Chapter 58: Mana Sickness

“Un-understood…”

To be honest, as a former otaku university student, Lin Sheng actually had all sorts of little issues.

Low emotional intelligence, some perverted quirks—whatever they were, these were all things Serveyia wanted to correct.

But Serveyia also knew that trying to fix these “small” problems was a long and difficult road.

Right now, all she could do was try to guide Lin Sheng to grow in the way she wanted, the Academy wanted, and even Society wanted.

“Since you understand, then we should discuss the current situation.”

“The current situation?”

Lin Sheng felt that something was off when Serveyia said this.

What’s more, he suddenly realized he was being pressed closer and closer to the Bed in the Room by Serveyia without even noticing.

“Of course. We need to properly discuss what kind of punishment to give a lost Little Fox, don’t we?”

“Eh?”

“‘Eh’ what? Could it be the Little Fox thinks barging into someone else’s Room doesn’t deserve punishment?”

“Nee-need to.”

“But before the punishment, I have a question for the Little Fox. Why did you come to my Room?”

“Well, if I tell the truth, Serveyia, will you let me go?”

“Little Fox, how could you have such an unrealistically cute thought? I’m not negotiating with you, so my advice is to be honest for a lighter sentence.”

Lin Sheng stared at the approaching Serveyia, feeling nervous.

What on earth was she planning to do?

Right now, only the two of them were in the Room. If she really did anything, he had no power to resist.

Besides, Serveyia was now so close that Lin Sheng could see the fine fuzz on her face.

He could even feel the warm breath from her nose against his own face.

“I… I just felt that you’ve been acting strange these past couple of days, Serveyia; I was worried, so I thought I’d come check on you…”

“……”

Lin Sheng clearly noticed that after he said this, Serveyia froze for a moment.

Then the predatory smile on her face faded, replaced by a gentle smile of relief.

“So the Little Fox was worried about me.”

Serveyia’s expression softened.

“I clearly already told the Little Fox everything was normal, nothing was wrong. Why must you dig deeper?”

“But I can clearly feel you’re lying to me, Serveyia. What’s so bad you can’t tell me?”

“Little Fox, do you really want to know?”

“Mm, of course I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to your Room, would I?”

Seriously, he came to Serveyia’s Room with resolve.

If he left without learning anything, wouldn’t he have suffered for nothing?

“Since you’re so curious, Little Fox, then I’ll tell you. Have you ever heard of Mana Sickness?”

“Mana Sickness?”

Lin Sheng had heard of Potion Sickness—in a certain 2D sandbox side-scroller game.

In real life, was Mana Sickness something similar?

“Is it caused by excessive Mana intake?”

“Oh? Not exactly the same, but close enough. Basically, it’s caused by taking in too much external Mana.”

“Since everyone’s symptoms are different and there’s no real harm, it’s always been seen as a side effect. And my symptoms these past few days are Mana Sickness.”

If it was as Serveyia said, Mana Sickness was caused by excess Mana intake.

And considering what she said about the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s traits…

Was her abnormal state because of him?

But if that’s the case, there’s still one problem.

“If that’s true, then why did you stay by my side, Serveyia? Wouldn’t it be better to keep some distance?”

He was constantly leaking Mana.

According to Serveyia, her physical abnormalities seemed to be from absorbing too much of his Mana.

Lin Sheng didn’t think Serveyia could be unaware of the reason.

“Because the cure for Mana Sickness also varies from person to person. Some need to avoid the Mana source, while others need closer contact.”

“Not only is the cure different for each person, but even the methods for different types of Mana Sickness vary. Looks like for your kind, Little Fox, I have to stick close to you to get better.”

Uh, is that really true?

It felt like Serveyia was making things up.

Even though she sounded convincing, was that really possible?

Different symptoms for everyone, different cures for every case—how did this not sound like a lie?

“Judging by your eyes, Little Fox, you don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe, just… How do I put it? What you said, Serveyia, is a bit too far-fetched, so I instinctively can’t trust it…”