Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 27

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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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The announcement earlier definitely said I was the third to enter. Which means one other person is in this Maze with me right now.
Who could it be? Could it be that person in the Gas Mask?
If I run into the Gas Mask, will they try to kill me too? Will we end up in the same situation as before?
I looked up at Mallo walking beside me.
“But isn’t it strange for you to walk around with me like this, Professor? Isn’t that academic misconduct?”
Mallo laughed.
“You’re worried about me right now?”
“That’s not… it…”
“Hm?”
Startled by the sudden sound, I grabbed Mallo’s arm and pressed myself against him, hiding. A woman in a Gas Mask stood around the corner.
“Oh…”
Her gaze darted rapidly between me and Mallo. Though the thick Gas Mask hid her features, her confusion was evident.
“I… um… haha, hello, Professor.”
“Yes, hello.”
Mallo replied indifferently. I watched the Gas Mask woman quickly hide the Short Blade she’d been holding behind her back.
I must have clenched my teeth without realizing it. The Gas Mask woman hesitated for a moment, then simply turned and ran.
“Cat-like,” Mallo murmured.
“Be quiet,” I said.
I moved forward again.
When I turned the corner for the third time, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. This was a Maze, but why did the structure feel so familiar?
I was confident in my memory, but even mine had limits.
Since I specialized in memorizing scripture, my efficiency dropped with anything not in written form. And even then, if I didn’t concentrate and reinforce the memory, it would evaporate quickly.
But no matter what, this was…
At a dead end, looking around, I spotted something glinting on the ground.
“…A Gold Coin?”
It was the same design as the ones I’d received from Gom Tal at Goldy Rax.
[Announcement.]
[One Credit Point has just been recovered. You have 7 Credit Points remaining.]
The announcement confirmed it. This Gold Coin was the semester’s “Credit Points.”
But why a Gold Coin specifically? I turned the weighty, glossy thing over in my hands.
Wait. Could it be?
I quickly scanned my surroundings. I retraced the path I’d just come through and examined the layout.
It was certain.
“…This is Bad City.”
That game I’d almost been pulled into, where I’d nearly become a game character. Bad City.
The Maze I was wandering through now had the exact same structure as its first stage.
No doubt about it. Helmet had found their first weapon in that same alley where I’d just picked up the Gold Coin.
Which meant the skyscraper’s location would be…
“That way.”
“You’re sure?”
Now that he asked, I wasn’t so certain anymore…
“Oh!”
I suddenly remembered and pulled out Ameli’s Smartphone.
Bad City
As I loaded the game, fizzy synthpop crackled through the Underground.
The character selection screen and background were identical to what I’d seen at the Game Center—except for the absence of Helmet.
I selected the Katana Warrior, and once loading finished, neon signs of a dark city filled the screen.
“It’s identical.”
If this Maze really matched the game’s map and the Gold Coins were placed where weapons had been, then I was essentially holding an answer key in my hands.
The problem was the battery…
58%
The battery I’d charged last night had already drained to about half.
Whether because it was an older model or because the loud game was taxing, it seemed to drain quickly.
“How is it?”
Mallo, who’d appeared beside me without my noticing, tilted his head over my shoulder. Come to think of it, he’d been the one to bring up the game this morning.
Could he have been giving me a hint?
“I sort of remember the first stage. But after that I got completely absorbed, so I don’t really…”
Now that I think about it, I’d been half-entranced then. If Helmet had been even slightly more skilled, I’d have been pulled into the machine without a chance to resist.
“Anyway, it’s good I can play it now. I can figure out where the Credit Points are…”
I looked around for a moment, then backed up against a dead-end corner and sat down. That way there’d be no risk of a surprise attack.
“This might take a while.”
Mallo came over and sat beside me. The white hem of his coat brushed against my leg—I noticed, but soon became absorbed in the game.
Since it was my second playthrough, I cleared it faster than before. But as expected, the battery drained rapidly.
With the final stage still remaining, I had only 32 percent left.
“Phew…”
When I looked up suddenly, Mallo was staring at me intently.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Is that how you memorize maps? Just stuff them directly into your head?”
“What do you mean…?”
To memorize it completely, I’d need to go through it a few more times.
It would’ve been easier with text, but fitting an entire game map into my mind was new territory.
“Seems inefficient.”
“I can’t help it. It’s not my specialty…”
I answered somewhat sheepishly. Mallo’s eyes rolled upward.
“You know, normally you can’t hold a lecture until course registration is finished, right?”
“That’s… right. Registration is meant to work that way…”
“What about Orientation? Technically that’s not really a lecture, is it?”
“Well… I guess? I’m not entirely sure either, but…”
“Then let’s call this an Orientation.”
When I came to my senses, I was half-kneeling, facing Mallo. His long legs had me completely pinned.
“You want to hold an Orientation like this…?”
“Yeah, what’s the problem?”
Plenty, obviously.
Mallo reached his hand toward my face as if nothing were wrong. When I flinched, he smirked slightly.
“Would you mind if I borrowed this for a moment?”
“Uh… yes, I mean, no… but what are you… doing…”
This time he didn’t answer. His cool fingers traced my forehead as if measuring something.
“Listen carefully.”
Mallo whispered.
“From now on, I’m going to organize all that chaotic information scattered through your head. Before I can organize it, I need to gather it all in one place, don’t I?”
His voice was lower and softer than usual, and I felt as if I were being lulled into hypnosis.
While I was debating whether to nod, a large palm moved behind my head, cradling it.
“…Professor?”
Then something smooth brushed against my ear, and a strange sensation filled my ear canal.
“Wait, wait, Professor, that feeling is strange.”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
What kind of pediatrician talk is that! I rolled my eyes anxiously, but he merely reassured me in a perfunctory tone.
“It’s fine, okay? If you keep moving, you’ll get hurt.”
“What are you… putting… in…!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t put anything strange in there.”
“What isn’t strange to put in an ear?!”
Meanwhile, something kept slipping into my ear. The back of my neck went stiff, and tension filled my thighs.
What is this? A finger? Is it a finger? No, a finger couldn’t go this deep…!
A wave of nausea hit, and my vision blurred. It felt as if my whole body were floating, submerged in water.
The human brain loves stories, you see.
“Mmm…”
His voice sounded dreamy, as if reaching me from across the surface of water.
You remember patterned context and visualized or spatialized information far longer and far more easily than fragmented facts.
My lower belly tightened with an odd sensation.
I could give you a thirty-minute lecture on the Memory Technique right here, but we don’t have that kind of time, do we?
“Ah… uh…?!”
So I’m going to put this directly into your head myself.
“That… that shouldn’t be… allowed…”
No, it’s fine. I won’t touch anything important. Yeah, that’s right. Don’t clench your teeth.
When something unfamiliar brushed against a nerve behind my ear—a place I’d never imagined—my eyelid trembled violently. My eyes rolled back into their sockets.
There was no pain. Which was oddly…
I know. Feels good, doesn’t it?

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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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