Knock* *Knock*

Someone knocked on the door to my room.

Someone actually thought of disturbing us when we're doing something as important as a heart transplant.

I mean, I doubt they know we've turned my room into a motherfucking operation theatre, but hey, the intentions behind a murder are inconsequential when the killer is charged for his crime.

Arteria's hand stopped and she looked at me.

None of us dared to utter any word lest the person outside hear us. If we were lucky, they would think that there was no one in.

After some moments, I heard footsteps receding into the distance. Only when they were completely inaudible did we have a sigh of relief.

"That was a close call." I said while handling the pain of the incision like a champion.

"Yeah."

Thankfully, Arteria didn't express any desire to stop this procedure.

I guess she's braver than what I gave her credit for, or maybe she knows it's too late to back out now.

At this point, it's better to just go full speed ahead and finish the surgery as soon as possible.

After all, if someone were to discover us, Arteria would be the one to face most of the heat because she's the adult in this situation while I'm just a child who 'doesn't know any better'.

⟦⟦Ah, that's why you asked her to help you. You scoundrel.⟧⟧

[Like I always say, never take responsibility for your actions.]

And I can't take responsibility if I manipulate someone else into taking it for me.

They say a genius' IQ is around 160, but mine is over 1000.

Samur 1000 IQ Eckart.

Anyway, let's finish the surgery asap.

And so, I moved Arteria's hands once again.

❄️ ❄️ ❄️

"Ahhhhhh, finally!" Arteria exclaimed as she just straight up plopped down on the ground.

"Good work." I sat up on my bed.

As I had seen in the mirror earlier, there was nary a mark left on my chest by the surgery.

Healing magic truly is great.

"It was so tiring." She tried wiping off the sweat from her forehead but ended up smearing it with blood.

After realising her mistake, she averted her gaze and took off her gloves.

"But it was worth it."

It definitely was. The flow of Mana was so smooth that it was practically on a different level now.

If I was a Level 1 Noob before, then I'm a Level 100 Mafia Boss now.

Before, the only Mana I could access was what was naturally produced by my body. However, my shit body could only produce and store a handful of Mana.

It was so bad that using the spell to change my hair colour reduced my Mana Reserves by half.

But that changes now.

This New Heart can draw in Mana from the surroundings, process it into Mana my body can handle, and then send it to all my cells through my bloodstream using MBCs as a medium.

Not only does this make my Mana Reserves practically infinite, it would also effectively turn my circulatory system into another Mana Circuit.

Combined with the Mana Circuits I made for myself before, the amount of Mana I can handle now at once is simply obscene.

But let's try it out first.

I snapped my fingers and a small flame appeared on the top of my fingers.

The process was borderline natural. I didn't have to exert any effort to move my Mana; the heart did it for me.

I kept using more Mana to keep increasing the temperature of flame until the skin at the tip of my finger began to sizzle.

The smell tickled my nose and I suddenly remembered something.

"I'm hungry…"

"Not shit." Arteria chuckled. "Let's go down and see if there's anything left for us."

"I hope so. After all that, I don't want to die of an empty stomach."

"Haahh, I was really worried back then."

Oh, this woman is capable of empathy.

⟦⟦Most people are.⟧⟧

[Even if they glare at a mortally wounded child who they just met?]

⟦⟦You really like holding onto trivial things, don't you?⟧⟧ He scoffed.

[Holding onto grudges is my speciality.]

"Well, it all worked out in the end."

All's well that ends well.

Back then, my shit body had actually decided to reject the new heart and keel over and die. The rejection was just random, as if it was an infant who didn't like milk so it decided it'd rather starve to death.

Which, in my opinion, was not the most tactical decision.

This body is such a shithead that it's simply impressive.

There wasn't much we could do to save me at that point, so I decided to go for a Big D play and subjugate the body itself.

It's like how one beats the shit out of a child I mean scolds them like a normal person to make them drink the milk and not starve to death.

I used the connection between my body and soul to suppress the former and reject its rejection.

Ez.

"I never want to go through that again." Arteria sighed.

By the way, my burnt finger had already healed. The Vampire Healing Abilities were working perfectly.

"Well, I doubt I'll be needing a heart transplant anytime soon."

Unless some motherfucker decides to stab me in the heart in order to get some cheap laughs.

"Even if you do, don't expect me to help you."

Aww.

"Sad. Anyway, would you like to join the R&D Department as my secretary?"

"No."

Wut?

"Don't worry, you won't need to work on something so stressful again."

Let's entice her.

"Thanks, but research is not my forte. I just like things which are interesting."

"That's a shame."

I guess I'll look for someone else to turn into a corporate slave.

"Anyway, what should we do about that?" She pointed to my cold dead heart.

Not my metaphorical heart, but my original heart which had permanently gone cold and was lying on a plate.

"I'll clean it up later. Let's go eat something first. I'm starving."

"I was thinking the same."

"Don't forget to wash all that blood though."

I doubt we'll be able to pass off all this blood as the result of a friendly spar.

"Right." She headed off to the bathroom to wash herself.

Hmm, now what should I do with my original heart?

It's absolutely useless so let's just burn it.

And so I produced flames and turned the heart into charcoal.

As expected, the makeshift Magic Calculation Area I implanted in the new heart was working perfectly.

I'll have to use it until I can decide on a method to make a real one for myself.

"Go ahead." Arteria said after coming out of the bathroom.

Her wet hair glistened in the crimson sunlight pouring in from the window, while the tired yet relieved expression adorning her beautiful face possessed the power to move one's heart.

I hadn't noticed it before, but Arteria really was gorgeous.

Hmmm.

I wonder how much I'll earn if I paint the scenery in front of me and sell it. It should go for a lot.

Perhaps I should ask her to model for me so I can paint her in raunchy outfits and positions and sell them for obscene prices.

Samur Eckart, a professional entrepreneur at your service.

⟦⟦Try asking her. I dare you.⟧⟧

[Fortunately, I don't have the habit of being pummelled to death.]

I washed off the blood staining my body, donned a pair of fresh clothes and styled my hair.

Time to seize the day by having a meal.

"Let's go."

We left my room (after locking it as I didn't want anyone to find out that it had been turned into a discount operation theatre) and headed towards the dining area.

"There you are!" But on our way, we met Vafferan.

Um, can you not see that we are on our way to fill our stomachs? How rude.

"Do you need me for something?" I asked her.

"Obviously! The Princess is here to see you!"

Wut?