The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character-Chapter 300: Soul Bound Staff Hidden Functions [2]

I spent the next ten minutes sitting against the damp wall, listening while Zaho Yuren rattled off every hidden function of the [Soul-Bound Staff].

By the time he finally finished, my eyes were probably as wide as the dungeon door.

"…Lan can do all of that?"

—Of course. This is a half-mythical artifact, a fragment of the original staff of Sun Wukong. Did you seriously think its only trick was getting heavier and bigger?

I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it again.

"…Fair point."

Now that he'd said it, I really couldn't defend my own ignorance.

In the original story, the staff's first wielder never used anything beyond its basic weight manipulation—and even then, it was strong enough to rewrite battles on its own.

I'd just assumed that was the full package. Clearly, I'd been a fool.

—Naturally, what you're holding is only a fragment of the true staff. You can't draw out its full power yet. If you want complete control, you'll have to track down the other divine treasures—or the missing shards of the Soul-Bound Staff itself.

I let out a slow breath. "Yeah, that… sounds like a lifetime of headaches."

Truthfully, though, even in its current state it already felt more than enough.

Zaho's explanation had revealed three special abilities I could access right now.

Transformation was one of them—something I'd already been abusing shamelessly.

But the other two? They were ridiculous.

First was the ability to borrow Zaho Yuren's own power. Not just a boost of raw mana, but a direct channel to his techniques and instincts, as if his centuries of combat experience could flow through me.

The second… was even more absurd.

Cloning.

The staff could create a duplicate of me—completely identical. Flesh, aura, equipment, everything. The clone wasn't just a dumb puppet, either; it moved with my mind and could fight at full capacity.

And if the main body—me—was ever about to die, I could even switch places with a clone at the last second.

I almost dropped the staff just thinking about it.

"That's… broken," I muttered.

—Originally there was no limit to the number of clones you could make, as long as you had the energy.

Zaho said, his voice carrying the faintest edge of smug pride.

—But with Lan in its current incomplete state, the ceiling is two.

I barked a short laugh. "Two is already insane. You're telling me I could make two perfect copies of myself in a fight and just… swap out when I'm about to get killed?"

—Exactly. And yet you were content to just swing it like a club. Pathetic.

"Alright, alright," I said quickly, lifting my hands in mock surrender even though he couldn't see me. "Message received. I'm an idiot."

—Finally, some self-awareness. Maybe there's hope for you yet.

Despite his constant jabs, a small thrill worked its way through my chest.

Two clones. Power borrowing. Transformation.

Two options hovered in my mind, each one tempting in its own way.

I could split myself—create clones to confuse the enemy. I could borrow Zaho Yuren's power directly, letting his strength flow through me like a borrowed heartbeat.

But the one that caught me, the one that made my pulse thrum, was the last.

Fusion.

Not a trick. Not a mere enhancement.

A complete surrender.

The ability to let Zaho Yuren's spirit step into my body and fight for me. To hand over the reins and let a battle-hardened legend drive.

It sounded almost… simple. And that was exactly what made it terrifying.

A power like that shouldn't exist in a neat little package. No complex ritual, no chant—just trust.

Of course, simplicity didn't mean perfection. If the vessel was weak, the result would be weak. My body wasn't exactly top-tier; no matter how skilled the driver, you can only push a rusty car so far.

But Yuren had said it himself: even with my half-baked stats, letting him take over would be enough to clear this dungeon's boss.

The cost, though…

The penalty wasn't death or corruption. It was more insidious—bone-deep fatigue. A price paid in exhaustion so heavy it could flatten me for days if I overreached.

Honestly, I would've been suspicious if there wasn't a penalty.

Nothing that powerful comes free.

I flexed my fingers around the staff, feeling the faint thrum of Yuren's spirit waiting just beyond my reach.

Fusion. A word that promised victory and whispered ruin in the same breath.

And all I had to do… was let go.

Honestly, the only reason I even chose the [Soul-Bound Staff] was simple—it was the strongest artifact in the early story.

Back when I first fell into this world, it felt like the perfect shortcut. If I had this thing, I wouldn't have to gamble. I wouldn't have to crawl through every fight. Just grab the weapon the protagonist used, push a little harder, and I'd be untouchable.

And with everything it's revealed so far—the shadow resonance, Zaho Yuren's support, the hidden skills—it's hard not to believe it. If I went all out now, really let the staff show its full potential, I couldn't see myself losing. Not to anyone in this stage of the game.

But even as that thought settled in, a knot tightened in my chest.

Something didn't add up.

In the original novel, after the protagonist defeated the staff's original owner—a mid-tier villain with delusions of grandeur—he purified it. Claimed it. Used it as a trump card for a while.

And then… nothing.

The Soul-Bound Staff basically disappeared from the story. No dramatic loss. No betrayal. No explanation. It just… stopped being relevant.

Not until the very end, when the novel was practically falling apart, did it get a tiny mention. A throwaway line about "someone else" being destined for it.

Someone else.

I stared down at the black-and-silver shaft in my hands, my grip unconsciously tightening.

"…Was this staff supposed to belong to someone else?" I murmured.

The thought made me uneasy in a way I didn't want to name.

Was I just holding onto something that was never really mine?

Was I hijacking a story that might snap back at any moment?

—You're quite interesting.

The dry, gravelly voice slid into my mind before I could spiral further.

"What?" I blinked, startled.

Zaho Yuren chuckled, the sound deep and unhurried.

—You strut around as if you know everything, but the moment you bump into a piece of the unknown, you crumble like wet paper. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"That's… not exactly fair," I said, frowning.

—Isn't it? You treat the world like it's a book you've already read. Pages fixed, endings set. But when you find a blank page—something the "author" didn't write—you start to panic.

His words slid under my skin like a splinter.

Because he wasn't wrong.

I'd been using the novel as my compass since day one. Knowing future events was my biggest edge. But what happens when the story changes? When something doesn't match the script?

—So, what will you do now?

His tone shifted, less mocking and more… curious.

—If you're sticking with your "original plan," I'll lend you my strength. I'll help you win. But the choice is yours.

I stayed quiet for a long moment, the staff warm beneath my palm.

The "original plan," huh? The plan where Zaho Yuren would fused with my body and defeat the dungeon boss.

"Of course, we are going ahead with that plan it's just there is slight change."

—What changes?

"We are going to put a nice show for Protagonist group."

Yeah, it was time to put another show for Protagonist that they would never forget in their life's