No, they're not? I was 100% sure my eyes had been dark blue, nearly black, when I'd checked in the mirror just a day ago.
But now, as Isaac blinked up at the two professors, or what would be more aptly put, the two talking streams of code, he realized something fundamental had shifted.
The infirmary's polished silver tray reflected Isaac's face, warped but unmistakable.
To him, this silver tray was nothing but binary as well.
What if?
"Temporal Anchor. Disable"
The two professors turned their attention back to him.
"Hm? Did you say something Mr Isaa-" he quickly pauses "Oh… Sorry, I was hallucinating it. Are you fine?"
"Horrendous residual pain in my retina, professor."
"I see… I apologize… If I caused that 'injury', if you could even call it that… I sincerely apologize, Isaac. But, if it wasn't me who caused the rupture. How did this pain suddenly come to be? Isaac? Doctor Esquivel needs the full scope of what happened."
Aldrick thought to himself.
I swear his eyes were green for a moment…
Is he a Concordant as well? Shared vision could have explained the color alteration…
"Sir… It's alright… I'm personally not too sure either. It was a spur-of-the-moment sharp pain in the dining hall, before everything suddenly went black and I felt the worst pain in the back of my hea一 No… In my entire skull."
"Right… It was foolish of me to ask someone who has just suffered so much. I apologize again, Isaac. Doctor Esquivel and I suggest that you rest well, keep your eyes closed. The initial pain could be anterior uveitis or, as the Doctor has proposed, Bilateral Global Rupture, but I'm not one to diagnose."
"... Ah, will do, Sir. I apologize for the trouble I caused."
"Please… Don't be. Safety of students is number 1 for us after all. Rest well." Doctor Esquivel affirmed.
Finally, the couple exited the room.
Hoh…
Fascinating, this world is quite medically advanced, too. So much so that Professor Aldrick can narrow down the cause of my eye pain to the most similar condition.
Either way…
FAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
FUCK!!!
OWWWWW!!!
FUCK!!!
I AM NEVER THINKING ABOUT 'THAT' EVER AGAIN!!!
FUCK IT HURTS!
The ever-smiling Isaac, through closed eyes, cried uncontrollably due to the precipitous pain of the headache he was feeling. After all, the reconstruction of nerves that were damaged and both of his entire eyes would leave lasting pain for him to awake to.
Fuck it! Fuck them!
That just confirms that there are higher-dimensional entities out there. That so much as even gaining the information and thinking about them allows them to cause otherwise irreversible damage if not for 'Healing Magic'.
If my case was popping and eviscerating my eyes from thinking about 'that'. Then how much authority does the entity those Ritualist followed have? That it could fold Ritualist Matthew along a Fourth Dimensional Axis and keep his heart beating without anything left?
No no no… I think I'm gonna develop PTSD if I continue thinking.
No matter how self-aware he was, he already developed an uncontrollable fear of eye trauma.
Isaac had developed Ophthalmophobia, and reasonably so.
Hah… Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Doctor Azucena Esquivel… I love you… Maybe you're not so bad of a DLC Character after all. I cannot and will not imagine myself as the blind character of this story.
He took a while to straighten his thoughts and to bear with the pain, for the waking Isaac had much on his mind.
Sorry for lying, sir.
Now that I reflect on it… I don't think my eyes turning green was anything medical.
'Epigenetic conditions met,' the System had said.
An understanding settled over Isaac.
The criteria for Temporal Anchor's improvement hadn't been arbitrary; rather, each condition was a precise variable in a greater equation I'm only beginning to parse, right?
First…
The Collective Observer Effect.
In quantum theory, the act of observation collapses probability waves into defined states, adeptly titled 'Wave Function Collapse'.
The fact that quantum mechanics meets narrative causality in this world is astonishing. But then, who are these 'observers'? They are unlikely to be passive witnesses…
Therefore… They were most likely narrative anchors.
Key figures like the side characters, the heroines, the professor, and most importantly, the protagonist were present in that moment, the more 'real' the world became. Their collective presence asserted an effect on me, allowing the 'System', per se, to tap into deeper layers of information in the game I'm in.
I never studied Quantum Biology… But no fucking way I just experienced it first hand…
Second…
Chronon Density & Manifest Gauge Invariance kept.
'Time is a fractured pane, not a river that flows.'
That's what my lecturer said…
Chronons, a proposed quantum of time, are discrete 'units' of time that are theorized as the building blocks of temporal flow. On top of that, in quantum field theory, gauge invariance is the principle that the fundamental forces of nature must remain unchanged, invariant, under mathematical transformations.
A universal way of enforcing symmetry as a non-negotiable law.
Or, at least, by the laws of Earth's science, it was.
So… In the world of New EAA… You're fucking telling me… That these HYPOTHETICAL PARTICLES… are apparently tangible? And that, the Institute's wards and maybe, just maybe, the Mana of the Main Cast have them?
That implies that…
Key characters are defining reality, as somewhat pointed out by Caelum's | Plot Armour |. The more 'main cast' witnesses an event, the harder the System enforces its 'invariant' plot.
That also means my role is as a meta-aware entity… Where I am both observer and perturbation…
I threatened a cardinal invariant?
Shit…
Finally, the most important part of the equation…
Bioelectromagnetic Fields.
A mockery in a sense.
The most important part of how the 'Ascension' worked.
Was the aspect of science that Isaac didn't study.
Human brains generate electromagnetic waves, theta, alpha, and beta. Overloaded by stress and the electromagnetic waves of the other key character, 'likely' had spiked Isaac's into uncharted frequencies.
Per chance, the System had synced with those pulses, using them as a carrier signal to rewrite my neural pathways?
Fuck why didn't I study Quantum Biology…
Oh wait! It's a fucking joke by the entity that sent me here, isn't it?!
HAHAHA! FUCKING FUNNY SIA!
THE MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST LOGICAL PART OF HOW THIS SHIT HAPPENED IS STUFF THAT I DIDN'T STUDY!
FUCK! Ow… Ow… Ow… My head…
Okay… stop getting rage-batied.
"Phew…"
Of course, this was all a hypothetical scientific breakdown of it.
But this theory suggests… The 'Ascension' wasn't just software, but rather biological.
And honestly, after all the shit that I had to go through for it.
Very annoying if this were to continue in explaining what should be 'Magical' phenomena…
Cuz…
HOH! HOH! HOH! FUCK! IT STILL HURTS LIKE SHIT!
Isaac pressed trembling fingers to his eyelids. The pain had faded, but a residual thrum lingered, like the aftershock of a high-voltage shock. His optic nerves now pained with an alien sensitivity, tuned to wavelengths beyond visible light and narrative concordance when Temporal Anchor Version 2 was activated.
"Mr. Isaac?" A voice that was unfamiliar called out, cutting through his thoughts.
Doctor Azucena Esquivel steps into the room.
Oh! The GOAT!
"Your vitals are stable, but your Thaumiton Channels are reconfigured, specifically in your retinas. It was compulsory, but during the cellular reconstruction process, we only made you a new pair of eyes without any alterations to anything else. Have you… By any chance… Undergone any unsanctioned Noësical experimentation before enrolling?" Her personality flips into a serious look. "We promise to keep it confidential; however, first, silence may be used against you in court, and second. I, as a medical practitioner, must report it to the Magestrials' discretion as there are strict laws under S16(1) Human Tissue Act 2004 about unlicensed and unauthorized experiments/examinations on humans. Please understand."
Only the kind where I died twice and got dumped into a corrupted New EAA.
And seriously?
Is UK Parliamentary Law in this game now?
s16(1) HUman tIsSUE aCT 200— Sybau.
Isaac forced a weak smile. "Uhm… Not any that I can recall of Professor."
A half-truth wrapped in a lie. The professor nodded and did not press.
Isaac throws his head back down on the infirmary's pillow; no matter how much trauma or fear clouded his head, it still wouldn't escape his mind…
Hah… How the fuck does that make sense?
Caelum's stats are bloody impossible.
In OG EAA, the protagonist began with balanced 5-Star ratings across the board, his intellect slightly lower.
But this Caelum?
Unreadable Intellect: A value so high that the System couldn't dumb it down and quantify it for me.
That's fucking insulting.
I hated.
HATED.
Sorry 'asses' of an excuse of 'Prodigies' written by dumbass fuckers. You mean to tell me they magically figure out the science behind their 'realistic' stories? Show me some real fucking evidence if not lore building first!
As someone who scored 201 IQ on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.
Are you telling me something has authored Caleum a new path?
That I.
I AM DUMBER THAN THE CREATOR OF THIS 'THING'???
It is in my birthright to be in the Top 5 people with the highest IQ, and you're telling me this shitty actor who plays Caelum is smarter?
Inconceivable…
His only feats are helping Veledônic Politic just because Sephalyn got his back after he blew hers out.
Who in this world could have made such a convincing homunculus?
Those extra kingdoms? Or maybe worse?
I swear, if it's due to that fucking entity from Esotericism, I might just introduce Christianity into this world so that my Lord Jesus would FUCK that higher-dimensional dimwit.
On top of that…
"The Blessing of a Curse: The Curse of a Blessing", "Your Greatest Actor", | Dramatis Personae | and | Plot Armour |.
That means that he's under some fucking curse that could be perceived as a blessing. Obviously, that is a reference to the burden of him being a Quadelemental and being isolated as the one who bears the most burden, right? Like how it was in the original story?
NO!
Of course fucking not!
He's a damn actor! Why is this damn System placing so much emphasis on him being an Actor? Maybe the curse is one that forces him to act out something as the main character?
Genuinely… This fucker might be a Clanker…
Ugh… I'd better not go for pizza at night or this clanker might jumpscare me.
Either way.
This NPC is NOT my Caelum; he MUST be artificial because of one attribute.
Yk what? The more I say it, the more likely it is.
Caelum the Clanker…
Hehehe… Has a nice ring to it. This motherfucker is a wire back, silver, number crunching CLANKER.
L. A. N. K. E. R.
Phylogenetic Root | and | Plot Armour
The latter is absolutely bullshit cuz what the fuck do you mean you negate scientific, mathematical, conceptual, and metaphysical outcomes cuz your a pussy that can't beat them on your own?
High Outerversal ahh Hax.
Nevermind…
What's more interesting is | Phylogenetic Root |.
What is a Source of Science?
The System does not refer to 'Magic' as a Science.
But if we take it at face value and hypothetically say that Magic IS a Source of Science, then Caelum the Clanker can turn into a Cultivator, a Hindu, and a Kabbalist all at once? I mean its implied that you only get to choose one as an average dude, so this guy gets them all?
My goodness… That doesn't even matter.
He still enrolled, so that means he HAD to have at least scored in the Practical Examination. How the hell then? I know the difficulty of getting into EINA on the Written Examination alone is impossible.
So how?
Even putting EVERYTHING aside.
Fuck man.
I don't wanna bother father and mother.
I wanted to do the dishes to get some extra pocket change.
But now cuz of me insulting some higher po一
…
I'm broke… In money and in information.
I need data.
I have to monitor Caelum the Clanker, investigate the new professors, and figure out how they are involved in the greater plot. I'm not dense, and I can tell that those two fuckers, Professor Aldrick and Doctor Azucena, have already gotten freaky in bed since they wear identical rings.
Just great…
As if the story wasn't horny enough, I've got to deal with two more lovebirds on top of Caelum the Clanker's lust.
Hahhh… Most importantly:
I gotta decipher this Shitty System's warnings.
"I got it, bro… You can fuck off now."
MAIN STORYLINE CORRUPTED
As Isaac clicked his tongue while trying to dissipate the red warning, the infirmary's door creaked open. It wasn't Professor Aldrick nor Doctor Azucena.
A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway.
"Headmaster Orthellius?"
"Isaac Mun," he said, his voice deceptively mild.