I've Fallen in Love
Ha Yuseong's ability was inherently a curse, so perfect control might have been impossible from the start. There was never anything like pinpointing disasters on exact coordinates or delicately distinguishing friend from foe to unleash targeted misfortune on enemies alone—not even in the original story.
But she herself was exempt from that horrific calamity, with an absolute invincibility judgment. And she could adjust the scale of the disasters that erupted.
In the original, she could somehow control those two aspects on her own.
Which means I could toss her alone into the heart of the enemy lines, and she'd safely wreak havoc while chilling in her protective bubble.
Pulling out Mahar without even finishing her morning routine, zero risk? I can't let that slide.
If there were no pesky allies in the way, she was basically the ultimate area-of-effect bomber.
The issue was output control. I needed time to rewire this unpredictable time bomb into a switch I could flip at will.
"Dohyuun, is it really okay to go in heeere~?"
"It's fine. As long as we don't get caught."
My shameless reply made Yuseong's eyes tremble faintly.
The place we'd sneaked into was the basement warehouse of the academy's old magic practice building, shuttered years ago over safety concerns. In this forgotten dusty corner thick with cobwebs, a massive portal undulated, spewing blood-red haze along the path of her gaze.
Not the clear blue light of typical academy dungeons, but a murky, viscous, vicious crimson. No instructor could have imagined such a dangerous unregistered gate lurking right in the heart of the academy grounds.
Of course they wouldn't know. It hasn't been discovered yet.
Unlike standard single-floor dungeons, that red portal led to an infamous multi-layer dungeon, carved endlessly upward.
The reason I'd scoured this abandoned building right after enrollment and found it first was simple. The second great disaster that would one day dye the academy in blood started with the monster coiled at the topmost layer of that red gate.
Though it's still a ways off before it blows up.
Unlike Yuseong's curse, which we'd hastily resolved, this was a main scenario much further down the line. In the original timeline, it wouldn't be spotted by a patrolling guard instructor until a couple weeks from now.
The boss, having bulked up inside, crawling out to unleash the full disaster—that was a massive event slated for no earlier than the start of the second semester.
"So, no one's inside here at all. Perfect spot for curse control practice."
"Hee~..."
Yuseong let out an intrigued half-tone hum at my words.
"But isn't dealing with something this dangerous the professors' job~?"
"Yeah. They'd probably assemble a full-scale subjugation team the moment it's found."
But if we left it alone until then, we'd be handing over this prime private training ground to the academy for free. We had to lop off that thing's head before it fully matured into a disaster anyway.
"We'll just cherry-pick what we can use beforehand and bail."
"...That sounds super villainous~."
"I'll take it as a compliment. Let's go in."
I lightly patted the dazed Yuseong's head and stepped boldly through the rippling red portal.
Whoosh—!
My vision flickered once, and a thick grassy scent hit me. Instead of a barren dungeon interior, an endless expanse of towering trees formed a dense forest before my eyes.
"This is the... dungoon~...?"
Yuseong murmured blankly in confusion. Having only experienced sealed caves or indoor spaces before, this open-field dungeon mimicking a massive natural environment must have been a first for her.
"We found the right place."
I swept my gaze over the lush canopy and curled my lips.
First-floor theme: jungle. Just like in the game.
"Yuseong, let's start right away."
"Yeees. Practice controlling the disaster's power, right~...?"
"Exactly. First up, unleash it at maximum output—your strongest possible blast."
The basics of zeroing in on control start with imprinting your max and min firepower firmly into your body.
What she'd unleashed in the park earlier was middling output, unconsciously braked by instinctive suppression.
At my words, Yuseong slowly closed her eyes.
Vrrr—!
A wave utterly different from before. Vast, heavy mana began crushing the air, choking the breath.
The moment causality-distorting law overlaid that pure mana power.
Roooar—! Boom rumble!
The dense jungle was engulfed in crimson flames all at once.
From cracks splitting the earth, scarlet magma surged up, and massive ancient trees crumbled into black ash the instant they touched the boiling lava.
"Ugh."
I reflexively raised an arm against the acrid heatwave scorching my skin.
-Kyaaaak! -Screeech! Kweeek!
Freakish death cries erupted from all sides. The sounds of aberrant monsters ambushed in bushes and treetops burning alive without even leaving corpses.
That's more like it.
No need to hunt down the hidden pests one by one—just wipe the whole area clean with overwhelming firepower. How brutally efficient.
True to its blind, indiscriminate nature that gave no thought to friend-or-foe, the massive flame tsunami that turned the forest to ash began veering toward us.
"...Dohyuun, the flames are coming thiis way~..."
"Yeah, I'll cut it off."
I casually swung the tactical telescoping baton I'd been gripping toward Yuseong beside me.
Parry.
Clang—!
A crisp metallic ring echoed, and the crimson tsunami and magma surging to devour us evaporated into nothing in an instant.
"Haa, haaa...!"
In the spot where the rampaging disaster vanished, Yuseong panted raggedly atop the ashen wasteland where the terrain itself had been flattened into pitch-black plains.
Her pale forehead beaded with sweat from the recoil of summoning such massive mana at once.
"Not quite full power yet, but solid for a first try."
"Haa... Full poweer, not quite under controol~..."
"It's a power you've barely handled a few times. This puts you in the magically talented camp."
I chuckled lightly and stroked her sweat-damp white hair.
"...Eep."
Her shoulders twitched faintly at the sudden touch. Whether from the heat or bashfulness at the praise, her cheeks flushed unlike her usual drowsy expression. Instead of dodging, she leaned into my hand like a pleased cat.
Cute like a little animal.
She must have taken pride in her magic, so this was probably thrilling deep down.
I withdrew my hand contentedly and cast my gaze afar. Beyond the flattened zone Yuseong had razed, untouched jungle stretched endlessly.
Distance to the boss room... gotta be about five or six more blasts.
Perfect. No better route for internalizing output control.
I pointed my baton at the distant green canopy untouched by flames and grinned.
"Break's over. See that unburnt forest ahead?"
"Yeees, I see iit~..."
"We'll practice all the way to the boss room. Same firepower as before—exactly five more blasts while advancing."
"...Whaaat?"
Her cheeks drained white at my merciless decree.
"F-Five times~?! I already used a ton of maana~...?"
"Nah, the Yuseong I know won't run dry from this."
"...I neever told you my mana capacity~?!"
Don't worry, I saw it all in the game. One more set, no—five sets, member!
"Noo, I'm really gonna diiiie...!"
"...Fighting!"
I am a cursed child.
It was around age seven, I think. When I first awakened and handled mana, that's what my parents told me.
Abandoned.
Unable to bear their daughter who summoned horrific disasters every time she used mana, they fled, leaving me alone in the chilly depths of a dungeon. No CCTV inside, and if monsters tore me apart, no evidence would remain.
-Kyaaaak! -Krahhh!
Just before the monsters' vicious claws reached me in the darkness, terror-stricken and eyes squeezed shut.
What saved me was a mage who appeared, illuminating the pitch-black dungeon with brilliant, overwhelming light. That reliable back, sweeping away the horrors about to shred me into ash in one go, looked more wondrous and warm than anything to my seven-year-old eyes.
"Child, you're safe now. Are you hurt?"
The gentle hand and warmth extended to me.
From that day, I yearned to become a hunter—a mage. Someday, like that person, I'd wield radiant magic to save others, shining brightly.
Left at a rundown rural orphanage after the dungeon rescue, I devoured tattered magic tomes with bone-grinding desperation. Striving desperately to properly bloom the talent slumbering within me.
If I become a mage, the nuns will suffer less, and the orphanage kids can eat tasty things.
But the ominous star lodged in me forbade my dream. Every time I drew up mana with pure heart, every time I reached out desperately to help someone.
Regardless of my will, a horrific disaster overlaid it unbidden, mercilessly destroying everything. The orphanage front yard flipped entirely, the head nun who took me in and the children collapsing in pools of blood.
Cursed beast of a girl.Stay close and you'll get swept in the disaster and die.
People's screams, gazes laced with contempt, backs fleeing in terror. In that horrific scene, I finally realized bone-deep.
Ah, I really am a cursed child. Not helping anyone, just a walking disaster inflicting horrors on those around me.
Don't get involved with anyone.
I'd wormed into the academy out of selfish lingering desire to learn magic, but that was it. No more greed. I'd hole up in a corner, avoiding eyes, sleeping all day—a drowsy, lazy cadet. I gladly claimed that label.
If I did nothing and breathed like I was dead, at least I wouldn't wound anyone with my own hands.
"It's a power you've barely handled a few times. This puts you in the magically talented camp."
That's how it should have been.
"If you have something to talk about, tomorrow after class. Can't have eyes on us, so somewhere quiet, just the two of us."
I should have done nothing and breathed like I was dead.
The boy shattered the thick walls of resignation surrounding me so casually, so effortlessly. The only one who didn't recoil at my overflowing, uncontrollable curse.
Instead, he stood blocking my path, lightly parrying the horrific disaster, stroking my head and saying I'd done well.
Why... doesn't he run?
Even my birth parents abandoned me in a dungeon; even those who took me in ended up fearing me. The whole world called me a monster, scorning and shunning me.
Why does that boy smile at me like that?
"Good work. Five blasts in a row, and you're still standing—this talent is academy-top-tier."
The casual yet reassuring praise from above snapped me alert. Emerging from distant memory shards, I refocused. Filling my vision first: a pitch-black ashen plain, charred like a single-lane road.
Five disasters. Proof I'd unleashed the curse crushing me my whole life at will, erasing the first floor's vast forest.
And now.
"Haa, haa...!"
Legs limp from successive mana bursts, I panted against Yoo Dohyun's solid shoulder, body fully entrusted to him.
Without a hint of annoyance, he supported my waist while gently brushing back my sweat-soaked white hair with his other hand.
Ahh.
The one dragging me from the cursed swamp of disaster. The one opening the dark corner I'd locked myself in, offering his back so I could reach out to the world again.
My savior.
Thump, thump thump.
My heart pounded uncontrollably within my ribs. From mana depletion recoil, or his warm body heat on my cheek? I couldn't tell.
But one thing was certain.
I want to get just a little closer to this boy. A tiny bit more.
I want to know more about Yoo Dohyun.
The moment our eyes met—his dark ones gazing down with a faint smile.
I finally grasped the identity of this unfamiliar emotion churning inside me.
"Is that... sooo~."
Ahh.
I've fallen in love.