CH-26 Am I Chosen one ☠️

"Nobody knew it, huh!" Gwen's face fell like a sad soufflé.

She vet the room, her eyes bouncing from one sea of blank stares to the next, like a gambler desperately searching for a hot craps table.

When her gaze landed on me, her expression metamorphosed from disappointment to the look a lion gets when it puts one's finger on something a plump, limping gazelle.

A slow, predatory smile stretched elongate her face as she fixed her sights and took aim. Small drop of cold trickle of sweat ran down my spine. I knew that look of teacher from my both past lives.

That woman's smile had the same demonic aura, the grin of a Great white flashes right before bleaching and alimentary your whole.

I could already imagine the crosshairs centering on my forehead; Gwen's finger caressed the trigger.

'... Am I the chosen one?' My palms began sweating like a medieval farmer at a witch trial.

I tried to make myself small and unnoticeable, but it was too late. I was the juiciest target in her scope, and she wasn't about to let easy prey slip away.

I hate giving speeches… because I'm terrible at it. Even intelligent people have flaws, You know.

'Shit! I'm drop dead!' Tsk! Tsk! I, Iris hope, was about to be an example, whether I raised my hand or not.

Likely shredded to pieces by her razor wit and made a cautionary tale for the other students. Sanctuary was but a fleeting dream.

I just prayed for a quick end when she unavoidably called my name with that sugary lilt that meant someone was living on borrowed time.

Gwen's laser-beam eyes locked onto me like a heat-seeking missile finding its target. "...Iris hope!"

'Oh crap crackcrapity-crap!' My brain screamed as my face froze into a rictus grin. I play it cool, coughing like a patient… my fist clashed with my chest as a dainty Victorian heroine with a case of the vapors.

"Cough! Hack! Why, whatever is the matter with me?" I wheezed in an exaggerated rasp, clutched my throat. "Teacher, I fear I must beg your pardon. This terrible...cough!...illness has successfully ailing me… cough!... Might I be excused to the infirmary?"

Gwen wasn't buying my theatrical performance for a second. There was still a smile slithered, all sugary sweetness masking the venom underneath.

"Hooo, is that so?" she cooed, eyes glittering with mischief. "Well, in that case, we simply must administer a special...treatment."

Fuck! This was it. The other shoe was about to drop, and I was the unfortunate sap standing under it.

Her expression… damn it, publicizing just a hint of white fang like satan. "You'll want to stand up for this one. I have a trick! This unorthodox cure will heal not just your body, but your mind as well!"

Gwen went on blithely. "Simply a small matter of a 25,000 volt electro-therapeutic shock. You may experience some… thorniness."

She was all rosy-cheeked cherubic innocence. But I could see the devilish glee dancing in her eyes, flashing me a great big middle finger from backstage of that sugary mask.

'... Fuck you all!' I shriveled under the gravity of every giggling gaze, wishing for a moment that could melt me through the floor and escape to the earth's molten core.

How dare these peons laugh at a radiant goddess such as myself? I cling to the tattered remnants of my ego.

Ahhh, to disintegrate into a puddle of humiliated goo, mmm, elated oblivion.

Pah! Mere mortals, too sunshade to behold my resplendent fame.

Ahem… Okay, so maybe I'm a little introverted.

But not a complete basket case! I rallied my courage and decided to remind everyone just how witty and charming I could be.

"Ah, haha! Teacher, I'm quite alright. 'Twas but a mere jest to liven the proceedings!" I gave my best awkward titter, praying it didn't sound like a donkey braying.

Cold sweat poured down my spine as visions of Gwen's promised 'treatment' danced in my head.

25,000 vat-grown sadists with tesla coils for arms, revving up to publish a current so strong, I'd be reincarnated as a human plasma ball.

…. Yeah, no thanks!

"Really, my mental and physical faculties are uncompromised!" I lied through a rictus grin. "No need for… excessive electro therapies that could liquify my brain stem, hohoho~~!"

I barked out another strangled laugh that could curdle milk.

God, just let me die a thousand deaths already and lissom me with these drawn-out throes.

"Ah, I understand!" Gwen exclaimed with a satisfied nod as she stood before her table. "Then pray tell, what are the ranks of the core and how might one discern their own?"

Clearing my throat, I replied, "The core's rank is stratified into four echelons. Permit me a moment's reflection."

There exist five varieties of core, however, I will impart knowledge of only four. As this is an average student ought to be versed in this caliber of information.

"Aha, I recall now!" I childishly tapped my temple thoughtfully, then snapped my fingers and gestured towards Gwen.

"The ranks and their appellations are as follows: Auracore, Lumispark, Crystalyx, and Voxelseed. The core residing within us has the potential for upgrade over time. If should one's aptitude or inherent capacity surpass."

Glancing, And twiddling my fingers with each other, I saw Gwen with cat eyes. "Um, I am not aware of the method to ascertain the rank of my own core since none have rationality for me."

My statement was not a falsehood. No individual had told Mia. She had never retrieved instruction from familial figures, domestic assistants, or those in her vicinity.

She was an intellectual acuity, honing her mind through the perusal of literary works to occupy her leisure.

The pangs of loneliness avoid her to take in narcotics and various other substances. In a gradual and insidious manner, she became detached from all, even from her own self.

"Someone acting like a cat!" Amelia teased in a high-pitched tune, Almost baby-talking voice that would make dogs cover their ears.

Before I could fire back that would leave Amelia questioning her life choices, Gwen swept in like a superhero sidekick. "Ladies, If you flirt in my class… I will kick you both from the room!"