Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 50

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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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Things have spiraled far beyond my control. I can’t handle this alone anymore.
She said she’d come if I called. But before that…….
I gripped BB’s arm tightly.
“BB, listen to me carefully.”
“What?”
“You’re not a beetle.”
BB furrowed her brow.
“Are you seriously making jokes right now?”
“I’m not trying to!”
A sound from beyond the door made both BB and me turn our heads at once.
‘A child?’
“How was I supposed to know something like that was in a pocket!”
Why was there a child in a place like this?
“Wait……, hey!”
I broke free from BB and rushed to the door of Room 1202, pulling it open.
And inside was…….
* * *
S#4
Beyond lies absolute darkness.
The Darkness flows before the audience’s eyes.
Fade out.
Fade out impossible.
(Fatal Inconsistency.)
Scene Change Impossible.
Amelie:
Professor?
The voice is pulled into the void.
The sound of wind echoes.
Amelie:
(Looking around desperately) Mallo? Are you in here?
Jushija attempts to explain the situation calmly.
What remained in Room 1202 was nothing but the residue of a failed Ritual. It was a Ritual that couldn’t function without sustenance.
But among those who entered, one carried what it needed.
Mallo:
Ah, is that so?
Jushija offers his explanation.
Jushija explains desperately.
He’d only been trying to protect his precious Canaria. He’d never intended to use the child as a shield.
Mallo:
Ha, your vocabulary betrays you.
The Darkness creeps forward.
The Darkness flows with a slick, slick, slick sound.
Fade out.
Fade out impossible.
Nest Building trembles.
Canaria, freed from protection, regains consciousness and opens his eyes.
(World Mismatch.)
It can’t be.
Jushija:
(A tearing scream) It can’t be!
Shredded fragments of scenario scatter in all directions.
A young boy stands amidst the cascading narrative shards. That boy is Jushija. Fragile and helpless.
“It can’t be, it can’t be…….”
Jushija trembles with terror, shielding Canaria’s figure with his own body.
Slick, slick, flowing like a serpent, the Darkness speaks.
What do they call it? “Chekhov’s Law”?
“Please, don’t…….”
Jushija shakes his head desperately, staring at the encroaching Darkness.
“Don’t! It was all my fault! Canaria has done nothing wrong……!”
The Darkness laughs with a metallic shriek.
You said it yourself. “Canaria cannot leave until death.” And as my student said, in a film, every line of dialogue becomes foreshadowing.
“Jushija……?”
Canaria, having just regained consciousness, opens his eyes wide and looks around.
“……What’s happening?”
Jushija falls to his knees before the Darkness. Knowing it’s futile, he begs for mercy anyway.
That was when it happened.
“Amelie!”
BB shouts and rushes into Room 1202. She takes in the scene with a stunned expression.
Canaria, Amelie, and the young-faced Jushija.
The witness and the boy are far from the exit. The boy is already half-consumed by the Darkness.
BB cannot fathom what the Darkness truly is. But Nest Building is already being devoured, and the personnel available for rescue are limited.
BB, a trained operative, assesses the situation in an instant.
Following protocol, BB decides to save the one person with the highest probability of rescue.
She decides to save Amelie.
Crash!
The window shatters in a single blow.
BB threads the Rope attached to her Harness around Amelie’s waist.
“What? BB, wait a second…….”
“Hold on tight. I’m going to pull you down.”
“Hold on, just a moment. I think I know who that is. I can somehow…….”
Amelie points at the Darkness and speaks, but BB shakes her head firmly.
“It’s too late. You think I haven’t seen something like this before?”
“That’s not—! Professor!”
As BB pulls Amelie toward her, the Darkness laughs.
“A scrap of flesh…….”
A whistling wind rises. The building was collapsing.
“We need to get out! It’s already too late!”
BB shouts.
Amelie clenches her fist hard. She shouts toward the Darkness.
“You said you’d come safely and harmlessly! What is this!”
It’s already too late. The floor gives way, steel beams groaning with a cracking sound.
But Amelie refuses to back down.
“BB! Cut it!”
“Are you insane? The building might really collapse!”
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you to cut it! This way we’ll both lose our balance!”
Amelie yanks the Rope off over her head. She runs, dodging the collapsing pillars.
And when the sudden rush of brilliant light makes her close and open her eyes…….
Amelie is in the Movie Theater.
* * *
‘What……?’
I stare blankly at my surroundings.
[I’m sorry, Canaria.]
The child on the screen sniffles, wiping away tears.
[I was so lonely, Canaria. So very lonely. But when you came to me, I was so happy. I was so happy I couldn’t control myself.]
“Ah.”
I realize. That child was Jushija. Though, thinking about it, there’s no way there’d be a real child in a place like this.
“Trite, isn’t it?”
When I turn my head, Mallo is sitting in the audience section, looking at me.
“……Where is this? Where’s BB?”
“Well……, what do you think happened to BB, left alone in a collapsing building?”
“No way.”
Mallo laughs watching my expression harden.
“Just kidding. Your friend is safe. More importantly, are you going to keep standing like that?”
“…….”
I have no choice but to go sit beside him.
“What did the Professor say back in the Elevator?”
Mallo asks, his arm resting on the back of my seat.
“……?”
“He said not to look directly, didn’t he?”
“Oh, that was…….”
Now I remember. I’d stared straight at the camera several times while taunting Jushija.
Nothing happened, contrary to Mallo’s warning, so I’d felt reassured at the time.
“You’ve just drawn a lot of attention to yourself.”
“Attention……?”
I’m bewildered, but it hardly seems like the moment to dwell on such details.
“What about you, Professor?”
“Hm?”
“You were trying to destroy the building, weren’t you? How is this safe and harmless?”
Mallo seems embarrassed as he asks.
“Were you very frightened?”
“Of course I was!”
The world suddenly became a screenplay, the building was about to collapse, and my heart was still pounding, my hands still trembling.
Looking at me like that, Mallo suddenly extends his hand.
“……?”
Before I can think, I reach out in return, and long fingers slip between my fingers in an instant, interlacing.
“What…….”
A large, cool hand grips mine firmly. And then, as if by magic, the trembling stops.
“Better?”
Mallo smiles brightly, and I’m at a loss for words.
As I fidget with my fingers, Mallo releases me. Then, as if nothing happened, he turns his gaze back to the screen.
‘……Now that I think about it, what exactly was that back there?’
What was in Room 1202—Jushija called it the “Darkness,” but to my eyes……it looked more like a snake. A truly massive serpent.
Could that have been Mallo’s true form?
[I……may have misunderstood. Perhaps I thought you might have secretly called someone in and prepared the Ritual…….]
As the child’s line ends, the camera shifts to Canaria—to the long-missing musical actress Lee Ha-yeong.
She looks at the child in surprise for a moment, then kneels down to meet him at eye level.
[How could I possibly do such a thing? I don’t even understand what this Ritual means.]
[But…….]
[Why would you think I’d secretly scheme something behind Jushija’s back in the first place?]
The child speaks with tears in his voice.
[But……, you were always frustrated. You wanted to get away from me…….]
[People naturally feel frustrated when they’re cooped up inside all day.]
[That’s why I opened the balcony door for you!]
[The balcony isn’t outside.]
What kind of conversation is this anyway?
Still, I begin to understand dimly. That young child is none other than Jushija, the owner of Nest Building.
When what was inside Room 1202 tried to come out, Jushija pushed my back to protect Canaria.
Not even knowing who I’d come with.
So the way Mallo revealed himself like that, threatening to kill Canaria to intimidate Jushija, was probably…….

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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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