Chapter 54

“It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.”

It had once reached second place on my bucket list of things I wanted to say before I died, but now, it was a phrase I had heard so many times that I was tired of it.

“Are you awake?”

A familiar, gentle voice reached my ears.

As I listened, it felt like my eyes were beginning to close.

“Just don’t go back to sleep.”

“Professor Cheon.”

“What?”

“Are you angry?”

“A little?”

“I see… I’ll try to repay you quickly. Still, now that I’m officially a student at the Academy, I should be entitled to some tax deductions.”

“I’m not talking about money.”

Professor Cheon lightly tapped his thickened arm, which was wrapped in several layers of plaster.

“I wish you would take better care of your body.”

Professor Cheon looked at me with a bitter expression.

My body.

I was still confused.

Is this really ‘my body’?

The body is governed by the mind, yet even the essence defined as the mind is essentially part of the body.

What exactly about me can define ‘me’?

Memories of my past life? There were countless types of magic to manipulate memories.

Knowledge from my past life? Knowledge was no different from memories. In terms of physical ability, the current body was far superior.

I’ve also changed quite a bit in terms of personality.

Having experienced it once in my past life, I felt less of a disconnect, but I often felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness and emptiness that would come over me unexpectedly.

At times, reality felt less like reality and more like an endless illusion created by someone with a twisted hobby.

There were moments I felt like I was a mere bystander while the entity known as Noname moved as if it were an automated game character.

I grew suspicious of everything and every phenomenon in the world. Light, sound, smell, taste—none of it felt like it was truly mine.

Discours de la méthode, page 34, line 21—‘Cogito, ergo sum’ (I think, therefore I am)?

What can I do just by thinking? I don’t even know where I exist.

The more I thought like this, the less I cared about my body.

Because I could only exist as myself in relationships with others.

If I were to wash up on a deserted island, I often felt a creeping anxiety that I would forever lose control of my physical body to an unknown someone.

Not being able to define my true self, I had to quickly think of something reassuring to say to the professor.

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

I lacked confidence in my expression.

Vocabulary ability is a type of intelligence, and since I hadn’t had many conversations, I wasn’t able to balance out in this aspect.

It was ridiculous to be making up lies that an eight-year-old would say while successfully casting a 5-circle magic after such a long time.

“You have a kind heart.”

“Pardon?”

“When a baby fell into a well, everyone in the village ignored it, but one passerby jumped in to save the baby. Mencius thought that humans are inherently good because he only saw that one person and not the many villagers. Isn’t it beautiful that there are still people like Noname in this world?”

“Ah…”

“I’m proud of you. But if something like this happens again, make sure to contact me first. I’ll be on your side, no matter when or where.”

“Yes… I’ll remember that…”

Truly, Cheon Kyujin was a man whose future was unpredictable.

But thanks to him, it felt like something complicated in my heart was settling down.

“Isn’t there something you want to eat? It must be time to eat.”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 11 AM. You’ve been lying down for a full 18 hours.”

“I really want to eat the Chateaubriand steak I missed yesterday.”

“Unfortunately, just drink this potion for now. You didn’t even finish your daily dosage yesterday, did you?”

Professor Cheon chuckled as he pulled out a bunch of potion bottles from his bag.

“Ugh. Was that why you asked?”

“You have to take it properly to get better quickly. I can’t even imagine you being sick too.”

With him saying that, I had no option but to drink it.

In the end, I emptied two bottles right in front of Professor Cheon.

I felt a bit queasy.

“Is there anything uncomfortable when you drink the potion?”

“Yes, I’ve gotten used to it. But how should I put it… I think I’d prefer something solid over liquid. Uhm… If I eat like this, I have to go to the bathroom often.”

“I actually consulted with the professors in the Department of Food and Nutrition. I should be able to get a definite answer in a few days.”

“That’s good news. I wish it were small tablets.”

“Don’t have too high expectations.”

At school, when girls say they’re going to the bathroom, they all rush together, and it’s really embarrassing.

When I think back to when I inhaled the mana potion in capsule form, it couldn’t have been more convenient, but due to efficiency issues, I couldn’t meet my daily dosage.

“I heard you treated your friend’s mother. I don’t know much about illness, but I’ve heard it’s an incurable disease. Where did you learn such magic?”

“Ah, um… I learned about it while reading papers from the Korean Society of Neurology. I heard that in the US, treatment has already reached the commercialization stage…?”

“Really? But the 5-circle spell you used, ‘Akashic Record’, isn’t that a material engineering magic used for molecular printing?”

“What are you talking about? The Akashic Record is not just some simple 3D printer. As long as you know the structure of the molecule properly, you can generate the same substance semi-permanently, and because it is reversible magic, you can easily create reverse reactions as well as act as a biomaterial that only works on specific receptors, like animal hormones. In short, it’s theoretically omnipotent…”

I wondered if I was talking too much and paused for a moment.

“You can continue if you want.”

“No, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“But you look happy when Noname talks about magic.”

I thought I might turn bright red if I talked any longer, so I changed the topic.

“Have you met Yuna?”

“Yes, I couldn’t see my friend at home, but I met her two older brothers.”

“Two brothers? Ah, I guess Yuna’s older brother Seonoeul was there. He wasn’t there when I was.”

“He only said thank you very much. He intentionally didn’t mention the magic you used. You would have done the same, right?”

“Thank you… It’s too much for Yuna’s family to handle.”

“It does seem that way.”

“I think it’s not just out of kindness that I helped, but that Yuna will surely become an excellent mage, so consider it an investment… I don’t mean to push it onto you, Professor! I’ll earn everything and pay you back—”

“You? How do you plan to earn?”

“Just like before… by doing internet broadcasts…”

“Really?”

“Can I ask how much it generated?”

“Want to guess?”

“About six million… no, seven? Eight? Is it more?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Ten million…?”

“It’s ten million and 810 thousand.”

“No way! With the Academy benefits, it’s impossible for it to exceed ten million!”

“I’ll have to check in detail at home, but it seems the tax rate for unauthorized use in public places has been cut by half.”

“Ten million… ten million…”

Professor Cheon chuckled amiably.

While it might not be much for him, now that I had resolved to repay it, there was no room for compromise.

“I’ll definitely pay it back, with interest guaranteed.”

Then, the original amount I had to repay totaled 10,930,000 won.

For a moment, the promise that Sia made to me flashed in my mind.

[V-Tube will provide the share you appeared in by the end of March, after the earnings application each quarter.]

Right.

I immediately turned on my phone and checked the views on V-Tube.

There were a total of five videos featuring me, and the views ranged between 200,000 and 500,000.

But just the view count alone didn’t give me an idea of how much revenue it generated, so I went to a site that calculates estimates and entered the link.

[Period Filter: +1,812,618 views / + $2,517 ~ $2,832]

Roughly between 5 to 5.5 million.

Even after deducting taxes and splitting with Sia, I could still take home at least 2 million.

However, it was a gloomy situation where I still needed to earn about 9 million more.

But I wasn’t regularly streaming Twish, nor did I have any game content that the viewers desired, so my subscriber count barely remained in the four-digit range.

I found myself thinking for a moment.

Certainly, if I leveraged my specialty and streamed League of Legends with the condition of reaching Challenger, I could attract viewers, but then I felt like there would be no difference from other streams.

Moreover, I hadn’t gotten used to watching chats while playing games, and more than anything, I didn’t want to continue playing League of Legends.

“Why not try doing a Mario game instead?”

Surely, it’s more popular than League of Legends.

But I had no idea what kind of fun could be pursued in a Mario game broadcast.

While it was an environment where I could use magic, making it an attractive option, I would need to consult Sia or others later.

Knock, knock.

“Come in, please.”

The door to the hospital room opened, and a man with a familiar yet strange face entered.

“Oh, it’s that young man from earlier. Are you here to greet me?”

“Yes, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Then I’ll excuse myself and leave you two to talk.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll just grab some abalone porridge for a moment, so bear with the hunger for a little longer.”

Professor Cheon groaned as he struggled to get up from his seat, and the young man offered a slight bow to him.

Ah, where have I seen this face? He looked just like Yuna’s older brother, Seonoeul.

However, unlike Seonoeul, who was 190 cm tall, this guy was on the shorter side at 175 cm.

“Hello, I’m Yuna’s older brother, Semaaru.”

Is he the eldest?

“Yes, hello.”

“I’m sorry for coming so suddenly. I specifically asked Father to let me know when you woke up.”

“Ah… since my father is also Professor Cheon, I suppose he is a father to me as well. It feels quite awkward to be addressed like that.”

“Can I sit here?”

“Yes, please make yourself comfortable.”

Semaaru hadn’t come empty-handed into the hospital room.

“I don’t know what kids these days like.”

He carefully unwrapped the packaging of the item he handed me.

“What is this…?”

What is it?

I couldn’t quite identify it.

It didn’t seem to be a simple doll.

It was a 30 cm long object shaped like a musical note, with cute eyes and a mouth on the head.

“Actually, Father recommended this to me, saying you’d surely like it. This is an otamatone, a musical instrument.”

“This is an instrument?”

A piano, cello, or bassoon are generally considered instruments, aren’t they?

I began to wonder if I was confused about the term ‘instrument.’

“It’s a real instrument. Let me show you how to use it. Hold the head with one hand and the stick with the other. Then, if you channel a small amount of mana, like this.”

[Ah~ Aaah~]

“…!!!”

A voice came out from the musical note!

Semaaru smiled satisfactorily and showed me different ways to use it.

“The notes produced will change depending on the nature of the mana you channel. If you flow water attribute mana, you will get a female soprano voice; if you flow earth attribute mana, a male baritone voice will come out. So, how about trying?”

“Yes, I’d like to try.”

This was truly the most fascinating item I had ever encountered in my life.