Upon closer inspection, most of them were carrying objects or holding something to their chests.
As I was looking at them from a distance, I noticed a familiar person.
Just in case, I got closer to him.
“Excuse me.”
“Huh?”
A chubby male student wearing glasses looked at me.
When I looked, his tie was a different color than mine.
It meant that he was a senior.
“Excuse me, is something wrong here?”
“Oh, I came here to submit an assignment. Are you a club member here?”
“Yes, for now.”
“Then do you know where Professor Blesbuck has gone?”
When I shook my head as if I didn’t know, the male student and other students around me sighed.
And he began to mutter as if to complain.
“Whenever we try to turn in our assignment, the whereabouts are so unclear….. I wish she’d think about us.”
“I don’t know if I should be saying this, but today is the day our freshmen have their advisor’s class….. .”
“That was also announced in advance..… That’s why I came early on purpose, but it’s already been twenty minutes past the appointed time.”
“Ah.”
Then I heard footsteps coming from the other side of the hallway.
At the same time, as I turned my head, the first thing that came to my eyes was a pair of large glasses.
“Hey, Lyle!”
When one of the students called out his name resentfully, Cass Lyle approached him with a light footstep.
“What is the matter, are you here like this?”
“Do you think we are doing this because we want to do this?”
One of the female students grumbled, and another male student asked him.
“The club room is locked, I can’t even contact the professor.… But what kind of wind did the guy who is usually only in the club room blow today?”
“Yes.”
Cass Lyle smiled lightly and interrupted his words.
But I was well aware of the reason he left the club room only once a month.
‘It must be because of the body adjustment.’
As a homunculus, if he didn’t undergo body adjustment at regular intervals, his body would soon collapse.
And Alice Blesbuck, the only one who knew that fact here at the academy, was generously giving him the help she could.
That was then.
‘… Huh?’
As I looked at Cass Lyle, I noticed that I did not feel any of the disgust or negative emotions I felt during the last meeting.
I was momentarily confused, but fortunately, I was able to keep it from showing.
‘What?’
There was nothing special between him and me.
If so, then something had happened to either me or him, and my perception has changed.
In the case of Cass Lyle, he had just finished his body adjustment.
And the change that happened to me….
‘Branch of the World Tree.’
The branch of the World Tree was now dormant.
Having reached that point, I remembered that Lee Ye-Eun was reluctant to be with Cass Lyle even in the original.
It occurred to me that in the setting, the world tree is a symbol of the balance and harmony of nature in this world.
And the fact that homunculus, an artificial lifeform, was a being that would destroy that natural balance and harmony head-on.
‘… No way.’
Was it the influence of the branch of the World Tree that led me to think like that?
“I’m glad I came just in case. I’ll open the door for you quickly.”
As soon as Cass Lyle, who briefly greeted other students, opened the shabby door, the waiting students rushed inside.
While he was picking up his keys, he noticed me and opened his eyes as if in surprise.
“Oh, I’m the freshman who came then.”
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
Cass Lyle used honorific for all people he was not close to.
I wondered if I should consider it fortunate that he was familiar with my face, from the time I talked to him first.
Looking at his face, I nodded slightly.
I didn’t feel any negative emotions, such as rejection or reluctance.
“Come on in.”
I entered the club room with him.
Each of the students was putting their items in turn, and I saw it and approached the chubby male student I had talked to earlier.
“Excuse me, but can I ask you something?”
“Huh? uh… Yes.”
“What kind of assignment is it?”
At my question, he frowned for a moment, as if to organize his words.
“Uh… We also have Professor Blesbuck as our advisor. Most of her students make things like alchemists, pharmaceuticals, and artifacts. That’s why I’m here to submit the assignments she gave me.”
“Aha…… Then you too?”
“I make potions.”
He replied, sniffing.
Here I could be sure that he was the student who was often indebted to the game.
“Potions, do you also make things like nutritional supplements?”
“Huh? Well… If you look at it broadly, nutritional supplements are also a part of potion.”
“Then, if you don’t mind me asking, can I buy one of those supplement things?”
“From me?”
“Yes.”
He looked surprised, and I nodded and added.
“My health hasn’t been too good lately. I even went to the infirmary, but they said it was just my feeling.”
“Uh…… It would be much better to just buy it in the market.”
The male student who had been muttering like that rummaged through his pocket as if he couldn’t resist my continuous gaze.
Then I opened his mouth to add.
“I like grapes, senior.”
Then he pulled out a small bottle of green liquid, instead of a purple one he had taken out, and handed it to me.
“Come on, I’ll give you one. I’m actually a member of the alchemy club. I’m going to pretend it’s a present for my junior, so just take it.”
“Thank you very much.”
I nodded and bowed my head and accepted the glass bottle.
Then I immediately used emotion.
[Concentration Awakening Potion ― Nutritional Supplement ver.]
[This is a potion made by a member of a prestigious potion-making family. Increases the growth rate of proficiency-type skills only once when taken.]
‘I knew it.’
I got the potion, which had been a great help to me many times in the game.
I carefully put it in my pocket.
“Then I’ll get going. uh… Good luck in class.”
“Yes, thank you. See you later.”
I was in a good mood, so I bowed my head once more to him as he went out of the room.
When I turned my head, there was Cass Lyle, who was looking at me in surprise.
“What?”
“No… It’s just unexpected.”
Cass Lyle clearly spoke in a more gentle manner than the last time I had seen him.
“To be honest, I didn’t think you would ever come again.”
“Ah… .”
“There are a lot of students who just submit the application on the first day and don’t come. So… .”
“It’s Yoo Ji-Hyuk.”
“Yes, Yoo Ji-Hyuk, I expected you to do the same.”
I smiled awkwardly on purpose.
“Actually, I came here because I was curious about something. It’s hard to ask Professor Blesbuck, and I thought there would be data here.”
His eyes lit up at my words.
Although he was basically not interested in other people, Cass Lyle was quite friendly to the person he had become close with.
And from the looks of it, he seemed to favor me a lot.
“What is it about?”
“Uh… It’s really a bit silly. To be honest, I think you’ll laugh when you hear it.”
“Professor Blesbuck said that learning begins with such curiosity.”
At his words, I asked him what I was honestly curious about.
“Can a Mandragora have a will like a human? So it can think and understand.”
“Hmm… .”
He looked seriously troubled.
“Mandragora is a medicinal herb in legend, but its existence has been confirmed in reality. There is a saying that anyone who hears a scream when pulled out of the ground, will die on the spot, and if you brew a potion with its roots, the dead will come back to life.”
Cass Lyle continued to talk as if he were singing.
“And, it’s not a well-known fact, but it is said that Mandragora takes root at the border between the real and the underworld, sucking the souls of the dead for food. I can’t say for sure, since the cases confirmed there are extremely rare… To be honest, I can’t say that there is no possibility at all.”
“Oh, yes.”
I was at a loss for words at the sight of him looking more excited than I could have imagined.
He looked at me and nodded his head.
“This is an interesting point. There is no other way than to search the literature, but it is something worth studying.”
I nodded and remembered the purpose of coming here.
Then, after arguing with him a few times, I quietly brought up the story.
“By the way, sir. How much skill do you need to create a reagent with Purification effect through alchemy?”
“Purification effect?”
“Yes.”
Slowly, it was time to rob Isabelle Gaudi’s dungeon.
However, in her dungeon, the undead who took on the role of watchmen would remain.
It would be much easier to attack if there was purification magic or items with similar effects.
“’It should be about two years… But didn’t you say that you were a complete beginner?”
“Yes. I’m a complete beginner.”
“Hmm….”
Cass Lyle pondered for a moment and then nodded his head willingly.
“Then if it’s all right with you, would you like to come back this Friday? I think I will be able to help if you’re next to me as an assistant.”
“Really?”
“Yes. All the necessary ingredients are in the club, so you just need to bring your body.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
What I was worried about was unexpectedly resolved without any problems.
I had planned to visit Professor Blesbuck if he refused, but now I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to.
“What.”
Cass Lyle waved his hand as if it was no big deal.
After talking with him for a bit more, I quickly got up from my seat.
“Well, it’s time to train now. Excuse me.”
I bowed my head once more to him in front of the door before I left the club room.
“And next time, speak casually, Senior. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”
He smiled softly at my words.
“Yes. I also look forward to your kind cooperation.”
My friendship with him would be of great help in the future.
Thinking it was a good idea to come here, I headed straight to the training ground.
* * *
Unexpectedly, there were not many people in the training center.
‘Well, Professor Grossman is the strange one for finishing so early on the first day.’
Perhaps in the case of Choi Hyun-Woo or Han Soo-Young, the class would be held until late at night.
I had to train by myself anyway, so I didn’t really care and went into my personal training room.
“Let’s see, the settings are the same as last time….. .”
I took out the glass bottle in my pocket as the machine recognized my voice and immediately activated the simulation for training.
‘It lasts two hours. Let’s pull some mulberry during that time.’
[Note: ‘Mulberry’ ‘뽕’ is a gaming slang in Korea, which means becoming OP. I think Mc is talking about getting stronger here(?).]
I immediately drank the potion.
It tasted like grapes, but it was so thick that I could feel the unpleasant texture running down my throat.
“Ugh… .”
[You have taken the Concentration Awakening potion!]
[Increases the growth rate of proficiency-based skills for a certain period of time!]
As soon as I saw the notification window floating in the air, I immediately drew the dagger.
And as I had learned from Professor Grossman today, I grabbed the dagger and ran straight towards the training dolls.
“Hupp!”
I cut one of the dolls that had jumped at me with the dagger and walked past it.
It was a simple change of grip and swing, but the feeling itself was different.
‘Good… .’
As I slashed through the two dolls in succession, I continued to swing the dagger against the dolls.
On the way, I thew a dagger once but seeing it flew in a strange direction, I had no choice but to click my tongue.
‘I need to practice my throwing skills, too.’
If it was the original world, it was clear that in the present day, the results would be more than just hard work.
Effect of Concentration Awakening potion.
And increased proficiency due to the correction effect hidden in Henir’s Shadow.
With these two alone, I would be able to hone my dagger skills at a fast pace.
‘Let’s work a little harder.’
It was when I was training by wielding a dagger for a long time.
“… !”
Feeling something chilly, I turned and looked at the entrance of the training room.
There was no one there.
But ever since I had gotten Henir’s Shadow and the branch of the World Tree, I had never been wrong about my senses.
I had a bad feeling about this.
I kept looking at the door, and soon I was surprised.
“Now look at this.”
A voice like a whisper.
There was no change in the slumped and anxious expression on her face, but the eyes staring at me were dry enough to give me goosebumps.
“… Why are you here?”
Even when I asked a question, I knew the answer myself.
There was enough reason for her to come to me like this.
Henir’s Shadow.
One of the few things she was obsessed with.
“Well?”
Jin Ye-Seul.
She was staring at me with a smile on her face.
