My Secret Cult Life with Points Added

Chapter 10 Pressure

"lack!"

Daisy shouted the word almost immediately, so loudly that Lucius instinctively took a half step back.

She immediately realized her lapse in composure, coughed twice, and continued:

"Ever since the previous senior who did translation work graduated and went to the Royal Library of Elon, all the paperwork for the entire research group has fallen on my shoulders."

I work more than fourteen hours a day, and sometimes I even sleep on the sofa in the teaching and research office on weekends.

Look at my dark circles... they're so bluish!

She pointed to the area below her eyes, as if showing some kind of evidence of a workplace injury.

"So... is Professor Anthony still hiring?" Lucius followed up on the topic, casually throwing out the question he had already prepared:

"My research group has recently run into some trouble. My former supervisor... well, he's in some kind of situation. I'm looking for a new research group to complete my short paper."

"real!"

Daisy's eyes shone brightly behind her glasses, making her look a shade brighter.

Her exhaustion was swept away in that instant by a strong feeling that "finally someone is here to share the workload."

She tucked the scattered manuscripts and books into the crook of her arm, freeing one hand to grab Lucius's wrist with a strength that belied someone who hadn't slept all night.

"Come on! Follow me to the research office! Now! Right now!"

"Hey, wait a minute, don't you have anything you want to ask?" Lucius was taken aback by Daisy's sudden enthusiasm.

This is completely different from the script he had envisioned!

He thought there would be a strict review process, instead of being dragged upstairs like a sack of potatoes by the professor's current assistant.

"Yeah, right." Daisy stopped on the landing of the stairs, turned around, and almost bumped into Lucius again.

She adjusted her glasses, which were about to slip off her nose, and looked him up and down.

"How's your strength?" she asked seriously.

"...Not bad?" Lucius replied uncertainly.

"Can you move heavy objects?" she pressed.

"Yes, but..."

"Most importantly..." Daisy didn't give him a chance to say "but," suddenly taking half a step closer and lowering her voice:

How is your mental resilience?

Lucius paused for a second, then calmly replied, "I have a pretty good mental fortitude."

In his previous life, he was admitted to a top university through a high-pressure education system, and in this world, he doesn't believe he'll be any more ambitious than in his previous life.

"That's fine!"

Daisy was clearly very satisfied with Lucius's answer. She turned around, grabbed Lucius's hand, and continued climbing up to the fourth floor.

The two practically ran all the way up to the fourth floor, only stopping abruptly when they reached Professor Anthony's office.

Daisy, who had been rushing through the storm just moments before, instantly changed her demeanor, tiptoeing and steadying herself against the doorframe as she struggled to catch her breath.

She took a deep breath, tucked her stray hairs haphazardly behind her ears, and quickly smoothed out the wrinkles pressed into her long dress.

She turned around, looked at Lucius with almost pleading eyes, clasped her hands together, and whispered:

"Lucius, it's been way past the group meeting time. If I go in, I'm sure the professor will criticize me. You'll have nightmares if you see that."

"You wait here, and wait for my message... or for me to send some kind of signal before you come in."

Lucius chuckled inwardly at her pitiful tone, nodded, and said earnestly:

"Don't worry, when that time comes, I'll definitely make sure Professor Anthony focuses all his attention on me."

Daisy gave him a grateful look, then took a deep breath, raised her finger, and gently knocked three times on the solid wood door in front of her.

"Come in." A dignified male voice came from inside the door.

Daisy gave him one last look, her eyes filled with the helplessness of someone about to be executed, and a subtle plea that said, "If I come out alive, we can still be friends."

She pushed open the wooden door, stepped inside, and the door slowly closed behind her, leaving only a gap less than a finger's width wide.

Ever since Lucius picked up those translated manuscripts in the stairwell, he had developed a great interest in this legendary dean.

He leaned to the side of the door, listening to the sounds coming from inside.

It started with Daisy's voice, reporting on her progress over the past few days, with occasional brief pauses, as if she was waiting for some kind of response but didn't receive one.

Lucius couldn't quite make out the complete sentences, only catching a few words: "last week's report," "the epitaph," "progress is a bit slow," and "I'll speed things up."

Then came a crisp, loud bang.

That's the sound of paper being slammed onto a solid wood table.

Silence followed.

Finally, Professor Anthony Thorne's voice rang out:

Actually, I'm a little disappointed in you.

The reason I hired you was based on your outstanding performance over the past two years. I hoped that you would give it your all and grow quickly after joining the company.

In our team, it's not enough to just get the job done; you need to have the ability to think systematically.

What is the value proposition of what you are doing? Have you created barriers to entry and formed a core competitive advantage? What differentiates your work from others? Has what you are doing accumulated a set of data and methodologies that can be reused by others?

Why is it you who has to do it, and no one else can?

I don't need standard, conventional answers; I need something different.

I want to see your thoughtful reflections in every group meeting, not just progress reports that show you've flipped through a few pages of a book.

Also, just a heads up, your output in our group has been somewhat lacking in recent weeks, and as someone about to enter the honors degree stage, I shouldn't need to remind you of that.

But if things continue like this... I can't guarantee you'll graduate on time.

…………

Hiss... Lucius gasped.

"Do all the mentors and professors in every world have the same story?" He recalled some unpleasant memories from his past life.

At this point, Daisy clearly had no way to give any message or signal.

She needs my help.

Lucius quickly reviewed the prepared statement in his mind, focusing on the key information:

Knowledgeable in cipher languages, with translation experience, and able to get started immediately.

Once he was ready, he lightly tapped the solid wood door in front of him with his finger.

"Come in," Professor Anthony's voice rang out.

He pushed open the door and entered, his gaze quickly sweeping across the room:

Brass chandeliers hang from the high ceiling, bookshelves on all four walls reach the ceiling, and a high-powered magnifying glass and ancient documents are placed on the desk by the window.

On the shelf in the northeast corner, a manuscript protected by a glass cover looks exceptionally precious.

Lucius withdrew his gaze, closed the door, and looked at the mahogany round table in the center of the room.

Daisy stood at the end closest to him, head down, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucius enter and secretly gave him a "help!" look.

Lucius kept his eyes straight ahead, looking at Professor Anthony Thorne at the other end of the round table.