Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 66

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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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「Amelie and friends,⸜( ^ ᵕ ^ )⸝♡
Haha, writing like this in letter form is actually pretty fun. Writing a diary alone doesn’t feel quite as lonely, does it?!( ⁎ᵕᴗᵕ⁎ )
But this summer break…… is really tough!!
I never thought I’d end up saying this, but having nothing to do in the Fortress is scarier than I imagined(´Д` ;;)
If I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve found a part-time job beforehand, but I’d been hoarding food like a squirrel, so I’d gotten completely careless about itヽ(°〇°)ﾉ
Even Freya, who lives in the 2nd Floor End Room, seems pretty down! She was already so thin, and now she’s lost even more weightㅠㅠ
She says the food feels like sand grains and she can’t chew and swallow it. She’s hungry, but she simply can’t eat.
I…… have never felt my heart weighed down like that, so I don’t even know how I could help her…….
Um……, I’ll stop talking about depressing things here!(　°-°)
Anyway, fighting for us Amelies!♥♡♥
P.S Be careful of the guy who goes by the name ‘Kay’! He seems kind of crazy!
If my records cut off after today, there’s a high chance it was because of that bastard. Of course, I won’t just take it lying down either!ㅋㅋ」
* * *
Nest Building, Room 1201.
“So, what was the message about?”
“This.”
I set a practical book on the coffee table, and Lee Ha-young’s eyes widened.
“At first I thought it was a cipher, but looking at it again, it seemed like a Serial Number the library uses.”
The librarian at the Central Library had soon told me that there was a separate Repository where the collection was kept.
〈Would you convey my regards to those of high standing?〉
Though they did attach such words.
In any case, there really were books in the Repository. Though the variety was too small to call it a proper library, they were still real paper books.
“So, what was the Serial Number for?”
I rummaged through the crossbody bag I’d brought.
“To be precise, it was for ‘books’—plural.”
「Personality Transfer: Focusing on Clinical Cases」
And…….
「Throb Throb! 100% Love Possession Technique for Girls!」
Lee Ha-young tilted her head.
“The titles are rather…… bewildering. Were both books shelved under the same Serial Number?”
“Apparently all of these came from the real world. They’ve been pouring in randomly from here and there, so the Serial Numbers are bound to overlap.”
Whether the scarecrow—or rather, whoever sent that mysterious message—meant one or the other, I didn’t know. I should make time to read both of them.
Lee Ha-young, who had been lost in thought for a moment, asked a question.
“Do you think that ‘scarecrow’ has any connection to what was in Room 1202?”
“Well…… I’m not sure.”
Suppose what was in Room 1202 sent me some kind of message. The timing was suspicious, but that didn’t guarantee it was the scarecrow’s message.
Besides, the sinister malice I’d felt in Room 1202 didn’t emanate from the scarecrow at all.
“We’ll know when the time comes.”
I bit into the Smoked Salmon Bagel Lee Ha-young had offered me.
This morning I’d gone on a run with Bibi and stopped by the Central Library before taking the bus to Nest Building, yet it still wasn’t past lunch time.
“Oh, but there don’t seem to be any lectures today? University students should be busy at this time of year.”
At Lee Ha-young’s question, I flinched.
Today was Thursday—normally the day I’d have a lecture with Marlo. But ever since our meeting at the Casino, the lectures had been suspended.
Marlo hadn’t shown his face at Goldilocks even once after that visit, and he wasn’t answering calls either.
‘And here he said he had so much he wanted to teach me.’
I was muttering about it to myself when I looked up and found Lee Ha-young watching me with an intrigued expression.
“Ah…… did I do something wrong?”
“Ah, was I staring too hard?”
Lee Ha-young laughed.
“It’s actually the first time a young woman has shown so little interest in me, so I found it curious.”
I quickly shook my head.
“No, no. I was just lost in thought for a moment. I apologize.”
Lee Ha-young nodded gracefully.
Now that I thought about it, she’d said she’d suddenly been confined to this place during her prime years as an actress.
Yet the fact that she could live so peacefully despite that struck me as remarkable.
“Um, could I hear more about what you asked me last time? About eight years ago.”
When I’d come to investigate the distress signal from Room 1202, Lee Ha-young had said that the circumstances of her arrival at the Fortress were classified by The Agency.
So this time I’d come to Nest Building alone, without Bibi. What happened to Lee Ha-young was no longer entirely someone else’s concern.
Lee Ha-young seemed to think for a moment before she spoke.
“I don’t know what the media reported…… but the truth is, I bear some responsibility for how things turned out. So back then, I…… ”
Lee Ha-young paused and glanced toward the ceiling. There was no sign of Jusija today.
It seemed unlikely that Jusija would truly leave Lee Ha-young alone, but either way, they’d absented themselves.
Lee Ha-young continued.
“Outside the world, I was being stalked quite seriously.”
It was the first I’d heard of it. At the time, all sorts of rumors and false news had circulated about Lee Ha-young, but stalking?
“I won’t go into the detailed damages, but it was quite severe. Rumors everywhere, scandals, and because of them I drifted away from the people around me, and I even started taking psychiatric medication.”
“That must have been…… very hard on you.”
My clumsy attempt at comfort drew a bitter smile from Lee Ha-young.
“Back then, it was. I even thought it was as if God himself held ill will toward me and was tormenting me. Professionally I was in my prime, but inside, I was completely rotten. And so…….”
And then she fell silent for quite a long time. Seeing her like that, I had the sense that she was ashamed of something.
“Who in the Fortress has no story to tell? I came here fleeing from loan sharks myself, after all.”
There was a nuance difference, but it wasn’t quite a lie.
Fortunately, Lee Ha-young smiled gently.
“You’re right. And there’s no point in hiding it now. To make a long story short…… I voluntarily converted to a Pseudo-Religious Cult that was expanding back then.”
What?
‘A pseudo-religious cult……?’
Surely not. There were no shortage of cults in Korea.
Lee Ha-young continued.
“Looking back now, there were many strange things about it. Both the doctrine and the rules didn’t make much sense. But that alone isn’t why I ended up here.”
True—if The Agency had provided a safe house and was protecting a witness, it must have been no ordinary case.
Lee Ha-young made a gesture for me to wait, then brought back a sheaf of documents from her study.
A photograph was wedged among the miscellaneous materials.
‘A mugshot……?’
The printed Wanted Criminal flyer had been photocopied so many times that the photograph had become blurry.
The man in the photo looked to be in his thirties—and for a criminal, he had quite a dignified and handsome face.
He had a narrow face with deep-set eyes, and a slightly twisted smile played at the corners of his mouth. A distinctive feature was a scar about two centimeters long, running vertically along his right upper lip.
Lee Ha-young spoke.
“He was the close friend with whom I’d had contact in that cult. We were about the same age, and he was quite a smooth talker, so we became close quickly.”
“Was he the perpetrator of ‘that incident’?”
“Yes. Looking back now, it seems he approached me deliberately. But back then, I didn’t even have the mental space to harbor such suspicions.”
Lee Ha-young laughed self-mockingly. I sat quietly, waiting for her to continue.
“One day he took me to a rather suspicious place. He said he wanted me to meet someone. My memory of this part is a bit hazy, but when I came to my senses, I found myself in some kind of Research Institute.”

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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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