CHAPTER 77: ZAYNE’S PUNISHMENT

Teacher’s residence,

Zane sat at the desk in his quiet dorm room, fingers tapping lazily on his sleek black laptop. The glow of the screen reflected in his deep purple eyes as he scrolled through a document he wasn’t really reading.

"It’s been two days since I started teaching..." he muttered, leaning back on the chair. "Surprisingly... it’s fun."

He gave a small smirk, recalling the clueless students trying to grasp his intentionally half-baked explanations. But the smirk quickly faded, his tone dropping.

"...But still, no signs of that Administrator. Not even a whisper."

His eyes dimmed as he tapped the desk. For a fleeting second, he considered spreading his perception outward, tearing through the barriers of secrecy this world held. The thought alone made him frown.

"No. If I do that, I’ll ruin it all..." he whispered. "It’s like turning on cheat codes in a game. Sure, you win instantly, but..." He glanced at the window. "...there’s no satisfaction in playing anymore."

Just as the words left his mouth, a tap... tap... tap echoed from the glass.

Zane raised a brow and turned. At the window stood a familiar figure—his clone, Zayne—light purple eyes glinting mischievously under the moonlight.

"What’s he doing here?" Zane thought.

The clone gave him a casual nod before phasing straight through the glass as if it wasn’t there.

"Yo, boss! How you doin’?" Zayne greeted with a cocky grin, brushing imaginary dust off his coat.

Zane’s eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to continue as an adventurer? And investigate that girl, too?"

Zayne rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Ah, about that... actually, boss..."

He raised both hands, starting to explain. "That librarian girl? She’s gone. Just disappeared from Eldrin Town. And honestly... the town got boring. So, I left. Figured I’d continue adventuring in bigger cities."

Zane leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharpening. "That’s not the real reason you came back here, is it?"

Zayne let out a nervous chuckle. "Heheh... well, actually... it’s because of this."

He reached into his coat and pulled out the dimensional bag. Unlike before, it bulged unnaturally, faint cracks visible across its surface. Worse—some of those cracks glowed faintly white.

Zane’s brow arched. "You broke it?"

"Y-you know, boss..." Zayne stammered, holding it at arm’s length like it was cursed. "Due to some... unfortunate accident, I might’ve... kinda... accidentally broken it."

For a moment, Zane was silent. Then his lips curled into a slow, sinister smile.

"So, let me get this straight..." His voice dropped low, dangerous yet laced with amusement. "You almost destroyed it. Then you came running back to me so I could fix your mess?"

Zayne gulped, a bead of sweat forming. "Y-yes, boss..."

Zane leaned back in his chair, still smiling darkly, a faint laugh escaping him. The atmosphere felt less like a master scolding his subordinate, and more like a cat toying with a mouse.

Zane sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Give it to me."

Zayne, who had already squeezed his eyes shut in fear, peeked one open.

"H-huh...?"

With a casual blink from Zane, the dimensional bag floated out of Zayne’s trembling hands, drifting through the air until it landed neatly in his grasp.

He turned it over slowly, inspecting it. "The bag itself is fine on the outside. But the tears and cracks... they’re from the inside. What the hell did you do, blast a nuke in here?"

Zayne’s awkward laugh filled the room. "Heh... w-well, you see... funny story..."

Zane ignored him. He ran his palm across the surface, and where his hand touched, the cracks vanished, threads of shimmering repair knitting themselves into perfection. Within moments, the bag looked as good as new.

"Done." Zane tossed it back without ceremony.

Zayne caught it and smirked, relief flooding his face. "Thank you, bo—"

THWACK!

A fist hammered down on his head.

"OWWW!" Zayne cried, clutching the spot as tears welled up in his eyes.

Zane smirked, knuckles still tingling. "That’s what you get for breaking things."

"You know I’m still not accustomed to pain, boss!" Zayne whined, rolling on the floor dramatically. "And you’re one of the only ones who can actually hurt me!"

Cracking his knuckles, Zane leaned forward, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"After breaking things, showing up unannounced, and then whining about not accustomed to pain.... let’s change that, shall we?"

Zayne froze, fear flashing in his eyes. He stammered. "W-w-wait, boss! I—I have something for you! Something you’ll find fun!"

Zane tilted his head. "...Oh?"

Frantically, Zayne opened his newly repaired bag and half-pulled out a figure—beaten, bloodied, unconscious. Grey hair matted with dried blood spilled across her torn outfit.

Zane blinked. "...You’ve got to be kidding me."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What kind of day am I witnessing? So now you’re wandering around, beating up chicks and kidnapping them? I didn’t know you had this kind of fetish..."

Zayne’s eyes widened in panic. "Eh?! No, no, no, no—I don’t have any fetish like that! This woman is—"

Zane’s laughter exploded, filling the room.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Look at you—relax. I’m messing with you." He waved dismissively, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Now, tell me the whole story."

Zayne let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples.

"...You’re the only one who can mess with me like that, boss."

"Anyway... so..." Zayne began, scratching the back of his head.

He launched into a full recounting, from the moment he first crossed paths with Eirenyssa on the road to the bigger city. How she’d been muttering about some system, how her hatred for mortals practically dripped off her, how interesting she’d seemed to toy with. How he decided to drag her into a dimensional pocket—so the planet itself wouldn’t suffer—and fight her there.

And then, with a grin, he added:

"...then I beat the shit out of her because she destroyed my snacks. My snacks!"

Zane raised an eyebrow, unblinking.

Zayne chuckled nervously, pressing on. "Aaand because of that fight, my dimensional bag got damaged. But, but! I thought you’d find it interesting too—she mentioned something about a system, right? Sounds like a novel, doesn’t it? So, I brought her to you. I’m a genius, aren’t I?"

Silence.

Then Zane’s lips curved into a slow, sinister smile.

"Oh..." he murmured. "Hey, Zayne. Let me tell you a story."

Zayne stiffened. "S-sure, boss. Just don’t look so scary when you say that."

But the smile didn’t fade. If anything, it deepened.

"Okay, so..." Zane began. And he told him.

He spoke of Arin Blake—the boy with a system meddling in the threads of fate. How Zane had intervened. How the Administrator of that very system had nearly descended, only for the process to fracture. How Zane had been waiting for the inevitable...

Zayne blinked, lips tugging into a half-smile. "Well, that’s an interesting story, boss. But what does that have to do with this wo—"

He stopped.

Because Zane was still smiling. Eyes closed. That same expression that chilled his spine.

Zayne’s smile stiffened. "...Well, I’m right fucked, aren’t I?"

Zane’s voice was calm. Almost too calm.

"Right in the down under."

For a moment, both of them just stared at each other. Then—

Zayne plastered on a grin and nodded furiously. "Yup! Totally! ...Okay bye!"

He spun around, instantly phasing through the window and shooting off into the sky like a comet.On the way out, he carelessly tossed the half-conscious Eirenyssa—still wrapped in the bag—onto the ground like discarded luggage before bolting away.

The impact almost jolted her awake just enough for a faint groan to escape her lips, but her eyes remained closed. Dust swirled around her still body, the only sign of movement in the quiet room.

By the time silence settled again, Zayne was already nothing more than a streak of light vanishing beyond the city’s horizon.

Zane didn’t even open his eyes. He just snapped his fingers.

FWIP.

Still locked in his flying pose, Zayne found himself teleported right back into the room. His eyes went wide. "...What the—"

The next second, he phased again, bursting through the walls and shooting off with even more speed. He crossed continents, oceans, even reached the far side of the planet—

FWIP.

And once again, he was back.

Frozen mid-flight.

Slowly, his head turned. Zane sat there, smiling. Exactly the same smile.

Zane’s voice was quiet, but heavy. "It was because of you. The Administrator didn’t appear. Because you beat her to a pulp, stuffed her in a dimensional bag... and broke the bag too."

Zayne’s gaze dropped to the floor. He whispered, "...Isn’t it your fault for giving me the lowest-grade bag?"

Zane tilted his head. "Hmm?"

His smile sharpened, the faint curve of amusement turning into something far more dangerous.

"Zayne."

The single word was soft, yet it rolled through the air like thunder.

Every person in Astralis Arcanum suddenly froze as an overwhelming illusion swept across the realm—

A man’s desperate scream echoing through the skies.

"I AM SORRY!!"