Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 56

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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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Click—I startled and snapped my mobile phone shut.
Whirrrr, cherry, cherry, cherry. A few coins tumbled from the machine with a metallic clatter.
When I turned to see who was behind me, my eyes widened involuntarily.
“……BB?”
“Were you waiting long?”
BB looked nothing like their usual self. Instead of their customary rough work clothes, they wore an elegant black suit—and to my surprise, it suited them remarkably well.
“Wow, what’s with you? That looks incredible on you. Wait, are you secretly some tycoon’s heir or something?”
“They asked me to dress like an ordinary casino patron.”
BB cleared their throat awkwardly. For a moment, their gaze lingered on my exposed back.
“And what exactly are you wearing?”
“You don’t recognize a Backless Dress?”
I knew it didn’t suit me particularly well, but there was nothing I could do about it—it was the only remotely formal piece I owned.
“Were you expecting a call from someone?”
BB asked, noticing how tightly I was gripping my mobile phone.
I realized it must have looked like I’d been hastily hiding it.
I shook my head and tucked the phone into my clutch. Either way, finding the Broker was the priority.
“No matter how good an introduction is, you need to win chips on the floor to start your first transaction. You can only exchange them for VIP Area tokens if your floor winnings exceed ten million won.”
And Momo’s Broker was in the VIP Area.
“The conditions are pretty strict.”
BB murmured with arms crossed. When I stared at them, they furrowed their brow slightly and asked.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just thinking how consistent you are.”
After we parted ways at the Nest Building, things had been awkward between BB and me for a while. Then two days ago, BB came to find me in front of the dormitory and apologized.
〈That day, I had no shame. I’m sorry.〉
Whether you’d call it blunt or understated.
In any case, they also needed to investigate the incident in Room 1202, so we agreed to meet at the casino.
It ended up being something I kept secret from Mallo, but that couldn’t be helped.
He’d said he disliked operatives, and honestly, I didn’t have the confidence to face him directly.
〈So something like this……. I should only do it with the professor, right?〉
Recalling that whispered smile made my back stiffen inexplicably.
BB noticed my reaction and gave me a puzzled look.
“Your face is red.”
“……It’s just hot. Anyway, the conditions aren’t that strict. Running a business in the heart of a Fortress isn’t easy. To avoid entanglement with Anomalies while evading The Agency’s surveillance, they have no choice but to be selective about their clientele.”
“Still, demanding that much money from floor wins alone……. Are you confident?”
“That’s the problem. I’ve studied the basic rules, but gambling is ultimately a matter of luck.”
And I had never been particularly lucky.
“Can’t be helped then.”
“……?”
“You just watch.”
BB tilted their head toward the Roulette table.
“I’m lucky.”
* * *
A short while later.
“We’re going to need a strategy.”
Sitting beside BB at a bar on one side of the casino, I spoke as we watched the passing crowds.
BB’s claim about being lucky was no lie.
Whether it was pure luck or something else, we’d accumulated a considerable amount of chips from the Roulette, Slot Machine, and Dice Game.
But this way, there was a limit to how much we could increase our winnings.
To win a large sum at once, we had to join in on bigger games that involved other players.
‘But will it be okay?’
Looking at the gamblers crowded around the tables, I wondered.
I couldn’t tell whether they were human or Anomaly, but either way, they didn’t look like easy opponents.
“By the way……, your professor?”
“What?”
I lifted my head at the sudden question, and BB cleared their throat awkwardly.
“Didn’t you ask for his help this time?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, well. Things got complicated last time……. Plus, you can’t be conspicuous here. If I accidentally ended up casting Mass Hypnosis on all the customers, we’d be in trouble.”
Beyond that, I’d learned something from my conversations with Momo and Russell.
No matter how friendly Mallo acts, he is fundamentally a different kind of being than me.
If I let my guard down even slightly, I’ll be helplessly manipulated by him.
And the bigger problem was that when I’m with Mallo, I completely let my defenses down.
Apart from my heart lurching at his words and actions, when I’m with Mallo, I feel far too……safe.
‘Yes, let’s say Mallo favors me right now.’
But throughout my life, I’ve never experienced unconditional affection.
Especially not from a Superior Being. Such affection can be withdrawn on a whim.
If that happens, I’ll end up exactly like Russell. The only difference is that I’m weaker and have less experience.
“Maybe it’s already too late.”
“What do you mean?”
BB spoke quietly in response to my question.
“That’s what makes Superior Beings terrifying. If they will it, we can be controlled without even realizing something’s wrong.”
I couldn’t help but nod. Just recently at the Nest Building, the same thing had happened to BB.
After taking a sip of cold water, BB continued quietly.
“Ten years ago, an operative within The Agency scooped out their own brain with an ice cream scoop. They did it to prove their love to an Anomaly they believed was their lover.”
I’d heard a similar story from Momo before. But it wasn’t just a rumor?
An operative from The Agency did something so insane, just to prove their affection?
“That’s……, no, that doesn’t make sense.”
“From a human perspective, it’s incomprehensible. In other words, by that point, they were no longer human.”
“…….”
BB sighed.
“I’m not saying you’ll end up like that. I genuinely hope you never do. But what I’m telling you is that human autonomy and self-control mean nothing before Superior Beings.”
I swallowed dryly and quietly.
Hearing it like this, I felt I was beginning to understand the nature of the vague dread I’d been feeling.
Of course, I don’t think I’m losing my mind right now.
But if BB is right, then my current sanity exists solely because Mallo is being kind to me.
If that isn’t control, what is?
BB got up from their seat, watching me anxiously gulp down more carbonated water.
“Let’s go. Worrying about this won’t change anything.”
“Go where?”
BB nodded toward the Blackjack table.
“Cards are momentum.”
“What a funny thing to brag about.”
I laughed as I spoke.
But I’d soon discover that it wasn’t mere bravado.
* * *
“Stand.”
BB spoke without even glancing at their cards.
The games progressed rapidly. From outside the table, I watched the gamblers with growing anxiety.
Though they all looked out of their minds, I couldn’t tell which of them were human and which were monsters.
〈It looks like a real casino on the surface, but the actual purpose is different. The house doesn’t care how much we win.〉
Just as BB had tipped me off earlier, the dealer showed no interest in how many chips the customers had.
Usually in Blackjack, the customer plays against the dealer, but here everyone bet on their own victory.
〈Doesn’t that make it more dangerous? Eventually, one person takes all the pot. Will the other gamblers really just sit still?〉
When I raised the concern, BB said the gamblers here had one fatal weakness.
It was that everyone here was trying hard to appear ‘human.’
〈And as we all know, humans are bound to make mistakes.〉
“H-hit.”
The gaunt man sitting to BB’s left drew a card. His fingernails were so bitten that the cuticles hung in tatters.
The dealer silently slid him a card.
“Bust.”
With the dealer’s announcement, the man’s chips were collected. BB had won again.
“Y-you, you’re lying. N-no one can be that lucky.”
BB replied without even looking up at the man’s words.
“That’s just your opinion.”
The dealer shuffled and dealt again.
In the end, the rules of gambling are the same. Not the lucky person wins—the cold one does.
And those too absorbed in appearing human can never be cold enough at the table.
Clink, clink—BB pushed in their chips.
“Stand.”
BB took no more cards. And their total was……21. A perfect hand.
“G-guard!”
The man bolted up from his seat and pointed at BB.
“G-grab him! It’s c-cheating! You’re cheating, right now!”
BB looked up and smirked.
“Cheating? How exactly am I cheating?”
“Y-you, you’re h-human! There’s no way a human could be this lucky!”
“‘There’s no way a human could be this lucky’? Sir, your speech sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it?”
I quickly cut in with my remark.

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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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