NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 59
“I feel a strong pressure.”
If they had tried to force me down, I’d have been dead in an instant. I found myself grateful for the fact that this was a university.
The promotion assessment ended surprisingly quickly. Maira just took one look at me and said I passed. It was a far cry from the tense anticipation I had when I walked in.
However, the situation that followed was the real problem.
They were now eyeing my Mirror Bug greedily. They wanted to sink their hands into the fruits of my labor, the result of my sweat and hard work.
Memories of the research I had been doing flooded back. How many pains and despairs had I overcome to get here, navigating the ambiguity ahead?
And now they wanted to just snatch it all away. In a moment like this, there was only one thing I could say.
I stared straight at them. I could feel strength surging through my entire body. Doubt melted away, replaced only by certainty in my heart.
With strong determination, I spoke up.
“Of course, I’ll cooperate to the best of my ability,”
I said, rubbing my palms together and smiling brightly. Maira burst into a big laugh, while the man blinked in surprise. He looked utterly flabbergasted.
“What I mean is… right, Miryeong?”
Maira couldn’t contain her laughter as she spoke. Miryeong, was that man’s name? I committed it to memory.
I had only made assumptions, but hearing the name confirmed it. They were surely members of the Hongryeong and Hwa-ryeong clans.
“But, we haven’t even discussed conditions or anything yet!”
Miryeong said, his voice laced with confusion. He stopped releasing his magical pressure that had been weighing on me. The atmosphere around us began to lighten. I finally felt my body starting to calm down a bit.
“Since the seniors want it, of course I must comply,”
I said while shaking my head. They had surely come here after calculating everything. No matter what I did, they would achieve their goals in the end. There was nothing I could do after failing to read the situation before arriving here.
As Maira said, this was notification.
So, I changed my mindset. There was no need to stand against them. What advantage would that give me?
They surely had ways to subdue me as well. So perhaps, if I cooperated with them as much as possible, my value among them would grow a bit.
And I believed in my professor. Professor Ilian had said she left a warning for them. That meant they couldn’t treat me as mere expendable, just like that.
Miryeong stared at me intently. Then, he let out a faint chuckle.
“Interesting. Is that why the grandkids liked you?”
I swallowed hard. Grandkids? That was an odd term for someone with such a youthful appearance. He must be referring to Hongryeong and Hwa-ryeong.
So, how old could he possibly be? After all, given they were aiming for the 8th floor, it made sense they would have spent that many years. It was natural for them to have descendants.
The age-unknown young man, Miryeong, crossed his arms and looked at me.
“Well, I prepared a lot, so it’s a shame. Normally, you watch these things unfold, seeing the defeated despair. That’s why I came here directly.”
He said, licking his lips, and then slumping back into his chair as if defeated.
“Well, I can see why Professor Ilian cherishes you. You’re surprisingly sharp for a mage just rolling around in the wild. Usually, in such cases, you hear ‘That’s impossible,’ or ‘You might as well kill me!’ type of responses.”
I awkwardly smiled. Would I really be saying that? Not in front of this swirling magical energy.
He then turned his head to Maira.
“But to work together, Ebron should know what’s going on too. Maira, may I continue to speak?”
“Sure…”
Maira nodded. Miryeong straightened himself up and turned to me.
“The first possibility came from Maira. She figured out the structure of the Shadow Doll and created this plan. It’s certainly a rather quiet operation, typical of the Abyss Secret Society.”
Maira blushed with a shy smile. The Abyss Secret Society. It was a name I hadn’t heard in a while. It was the organization I had bought information from. I never imagined she was affiliated with that.
“I heard the kids describing this fun item and looked into it, which is how I joined Maira’s plan.”
I just blinked as I listened to that. Miryeong continued.
“Actually, this promotion assessment happening is largely thanks to Maira. She provided the Wraith Tree.”
“Wraith Tree… are you serious?”
I couldn’t help but ask in shock.
“This one’s for Maira to explain. I don’t know the details myself.”
He said, looking at Maira. She slowly cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
“Well… I know that it resonates with Shadows… It’s also easy to guess that a storage item instead of a shadow would be needed… so I thought that if we used that… we could promote…”
After finishing her sentence, she leaned back against her chair again. I mulled over the deeper meaning of her relaxed words. Miryeong lightly scratched his head.
“Ah, so that’s how it is? I thought it was just being used for some elixir or something.”
He said while clapping his hands.
“Anyway, that thing should have originally been worth fifty thousand points or more, but we took some losses to quickly open the promotion assessment. We needed to wrap things up before others intervened. Isn’t this what you call an investment?”
The Wraith Tree, that was something I needed and had bought. I grew even more by dealing with it.
But if that was the case, did that mean all my actions were nudged along by Maira? A chill ran down my spine from the nerves.
“I was looking forward to this moment, preparing a lot of threats. Well, the usual stuff like blocking entry to the city, that sort of thing. There are lots of ways to put pressure by bypassing the university’s basic rights. But I never expected you’d agree so easily.”
He mumbled while slouching over the desk. He looked really disappointed. He drew strange patterns on the desk with his fingers as he continued.
“Seeing the effect of the Wraith Tree made us think a bit. We could embed multiple of those into our bodies, throw in some elixir for rapid growth. With that, we could create at least an area the size of a city. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to raise the rank any further.”
If Professor Ilian hadn’t stopped this, it might have proceeded that way. He smiled, and a shiver ran down my spine. I had never suspected that discussions about my use would proceed without my knowledge.
“So we went back to the original plan. Just receiving items from Ebron. What we want is for you to provide about a hundred Mirror Bugs monthly. That would be the best you can manage.”
“But just taking that wouldn’t be useful at all.”
I cautiously inquired. These had to be tied inside my Shadow Tree to fully function. Just having the Mirror Bugs alone would be useless.
“Making Dolls is… impossible, but I can handle that connection…”
Maira said quietly. I gave a wry smile. If anybody could do it, it was probably her. My Dolls were based on Shadows, which I had learned entirely from Professor Heisen’s Tower.
And she had been researching Shadows far longer than I had. Seeing her so confident, it was clear she had a way to establish that connection.
“That’s right. Any way you slice it, having that terminal will allow for some configuration. Really, scores are the issue anywhere you go. Matching the performance of what Ebron made would take thousands of times more points.”
I swallowed hard. A hundred a month, it seemed to be the boundary I could handle now, which told me they had done quite a bit of digging into my capabilities.
Well, perhaps this could be an opportunity.
Assuming I expanded my territory, even if I reached the end of a young tree, that area surely wouldn’t touch a city.
It could only become possible if I became a fully grown tree beyond my current rank. I would need to train for several hundred more years to achieve that.
However, working with them would spread my Mirror Bugs over a wider territory. Perhaps even throughout the entire university. Such a thing was certainly out of the question for an immature tree’s domain.
But there was one issue.
These Mirror Bugs, once spread out like this, wouldn’t belong to my connection. They would only be used as tools in the fake connections Maira was creating. Even if they established a connection, they wouldn’t stem from my Shadow Tree.
The Mirror Bugs that spread out wouldn’t accumulate information or experience; they would merely act as Dolls. Their opportunity to grow their own identities would diminish.
That was the speculation I formed while listening to the conversation. And then, Miryeong spoke next, confirming my assumptions.
“I’d prefer if we simplified that function. Maira can handle the information side of things, and I can take care of the transactions. Let’s scrap the bulletin board and just allow simple communication between the Mirror Bugs instead. And let’s eliminate all the other unnecessary features.”
As he spoke, he carefully glanced at Maira. Then he cautiously broached the subject.
“Since this is merely a copy of what Ebron created, that connection likely won’t be very smooth. We should aim to trim down inefficiencies as much as possible.”
Maira quietly nodded at that. Miryeong, seeing that, began drawing a round circle with his fingers directed at me. He grinned widely.
“Finally, we can’t skip talking about price. The Mirror Bug was fifty points a month, right? That’s a pretty reasonable price. It matches the convenience. We’re thinking of that range too. If Ebron supplies the Mirror Bugs, we’ll take away five points each month.”
“And to think you’re throwing in points too, how could I possibly refuse such a generous offer?”
I replied, laughing heartily in response to his grin.
From then on, the conversation flowed steadily. The atmosphere became significantly lighter compared to the beginning, with jokes and laughter spilling out easily.
Amidst that, many conditions regarding the deal arose, and detailed adjustments were made for functionalities concerning the items. My Mirror Bugs were thoroughly turned into tools within that discussion.
And then, the promotion assessment concluded. I felt my body slumping down. Staring out at the alleyways of the city, amidst the darkness beneath the bridges, I couldn’t help but smirk.
Their proposal was quite appealing. In terms of immediately gaining points, at least. However, I could eventually achieve those things by myself without them.
Looking back, I had been quite arrogant lately.
Professor Ilian’s Tower could be called my territory. In there, everyone respected me. Everything seemed to unfold as I desired, and everything moved as I commanded.
In that feeling of intoxication, I had temporarily forgotten my position. I was just a tiny ant in this vast land called the university. An ant that would have been swiftly eaten if not for the professor’s protection.
Thus, the moment I stepped out of the Tower, I was swiftly swallowed whole. It was the result of my carelessness.
Four years since coming to the university, and that was how I reached the second floor.