokbokki, girls like sweets!" flitted through my mind.
I felt sorry for Ha-rin as she nervously watched me, but I couldn't muster the courage to take a second bite, so I set the fork down.
At the soft clink of the fork, her shoulders flinched. I gestured her over to my side.
"Diligence is good, but shouldn't you take care of your health while you pursue it?"
Since we were in a dream, the dark shadowy haze beneath her eyes had vanished. I stroked beneath them gently.
She squeezed her eyes shut and sat there quietly, letting me touch her face. She looked utterly doglike.
Somehow that phrasing sounded like an insult. Oh well. I cupped her face in both hands and pressed it down until it touched my thigh.
Not for anything perverse—just so she could use it as a pillow and sleep.
"C-Constellation?"
Unable to open her eyes because of my thumbs gently rubbing her eyelids, she called out to me without understanding the situation.
But as I kept kneading her soft, warm face like a squishy doll, she fell silent on her own.
For someone who'd trained her stamina under the sun at a military school, her cheeks were incredibly soft.
The only women whose faces I'd touched like this were Han Ye-ji and Lee Ha-rin,
but maybe because of her small frame or the influence of her trait, Ha-rin's face was small and tender.
"Relax your body and rest deeply. You're holding tension in your shoulders."
Seeing her brace her neck and shoulders with tension, apparently feeling self-conscious about resting her full weight on me,
I tried saying something I used to hear often at the barbershop.
The stylist who always washed my hair at the basin used to tell me to relax my shoulders and lean back.
The haircuts weren't great, but the shampoo service was excellent. Thinking of that old regular spot,
I reached for her hair instead of her face.
Her short bob, tousled from lying roughly on her side.
The hair that used to end at the nape of her neck had gradually grown down to brush her shoulders.
I don't know much about women's hairstyles, so I couldn't even tell what this cut was called.
Or maybe, with the gender reversal, Ha-rin wasn't maintaining a specific hairstyle length
but just letting it grow out as it pleased.
As I gently combed through her hair with my fingers, she finally surrendered and let the tension drain from her shoulders and neck, leaning into me.
With her brow furrowed tight, caught between not knowing whether to open her eyes or keep them shut, the moment I pressed firmly on the wrinkles in her brow, her eyelids fluttered,
and the sight of her going limp made me want to touch every inch of her all over.
"Don't overdo it. Don't skip meals. Rest when it's time to rest. You must sleep at least six hours a day."
The faint mechanical sound of an alarm clock reached us from the lucid dream world, signaling that it was nearly time to wake up.
So I whispered every bit of nagging I'd ever heard directly into her ear.
I'd ended up doing nothing but tease her, but well, one day of that wouldn't hurt.