Glory Cael Magic Academy had long been divided into two major camps:
On one side was the Department of Magic, whose members could call down thunder and summon fire with a wave of their hands; on the other side was the Department of Alchemy, whose members spent their days dealing with jars, vials, and potions.
That group in the Department of Alchemy often barely passed their combat class exams, but when it came to demolition and destruction, if they claimed second place, no one in the whole academy would dare claim first.
As for why their laboratories were all located underground nowadays—that was all thanks to the grand feat of them nearly turning half a teaching building into fireworks one time.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, the Headmistress signed the decree ordering all alchemy faculty and students to move into the deep underground along with their equipment, stating the reason quite bluntly:
“If it explodes again, perfect—nobody run. We can all sleep eternally down there together.”
The original intention was, of course, to admonish them to operate with caution.
Unfortunately, this group of people seemed to have long been thoroughly marinated in thick tomes and complex formulas, causing their thought processes to become equally convoluted.
After hearing the instructions, they looked at each other, and then all flashed tacit, cold smiles:
“Hmph, trying to restrict our steps in exploring truth and the eruption of our talent with a method like this? You underestimate an alchemist's wisdom and... will to survive far too much!”
Thus began a grand, sweeping underground infrastructure movement.
While moving their main laboratories and equipment into the designated underground area, the senior and junior figures of the Department of Alchemy gave full play to their professional skills and initiative.
Under the banner of rationally planning experimental areas, ensuring smooth emergency evacuation routes, and complying with safety standards, they mobilized every resource they could. Brandishing engineering golems of all sizes, directional demolition devices, and rock-softening potions, they secretly excavated, reinforced, and disguised countless intricate safety passages known only to internal members of the Department of Alchemy in every nook and cranny around the underground laboratories.
These passages crisscrossed in all directions: some led to the wilderness outside the academy, some connected to the city's sewer system, and some were even dug directly beneath the teaching buildings or storehouses of other departments...
Their complexity and stealth were enough to make even the most seasoned thief gasp in awe.
This way, the alchemists' logic formed a perfect closed loop: Experiment failed, resulting in an explosion, leak, contamination, or summoning of an unspeakable entity?
No fear!
Immediately activate a protective barrier that could hold out for a few minutes, then skillfully slip into the nearest safety passage, trigger the concealment and purification devices, and make a run for it.
As for the laboratory itself, or whether the ground above their heads would collapse, be blown into the sky, or be occupied by weird things... that was not something they needed to prioritize.
After all, if academy property was damaged, they could just apply for funds to rebuild it. The precious alchemists and their unfinished great ideas, on the other hand, had to be preserved.
It was precisely this style of doing things that made the Department of Alchemy the biggest headache and the most avoided existence in the academy.
In the original game, the character controlled by the player would occasionally suffer collateral damage from various events caused by failed Department of Alchemy experiments while simply walking down the street. This would result in character injuries, damaged equipment, or even the direct loss of precious action days, making it one of the major pitfalls of the player experience.
Not only that, but the Department of Alchemy was also a hotbed for characters with unique personalities.
One of the side villains who served as a textbook example of an annoying pest in the original game was a member of the Department of Alchemy—and the Second-year Representative to boot.
She was a female character with a sharp tongue who loved calling everyone “small fry~ small fry~.”
One of her actions that made players' blood pressure spike the most was using her influence to publicly call upon her Department of Alchemy classmates on various occasions: “Don't accept any alchemical requests from that fellow, lest it lower the standards of our Department of Alchemy.” This created numerous obstacles in the player's game progression.
Although her combat power wasn't strong and couldn't directly trigger a Game Over, her continuous harassment and trip-ups successfully made her one of the nuisance characters players least wanted to see.
All in all, in the eyes of most faculty and students at the academy, the Department of Alchemy was a high-risk trouble zone full of obsessives, destroyers, neurotics, and the socially impaired.
Avoid contact if possible; if contact was mandatory, exercise extreme caution.
Therefore, when Greg recovered from the dizziness of the explosion and the pain of the fall, hearing those lab-coat wearers start talking with keywords like “concept,” “experiment,” and “demonstration,” he instantly understood what he had encountered.
Rage, like a lit powder keg, mixed with his indignation over his -10 Luck stat, instantly washed away what little sanity Greg had left.
“What the fuck %#@&*...!!!!!!”
A torrent of furious profanity—heavy with insults that would make even the roughest sailor blush—poured from Greg's mouth, raining down relentlessly on the three alchemy students.
So fierce was this tirade, so novel the phrasing, and so genuine the emotion, that it left the trio completely stunned. They froze in place, their expressions shifting from confidence to bewilderment, and from bewilderment to utter blankness.
In their understanding and experience, students in the Department of Magic were mostly nobles. Even when enraged, these noble-born students usually maintained a degree of propriety and restraint in their insults.
They typically vented their dissatisfaction through roundabout sarcasm or condescending, contemptuous words.
That way, even if the alchemy students were cursed out, they could easily pretend not to understand.
However, someone like Greg, who dispensed with all pretense and went straight for family insults... was something they were experiencing for the very first time.
This completely exceeded their database for responding to insults. For a moment, they had no idea how to react—should they argue back, apologize, or join in on cursing?
Just as Greg's throat was getting dry from shouting and he felt the foul mood in his chest vent out a tiny bit, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of an obscure figure in the distant night sky flying at a modest speed toward the area outside the academy walls.
Greg's brain felt as though cold water had been dumped over it; he jolted, and all his cursing came to an abrupt halt.
Silvia!
He whipped his head around, staring fixedly at that flying figure about to disappear into the night!
Dammit! I forgot the main business! Silvia has already been carried off! Right while I was bickering with these idiots!
“Damn this godforsaken Luck stat! This is why I didn't want to come to the surface!!!”
Greg roared silently in his heart.
He could no longer care about entangling himself with these idiots from the Department of Alchemy, nor could he spare time for even a second glance at the crater that was still billowing smoke.
“You guys remember this! Today's matter isn't over between us!!”
Leaving behind only that furious threat, Greg's body shot out like an arrow off the string, rapidly vanishing around the corner of the garden path. He left the three alchemists looking at each other, standing frozen on the spot.
“Phew... T-That scared the life out of me...”
The tall boy wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking toward where Greg had vanished with lingering fear:
“W-Who was that guy just now? A student from the Department of Magic? H-His cursing was way... way too filthy! In all my life, I've never been cursed out like that...”
The other small, slender boy pushed up his glasses and muttered softly:
“Actually... it wasn't that bad. It's not like I have a mom anyway...”
Having spoken, both turned simultaneously to look at the third person, who had barely said a word.
“Hey, Aiden, what are you spacing out for?”
The tall boy nudged him with an elbow:
“You weren't seriously scared by that guy's threat, were you? He's just a student from the Department of Magic. No matter how fiercely he curses, what can he do to us? We're from the Department of Alchemy; the professors all protect us.”
“No.”
The man named Aiden slowly shook his head, his voice low:
“I'm not thinking about his threat. I'm thinking... don't you think that guy just now looked very familiar?”
“Familiar?”
The skinny boy and the tall boy exchanged glances, both showing confused expressions.
“Yes.”
Aiden turned around to look at his two companions, saying word by word, “Don't you think his appearance really resembles... Greg Sass?”
“Greg Sass?”
The tall boy froze for a moment, then realized with a sudden dawn of comprehension, his expression turning somewhat odd:
“Oh! You mean that guy in the Department of Magic... whose reputation in the academy is even more infamous than our Department of Alchemy's?”
“Yes, that's him.” Aiden nodded.
The skinny boy curled his lip and said disdainfully:
“So what if it's him? I heard he's already been publicly disowned by the House of Sass and doesn't even have noble status anymore. He's just an ordinary commoner student—maybe even worse off than a commoner. How could he threaten our Department of Alchemy?”
“That's true on paper...”
Aiden's brow furrowed even tighter, and he unconsciously lowered his voice. “But... have you heard a certain rumor about him?”
“A rumor? What rumor?”
Both of their curiosity was piqued by his secretive manner, and they leaned in closer.
Aiden swept his gaze around the surroundings, and after confirming no one else was approaching, he said in an extremely low voice:
“A while back, I accidentally heard a senior working as a teaching assistant for the second-year basic alchemy class mention it... He said that the Second-year Representative of our department, Chloe Ivy... the reason she was able to leave the slums, gain admission, and even secure a full scholarship in the Department of Alchemy... seems to be connected to Greg Sass behind the scenes.”
“What?!”
The tall boy and the skinny boy gasped simultaneously, their faces showing disbelieving shock.
“Chloe Ivy?! That... that... Chloe Ivy who's secretly called the Tyrant of the Department of Alchemy and the Nightmare of the Second Year?! S-She has a connection with Greg Sass?! How is that possible!”
The tall boy's voice even cracked.
Clearly, this Chloe Ivy possessed a terrifying reputation in the Department of Alchemy that made people shudder at her very name.
“N-No, this has to be just a rumor, right?”
The skinny boy stammered as well, his face turning pale:
“The two of them... don't look like they belong in the same world at all! Besides, I've never seen them interact...”
“I hope it's just a rumor too.”
Aiden's expression was equally grim. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly:
“However, there's no smoke without fire. If... I mean if there is even the slightest grain of truth to this rumor...”
He raised his head to look at his two companions, his eyes filled with unprecedented solemnity and a barely perceptible trace of fear.
“If Chloe Ivy really shares some unknown connection with Greg Sass... then...”
Aiden didn't finish his sentence, but the faces of the tall boy and the skinny boy had turned completely deathly pale. Cold sweat seeped from their foreheads once more, even worse than when they had been cursed out by Greg.
In the night wind, the three stood beside the crater that was still billowing black smoke, staring in the direction where Greg had vanished, speechless for a long time.
A bone-chilling coldness quietly crept up their spines.
Rate on N.U.
