Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 44

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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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Bibi hesitated for a moment. Today, he seemed rather anxious.
“I’ll cut to the chase—I need your help. ……Honestly, I never thought I’d be asking you something like this.”
“Should I sign an NDA?”
“Never mind. You don’t strike me as the type who’s good at lying anyway.”
Here he was, unable to recognize a professional con artist like me, saying things like that.
Bibi continued.
“A distress signal is being transmitted. The problem is, the signal’s origin point isn’t somewhere I can approach freely.”
“Where is it?”
Bibi glanced around once more as if he hadn’t heard the question, then spoke.
“A building owned by a higher-order entity. Since it cooperates quite a bit with the Organization, it’s often used as a safe house.”
“There’s a safe house?”
“It’s not used often. This case is rather special too. Simply put, it’s a witness protection program.”
That made sense.
If someone in the real world were in danger and needed to hide, ironically, nowhere would be safer than the Fortress.
“Did the witness send the distress signal?”
Bibi shook his head.
“That’s the strange part. I managed to make contact with the witness, but they say they have no idea what this is about. Of course, since they’re under surveillance by the higher-order entity, I can’t entirely rule out the possibility they’re lying.”
A distress signal from an unknown source.
“I roughly understand the situation. But how am I supposed to help with that?”
“I’ve confirmed the witness is alive, but since a signal was received, I need to conduct a reconnaissance. The problem is, it’s not a place I can freely enter and exit.”
“Why? You’re an agent.”
“I told you. It’s a safe house. Even as an internal operative, I need authorization to enter the actual site, but the problem is contact with headquarters is impossible because Kwon Tae-hyun hasn’t returned.”
And then Bibi looked at me. But I couldn’t make sense of it. Why was he telling me this? It’s not like I had some other method either.
“Wait, you’re not saying ‘inaccessible’ in the literal, physical sense, are you?”
At my question, Bibi nodded. Only then did I grasp what he was trying to say.
“You’re asking to borrow the Professor, right? Now? Weren’t you an agent? You’re asking for help from a higher-order entity?”
“Everyone warns that S7078 or Mallo is dangerous, that you shouldn’t approach them. But there’s no record of them ever harming a drifter.”
‘……Speaking like they’re some object.’
I found myself frowning, but Bibi didn’t seem to notice.
“Until now, they’ve been indifferent to humans, but things are different now. They’re offering you goodwill without any compensation, aren’t they?”
‘Goodwill.’
At Bibi’s words, I shook my head.
“Nobody knows if that’s really goodwill. How could we know what Mallo is thinking?”
When I spoke with a touch of cynicism, Bibi fell silent for a moment. He was probably choosing his words to persuade me.
“Of course, it could simply be a device malfunction. But if, just in case, someone really is waiting for help…….”
Bibi’s expression was serious.
“Saving even one more person is the right thing to do, isn’t it?”
In the end, I could only nod at those words.
The Organization may view the Fortress as a profit-making venture, but at least the Bibi I’d met was a good person.
And I had received considerable help from him as well.
“I’ll give it a try.”
It was a somewhat noncommittal answer, but Bibi seemed reassured. He smiled faintly and spoke.
“……I feel like I’m always indebted to you.”
“No, send me the details by message. Should we go then?”
“Oh, and Amelie.”
Bibi hesitated awkwardly for quite some time.
“You……, I mean……, you haven’t been doing your morning runs lately……?”
Only then did I remember that during my first week after falling into this place, I had tediously followed Bibi on his morning runs.
I laughed playfully and asked.
“Why? Back then you were so annoyed about it, and now that I’m not doing it, you feel lonely?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“……I feel lonely.”
I’d only meant to tease, but when he answered so earnestly, I was the one who ended up feeling flustered.
On top of that, I felt a pang of conscience, as if I’d only used him when I needed something and then neglected him.
“Well……, it’s not intentional. I just started sleeping in more after I got my part-time job.”
“Ah, I see. Then…….”
“But let’s definitely do it together on my days off. If I’m going to keep working, I need to build up my stamina.”
Bibi nodded. And then an awkward silence hung between us for a moment.
“Um……, should we go?”
Walking in step with Bibi, whose ears had turned red, I thought that perhaps he might be younger than I’d imagined.
Soon enough, we had passed through the severed space and returned to Gwangyuon University Back Gate.
At the end of the walking path, the roof of the Female Dormitory came into view.
Oh, that reminds me.
“By the way, Bibi, I wanted to ask you something too.”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard of something called a ‘Scarecrow’?”
“Scarecrow……?”
“You know, that thing in the second-floor hallway of the Female Dormitory. Really long, and it makes this creaking, creaking sound. I’m not sure if I’m imagining things, but it feels like something’s been lingering around the area.”
I decided not to mention meeting it in the Freezer Warehouse or finding the footprints in front of my door.
It wasn’t only because of its request to keep things secret.
In the Fortress, you always had to watch your tongue. One careless slip could lead you to unknowingly break a rule and face consequences.
After a long hesitation, Bibi finally spoke.
“In simple terms…… it’s a survivor.”
“What……?”
“You know how undergraduates are survivors who failed to escape, right?”
I nodded. No one had explained it directly, but it was something I could roughly infer.
The so-called ‘undergraduates’ wandering the campus with their minds lost could only be survivors.
Their usual haunts and clothing reflected this, and more than anything, they were less like some bizarre phenomenon and more like a physical obstacle.
But the Scarecrow is a survivor too?
Yet there were many things that didn’t sit right with me about that explanation.
Most of all, unlike the undergraduates, the Scarecrow seemed to retain at least some degree of consciousness. It could even communicate, albeit awkwardly, and it had even shown me a way out of the warehouse.
While I was lost in thought, Bibi continued.
“They say that for people who receive a name from the Fortress, the world becomes slightly kinder. Conversely, it means that for the vast majority of drifters who don’t receive a name, merely existing in this place is dangerous.”
“You’re saying such a difference arises from just a single name?”
“It’s not just a name. The fact that you are Amelie means the Fortress has granted you permission to exist here as Amelie.”
“Permission…….”
“If you stay here too long without permission, both body and mind gradually deteriorate. The Rescue Team calls it a ‘snail.’ This world is, in a sense, ‘salt water.’ The density of existence here is too high for humans to inhabit.”
So human body and mind dissolve away. Like a snail drowning in salt water.
At the vivid metaphor, I found myself trembling.
“Kwon Tae-hyun never explained anything like that to me…….”
“Have you ever seen him properly explain anything?”
Bibi chuckled and continued.
“Survivors who’ve lost their original form wander about inside the Fortress. Usually they have no consciousness left, so they don’t even know what they’re doing. But right now, even the Organization can’t do anything about it. There simply aren’t enough people to spare attention on the hopeless remnants of those beings.”
“That…… makes sense.”
I suddenly felt grateful that I’d received the name Amelie.
After all, in my normal existence, I’d never enjoyed such privilege. If things had gone as they normally would, it would have been me losing consciousness and wandering.
But…… is it really right that I’m grateful?
Should I be grateful that someone else is suffering in my place?
“……Anyway, it would be better not to get close to that ‘Scarecrow.’ There’s nothing we can do for them.”
At Bibi’s words, I nodded, thinking how irrational the Fortress truly was.
* * *
[Gwangyuon University Tennis Court Usage Rules]
Warning.
Please, please do not have death matches here.
I understand that once you start, you want to keep going until death, and I do understand, but if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better not to start in the first place?
I clearly witnessed two survivors yesterday sneaking in and making a gentlemen’s agreement.
The winner gets the loser’s locker password, right? What kind of madness is this?
The sanitation team isn’t blocking entry for no reason. Even the Organization guys were trembling as they withdrew.
Please, consider the feelings of those who have to clean up. If there’s conflict, resolve it calmly through dialogue.
Lastly, K, you bastard, if you cover the court with memo notes even one more time, I’m shoving a tennis ball down your throat. Are you even human?
* * *
The ceiling was high and the court was silent.
Mallo and I were in the basement tennis court of Gwangyuon University.

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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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