Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 172: The eavesdropper behind

Capitol City University

Anna knocked on the door of Edward’s office and timidly entered after getting permission.

This was her third visit to Edward’s office this week, yet she wasn’t one of the students Edward was responsible for.

Her reason for coming was a bit unusual, and it was the same all three times: she was looking for any trace of Ryan.

Edward Smith was an advisor in the Department of English at Capitol City University and also Ryan’s graduate advisor.

At least within the university, Edward had the most opportunities to see Ryan, which was why Anna kept visiting.

“Professor Smith, any news about Ryan?”

Ryan was a graduate student in the English Department. Technically, he was Anna’s senior, though Ryan himself had never heard Anna call him that.

Anna walked up to Edward’s desk like she owned the place. This time, she didn’t even sit down,she was just there to ask about Ryan.

Edward looked at the young woman in front of him and shook his head with a hint of disappointment.

He too wished Ryan would come back.

Ryan was his student, and Edward had personally invited him to choose him as an advisor, convinced that the young man could achieve great things academically.

Every teacher dreams of nurturing a student who surpasses them, and Ryan was the person Edward had pinned his hopes on.

However, after Ryan was diagnosed with a severe heart condition, which initially seemed hopeless, he miraculously survived. But just when he was about to start teaching after his defense, he disappeared.

Edward had tried calling the number on the student roster several times, only to find it turned off. His prized pupil seemed to have vanished overnight.

“Professor Smith, is there anything else we can do?”

Anna watched Edward shake his head and felt her hope fading. She had been here three times, and it was the same each time.

She was sure Ryan wasn’t just avoiding the library or not looking for him on purpose,he couldn’t.

Ryan had disappeared.

“The university has already contacted the police, and they’ve opened a missing person case for Ryan.”

“But so far, there have been no results.”

Edward sat on the couch, unable to help sighing. A promising student had just disappeared, and he was anxious.

Anna had gotten her answer, and there was no point in staying any longer. She touched her forehead, preparing to say goodbye to Edward.

After not seeing Ryan, it felt like her backbone had been pulled out,Anna couldn’t cope with the void, clearly devastated.

She had gotten used to seeing Ryan in that corner of the library, used to watching him from a distance.

In her troubled life, Ryan was like a beam of light. But now, that only light had also disappeared.

Seeing Anna about to leave, Edward’s eyes showed a mix of emotions.

The young woman had been persistently looking for Ryan, asking all his friends in addition to coming here, a persistence that was deeply moving.

But with even the police unable to find Ryan, should he still give her hope?

“Thank you, Professor Smith. I’ll be going now. I’ll… come back another day.”

Anna almost gritted her teeth as she spoke the final words, her hand weakly pressing on the doorknob.

She had been searching hard for several days, without uncovering a single clue, and by now, she had little confidence left.

Half of Anna’s body was already out the door when Edward finally coughed loudly twice, stopping her in her tracks.

“Professor Smith?”

The girl turned around to see Edward rummaging through his drawer, a mysterious look on his face.

“Come here.”

Edward finally found the document he was looking for—it was an assignment Ryan had sent him during the holidays.

Anna walked over and followed Edward’s pointing finger.

The address on the envelope was also in this city but at a considerable distance from the university, seemingly in a residential area of the suburbs.

“Ryan was supposed to be living in the university dorms, but I found this while going through some files today.”

“It seems Ryan might have had another place to stay off-campus, at least during the entire summer.”

Edward continued as he pulled out several more envelopes, all pointing to the same address.

“The police have already checked Ryan’s dorm room and found nothing.”

“You might want to check this place out. I’ll also pass this information to the police, and I’ll contact you if there’s any new development.”

With that said, Anna didn’t need any further prompting. She shyly smiled at Edward and then used a pen from his desk to jot down the address on her palm.

23 Long Street, Cedar Point Youth Apartments, Riverside District.

Anna, who had been feeling disheartened, felt a spark of hope ignite within her at the prospect of this new lead, even if it might turn out to be a dead end.

As long as there was a sliver of hope, she wouldn’t give up. She was determined to find Ryan and bring him back into her life.

…

Alice and Mr. Carlson had been in the tea room for half an hour now, and if it weren’t for the occasional bursts of laughter, Ryan might have barged in by now.

Glancing at his watch, it was just eleven in the morning, with thirteen hours left in the day.

His mission was to safely get through the day, which felt like a ticking countdown constantly hanging over Ryan, keeping him on edge.

Where the danger would come from or how it would manifest, Ryan had no idea. All he could do was wait.

Hannah hadn’t lit another cigarette since she put the last one out. She stood straight outside the tea room, showing no sign of the fact that her left arm was broken.

The distance between them seemed to have closed a bit after that cigarette, and Hannah no longer seemed hostile towards him.

Ryan had felt pretty good about Hannah from the start.

Tough and reliable, a good assistant—that was Ryan’s assessment of her.

Hannah stood straight, ready to rush in at the first sign of trouble.

Ryan, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. He had found a small stool somewhere and was now sitting on it, seemingly lost in thought.

Of course, it only looked like he was daydreaming. In reality, he was scrutinizing the items in his backpack.

These could come in handy for dealing with any upcoming crises.

[Loyalty Potion, Truth Serum]

These were items he had obtained from a side mission, both in potion form, so their application wasn’t very broad.

Ryan’s focus, however, was on the reward for his current mission, [Knockout Gas (impairs consciousness, causing anyone within a 17-foot radius to instantly fall unconscious)]. Unlike the potions, this reward was more like a stone.

If Ryan understood correctly, throwing this stone would release the Knockout Gas, and anyone within its 17-foot radius would instantly fall unconscious.

This seemed much more useful than the other potions.

Having the [Knockout Gas] would definitely increase his chances of handling today’s dangers, but the problem was that Ryan didn’t have it yet.

“That means I’ll have to make the best use of what I have.”

Ryan’s gaze returned to the two bottles, pondering how to expand their uses.

Would the effects of the liquid still work if he poured it out?

And if he only used a bit of it, not the whole thing, would it still be effective?

Ryan sighed softly, mulling over these thoughts. He sneaked a glance at Hannah, wondering whether to experiment on her right now.

But messing up could complicate things, so Ryan shook his head, deciding to put that thought aside for now.

Hannah felt Ryan’s piercing gaze and heard his soft murmurs, wondering what he was thinking. Although he had saved Miss Alice’s life, he still seemed quite suspicious.

Very suspicious, in fact.

Taking advantage of Ryan’s distraction, Hannah quietly moved closer to him and slightly bent down to listen to his mutterings.

“Ah, this is so tough.”

His goal had never changed,he had always dreamed of being killed by Alice to achieve resurrection.

But as events unfolded, Alice’s fondness for him only seemed to grow.

He hadn’t had the chance to check earlier, but after leaving the meeting room, Miss Alice’s favorability had unexpectedly increased by five points, reaching a high of fifty-eight.

Only twelve points away from the dangerous seventy mark, he was in a precarious position.

And most importantly, at this stage, Alice definitely wouldn’t kill him willingly.

What’s the use of high favorability if it doesn’t serve his purpose? He wasn’t here to play for a happy ending.

“So annoying.”

Ryan rubbed his head in frustration, completely unaware of the eavesdropper behind him.

Maybe he should boost the favorability first, then use it to ask Alice to kill him?

It didn’t seem very reliable.

The crisis of the day wasn’t over yet,if she died at someone else’s hands, that would be disastrous.

Ryan couldn’t figure out the root of the problem and ended up blaming it on the target of his mission strategy.

“If only Miss Alice understood what I really want, I wouldn’t have to wait so painfully.”

He wasn’t interested in developing a romantic storyline with Miss Alice,he just wanted her to end his life. But how long would he have to wait for that?

After voicing his thoughts, Ryan sighed deeply, feeling his prospects growing dimmer.

But when he looked up, he found Hannah standing right beside him, her face a picture of shock, her eyes wide with horror, clearly revealing everything.