Use

—

“You… you…”

Leah was both angry and speechless, not knowing what to say. Her open mouth hung in the air.

“However, I do have a… goal that can earn the current Teacher Leah a reward.”

“What?”

Leah thought, he really does have a motive. Because this was Will—

He pointed to her robe’s inner pocket. Because the notebook she kept there was large, its outline was visible even from the outside.

“It’s what you’re currently doing.”

“What I… am currently doing?”

After a few times, Leah seemed to subconsciously obey Will’s words. He pointed, and she naturally took out the notebook.

“That’s right. You’re going to clear the 70th floor of the Abyss of the End and defeat that Empress, the Snow Woman, right?”

“What did you think it was? Isn’t this a quest you wrote?”

“Yes. See? By completing Will’s quest, you can naturally get Will’s ‘quest reward’—makes sense, right? But just defeating her is a bit boring. Listen, the quest I’m giving you is—”

Will paused.

“Alone, in front of me, you will defeat that Snow Woman.”

Leah even wondered if she had misheard what Will said.

“…Alone?!”

Although the frostbite on Leah’s hand was healed, she could still recall the pain. If she hadn’t actually fought that Snow Woman before, she might have thought there was a slim possibility. But… now, she lacked some “confidence.” Especially after failing to break through the Snow Woman’s castle ice wall time and time again, she began to doubt her own abilities.

“I’ve inquired.” Will adopted a posture of knowing her well. “Cradle, as an adventure team, provided you with no help at all. Your several challenges were unrelated to their support; one could even say they were a hindrance.”

“…”

Leah said nothing.

“Anyway, your contract with Cradle seems to end in three days—in three days, those people might not even have healed themselves. They will surely run away with their tails between their legs.”

Will shared Leah’s “adventurer team aesthetic.” From his tone, one could hear his disdain and dissatisfaction with the current adventure teams.

“Yes. In fact, they might even leave tonight. I’m just an external member anyway; they won’t even tell me.”

Will was speaking the truth. She also thought those people were useless. But… even with teammates, she hadn’t been able to defeat the Snow Woman.

“So, Teacher Leah. How about completing this new quest I’ve set for you?”

But, maybe…

Leah looked up. Will sat on the chair, slightly bent over, his hands crossed under his chin, as if “commanding” her.

“What? Still want… a little more?”

Will smiled, dipping a tiny bit of the blood-red liquid that Leah considered her “antidote” onto his fingertip, then licking it off his tongue.

She clenched her fists. She still had some backbone, but of course not the backbone to resist—

“Com-completing the quest is fine! But… but the premise is… you have to cure my magic circuit depression!”

“Mm-hmm. Starting to bargain?”

Will’s ringed finger tapped lightly on the table. Though it made no sound, it made Leah tremble. Just from that single action, she seemed to feel the insect in her neck move its mouthparts, just a bite away from sinking in.

“You… you want the horse to run, but won’t let it eat—isn’t that too much? You… you just want to see me get abused up there! And, and I’ll get scraped and frostbitten by ice arrows again…”

She tried to reason with him, putting on her “teacher” persona.

“Mmm…”

Will didn’t seem to mind Leah’s lecturing “teacher” side; he even seemed to savor it with some delight.

“There’s some truth to that. How about this? I can sponsor you with a bottle of high-concentration Bloodmint Essence. But… this quest isn’t something that can be done overnight. Teacher, your performance throughout this process also has to satisfy me.”

“High-concentration… Bloodmint Essence? That thing is just a material?”

“Yes.” Will’s answer was extremely blunt. “But this thing is hard to refine, so I can only give you one bottle.”

Hearing this, Leah felt that… Will was hiding something from her. If Will was truly just “controlling” her, giving her impossible quests to tease her, why would he make a concession? And he seemed to be constantly hiding the true identity of the “potion.”

Unless…

“Will, you… you desperately need some loot from defeating that Snow Woman, don’t you?”

“What? Am I being too obvious?”

“Intuition. Although you mentioned a similar Snow Woman in the Quest System… you told me yourself that you want a new start. You’ve never been driven by emotions or nostalgia.” Leah paused, observing Will’s expression. He didn’t interrupt her.

“You’re alive, which also proves you’re not one to obey fate. So killing the Snow Woman must also be one of your current goals.”

“…”

Will was silent for a moment.

“You’re actually using me, aren’t you? Because you can’t possibly defeat the Snow Woman on your own, and to rely on me, you have to use my love and control over me…”

Leah felt a bit of relief. After Will had changed so much from his old self, she could still find some way to understand him.

“What if I said yes?” Will interrupted Leah, then narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Don’t overthink it. Teacher Leah always trusts her own guesses, but they often aren’t the right answer.”

The more he acted like this, the more Leah felt he was hiding something. Indeed, the fact that he was using her made her a bit upset. She still hoped that his gaze upon her would be without any impurities.

But… after “losing” him once, after he returned in a “retaliatory” manner, and after “surrendering” to him, she was indeed suppressed.

“Fine. Just tell me. What do I have to do?”

Leah ended the previous topic, looking up directly, her chest held high, speaking without any beating around the bush.

“I thought you… you would continue to be a little awkward?”

When Will asked this, her gaze did dart to the side, and she twirled her right golden ponytail with her finger.

“…No need to be awkward anymore.”

After that familiar little gesture, she immediately looked back. She placed the hand that had just been bandaged but healed by Will on her chest and replied seriously—

“I dare to do and dare to bear the consequences. I speak my mind. Since I’ve already surrendered, I won’t go back on my word or be stubborn.”

Will looked at her fiery and determined gaze. She could indeed face her own decisions and express her thoughts. Even now, without the sickly pink “love” in her eyes, she still did it.

“Mm, that’s a very ‘post-Teacher Leah’ answer.”

“What new word is that?” Leah frowned. “So what do I need to do now? To deal with the ice wall, are you going to start training me in some magic concentration method?”

Will shook his head, then spread his hands.

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

“…Eh?”

“After all, I’m just a recently graduated student. My knowledge of ancient magic all came from Teacher Leah. As for the Snow Woman’s ice wall, I used to think the Primordial Candle had to be created to defeat it…”

“And now?”

“Teacher Leah, you should know better. The Primordial Candle is far too overpowered for a 70th-floor dungeon BOSS—and the current you can’t master the ultimate fire magic.”

Leah nodded.

“And, something you know very well…” Will smiled with a bit of self-deprecation. “Now that I’m standing in the future after my death, I’m no longer an omniscient, omnipotent god.”