Chapter 10
2. An Extra Doesn’t Need Obsession (5)
The first manifestation has a significantly lower risk than the second manifestation. In the vast majority of cases, it’s just a mild illness, like a light fever, that passes.
The problem, however, is that S-Class ranks are not included in that majority.
Only 10 S-Class Transcendents existed on this continent.
In the original story, the number increased to 12 with the addition of Acteon and Hyacinth.
‘Wait, the timing of his first manifestation was today, just now?’
All she remembered of Acteon’s basic setting was that he had already completed his first manifestation before entering the academy, so she knew little about his actions prior to the traumatic incident.
Therefore, she had no idea when he went through his first manifestation.
But now…
‘It’s happening right now…!’
She felt a desperate urgency, unsure what variables might arise.
Consequently, her actions outpaced her thoughts.
Acteon, staggering due to dizziness, tightly gripped something to support himself. It happened to be her hand.
Her left hand, where the burn hadn’t healed due to the Control Stone Bracelet.
“Ugh!”
As she instinctively stifled a groan, Acteon, equally startled, immediately released her wrist. He then backed away, distancing himself from her.
“…I’m fine, please call Blair.”
Perhaps because his heart was sensing the mana, and the surrounding mana was rapidly being absorbed into Acteon’s body, he was trying to catch his breath, which had suddenly become quick and labored.
Although the common practice is to first administer a painkiller and then observe until the newly manifested body gets accustomed to sensing mana—
‘This might be a little dangerous.’
Why? It seemed slightly different from a typical first manifestation.
‘Did something go wrong? Or was Acteon’s first manifestation always like this?’
As this was her first time directly experiencing the first manifestation of a high-ranking Transcendents, she, too, was unable to hide her confusion.
‘If I leave him like that, the mana that has infiltrated his body might chaotically disturb his heart.’
If that happened, Acteon would…
‘…He might die.’
The reason a Guide stabilizes a Transcendents’ mana is similar. When mana exceeding the limit affects the body, the body cannot endure it and releases the mana, causing it to rupture.
That is the symptom of mana rampage.
‘Acteon… is only just beginning his first manifestation, so it won’t be that extreme. He’ll just die alone, unable to withstand the mana being absorbed into his body.’
Then, a sudden ominous premonition struck her.
“Is there a Guide in this mansion right now who can stabilize you?”
She asked the sudden thought like an interrogation. Acteon reflexively moved to answer but stopped.
“There isn’t, is there?”
“That’s not…”
“If there were, you wouldn’t hesitate like that.”
She was sure based on Acteon’s reaction.
There was no one here who could Guide this guy. Except for one person.
‘The problem is that it’s me.’
Could my arrival at Brontearn be the variable?
Since she had no way of knowing if Acteon originally went through this kind of first manifestation, the thought that something might have changed because of her slowly began to emerge.
‘But it’s too similar. To the second manifestation in the original story…’
What if something truly went off track? What would happen if she died while stabilizing Acteon here?
Acteon, clutching his heart, slowly began to collapse downward. The sound of him gasping and enduring the pain sounded extremely labored.
In the moment she looked down at Acteon, she was swept up in countless internal conflicts. For a moment, fear even gripped her.
‘Should I…
…Help him here?’
Her mind truly felt as if it was evaporating into a blank white. This was the first time she had ever been so agitated.
What brought her back to reason was none other than the pain in her wrist.
The trace of her past impulsive action, done willingly to change the future, once again gave her the only choice that was all but decided for her.
At the same time, she recalled the words the professor had cautioned her with when she submitted her leave of absence application.
“Unauthorized Guiding will be immediately reported to me and the supervisors via your Control Stone Bracelet. Do not cause trouble, just rest quietly and return.”
Professor, I apologize. After already recklessly engaging in unauthorized mana operation, if she did this, too, she felt certain she would be completely locked up this time.
But she couldn’t just leave Acteon, who was undergoing his first manifestation, like this.
‘I might be able to put it down as a debt.’
Perhaps later, when the time comes for her to stabilize Acteon’s power, as in the original plot.
She might be able to create a variable that could help her survive by bringing up today’s incident. After rationalizing it that way, she could finally approach Acteon.
‘If I say I helped because he looked critical, wouldn’t I just get away with writing a suitable letter of explanation or receiving a light disciplinary action even if I’m dragged to the Management Office?’
After all, she hadn’t caused casualties or destroyed public property like the incidents high-ranking Transcendents often caused.
After reassuring herself about the aftermath, she reached out both hands and grasped Acteon’s shoulders.
“What are you trying to do… Surely not.”
“Acteon.”
Just in case, she strictly warned the guy.
“You, you must not forget today.”
She intended to firmly demand compensation for her help.
She slowly concentrated. And she found the points where the mana absorbed into Acteon’s body was entangled, unable to circulate properly.
‘This is more serious than I thought.’
Centered on the hands that were in contact with Acteon’s shoulders, she connected with his mind. She had only intended to place a small debt on him.
‘What is this?’
Suddenly, emotions she dared not presume or imagine flooded into her.
‘…Why, why is this happening?’
Loneliness. Solitude. Coldness.
Deficit. Fear.
For a brief moment, she felt someone’s gentle gaze and voice, which vanished before she could fully understand their meaning.
Sensing that Acteon also realized she was feeling his emotions, his voice suddenly rose.
“Wait, what are you doing right now…!”
“I’m Guiding, so wait.”
“The feeling of another person’s emotions during Guiding… I’ve never heard of that anywhere!”
However, even knowing that someone else was reading his thoughts and feelings, Acteon couldn’t bring himself to push her hands away. It was because he realized that the tangled mana within his body was beginning to flow stably due to the external intervention.
Furthermore, Acteon’s irregular breathing was gradually becoming smoother.
Looking down at his confused silver-gray irises, she concentrated further.
That was when the variable occurred. It happened while she was using her power to guide the mana to flow normally. As her power, following the flow of mana, reached Acteon’s heart—
“…What was that just now?”
Suddenly, her vision spun, and everything went white as if from anemia.
Subsequently, Acteon’s heart began to crave her ability at a frightening speed. All the stamina in her body was sucked out like crazy.
“Stop, you have to let go…! Otherwise…!”
Acteon’s shouting voice was getting increasingly muffled. And then, soon, no sound was heard.
‘Is Guiding an S-Class Transcendents normally like this? How on earth do people manage this?’
Ah, damn it.
She couldn’t see anything, and she couldn’t hear anything.
She quickly realized that she was about to faint. Just as she bit back the incoming curse, only the Control Stone Bracelet, which was hot and radiating heat again, felt completely distinct.
This meant that an alert had been sent to the Management Office again.
But the difference from the Lorraine incident was that her consciousness was already fading before they could arrive.
‘If I’m going to collapse anyway, I wish I would collapse in a way that looks as painful as possible.’
She muttered it unintentionally; surely Acteon hadn’t heard it?
Without knowing when she had taken her hands off him, she felt the sensation of a firm embrace catching her body. And a moment later, the body heat that enveloped her moved away.
When she managed to lift her head, the last thing she saw was Acteon blocking the way of the supervisors.
There was no way to verify if this was true.
Because she had lost consciousness from the side effects of Guiding an S-Class Transcendents for the first time in her life.
And the sight that greeted her when she opened her eyes again was…
‘…What on earth happened?’
The two same-aged boys were
guarding the sides of her bed in a state of cold war.
To her surprise, she hadn’t woken up in the Management Office.
‘Why? How?’
She had expected to wake up and hear the annoying nagging of the prince about how she could cause trouble and faint twice in one day. But instead, this room strongly asserted itself as the guest room in the Brontearn mansion.
The very room she had to stay in, served by the unfriendly maid.
But it was too soon to be surprised by the unfamiliar ceiling and wallpaper.
“Lifie? Are you awake? Are you okay?”
“I feel like I’m going to die…”
The moment she opened her eyes, a sharp headache hit her full force.
It felt like her entire forehead and temples were being poked with a sharp awl.
As she groaned in pain, she turned her attention to the voice of her brother, Hyacinth, and saw him pour lukewarm water into a glass, which he had placed beside her earlier, and hand it to her.
“Ah, thank you.”
She was quenching her thirst first.
She was about to wonder about the strange atmosphere that suggested they were not alone, when she gasped at the voice that immediately responded to this chilling sensation from the opposite side.
“You’ve awakened?”
“Cough… cough, cough!”
She nearly choked. Holding the half-drunk glass of water, she turned her head and saw Acteon, sitting with his arms crossed and legs crossed diagonally, staring intently at her.
The presence of the guy, who was looking at her in a posture that suggested he had been waiting a long time, left her bewildered.
Acteon, realizing her surprise, spoke first.
“Do you always live so impulsively, like a mayfly?”
“What…”
“What were you trying to do?”
Acteon began to interrogate her about Guiding him without permission.
She hadn’t expected to be reproached like this after all the trouble she went through to help.
“I clearly told you to call Blair. You must have known that Guiding me with your senior’s ability carried a high risk, so why did you do such a thing?”
“When someone is collapsing in front of you, are you supposed to leave the spot and look for someone else, not knowing what might happen in your absence?”
“I could have endured that much…”
“No, if I hadn’t been there, you might already be dead.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t care what happens to yourself?”
Acteon challenged her without backing down, and she was about to retort.
“Hey.”
Hyacinth sharply cut off Acteon’s words, which sounded as if he had been waiting for her to wake up to start nagging.
“I know my sister meddled first, but I don’t want to quietly accept criticism from others.”
“…….”
“Shouldn’t scolding be my job?”
A subtle silence lingered between the two.
What is up with these two? What happened after I collapsed? Although she didn’t know the details, she understood clearly that they had no fondness for each other.
Hyacinth must think she collapsed because of Acteon, and Acteon was probably trying to say she was reckless.
She raised her arm to mediate the standoff between the two, and the two boys simultaneously focused on her.
“I’d like to know what happened while I was unconscious.”
She thought she would surely wake up in solitary confinement at the Manifested Management Office.
But, no?
“Nothing much. It just means what you were worried about didn’t happen.”
“I mean, I want to know how that was resolved.”
However, Hyacinth wouldn’t give her an opening. He redirected her attention too naturally.
“It’s not too late to hear it later. More importantly, don’t you need to eat something? You were unconscious for two whole days.”
Two days?
She silently stared in shock, and Hyacinth, as if he knew she would be surprised, shook a bell. At the clear brass chime, a servant waiting outside the room entered.
Her brother ordered him to bring soup that she could easily eat, warm tea, and medicine.
He was so skilled at directing the servant that it wouldn’t be strange if she mistakenly thought they were nobles without her knowing. Even Acteon didn’t try to stop Hyacinth.
Furthermore, the servant’s attitude was strange. It was completely different from the maid who had treated her rudely on the first day.
‘What on earth happened?’
She was trying hard to adapt to too many changes when—
“You… Senior.”
Acteon repeatedly corrected her title and asked her. His attitude was noticeably gentler than right before she fainted.
“When you collapsed right in front of me, how do you think I felt?”
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