Group Project (2)

Time flew by, and several weeks passed.

"Baek Yu-Seol. What did I tell you? Don't use materials you aren't supposed to."

He was raging like a beast! Professor Maizen Tyren had directed his attention to the antidote lying on my experiment table.

"To improve the results, I slightly modified the Professor's recipe."

"... What?"

"Take a look at this. When I substituted the iodine solution for the tomato essence, the detoxification effect was nearly doubled…"

"You are...."

Maizen checked the antidote I had made, biting his lip as if he was trying hard to recall something to say, and then he screamed.

"Why do you come to school if you're just going to do whatever you want?"

He really had a point, but my goal was to hurt Professor Maizen Tyren's feelings, and I had no intention of changing my mind.

This was because the boss of [Episode 8 'Dark Demon Contamination'], which would occur later, was Professor Maizen Tyren.

The fourth episode hadn't even begun yet, but I needed to prepare ahead of time. After all, he was an exceedingly powerful and dangerous boss.

[Maizen Tyren]

[Progression of Dark Magic Contamination: 21%]

[(Inferiority, Jealousy) Dark Demon Contractor]

[Professor of Alchemy]

[Episode 8 Boss]

[Dark Demon confirmed]

Maizen was one of the villains who became a dark demon after being unable to overcome his negative feelings.

If the 'Dark Magic Contamination,' in which emotions were slowly encompassed with darkness, exceeded 90%, then he would completely transform into a dark demon.

I could tell because of the Sentient Spec, but there was no way to prove it, so I couldn't report it to the Dark Demon Slayers, who hunted down and executed mages consumed by dark magic.

Therefore, I purposefully provoked him. That way, I would be able to rapidly raise the professor's contamination level. Once it reached 50%, the effect would be noticeable but not too dangerous, and I could summon the Dark Demon Slayers.

If it was just normal dark magic contamination, there might be a way to reverse it before it was too late.

There were numerous ways to undo the Dark Magic Contamination until it reached 70%, such as drugs, magic, or voluntarily awakening.

But, he was a 'Dark Demon Contractor'. By voluntarily making a pact with the Dark Demon, he was a mage who willingly offered himself to the darkness.

He already had the seeds of a Dark Demon planted in his body, and it was already impossible to get rid of them.

However, he wasn't just going to become a Dark Demon, he was also going to turn into a boss who threatened Stella with an ability that affected other students and turned them into Dark Demons.

To avoid that, I was trying to draw attention to myself, intending to minimise collateral damage.

Of course, it was a futile hope.

However, in that episode, many characters were seriously injured, and in the worst-case scenario, there could be a 'bad ending' right away, so I decided to give it my all to prevent it.

"... Your attitude hasn't changed. Expect to get low grades in alchemy."

In some ways, the professor's decision to bring up grading issues was natural. What else could the professor do if the student was disobedient?

Still, my grades were good in all other subjects, and my goal was to graduate without academic warnings, so getting poor grades in alchemy wasn't a big deal.

'Wait, if I think of it this way, I wouldn't get grades anyway, so why should I do alchemy assignments?'

'I can use that time for other things.'

But, things didn't go as planned.

"A practice test will be held next week. 'D Vitality Potion' is the name of the drug you will create. You can make it quickly if you combine all of your previous knowledge, but it's difficult to make alone because there are many materials and the process is complicated. As a result, we'll conduct this hands-on test in groups of four. From now on, form a group with a friend who shares your interests."

I couldn't help but be perplexed by Professor Maizen's words.

Group Project. One of the greatest punishments a professor could inflict. But, there was another reason for my dismay.

'A group assignment…? Was there such a thing in the game?'

There wasn't. No matter how much I thought. Perhaps it was because the game had to progress quickly, trivial stories such as group tasks were not explained.

Was this the difference between the game and reality?

'Is there anything like this in the original novel?'

I secretly stared at the Edna, but that dissatisfied expression made her thoughts completely unreadable.

'Oh, why a group assignment…'

As I glanced around, the students slowly averted my gaze.

"Haha. Isn't that bastard doing it alone?"

"Ah, maybe. After all, he hardly has any friends."

I heard a low sneer. They were students of Jeremy's faction. After beating Morso in practice the other day, their jeers became even more severe, and even Professor Maizen started to bully me using his personal network, which made me feel even more outspoken.

Even if the professor and the Crown Prince group were pissed, no one would come to me first.

The students began to form their own groups, and while they were busily wandering around, I had nowhere to go.

"The groups are almost done."

About ten minutes later, Professor Maizen said. A total of 11 groups were completed. And 4 people were left behind.

"The students who were unable to form a group, come here."

'Phew.'

As I slowly moved to the desk located at the back, the students without friends like me gathered.

The remaining students were Kasahun, a boy with brown hair, and a face full of freckles; Maliwan, a boy with chubby cheeks; Eisel and I. Thinking about it, Eisel didn't have any friends either.

The death of Eisel's father, Archduke Isaac Morph, wasn't widely known among the public.

Rumours that Isaac Morph, a descendant of the great Morph, who was once a hero to mages, betrayed the magic world and turned to the Dark Demon, spread all over the world.

Of course, it was a false rumour, but no one was able to uncover the truth, and in the end, Eisel was firmly branded as a 'traitor's child'.

It was only natural that there were no people around her.

'The other two… Well, it's just their personalities.'

I had no idea who that boy named Kasahun was. If you looked at his attitude, he seemed to be noble, but he must have been bullied for not letting go of the personality that he possessed after entering Stella.

But, I knew the boy named Maliwan well enough. He was not a major character and played absolutely no part in the story, but I did remember him being quite good at alchemy later on.

I greeted as brightly as possible.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Baek Yu-Seol."

Then the two boys grew even more gloomy.

That made me once again aware of the circumstances.

There was no point in trying hard because the group would get a lot of deductions just because it had me. They must have been working hard for their own grades, but in the end, they stepped on shit.

'How do I do this....'