"Don't start crying just yet, Alice-chan."
Greg looked at her teary-eyed, overjoyed expression and interrupted her brewing emotional outburst at just the right moment:
"The even bigger surprise is still to come."
He pulled a small cloth pouch from inside his coat, and then, under Alice's curious gaze, withdrew a strand of thread that gleamed with a pale golden sheen beneath the dim yellow light.
The thread was as fine as a strand of hair, yet it possessed a metallic luster that radiated a soft halo beneath the light.
It looked light and fragile, but when Greg pulled hard on it, it didn't budge in the slightest, displaying an astonishing toughness completely at odds with its appearance.
"This is...?" Alice's eyes instantly lit up.
As a researcher, she possessed an instinctive sensitivity and curiosity toward new materials.
"Golden Glow Spider Thread."
Greg handed the strand of thread in his hands to her:
"This is an extremely precious material I discovered. Its toughness far exceeds steel, yet its weight is less than a tenth of steel wire of equal thickness. And most importantly—"
He paused, watching Alice's eyes gradually widen, and slowly continued, "It has superb affinity and conductivity for mana. In other words, it is an ideal material for crafting high-tier magic conduits."
Alice carefully took the strand of Golden Glow Spider Thread, her fingertips gently rubbing its surface.
Her breathing grew slightly hurried, and her ice-purple eyes sparkled with the feverish glow unique to a researcher discovering treasure.
"T-This material... I've never seen anything like it before..."
Her voice trembled slightly with excitement:
"Its structure, its luster, its touch... This is absolutely a brand-new, unrecorded material!"
"Precisely."
Greg pulled another folded blueprint from his coat and spread it open on the workbench.
Pointing to a core component on the blueprint, he said, "So, if we can successfully use this material to craft a revolutionary, ultra-high-efficiency magic conduit—"
He raised his head, looking straight at Alice, the corners of his mouth curving into an ambitious arc. "Then our names might very well be etched into the history of this world."
A brief silence fell over the laboratory.
Alice looked down at the Golden Glow Spider Thread in her hands, raised her head to look at the blueprint, and then looked at Greg's face, brimming with confidence.
Her mind was already racing—the properties of this material, what kind of magic conduit could be crafted with it, how to maximize its advantages within the existing theoretical framework...
Countless ideas exploded in her mind like fireworks.
"But... can we really do this?"
She suddenly raised her head and looked at Greg:
"After all, you discovered this material all by yourself... Can we truly share in this achievement of yours?"
Hearing this, Greg fell silent for two seconds before speaking in a tone as solemn as a martyr going to sacrifice:
"No problem. After all, if it were just me alone, I wouldn't be able to produce any experimental results. Rather than letting the value of this material be buried, it's better to share it here, maximize its worth, and make a contribution to this world!"
He spoke with immense righteous fervor, as though making a heroic sacrifice.
In reality, he knew full well in his heart that he wasn't taking a loss on this deal at all; in fact, he was turning a massive profit.
Because in the plot of the original game, Alice would have independently discovered the properties and uses of this material in her later research anyway.
By simply moving up the timeline of this discovery and striking a generous sharing posture, he could legitimately claim a piece of the primary credit.
It was practically a textbook case of making something out of nothing.
"I had no idea... you were such a good student..."
Alice's voice choked up slightly. The look in her eyes as she stared at Greg was filled with guilt and regret over her past prejudices.
She even felt that she must have been utterly blind before to treat such a visionary, good student as a nuisance.
Standing to the side, Victoria watched the scene unfold, a glint of contemplation flashing through her gray eyes.
She felt like something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was.
She constantly got the impression that this guy was scheming something again.
"Mm!"
Alice nodded vigorously, a raging battle spirit burning in her ice-purple eyes:
"Starting right now, the three of us will begin working hard on this research together!"
Greg raised a hand: "I refuse."
Alice: "...Eh?"
Greg: "Actually, I've contracted a disease where I'll die if I work. To keep my condition from worsening, I'll entrust my share of the work to you, Alice-chan. Do your best!"
Alice's eyes widened, unable to process this sudden twist for a moment: "B-But...!"
She had never expected Greg, who had just been making such an impassioned speech, to suddenly dump all the responsibility right now.
Actually, Greg wasn't just trying to slack off—though that was certainly part of it—but more importantly, he truly couldn't be of any help in this department.
While he knew what materials were needed to craft certain items in the original game, the problem was that he didn't know the exact quantities required, how to process the materials, or the complex crafting techniques and procedures involved.
Rather than messing things up and wasting precious materials, it was far better to remove himself from the workload right from the start.
That was the most sensible course of action.
Just as Alice was at a total loss, Victoria stepped forward.
With hands on her hips, her gray eyes locked onto Greg, her tone laced with dissatisfaction: "Greg, how can you be so selfish!"
Greg clicked his tongue:
"I knew you'd butt in."
Ever since learning that Victoria had become his Junior Sister, he had anticipated it might not be as easy to boss Alice around.
What he hadn't expected was that Victoria would stand up and refute him so decisively.
He turned around, crossing his arms as he faced Victoria: "Alright, name your terms. What will it take to let me slack off?"
Victoria: "Only if you include me."
Victoria's reason for wanting to slack off was simple.
Although she had crammed relevant knowledge using the proceeds from selling her gloves and scored quite well in the exam, it had also brought home a brutal truth: conducting experiments burned through money fast.
Those materials, those tools, and the costs of repeated trials—every single item was putting a strain on her wallet.
She didn't want to watch materials getting consumed while clutching her aching chest during experiments.
So if slacking off was an option, she didn't want to work either.
"..."
Silence reigned in the laboratory for two seconds.
Greg froze for a moment, then both he and Victoria wore identical wicked smirks.
That smile was like exchanging a secret signal, or confirming a tacit understanding.
Then Greg turned his head to face Alice, who was still standing there frozen:
"You heard that, right? The work for both of us is handed over to you, Alice-chan. You know, if you won't do it, plenty of instructors will~"
"H-How could this be..."
Alice's petite body seemed drained of all strength as she collapsed to the floor.
Her oversized professor's robe spread across the ground, making her look like an abandoned purple plush doll.
Her ice-purple eyes lost focus as she mumbled under her breath, "One person... doing three people's work... I... might actually die..."
In her mind, she couldn't help recalling the terror of being dominated by Greg over the past year.
"Don't worry, I'm not a monster, so I won't make things too hard on you."
Just as Greg spoke, a sudden knock sounded from outside the door.
Greg turned and walked toward the entrance.
"Looks like the helper I asked for has arrived."
He walked over, grabbed the doorknob, twisted it gently, and pulled open the old wooden door.
Standing in the hallway light outside was a young girl clad in a neat white lab coat.
Her slightly wavy brown hair was tied back in a crisp ponytail, with a few playful strands straying along her fair cheeks.
When she saw that it was Greg who opened the door, her bright eyes instantly curved into crescents, and a brilliant smile blossomed across her face.
Then, before anyone could react, she pounced directly onto Greg like a joyful little bird.
"Big Brother! I'm here to help you, tee-hee~"
Rate on N.U.
