I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 118



117 – Restricted Access #3

Rohan, entrusting his body to the bed, shut his eyes.

It wasn’t difficult to locate the thing nestled in the secluded corner of his consciousness.

The moment he grasped the foreign mass resting neatly like a book within a book, a current appeared before his eyes.

[Playing Restricted Access Video #3.]

Though the videos, or books, always presented things that were difficult to deduce and profoundly deep,

Rohan concentrated his mind as much as possible, not wanting to miss any information.

Because those things, gathered together, had the potential to paint a clear picture.

‘Let’s go.’

What will it show this time?

He was worried about problems arising with his physical condition, but there was also anticipation.

────.

A world riddled with blackness was painted white.

A lively mix of colorful hues gathered, creating the world.

‘I see it.’

Just like last time, he was borrowing someone’s eyes.

Rohan began to meticulously examine the information captured in the background.

‘Whose perspective is this time?’

A cigarette lay on the table. An ashtray on the verge of becoming a cactus.

The strands of hair obscuring his view made him suspect it was a woman, and offered the expectation that it wasn’t the male head of the family from before.

A hand, moving to grasp a pen.

Judging by the shape of the nails and the fingers, it seems to be a woman.

‘That cigarette and hair color… is that the woman the Head met before?’

A woman who was with a body presumed to be his younger self.

Her face was hidden, preventing confirmation, but he could surmise from other details.

“Hss…”

The woman, habitually holding a cigarette in her mouth, began to fill the paper with graceful handwriting.

Rohan absorbed the words she wrote into his mind.

[Commencing Experiment No.■■■]

Rohan knew it.

To fulfill her duty as a researcher in the experiment, this woman was determined to write a personal preface, pouring out her emotions.

A small wish was also embedded within, hoping someone would read it in the future.

[For Lowell, who nearly froze to death in the streets as a child, the flame was a symbol of solace and tranquility.

For Jenny, who lost her family in a fire, the flame was terror and catastrophe.

What, then, is a flame to us? This irregularly flickering form evokes a wide array of individual emotions and meanings.]

“Huu…”

Hazy smoke escaped from her lips, ascending toward the ceiling.

[We have learned that fire can be a symbol of peace for present-day humanity. And we are certain that it will become a terror to the monsters that threaten humankind.]

···

···

[To punish those who have betrayed humanity, we need a fire that will burn everything. The day when a flame aligned with the ideology of purifying the world arrives…]

‘?!’

It dawned clearly on Rohan’s mind.

The epithet, “traitor to humanity,” that followed Omega’s name.

“Huu…”

The woman exhaled, concluding her time of scribbling emotions.

Thud!

The book closed. The hand trembled, the moment she put down the pen and cigarette.

A curse escaped the lips that had held the cigarette.

“Fucking hell…”

A voice, fragile as glass, delivered words that were anything but.

This woman, who’d presented such a composed and insolent face before the Clan Lord, was consumed by profound unease and terror.

Lost in a recollection of something from a forgotten time.

“What is this?”

The backdrop Rohan was observing bled into an inky black. Rohan was now borrowing even the woman’s imagination.

Sharing in something she had witnessed, something she had lived through.

[Abyss City Version 5.0 PV: 『The Betrayers of Humanity』 is now playing.]

Rohan stared, blankly, at the notification window.

“Abyss City, version 5? The one I played was version 2…”

There was no time to collect his thoughts.

The video began.

The setting was a canyon shrouded in fog.

Ominous. Not a single soul was to be seen.

─ Woo-oo-oom.

An enormous whale, emitting a sound akin to a foghorn, had grounded itself, its belly resting upon the earth.

“The Void Whale…”

The monster that annihilated the Southern Lands. Rohan had never seen it in person.

But he was familiar with it, as its face had appeared sporadically in official illustrations and within the storyline.

“Even so, I didn’t imagine it would be this large.”

To call it a whale felt inadequate.

One might suspect the Creator had breathed life into Mount Tai itself.

What, even, *was* that thing? Could it truly be categorized as a mere monster?

─ Guu-uu-oong.

Merely by existing, this monster caused its surroundings to melt away into a pitch-black nothingness.

It moved, using the world transformed into an unknown liquid as a foothold.

─ Guu-uu.

Unexpectedly, the Void Whale opened its maw.

The Void Whale was known for its ability to create rifts in dimensions within its mouth, unleashing monsters.

Rohan, sensing this was a crucial moment, widened his eyes.

“Is it going to spew out monsters here? But there’s nothing *here*.”

But expectation is shattered.

More astonishing than any monster emerges from the Void Whale’s maw.

Humans.

They stride forth through a dimensional rift carved by the Void Whale.

A throng of humans.

‘…?’

Even Rohan struggles to grasp the impossible image.

A dimensional rift is an exit for monsters.

It should close after disgorging a monster, impossible to use as an entrance to push humans through.

There’s no time to recover, the shock continues.

Incredibly, there are familiar faces amongst this group.

Omega and Hex, standing amongst the throng.

Omega is unlike the figure on the uninhabited island, there are no burn scars. But the distance one feels from their existence remains.

Hex is exactly as they were in the illustrations.

Rohan’s contemplation deepens.

‘The PV’s title is Human Traitors…’

Beyond that rift in the Void Whale’s gullet.

What lies there?

If only he could confirm, the curiosity and nagging sensation nestled in his mind might vanish completely.

But already, the Void Whale has submerged, sinking into the melted earth, disappearing.

[Ending the playback.]

“…”

Rohan opened his eyes.

Checking his phone, he saw roughly five minutes had passed.

As expected, viewing restricted material weighs down not just the body, but the mind as well.

The bed is too comfortable.

He forces himself to rise, fearing he’d sleep all day, and checks the messages recently sent by Zion and Clara.

…

…

‘I thought it was scheduled for the afternoon, but it ended quickly.’

Rohan arrived at Sion’s opulent mansion.

He’d even bought expensive toilet paper as a housewarming gift.

He considered a diffuser, but without knowing their preferred scents, it was difficult. And he wasn’t exactly in a condition to leisurely ponder it.

*Ding-dong!*

He pressed the bell. Silence. The door didn’t open.

*Ding-dong!*

He pressed it again, but still no answer.

‘What’s going on? I’m pretty sure they’re home.’

Sion had definitely said he’d be waiting, in their messages.

He thought about calling, but then wondered if they were busy moving boxes inside. Rohan finally pulled out his key card.

Rohan had also received a card key and registered his fingerprint, granting him access to Sion’s mansion.

At first, he’d refused, saying it wasn’t necessary, but Sion gave him a string of ‘just in case’ scenarios, and he relented.

*Blee-deet!*

The main gate swung open.

The doorknob inside turned smoothly.

“Sion? Clara?”

Rohan called out their names as he placed his shoes in the shoe rack and stepped inside the house.

With each passing moment, the weariness weighed heavier, doubled. Something was off.

If he didn’t strain his eyes, his eyelids kept drooping, forcing him to fight off a wave of sleep.

“Rohan. You’re here?”

“Oh, O-Oppa…”!*

The two of them emerged from a room.

Rohan’s jaw dropped as he saw Sion and Clara.

Weren’t they coming out wearing the negligee he bought in the mall yesterday.

Sion walked confidently into the living room.

Clara, her steps frozen, faltered, half-hidden behind Sion.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Both of you, get properly dressed!”

“It’s my house. Is it not alright?”

“…”

Sion maintained a nonchalant expression, but the tips of his ears were flushed red.

Clara’s eyes were already spinning.

Rohan felt a strong surge of suppressed desire, a consequence of being trapped in this academy city.

He mentally sang the entire national anthem.

The desires he’d ignored by exhausting his body and expending his energy had grown to an enormous size.

“If Rohan had rung the bell, I would have changed my clothes. There wasn’t even time for that now.”

“…How many times did you ring it?”

Sion mechanically spat out the words, as if she had been waiting for Rohan’s reply.

“Then the bell must be broken. I didn’t hear it. I’ll get it fixed tomorrow.”

“Y-Yeah… Broken…! Broken!”

Rohan couldn’t help but chuckle at Clara’s dizzy-looking agreement.

It seemed better to just say it plainly.

“I’m a normal guy too, so this is hard on me.”

“…!”

Sion’s eyes widened, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

Clara mirrored her reaction.

“I’ll be careful.”

“Y-Yeah… I’ll, I’ll be careful!”

As if they’d achieved their goal, the two girls returned to their rooms, saying they would change their clothes.

“Hah.”

Rohan set down the tissue he was holding and let out a long breath.

··

··

Sion had even furnished a room for Rohan inside the mansion.

As a sign that she wanted him to visit often, it had basic furniture and a bed.

Rohan felt burdened, yet couldn’t hide how sleepy he was.

He glanced around the room once, then said he would just sleep for a bit, collapsing onto the bed without any blankets.

With a request to be woken up in thirty minutes as a parting word, Rohan closed his eyes.

The girls discussed the aftermath of their operation and compiled a shopping list, and exactly thirty minutes had passed.

The two girls came to the room to wake Rohan.

“…A rare occurrence indeed.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Is he very tired?”

“If it’s like his usual day… he probably came straight from training, wouldn’t you think?”

Sion and Clara, looking at the deeply sleeping Rohan, concluded that this was an unusual situation.

He wasn’t waking up even with them talking openly like this.

“…”

In the minds of the girls who had acknowledged their affections, wicked thoughts began to swirl like mist.

But thievery is wrong.

From noble mtl dot com

The girls harbored a fantasy that the first time… the first time should be initiated by Rohan, after their feelings were mutual.

“U-Unni…!”

“Hm?”

Clara, startled by something she saw, pointed at Rohan’s lower half.

What lay there was a natural physiological phenomenon.

A massive rod stood erect, so large one would wonder if it would rip through anything other than stretchy clothing.

Its menacing presence was remarkable.

“Like I said earlier, he’s a healthy man, so it’s a natural… natural… it’s a natural and normal bodily function… N-nothing to be surprised by…”

Sion rambled, unable to completely hide her embarrassment.

Should they leave the room?

If Rohan woke up now, it would be incredibly awkward.

“…”

But.

Curiosity sometimes invites disaster.

The girls moved in quiet steps, without saying a word.

And began to silently observe Rohan’s lower half.

A very strong scent emanated from it. It felt like it would fill the room.

Difficult to describe, but addictive.

And so, Sion and Clara moved closer and closer, boldly began to stare,

Until they were close enough to feel the distinct heat, close enough that two breaths brushed against him.

Rohan’s body began to show signs of change.

A desire unaddressed for a long time.

Rohan’s vibrant body decided to sate its desires with the choice of a wet dream.

“Ah…?”

“!”

A sticky fluid gushed like a fountain, piercing through the thin cotton pants.

Pure white and hot, the liquid splattered down onto Sion and Clara.