Fuck, That's Not It.
Some kind of gaze was fixed on me. I naturally turned my eyes toward it. Someone who looked human. Their mouth-like hole was open, as if they were saying something. I wanted to know. What they were saying. The moment I focused on that spot, words I shouldn't have been able to hear began to reach me.
"Sorry about the weekend. We messed up and the system died. When are you coming?"
Rage surged through me in an instant. They were complaining to me instead of the writer. Before I knew it, my mouth opened and words I hadn't even thought spilled out.
"The A/S period is over because you idiots broke it, so why the hell are you telling me, you fucking bastards!!!"
The moment those words ended, the surrounding scenery began to collapse. My consciousness grew hazy along with it, then started to rise.
"Don't call me on Christmas and then again on the weekend! You shameless bastards!"
A familiar ceiling. This time it was real. A ceiling I'd seen before.
"You're up already?"
[Have you awakened, my lord?]
I opened my eyes to the two voices. The first thing I checked was my left shoulder.
"...What the fuck."
Where I'd been shanked, something that hadn't existed before was now attached. A wriggling, blue, viscous substance. Without thinking, I reached out toward the sudden foreign object.
"Not into tentacles or slimes, but what the hell is this?"
"Ah, you can't pull that off!"
A frantic voice stopped me. I slowly turned my gaze toward it. There stood Lee Yelim noona, just like usual.
"Your shoulder still hasn't fully healed. Wait a little longer."
"...Who are you?"
That wasn't it. There was a stranger. An unfamiliar woman in a white coat.
"This is Teacher Yoon Hwaran."
"How long was I out?"
"About thirty minutes."
She introduced herself as Teacher Yoon Hwaran. She was probably the one who treated me.
"What's this?"
"It's something to help recover the area where you overused your mana, just like a student."
"The infirmary is more professional than I thought?"
"...What did you think the infirmary was?"
The only thing that came to mind when I thought of the infirmary was one thing.
"A place that prepares chrysanthemum flowers?"
"Ah! Are you Student Kim Shinu by any chance? Nice to meet you."
Yoon Hwaran suddenly extended her hand toward me. Still half-dazed, I took it and shook it.
"Your name's a bit weird, isn't it?"
"They said it was fine to call you that?"
"......"
I got a little annoyed, but there was no malice, so I let it go. Then a question popped up.
"Am I already famous here?"
"You were the shortest-term death-candidate freshman."
"Fuck."
[You've set one of the few records in your life.]
'This sucks.'
Anyway, I definitely lost consciousness at the end. The place I collapsed was the Dueling Arena. I remembered that much. But I had no idea how I ended up here.
"How did I get here?"
"A short female student with red twin-tails carried you to the infirmary."
"I see. I should thank her."
Apparently Hyeji had brought me. I felt grateful for the delivery, but—
"......Wait a second. Delivery?"
The strange word made me question it again. Yoon Hwaran pointed at the window with her finger. There—
"Can you see that window over there?"
Both window panes were neatly shattered. While I was wondering what that had to do with me, Yoon Hwaran continued.
"She threw Student Shinu in through there."
"...Did the other one throw my arm?"
"Correct. That's why your arm is currently a rag."
"Fuck, at least wrap it like a package."
"That's why it arrived faster than if she'd carried you."
A brief moment of thought. Should I thank Hyeji, or complain? [It was certainly fast. If it were a highway, it would've been speeding.] 'Fuck, I didn't ask for rocket delivery.'
Still, since she got me here quickly, I figured I should express gratitude. Just then, Yoon Hwaran asked me a question.
"By the way, Student Shinu came through the window headfirst, so why aren't there any wounds?"
"......I wonder."
Anyway, my left arm must've flown in too, so I looked around. A little ways off, my left arm lay there, submerged in a container full of the same viscous substance attached to my shoulder. The condition of the arm was worse than expected. More than the exploded cross-section, the cuts from the broken glass were worse.
[Still, it's better than not being able to use it at all.]
'The arm... has come.'
At that moment, one thought flashed through my mind. A prosthetic arm. And a left arm at that. The absolute classic for a regression protagonist. [This body is drawn to automail.] 'Prosthetics can all go to hell.'
"Can I get something like a prosthetic arm?"
"Just reattach your own arm. From what I see, you can do physical enhancement too, so what's the problem?"
From the way she spoke, it seemed prosthetics made physical enhancement difficult. I cleanly gave up on the prosthetic. Instead, I asked about Lee Yelim noona, who was nowhere to be seen.
"Got it. But Lee Yelim noona isn't here?"
"Oh, you know Junior Yelim too? Junior Yelim went on vacation."
I could hear Yoon Hwaran grumbling, "Why take such a long vacation?" She probably didn't know the exact details.
"Of course I know. I even introduced her to a guy. They'll probably get married soon."
"......What?"
"You didn't know? Lee Yelim noona got a boyfriend?"
Yoon Hwaran's eyes died instantly. She muttered "She said she was staying single..." like a broken doll. The problem was—
"Even if it was late, it's a relief Lee Yelim noona is getting married before turning thirty."
"Ahaha."
I hadn't noticed and kept talking.
"If she'd gone past thirty, she would've been nagged for sure."
"Student Shinu? Shall we start attaching your arm now?"
Yoon Hwaran tried to change the subject. She must've found the conversation burdensome.
"What do you mean, marriage. You were in a tough spot too. Thinking about that, it's a huge relief."
"...Could you stop talking?"
Before I knew it, Yoon Hwaran's voice had sunk. But I didn't know how to stop my mouth and kept rambling.
"The wedding will probably happen soon. Of course, the baby will probably come first."
"......"
"So I was thinking of coming up with a baby name to recommend."
At that moment, the number above Yoon Hwaran's head went up by one. At the same time, a mirror fragment appeared. When I focused on that fragment, light began to spread just like before.
Through my recovering vision, a voice reached me. [Now I understand the principle behind your ability.] 'What is it?' While my vision still hadn't returned, the voice in my head quickly continued, sounding oddly excited. [Do you remember the mirror fragment that appeared earlier?] 'Yeah, it appeared when the number above her head suddenly went up.' [If you wish to read it, your consciousness reads the future before that person's regression.]
So the activation of the ability depended on my will after all. It wasn't unconditional, which was a relief. 'Now that I think about it, since it's an ability, it must consume a ton of mana, right?' [It will probably consume a fixed amount of mana. Anything beyond that will be paid with stamina, just like last time.] 'Tch, I need to see it quickly. Fast forward. Fast forward. Fast forward.'
Whether it responded to my desire to skip ahead, the things in front of my eyes suddenly disappeared. Instead, a specific scene appeared. It was Yoon Hwaran drinking alone at home. Her appearance looked no different from now. However, the date displayed on the phone beside her was December 24th, three years in the future. The moment I wondered what had happened that day, the scene slowly began to move.
"Fuck! You all said you were staying single, but you all got married!!!! You traitorous bastards!!!!!!!!"
Apparently, in the pre-regression future, Yoon Hwaran was drinking alone, the only one left unmarried. Then I remembered how Yoon Hwaran's expression had been quite bad when I was running my mouth earlier. [My lord, it seems you've caused trouble.] 'Fuck, I'm screwed.'
At that moment, the surroundings began flashing red. [It is time to go.] 'Fuck, even music previews are longer than this.'
When I thought about returning, I came back to the present. The first thing I saw was Yoon Hwaran staring at me with dead eyes. I'd apparently been gone for a while, as a slight sense of exhaustion wrapped around my body. At that moment, a chilling sensation ran down my spine.
"...Teacher?"
"Student Shinu."
At Yoon Hwaran's words, I reflexively shuddered and didn't answer. Regardless, she continued speaking, as if my response didn't matter.
"You said you wanted to try a prosthetic arm, right?"
"No, I'll just reattach my own arm. My own arm is the best."
Yoon Hwaran made the suggestion with a full smile on her face. At a glance, it might've looked like she was being friendly, but—
"No, you should try it at least once. This is an opportunity too."
"No, I'll attach my original arm like you said, Teacher."
I was extremely uneasy. The sudden use of formal speech. More than anything, the eyes looking at me weren't smiling at all.
"Maybe because I'm an old maid, my ears aren't working well."
"Teacher? Still, I have to say what needs to be said."
"Go ahead."
Yoon Hwaran had called herself an old maid. But that was wrong.
"Teacher, you're not an old maid."
"Really? Actually, I got hit on not too long ago too."
Yoon Hwaran's face relaxed. She looked quite pleased at being told she wasn't an old maid. Of course, as I said, Yoon Hwaran was no old maid.
"You should be called a gold miss."
"It starts with automail." [This is going to hurt.]
Since she was a gold miss. It was two hours later that I escaped the infirmary.
Professor Pilyong looked at me with a questioning expression.
"Why is your left arm like that? Who did you piss off?"
"Me."
"......"
"......"
An awkward silence. Perhaps finding the silence uncomfortable, Professor Pilyong spoke again.
"But why is your face so pale?"
"......I just came back from filming a grimdark genre."
"Ha... Sit down for now."
Until just a moment ago, I'd been in the infirmary. Two hours. The time I'd spent in the infirmary. During that time, I'd tried on all sorts of prosthetic arms. Some of the prosthetics were called demon-possessed arms, but since the demon was more normal than me, they didn't have much effect. However, the most dangerous one was the silver arm with a red star drawn on the shoulder. [You almost became the Winter Soldier.] 'Fuck, I didn't expect it to start reciting brainwashing codes the moment it was attached.'
Currently, I was in Professor Pilyong's research building. I'd stopped by as mentioned in the morning, before the faculty meeting started. After hearing my explanation, Professor Pilyong sighed and clutched his head. Seeing that, my mouth opened without thinking.
"Don't grab a head that isn't there. Nothing's going to grow anyway."
"Want me to break your right arm too?"
"Sorry. It was my mistake for having expectations in a wasteland."
[They say there's an oasis even in the desert, but that one has no hope.]
'It'd be more likely for him to be reborn.'
A vein popped up on Professor Pilyong's forehead as he ground his teeth. Still, he held back his anger and explained why he'd called me.
"Before the faculty meeting, I want to re-measure you with all the scanners in our research building."
"How many are there?"
"About fifty."
"Fuck, even a doctoral thesis doesn't get revised that much."
The moment I said the word "thesis," Professor Pilyong suddenly grinned.
"Thanks to you, I wrote a ton of theses."
"But you at least gave the research students breaks, right?"
"......."
An uncomfortable silence.
"Professor?"
"Shut up."
Of course, I didn't know how many people had sweated blood for that happy face. Just then, I heard footsteps as people poured into the research building. It was the research students. They were struggling to carry boxes containing scanners. The research students had pale faces, just like mine. Seeing that, I felt the last remnants of humanity inside me stir.
"But do we really have to do all of this?"
"There are old recordings too, so we have to compare them one by one while recording."
"Feels like filming AV. This really fucking sucks."
"When you say it like that, it makes me feel even weirder."
[My lord? Shouldn't we start with the interview first?]
'Please shut up. Where did you even learn that?'
Two hours before the faculty meeting started. During that time, the number of scanners I'd been tested on was exactly sixty. Originally there were fifty-three, but while the scans were in progress, the research students had created seven additional scanners in real time. Of course, effort doesn't always get rewarded. All the results uniformly concluded with "Unable to determine the ability."
Once the final scanner test was over, the research students trudged back to the lab. Nothing had really improved. Professor Pilyong hurriedly started copying all the videos onto a USB. After confirming that all the videos had been copied, Professor Pilyong and I headed to the faculty meeting.
A large table. And countless professors surrounding it. Seeing that scene, I truly felt that this was where the faculty meeting was being held.
"Today's faculty meeting has additional agenda items, as announced this morning."
At the elderly female professor's words from the head seat, the noisy surroundings gradually settled. In that gap, I looked around. There were quite a lot of professors. Some couldn't even sit and were standing. [Are all of these really professors?] 'There are so fucking many.'
"Professor, are there this many professors at the Academy?"
"No, today almost all the staff came too."
"Do we get snacks if we come today? What snacks are there?"
"It's because of you. You!"
At that moment, the elderly female professor who had spoken first opened her mouth.
"Today's additional agenda item is a discussion regarding the disposition of first-year Iron Rank student Kim Shinu."
"Death penalty!! Death penalty!! Death penalty!!"
An unexpected cry for the death penalty. I checked the source of the sound. There was Yoon Hwaran, eyes bloodshot, spitting as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Anyone who saw her would've misunderstood that she'd met her parents' enemy. [......How pathetic.] 'That fucker, gold miss trash.'