I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 10

[Quest: Pay one year’s tuition and dormitory fees to the school by the deadline. (1/1) (!)

Current balance: 5,000,020 gold.]

After paying the school, a window appeared before my eyes notifying me that the quest had been completed.

It was a bit disappointing to see my once-flush balance take a hit, but I still had the five million gold Evan Bell had given me.

Compared to when I only had 20 gold to my name, my situation had drastically improved, so I decided not to dwell on it.

Most importantly, I could now remain enrolled at the academy until graduation.

No more anxiety about being kicked out at any moment.

With that thought, the sky looked needlessly bluer and clearer. I even felt a refreshing sense of freedom.

…Even though there had been some unpleasant events.

Regardless, I had secured my place at the academy.

I had safely passed the ordeal that hit me the moment I was thrown into the game.

‘Come to think of it, there’s still some time left before the semester starts…’

First, I would take a week-long break in the dormitory, then check the academic calendar, verify whether I met the graduation requirements, and find out when the course registration period was and what classes I needed to take.

Yes. Everything was perfect.

That is, until I collapsed with the flu.

***

After collapsing from the flu and barely getting up from bed, I scoured the entire academy for information and pamphlets, and sorted through about half of the mess of papers on my desk to find the necessary documents.

As a result, there wasn’t much I had to do.

The academic calendar was similar to that of my original world, and Lucia had already fulfilled all the graduation requirements.

She had completed all required courses, earned all the necessary credits, and only needed to focus on her thesis.

And that was the problem.

‘If I mess up the thesis and ruin it, I won’t be able to graduate.’

Lucia had prepared for graduation perfectly and boasted straight A+ grades.

The research proposal I had shown to Jeran Ennessy had even been praised as flawless.

Therefore, if I failed to graduate because my thesis was terrible, the blame would fall squarely on me. I couldn’t even make excuses.

‘Ugh, this is so stressful…’

Even writing my own thesis was hard enough, and now I was worried whether I could write a good paper on magic, a subject I knew nothing about.

‘Once the semester starts, the library will be open, so I’ll have to study hard using Lucia’s research proposal as a foundation. If that doesn’t work, I can consult a professor and ask for recommended reference materials.’

They had said I could reach out anytime if I needed help, so that much should be possible.

And in between, I could slowly seduce the capture targets and raise their affection levels.

‘I’ll be able to go home…!’

Just as I was solidifying my post-semester plans and strategy, a letter arrived from Evan Bell.

He was summoning me to his office.

***

1 p.m.

When I entered the office at the appointed time, I saw Evan Bell seated at his desk.

It had been about three weeks since I last saw him, but Evan Bell looked much the same as before.

Today, he wore a dark navy suit, and his jet-black hair was neatly swept back.

As the door closed behind me, the footsteps of the attendant who had guided me gradually faded away.

A deep silence settled in.

Evan Bell completely ignored me as if I were a ghost, his eyes fixed on the documents. It was as if he had decided to disregard my very existence.

‘Is this some kind of initiation ritual… or taming tactic?’

It felt odd that he had summoned me only to treat me like a sack of barley left out in the open, but I couldn’t exactly act out now that I had taken his money.

I stood quietly in the center of the office, waiting for Evan Bell to acknowledge me.

The interior of the office was just as unchanged as Evan Bell’s appearance.

The white and blue decor sparkled in the afternoon sunlight, and though the canopy-draped bed was oddly placed, it remained where it was.

The only unfamiliar sight was a small side desk placed next to the one Evan Bell used.

Atop the dark mahogany desk sat only a pen and ink, looking oddly out of place.

I couldn’t figure out what it was for.

‘It’s not like Lucia’s desk is so cluttered that she needs another one.’

Evan Bell’s desk, like Lucia’s, was covered in various documents and papers, but it was meticulously organized without a single gap. There didn’t seem to be any need for a side desk.

As the silence stretched on, Evan Bell finally opened his mouth without so much as glancing at me.

“Did you receive the check I sent you?”

“…Ah, yes. I received it well.”

Caught off guard, I responded a beat late.

Evan Bell still didn’t look at me.

“The day the check was sent, I saw the withdrawal from my account.”

“……”

“Did you use the money wisely?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, I used it well, Boss.”

“That’s good to hear. However.”

Evan Bell paused.

It was a strange silence.

His tone seemed like he was just making polite inquiries, but an underlying sense of discomfort and foreboding seeped through.

As I waited quietly for him to continue, Evan Bell asked another question.

“I haven’t received a bill. Did you see a doctor?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m pretty sure I told you to see a doctor under my name… Did you forget?”

Only then did I realize what Evan Bell was talking about.

The day our contract was finalized, after a bit of back and forth over lunch, he had left a red handprint on my wrist.

Seeing that, Evan Bell had told me to see a doctor and have the bill sent to him.

‘I completely forgot.’

My wrist had throbbed a little, but it felt fine after a while, and the red mark had disappeared by the next day without a trace.

There hadn’t seemed any need to see a doctor, and it didn’t feel like something to make a fuss over, so I let it go. Now, Evan Bell was asking about it.

For some reason, angrily.

I didn’t understand why he was so upset about something so trivial or why he was questioning me so sternly, but since he was the boss and he asked, it was only proper for an employee to answer.

“It didn’t seem serious enough to see a doctor, so I didn’t get it checked. The pain and the mark on my wrist both disappeared the next day. There’s no need to worry about it…”

“Do you normally disregard instructions like this?”

Evan Bell slammed his pen down as if he couldn’t take it anymore and looked up at me. His icy blue eyes blazed as if they would devour me whole.

“Didn’t I say I would pay for everything? Yet you, not even a doctor, decided on your own that it was fine, and you’re now proudly saying you didn’t even bother calling one.”

He let out a hollow laugh as if completely dumbfounded.

“How much do you think I paid for you?”

“Fifteen million gold.”

I replied flatly to his question. For a moment, Evan Bell seemed at a loss for words and grimaced terribly.

He clearly did not like my answer.

But I couldn’t understand why he was so furious over something so trivial.

I calmly opened my mouth toward Evan Bell, who looked utterly dumbfounded.

“Boss.”

“……”

“I appreciate your concern, but as you can see, my wrist is perfectly fine.”

I rolled up my sleeves and showed him both my wrists. Evan Bell’s gaze darted between my wrists and face.

He was clearly checking to see if my wrist was truly unharmed, yet at the same time shocked by my brazen attitude.

However, I paid no attention to his expression. I lowered my sleeves again and continued speaking with a calm, firm face.

“If something had gone wrong with my wrist because of what happened that day, I would have gone to see a doctor as you suggested. But as you can see, I’m perfectly fine. So there was no need to call one.”

“……”

“I hold no resentment about what happened that day, and I believe your strong grip on my wrist was just a mistake. You also said it wasn’t intentional.”

“……”

“So it’s fine. There’s no need for you to worry, and it’s nothing to get so angry about.”

Only then did I see Evan Bell’s hardened expression begin to ease slightly.

Still, I couldn’t help but add one more thing.

“And yes, you paid to purchase me, but you didn’t buy everything about me. To be precise, you bought the right to sexually humiliate and torment me for your enjoyment.”

“…So?”

“I agreed to follow your orders unconditionally in bed, but outside of that, I have no reason to obey you.”

“……”

“So I’d like to clarify that you do not have the right to control every aspect of me and act however you please. At the very least, what happens outside the bed is outside your jurisdiction.”

Evan Bell narrowed his eyes. I had clearly struck a nerve.

His gaze as he stared at me was sharp enough to cut, but I didn’t want to bicker over something so minor again. To avoid that, I had to draw a clear line between us.

Yes, I had agreed to sleep with Evan Bell in exchange for money. But that didn’t mean he had the right to interfere in my private life.

Besides, there were still two other men I needed to sleep with.

If every minor thing turned into a fight like this, it would be a problem.

And with Evan Bell, our relationship was already contract-based. I didn’t need to seduce him or earn his affection.

So there was no reason for me to be overly accommodating.

“……”

After staring me down in silence for a long time, Evan Bell finally erased his emotions and his expression went blank. He no longer pressed the issue of whether or not I saw a doctor.

Instead, he said just one thing.

“…Then it’s best I now exercise the authority I do have over you.”

With that, Evan Bell nodded toward the side desk.

“Take a seat there. I’ll give you your tasks for today.”

“……”

The cold command, spoken in a languid tone, sent a chill down my spine from head to toe.