Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘An undergraduate……?’
The blond man spoke fluent Korean, but beyond that, it was an extraordinarily strange question.
Then again, it was oddly characteristic. After all, if someone emerged from a door with a suspicious nameplate and asked ‘Are you an undergraduate……,’ then…….
‘He must be a professor.’
If so, this place was probably…… Gwangnyun University.
I swallowed hard in silence. Had I really landed in the exact location I’d read about in the manual just before entering? Could I have gotten this lucky?
Of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down. The man before me talked like a professor, but there was no way he actually was one. He didn’t look a day over thirty, and besides—Gwangnyun University had been abandoned long ago.
He was far more likely to be something other than human.
“A student?”
‘Ugh…….’
Rather than answer hastily, I gave a small nod.
“What brings an undergraduate to my office?”
“Well, that is…….”
As the man tilted his head, his nearsighted glasses caught the light and gleamed.
What should I say?
According to the Survival Manual, Anomalies liked to imitate humans, and if you didn’t play along naturally with their mimicry, they’d immediately move to replace you. Or so it claimed.
I didn’t know exactly what “replace” meant, but I’d do my best to avoid finding out.
At this point, I had no choice but to act the part of a Gwangnyun University undergraduate. But how? I’d never even set foot in a university.
As I hesitated, the man began walking toward me.
The pale-green light flickered across his flat forehead and pale blond hair. Tap, tap—his indoor slippers echoed against the corridor floor.
‘Wait a moment……. This isn’t even a real university anyway. This person—no, this thing—isn’t a real professor either. Which means I’m not the only one who’s never set foot in a real university.’
So all I had to do was fabricate an answer as natural and convincing as possible within common sense. An answer that would let me off the hook even if my status as an outsider was discovered.
“I-I came to register for an audit……!”
He stopped dead.
The man froze in place.
“An audit……?”
“Yes, yes……. I really wanted to hear it. That is to say…… your lecture.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, the corners of his mouth had curved upward slightly.
‘Was he……smiling?’
But it lasted only a moment. The man’s face returned to its cold, expressionless state.
“I posted a notice.”
“……?”
“All my lectures this semester have been cancelled. Enrollment was…… short.”
“I see…….”
What was it about such an ordinary answer that sent chills down my spine?
Wait—this wasn’t the time for that. This was an opportunity.
“Ah, in that case, there’s nothing to be done. It’s truly unfortunate, but I should be on my way, Professor.”
I turned to leave as naturally as I could,
“What kind of lecture is it?”
“I’m……sorry?”
“You said you were very eager to hear it. What lecture seemed so fascinating?”
“Um…….”
The man waited for my answer with that incomprehensible expression on his face.
Just then, the overhead light flickered dimly for a moment. Behind his glasses, his eyes were an eerie gray-blue.
It was a face you’d see in foreign fashion magazines, but there was something desolate in those eyes.
I swallowed dryly and spoke.
“It’s…… an overview…… lecture?”
This time it wasn’t a mistake.
The man’s narrow eyes crinkled as he smiled. And in a voice surprisingly gentle, he asked,
“Would you like to come to my office and discuss it? It’s right there.”
He pointed to the door at the end of the corridor, the one he’d just emerged from.
Just reading the nameplate had given me a nosebleed. What would happen if I went inside?
I had to avoid entering that room by any means necessary. I forced an awkward smile and shook my head.
“No, Professor. There will be other opportunities next time. I’m terribly sorry for the bother!”
And without looking back, I turned and walked quickly down the corridor. Fortunately, the man didn’t follow.
The narrow corridor ended at a left turn, and I rounded the corner, careful not to glance behind.
What stretched before me was another green corridor. No doors, no windows, not even a signboard.
Just the sound of my own footsteps, thump-thump.
Now that I thought about it, my body felt strangely light. The adrenaline, perhaps?
For someone who’d been locked in a storage room for half a day and poisoned by an unknown drug that sent them drifting between dimensions, my mind was unusually clear and calm.
So that feeling wasn’t a mistake either—the sensation that the green corridor was stretching infinitely before my eyes.
“…….”
The light flickered, dimming and brightening again.
I stopped and glanced back slightly. Still an empty corridor. The same no matter which way I looked.
Was the corner really this far? Had I walked this far?
I quickly tried to retrace my steps. My pace quickened gradually until I was nearly running.
But the corner remained impossibly far.
A disaster. Why had I thought the danger was only the professor?
Anomalies didn’t refer to living organisms. I should have anticipated that I might be trapped in an infinite corridor—that was anomaly enough.
The light flickered.
I started to sprint.
It flickered again.
I ran at full speed.
“Hah……, hah…….”
By the time I barely caught up to the corner that kept receding, what I saw ahead was the same empty corridor as before.
No—it wasn’t quite the same. The wooden door with the nameplate I’d seen moments ago was nowhere to be found, and the pale-green ceiling lights that had been there were now
flickering
red.
“Ha……. Ha-ha…….”
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
It was hard to tell which was more dangerous: standing still here, or continuing down an endless corridor?
– Hehehehe.
At an unfamiliar laugh, I startled and stumbled backward.
Where? Which direction?
Which way had I come from, and where was I trying to go?
– Shhhhh……, shhhh…….
I pressed my back firmly against the corner.
The voice was now at my ear—a low whisper, a tittering giggle. And then…….
– Are you…… trying to hide……?
I pressed myself harder against the wall.
Where? Which way?
– This won’t do…… this place won’t do…….
I tried to cover my ears, but it was pointless.
“I’m the one who needs to hide here!”
“……!!”
I started running desperately.
Aha……, aha-ha……, ah-ha…….
A sound that could’ve been laughter or a cry echoed through the red corridor.
I would’ve been grateful if it were mine, but sadly my voice didn’t produce such a shrill, scraping screech.
I clenched my teeth and kept running.
Until the taste of iron filled my throat.
In the moment I wondered if there was an end to any of this, the light overhead flickered once more.
Another set of footsteps sounded.
Where? Which direction?
But now I couldn’t change course no matter which direction they came from. Something large burst around the corner ahead, growing steadily closer.
And I couldn’t slow my speed—I crashed face-first into its chest.
Thud.
“Oops.”
‘Oops……?’
A large hand gripped my arm. As I regained my balance, staggering, the light flickered and changed again.
Under the green light stood the same man from before, looking down at me.
“……Professor?”
I mumbled in a daze.
“You shouldn’t run in the corridor.”
“Ah……. Yes, I’m sorry.”
The Professor released my arm. I looked around while breathing heavily.
It was an ordinary corridor.
‘The voice…… I don’t hear it anymore. Is it because of this person?’
Behind the Professor, I could see the wooden door with the nameplate. But this time, I could read it.
Malo
‘Malo……?’
“Student.”
The Professor looked down at me for a moment, then rummaged in a pocket of his white coat.
“Do you like candy?”
“……Candy?”
He extended his hand. Four colorful pieces of candy lay on his large palm.
“Um……, no thank you. I appreciate it.”
I declined in a trembling voice, but he didn’t back off. I hesitated, then reached for one of the candies in his palm.
“No.”
The Professor gripped my wrist lightly. Then he flipped our overlapped hands over in one smooth motion. The candies spilled into my palm with a soft cascade.
“Eat them.”
I looked up at him with suspicious eyes, and the Professor blinked back at me.
“……Later. Anyway, thank you.”
I shoved the candies into my pocket haphazardly. Fortunately, the Professor didn’t press me further.
As my mind settled, the Professor’s appearance finally registered. His slightly tousled blond hair, his glasses, his slightly hunched posture as he looked down at me because of his great height—it all looked not just harmless, but almost endearingly awkward.
“I’m……. I’m sorry about before. I was startled.”
“Perfectly understandable. But if you haven’t changed your mind…… I’d like to discuss it further.”
“You mean the audit?”
The Professor nodded.
“Um……. But why would you go so far…….”
“Because I’m a professor.”
“……?”
Without breaking eye contact, he spoke in that suspiciously gentle tone.
“How could I be a professor if I didn’t teach students?”
“…….”
Whatever his true nature was, at least his purpose seemed clear.
If I could turn it to my advantage, perhaps I could ask for his help. Might I be able to seek aid from this person, or entity?
‘Besides, there’s no other way out of this anyway.’
“Then first…… could you help me get out of here? I seem to have gotten lost.”
“Perhaps?”
“You will, won’t you?”
Hmm, his mouth opened slightly. His canine teeth seemed unusually pointed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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