Chapter 17: No One Has It Easy

Chapter 17: It's Hard for Everyone

Kongsha was no saint. Everything she had done for Saul came with a price.

She chuckled lightly. “What are you so scared of? Didn’t you chug the last potion without hesitation?”

Back then, Saul was just a servant—completely powerless in the face of death. But now, with three months until his first evaluation, he at least had some ideas on how to grow stronger. He wasn’t about to stake his entire future on a mysterious potion with unknown side effects.

“This potion won’t hurt you in the short term,” Kongsha explained, “but if you use it long-term, it’ll drain your potential—your life force. Once that’s gone… you’ll naturally die.”

Then her tone shifted.

“But if you work hard and make something of yourself, maybe you’ll become a second-level apprentice before that happens. Then you won’t need to force your magic power up—you can rely on your research instead. Pass your evaluations every six months that way.”

She raised the tiny vial and gave it a swirl. The clear liquid shimmered in the glass, tempting and dangerous.

“Draining my potential…” Saul stared at the potion, sighing softly. “If I take this too long, does that mean I’ll never become a full-fledged wizard?”

“Ha!” Kongsha nearly burst out laughing. “You really think too highly of yourself. Even I’m not confident I’ll reach that level.”

Though she didn’t say it outright, that alone confirmed Saul’s suspicion.

“I’m sorry, Senior Kongsha,” Saul said, head lowered but voice firm, “I can’t take the potion.”

Kongsha’s smile vanished. She rose to her feet and stared down at Saul’s bowed head.

Beneath the glass dome covering her half-exposed skull, five or six eyeballs floated up, pressing against the glass and glaring at him with terrifying intensity.

Even without looking up, Saul could feel the pressure, the fear, crawling up his spine.

His face went pale, his body began to tremble.

Finally, Kongsha chuckled and retracted the eyes.

“You think three months is a long time? Since you’re unwilling, I won’t force you. But when you come begging later… you’ll have to pay a lot more.”

With that, Kongsha sashayed out the door, graceful as ever.

Saul stood frozen for a while before turning to the tightly shut door. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

The sweat beaded up in his palm and dripped down the side of his face.

It had been terrifying but Saul had to refuse that potion.

First, he couldn’t let himself become Kongsha’s puppet, gambling his life on her so-called goodwill.

Second, he was a transmigrator—he had the hardshell book on his shoulder. He wasn’t going to settle for just being a second-level apprentice.

The door to wizardry had cracked open, and what he’d seen already made his heart burn with longing.

“Am I just born with the worst luck? Why is surviving in this world so damn hard?”

Syd was trying to kill him. Kongsha wanted to use him. Mark’s motives were unclear.

Katz loomed overhead. Brown was lurking below. Even Duke, his roommate, had a grudge.

Was there anyone in this wizard tower who wasn’t dangerous?

Couldn’t he just live like a normal apprentice—study, train, progress… without running into a new enemy every step?

Still trembling, Saul stumbled toward his bed and flopped onto it.

“Since I rejected Kongsha, I’ll have to find my own way to grow stronger.”

He covered his eyes with his left hand. The cold, hard white bone of his fingers pricked at his eyelids.

“Damn it. Fine, screw being human! I’ve got class tomorrow. Sleep!”

…

A half-night’s rest and a swirl of nightmares didn’t do much.

But Saul still forced himself to get up early, black circles under his eyes, and sought out George—who was working on the fourth floor before class.

George was thrilled to see him. He was scheduled to clean the hallways during the graveyard shift tomorrow. He might not run into anything—but if Saul valued him, the other servants wouldn’t dare assign him dangerous tasks.

“Sir, are you here to make me your personal servant?” George’s eyes sparkled.

“Not yet.”

George was still just a kid. His face fell immediately—but he quickly cheered up.

“I understand, sir. George will always be waiting for your command!”

Saul got down to business. “Has anyone visited Brown recently?”

George shook his head. “During rest time, we’re always together. He’s been around then. At night, I’m not sure.”

Saul thought for a moment. Maybe the person who had ordered Brown to target him hadn’t shown up yet.

So he asked differently.

“What about before after I was injured? Did you ever see a blond young man, around eighteen or nineteen, come looking for Brown?”

He described Syd’s appearance.

George’s mouth fell open.

Seeing the look on his face, Saul leaned in.

“You’ve seen him?”

George stammered, “S-Sir, I didn’t see him talk to Brown… but… but isn’t he the one who hit you with a book?”

Saul’s eyes went wide.

His fragmented memories had never revealed who killed the body’s original owner but with George’s help, the images came rushing back.

The terror sealed by death—erupted all at once.

A bright room, still cold and chilling.

Rows of towering bookshelves.

A blonde youth with an eerie expression, pulling books out and shoving them back at random.

Murmured whispers about a “diary.”

A glare of rage as he turned and saw Saul.

A thick, heavy hardshell book flung at him.

Dizziness. Terror. Pain. 

Then… silence and darkness.

Saul swayed in place, shaken to the core.

But what shocked him wasn’t the revelation that Syd had killed him.

It was the book. 

That same hardshell book… was floating on his left shoulder.

He had always thought the book was his cheat, his golden finger, the bonus from reincarnation.

But no… the book already belonged to this world.

He resisted the urge to glance at his shoulder.

Then he remembered the word “diary” Syd had muttered, and the way the book always formatted its pages.

Was the “diary” Syd searching for… the same book he had tossed away?

Saul smirked coldly.

Did Syd realize?

If he figured it out, then all the attempts on Saul’s life recently would make sense.

Saul didn’t know how to separate the book from himself—and he wasn’t about to give it up.

“Then it’s kill or be killed,” he thought, surprisingly calm.

He looked up and saw George still waiting nervously.

Saul softened his expression.

“You can go back. Once I’ve settled, I’ll bring you over.”

George lit up. That one sentence was enough to extend his life by several years, in his mind.

After parting with the beaming George, Saul went to speak with the steward.

The man was respectful and promised not to assign George any dangerous tasks.

Only then did Saul rush to the East Tower.

Today’s first class was “Basic Knowledge of All Things.”

He was late, but Keli had already saved him a seat.

“You’re finally here. Any later, I’d have thought something happened to you too,” Keli said, rubbing her chin. “Though I figured you’d be fine.”

“Too?” Saul raised a brow. “Something happened to someone else?”

Someone even unluckier than me?

Keli mentioned a name he didn’t recognize.

“He went mad.” She saw that Saul didn’t react with the usual shock and horror. “You’re not surprised?”

“I’ve seen how terrifying this place can be. I just didn’t think someone would lose their mind after only one day,” Saul muttered.

If Big Pink hadn’t shown up last night, he might’ve ended up the same way.

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(End of Chapter)

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