Chapter 31 Part 1: Connivance.

It might have been different if my emotions had subsided.
I’ve heard countless times to fight calmly, after all.

But it was a different story for my emotions to disappear completely.
It was something that couldn’t happen naturally, so I was inevitably flustered.

However, the bewilderment didn’t last long.
My emotions evaporated like a bit of water exposed to the scorching sun.

Positive ones.
Negative ones.
Any emotion disappeared in less than a second.

Reason naturally took the place of where emotions had dried up.
It started chattering, telling me to move like this here, and parry attacks like that there, sitting in the cockpit, excluding unnecessary emotions.

“Haha, student! You seem to be getting fired up!”
“I’m not a battle maniac.”

I lowered my stance, giving a perfunctory smile.
As soon as I did, Invisible Man’s leg grazed the air, and I rushed forward, thinking of one thing.

My current goal was to defeat Invisible Man.
Reason told me to rush in now that his big attack had missed and knock him down.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But before my hand could reach him, he quickly distanced himself.
Invisible Man, who repeatedly became transparent and then reappeared, made a motion as if he was grabbing something.

Reason sounded the alarm.
My body took the optimal posture to avoid the Invisible Ball before my mind could even calculate it.
With the sensation of something flying over my head, I saw Invisible Man throwing something.

A fastball?
No, the fingers were unique for a fastball.
It was probably a breaking ball.
And if so, it was clear that he would aim for the abdomen rather than the head.
So, the moment I hastily lowered my arm, I felt a considerable impact and a pain as if my arm was being squeezed.

“Ugh… Argh!”
“Aren’t you overdoing it? You look like you’re in a lot of pain.”

Invisible Man said this and gestured as if it were an easy task.

Emotions like fear and dread appeared momentarily, then dried up.
I briefly assessed the condition of my trembling arm and then slowly stared at Invisible Man.

Was it because I had drawn out my trait?
I had the illusion that an unknown sixth sense had been added.
Not just sensing with the pit organs, but… yes.

I started to feel the vibrations Invisible Man made as he moved.
Thanks to this, I felt like I could roughly picture how he was moving in my head.

“You can give up, student! You did well! You’re the only one standing!”
“Conversely… doesn’t that mean this is the only time I can learn one-on-one?”
“…Khat! Good thinking! I guess I can’t go easy on you!?”

Invisible Man smiled broadly, as if he was enjoying himself, and held something in his hand.
It felt like he was holding something long and thin rather than a sphere.

At that moment, reason sounded the alarm.

“I’ll be using the Invisible Rope from now on.”

It sounded like a trivial technique by name alone, but I knew it wasn’t.
Unlike a regular rope, it was made of energy, so it could be manipulated freely.
It was obvious that it would curve in unpredictable trajectories if he wanted it to.
An invisible rope at that.

I felt something throbbing and gave a bitter smile.
As soon as my emotions dried up, Invisible Man swung the rope he was holding.

I knew it was impossible to avoid, but my body was already skillfully dodging the rope.
Before the Invisible Rope, which changed its trajectory in mid-air, could even hit the ground to tie my body.
My body was moving as if someone else was controlling it.

“Student, you’re amazing! I’m starting to get fired up too!”

Invisible Man said this, distanced himself, and attacked even more fiercely, but it wasn’t difficult to avoid.
I judged his position and movements with the pit organs and the vibrations felt from the ground.
And the experience from countless combat training sessions, analyzing the posture I drew in my head, gave me instructions.

Without any doubt about whether I could avoid it.
My body moved first, and Invisible Man’s attacks kept missing.

I gradually closed the distance like that.
And after dodging the last Invisible Ball and Rope by twisting my body in the air.

“Oh no!”

I strongly planted my foot on the ground and threw a back kick at the surprised Invisible Man.

My foot pierced through where Invisible Man had been.
For a moment, I panicked, thinking I might have killed Invisible Man, but erasing that, my reason shouted.

I had just kicked the air, fooled by a bluff.
The real Invisible Man was somewhere else.
Realizing this, I reflexively turned my body, but Invisible Man, who had appeared at some point, brought his fingertips to my Adam’s apple.
That meant he could have subdued me long ago if he had wanted to.

“…I lost.”

I said so, adjusting my glasses that had half-slipped down.
I didn’t want to admit it since I had already lost once, but I had no choice but to admit defeat.
Then, as if he had been waiting, Invisible Man announced the end of the special training.

Only then did I realize that the other students were watching me, but the shame quickly dried up.
I was grateful that my emotions had disappeared for now and hurriedly returned to my seat.

“Your name is Lee Yeji, right? You’re the top student, after all! Amazing!”
“Haha…”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a capable student!”

Invisible Man praised me for a while with his characteristic cheerful atmosphere.
On the other hand, I couldn’t accept the praise satisfactorily.
I could roughly guess what the effect of the drug I took was.

The drug prevented my imagination from reaching an uncontrollable realm, thus eliminating illusions.
On the other hand, it was clear that the side effect was killing my emotions.
And this meant that I was regressing to my damn lab rat days.

I was shocked by this fact, but perhaps due to the effect of the drug.
The dull shock, like a hammer hitting my head, soon disappeared.

“Phew…”

I took a deep breath and pressed my hand against my chest to calm my racing heart.

If my emotions were really gone, it should have been like this since this morning.
But I had been feeling emotions well until suddenly they disappeared only during combat.

That meant it was only a problem when fighting.
Taking the drug would only be a problem when fighting like this.

On the other hand, what if I don’t take the medicine?
It was obvious that I would suffer from illusions and hallucinations in my daily life.

I don’t even need to see it.
Starting with seeing broken glass, I would see my younger self.
It would be a light matter for a researcher to approach and talk to me.

Would it just be that?
Was that all the misery I experienced as a lab rat?
Everything I despaired, hated, and wanted to curse was there.

I’m now in the light, not the shadows.
I escaped from that damn place, and I’m not tormented by those demons anymore.
So, I needed to stop being buried in the past and suffering.

How long do I have to see the damn glass window?
How long do I have to mindlessly ruminate on those scary and grim experiences?
…How long do I have to fail in my relationships with others because of those experiences?

My emotions are disappearing, and the meaning of escape is lost?
Thinking about it again, I didn’t care.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was better to have my emotions disappear when fighting than to be tormented by fictional things.

Being emotionless was also a kind of talent.
It was true, wasn’t it?
If my emotions hadn’t disappeared a while ago, I would have lost to Invisible Man.
Thinking about it, I could accept it positively.

“Haha…”

I gave a bitter laugh and made a decision.
I’ll continue to take the medicine for the time being, but I can’t keep taking it forever, can I?
So, as soon as the situation was over and I could use my phone, I immediately called my aunt.
Fortunately, my aunt answered the phone after a while.

“Yes, Aunt. It’s nothing, but the thing I’m taking.”

Was it because something pricked my conscience?
As soon as I said that, my aunt started asking what was wrong in an agitated voice.

It was a matter of life and death, so she must have been desperate.
I briefly licked my tongue and continued.

“I think there will be a problem if I don’t change it.”

And I immediately explained the situation.
I took the medicine today and entered combat for the first time, and my emotions disappeared.
I didn’t feel anything fictional, but the side effect seems to be the disappearance of emotions.
Thanks to that, I achieved results in special training, but my aunt would know what I mean.

“So, could you please do something about it?”

The moment I said that, my aunt smiled and replied.
It’s impossible for now.
As you know, this is physically impossible.

I nodded because that was the truth.
I wasn’t asking her to solve it right away.
It would be great if she could find a solution and a way to do it in the near future.

Until then… well, um. There’s nothing I can do.

I have no choice but to overlook it.