Chapter 4

The Beginning of a Group Project Cruelty?

Rozia was standing in front of the Archeo-Magical Artifacts laboratory.

With her hand half-raised, she had been fiercely debating whether or not to knock, and a full ten minutes had already slipped by. Eventually, she grabbed her head in despair and squatted right there on the spot.

The laboratory corridor was dead silent. Since all classes had just finished, everyone else had already headed home happily, save for a few exhausted research students chained to forced overtime.

If there had at least been people walking by or some ambient noise, she would have knocked immediately without any time to hesitate. But unfortunately, she was all alone in this long hallway, which gave rise to all sorts of random thoughts and kept making her freeze up. That was the problem.

Besides, isn’t it a bit too quiet? She raised her head slightly and glared at the weather-beaten wooden door. Surely he didn’t just forget the appointment and leave, did he…

It sounded like a plausible assumption, so just in case, she pressed her ear against the door. But truly, suspiciously enough, she couldn’t hear a damn thing. Strange. If someone’s inside, shouldn’t there at least be some rustling noises?

Well, whatever… To a senior known as the light and future of the Genios Magic Department, what did a mere undergraduate group project matter? A heavy sigh leaked through her parted lips.

She fixed her gaze on the floor and took a deep breath. Get it together, Rozia Willen. You need to graduate this year! You can’t just back down like this! For now, let’s just head back for today. It’s better to come back early tomorrow morning, yeah. I’m definitely not scared; it’s just that it’s getting late…

Right as she was steeling her resolve, the door suddenly swung open right in front of her. Huh, he was inside? She raised her head with a dazed expression. The moment she met those emotionless golden eyes looking down at her, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

“Don’t you know how to knock? Why are you pacing back and forth out here driving me crazy?”

“That is, I thought nobody was…”

Rozia mumbled an automatic excuse. However, paying her no mind whatsoever, he turned around and vanished back inside the lab. Seriously, if he knew I was here, he could have at least made some noise. Rubbing her burning cheeks, she stood up and timidly followed behind him.

Though she had visited professors’ offices when declaring her major, this was her first time inside an actual research lab. Since research students always walked around looking like half-dead husks drained of all life, she had secretly imagined a messy place cluttered with all sorts of things, but it was nothing like that.

“Whoa…”

The first things that caught her eye were the glass display cases lining the walls. Old magical artifacts bearing the distinct marks of time were displayed by category inside, making her feel as though she had stepped into a museum or an antique shop.

Rozia instinctively drifted closer to the display cases, drawn in like a spell. Since she naturally loved poking around and looking at items, she simply couldn’t walk past without paying attention.

“Warning you in advance—don’t touch anything.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

A cold voice stabbing the back of her head snapped her back to reality. She pivoted on the spot and moved away from the display cases.

After that, the only accessible spot seemed to be the large desk and workbench sitting right in the middle of the lab. Meanwhile, the senior was already sitting at the desk, working away with magnifying glasses strapped to his face.

He hadn’t told her to sit, yet standing around blankly felt awkward too, so just as she was trying to position herself on the opposite side, she felt a vibration in her pocket. Startled, she pulled it out—it was the badge she had received on the first day of ‘Understanding Others.’ It seemed the pair of badges within range had recognized each other and started tracking their time.

Whether she noticed or not, he didn’t even glance her way. She had come because he told her to, but she definitely felt like an intruder. Rozia carefully watched him before tentatively opening her mouth.

“Um, Senior? About our group project…”

“Don’t talk to me. Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Ah, yes…”

Then why on earth did you call me here?! Frustration flared up, causing her to raise her eyes and glare at him sideways. She had come because of the assignment, yet she couldn’t even bring up the subject of the assignment.

If she left now, it would be a waste of the effort it took to get all the way here. Above all, the class rules required group members to spend time together, so she couldn’t just walk out either. Left with no choice, she decided to watch him work.

Two gloved hands moved busily. The senior picked up a pair of tweezers and carefully inserted them into a worn wooden box roughly the size of two combined palms. What he pulled out was none other than a crude doll.

Because of the thick layer of dust, it was hard to tell what kind of doll it was. The senior seemed to think so too, as he immediately pulled a small brush from a cylindrical tool holder and brushed away the dust.

Then, a faded crown decorated on its head caught her eye. Was it a doll-play magical artifact? Or a puppet show? While she was guessing the item’s purpose, the senior laid the princess doll down on a white cloth.

The sight of unknown accessories neatly laid out alongside the doll resembled something like a biological dissection diagram.

Instead of immediately pulling out other accessories from the box, he picked up a pencil and began sketching something on a paper next to the cloth. Though she couldn’t see it clearly, it looked like a structural diagram or disassembly blueprint of a magical artifact.

From then on, Rozia closely observed the senior repeating similar tasks. She was secretly fascinated to be facing a legend of the Magic Department this close.

Even though two years had passed since he graduated undergraduate studies, plenty of notorious stories about him were still passed down as legends. Naturally, personal accounts of his sharp tongue and rude attitude were the most common, followed by the dark side behind praises of his genius.

Among them were rumors that he usually looked down on and belittled Magic Department students, calling them stupid and out of his league. Moreover, whispers circulated that despite having peerless skill and talent that others only dreamed of, he actually harbored zero interest or passion for magic.

Those words had left a deep impression because they drew the resentment of students who were working themselves to the bone just trying to survive their difficult admissions and studies. Of course, she hadn’t been naive enough to believe all those rumors blindly.

Yet, having heard them repeatedly, they seemed to have faintly ingrained themselves in her brain—given how unexpectedly serious and professional he looked while tackling his work.

Come to think of it, why did the senior choose Archeo-Magical Artifacts? It belonged to the least popular branch of artifact studies, welcomed only by a handful of wealthy collectors, while actual wizards avoided it due to the grueling manual labor that tested one’s patience.

Laboratories lining up to recruit him must have been countless. Even now, professors from other majors occasionally came by to debate with him and leave with their own answers, she heard. The reason the professors came personally was because the research students refused to deal with them or just ignored them…

“What are you staring at?”

While she was blankly watching his repetitive work, a blunt voice suddenly broke her train of thought. He lifted his head, shooting her a sharp, warning glare.

“You said you were busy, so I was just waiting…”

“Don’t you have anything better to do than gawk at someone working?”

A faint trace of contempt shadowed his eyes. Being treated like a pervert out of nowhere instantly spiked her irritation. No, let me remind you again—who was the one who called me here?! And do you think I came here because I wanted to?!

“I would have things to do if I went to the practice lab.”

Actually, because she was a graduating senior, assignments given out by professors personally since the first week of the new semester and study materials for graduation exams were piling up, but her pride hurt too much to say it out loud. Besides, since class had just ended, she needed a proper rest to even have the energy to work on assignments at night. He knew nothing about the life of an ordinary student like her.

“The practice lab? What’s your major, anyway?”

Just as she was grumbling inwardly, the senior asked with an unusual expression. Not only that, he even took off his glasses and gloves, setting them down on the edge of the desk. Th-this is great that we’re finally talking, but why does the vibe suddenly feel like an interrogation…?

“Potion Making… Why?”

“Ah, Potions.”

A strangely dissatisfied look swept her up and down. What’s with that reaction? Was it a subject he hated?

“Your grades?”

His interrogation didn’t stop there. The moment she received the question, Rozia straightened her back and lifted her chin. After all, she was proudly in the top tier!

“An A-minus.”

“A minus?”

The senior raised one eyebrow and let out a scoff. Huh, that wasn’t the reaction I expected. Having an ‘A’ at the front means you’re doing insanely well, right? Thanks to a few monsters ready to bury their lives in potion making, an ‘A-plus’ is out of reach, but still, getting an A is huge!

“Just how badly did you mess up to get a minus attached to it?”

“Pardon? What’s wrong with a minus? I’ll have you know I’m in the top tier.”

“You? Top tier? The standards for Potion Making in our department have really dropped.”

That guy is unbelievable… Unable to hold back any longer, Rozia widened her eyes and glared at him. However, only a mocking sneer came back in return, merely souring her mood further. How could someone only pick the meanest things to say? Do I have to live with hearing stuff like this the entire time I’m doing this group project? This is truly horrific…

“Well, it’s a good thing your grades are pathetic like that. I was worried about what on earth I was going to waste time doing for a whole year dragging around someone like you, but…”