Sitting down on a large white table, I nervously drank the cup of water in front of me.
...If I said I wasn't nervous at the moment that would be a lie. In fact, my back was drenched in sweat.
That was because sitting in front of me was—Melissa Hall, one of the main protagonists
Wearing the azure blue uniform provided by the academy, Melissa sat down in front of me.
She was currently elegantly drinking the hot tea that was provided by a servant standing behind her.
...which by the way was glaring in my direction.
Taking a quick look at her one word came into my mind.
'Beautiful'
She had smooth and milky skin that did not have any flaws. Most notably, her most dazzling feature was her pair of large enchanting light blue eyes that were further emphasized by her thinly framed glasses. As she sat in front of me, a cold and arrogant aura expanded from her graceful body making it seem as if anything was beneath her.
"What are you staring so absent-mindedly at?"
"..eh?"
Waking me up from my stupor was Melissa's annoyed voice as she put her teacup down.
"Had I known you were mentally challenged, I wouldn't have bothered meeting you"
"..."
Feeling a slight tap on her shoulder, Melissa's eyes slightly twitched "Oh my, it seems like my tongue has slipped. Please find it within your heart to forgive this pitiful lady"
"..."
"tch"
Clicking her tongue, Melissa slightly glared at her servant behind her. Seeing that he remained unfazed, crossing her arms and legs, she then proceeded to look at me
"When most guys lay their eyes upon me, they shower me with praises and tell me how my beauty is unmatched throughout the whole academy"
"At least it seems you're not one of those corny guys..."
"Don't worry, if you just state your purpose and leave right after, I might make a slight effort in remembering your name"
...yup, this prickly personality. It was definitely her alright.
This was exactly why I tried my best to avoid her.
If not for the fact that she was the only one that could provide me with cheap high-quality potions, I would've never for the love of God even have bothered talking to her.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I was nervous in front of her because she was beautiful or any of those stupid reasons...it mainly was due to how 'extreme' she tended to be at times.
At one point in my novel, once Kevin did something to piss her off, to retaliate, she directly used him as a lab rat for a new potion she was developing...and let's just say that Kevin didn't recover for at least a week.
"Ah but, If you're here looking for a chance to date me then you might as well pack up your stuff and leave. I don't talk to the delusional"
"No, thank you"
Stopping her right before she could continue speaking any further abuse, I went straight to the point.
"I'm here to make a deal"
"...oh? A deal? Is this your roundabout way of asking me for a date?"
"It's a business proposition"
Though she was skeptical, Melissa paused and allow me to speak
"...go on"
"I would like Melissa Hal-khuk"
Before I could finish my sentence a strong pressure started emanating from Melissa as her sharp eyes looked down on me. Because of how sudden this was, I was caught off guard. Raising my hand up, I said
"...let me finish"
"Watch your words carefully"
"I would like for you, Melissa Hall to sell me the potions that you've made"
"...oh?"
Carefully scrutinizing me up and down, she shook her head in disappointment.
"The only reason I came here was because you slightly interested me. I mean you were the guy that came up with the mana poisoning theory"
"...ah thank you"
"Funnily enough, I was also doing similar research—too bad I was only missing the experimentation phase"
...shit
So that's who came up with the mana poisoning solution...no wonder her servant was glaring at me. Honestly, since then professor Rombhouse has always pestered me non-stop regarding the theory. It was only after I thoroughly explained the theory behind it that he finally relented and let me be.
"I thought that you wanted to talk to me about something important...but it seems like I got the wrong idea about you. Let me be clear, I am not your potion salve"
Standing up, Melissa prepared to leave.
"It was nice knowing you..err, whatever you are called"
"Wait"
Seeing her leave, I immediately tried to call for her only to be ignored. Just as she was about to open the door, I finally decided to release the bait that I had planned to use from the beginning.
"...oh well it's really too bad...and here I was thinking of helping you solve Slovaki's monster energy transfer theory..tut, tut, tut, what a pity"
Halting her steps, Melissa looked back at me.
"You...you, what did you say?"
Gritting her teeth and clenching her hands, Melissa glared in my direction only to be left speechless as I laid my feet on the table and nonchalantly picked my ear.
Looking up, and seeing Melissa I said
"Ehh? I thought you were leaving? Shoo, shoo, if you're leaving then just leave. You don't need to take pity on me"
Seeing that I got a reaction from her, I continued with my act. With a person like her, if you didn't take the initiative then you would stand to lose more than you could gain.
Waving my hand to shoo her away, I took out my phone and started a game.
-Bam!
Smacking her hand on the table, Melissa smilingly looked at me.
...well her mouth was smiling but her eyes weren't.
"Oh? I thought you were leaving?"
"...I had a change of heart"
"Well isn't that great!"
Putting my phone back in my pocket, I returned to my serious self. If I really pushed her too much, then I wouldn't even know how I died.
"kheum..kheumm, so do we have a deal?"
"...How do I know you're not lying?"
Squinting her eyes, Melissa once again exuded her pressure over me.
...to be fair, it wasn't actually that much. She was probably around the same level of strength as me at the moment...maybe I was stronger? But well...it wasn't something that I should be proud of since combat wasn't her expertise.
"How about this, I'll give you half of the theory beforehand and the other half once the deal is done"
"hmmm...but what if the second half doesn't work?"
Rolling my eyes, I said
"Do you really think I have the balls to give you some non-functioning theory?"
"...Good point"
Gesturing her servant behind her, Melissa took out her tablet and started writing a contract. We soon spent the next fifteen minutes agreeing on the terms of the contract.
"This okay?"
"yup, everything seems good"
Looking at the contents of the contract, I nodded in satisfaction.
Basically in exchange for my research Melissa would provide me with intermediate potions, provided that I would pay for the cost of the raw materials. The potions that she would make included [Stamina recovery potion] [Muscle recovery potion] [Strenght enhancement potion] and so on...
Potions were graded from Low, mid, intermediate, high, advanced, and premium, with each grade being a major improvement on the last.
Before, the potions I always used were low leveled ones, hence why they were cheap. But now thanks to Melissa's fine skills, I could use Intermediate potions at prices far below the current market price saving me millions of U.
...yes, although I could've made more money by just asking Smallsnake to sell the theory for me, that would've been the dumbest choice.
What do you think would to the world if I were to suddenly release such an important theory? I could pretty much already envision myself destroying the whole plotline.
..let's not do that.
"Then sign it"
Seeing the smirk that had appeared on my face, Melissa's mouth twitched as she urged me to sign the contract. She could hope for nothing more but to wipe the smile off my face.
Tapping on the tablet, a holographic paper appeared before me. Using my finger I swiftly signed the virtual paper.
"...alright hold your end of the deal"
"Okay"
Taking out a small USB from my bag I handed it to Melissa. Inside of the USB was the first half of the Slovaki monster energy transfer theory.
To summarize what it was, it was basically a theory that proved that monster cores were created by monsters accumulating energy inside of their bodies.
Though what I handed Melissa was not perfect it had all the correct concepts and data to prove the theory...a lot of scientific terms and data were missing, but with the aid of the web I made the research somewhat presentable. Plus a genius like Melissa could easily understand what was inferred from the paper.
This theory was extremely important to Melissa and the world because if she could somehow, with the aid of theory, produce an artificial core it would create a major scientific breakthrough.
Cores would no longer be something that could only be found if someone was lucky...just the levels at which humanity would develop would drastically increase the chances of the world surviving.
...well, to be honest, even though she was one step closer to her dream of creating an artificial core, she was still missing the crucial piece which she learned of after already knowing this theory for a couple of years...in short, even if I gave her this theory right now, it would have no effect on the story.
Regarding the crucial piece. I wasn't going to give it to her no matter how much she begged me to...If she pushed through the full theory regarding the creation of artificially created cores, then she would undoubtedly die.
When she pushed this theory forward in the novel, it was already the late stages of the novel and she was strong enough to defend herself against S ranked villains.
Because of how world-shaking artificial cores were, demons did everything they possibly could to try to kill whoever was responsible for creating them. They used every means possible to eliminate any traces of this theory from existing...It was that much of a threat.
...if Melissa were to be subjected to this at this point in the novel then god knows what the consequences would be.
I had already taken a huge risk by giving her the Slovaki's monster energy transfer theory. Though this would have little to no impact on the story, it was better to reduce any possible liabilities.
...yup. I scammed her.
"Tch, what did you say your name was?"
"Ren Dover"
"...Ren Dover"
Repeating the name a few times, Melissa looked at me dead in the eyes and said
"Do you know what's the scary part about women?"
Feeling the atmosphere become tense I took a step back
"...what if I don't want to know?"
"It's the fact that we never forget our grudges..."
"Personally, I always pay my debt back...with interest"
-Gulp!
Hearing her words, I involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva. As I was the author, I knew she wasn't lying. If she set her mind to something she will try to achieve it regardless of what stood in her way.
"Hehe, I had heard the famed name of Melissa hall, the most beautiful, charming, and generous woman in the whole academy."
"Oh my, would you look at that, it seems like time is tight and must go to my appointment. Let's get along with each other and not hold grudges haha"
Pretending to look at my watch, I came up with an excuse and immediately left. Staying any longer would only spell bad news for me.
...
Watching Ren leave, Melissa's face darkened.
Arriving next to Melissa and noticing her expression, her servant asked
"Miss, do you want me to deal with him?"
Thinking for a moment, she shook her head
"...forget about it, I still need my second part of the theory and it's not like I didn't benefit from this deal"
Though she said that, Melissa was fuming.
To actually dare take advantage of her like that...
Melissa suppressed the fury rising from her heart and engraved the man's name in her head.
Ren Dover, Ren Dover.
Congratulations, you have succeeded in making me remember your name.
-Pak! -Pak! -Pak!
Inside of a large spacious room, a lone figure bounced around a punching bag. His figure seemed to melt with the shadows around the room, appearing and disappearing constantly.
Each time his figure emerged from the shadows his fist would instantly connect with the punching bag resulting in a small indentation appearing on the bag.
The force of each punch was so strong that small shockwaves were released every time he hit the punching bag.
If not for the fact that the material used for making the punching bag was unique, it would've already been broken a dozen times over.
"Huff, huff, huff"
Stopping, the figure's body which seemed to be sculpted to perfection, heavily gulped for air.
Droplets of sweat dripped all over his shirtless figure, giving him a wild and manly aura.
Taking a water bottle from the ground, the handsome figure took big gulps of water. Soon he exhaled in satisfaction. After drinking his fill, the figure dropped to the ground exhausted and leaned on the wall.
-Knock! -Knock!
Hearing the sound of someone knocking, the figure indifferently spoke
"...Come in"
Soon the door opened, revealing the features of a burly individual whose hair was cut in a buzzcut. His towering figure that looked to be nearing 2 meters made him look intimidating.
"Young master Jin, I heard you called me"
Apatethically nodding his head, Jin slowly stood up and grabbed a towel from a nearby table.
Drying his wet hair, he slowly approached Arnold who stood with his back straight and breathing lightly, not daring to even make a sound.
-Bam!
Arriving beside Arnold, Jin punched his stomach with all his might, causing Arnold's body to bend over as his eyes shot wide open.
"Guuuaah...ghhh..khhh"
"To actually be unable to deal with a mere bug"
Disdainfully looking at Arnold, Jin threw the towel that was drenched in his sweat at his face.
"Stand up"
"khh"
Holding his stomach, Arnold slowly stood up as Jin ordered.
"...To think you would resort to such stupid tricks to harass someone that isn't even worth my notice"
"B-but!"
"Shut up"
Jin's mood was terrible.
Recalling the lone figure sitting on the right side of the classroom, Jin's teeth clenched.
Ren. Ren Dover.
That was the name of the student that fouled his mood.
Previously, he didn't really put Ren in his sight. He only knew that Arnold had a slight grudge against him...But just recently he received a certain piece of news that irked him.
It told him that Melissa had granted Ren a meeting with her, and moreover, it seemed that they talked for over ten minutes.
Not even he could talk to Melissa for that long despite the fact that they were living in the same dorm.
With a dark face, Jin said
"I'll ask Troy to deal with him...at least he can finish the job"
Hearing Troy's name being mention, Arnold immediately protested
"Please let me!"
"...oh?"
Seeing Arnold's determination, Jin couldn't help but glance at him.
"What makes you think you can do it after failing already?"
"Because Kevin was the one that prevented me from finishing the mission"
"...hm I guess you're right"
Patting Arnold in the shoulder, Jin gloomily said
"Make sure you make his life is miserable..."
"Yes"
Nodding solemnly, Arnold left the training room.
-Baaam!
-Tsshhhhh
Soon after Arnold left the room, Jin walked back to the punching machine and punched it with all his might. A large shockwave swept the room and fine granules of sand started falling from the sack as a tear appeared on it.
"...How dare you approach Melissa!"
...
"Whew, I thought I was lost."
After switching buses four times, I finally arrived at the appointed location. A large fancy board with the words <<Epsilon cafe>> imprinted on it immediately caught my attention.
Entering the cafe, instantly the heavy scent of coffee hit my nostrils. Wooden chairs and tables spread all over the cafe. A relaxed and tranquil atmosphere enveloped the place promoting me to relax along with the atmosphere.
Looking around I soon found smallsnake
Wearing a black baseball cap and a mask, smallsnake sat in the corner of the café. I was easily able to find him because he was wearing exactly what he used to wear whenever he would meet Kevin.
Taking note of that, I went and ordered an iced latté
After paying and receiving my latté I headed to where smallsnake was.
We had agreed beforehand that we both must order a latté beforehand in order to make sure we got the right person. Since our faces were covered, we had no idea how we looked like so this was the easiest method.
"Yooo"
Comfortably sitting on the green sofa in front of smallsnake I placed my latté down and hung my arm on the side of the sofa.
Seeing me sit down, smallsnake placed his drink down and looked at me strangely
"...are you wearing a face mask?"
"Nope"
Hearing my straightforward response, smallsnake sighed and shook his head.
"Aren't you afraid I will rat you out and keep all the money you made?"
"Nope, I have a good eye for people and my instincts are telling me that you're not a person that would rat me out for small gains"
Well, I wasn't lying when I said I had a good eye for people. Knowing my novel very well I knew exactly what kind of person he was...it's just that he didn't need to know this part.
"I wouldn't really call those small gains though...you're weird"
Laughing lightly, smallsnake shook his head and slowly took off his hat and mask.
"If you're willing to trust me that much, I might as well reciprocate"
Soon his face was revealed. He had short black hair, deep green eyes, and a childish-looking face. However, despite his childish features, his demeanor was nothing but childish. He felt like someone who had gone through many ups and downs in his life. Someone that had survived many years in the most unimaginable places on earth...
"I'm glad I've gained your trust...so what did you call me here for?"
Taking a sip of my latté I went straight to the point.
Looking around, smallsnake leaned forward and whispered
"...A third party is looking for my traces"
"The authorities?"
"No, I've been very careful and though the authorities are indeed trying to trace me they are not doing it as aggressively as the other party"
"hmmm"
Leaning back on my sofa, I contemplated for a bit before saying
"It should be W.V. Pharmaceuticals"
"I also thought the same but I don't have concrete proof"
"No, it's them"
"...what makes you so sure about that?"
"Well, it's because they were the ones that ordered for Thobias Church's death"
"What!?"
Abruptly standing up, smallsnake raised his voice and looked at me in disbelief
"oy, calm down"
Seeing everyone staring in our direction, I lightly sighed and urged him to sit down.
"...you, how do you know?"
"Relax, I am not part of them if that's what your thinking"
Taking a sip of my latté I stared at smallsnake who was sitting up straight and eagerly waiting for me to continue speaking.
"If you wanna know how I got the information I'm sorry but that's confidential"
Even if I wanted to tell him who told me, I couldn't. It's not like I could explain to him that he was merely a side character of a world that I had created.
Lightly disappointed, smallsnake said
"No I get it, but is what you said real?"
"100%"
Since I was the one who wrote about the event I obviously knew who did it. W.V the second largest company hired silent creeper to kill Thobias Church. The reason why he was able to kill him without any trace was because they had planted a mole inside of C.B and made use of the mole to help silent creeper kill Thobias church.
The reason why they got rid of him was obvious...they wanted to be the number one. Having been overshadowed ever since opening, the higherups had decided they had enough. Since they couldn't defeat them legally, they resorted to killing their best researcher.
"...what are you planning on doing with this information?"
"Nothing"
"eh?"
Raising his voice, smallsnake looked at me as if he was looking at an idiot.
I mean who wouldn't want to capitalize on this piece of news to make even more money? If I could prove that W.V was behind Thobias Church's death then the stock of W.V would plummet. Moreover, with my newly acquired funds, the amount of money I would make would be frightening.
"...first off and more importantly, I don't have any proof. Even if I know that W.V is behind it, I can't do anything about it since I can't prove my claim"
"That's true"
"Secondly, if we do release the news about what had happened then the pharmaceutical market will completely crash resulting in prices for potions to increase drastically"
Nodding, smallsnake thought for a bit and agreed with what I had said.
Even if we did manage to release the news and prove that W.V pharmaceuticals were guilty it would cause total chaos in the industry resulting in prices for potions inflating drastically. Simply put, no one wanted that. I would gain nothing from it, and quite possibly, the thought of interacting with Melissa once again to renegotiate the prices of potions sent shivers down my spine.
"...okay, then I better leave now. Since I know who the party is I no longer need to worry about being discovered"
"Alright"
Standing up, I took my half-empty latté and left the café with smallsnake. Soon we split up.
Checking my watch and seeing that I still had quite a bit of free time I decided to roam around and see if there was anything that could catch my interest.
Though the streets weren't busy, I could see people going in and out of shops everywhere. There was a single road where cars passed and on the right and left side of the road shops filled the streets.
Large billboards with beautiful ladies and handsome men could be seen everywhere as they each advertised different products. Perfume, toys, clothing, you name it, they had it all.
"...hm?"
Stopping, I looked at a large fluorescent sign.
<<Antique shop>>
"Antique shop? I wonder if they have anything interesting here."
-Dling! -Dling!
Opening the door, the bells on the door lightly tolled. Instantly a heavy scent of wood hit my nostrils reminding me of my grandparent's house back in my previous world. It smelled funky.
"Welcome"
Greeting me was an old man with a large grey beard and a set of white hair. Nodding in his direction I looked around.
Instantly my interest was piqued. Everything in here were things that I used to use back on earth.
Since this was the year 2055, everything was far more advanced to the things I was used to back on earth, meaning that what I used to use was considered ancient in this day and age. In the corner of the room, I could see magazines and newspapers, consoles, and other things that I used to use.
Seeing all of these things around the room caused me to feel a bit of nostalgia.
"Oh!"
As I was looking around a certain item instantly caught my attention. Picking it up a wide smile appeared on my face
"Great choice! one of my personal favorites"
Appearing behind me the shopowner stroked his beard a couple of times as he looked at the item in my hand.
"How much is this?"
"Mhh...considering that the company that makes that device is no longer around I would say 500U"
"500U?"
Looking at the Mp3 in my hand, a conflicted look appeared on my face. I mean paying 500U for an Mp3 in this day and age wasn't something that any sane person would do...but I couldn't help but be tempted.
This was especially so when I noticed that it came with its own wired earphones.
You heard me right. wired earphones.
Before I reincarnated, my world was already starting to transition from wired earphones to wireless earbuds. To be honest I tried wireless earbuds before but they weren't my thing.
As I loved listening to music to pass time, I bought myself some wireless earbuds in this world but it just wasn't the same...
"Alright, I'll buy it"
"Great choice"
Smiling from ear to ear, the shopkeeper immediately went to the register and swiped my card.
Soon after the transaction ended, I left the shop. Opening my new mp3, I was surprised with the fact that it already had its own playlist on it.
Scrolling through the numerous songs, I stopped on one and put on my earbuds.
=====================
Seven nation army
The white stripes
0:00 ▶----------------------- 3:52
+ Volume -
=====================
Ignoring the weird stares coming in my direction, I happily went back to the academy listening to my new mp3.
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