Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Getting Beaten Play
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Social club was over, and I was back at the convenience store.
Aila had advertised it out of the blue, but nothing major happened on my end.
She said an insane number of orders had come flooding in, but it wasn't like I could make a ton of them anyway.
"Then we just won't make any more!" Aila laughed it off. She didn't seem too bothered.
Sure, I'd love to set up some mass-production system someday, but the furniture for item duplication comes pretty late in the game.
I've gotta get my hands on that no matter what.
Anyway, right now I'm focusing more on fortune cookies than buff snacks.
Honestly, I had no plans to make more after handing some out to the kids, but the training value is adding up nicely.
One skill levels up three proficiencies at once, so whenever the mana recovery field is active, I just crank out fortune cookies.
A few grand successes popped up in the meantime. No one to give them to, so I stashed them on the store shelves for now.
"Here. Milmyu. Cookies infused with blessings."
"Thank you."
Milmyu bowed her head as she took the fortune cookie.
But her eyes showed more confusion than gratitude.
Didn't like it? When I asked...
"No, I'm really happy. It's just... behind you, senpai..."
"Oh, this?"
Behind me was a mountain of fortune cookies piled up.
Handing over just one kinda dilutes the special gift vibe.
"This one's got extra high completion quality."
"Ah, aha. The talisman, right? I'll treasure it, senpai."
Milmyu nodded a few times.
Truth be told, even non-grand successes carry a blessing.
I just mentioned it to ease her nerves a bit.
Fortune cookies are 'snacks' but also 'talismans,' so they activate their effect as talismans even after expiration. No clue what options you get if you eat them, though. Better not.
"I can't really feel the blessing, to be honest."
"I see."
Milmyu must be sensitive to mana but dull to divine power.
"Um, anything I can help with? You gave me a gift and all."
Ever since becoming top of her year, Milmyu's been super friendly.
Seems she sees me as the benefactor who cracked her shell.
Sweet underclassman.
"Nah. You can head out."
"Aww."
I sent Milmyu off and sank into thought.
Nefti's the last one left.
"Gotta pass one to Nefti too. Wait for her to show?"
"Can I eat it?"
"No. It's a talisman—keep it safe."
"Got it! But why'd you make these?"
"Remember our Black Market trip?"
Nefti showed up, so I handed her a fortune cookie, and the first thing out of her mouth was whether she could eat it.
I gave her the short version of the story and why I made them.
She was with me wandering the Black Market, so I could explain a bit more seriously.
Not the full details, of course.
"...A curse targeting celebs might activate?"
"Yeah. Curses form from longing and thirst."
"No precursors?"
"None. Sneaky as hell. Dirty too."
By showing empty dreams, it builds negative emotions.
Then uses those to do all sorts of nasty stuff.
Especially potent if cast on the target directly.
Take Eve.
Among the countless "I wanna be Eve" feelings, some are too messed up to describe.
Say there's a 32-year-old ex-Knight Division dropout living in the Black Market slums, Willyum or whatever, who should've graduated eight years ago.
If his dream is reaching the academy's peak, he'd dream of becoming Eve.
In other words, 32-year-old unemployed Black Market dweller Willyum dreams of being second-year Student Council President Eve von Loengrin. Legendary.
Anyway, it fulfills those filthy desires in dreams.
He becomes Eve in the dream,
And the Act 2 mid-boss merchant collects the emotions.
Mashes them into a curse ritual and hurls it at Eve.
Per canon.
That desire manifests as Wolfram von Loengrin's corpse before her.
'Eve, you killed me.'
'You, you, YOUUUU!!'
'Not even a corpse. I'm still wandering this world in death!!!'
Turns filthy desires into her trauma and smacks her with it. Trash attack.
The life-shattering shockwave makes Eve collapse crying on the spot. Fail to block it in time, and she goes a little nuts.
Oh, and you can't even catch the Act 2 boss.
Disgusting story. Boss just curses from range, we get tossed around and barely defend—that's it.
I know who it is, but he hides his face, lives deep in the Black Market.
Fake Face makes him impossible to track.
Of course, curse's nature means it can backfire, so you reverse-trace it later to reach the boss. Boom—done.
Anyway, I skipped all game spoilers and fed Nefti the "Wolfram-brand knowledge from the imperial archives" line. She hummed and tapped her forehead with her index finger.
"So I could get hit with a curse like that too."
"That's why—take it."
"Thanks. ...But are you okay, senpai?"
Nefti hit me with that question.
Meaning, is Wolfram von Loengrin safe from curses?
"Who'd wanna mimic me?"
"Might be more than you think. That's what worries me."
"Nefti, if you're gonna joke..."
"Not a joke."
Her eyes were dead serious.
No, really—nobody would.
"Basis for judgment?"
"None. But even half a royal guard hopeful..."
"Forgot? This curse turns admiration into delusion. No one's admiring me."
"Someone is."
"Basis?"
"Me."
She placed her right hand over her chest and stared at me with those earnest eyes.
Eyes full of conviction triggered déjà vu.
Knight of Conviction. Nepthelian.
My senior from Playthrough 1.
Raising her shield at the front for everyone—she always had eyes like that.
"...Got it. I'll be careful."
"Good."
Act 2's tricky part is you never know when the boss fight triggers in the story.
No entry trigger. They hold total initiative.
Best you can do is open the Black Market early to check popularity in the dream salon or stock blessing items somehow.
Randomly crashes in front of a heroine and wrecks shop—exhausting.
One of D/Z SAGA's bullshit mechanics.
And shockingly, not just Act 2.
So it's not just defend passively—it's ambiguous.
Devs threw in a mercy system.
If you fully block it—via blessing item or Kelters arriving on time—
Next enemy encounter, their defense, HP, and mental fortitude are shaved.
That's curses' gimmick in D/Z SAGA:
Curses ignore enemy mana. Huge advantage.
But pack CC and damage, fail to activate and you eat backlash.
Anti-magic, probabilistic, self-damage on fail.
Same for divine power—super careful adding curse/divine rare chars to party.
Curse users gotta own their misses.
"Might target me, huh."
I brushed off Nefti's words at first.
But from the Act 2 boss's view? Possible.
Hm.
Target me.
Torment a humble citizen running an empty corner store, slaving away at product dev daily?
Thinking that way...
"Pisses me off."
If that happens...
I dunno what I'd do. For real.
I laid fortune cookies around the store floor like a barrier, leaving just the door open.
Placed that thing I picked up before in the center, then lay down.
Told the others to block with fortune cookies.
Yeah, draw aggro.
Draw while believing it can snipe from range. Draw.
I'll show you.
That night.
My eyes snapped open quietly.
But my body wouldn't move.
Aha. This is that.
Sleep paralysis.
Body really won't budge.
No doubt. Sleep paralysis demon right now.
Breath catches, body bound like chains.
Glance over—far off, a black mass stares.
Gas? Liquid? Solid? The humanoid blob has no eyes, yet I feel the gaze. No mouth, yet voices start.
'I wanted to be you.'
'Worthless scum. Worthless scum. Worthless scum.'
'Betrayed. I got expelled. Gonna kill you.'
'Die. Die, Wolfram von Loengrin. Die. Gonna kill you.'
Voices echo in my ears. Male, female—pure vitriol curses pouring.
Ah.
This is it.
Really happening.
Act 2 boss curse.
'Die. Gonna kill you. Die.'
'Your fault my house went bankrupt. Family ruined.'
'Why'd you abandon me? I swore loyalty!'
'Wolfram. Wolfram von Loengrin. I'd die happy killing you now.'
Hmm. Yeah, you really hate Wolfram, huh? Fair. I do too.
This pathetic sack of shit. Stamina 2 is human stats? Hated for nothing, every dirty trick on a tax-paying shopkeep.
I half-agree with your hate, but sorry—I'm Wolfram now.
Once I became him, I'd accept it. But just accept? Nah.
What can ya do. My personality's rotten.
Especially getting flak for stuff I didn't do?
I forfeit inheritance. See you in court.
Crack.
To break sleep paralysis, focus nerves on your pinky, try moving it.
Sensation floods back instantly. I sat up.
This curse.
Wolfram von Loengrin has absolute defense.
I switched the skill from passive to active.
"Imperial Bloodline."
?
What the hell.
What.
Oh. Since it's not a bloodline but a curse interfering, the skill doesn't know how to handle it?
Neat. More human system than expected.
Or straight-up buggy trash game.
Personally betting 500 rin on the latter.
Imperial Bloodline went silent.
...Probably bugged mid-activation?
Eve has it too, rolled on the floor puking when hit—so true damage lands.
'Die. Die. Die.'
'Die Wolfram. Die. Die already. Gonna kill you.'
I pondered amid the curses.
Not scared of the curse. Zero damage.
But. With bloodline off, something fun happened.
Counter yes, but can't.
Defend must, but can't.
"I see. Trigger error or botched activation."
Dunno how it glitched, but one thing's sure:
Wolfram von Loengrin is free from "always act befitting bloodline."
In other words.
"Shut your trap already. You're so damn annoying."
'......?'
'......??'
'......???'
Finally—first time in ages—speaking in Yi Young-jin's voice.
Whoa. This free time rocks.
'Ju, die.'
'Wolfram die.'
"Look at that basic-ass tone. You fucks wake me at 2 AM, sleep paralysis curse-style, flapping gums—if you're gonna yap, step up your vocab game."
'...Die.'
'Die...!'
Cafe with 40k members.
OG admin running it 10 years amid circlejerks and trolls.
Think I'd ever lose a shitpost flamewar?
"My motto's no double-cuss post-block report, but you're not worth it. So..."
Grabbed a floor fortune cookie, chucked it at the blob.
It wails like "grraaang."
Obvious. What I threw was straight-up "blessing."
"You'll regret picking a fight with me at 2 AM."
Next cookie at the blob.
"As I've said a million times... Wolram sunchu jigoo jadalsseu sseugru dungyo. Juju hante jamon jjochi ahneun sinario ra hal su issoyo. Mojsjog euro deuruoneun seullida! Daesyo!"
'Kiyaaaaak!'
'Kweeeerk!'
Another toss, it twists begging for mercy.
'...Gonna kill.'
'Someday gonna kill.'
Repertoire shifted. Sneaking back—prepping to flee.
Some damage to the caster. Let it go, it'll lay off awhile.
But where you going.
Bro ain't nice enough to let slide after getting hit and "sorry."
"Galjaeng jack bol eun ppaes sseu ppool i geudngyo."
Fortune cookie arced to the only exit, front door.
Blocked the curse blob's path.
'......'
'............'
Desperately scans, no escape.
Fortune cookies surround store interior—touch one, auto-damage.
Can't pass.
"Trapped in my convenience store now?"
'......'
"Fighting Wolfram was tough for bro—no gear. But now? Got some. How's a measly Act 2 feel about that?"
'......'
"Bro's a gentleman, doesn't rage much. Friendly with bosses, plays nice. So don't hold back—hang and play with bro."
Gulp.
Downed a stamina potion, grinned at the curse, wound up.
"Wanna play getting beaten? Your turn first."