Kill him! Haven’t you had your fill? Kill him!
Sebi didn’t understand what was happening to him when he escaped to go to the bathroom. There was this thing again, bugging him, poisoning his thoughts, and trying to make him commit murder.
Decebal Yan, fulfill your destiny!
A gasp escaped his lips as Sebi stumbled towards the sink, fingers clutching the cold counter. This thing, whatever it was, overwhelmed his brain and inflicted a strange kind of pain on him that made him dizzy and cough out blood.
Sebi realized this must be the feeling of having a hole drilled into the back of his head and having a metal stick stir his brain about.
“Stop it…” he grumbled, grasping his head desperately.
This thing was a parasite that latched on him, unwilling to let go of such a great host who didn’t know what to do with it. It kept on muttering strange, dark things to him, things Sebi shouldn’t hear.
The worst part of this parasite was that it had such an intoxicating kind of benefit that it was willing to give to Sebi. While it clung to him and demanded him to do horrible things, it gave him an overwhelming kind of power that would make his ability stronger. Sebi even had to do everything to block off any of the power it wanted to give him.
Sebi couldn’t allow himself to give in because he knew, based on the thing’s thoughts, that it wasn’t for free. It definitely wanted to take over his body, that was why it so badly wanted to make him stronger.
Breathing in and out heavily, Sebi tried to settle the turmoil inside his mind and forced everything to calm down.
It took a while, but Sebi finally managed to gain peace. He opened a faucet and washed his face before making his way back to where his friends were.
“Hey, how about we go out of the campus and get some food?” Bellona asked upon Sebi’s arrival. “We haven’t had the chance to go out for a while, let’s choose today as a little treat for us.”
“Can we go?” Light asked as he took Aristotle’s wrist. “We’re free.”
“The more the merrier,” Bellona said with a nod.
Alexandra awkwardly looked around and after realizing she wasn’t very familiar with these people, she took a step back before saying, “Okay, you guys go on ahead–”
“Alex, you can come with us,” Sebi smiled brightly at her. Alexandra knew she really shouldn’t, but she suddenly felt that if she made Sebi stop smiling like this, she’d be a scummy person.
“…Okay, if you don’t mind,” she finally said.
Akhenaten came back from wherever he had disappeared to. He noticed that everyone was in high spirits and chattering excitedly, so he enthusiastically said, “What’s this? What are you guys doing?”
“We’re going out to eat,” Bellona said.
“It’s not like the food on campus is bad,” Necomir suddenly blurted out. “I don’t see any difference.”
Bellona raised an eyebrow at him and looked very annoyed. Her face then morphed into a forced smile before saying, “You know what? If you were alive in ancient times, you’d be a monk with your ascetic lifestyle, Augustine.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Alright, let’s stop it here,” Sebi smiled as he clung to Necomir and began using his charms. “Neco, I’d like to taste something from outside, it’s been a while.”
If Necomir had any qualms about eating outside before, he didn’t have any now upon hearing Sebi directly wish for them to go. He even gave Sebi an indulgent smile and said, “There’s a pizza place nearby. Want to go there?”
Bellona rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Do we have any say about the place?”
“No,” Necomir stonily said, so talented at switching expressions corresponding to who he was talking to.
“Unbelievable,” Bellona laughed mockingly. “You’re always a killjoy and you only plan to go along if Sebi makes you!”
“I don’t want to listen to you,” Necomir boredly said with much of his apathy appearing across his face. “Shall we go already? If not, I can take Sebi outside myself.”
Bellona made a face and slowly lifted her evil little claws. But before she could make her move, Akhenaten quickly pulled her away by headlocking her from behind and rubbing her head.
“Alright, tigress. Calm down, you’re a bit too hot-headed today,” Akhenaten laughed as Bellona broke away from him and he dodged her attack.
A hand suddenly reached out, intertwining with Bellona’s. Upon looking to the side, she saw Chunmi’s cute face as she said, “I’m hungry, stop picking fights already.”
Bellona was no different than Necomir. In front of the people they regarded highly, they turned into obedient little dogs who allowed themselves to be dragged away without much of a fight.
Alexandra could only scratch her head in confusion while exchanging glances with Light and Aristotle. In that exchange, they seem to have come to an agreement as they came together and trailed after the four.
They’re all a bunch of idiots, just smile and nod, pretend you don’t know what they are talking about in case someone mistakes them for being mental asylum escapees.
The large group of Academy students rowdily left the campus and headed towards the pizza place. Sebi kept on looking around, curious about everything around him. The sky, the placement of the buildings, the land cars and the suspension cars, the pavements, the dots of trees and flowers intermingling with the urban setting, the fashion of the people, everything around him were new sights that overwhelmed him to the point that he couldn’t get enough of it.
If the environment Sebi grew up in within the base was neat and bleak, this time, everything in this alternate universe was colorful and vibrant with culture that he used to only read from ancient books and imagine in his dreams.
Since Sebi was not trying to be conspicuous, he tried to behave and didn’t ask his friends as much questions. Only Necomir noticed his actions, who would glance at him from his peripheral vision every once in a while, finding his expressions quite cute. He thought the hatchling was being sentimental about all the things that he had missed out on over the years that he had been in a coma and he’s figuring out what had changed.
“Fucking hell, Akhenaten!” Bellona swore when Akhenaten randomly pinched her side and he feigned innocence, pointing at Alexandra.
“Eh?” Alexandra’s confused expression looked so pitiful that it was impossible she’d be responsible for pranking her.
“Have you got no shame?” Bellona yelled as she slapped the top of Akhenaten’s head. “You really have to pit Alex for your nonsense!”
“Ow!” Akhenaten cried as Bellona kept on hitting him.
“I-Is this okay?” Alexandra laughed anxiously. “Akhenaten looks like he’s in pain–”
“Bellona, stop it. You’ve made your point,” Chunmi said, tugging at her wrist.
“Yeah, Bellona,” Light chimed in.
Just when Akhenaten looked at Light and Aristotle like he had finally found reliable people who can replace his current friends, Light suddenly snickered, “That’s animal abuse.”
“Fuck!” Akhenaten exclaimed sadly, realizing that he was alone in his battle.
Alexandra awkwardly offered sympathy by reaching over and patting his shoulder.
Akhenaten looked up at her meaningfully and with hope, as if he was saying, ‘Can we be comrades?’
Sadly, Alexandra thought of no such thing.
Everyone was noisy and rowdy, as adults who weren’t quite adult, yet weren’t teenage either. Sebi was distracted by both his surroundings and the air of youth which he has never enjoyed before that he didn’t notice he was straying a bit too far off the side of the pavement.
Luckily, the one person who was keeping an eye on him quickly reached out to grab his shoulder and pull him against his body. Sebi felt himself crash against Necomir’s side just as a car swept past.
“Be cautious of your surroundings,” Necomir reprimanded him as he made Sebi walk next to him opposite from the traffic.
Sebi smiled at him in embarrassment, scratching his temple but unable to produce an excuse. He simply said, “Sorry Neco… I was distracted.”
Necomir only ruffled his hair and didn’t say anything about it.
When they got to the pizza place, Sebi was assaulted by the wonders of human culture again.
“You know, this wasn’t how Italians cooked their pizza,” Bellona spoke after their pizza arrived. “I’ve seen ancient websites compiling responses of Italians towards foreign-made pizza, and most of them are unimpressed.”
“Necomir is half Italian but he likes this place,” Akhenaten spoke.
“I’m Roman, not Italian,” Necomir corrected him. “My lineage is thousands of years older than the Italians that came to Terra.”
“But Rome is in Italy, isn’t it?”
“Akhenaten, please,” Bellona smiled at him pitifully. “It’s good that you know how to read a map, but it’s also good if you knew how to read books.”
Akhenaten couldn’t refute it and only reached out to hug Bellona, as if begging for her to stop roasting him.
“Hey, I really didn’t think Necomir even cared about places like this,” Light smiled teasingly at the man in question. “I thought you only liked playing with metal toys and zooming around in training rooms.”
“Shut up,” Necomir mumbled as he rolled his eyes.
“Stop bullying him, Light,” Sebi chimed in as he took a pizza. “Here, try this, it’s pretty good.”
Light didn’t think much about it and accepted Sebi’s bribe.
Another pizza suddenly came, which had been ordered by Chunmi.
“This is also good,” she quietly said, pushing the plate to the middle, like a kitty cat offering the rat it killed to its owner.
They spent the good part of the night talking and eating as much as they wanted. At around nine that evening, they decided to go back. Along the way, they each slowly dispersed, heading towards their respective dormitories or other nightly ventures.
On their way to the dorm, Sebi had to pass by that certain shrouded area again. He gave it a cursory glance, but he didn’t sense anything weird there so he didn’t mind it anymore like the last time he had been there and kept on walking.
“I forgot something in the lab,” Necomir spoke, tapping Sebi’s shoulder. “You should head on first. Don’t stay up too late.”
Sebi nodded, bidding Necomir a good night before continuing on down the path.
As he walked with light footsteps, Sebi could feel the calm stillness of the night.
But that was the strange thing about it all.
Why was it so silent?
Clop. Clop. Clop.
Sebi narrowed his eyes as he darted towards a wedge between a couple of walls, on high alert.
A chill ran through his spine as another question popped up in his mind.
Why was there the sound of a horse’s hooves in the hallway?
Author’s Notes:
Ooooh lots of mysteries behind the happiness of youth~ I’m quite excited about this arc! I’ve got another chapter scheduled for tomorrow 
Plot twist:….Someone was really riding a horse in the hallway…
Bigger plot twist: It was Neco…
Thanks for the chapter~
I’m more curious about the parasite that attached itself to Sebi. What is it?
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks for the chapter!