Chapter 25: An Unwanted Encounter

Sunlight streamed through the white gauze curtains, dappling the pristine floor.

Yalin’s eyes fluttered open, and he pushed himself up from the medical room’s bed.

“How long have I been asleep?”

His head felt heavy and disoriented; glancing at the clock on the wall, he noted that over three hours had already slipped by.

Confound it, ever since he’d consumed that sandwich—the one laced with those ‘secret ingredients’—he hadn’t felt quite right, plagued by a persistent dizziness. He had merely sought refuge in the medical room for a brief rest.

Instead, he had simply succumbed to unconsciousness.

“What a mess this is,” Yalin muttered, pressing a hand to his forehead with a sigh.

Perhaps this was merely the universe’s way of making him reap what he’d sown.

The medical room lay cloaked in silence, the hour not yet arrived for the physician’s rounds.

A sharp prod against his hip caused a twinge of pain; Yalin reached into his pocket and withdrew a necklace, its delicate chain adorned with a cluster of vibrant rubies.

It was an item he had ‘acquired’ from Liyang earlier, though he couldn’t quite recall its name at the moment…

‘Eye of Oblivion’?

The name alone reeked of chuunibyou (TL Note: A Japanese slang term referring to a ‘middle schooler syndrome’ where one has delusions of grandeur, believing they possess special powers or hidden knowledge).

Regardless, this trinket had once resonated powerfully with his own body, allowing a surge of frenzied emotion to engulf his entire mind.

Yet, that had only been true in the initial days.

Now, he couldn’t discern whether he had simply adapted to its presence or if the necklace itself had somehow lost its potency; in any case, Yalin no longer perceived any peculiar sensations.

Yalin carefully tucked the necklace back into his pocket.

He suddenly recalled the dragonkin maiden, whose face had been etched with an expression of profound humiliation.

With so many days having elapsed, Liyang would surely come looking for him soon.

After all, a matter of that magnitude was not one to be easily brushed aside or forgotten.

Nabel’s corpse had been incinerated to naught but ash; with the right materials at hand, an alchemist’s flames were scarcely less potent than those wielded by a mage.

Furthermore, the torrential downpour that same day had scoured away any remaining vestiges of evidence.

Thus, Yalin felt no apprehension about his identity being exposed.

As for the necklace, despite its apparent significance to Liyang, Yalin harbored no intention of returning it.

Given its seemingly profound connection to his own body, he was determined to take it back and subject it to thorough research.

‘I did save your life, after all; consider this your repayment,’ he mused.

To be frank, Yalin harbored a strong disinclination towards any further interaction with Liyang.

He carried, to some degree, a lingering psychological trauma stemming from the protagonist’s entire entourage.

After all, he, a delicate and frail pretty boy, had been subjected to a relentless, ten-chapter-long pummeling by that horde of muscular women!

Ten chapters! A full ten chapters!

It made him fume with indignation, shivering with cold dread. When would they, the collective of handsome men, finally rise to their feet?

He had merely been tempted, ever so slightly, by an evil god. Why, then, must he endure such utterly malicious treatment?

Where was the justice in that? Where was the common decency (TL Note: ‘Mi xian’ or ‘rice noodle’ is slang for a moral bottom line or common decency)?

Nevertheless, Yalin had read the original novel and knew that Liyang was, on most days, a character prone to social anxiety.

As long as one didn’t actively seek her out, she would, as a rule, never initiate contact.

A few dismissive words should suffice to deter her from any further bothersome inquiries.

Exiting the medical room, Yalin set off towards the main academic building.

‘Ah, right, isn’t this Fulin’s class again?’ he thought.

‘What a bother. I’ll just head to the classroom early, snag a seat in the back, and catch a nap.’

Lost in these thoughts, Yalin reached the corridor, only for his steps to halt abruptly.

A figure in the distance, however, had firmly captured his gaze.

It was a young woman, currently glancing about with an air of restless anticipation, as if searching for someone in particular.

Her long, red hair cascaded over her shoulders, framing a countenance that, though stern, struck him as incredibly familiar.

It was almost as if… it were Celeste.

“Haha,” he chuckled dryly, “I never imagined that sandwich would come with hallucinogenic side effects.”

Yalin let out a few more strained, humorless laughs.

‘I must be completely high,’ he thought.

Apparently, he had not only upset his stomach but had also managed to break his own brain in the process.

After all, this was the Alchemist’s Division, no longer the stomping ground of that particular fiend.

Celeste wouldn’t possibly be so utterly bored as to deliberately trek all the way from the Magic Division just to visit here, would she?

‘What for?’ he wondered.

Yalin rubbed his eyes vigorously, then refocused his gaze upon the young woman, attempting a second confirmation. It was precisely then that their eyes met, locking in an undeniable stare.

A sharp intake of breath…

Cold sweat trickled down Yalin’s back.

It seemed he truly hadn’t been mistaken.

“Yalin…”

Celeste murmured softly.

Upon seeing that familiar face, one she hadn’t beheld in what felt like an eternity, an unbidden thrill of excitement, long absent, surged within her.

She realized that the words she yearned to speak to Yalin might, in fact, be far more numerous than she had ever anticipated.

“It’s been a long time, I…”

Celeste took a step forward, intending to close the distance between them, but her movement abruptly froze.

Because something was distinctly amiss with Yalin.

He stood rooted to the spot, utterly rigid, as though he had just encountered a specter.

Celeste had never before witnessed such a guarded expression on his face.

The very next moment, he whirled around and fled, without even a flicker of hesitation.

Celeste watched, utterly transfixed, as Yalin’s figure receded into the distance, her mind momentarily adrift.

“Why… why did he run?”

“Does he truly despise me that much?”

Her hand, suspended mid-air, slowly lowered.

“Then again, it’s hardly surprising, given the harsh words I spoke…”

“But… but he also bears some fault! He could have offered a proper explanation, so why wouldn’t he utter a single word to me?”

A flicker of anger ignited in her chest, yet it was swiftly eclipsed by an ineffable sense of emptiness.

It felt as though a small piece had been gouged from her very core, leaving behind an indistinct, gnawing vexation.

“Fine, then. It’s not as if I absolutely must see him,” she declared, though the conviction felt forced. “I’ll simply ask someone else later and relay the research lab’s address to Liyang.”

Celeste’s hands clenched into tight fists.

She was the academy’s prodigy, heralded as the ‘once-in-a-millennium mage’.

Countless individuals revered her, fawned over her, and even the highest officials of the royal capital dared not show her the slightest neglect.

While she had never been one to stand on ceremony or condescendingly issue orders, Celeste possessed a pride that was uniquely her own.

If Yalin truly wished to avoid her, then why should she needlessly humiliate herself?

Perhaps he was still angry, she conceded.

‘Perhaps I should just wait a little longer.’

After all, they were both enrolled in the same academy; opportunities for a future encounter were bound to arise.

‘Yes, that will be fine.’

‘Fine…’

‘But would it truly be fine?’

‘Would this really be enough?’

For reasons she couldn’t quite articulate, Celeste was suddenly seized by a profound sense of foreboding.

If she failed to pursue him now, she might forever lose the chance to speak with Yalin again.

“She… she shouldn’t have followed, right?”

Meanwhile, Yalin was currently tearing down a secluded path behind the academic building.

He felt utterly numb, almost paralyzed.

As if being poisoned by that old geezer wasn’t misfortune enough, he’d then had the sheer ill luck to stumble directly into Celeste.

‘No, seriously, I’ve fled all the way out here, how could I still run into you?’

To be entirely truthful, Yalin genuinely, absolutely did not wish to encounter this woman.

As the legendary, overpowered protagonist of the novel—the very architect of his own obliteration into dust—Yalin knew, with absolute certainty, that any entanglement with her would inevitably lead to a dismal end.

‘She’s not the protagonist I want; I’ll simply refuse!’

Furthermore, her influence on his body had yet to be fully eradicated.

While he could now effectively quell the surging impulses within him, a renewed encounter with Celeste would undoubtedly awaken that troublesome entity lurking in his consciousness, causing it to stir once more.

‘Alas, had I known this, I would have been better off staying put in the infirmary,’ he lamented.

Yalin abruptly halted, drawing in several ragged, desperate breaths.

‘No, I can’t go on. I simply can’t run anymore.’

‘This flimsy body of mine, how could it be so utterly depleted after such a short sprint?’

Still, he had covered a considerable distance; surely this was far enough.

Wiping the beads of sweat from his brow, Yalin began to think with renewed clarity.

‘It’s not a major issue,’ he reassured himself.

Having read the novel, he knew Celeste held a deep-seated aversion towards him.

While at this precise juncture, her feelings might not have escalated to outright ‘aversion,’ he surmised her favorability rating was likely hovering near absolute zero.

Therefore, she couldn’t possibly be here specifically seeking him out; she must merely be at the Alchemist’s Division on some errand, and their encounter was a sheer coincidence.

‘Of course, of course,’ he thought. ‘She’s the protagonist, after all, constantly changing locations, busy as if she were traveling by air.’

At this realization, Yalin let out a profound sigh of relief.

‘What nonsense. I’m just scaring myself.’

He decided to simply wander outside for a while, returning only after Celeste had finished her business.

Tap-tap-tap! A sudden flurry of footsteps echoed behind him.

Yalin instinctively glanced back, only to see Celeste, like a gust of wind, sprinting towards him with astonishing speed.

‘Damn it! She is coming for me!’