Chapter 9

Chapter 9

‘Professor Velott!’

Andra held her breath unconsciously at the familiar voice. They could no longer hide their presence here. There was a high probability that the sensitive Professor Velott would notice. Andra hurriedly grabbed Dustin as he was about to move, her eyes urging him to stay still. Outside, a conversation between the professor and the teaching assistant continued.

“Professor, weren’t you inside? I thought you were because the door was locked… When did you lock the door again?”

“Lock the door? I never left the door locked, did I?”

“But the door is locked?”

“I never left the door locked? …What, is it really locked? Ren, get me some spare keys.”

After a while, one set of footsteps moved away, and there was the sound of a drawer opening. The sound of looking for something. At the same time, a red light flashed up in Andra’s head. Dustin also thought that this was dangerous, so he started walking towards the window holding Andra. Dustin carefully opened the half-open window fully. The wind blew into the room.

“What are you going to do?”

Andra whispered to Dustin, who suddenly opened the window. But Dustin only looked down.

“Are you going to jump?”

Andra’s expression hardened at a distant height. Soon she began to struggle to let herself go. You bastard, this is the 7th floor! No matter how much of an Awakened you are, falling from here would be fatal! But Dustin didn’t mind Andra, and held her tight and put his feet on the window sill.

“Hold on tight.”

“If you’re going to die, die alone! Why won’t you let go of me?”

“I won’t jump. I’ll walk on the wall.”

“Then you’re thinking of pushing me down!”

Dustin’s eyebrows narrowed at those words. What do you see me as? He was taken aback by Andra’s attitude. When she fell into the dungeon, it was obvious that Andra had already forgotten who rescued her from the river.

If Andra thought that Dustin Airak was a cowardly and naive bastard as she thought, he should have let Andra sink to the river before.

“Why are you making me into such trash?”

“You are trash, you.”

In response to Andra’s reply without hesitation, Dustin pointed to the door with the tip of his chin.

“Then what are you going to do? Is there any better way?”

Andra looked at the door. Assistant Ren’s voice was coming closer to the door as if he had found the spare key. She had to choose. Would she trust Dustin and leave her body to him? Or would she distrust him and stay here and get caught by Professor Velott?

She was sure, at least, that choosing the latter would ruin her life. Andra had no choice but to hold Dustin’s neck tightly.

“It’s hard to put up with your pride every time.”

“It’s hard to trust the guy who’s in heat for me.”

“…Let’s not talk.”

Dustin moved out of the window using the window sill as a foot support. In an instant, a stronger wind blew over the two of them. Andra glanced down for a moment, then closed her eyes to the dizzying height. The spacious grounds of the academy may be good for a quick view, but it was quite terrible to risk her life and look down.

“It is the worst thing in my life to be born at the same time period as you.”

Andra muttered as she clung to Dustin, who moved alternately between the decorative frames and grooves of the building. Dustin snorted at this. It was the voice he himself wanted to say. He was truly able to use his right arm to bet that nothing had worked out since he got involved with Andra Avellin.

“I’m no different.”

Andra Avellin and Dustin Airak were ill-fated. It wasn’t just because of the relationship between the families. Every time the two of them got involved, the result was never good. To be honest, they were nothing less and nothing more than obstacles to each other. If the other didn’t exist, they would have been on the road to victory without much trouble.

“If it weren’t for you.”

It was something the two of them thought each time they encountered each other.

“What happened to you after that? I mean, the Awakening.”

In an effort to avoid the scenery beneath her feet, Andra deliberately asked Dustin a question. While she was locked up in the dorm, the fact that Dustin had become an Awakened was heard on the way, but she had no idea how he had become an Awakened.

“I don’t know. Suddenly my body feels weird…”

Dustin hurriedly grabbed Andra’s hand while he was speaking. Because of that, Andra, who had been hanging on to him, staggered her body for a moment, and her face turned white. She could have fallen.

“What are you doing!”

“I’m going to check.”

“What are you checking?”

Dustin looked inside Andra’s wrist. He didn’t know if she was lucky or unlucky, but her wrists were empty. He could see only blue veins, but no patterns.

If so, then this wasn’t because of the dungeon? But otherwise, there was no way to explain the absurd symptoms that were happening to him. Dustin hurriedly put Andra’s wrists, and asked.

“Have you ever seen a pattern like this?”

“…… Are you kidding me right now? What pattern are you talking about?”

“It’s on my wrist. Can’t you see?”

He put his wrist again, but Andra’s reaction was the same. She frowned as she asked where the pattern was.

“Dustin Airak, you’re just trying to argue that what happened before is an illusion.”

This wasn’t nonsense. Andra was about to get angry again because of Dustin, who had been saying strange things before. Did he still want to say something useless even in this situation?

“Have you ever felt anything strange in your body since you came out of the dungeon?”

“No. Can’t you hold me better than that? Don’t you want to get out of here?”

Dustin was currently holding her back and holding on to the wall. Because he is using one hand to hold Andra and the other to touch Andra, asking if she sees something on his wrist.

Andra slowly became anxious. She didn’t know if Dustin would survive from this height or not, given that he was an Awakened, but as an ordinary woman, she would definitely die.

“Really, no anomalies?”

“There really is none. I’m very healthy right now…”

That was the moment. Dustin staggered, losing his center of gravity as he leaned his body a little more towards Andra. Andra was so freaked out that she hugged Dustin even more. However, it was rather a factor that caused Dustin’s center to lean, and the two of them went on the verge of falling down.

“What did I say! I told you to hold on properly!”

“Is that important now?”

Now, the only thing that’s going to happen is Andra is going to fall down, and her eyes were dizzy. Will I die like this? Tears were about to burst out. Just before she fell, Dustin hurriedly wrapped his arms around Andra. It was to alleviate the shock that the Awakened himself would fall to the ground from Andra.

Then a faint red light began to flow from her wrist.

“Ren, who has been in my room?”

Meanwhile, Professor Velott, who opened the door and entered the room, looked at her room, which looked subtly cluttered, and tilted her head. Was it like this when she left the room? Her memory often fades with age, so she wasn’t sure. Then she found an ashtray rolling on the floor of her room.

Professor Velott’s eyes narrowed. An ashtray cut in exactly two was definitely not something she would have in her room. She herself didn’t smoke, and it was her assistant, Ren, who smoked. The ashtray was something that was supposed to be outside, not in her office.

“When I was around, nobody… Uh, isn’t that my ashtray?”

“Looks like a rat came in.”

Professor Velott first checked her papers and collections. Fortunately, there were no signs of anyone touching it. So, what were they looking for? She hadn’t prepared any exam questions yet… She thoroughly checked the other places as well. Because she wasn’t sure if there was anything else.

Over the decades of her teaching career, she would very often find dolls in her room with cursed characters or unknown rituals. It was usually done by academy students who had grudges against her. Professor Belott laughed involuntarily and wrinkled her nose.

‘Well, to have time to do something like that. Shouldn’t they be focusing on more research? Or bring a proper thesis.’

“Professor, why did you leave the window open?”

Ren, who was looking through the room with her, looked at the wide open window and asked Professor Velott. A cool breeze was coming in through the open window.

“Yes, close the window… Wait. Did you hear something?”

“Sound?”

Professor Velott strode towards the window. It was because there seemed to be a presence outside the window. She grabbed the window sill and leaned her head to look outside. However, what Professor Velott saw was nothing but the tranquil academy scenery.

“Strange, I think I heard something.”

Professor Velott closed the window as she looked up at the sunset sky.

[ 3 ] Awakening?

There was no strength in her body, and her mind was dizzy from being faint. In the meantime, she realized that someone was holding her and moving. Who was it? He was shuffling through her clothes, and Andra struggled to open her eyes. It was Dustin Airak, who she’s been seeing a lot lately. He had his shirt half undone.

“Why are you here…”

“Stay still. You have to wash.”

Dustin went to the bathroom holding Andra. Perhaps the bathtub had already been filled with water, so the bathroom was full of steam. It was then that she found out that she was naked in Dustin’s arm. She was startled and reflexively twisted her body. What happened?

‘I remember falling down, but why am I like this again…’

Andra floundered her limbs to get away from Dustin. Let me go. But Dustin ignored Andra’s words. Rather, he only uttered a single phrase with a nervous tone that seemed to offend Andra’s struggles.

“Don’t move.”

“Do I look like I’ll stand still, puhak!”

Andra couldn’t continue her words. Because Dustin didn’t want to hear it anymore, he pushed Andra into the bathtub. Andra, who accidentally swallowed water through her nose, spewed out a cough and hurriedly raised her upper body. Crazy son of a bitch! Andra, who spat out the water she drank, screamed loudly.

“Why did you push me all of a sudden!”

“So that’s why I said not to move? Well, seeing you screaming, I guess you’re fine.”

Dustin grabbed some of the cleaning items from one side of the bathroom and flung them to Andra. Before Andra could question further, she inadvertently received the item he was throwing at her. She looked around, and her golden hair, which drooped like seaweed, was swept behind her. And she soon noticed that this was the bathroom attached to her dorm room.