Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 45

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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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I’d only planned to take a casual look around the School, but I never expected to find such a vast arena beneath it.
Though the warning posted on the door had certainly dampened any desire to venture inside.
According to the guidelines distributed by the agency, if two or more people entered this arena together or at staggered intervals, there was approximately an 85 percent probability of inducing a Neurological Abnormality.
It would persist for as long as the awakened state lasted, with aggression and competitive urges spiraling wildly out of control.
The match wouldn’t stop until one of them died or lost their physical form entirely, ceasing to be recognized as an “opponent.”
Of course, none of that applied to me. Mallo wasn’t human, after all.
Thump. Mallo bounced the tennis ball lightly against the floor.
“So you want the three of you—you and your friends—to go investigate that place together?”
Thump. I nodded in response.
“According to Bibi, it shouldn’t be particularly difficult. Rescue requests keep coming in, but there aren’t enough hands available right now, so she’s feeling the pressure.”
Ping. Mallo rolled his eyes.
“So you’re offering your hand to help?”
“Kwon Tae-hyun’s return has been delayed, and the Rescue Team seems to be facing some friction lately.”
Mallo squeezed the tennis ball firmly in his palm. He’d mentioned that was how he checked pressure.
“But you’re comfortable telling me this? I’m not particularly fond of you operatives.”
“You’ve never said anything like that before.”
Had Mallo ever directly expressed dislike for anything before now?
“They’re bothersome. Always sticking their noses into every corner…….”
Ping.
“Like insects.”
He tossed a light serve; the ball arced high through the air, clipped the inside edge of the boundary line, and bounced back out.
Mallo laughed at me standing there, dumbfounded.
“Why didn’t you return it?”
“I couldn’t. To be honest, I still don’t understand the rules of the game.”
“I could sum it up and cram it into your head.”
“No thanks. Even if I understand it in theory, my body won’t be able to keep up. Besides, Kwon Tae-hyun would be hurt if he heard that—especially after you accepted his Offering.”
“An Offering?”
“The Skateboard. He seemed very pleased with it, didn’t he?”
“Ah.”
Mallo seemed to be thinking about something, then spoke.
“Offerings are always food.”
I picked up the ball that had rolled to my feet.
“……Food?”
“It always has to be something edible.”
“I see…….”
“Anyway, going out with you isn’t difficult. But are you sure about this? You saw what happened before. Even without malice on my part, accidents can still occur.”
“Accidents? ……Ah.”
I realized immediately that he was referring to Russell. To the incident where Russell fell into a Trance State and suffered burns on his hands.
According to Momo, that kind of abnormal behavior typically occurred when one encountered faculty members in an unguarded state.
She’d also told me that she wore a Gas Mask obtained from the Black Market to protect against the Perception Distortion caused by faculty members.
‘Bibi doesn’t have administrative privileges, and as an operative, using the Black Market is impossible for her…….’
So there was no guarantee that if Bibi encountered Mallo, she wouldn’t end up like Russell.
But there was one thing I couldn’t understand.
“What about me?”
…….
“I’m always with you, and I’ve never once lost consciousness or anything.”
Ever since I’d fallen into the Fortress and first met him, he’d never posed a threat to me.
More than that—threat or no threat—from the very beginning, he’d been…… how should I put it, gentle with me.
He made strange jokes and unfunny wisecracks, but in his own way, he was kind.
So why?
Mallo fell silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke again.
“Because I’m thinking of you.”
“……I’m sorry?”
I looked up in confusion, but there was no change in Mallo’s expression.
“I think of you, and I know you’re beside me, so I can prevent any harmful effects from reaching you. But for those outside my Perception…….”
“Then, then you could just think of Bibi too!”
I cried out in my confusion. Did I realize how that sounded?
“While you’re together…… you could just keep Bibi in your awareness. It can’t be that difficult……, can it?”
Mallo pulled the Racket strings irritably.
“I don’t know your friend. I don’t particularly want to. But I…… in short, I don’t tolerate information gaps, so any existence within my cognition can easily become distorted.”
“I don’t understand.”
“For example, you believe your friend Bibi is alive. That she walks on two legs, breathes, thinks, speaks, and acts.”
“Because that’s the truth…….”
“There is no Objective Fact, Lee Yuri.”
“……?”
“Say my eyes see Bibi as a giant beetle. Or as the corpse of a dog left on the roadside in summer. And the moment I think of her that way, it becomes the truth.”
There was no hint of laughter in Mallo’s face as he said this.
I realized immediately that he wasn’t joking or threatening—he was giving a genuine warning.
“Now you understand as well, but this is a Physically Unstable World. And humans whose Physical Form has been distorted easily lose their sense of self.”
I grasped the concept, more or less. I’d had a similar conversation with Bibi not long ago.
“Like a snail dissolving in salt water?”
Mallo laughed.
“That’s an interesting metaphor. Though I wouldn’t expect you to think of something like that.”
“Why? Because it’s too creative?”
“Because it’s too cruel.”
…….
“But it’s true. Your existence can dissolve easily at any moment, depending on perspective.”
“But what you’re saying is…….”
If you’re not perceived, it’s dangerous. If you’re poorly perceived, it’s even more dangerous. Yet I’m safe?
‘Why? What makes me special?’
I gripped the Racket handle firmly and looked directly at Mallo across the net. Then I asked.
“But……, you won’t do that, will you? Right?”
…….
“It might be annoying for you to keep Bibi existing as Bibi, but it wouldn’t be terribly difficult. And if I ask…… you’ll accept that inconvenience, won’t you?”
Because he’d never refused my requests until now.
After a moment of silence, Mallo smiled faintly.
“……That’s how it should be.”
At that brief answer, I felt my chest tighten inexplicably.
“Serve, Lee Yuri.”
I squeezed the tennis ball once, then served with all my strength.
Bang. The ball shot powerfully through the air and sailed far out of bounds.
Watching the ball disappear, Mallo whistled.
“Go easy. I won’t have any more of those tedious conversations.”
“……This one’s on you, though.”
After that, we exchanged serves several more times. Eventually, I grew accustomed to gripping the Racket and managed to return Mallo’s serves three or four times.
But my returns invariably either hit the net or flew out of bounds.
After our practice—or whatever it was—ended, as we left the Tennis Court together, Mallo handed me something.
It was a small Card Key with a cage-shaped key ring attached.
“The key to the Building your friend is looking for.”
Really? Just like that?
“So……, you’re coming with us?”
“Have I ever refused a request from you?”
As always, he answered a question with a question, and I accepted the Card Key.
“……Doesn’t it bother you?”
“What?”
“Helping me like this all the time. Doesn’t it bother you? I can’t repay you.”
“Would you prefer I start treating you worse?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
I wasn’t accustomed to kindness without expectation. Would my heart have been easier if he’d demanded an Offering or something in return?
Mallo laughed. As he bent to pick up scattered balls, he gently brushed my disheveled bangs aside with his fingertips and said.
“You just have to accept it.”
…….
If only that were possible.
Truly, I found myself thinking that way. I wanted to accept his kindness as naturally as breathing.
But I am not that person. So I will go on endlessly questioning his intentions.

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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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