Chapter 27: Ch 27: The Start of things Going Wrong

’What’s the deal with Ethan? Why is he looking at me like he wants to eat me alive? Did I do anything to him?’

Noah wanted to turn around and ask him that question, but he was not sure if now was the right time to bring up such a topic.

Not only was this the middle of class, but their teacher was also teaching. So he kept his words to himself for now.

But for the first time, Ethan decided he wanted to take the lead, and he opened his mouth to ask Noah a question.

"Hey, what’s the deal between you and those two? Alan I can still understand. He’s an esper, and no matter how low your grade is, you are a guide. But your roommate is a different story. See, he is still glaring at me like he wants to kill me."

Ethan pointed out, and Noah wanted to deny his claims and tell him that his roommate was not looking at him like he wanted to kill him...

Except...Daniel was looking at Ethan as if he wanted to kill him.

"Hey, you should not be looking at Alan or Daniel if you value your life. As for their interest in me...it’s something fleeting. It’s like finding a stray puppy amusing for a while and paying attention to it for some time before you grow bored and move on. I am like that stray puppy in this case."

Noah told Ethan outright, but the esper did not seem convinced.

"Hmm, are you all delusional or something? It is clear that this is more than just a fleeting glance...but what’s the use of me telling you this when you already think like that? You know what? I think I will just shut my mouth and my brain to conserve energy."

Ethan lowered his head onto his arms to tune the world out.

Noah had a lot more to say to him, but in the end, he decided not to and allowed Ethan to sleep.

But Ethan could not fall asleep. Those sharp glances aimed at him kept him wide awake, and he kept twisting and turning until he could get comfortable.

He was not sure what he was doing wrong to receive such glares, but it was clear that it had something to do with his partner.

’I cannot believe that I am getting interested in such a low-level guide. I have more important things to do...like sleep and recover my energy.’

But no matter how many times Ethan closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, he kept waking up, and his eyes kept drifting toward Noah.

His partner looked ordinary, but something about him was eye-catching. It made Ethan feel like he could understand what was enchanting the esper-guide duo so much.

And then those stabbing glares came back, and Ethan was forced to look away.

’Yeah! This is dangerous. Let’s not get involved with Noah any more than I have to.’

...

"You are going to tear a hole through that esper’s face if you continue to stare at him like that. What’s wrong? Did you fall for him or something?"

Alan teased as he looked at his partner’s acidic glare.

Daniel turned those murderous eyes toward him, and something like this would have usually thrilled Alan. But this time, he only felt a mild sense of frustration.

He was already irritated from before when he watched Daniel hold Noah’s hand, and now the feeling was getting even worse.

Jealousy was an ugly emotion that he did not often deal with. But this time, it had truly taken hold of him and was even making his insides burn.

"Tsk, I have nothing to say to you, of all people. But if you try anything like what you did before, I won’t let you get away with it."

Daniel threatened him in a clear voice, and Alan decided to push his buttons even more.

It was clear to him that Daniel’s trigger was Noah, so he decided to involve Noah in his game.

"Oh! If this is a problem for you, then I won’t try to pull something like that again. However, I can still approach Noah whenever I want, right-"

"Don’t come close to Noah. In fact, don’t even look at him! This will be my last warning to you. Next time, I will make sure you remember it by force."

Daniel threatened, and Alan waited for amusement to overtake him...but that amusement never came. Instead, he kept feeling a growing sense of irritation throughout his body.

Sigh

’What a mess. But I guess there is no point in denying it anymore. I am interested in that guide.’

...

Noah shivered throughout the lecture. He had no idea how he managed to get through it all without exploding even once. But he decided to quickly head back to his room before his shivering got any worse.

[Mission parameters updated.]

[Mission goal: Get Subjects E001 and G002 close.]

[Progress: 5%]

Noah sighed as he looked at his progress bar. It was moving, even if it did not seem like it. This meant that he was making progress.

But it was still only at 5%, and it was crawling. At this point, there was no telling when it would even reach 10%.

"Ugh, I feel like I am losing my mind. When will I be able to break free from this destiny and gain my freedom?"

He questioned, only to receive no answer. But he was still calm.

"At least things cannot get worse than this."

He tried to console himself. However, things could get worse than his current situation. And in fact, they did get worse for him rather quickly.

Daniel returned to the room not long after, and they went to sleep.

But when Noah woke up the next morning and opened his balcony door to get some fresh air, he felt something dripping onto his head.

A few seconds were all it took for him to get drenched.

"Huh? Is someone playing a prank on me? Or...is the target Daniel? It was just a coincidence that I opened the balcony door..."

Noah tried to justify what had happened, but his instincts told him that something was wrong and that this was no coincidence.