"Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason."
3
Not human.
That was the first impression Dice got from the clumsy-looking Assistant Kim. He could not put exactly how or why into words. All he knew was that his body froze the moment he laid eyes on him.
Assistant Kim looked like a cheerful man despite appearing somewhat unreliable, smiling like an overworked new hire in a company set on bootlicking his supervisor first thing in the morning.
No matter what angle he was viewed in, he was only an ordinary person making a living as a personal assistant to the owner of this place.
But despite his subservient attitude, all the cells in Dice's body were telling him that this person in a knight cosplay…was not only not human, he was also incredibly dangerous.
It did not make sense.
How could someone living and breathing not be human?
The danger Dice sensed, it was similar to the feeling he had once felt before, when he was a child and got lost in the mountains during a family trip.
The moment he saw a wild brown bear looming over him, his legs had betrayed him and he could not move. The pressure he felt from that gigantic creature taught his young self the fear of a predator.
It was the same this time.
'What the fuck is wrong with me?'
The man definitely looked human in all aspects, but upon closer inspection, he was indeed a different being. Kind of like when a person sees a wax figure or mannequin of a celebrity—no matter how realistic it looked, one would notice it was not human.
'He's not a robot, is he?'
'No, he is breathing. Besides, his movements and his expressions are too humanlike. But then, I don't understand why my gut feeling is telling me otherwise. I don't think I'm still drunk though.'
'Wait, the headache disappeared.'
"Professor, is something wrong?" Assistant Kim asked as he placed the coffee on the center table.
Dice immediately corrected his expression, causing an unimpressed frown to appear on his face.
During his military service, he had been the cautious kind, good at understanding the moods of his superiors and fellow soldiers. Afterwards, he started work as a store clerk, and dealing with customers had never been an easy job.
Thus, if one were to count, he had years of accumulated experience when it came to reading people's faces.
Though Assistant Kim's actions seemed casual, Dice would not mistake his expression—that was the face of an employee fearing his employer.
'This robot dude…thinks I'm his Boss?'
Based on experience, the best way to deal with things you don't understand is to not react.
'Will I be killed if he learns I'm a different person?'
For some reason, Dice's gut feeling was telling him that no matter what happens, he could not allow himself to be on the bad side of this strange person.
It was never wrong to follow one's survival instinct.
'Why did he address me as Professor?'
'Do I have the same face as this Professor?'
'Is this really a case of mistaken identity?'
As his mind raced, Dice's entire body did not relax and was as stiff as a statue. He didn't know who the guy was and neither did he understand the situation. He still didn't know how to react.
Should he play along or ask about his situation?
'...but this Assistant Kim, is he a cosplayer?'
Aside from his strange dark green outfit that looks like it's lifted straight from a fantasy MMORPG, he's also carrying a long sword strapped on his back.
Dice chose to remain silent and observe.
Assistant Kim shook under his intense gaze and began to spill out words of apology.
"Ah, pardon, Professor, I know you don't like talking about business this early in the morning, and you really don't want to attend. However, the Second Throne specifically told me that you have to accept the summon this time and that I must do my utmost to persuade you to come. Otherwise, the core materials for your current project will be reduced by a third, even if it affects the war—"
As he listened to the bunch of words that sounded gibberish to his ears, Dice carefully picked up the piping hot coffee brought by the man. He remained sitting on the leather couch. He put on a mask of disinterest and behaved as one would if the place was truly his.
'Play along, let's just play along.'
Though he was not sure if this is how the 'Professor' behaved in front of his subordinate, he thought this was the safest option he had.
His heart was pounding painfully inside his chest and his hands felt icy cold, but he forced his expression to show nothing of the anxiety he was feeling.
'Second Throne? Summon? A project? And war? The fuck, I don't know what to make of this.'
'Is this 'Professor' a bigshot scientist? Don't tell me he makes weapons? Real life Tony Stark?'
'He's saying a lot of things that don't make sense.'
'I have to quickly send this man away so that I can think.'
"I'm going to shower," Dice interrupted the man as he finished his coffee. His expression remained nonchalant, a little annoyed even, yet he made sure that his actions seemed like that of a young master used to getting his way.
So far, although Assistant Kim seemed unreliable, his words gave Dice the impression that his actions were within the range of acceptance.
'That means the real Professor has a cold personality,' Dice guessed in his heart.
"Of course, of course. I'll be waiting here, Professor. Take your time."
Assistant Kim immediately nodded and casually waved his hand at the table—
'What the fuck?!'
Under Dice's bewildered gaze, the cup of coffee vanished in thin air, as if it didn't exist in the first place. There was no 'poof', no glow or a hole appearing on the table to get rid of the trash.
The cup simply disappeared. Erased. Deleted.
Fortunately, Dice was able to turn around before his expression gave him away.
His footsteps hurried as he returned to where the master's bedroom was, and the moment he closed the door behind him, he let out another silent curse.
'Fuck! What the fuck did he do? What did I just witness?'
'Is that…magic? The kind you see in books and movies and games?'
Dice put a hand over his heart, urging it to calm down lest the strange lifeform outside hears his heartbeats.
'There is no contraption on the table, and I don't think it was a hallucination. His actions imply that what he did is quite normal for him.'
'He's really not human!'
The door seemed so pitiful a barrier between him and the man outside.
'Who is this Professor and what kind of situation am I in?!'