NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
“Genji, you’re back early. Have you eaten? Want to join me?”
As soon as he opened the door to the dormitory, a tantalizing aroma greeted him. Amidst the swirling smoke, the face of his roommate, Mikagawa, appeared, engrossed in his meal.
Genji noticed a hotpot on the table, generously filled with beef, leeks, grilled tofu, konjac noodles, shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, and onions. His groggy mind instantly perked up at the sight, his stomach urging him to dig in.
He casually placed the map and headphones aside and took a seat.
“Why did you suddenly decide to cook, senior? This spread doesn’t look cheap.”
“I got a bonus from a project with my supervisor, and I suddenly remembered it’s been a while since I’ve had meat. So I bought some fresh ingredients from the port nearby.”
Mikagawa picked up a piece of sizzling beef, dipping it in raw egg, and hurriedly popped it into his mouth without even blowing on it.
“Eh… Haven’t had meat for a while? Doesn’t the cafeteria serve meat?”
“Did you skip out on the garden festival? Didn’t you visit the synthetic meat factory? Can you even call that meat? This here is real meat!” Mikagawa grabbed another large slice of beef, accidentally burning his mouth, and started to blow on it while wincing, “Ssshh… Mmm, delicious!”
“Well, I wasn’t feeling great today. Just took a look at the robots and came back,” Genji admitted, scratching his head.
“Good thing you didn’t go. If you knew the meat in the cafeteria was cultured from animal cells… Hmph…”
“Eh?”
Mikagawa disdainfully pointed in the direction of the cafeteria: “Those so-called fish, chicken wings, pig feet, beef steaks, they all come from the lab. They call it ‘clean meat’. But both the texture and flavor are nothing compared to real meat.”
Genji involuntarily thought of the proud robot teacher covered in human cell-cultured skin. If someone wanted to eat human flesh…
He suddenly felt nauseous and quickly squashed this terrible thought.
“Stop, stop… Haha, I get it, senior. You’re just trying to gross me out so I won’t eat all your beef, right?”
“Enough with the jokes, eat up! Our Kansai-style sukiyaki is different from your Kanto style; you have to first grease the pot with beef fat to get that aroma!”
Mikagawa Shingo, like Genji, had also skipped grades to enroll here and was currently pursuing a master’s in medicine.
Perhaps considering Mikagawa’s similar background to Genji and the fact that there weren’t many of Genji’s peers, the institute had them room together, with Mikagawa as Genji’s mentor.
Initially, Genji was unwilling to see Mikagawa on the dorm allocation list. But it turned out Mikagawa was an eccentric who loved food and fun, without any seniority airs.
However, Genji didn’t dislike this personality. Being quite reserved, he found it surprising how quickly he warmed up to this hospitable Kansai guy on his first day on the island. This was unexpected for a boy who rarely had friends.
“So, did you really only visit the robot exhibit today? Did you find anything interesting?”
But at the moment, Genji was just absentmindedly chewing, not really listening to his senior.
The solitary girl he had encountered at the Wall of Sages lingered in his mind.
She was about 1.6 meters tall, seemingly fragile and petite. Her eyes were clear yet deep as an ice lake, unfathomable, making it hard to guess her thoughts. She had a straight nose, tightly closed lips, and an unapproachable demeanor. Her pale complexion added a certain morbid beauty to her.
What concerned Genji more was the warning she left him:
“Be careful with that headset, your brain is exposed.”
“Stay here from 7 PM to 5 AM. Don’t go to Cicada Hidden Town. It’s an unbreakable rule.”
Genji understood the principle behind the headset. But what did her last sentence mean? He furrowed his brows in confusion.
Snap! A tap on the shoulder jolted Genji back to reality.
Unaware of what Mikagawa had just said, he could only stammer a non-sequitur response: “Ah… yes, yes, delicious!”
“What are you agreeing to? You’re just focused on eating…” Mikagawa tapped Genji’s head, “I’m really worried about your future on this island. Don’t you ever notice pretty girls?”
“Yes, yes, I do!”
Genji blurted out in panic, immediately regretting it.
The girl was indeed beautiful, but she seemed untouchable.
“Which department
? Aren’t all the girls here much older than you? Oh, I see, you like older women, huh?”
Mikagawa teased, making Genji blush furiously.
“It’s not like that. She’s still in high school! And I’ve never thought about dating on the island!”
“Funny, how can a high school girl enter our campus? You’re making things up…”
Suddenly, Mikagawa seemed to recall something significant, his lips freezing mid-sentence.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
Genji waved his hand in front of him, but Mikagawa just looked terrified, his face pale.
After a while, Mikagawa finally regained composure. He hesitantly asked, looking down, “That girl… was she paying respects at the Wall of Sages with a bouquet of flowers?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And was there a card tied to the bouquet with a mantis on it?”
“Yes.”
Then, in a pleading tone, Mikagawa said, “Next time you see her, could you stay away from her?”
“Why? Are you interested in her, senior?”
Seeing Genji’s puzzled look, Mikagawa gasped, “That person… never mind, just don’t get close to anyone from the divine descendants’ family.”
“Divine descendants? Is she a descendant of Kunitsukami?”
“No, but she’s closely related to the Kamibe Clan of the Cicada Hidden Shrine, the so-called divine descendants. Getting close to them only brings misfortune.”
“But isn’t Kunitsukami a benevolent god worshipped by people? Why would the divine descendants bring misfortune?”
“Don’t ask why, just do it. I don’t want to lose another roommate.”
The hotpot was still bubbling, but Mikagawa didn’t eat anymore, and Genji dared not ask further.
Suddenly, Mikagawa, as if trying to cover his lapse, hurriedly exclaimed, “Hey! The soup in the pot is almost gone, eat up!”
“Ah, yes!”
That night, Genji tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The myths of Ye Island, the strange rules of Cicada Hidden Town, the girl’s warning, his senior’s abnormal behavior… there must be a secret behind all these.
“Don’t ask why, just do it. I don’t want to lose another roommate.”
At that moment, Mikagawa had his head lowered, seemingly holding back sorrow.
Why did everyone have to be so cryptic? Isn’t scientific research about asking “why”?
Lying in bed, Genji felt as if he could see a frustrating tangle of threads hanging from the ceiling. He reached out, but grasped nothing.