I hate alcohol and cigarettes.
Alcohol turns people, who are no different from animals without intellect, into beasts. It casually obliterates the bare minimum of decency that might have existed. It’s a nasty drug.
Cigarettes have made people idiots. They’ve wrecked my already sensitive nose and throat. I couldn’t understand why anyone would pay to smoke trash.
After childhood, I had to work to make a living.
It was a tough time, but honestly, it wasn’t unbearable.
With no real education, all I could do was manual labor or part-time jobs.
But since my body was weak, I got rejected from all simple labor jobs, and the only part-time work I managed to get was at a convenience store.
The most popular items at the convenience store were always alcohol and cigarettes.
I really dislike alcohol and cigarettes. I hate seeing them, I hate their smell and taste. I just hate their very existence.
But that’s just my opinion, based on my experience.
Others might think differently. There were plenty of people causing ruckus after getting drunk, and many who chain-smoked themselves to death.
On the other hand, there were also those who could drink without a problem, and those who smoked and still lived well.
I hate consuming them. Their smell disgusts me, and I don’t even want to look at them.
But I never forced my thoughts on others. Honestly, if they weren’t trying to push it on me, I couldn’t care less.
Even if Professor Atra drank or chain-smoked, that was none of my business.
Sure, the smell might irritate me and make me want to keep my distance, but I wouldn’t go around giving unsolicited advice.
And besides, it wouldn’t make me faint just from smelling a bit. I had a seizure from that before, but now I’ve adapted to just finding it unpleasant.
So why was I feeling this way just now?
Setting aside my spatial awareness, I thought wrapped in blankets.
When I first woke up, I almost panicked, but as the world went dark and I was wrapped in the warm, soft blanket, I slowly started to feel at ease.
Memories just before I fainted came flooding back. After parting ways with my party in the dungeon, I ran into Professor Atra on the way to the library.
And then… the extremely unpleasant memory.
‘Ugh…’
My stomach churned. The pain stabbing at my gut was an added bonus. Fortunately, there was nothing left to throw up. I already emptied everything on the street earlier.
I trembled. My body was shaking uncontrollably.
I curled up, trying to shrink myself as much as possible, pulling the blanket closer to eliminate any gaps for a comfortable space.
‘Adaptation.’
Getting hit hurt. So I adapted. The next time I got hit, it hurt less.
Hearing curses also stung my heart, but it slowly got easier to handle.
I could even adapt to my blurry vision. My aching arm? Adapted. My sore throat that made it hard to speak? Adapted too.
Even when I got hit by a drunk driver and my leg was temporarily incapacitated, I grew accustomed to it over time.
Adaptation.
Living beings always adapt to their environment. The environment changes every moment, so beings must change as well.
I was no different. Complaining about my current situation wouldn’t help at all. I had to accept and adapt.
I still had to do that now.
“Haah, huff…”
I took a deep breath. I became aware of my lungs filled to the brim with air and slowly exhaled. I repeated this.
‘It’s okay.’
The current pain, the throbbing headache, my churning stomach, the disgust…
I could adapt to it all. I had done it countless times before. If I couldn’t adapt, I would just collapse and fade away. I had to push through to survive.
As I repeated my deep breaths, the queasiness gradually subsided. I steeled myself and threw off the blanket.
“Lee Ha-yul?”
‘Ugh…’
Professor Riana’s voice slipped through the crack where I had thrown off the covers.
Despite closing my spatial awareness, the remnants of the past still pressed upon me, and I felt crushed.
‘It’s okay…’
It was merely something I had overcome in the past. For some reason, it had flared up again, but I had gotten over it once; I could do it again.
I cautiously expanded my spatial awareness, not overly wide, just enough to see the infirmary’s interior.
First, I spotted Professor Riana standing a little away from my bed, looking at me with a perplexed expression.
“Are you alright? You looked a bit off a moment ago.”
Her voice was filled with concern. I let out a sigh of relief inside and slowly pulled my head out from under the blanket.
Just a moment ago, I instinctively shrank back and then realized that was silly. I had been rude to someone who was worried about me.
[I’m fine. Sorry about earlier.]
“Oh, it’s fine. I just want you to feel better.”
Professor Riana assessed my condition and spoke tentatively.
“May I ask what happened?”
That was the question I had expected. I thought for a moment before tapping my smartwatch.
[Before that, can I ask one thing?]
“Of course, go ahead.”
[Did you drink yesterday?]
Professor Riana’s body froze. She blinked a couple of times, then tilted her head, looking embarrassed.
“…Alcohol? I did drink yesterday… How did you know?”
I paused my fingers for a moment.
How did I know…? What should I even say in response?
I smelled it? No, my sense of smell was sealed by a curse.
[I just had a feeling.]
“Uh…? Just…?”
But I was right. I couldn’t smell it, but my body reacted. Faster than spatial awareness or magical affinity.
My answer seemed to solidify Professor Riana’s face. Then she slowly brought her wrist to her nose.
“…Did I smell?”
[No, you didn’t smell.]
It wasn’t a lie since my nose couldn’t function. Professor Riana looked skeptical, her face darkening as she checked her body.
“I showered as soon as I got in…? I used a ton of cleaning magic…”
[You didn’t smell.]
Powerful waves of magic swirled around Professor Riana’s body as the cleaning spell formed. Dozens of cleaning spells surrounded her.
I watched it in a daze, slowly turning my head away. I deliberately chose to avoid that direction.
The front of the bed. There was Professor Atra, leaning against the wall with an unusually different expression than her usual indifferent one. It was a subtle change, but my spatial awareness made it clear.
‘…….’
Cold sweat dripped down my brow. I recalled the moment just before fainting.
Meeting Professor Atra… and then vomiting in her face. I had involuntarily shown my disdain and retreated, only to vomit and faint in front of a genuinely concerned person.
How terrible must it have felt for Professor Atra? Just imagining it made me shudder. What an act of rudeness. It was beyond humiliating…
[I’m really sorry.]
I paused my hands after writing that. What more could I apologize for? Should I say I was truly sorry for vomiting in her face?
“Apology unnecessary.”
While I was caught up in thought, those words voice startled me. I flinched, my shoulders twitching. It seemed to mean that an apology wasn’t needed. Honestly, I was deserving of that remark.
While I was scanning the room, Professor Atra, who had been scrutinizing my face, shifted her gaze and asked.
“…Are you feeling okay?”
[Yes, I’m fine.]
“That’s good. If anything feels off, tell me immediately.”
[Okay.]
A conversation I hadn’t expected passed between us. I was bewildered as I studied Professor Atra more intently. Her expression was different from usual, but she didn’t seem upset.
‘What’s going on?’
“You’ve woken up, so I’ll take my leave. If you have anything to say, feel free to contact me.”
Professor Atra turned, asked me a few questions about my condition, and marched out of the infirmary without hesitation.
She didn’t even ask why I had behaved that way a moment ago.
…What was that?
.
.
.
After casting cleaning magic over a hundred times, I briefly explained my situation to Professor Riana, who had come to her senses.
I mentioned that I had bad memories regarding alcohol and cigarettes, but for some reason this time the backlash was severe, and I didn’t know why.
“Hmm… So you think it could be a mental issue? Do you have the results from a psychological evaluation? You should have undergone one during your entrance exam.”
[What’s that?]
“Huh?”
[Huh?]
I learned a few things during our conversation. Ordinarily, students would take a psychological evaluation alongside their entrance exam, but I hadn’t gone through that.
It was meant to find out if there were any mental issues, but for some reason, I had skipped it.
“…Huh?”
Professor Riana tilted her head.
“Uh… didn’t they tell you it was special admission? Even so, skipping this natural procedure…? Ugh, I don’t know.”
Professor Riana ruffled her hair roughly, letting out a sigh. It was full of confusion.
“Let’s take the evaluation together next time. It won’t hurt to do it.”
With that, Professor Riana suddenly checked the time on her smartwatch.
It was already past lunchtime.
“What do you want to do? You can leave right away, but do you want to rest a bit first?”
[Yeah, I’ll rest a bit before heading back.]
“Alright. Then I’ll head out first. Make sure to contact me if anything comes up!”
After several reminders to contact her if any issues arose, Professor Riana left the infirmary.
“……”
Finally, I was alone. I released the tension I had been holding onto precariously. My body sank backward. The soft sensation wrapped around me.
“Ugh, ahh…”
I barely held back. Though I tried not to show it, my emotions ran wild, and I wanted to run away immediately.
The presence of Professor Atra still felt intimidating and unpleasant. As for Professor Riana… she was less so than Professor Atra but still elicited a sense of aversion.
‘I’m exhausted…’
I had just come out of the dungeon a few hours ago, and get a load of this. A heavy sigh escaped me as I frowned and hugged the pillow tightly.
It was just an extra bonus to toss the blanket over myself.
With a moment to calm down, my condition gradually began to improve, perhaps because both of them had finally disappeared from the area.
‘…What should I do?’
I had planned to head straight to the library, but with how I was currently feeling, that was a no-go. I was mentally too drained to walk to the library. If I forced myself, I might faint again.
But I couldn’t just kill time aimlessly.
My dungeon practice just ended, but there was something far more important lined up for next week.
Entering the Tower of Growth.
The event where the real snowball effect begins in the original story. How effectively I could take advantage of this would determine the trajectory of my growth curve from here on out.
I was supposed to check the magical anomalies and get ready right away… only, my schedule had completely gone haywire.
Today was Tuesday, and entering the Tower of Growth was next Monday.
I had at most six days left. Time was tight.
Other students were probably in the same predicament. They were most likely preparing for next week’s schedule with equal parts worry and excitement.
But I had to prepare even more than that. It was because of the label of being a special admission student.
This time, all first-year students would be entering the tower.
The problem wasn’t about participating; it was the competition allowed among students inside the tower. The pain would be minimal, and injuries would just be illusions—designed to encourage proper competition.
The issue here was the label of special admission.
In essence, it was a continuation from the last Aiden incident.
Aiden had apologized and then expressed his curiosity.
What made me so special? What was so great that I got in through special admission? I didn’t really get it.
So, let’s see what they think.
That kind of thought would likely flood in from the other students.
That’s how it went in the original story.
In the main storyline part one, the students who were initially not really fond of the player would unceremoniously pull off events…
If I succeeded here, my growth curve would trend upward. Failure would result in stagnation, of course.
And with such an important event less than a week away, here I was dealing with all this nonsense.
A sigh escaped me repeatedly.
I couldn’t afford to do nothing, so I activated the magic books I had downloaded onto my smartwatch into hologram form.
.
.
.
– Knock… creak.
“Ha-yul, are you feeling okay…?”
‘Ah.’
Hong Yeon-hwa appeared to check on me shortly after Professor Riana had left.
After a cautious knock, she poked her upper body through the slightly ajar door.
In her hand, she held a bag filled with magic-infused nutrients.
I could sense no discomfort or aversion from her presence at all.
From her blinking red eyes, I could wholeheartedly feel the concern and warm energy radiating off her.
It was a soft, fluffy emotion that defied precise description.
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