Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 6

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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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After Gwon Tae-hyeon left, I climbed the stairs alone. I strained to listen, hoping for any sign of life, but nothing came—not even the ordinary sounds of the dormitory.
I was halfway up to the second floor.
Creak—
‘……?’
The second-floor corridor was dark, the streetlight blocked by trees, casting no glow inside.
Creak, creak.
‘…….’
I quickened my pace. Whatever it was, running into something at this hour would be a mistake. Fortunately, nothing happened by the time I reached the third floor.
Room 302 felt less like a university dormitory room and more like the interior of some abandoned clinic. Still, nothing about it was beyond the pale.
A single bed with a steel frame, a desk and chair, a wardrobe. Heavy blackout curtains hung over the window beyond the desk.
At least there was a small bathroom attached, enough to wash up.
‘Well, I made it through one more day alive.’
Perhaps the tension had drained from me, because the moment I sat on the edge of the bed, exhaustion hit like a wave—the world tilted slightly.
I surrendered to temptation and rested my head on the pillow; my eyelids grew impossibly heavy.
‘The rules…… I should read them…….’
But I couldn’t muster the focus to read anything carefully.
I’d lived through too much in a single day. And tomorrow, I’d have to accomplish far more.
Play Amelie, scout for escape routes, and—if all else failed—track down the missing person that the loan sharks had hired me to find.
Either way, my parents’ debt was waiting for me in the real world.
The weight of reality, which I’d managed to forget for a moment, pressed down on me again. Yes, that was my life. A university student—what a cruel, too-fortunate joke.
And then I fell asleep almost like I’d lost consciousness.
* * *
A cold sensation pulled my eyes open.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
Bang—harsh light flooded in, and I squinted against it.
Mallo, wearing a surgical mask, stood at the bedside looking down at me upside-down.
“……Professor?”
“You can’t fall asleep during lecture.”
And then I saw what he held in his right hand.
A scalpel.
“Wait, what are you—”
He didn’t let me finish. His grip tightened on my right arm with a snap. The latex glove felt foreign against my skin.
“Student, you’re left-handed, aren’t you?”
“Uh…… Mm…….”
My lips wouldn’t move. Watching my silent struggle, Mallo pulled the sterile mask down below his chin. He was smiling. Between his red lips, pointed canines gleamed.
“Today, let’s observe the muscles moving directly.”
No, I tried to scream, but my throat locked—no sound would come.
No, no, no!
The moment the sharp, cold blade touched the inside of my elbow,
“No!!”
I woke up on the bed.
“Ha……, what was…….”
My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
I breathed hard and looked around. It was the dormitory room where I’d fallen asleep last night. I’d apparently left the light on.
‘What a violent dream…….’
The instant that thought crossed my mind—Bang bang bang—something, or someone, knocked on the wooden door with relentless force. I held my breath instinctively.
I quickly glanced sideways at the clock on the wall. Seven in the morning. Surely not a wake-up call. Who on earth would pound on a door like this at such an hour?
Bang,
Bang,
Bang!
I looked around. A place to hide…… nothing. A weapon…… nothing. But I had one thing I could rely on.
I had been cast in the role of Amelie by Seongchae, and this room—Room 302 in the Female Dormitory—was the sanctioned space for Amelie.
As long as I didn’t break the rules, I couldn’t be replaced. In other words, this room was a relatively safe zone.
After a moment’s hesitation, I got out of bed and moved toward the door. The space beyond was quiet. I pressed my ear carefully against the wooden door.
Was that sound my own hair rustling, or breathing?
Or maybe…….
Bang!
“Eep.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth. And in that instant, someone beyond the door laughed softly. A man’s laugh—a young man’s.
Then the sound of footsteps. Tap, tap, moving down the hallway toward the stairs.
“…….”
I need to open the door, don’t I?
There’s no other option. I can’t stay in this room forever, and there’s no security desk to call.
I opened the door carefully. After confirming the corridor was empty, I checked behind the door.
At exactly my eye level, a yellow memo was taped to the frame.
“……?”
I removed it cautiously.
E2A4N700#**
‘Is it a code……?’
I examined both sides, but that was all there was. I shoved it into my pocket and closed the door.
And then I realized something far more urgent.
Rumble.
I hadn’t eaten in nearly thirty hours. My stomach had shrunk during my time with the loan sharks, but still—I wouldn’t be able to think clearly or remember anything while this hungry.
I decided to search the room first. I doubted there’d be food, but there might be something useful for survival.
The first thing that caught my eye was the dormitory rules posted on the wall. I scanned them quickly, picking out the awkward handwriting.
And the moment I read item three, my skin crawled.
<Gwangyun University Student Dormitory Living Rules>
1. Please observe dormitory entry times.
The entire dormitory has lights out after 10 p.m. Please refrain from entry between midnight and 6 a.m.
└Think of lights out as starting at 9 p.m. That’s when the dormitory manager gets strict.
If you can’t give a proper explanation for coming home late, she won’t give you the key. Nobody wants to get locked out before dawn.
2. Outside visitors are not permitted inside the dormitory.
Only when there is legitimate reason may they accompany you to the first-floor lobby. Please first explain the situation to the dormitory manager and obtain permission.
3. After lights out, loud noise or disturbances are strictly prohibited.
The dormitory is a shared living space. Please be considerate of other residents.
└That includes everyday living sounds. From 9 p.m. onward, be silent as the grave. No showers. Don’t flush the toilet.
And no matter what, don’t look up at the bathroom ceiling.
Because if you see what’s up there, you won’t be able to help screaming.
The handwritten notes beneath the rules clearly belonged to my predecessor—the previous Amelie.
I’d entered this room around 8:50 p.m. yesterday. If I’d been just a little later, I would’ve missed the lights-out time and tried to shower.
My gaze drifted toward the bathroom.
“…….”
Don’t think about it.
Whatever’s in there—as long as I don’t look at the ceiling, it doesn’t matter. I can pretend there’s just a giant cockroach stuck up there. Like at the academy dormitory bathhouse.
I sat down at the desk. One by one, I pulled open the small metal drawers.
The first drawer was ordinary. A stapler, office scissors, writing utensils.
The second drawer was more colorful. A pink compact mirror, a bundle of glitter stickers, a translucent hair tie.
Whoever this was, the same person who’d stuck a cat on their phone.
The third drawer was filled with mystery medicines.
Potion bottles were nearly empty; there were a few containing thick red liquid. The pill containers had small instruction sheets attached, which I decided to read later.
In the fourth and final drawer were notebooks bound with twine. The knot was so tight I couldn’t untie it by hand.
I cut the cord with the office scissors and spread the notebooks across the desk one by one.
Among the ordinary student notebooks, one diary stood out—unmistakably ancient.
I opened the first page.
The handwriting was neat and precise.
「One thing is certain: I was not the first Amelie.
I was definitely not the second or the third either.
If you’re reading this, it means you’re the new Amelie.
Since only one Amelie can exist within Seongchae at any given time, it means I either escaped or ‘retired.’
I pray it was the former, but like everything else that happens in Seongchae, I had no choice in the matter.
Still, I decided to record in this diary the information I’ve uncovered, believing that at least some small change might come from it.
No one knows how much time has passed since then, so you shouldn’t trust everything written here completely.
Don’t try to read it in chronological order—gather the information you need, and if you discover corrections or additions, contribute what you can.
Because who knows when or where such help will be repaid.」

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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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