Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 68

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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 finally opened my mouth.
“It’s just that you always do everything for me, Professor. You’re always giving me help…”
—Why is that a problem?
“If it keeps happening, I’ll start to think help is natural. Then I’ll keep depending on you. And then…”
—Then.
“Then I’ll become weak!”
There was nothing left to say, and silence filled the darkening night.
Right, you wouldn’t understand. How could you? Your situation is completely different from mine.
—Lee Yuri.
“I’m sorry. I’m tired—my words came out harsher than I meant. Let me rest for a bit.”
Snap. I closed the flip phone and hung up, tossing it aside.
‘What does she even mean by that.’
There’s no such thing as kindness without a price in this world. No matter what anyone says, eventually a bill will come due.
And I won’t be able to pay it.
I stared at my smartphone for a long time, but fortunately the call didn’t ring again.
What a relief.
“Relief…”
……
I buried my face in the pillow. What relief is that—I should have kept her at a distance, kept her close just enough. Not pushed her away entirely. What was I thinking.
I’d been getting benefits from Momo this whole time, so why was I deliberately raising the difficulty on myself.
I shook off the feeling of sinking without end, straightened my spine, and sat up.
‘…I shouldn’t just sit here. Let me try to organize my thoughts.’
If I wrote down what happened in my diary like the other Amelies, maybe my head and heart would settle down a bit.
I was sitting at the desk and opening the drawer when—
Roll.
“…”
I picked up the candy that tumbled out and set it on my palm. The white round sweet inside its pink wrapper looked exactly like a toy from a child’s pretend play.
Just as I was about to unwrap it,
—Screeeeeech!
‘What, what is this?!’
I bolted out into the corridor.
—Screech, screech.
The building was crying out. The walls and floor vibrated so finely that I could see it with my own eyes.
‘Momo said she was on the closing shift today…’
—Screeeech.
Which meant I was the only one who could see what was happening right now.
—Screech.
The dark corridor, the air heavier than usual, and in the middle of it—a long black shape hanging and slowly swaying side to side.
—Screech.
The sound that resembled a scream was the creak of rope caught around the ceiling pipe.
—Screech.
‘What on earth is this.’
Looking up at the hanging corpse, I thought.
For something to haunt my surroundings this persistently, there had to be a reason.
If there was a way to communicate properly…
‘Wait. Communicate?’
The thought struck me suddenly, and I immediately closed my eyes and opened the index in my mind.
Unfortunately, I’d only managed to read one of the two books I’d borrowed from the library.
[Thump-thump! 100% Love Spirit Channeling for Girls! Let’s Have a Spooky Heart-to-Heart Talk with the Dead!]
Was this the right one? Was this the book I should have chosen from the two I’d checked out in such a hurry?
Now I could only trust to luck.
I closed my eyes. Trying to ignore the vibration beneath my feet and the noise tearing at my ears, I recalled the steps of the Spirit Channeling for girls.
[How to Commune with the Dead in a Dark Corridor♡ A night when the atmosphere is unstable and the moon doesn’t rise is best, don’t you think?♪]
Perfect timing.
I followed the book’s instructions, spread both arms wide, and took a deep breath.
[All together now, breathe out… and in…! Can you see my shadow cast at my feet in the dim light? Is there enough space that my arms don’t touch anything even when I spread them wide?]
Check♪
[Don’t be afraid—close your eyes. And imagine that you yourself are floating in a space of dark nothingness!]
[Cross your hands over your chest and raise them up, and breathe in the emptiness through your nose!]
Breathe in what, exactly?
[Slowly, slowly, a euphoria like a cluster of stars fills your whole body! Are you ready?]
R-roughly ready?
[Then all together now, take a deep breath…!]
Ahhhh.
[Hold it!]
It might have been my imagination, but my body truly did feel like it was floating up.
I mustn’t panic now. Stay calm, hold the breath, move backward slowly.
[Carefully, don’t fall! One!]
Step.
[Two!]
Step.
[Three!]
Step.
[Four!]
Crunch.
“…”
Crunch, crunch.
[Has the air around you changed? Does the ground beneath your feet feel unfamiliar? Slowly, very slowly so as not to startle anyone, breathe out and breathe in.]
‘The smell of rain.’
……Rain was falling. Fine rain was falling in the dark corridor.
Then what was that brushing against my feet just now…?
I glanced down and went completely still.
What had been crunching beneath my feet wasn’t carpet. It was black, long, writhing like a snake around my ankles.
Hair.
* * *
「Listen, Amelies.
Um…
You know?
Do you remember Freya from the end room on the 2nd floor?
I’ve told you about her so many times—what a kind and gentle girl she is.
But she…
She died yesterday.
In the middle of the 2nd floor corridor. She probably made a hole in the ceiling and connected a rope to the water pipe.
I heard a thud from downstairs yesterday evening—that must have been it.
But here’s the thing.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone die, you know?
But… nobody will take down her body.
It’s been thirty hours already, and she’s still hanging in the middle of the corridor.
It just feels like she’s gotten… longer somehow.
…
You see, I don’t know what to do, so… I even went down to the Administration Office. But they said… to just leave it. That there’s nothing I can do about it.
But then what about that? What do I do about that?
The more I look, the longer it seems to get. It keeps swaying side to side. Even when I try to pretend I don’t notice… I can’t.
There’s always… sound.
Right now too—screech, screech, screech, screech, screech, screech.
Is that really… is that really dead?」
* * *
Maybe I should go back to my room now.
I’d come out ready to escape at any moment, so I’d left both my smartphone and stun gun back in my room.
But if this was a form of communication?
[※Warning: Once you begin, you cannot stop. Never lower your hand until you receive a response.]
Maybe something was actually coming together. Even as I hesitated, the drizzle continued to fall, gradually soaking my shoulders.
[Now, call out the name of the one you wish to speak with♡ Very softly, like a whisper, as if calling a name most dear to you!]
I looked at the long black shape visible at the end of the corridor and moved my lips.
So its name was…
“Freya…?”
[Now extend your right hand and wait for a response…♪]
Patter, patter. Raindrops fell onto my open palm.
—Screech.
The scarecrow finally lowered its arm and looked at me.
—Screech.
As if gliding across water, it moved toward me.
The rain fell ceaselessly, and whether from the cold or something else, my body began to tremble.
—Screech.
Before I knew it, it was upon me, extending long, segmented fingers. When yellow nails touched the center of my palm, I genuinely wanted to turn my head away.
But I held my eyes wide open and waited. Let it say what it needed to say.
And slowly, slowly, the letters it traced across my palm were these:
「It’s dangerous」
“…What?”
I’m going to die.
“Wait, what did you…?”
I’m going to die.
The rain began to pour.
I wiped my face with trembling hands. Tears were flowing. Without cease.
“Huh? Why are you…”
Slither, slither. The hair wound around my ankles moved like a snake. It had already crept up to my shins and began to pull me down toward the floor.
〈I’m going to die.〉
Was this a foolish choice?
[※Warning: The emotions of the dead can transfer to you. The stronger the emotion, the higher the probability of possession.]
The rain continued. The soaked hair clinging to my bare skin felt unspeakably horrible.
‘It’s so heavy…’
I struggled to break free, but it wound tighter around my limbs, pulling me down.
I can’t anymore. I don’t want to hold on anymore. Thoughts I couldn’t recognize as my own poured into my mind.

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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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