Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Protects the World
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Lee Seon's eyes trembled in shock at my words.
"A curse?"
"It's one of the trickiest things for mages to handle."
Since it shares the same demonic attribute, there aren't many ways to counter it with the same type of magic. It was his first time dealing with something like this, so he had every reason to stay confused longer, but Lee Seon quickly composed himself and asked me.
"You're saying that because you've dealt with curses before. Tell me—what exactly is a curse?"
I didn't know much about curses myself, but this much I could answer. It was a question I'd asked someone else once, after all.
I recalled Ariadne's words and replied.
"A curse is a lingering wish left behind by someone who's already dead, rejecting the natural order and using something still in this world as a 'medium.'"
"A wish? But it's a curse."
Lee Seon looked at me with clear confusion.
Meanwhile, the Apex Light Sword had been vibrating faintly ever since it detected the curse earlier.
Was it because the hero's sword deemed the 'curse' an evil?
I gripped the hilt and answered.
"They're probably dreaming inside the curse right now."
That was why I mentioned the princess pricked by the spindle and falling asleep.
Depending on mental strength, those afflicted by curses would languish and eventually lose their minds, never to wake.
Dying in sleep was the lucky outcome—most suffered agonizing deaths.
The few who luckily broke free midway would say this:
They'd endured a long, tedious, and painful trial.
"That dream is created by the one who made the curse, trying to fulfill the regrets they couldn't achieve in life. That's why it's a wish. You can think of it as a kind of mission to grant that wish."
Lee Seon's face drained of color at my words.
"Then... don't tell me..."
I nodded, affirming his guess, and summoned the system message again.
- Clear condition for this dungeon: Exterminate all monsters present in the dungeon.
The clear condition hadn't changed.
In that case, what about this?
I stared into empty space and asked.
"Is purifying or breaking all curses in this dungeon the clear condition?"
As if it had been waiting for my words, the next message appeared.
- Part of the clear conditions for this dungeon has been unlocked.
- Clear conditions can now be viewed in detail.
- Detailed view: Purifying or breaking all curses will be judged as fulfilling the clear condition.
Lee Seon's face hardened as he checked the system alongside me.
"So it's true—the monsters we have to fight are the curses. I never imagined."
A curse—he shuddered at the word, rubbing his arms.
It wasn't hard to understand.
"W-Well, magic exists, so there's no reason curses wouldn't."
"That makes it easier to grasp."
Honestly, nothing in this world made complete sense to me. Being transported to another world and returning to Earth were both bizarre.
They'd happened, so I'd accepted them.
"So, Ye-na, is there a way to lift the curse? It can't be something out of a fairy tale, like a prince's kiss."
His face was still tense, but Lee Seon cracked a light joke.
If a kiss could lift curses, Lucas's lips would be dirt cheap.
I forgot the situation for a moment and chuckled. Lee Seon laughed along.
Right—this was exactly when laughter mattered. It would be our starting point to victory.
"There are two methods."
Purification—one of the clear conditions—was off the table. Only classes like holy knights or priests could purify curses.
Of course, the hero class was strong against demonic attributes, but that didn't mean I could purify curses. All I could do was slash them away.
It almost felt like my class was useless, but there was nothing I could do about it now, and no time to dwell.
"First is destroying the medium these people touched. That's breaking it."
"So we go into the castle and smash anything suspicious?"
"That's the simplest way. It'd satisfy the extermination condition too."
For me, finding and destroying cursed objects was easy. My Apex Light Sword would sniff them out like a hunting dog after pheasants.
Curses usually backlashed when broken, but I had Angelus's Blessing.
So this was probably the fastest way to clear the dungeon.
However... I looked at Lee Seon.
"But destroying the medium doesn't guarantee the curse on those already afflicted will lift."
Even if we cleared the dungeon and got out, Earth didn't seem to have classes like priests or holy knights who wielded holy power yet. Treatment would be a distant hope.
Lee Seon's face went pale as he understood.
This was the crux.
Prioritizing the dungeon clear meant sacrificing their lives inevitably.
His gaze turned to the hunters he'd protected until now.
His clenched fists trembled.
He'd held out alone for two weeks without giving up hope, but now, with the quickest path to clear right in front of him, despair was creeping in for the first time.
I didn't want to let him stew in that feeling, so I continued right away.
"But let's save that as a last resort. The second method is..."
If the target didn't consent, this wouldn't work, so I looked deep into Lee Seon's eyes and said.
"The second is... to take on the curse."
"Pardon? Take it on?"
"It's also called curse resolution."
As I spoke, a system message appeared.
- All clear conditions for this dungeon have been unlocked.
- Detailed view: Resolving all curses will be judged as fulfilling the clear condition.
Just as I expected. That's why the earlier message said 'part' and felt off.
Now I had confirmation.
"Simply put, if curses are the wishes of the dead, then granting those wishes clears them. Like a prince's kiss, really. Unlike breaking the medium, this would lift the curses on the hunters too."
Truth be told, curses weren't common even in Tartarus. And even when found, resolution was rare.
Purification or breaking were the standards.
However, Ariadne.
It was Ariadne who got me used to resolution.
She was one of the continent's top priests, with enough holy power to purify curses. Requests poured in from across the continent.
But instead of purifying, Ariadne would turn pale with ice-cold hands, clutching the medium and falling into a deep sleep for days.
She'd deliberately let the cursed medium ensnare her, listening to the dead's wishes and fulfilling them in dreams.
That was her version of resolution.
Back then, I'd yelled at her to stop being an idiot, to smash it before backlash hit. Well, she couldn't get mad at me, could she? It was her own method.
"Pardon? So you're saying you'll deliberately get cursed? As a method?!"
"You're putting it harshly..."
But it was a gamble, so I silently endured Lee Seon's angry tone.
"They're already cursed and won't wake, so you getting cursed just adds one more patient! How is that a solution?"
"I'm different."
I couldn't say 'because I'm the hero,' so I pointed to the Apex Light Sword.
"I have anti-demonic gear equipped, so I can guard against it. Unlike the rookies, I have the capacity to tackle the mission in the dream."
I held up the Apex Light Sword. It gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, unmistakably holy.
Even seeing my sword, Lee Seon tried to argue, but I nailed it shut.
"This sword is mine alone. Can't pass it to anyone else."
"B-But absolutely not. I know you're an experienced hunter, Ye-na. Still, if someone has to take the curse and clear the mission, it's me."
His voice was desperate, but I shook my head.
"If someone's going, it's me. If someone's staying, it's you, Hunter Lee Seon."
I pointed to the unconscious hunters.
Knowing they were cursed made their faces look even paler.
Seeing them reminded me of Lee Woo-yeon's meaningful words right before I entered the dungeon.
Truthfully, I'd grasped his meaning instantly.
If the raid failed, saturation overflowed, and a dungeon break happened, it wouldn't end with one or two sacrifices.
Professor Kim Sook-ja had anticipated a break and was mobilizing, and Lee Woo-yeon was there, but casualties were inevitable.
The dungeon was right next to a major hospital. Those who couldn't evacuate would die.
But if sacrificing a few struggling rookies let someone enter the dungeon?
It was rational, as Lee Woo-yeon said.
"Of course, preventing the break is priority. The one reason I'm trying resolution now? Time outside flows slower than inside."
If a break was imminent, I might've demolished the whole castle despite Lee Seon's objections.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—time flowed differently inside and out.
That's why saturation spiked wildly outside.
The rookies kept failing missions in their dreams.
That gave us a slight buffer to try something else.
If I entered the dream and cleared the mission, no sacrifices needed.
If it was possible, why not save them?
Plus, this suited my class better. All for my stats.
I grinned at Lee Seon.
"So, let's give it a shot."
His expression twisted as he looked at me. Like he might cry.
* * *
Lee Seon ultimately agreed to my plan.
I left him with the sleeping princesses—curse-afflicted—and entered the castle alone.
The interior was a barren graveyard, just like from outside. The grand hall bore traces of looting everywhere.
Walls likely once gold-adorned now looked eerie with ugly scars.
I wanted to scour it carefully if time allowed, but no time now. I swung my sword at plausible objects to find cursed mediums.
- The Apex Light Sword has detected a curse.
- Angelus's Blessing defends your mind!
Messages flooded in madly.
No wonder they vanished one by one at night—the whole castle was full of 'things not to touch.'
"Not Ghost Castle, but Curse Castle at this rate."
Everything inside was cursed, and Lee Seon's mental barriers must've been sturdier than expected, keeping her safe alone.
With Angelus's Blessing, I wouldn't get cursed unless I wanted to, but right now, I needed to. The blessing glowed faintly in protest, but I ignored it.
Soon, I found the castle's largest hall. The corridor leading there was pitch-black, windowless, lightless, desolate.
The grand hall was a wreck. Torn curtains, ruined murals.
The biggest wall held a shattered ornate mirror. Only tiny shards remained intact enough to show a face.
The Apex Light Sword snatched at black smoke, Angelus's Blessing still shielded my mind, but I knew how to get cursed.
How to hear someone's wish, their voice—Ariadne had taught me.
"They leave traces because even in death, they can't forget something from life. Isn't it pitiful? If I don't listen, who will?"
It came down to pitying and loving someone.
Even though you're no god granting human wishes.
My finger touched a tiny shard. The mirror's surface rippled.
Even in miserable ruins, stray light reflected beautifully, illuminating the scene within.
I drew a sharp breath.
- The Apex Light Sword has detected a curse!
No—the reflection wasn't a curse, but tragedy.
Someone murdered, trampled, their wishes ignored.
They'd screamed and wished dozens, hundreds of times... perhaps centuries.
- Hidden quest discovered: 'Fulfill the Ghost's Wish.'
- Performing this quest designates your position as 'Castle Defender' and cannot be changed. Agreeing will temporarily incorporate you into this timeline.
- Agree? Y/N
I'd suspected as much since learning of the curse, but the system message choked me.
A wish unfulfilled in life, unforgettable in death.
Curses might resemble magic.
Magic defies nature's order for miracles; curses defy even that.
Both twist nature with human will.
If it's a miracle defying fate, then.
This time, I'll listen instead of Ariadne.
Waves rippled from my finger across the mirror's scene, like water. My reflection slowly collapsed.
- Your position is confirmed as Castle Defender. Related rewards can be confirmed.
- The sixth morning begins.