The Author's Playground
Chapter 50: Is it gay to love your genderbend self? (2)

Chapter 50: Is it gay to love your genderbend self? (2)

"Hah... hah... Phew..."

Elijah came to an abrupt stop, chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.

He had barely made it past one of the secluded corners of the Academy, a narrow pathway lined with towering stone walls.

His gaze darted left, then right.

No sign of Victoria.

He exhaled, pressing a hand to his knee.

Had he lost her?

He sure as hell hoped so. He hadn’t expected her to actually mean it when she swore she’d kill him. Then again, Victoria never made empty threats.

Just as his pulse began to settle, something whizzed through the air.

Elijah’s reflexes kicked in. His hand snapped up, catching the object mid-flight.

A ring.

A golden ring gleamed under the shadows, a delicate crown-like appearance in form of a small ring.

Then a voice spoke.

"You made me wait."

Elijah turned toward the stairway, where a figure sat at the edge of the steps, watching him.

It was Circe.

[ Circe Phordes || The suspicious one ]

’Hoh? it looks like her character also gets attention to the readers, knowing her title just changed together with Victoria’

Her pink hair flutters over her neck, as she rested her chin against her palm, one leg crossed over the other. "What took you so long?"

Elijah scoffed, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the lingering tension.

"Well, thanks to your impossible request and that wonderful delay in backup, I nearly got a front-row seat to my own funeral."

Circe let out a soft chuckle, unbothered.

"Relax. I was just kidding." Her expression softened, just a little. "Good to see you in one piece, though."

(’Oh yeah? Thanks I hated that’)

Elijah bit back the response, opting instead for a tight-lipped smile that mirrored hers. "Well, thanks for smoothing things explaining over with them. Saves me the effort of clearing my name."

Circe tilted her head slightly.

"I have to ask, though—of all things you could have asked for, why that artifact?" Her gaze flickered toward the ring in his palm. "It doesn’t seem particularly special. Even the records say it’s just an empty artifact."

Elijah turned the ring between his fingers, its crown-like engraving catching the dim light.

"I like to collect trash."

Circe blinked. Then, with an amused smile, she muttered, "Is that so? Your taste is quite strange."

Elijah ignored the remark.

"And your leader? Did she have nothing to say about this?"

Circe exhaled through her nose, brushing nonexistent dust from her skirt. "She wouldn’t care. If something—or even someone—doesn’t interest her, she doesn’t even spare it a glance."

’Interesting’Elijah’s mind turned.

"Oh really? Tell me more about her."

Circe stretched her arms, feigning a yawn. "Oh, I’d love to spend hours talking about her, but she wouldn’t like that."

Elijah resisted the urge to sigh.

’She’s sharp. Too sharp. This is why I hate dealing with people like her.’

With a lazy motion, Circe pushed herself up from her spot, brushing off her coat before waving a lazy hand.

"I’d love to chat more, but my absence might start raising concerns." She took a step back, then added lightly, "May the Lady be with you."

"Didn’t take you for the religious type."

Circe smirked back.

"It’s not that I want to be. It’s that I have to be." With that, she turned on her heel. "Let’s meet again next time, pretty boy."

"I sure do hope we aren’t enemies the next time we meet."

****

’Splash!’

Water dripped from Elijah’s fingers as he lifted his head, staring into the mirror.

His own reflection gazed back, weary and disheveled.

His face looked thinner than he remembered. Dark circles had carved themselves beneath his eyes, a quiet testament to his exhaustion. Was it because of that dream?

A sigh left his lips as he rubbed his temples.

’Forget it. I need to check the comments first.’

With sluggish steps, he made his way to his bed, sinking onto the mattress. His eyes drifted to the side.

"...Looks like that clean freak still isn’t done, huh?" he muttered, glancing at the untouched side of the room. A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Great. I can have this place to myself for a while."

Then, with a snap of his fingers—

"System."

A translucent screen flickered into view before him.

--

Chapter 2 - Readers Above the Sky Comments:

User UrAnus: They got us in the first half.

User MoonStruckMoneyBags: Thank God my baby Elijah isn’t a villain aaaa

User Andromeow: No one cares about that guy.

--

"902 unread notification" Elijah squinted. "My readers are certainly... something."

He scrolled down, searching for the view count—

"113k... now that’s a lot..."

--

User Marsmallow: tftc

User Veeeeenus: The MC doesn’t seem like an MC.

User Sagitired: Boringgg, need more harem!!

--

Elijah’s eye twitched.

His fist swung toward the system screen—only for it to phase right through.

"Goddamn harem lovers..." he growled under his breath.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, he flopped backward onto the bed. "Well, it’s understandable. My second Chapter was boring. I’m still getting started, you know?"

But his brows furrowed as he stared at the floating countdown timer.

[ Chapter 3 Countdown: 7 weeks ]

Elijah sat up abruptly. "Seven weeks? How the hell am I supposed to develop my character like this?"

A soft chime echoed in response.

[ System Notice: You can adjust the time. However, the maximum adjustment is 7 weeks. ]

"OOOOH" Elijah’s mouth turned ’ :0 ’ as he blinked. "So I can..."

[ System Notice: Yes. ]

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. "You should’ve said so earlier! I could’ve adjusted it from the first damn Chapter!"

Shaking his head, he grabbed a nearby parchment, dipping his quill into ink.

He needed to write.

With swift strokes, words filled the empty page.

Then—

"Submit."

The parchment trembled, its edges curling as it dissolved into the wind, vanishing into nothingness.

[ The System saw no loophole in your draft. The event will go as intended ]

"Well, that’s a good start."

Elijah swiped his hand through the air, pulling up his system stats.

His eyes skimmed over the usual numbers—until they landed on something that made his breath hitch.

[ Status Inflicted: Sleep Paralysis ]

[ Cause: User has obtained the curse of the original student, Quasolium. ]

His brows twitched. "So that thing was the reason behind that nightmare..." He let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "If this means I have to deal with sleep paralysis every night, I might actually lose my mind."

Still, he kept scrolling.

Nothing else had changed. No newly awakened powers. No miraculous stat boosts. Just that damn curse.

"No unique skills either, huh? Well, not that I was expecting much. The original Quasolium was just F-Class anyway."

It was almost disappointing—until something clicked in his mind.

"...Wait. Beelzebub..."

His finger hovered over his skill list, selecting the one ability that had saved his life once before.

[ Unique Skill - Rare: Beelzebub ]

[ Effect: The user is capable of devouring dead bodies. By doing so, they can alter their appearance to match the consumed body and randomly acquire one of its unique skills. However, there is also a chance of inheriting the deceased’s curse. ]

A slow grin stretched across Elijah’s face.

"...I can do that, right?"

A low chuckle rumbled from his throat.

Then—

"HOHOHOHO!"