Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 109

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 109

The landscape had transformed entirely.
It was an unfamiliar space I’d never visited before, yet something about it felt strangely familiar. An inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
“This place really does feel like the Other Side World.”
Maybe because I’d experienced it twice already?
The atmosphere, the sensation—all of it was familiar.
Yet unlike that place, this space didn’t seem hostile or enchanted with intent to harm. There was no oppression, no fear.
I stood motionless, blinking, when flames kindled in the empty air and flickered as if beckoning me forward.
“You want me to follow?”
As I walked after the flames, the room expanded in real time, growing larger with each step.
At last, I reached the chamber’s far end.
Thrummm—
An amorphous energy pooled in the void, humming as it called to me.
“This is…”
Ether?
This buzzing item of concentrated energy was the rare artifact that a minor villain had absconded with when the Magic Tower collapsed late in the novel.
They’d returned as a much bigger villain and given readers quite the shock.
Had this been a hidden item in the secret chamber all along?
“I never imagined I’d obtain something like this.”
The moment my hand touched the Ether, the silver energy recognized me, coalesced, and transformed into an object.
Ah, of course…
I’d become a Violin.
“I’ve heard it transforms into a tool befitting its owner, but…”
That’s why its owner changed frequently, making it the artifact with the most form variations. It had become a staff, a sword, a shield—even throwing blades, if I recalled correctly. Yet in my hands, this weapon transformed into a musical instrument.
The feeling was decidedly strange.
“This is odd. It’s as if I’ve been recognized as its owner.”
But why hasn’t an exit appeared? Why hasn’t the space changed?
Thrummm—
As doubt arose, the Ether—now a Violin—trembled as though offering an answer.
It seemed to be telling me to play it.
“Ridiculous. Just because it’s an instrument, I have to play it?”
Grumbling, my hand grasped the bow without hesitation.
Ever since I’d played in that nightmare, the Violin no longer felt difficult or taxing.
‘What should I play?’
The deliberation was brief.
The bow in my hand scraped the Violin strings lightly.
Dun dun-dun dun dun-dun dun dun!
The Super Mario theme.
A melody as famous as the game itself flowed from my fingertips.
An encore piece I’d once heard at a recital my mother had taken me to, given by one of her acquaintances. I’d been so moved I’d learned to play it myself.
Sometimes, things like this have their own charm.
As the brief performance ended, the space crumbled and vanished.
So far, so good.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the Magic Tower shook as if the building itself were convulsing.
An earthquake?
That couldn’t be right!
In that instant, I understood quickly.
If I stayed here, I was going to be in serious trouble.

* * *

In absolute darkness.
【……】
Wings of mist stretched out, engulfing something immense and coiled like a beast, consuming it whole.
Crunch-crunch-crunch.
A sound so vicious that ordinary people would stop breathing merely upon hearing it echoed through the void. Yet the man who savored it as if listening to a symphony opened his eyes.
His eyes—vertical-slit, golden pupils like those of a reptile—were serene.
—……
[……]
Countless eyes and ears from beyond brought him new information.
In the darkness, his weary gaze suddenly gleamed with interest.
“Ha. How absurd.”
I’m at a loss for words, yet I find myself laughing quietly.
“My little lady has gone and caused trouble again in this brief window.”
Whether lacking self-awareness, restraint, or simply prone to leaving a trail wherever she went, I couldn’t say.
“Perhaps I should retrieve her.”
Cheiyen’s finger twitched as he regarded the lump not yet fully “digested.”
“Though I dislike seeing her cry.”
It was an odd thing.
Never once had his heart softened at a toy’s tears.
A mere Mortal—a creature that dies at the slightest misstep, living barely a blink in his existence. Yet his concern kept catching on her like this.
It truly was perplexing.
“Perhaps because she’s a singularity…”
Yet that explanation didn’t sit right. From the very first meeting, he’d been uncharacteristically indulgent.
Was it because he’d witnessed her trembling in fear so many times, not even knowing what he was?
And yet her gaze remained so luminously pure.
“Tsk.”
Cheiyen clicked his tongue.
Had he possessed greater freedom of movement, he would have claimed her without hesitation.
But he remained insufficient.
He was consuming the sealed ones to fill the deficit of his energy, though even that had its limits.
‘I truly must hunt mages…’
So long as he avoided touching “that” in the Imperial Palace, Sloth would not move. Since they’d made a pact, he need not concern himself further.
The summons to the Sky Tower had been his doing.
There was only one variable.
The Grand Mage Mercedes.
“I didn’t expect her to arrive so soon.”
My little lady prefers to stay cooped inside; there’s scant chance she’d encounter the Grand Mage on the street.
Yet Cheiyen resolved to prepare even for that one-in-ten-thousand possibility.
“There’s no helping it. If claiming her is too difficult, I’ll simply go myself.”

* * *

Robert, the Sky Tower’s pride and a Star-rank Mage, groaned at the anomaly that had erupted precisely during his shift.
‘Why does this always happen to me?!’
This red-haired Mage’s string of misfortunes continued to accumulate.
First he was suddenly conscripted to investigate an anomaly at Sharit Lake.
Then, having arrived early for his beloved student, he became a witness to the incident at the Imperial Palace.
Feeling responsible, he reluctantly met with the Emperor, reported to the Sky Tower afterward, and somehow managed to summon even the “Grand Master”—idol of all mages.
As if that weren’t enough, an anomaly erupts in the Tower while I’m on duty?!
‘Am I cursed?’
All I wanted was to help my adorable student participate in an event that might make her the disciple of the Grand Mage!
And on top of that.
That melody just now.
A faint but unmistakable supernatural power woven into it.
“Damn it.”
The incompetent mages in the Tower’s lower levels hadn’t noticed yet, but those who’d ascended to the Sky Tower itself couldn’t possibly have missed it.
Flash-! Pop! Flash!
Sure enough, mages from the Sky Tower came warping in rapidly, descending upon Robert.
“What happened?”
“What’s going on?”
“Who was that?”
Their half-dazed expressions were uniform in their search.
“That aura we felt—it was real.”
All mages are born carrying Stellar Aura, and those who reach a certain level are chosen by a star to become “true mages.”
This was the true definition of a Star-rank Mage—a designation established internally and known only to them, contrary to what the outside world believed.
A Star-rank Mage could claim their chosen star as their own domain, passing freely through it as though it were their personal realm.
The reason the Sky Tower floated at the highest reaches of the atmosphere was an ancient secret among mages—to facilitate travel between stars.
The problem arose here.
Pure Stellar Aura was something a Mortal’s body could not properly withstand.
Thus mages were inevitably tainted by it and often went mad.
If one mastered this aura and created their own star, they could become a Grand Mage, but most mages’ end was a rampage of lost reason.
This was the true reason the Holy Temple and the Magic Tower didn’t oppose one another, and why mages yearned for truth rather than conquest.
But then.
“It was Purification.”
For just a brief moment—only fragments—yet that very brevity made him certain.
“That supernatural ability of Purification, or whatever it was—it was Purification, I’m telling you!”
“Who is it?”
“What’s happened?”
Robert exhaled deeply, watching his office descend into chaos like a crowded marketplace.
There was no stopping mages whose eyes had already rolled back.
“Find them!”
“Search!”
The Magic Tower had turned upside down.

* * *

I’d made a mess of things.
I didn’t know what exactly, but I’d definitely caused serious trouble. This sense of crisis was unmistakable.
Thrummm— Thrummmmmm—
“Change small, quickly,” I urged the Ether.
Moving in haste, I pressed forward.
Time to bolt!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————