The Novel's Professor

In a tall, gigantic building from the Royal Capital—a brown haired man with purple eyes walked out from the entrance.

[That was so long....] Faust complained, hovering around Rio. [You should have just ran on them. That took so long. They asked too many irrelevant questions! I feel like I would have just destroyed the whole building if I was still alive!]

"Are you insane? They're one of the largest organizations in the world," Rio said, his head shaking. Just earlier, he had been interrogated by the TAOJ.

He was bombarded with questions one after another, from how he got there, what he was doing, and finally, his involvement with Aza. It was a long painful process... It would have probably been much longer if he didn't have a reputable background.

As a Volund Academy professor, regardless of rank—the academy itself could testify to his innocence. That is unless, there was direct evidence presented against him, at that point the academy would just turn their backs on him.

As for the questions... He just answered that he had got there through a portal. Not like they could confirm since the entire sector of the Harrowing Lands was destroyed. For what he was doing... he reasoned about the nascent bead rumor. Then involvement with Aza, he just explained that the man seemed suspicious, so he had killed the man.

Well... surprisingly, they believed in him. Color him surprise, he thought they would at least doubt his words, but it seemed it was perfectly valid to kill Aza merely because of suspicion.

[So what?] Faust said. [You gotta have more spine in you! An organization is nothing compared to a true power…!]

"Suit yourself, old man..." Rio muttered, his head shaking. He shifted his gaze above, staring at the clear blue sky... Not that he had an eye for beauty, but the sky was beautiful as always.

He had missed it. It brought out a semblance of peace and tranquility.

Beep—!

Suddenly, the smartwatch attached on his wrist rang. Rio shifted his attention to the device, pressing it.

Beep—!

From the smartwatch, a hologram of a figure suddenly projected. Rio raised his brows, staring at the figure with interest. It was Director Guinevere.

"Salem? Is this Salem?" Director Guinevere's voice spoke from the smartwatch.

"...Right, this is Rio Salem," Rio answered. "What brought you in to call Director Guinevere?"

"Ah, nothing. I'm just here to remind you of the meeting tomorrow," Guinevere replied, waving his hand in dismissal.

"Meeting?" Rio frowned, confused.

"Well, I decided to host a meeting from the academy to introduce you and the other recruit," Guinevere answered. "It's important for the other teachers to know their new upcoming peer."

"Other recruit?" Rio asked, tilting his head. If there was one new other recruit, it should be that woman...

"Yeah, you should be able to meet her tomorrow," Guinevere said. "In any case, that's all. Do you still have any questions? I'm hanging up now."

"Alright, just send me the time of the meeting later," Rio said, his body walking to a large decorative building. The building had a lot of people going in and outside through it.

Beep—!

The smartwatch beeped as the hologram disappeared. Director Guinevere had hanged up. Rio sighed. It was a start of another arc on the novel tomorrow.

[Hey, wait up..!] Faust shouted, following Rio's body. [Where are you going, anyway? Shouldn't you return to the academy now?]

"Nothing. I'm just going to entertain and relax myself for a while," Rio said, entering the large building. For this day, he was going to relax and treat himself a vacation. He needed it.

—

? [Wow...] Faust gaped, shock. [You utterly suck at playing these kinds of games.]

"Shut up," Rio said, his hand dropping the controller. On the screen, an announcement popped out.

[You Died.]

[Let me try!] Faust chuckled, his hand grasping over the controller. [I'l show you how it's done. A master would showcase his disciple of the ways! This is your first lesson!]

"Can you even grab that...?" Rio asked, his brows raising in interest. As far as his knowledge goes, spirits without medium couldn't touch anything from the material world. 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

[...Well, no—but there is a way!] Faust answered, his body sitting beside Rio. [As long as you allow me to control your b—]

"Yeah, no." Rio rejected immediately, his body standing up from the comfy cushion. He would never allow that. Losing control of his body was uncomfortable.

Suddenly, from behind him, he heard Faust mutter:

[Heh...my disciple has already turned against me. This is not good... How could I peacefully entrust my legacy to someone so cold to his master...?]

Rio stopped, his face twitching. He spoke, "You do know that you have no choice right?"

[How cruel...how evil..] Faust exaggeratedly sighed, [What an unloyal disciple. Tsk tsk, how could I ever help my disciple if this is how he wou—]

"Alright, alright. Fine." Rio sighed, complying with the man. He sat down on the comfy cushion, holding the controller. It shouldn't be that bad.

[As expected of my disciple!] Faust shouted in glee, entering Rio's body. [As your master, I knew you had a great compassionate, and loyal heart... I knew I never made a mistake!]

"Alright, you can shut up now.." Rio shook his head. "Now, wha—!?"

Suddenly, he felt himself lose control of his body. His spirit suddenly s1et aside as he watched Faust control his body.

"Alright!" 'Faust,' said, his hand grasping over the controller. "I'l show you how a real man plays! Watch this!"

Rio nodded, closing his mouth. That experience...was terrifying. He couldn't properly explain the feeling, but his spirit was immediately shafted to the side.

"One down!" 'Faust' shouted, rapidly pressing and moving the controller. "Two down! And three! Finally for th—"

[You Died.]

'Faust' went silent, his hand dropping the controller. Behind him, Rio sighed, his head shaking.

"One mor—" 'Faust' shouted before getting interrupted midway as Rio forced his spirit out of the body.

"...No more," Rio uttered, his body standing up from the comfy cushion. He straightened his back as he walked out of the place.

"You're oddly silent," Rio said, furrowing his brows in confusion. "I thought you were going to teach me how to play like a 'real man'?"

[I was just unlucky...] Faust sighed gloomily, his body hovering in the air. [So where are we going next?]

"We'l just walk around and see if there's anything that would interest me," Rio replied, staring at the scene in front of him.

The loud choruses of other people's chattering resounded, bringing liveliness to the place. There were a lot of people wandering around, most were with families and friends, others were alone, just like him. However, all of them had satisfied smiles plastered on their faces as they wandered around.

"Well, let's get going then," Rio said, taking a step forward as he wandered around the mall. How he wished everyday could be as relaxing and at ease as this one.

—

Inside the academy, a dark red wisp entered at one of the student dormitories. The dark red wisp shone through the night, glowing amidst the darkness.

It flew through one of the beds—dropping to the sleeping student. Suddenly, the student abruptly woke up, feeling something enter within him.

"...Wh-what was...that?!" The student said, his eyes wandering around the room. He had just felt something enter within him. His body shuddered as he tried looking at his body.

[Are you calling for me, boy...?] A voice resounded inside the room, echoing in his ears.

The student immediately grew frightened, his eyes shuddering in fright. He crawled himself to the back of the wall, asking. "Wh—who are...you?"

[Me?] The alluring voice resounded. [I would tell you, only if you form a contract with me. But, I'm an Archdevil...you may call me, Envy.]

"E-envy...?" The student asked, bewildered.

[That's right. Envy. The sin and desire to be something more—to be something you could never be,] The alluring voice said. [That is the sin of Envy, and...within you, boundless envy exist. That's why I'm here, to grant you of your desires and perfect the ideal you seek.]

The student went silent, his mouth closing. After a while of silence, he opened his mouth once more.

"Can you really grant what I want...?"

[Believe me, my child..] The alluring voice replied. [As long as you form a contract with me, everything you wish and desire for will instantly be yours.]

"...I don't believe you," The student spat out, his head shaking. The shaking of his body stopped. "Give me your name, then I would trust you."

[Boy...] The alluring voice uttered.

The student blinked, a frown forming on his face as an oppressing silence descended on the room.

Woosh—!

Suddenly, the student slammed onto the wall—a mark of a hand choking his throat. The student choked, gurgling out his saliva. "Ah..ha...ah..!!"

[Don't go too far.... Listen to me right now, form a contract with me or els—] The alluring voice said before suddenly vanishing.

Woosh—!

The student fell to the ground as loud thud resounded. In that moment, a knock resounded from his door.

Knock—!

"Hey, kid. Keep it down, it's already night!" A voice complained outside the door, irritation seeping into their voice.

"Ah! Sorry!" The student apologized. Should he report about it...? No...nevermind, it's not like anyone was going to believe him. "I accidentally fell out of bed!"

"Alright, go back to sleep!" The voice said before leaving.

The student sighed, shaking his head. He put his arm in his throat, checking its condition. He could feel a large mark plastered around it. He should probably check in the mirror…

Before he stood up, his eyes darted around the room, searching for the devil from earlier... There was nothing. Maybe it was already gone.

"Hopefully..." He muttered as he stood up. He walked to the mirror in his room. He raised his head as he stared at his figure. His eyes widened as his mouth opened in disbelief.

Behind him, a pale, beautiful figure stood. The figure had countless eyes on her face while her dress was filled with ornaments of all kinds. She chuckled, staring at him.

[Did you think I was already gone?]