"Alright, it's done!"

Before the cold operating table, Teacher Mela clapped her delicate hands in delight, signaling the preliminary completion of the alchemical core's assembly within Moen.

Not only was the alchemical core completed, but 3,621 magical inscriptions had also been carved into Moen’s body. While it was still an insignificant amount compared to connecting with the entirety of the **Clock of Eternity**, it nonetheless marked the successful first step toward her long-pursued goal.

"Hmm? Didn’t I say it’s done? Why are you still lying there?"

Teacher Mela leaned down, puzzled as she stared at Moen, who remained sprawled out like a dead fish, even though all his restraints had been released.

Why is he lying there like he’s refusing to get up...

She tapped her petite hand thoughtfully and exclaimed in realization:

"Could it be that my technique was too comfortable and he fell asleep?"

"Comfortable? Teacher Mela, do you have no conscience!?"

Moen finally turned his head around. His handsome face — which had endured so much under Teacher Mela's skilled methods — now couldn’t stop… shedding tears.

"It hurts! It hurts so much! Do you even know how hurt it is, Teacher Mela?"

Honestly, it hadn’t been unbearable at first. Those scalpels, thin as cicada wings, gliding along his skin felt like nothing more than tickles. Compared to his nightly experiences in the **Black Book**, this was hardly even worth mentioning.

The real problem arose during the assembly of the alchemical core. The golden liquid Teacher Mela had blended using the heart blood of the ancient dragon… When it was infused into his body? That was not liquid. It was molten iron!

It felt as though molten iron was burning through his flesh, inch by inch, dissolving his bones from the inside out, tormenting him with excruciating agony.

For someone like Moen, with his formidable resistance to pain, he might have endured it for short spans of time. But the problem was that this "intense and euphoric" ordeal lasted an entire day.

An entire day.

Twenty-four hours.

1,444 agonizing minutes.

Do you have any idea how I made it through that?

Do you know how many times I passed out from the pain?!

And you still think I *enjoyed* it? You don’t care about me at all!

You even took a break halfway to grab a snack — with half a chicken leg still in your mouth when you returned! I **saw** you!

"If you can’t handle this level of pain, you’re weak, kid."

Teacher Mela smirked, her crimson eyes flashing with a hint of disdain.

"When I was younger, I wouldn’t even blink from this level of suffering."

"...Really?"

"Of course!"

"Then why won’t you look me in the eye when you say that, Teacher Mela?" Moen narrowed his eyes, staring as her gaze darted elsewhere.

Please don’t spout such tall tales with that tiny, frail expression of yours — the one that screams you’d start sobbing for hours over a mere punch!

"Ahem, let’s put these trivial matters aside for now. How do you feel? Any discomfort in your body?" Teacher Mela coughed lightly and diverted the topic.

"Tch…"

Moen clicked his tongue and moved his body around a bit.

"No discomfort, really. Just a lingering heat on my back."

"The heat is normal. Come on, take a look at the results of enduring all that pain for twenty-four hours."

Teacher Mela pulled out a mirror from who-knows-where and gestured for Moen to turn around.

Through the reflection, Moen finally saw the result of the day-long torment he had endured.

— It was intricate, precise beyond comprehension, and exuded a dignified and majestic complexity. Thousands of golden lines spread layer by layer from an alchemical core that resembled a radiant sun, extending across his torso. The golden inscription lines pulsed rhythmically with his breathing, radiating a mysterious and awe-inspiring beauty.

"This is just the first imprint," Teacher Mela remarked casually. "At this stage, it merely establishes an initial connection between you and the **Clock of Eternity**. Once your body becomes stronger, I’ll expand the current design with an additional 106,000 magical inscriptions and install at least seventeen more alchemical cores. Only then will phase two be considered complete."

"106,000…" Moen’s lips twitched. "Is there even enough space on my back for that?"

"Oh? Who said the next set of inscriptions will go on your back?"

Teacher Mela’s elegant brow lifted slightly, her gaze leisurely sweeping across Moen’s body before pausing at a certain spot. Her lips curled into a subtly meaningful smile.

"Don’t you think there are plenty of other spacious areas on your body?"

"Huh?"

Moen froze. Following her gaze, he looked down, and his face twisted as he clutched his abdomen, wailing:

"Teacher Mela, there are *some* places you cannot draw strange patterns on!"

"Relax. I won’t deliberately put an unremovable little pink heart there." Teacher Mela blinked, the childish innocence on her face contrasting starkly with her old soul hidden beneath her youthful exterior.

"You saying that only makes me more nervous!!"

"Next time, I’ll be gentler."

"I DON’T NEED THAT KIND OF GENTLENESS!"

…

…

After a lengthy and desperate fight to preserve his dignity, Moen finally extracted a promise from Teacher Mela that she wouldn’t mess around during the next procedure.

He then spent another long while admiring himself in the mirror.

Somehow… these golden inscriptions, combined with the increasingly solid contours of his back recently, looked kind of cool.

"Maybe, in the future, this cool back tattoo alone will charm countless young ladies," Moen thought as he struck a refined and muscular pose, falling into a bit of self-dazzled reverie.

A perfect physique adorned with glowing golden designs — who could possibly resist such allure?

"I’d wager it’s more likely to attract male perverts."

Teacher Mela ruthlessly popped his bubble of daydreams, then adopted a slightly more serious expression.

"Alright, enough chit-chat. It’s time to test out the actual effectiveness of the core."

"Actual effectiveness?"

"Since you’ve now established an initial connection with the **Clock of Eternity**, you should be able to wield a tiny fraction of its authority. It’s an almost negligible amount, but even so, for now, it’ll likely be a tremendous boost for someone at your current level."

Teacher Mela pulled out her pink watering can. Just as Moen assumed she was about to indulge in her usual habit of watering the **Sea of Flowers**, she suddenly tossed the watering can directly at him.

"Infuse the alchemical core with magic," she commanded.

"Understood."

Moen immediately reacted, channeling his internal magic toward the alchemical core on his back.

Although the core was an artificial construct engraved by external tools, he strangely felt as though the inscriptions had become a seamless extension of his own body. Magic surged through the lines like it was flowing naturally through his own meridians.

In an instant, the saturated alchemical core vibrated faintly, like it was resonating with something.

*Dong.*

At that moment, Moen thought he heard the midnight chime of a grand clock tower.

The world fell silent, though not in the sense of complete absence of sound.

Instead, all sound warped as though time itself had been elongated and distorted — leaving only the unbroken rhythm of his own heartbeat and breathing.

"This…"

Moen's eyes widened in shock. The watering can Teacher Mela had thrown at him was suddenly frozen in mid-air.

No, not frozen. It was moving excruciatingly slowly, as if time had hit the slow-motion button.

He could clearly see water droplets leaping gently out of the can, blooming into mesmerizing crystalline bursts, suspended for an eternity in the air.

Through those shimmering water blooms, he could see Teacher Mela frozen mid-throw, her slightly chubby, cherubic face looking exceedingly cute in this moment of stasis.

Time stop?

Blonde hair?

Lolicon?

At that instant, Moen felt like he had walked straight into a scene pulled from certain very *familiar* tropes, with all the elements.