NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1055
<1055 – Weak and Deplorable Mode (13)>
Sadi Chocolate, who peered into the hearts of countless people, understands.
There’s a gap in people’s crisis management skills and situational judgment abilities.
For example, there’s a difference between amateurs and masters.
━━━
Amateur: So, Professor Weird was actually pushing Oknodie to write a risky declaration to fix it, huh?
Master: Removing the dangerous declaration and using a follow-up treatment as an excuse to safely isolate Oknodie in the lab!
━━━
Before 100 hours had even passed, Oknodie suddenly felt better.
Oknodie was the latter.
And Professor Weird noticed that Oknodie had figured out her intentions.
Before she could even lament the healing experience points she lost, Professor Weird’s sinister vines captured her.
“While the visible declaration has been treated, there may be residuals left. You’ll have to comply with a 15-day quarantine until I’m sure the contagious disease has truly cleared.”
“Fifteen days?! That’s enough time to master one skill! That’s way too long!”
Considering that a warrior perfects a skill to the level of a master is a tremendous achievement, Oknodie’s 15 days equated to a lifetime of effort for a master.
Especially if that ultimate skill involves intermediate or advanced level experience points, the quality of effort changes drastically.
Understanding the misery of losing such a precious 15 days, it’s only natural for her to throw a tantrum and roll on the floor, but from the outside, it was quite pathetic.
‘Oh geez. No matter how much of a bestie you are, this is a bit much.’
‘I’ve seen that kind of behavior at the store. It was a real mess.’
‘…Is this really the Avatar of the Outsider?’
With even her comrades looking at her with exasperated expressions, Professor Weird definitely wasn’t going to get swayed by Oknodie’s whining.
Draped in vines,
Oknodie was being dragged away.
Jiang, following with reluctance, had her farewell seen off by the Senior Instructor and Sadi.
The vines wrapped around the ankles of the two who wanted to remain indifferent as if it were someone else’s business.
“You’re all quarantined because of the risk of contagion.”
“Ha ha, I knew this would happen.”
“Are we going to the professor’s research lab…?”
As Professor Weird opened a Dimensional Gate, she said.
“Secret Research Lab.”
“…Why should there be a ‘secret’ research lab if it’s just a research lab?”
“Because I don’t want to let anyone know.”
“Who do you want to keep your research secret from?”
“The Principal.”
Having experienced Professor Buzhaar’s research dimension, Jiang couldn’t shake the feeling that this was going to be a bad 15 days.
“Good luck♡ Stay quarantined and come back healthy♡”
“Selling out a friend to Professor Weird, I hate Masugaki!”
“I’ll throw in some food I collect for the first culinary offering~?”
“Not a lot, just a little hate!”
“Hehe. If it’s tasty, won’t you not hate me~?”
“I might like it a little!”
As Jiang was about to follow the easy-going girl Oknodie into the Dimensional Gate, she asked.
“Will you throw in mine too?”
“I’ll throw in anything, so just eat it♡”
“What a difference in treatment. I’m grateful, but still.”
“Oh, and please take care of us.”
“Ha ha. Is it too much to ask for coffee too?”
“I’ll throw in four cups of iced coffee for dessert each meal♡”
Can’t resist iced Americano.
With Sadi satisfied, they stepped through the Dimensional Gate, and the 15-day quarantine procedure began.
*
Having experienced Professor Buzhaar’s research dimension, Jiang braced herself for an extremely harsh dimensional ecosystem.
“If you foolishly escape outside the research facilities, you’ll suffer mortal injuries as if you were dead.”
“Do you think we can’t handle that in second year?”
“There are always ways. If you didn’t know this kind of stuff, consider yourself lucky to have found the right professor.”
“Professor Red Mountain isn’t one to just slurp up benefits like that?!”
The Senior Instructor flared up immediately, but after witnessing the reality of the research dimension, her thoughts changed.
━━━
8th Rank, Wastes Collector Bomb Durian
8th Rank, Neck Collector Void Grape
8th Rank, Blood Collector Killer Tomato
━━━
Taehoram and Gegeobdo-in.
Presently, three entities comparable to the strong individuals seen in the Eastern Empire were immediately apparent.
With prey in sight, the Bomb Durian charges into it with its solid body, bursting it to make Blood Cake and using it as fertilizer.
The horrifying appearance of the Void Grape feeds the neck of its prey into a hollow void.
Killer Tomato forms a red mana circle within a certain radius, killing all living beings within that circle to absorb blood and grow larger.
How can such fruits even exist in this world?
I felt so wronged as I looked at the strong fruits growing in the enclosure, utterly reluctant to step out.
“If you want to leave, you can.”
“I’m definitely not leaving!”
Professor Weird slightly lamented.
She had thought Oknodie would ignite her pride by facing off against her collection of plants.
Inside the vast dome, which served as a safe zone within the research dimension.
Once the outer window, where dominance-level plants roamed freely, was closed, the dome was illuminated.
With red lighting as vivid as blood.
“Professor, why is the light color like this here?”
“To calm the plants down.”
“Red light calms them?”
“Yeah. So they won’t see blood.”
“…”
What kind of plants are inside this dome?
Is it really isolation if they keep us here together?
Even more unsettling than before, Jiang felt exponentially more anxious!
“Keep this.”
Professor Weird handed each one of them a small packet containing seeds.
“What’s this?”
“Use one if you feel like you’re dying.”
“…For who?”
“For anyone.”
Are you kidding?
With that said, Professor Weird hid away in the photosynthesis chamber, where sunlight flooded in.
Jiang was inwardly appalled at how intense the light was, reminiscent of Titosso’s.
‘Immune to Titosso’s beam, huh?’
Thinking of how even a Heavenly Sovereign-level strong individual could be affected by Titosso’s blinding technique, Professor Weird was really no ordinary professor.
“Our professor is stronger than a Heavenly Sovereign, right?”
“Probably!”
Oknodie didn’t deny it.
Having fought directly with a Heavenly Sovereign, her stance left Jiang feeling a bit frightened.
“Why’s she that strong? It doesn’t make sense that Professor Weird is stronger than the Avatar of the Outsider, who has collected the entire Eastern Empire.
She’s like an Emperor or something.”
Logically speaking, that makes sense.
Collecting signifies strength.
Weaklings cannot collect much.
Those who collect extensively become strong.
The enormous buffs one receives for having collected an empire are anything but ordinary.
“Professor Weird collects things larger than an empire!”
“What does she collect?”
“Nature!”
“…Just because you want to collect it, can you?”
“If you manage it well?”
“If I sprinkle a cup of water over the plants by the roadside, is that collection?”
“What if I manipulate the weather conditions using nature magic?”
That’s valid, considering Professor Weird is essentially a dryad born of nature.
She naturally has an advantage in observing the environment.
If she sets her mind on managing nature with Earth Magic, she could handle an extremely vast area.
However, Professor Weird is only one person.
One person is far too little compared to the vastness of the world.
Even an Emperor manages an empire through various ministers, whereas how does Professor Weird manage nature?
“You just saw!”
“The dominant-level monsters outside the dome?”
“Yep!”
Now Jiang finally understood the answer.
Professor Weird commanded Boss Monsters.
Just like how Professor Red Mountain subdued the boss monsters occupying the peaks of the Cheonryeong Mountain Range and turned them into his subordinates.
She managed nature in various regions by spreading the boss monsters she had trained and educated in her research dimension throughout the world.
“There can’t be many natural environments where those kinds of monsters can exist without any rumors.”
“Well, there are still quite a few. You already know, right Jiang?”
“Me?”
That was harder to imagine.
If such strong monsters were managing the land, it wouldn’t be small at all.
Moreover, the fact that no information had leaked out made it hard for people to approach easily.
Untapped land.
Or a place where exploration hasn’t completed.
Naturally, certain concepts sprang to mind.
“The Three Great Forests. The Five Great Deadly Zones. The Seven Great Magical Terrains.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Oknodie clapped.
“100 out of 100!”
“Ha!”
Am I somewhat impressive?
Jiang was about to swell with pride when she hesitated.
The information she had gleaned was just too terrifying to celebrate outright.
“Really? Is all the Golden Region Professor Weird’s?”
“Not all. Within the Golden Region, the entities that emerged after losing in the competition for the strongest living beings can escape control. What’s present outside the dome is just the ‘next contender’ set for induction!”
“The spies from the Foundation must have it tough. Coming to a dangerous dimension like this to gather information.”
Jiang easily accepted Oknodie’s information-gathering abilities and the Senior Instructor couldn’t help but agree.
As Sadi silently giggled, imagining that there wouldn’t be any spies like that, she began to feel fear.
How in the world did Oknodie discover such information?
The Okashii-ne Senior Institution wasn’t just strolling around Oknodie for no reason.
“Just stay curled up in a corner for 15 days.”
“That’s not going to work.”
“Why?”
“The plants here follow the artificial sun and rotate around the dome!”
The bright red lights slowly swirled around.
As they followed that light, a moving swamp monster emerged and discovered Oknodie and her party.
Thwop.
A swamp monster that spews acidic swamp on its first encounter.
Seeing the field magic sizzle and crackle, Jiang’s eyes hardened.
“What’s this quarantine treatment? This is just organic matter.”
“If Professor Weird cares a lot, wouldn’t that be even scarier?”
Jiang pondered deeply.
What Oknodie said made sense.
“Normally, kids grow up being released back into the wild.”