Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Night of the Living Curse
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While Wolfram was toying with the curse using his stamina of just 2...
Darkness had descended upon the top floor of Glasstheim Dormitory, where Eve von Loengrin resided.
Just as the deep curse settled into the room, slowly gnawing away at Eve's mind...
Eve's sleeping face, which had looked tormented just moments ago, softened considerably.
"What is it."
Eve snapped her eyes open immediately.
Being groggy with sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford.
Jefrin Academy was such a convoluted mess to begin with, so the girl at its pinnacle had no room for prep time.
Eve had to carve her 24 hours into minute-by-minute slots. Managing a hundred thousand jammin couldn't tolerate even a hint of drowsiness.
That was why she always converted her magic power into stamina, never firing off her full 22 points of magic all at once. If she overdid the conversion and collapsed, despair would blanket Jefrin that day.
So, sensing some sinister presence in her room, she opened her eyes right then and there.
This was Glasstheim Dormitory, with flawless security. Her personal student council president suite, no less.
Feeling an aura that wasn't hers was deeply unpleasant.
"If this place got breached, maybe it's time to switch security companies. I'll have to bring it up with the imperial family."
In that instant, a company boasting countless employees and the prestige of securing Jefrin and the royals teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Eve furrowed her brow at the thing before her.
'...Eve. Eeeveeee!!'
"Wolfram...?"
Her face soured as she sensed Wolfram von Loengrin before her—pupils pitch black and dead, arms dangling limply.
"What are you doing crawling in here at this hour? Are you insane?"
If there was a most aggravating situation in the world, this had to be it.
But Eve didn't immediately blast a holy light spear into Wolfram's skull.
Wolfram was an idiot, a moron, a bit dim, and a total nerd, but the issues he brought were always major ones.
Normally, scheduling a meeting with Eve von Loengrin required booking a month in advance, but Wolfram's requests almost always got approved on the spot—not because he was royalty, but because he had the potential to head the faction that could threaten the student council the most, and because his agendas carried that much weight.
So Eve held back on firing.
"Not a security company issue, then. What are you doing here at this hour?"
Thanks to her, thousands of small business owners who'd nearly lost their jobs in a heartbeat kept their necks intact.
'I curse you. Don't you know what you've done to me?!'
"...What?"
'You stole my place, you dare! I can't forgive you! Because of you, I'm still a vengeful spirit wandering the netherworld!!!'
"..."
'You're incompetent. Give me back that position! Eve! Eve von Loengrin!'
Eve scowled at those words.
Incompetent.
Yeah. Right now, Eve von Loengrin was just a "high-stat dummy."
When it came to handling flower pollen duties, boosting student convenience, or forward-thinking initiatives, Wolfram von Loengrin was overwhelmingly more suited to student council president.
She was incompetent. Useless.
And Eve knew that better than anyone.
'Give it back!'
"...If that's what you think..."
In that moment, something on her desk emitted a glow.
"...Ugh?!"
Eve clutched her throbbing head.
Why was the fortune cookie Wolfram gave her flashing like that? Amid a flood of questions, words he'd once said to her previous self resurfaced.
In the student council garden, casually mentioned over lunch.
["I'm here. Wolfram von Loengrin is here."]
They burned into her mind.
Wolfram von Loengrin is here? So what...
Ah.
'Behold my death!'
"You're alive, aren't you."
'......'
"......"
'Wandering eteeernallyyy!'
"Hm. You were always this stupid... Well, even so..."
'Take my grudge! My death! My hatred! I, I...!'
"......"
Only then did Eve realize.
This wasn't Wolfram. It looked exactly like the Wolfram in her mind, but the current Wolfram was "less of an idiot than this."
"A fake, huh."
Eve was sharp. She wasn't great with conflicting info or brand-new data, but within her knowledge base, she had a knack for drawing conclusions.
"A blessing. If it's a real one, it must've tried invading my mind."
'...Give it baaaack!!'
"Ah, quiet down a bit. Got it. Black magic? Nah, cheap black magic couldn't pierce my defenses... A curse. Yeah, this is a curse. Aha. Wolfram foresaw this? A curse targeting me? ...Hmm. Lots to think about. Gotta grill the real one later on what he knows."
With that, Eve loaded five holy light spears and flashed a bright smile.
'Die... dieee...'
"Get out and die first. Perfect, you look just like Wolfram—should be fun to hit. 【Holy Light Spear: Single Shot: One-Point: Guaranteed Hit: Kill Shot】 Die."
And Eve fired one straight at the fake Wolfram's head with perfect precision.
Slipping through the midnight darkness, a shadow came for Aila Trista too.
A girl mimicking young Aila stared at her sleeping face with hollow eyes.
Clutching a tattered teddy bear, the curse spoke to Aila.
'Die...'
"Ehehe..."
'Diiiie...?'
"Wolfram... Hehe. Yeah. Our rebellion... Ihihi."
'...Um, excuse me...'
"We're, like, the absolute best... Hehe."
'Heyyy...'
Of course, Aila was fast asleep.
It was past ten-thirty, after all.
'Th-this... Die, damn you.'
The moment the curse reached for Aila, it touched the fortune cookie in her arms.
'Hiiiieeeek!!'
And the curse spectacularly disintegrated.
Honestly, I don't think I'm a bad person.
I mean, as Yi Young-jin, I lived my life to the fullest and worked my ass off for that convenience store.
But the stares around me. The schemes. The conspiracies. The false accusations and injustices!
Even so, I gave it my all and survived. That's what I pride myself on.
"So doesn't siccing a curse on me cross a serious line?"
'Urk... Gigig... Th-that's riiight.'
Tired of even throwing anymore, I was rubbing my weakest fortune cookie against the curse's body.
Psssh—one fortune cookie dissolved into the curse. The curse had rin against the blessing it'd been resisting.
'Keeheeheehee...'
"What to smash next. That happy, huh? Hold on, I'll swap in a fresh one."
'Keeheek!?'
But I still had plenty left. Gotta be about a hundred fortune cookies at home.
Herding the immobilized curse into a corner like a bunny made it feel like a perfect punching bag—healing, even.
"Wonder if the caster's puking their guts out right now. Or crying. Or got their guts twisted. Maybe shitting themselves."
The more a curse gets blocked, the more backlash hits the caster.
And tormenting it this endlessly? Obviously piles on horrific strain.
Not enough to kill a normal person, though.
Like I said earlier—stomachache, puking? Worst case, the runs. Whatever, not my problem.
"Nice. This is fun."
Being able to counterattack in Episode 2's one-sided beatdown felt like blazing a new route I didn't know existed—pure thrill.
'Hee heee... K-kill me.'
"Huh?"
'K-kill meee...'
"Oh, asking to be killed?"
'...Hiii.'
The curse went silent.
Its movements dulled slowly.
'...Someday... you...'
"Ah."
That was the curse fading away.
Hm. Seems like it really got resolved. Opening my mouth, I could feel the old sensation returning.
"...New lines from Act 2 that weren't in Act 1. Yeah, it's done."
Meaning Act 2 was cleared thanks to my flawless scheme.
The rewards here are seriously juicy. But not the time right now.
"Nah. Hold off."
I flicked the system window aside and took in the vanishing curse.
That might've been Wolfram's despair.
He knew he'd walk a filthy path, with countless masses out to kill him.
Yet powerless, he could do nothing. No defenses.
That's why he obsessed over power. Acted even stronger.
The man had lived harboring that despair.
Yet he desperately supported artists too.
Act 2 was supposed to be about learning the heroines' backstories, but that never applied to Yi Young-jin.
None of the existing heroines were Wolfram's, and I had no heroines anyway.
All I could glimpse was the lingering echo left by Wolfram von Loengrin.
'...Die...'
"I see."
I faced Wolfram's despair head-on.
Yeah. I'll live as Yi Young-jin. Got a good look at your life, whatever it was. Bye.
"But letting you go easy would leave me kinda unsatisfied, no?"
'...?'
A faint smile tugged at my lips as I gripped the black stone.
2-1.
The yin black stone from the expedition with Eve.
"This stone basically works like a magic engine stone, but with an attribute twist. Think curse-specialized magic engine stone."
I pressed the yin black stone against the curse.
Its body ballooned instantly.
Yet it couldn't breach the fortune cookie barrier—instead, it multiplied and self-destructed simultaneously.
'Hrgh gik. Giguk, goguk, gragak uh, nghik, ngh, keeik,'
"Born only to be destroyed. Creation and annihilation at once—you're life itself, huh."
Honestly.
Honestly, this Act 2 boss screwed me over hard.
How many Emily reruns did I suffer because of this bastard?
"Emily Haimelody opens as early as Act 1 if you're quick... Always needed that insurance."
I ran the Emily route a thousand times because this guy wrecked the heroine paths.
So, you wouldn't remember, but I twisted myself into knots for 20,000 hours?
"Boost the curse with the yin black stone, then trap it."
Next.
"Build a fortune cookie wall to cage it."
Next.
"Chuck fortune cookies at it now and then to burn it down."
'G-gaaaaahhh!!'
The caster's probably feeling their guts twist in agony right now.
"This one's for Eve. This for Regina. This for Isolde. This one's..."
I named countless heroines as I hurled fortune cookies.
"This for Yi Young-jin. This too. And this."
But in the end, most went to my own share.
'S-save...'
Now the curse was begging for mercy.
For the first time in ages, I flashed a smile worthy of Yi Young-jin.
"Of course I'll spare you. Don't worry, you're safe."
'...Gigik?'
"So whenever I'm bored. Or pissed. Or happy. Or suffering. Shop booms or busts, I'll chuck fortune cookies at you and torch you. Until that yin black stone's ash. Consider it eternal torment."
Annoying boss later, twisted me for 20,000 hours—this fair, right?
Not fair?
What're you gonna do.
I suffered that much.
"Now. The night's still young."
Mad? Come find me.
Wolfram's Convenience Store fortune cookies are ready for you.