Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Karite Esildereun
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***
*Tap.*
*Tap.*
The sound of footsteps in the academy hallway echoed with a particular unease.
Students nearby glanced at the female student walking with a vacant stare, finding her strange, but she simply walked on endlessly.
“……”
Anxiety, crisis, restlessness…
Along with a host of other secondary emotions, these feelings never left my mind for a moment.
It felt as if every misfortune was piling up at once, as if something terrible was about to happen.
The trait I was granted, my family, my relatives—there were countless things to see in a positive light, yet Karite Esildereun felt none of it.
Four years ago, a sudden anxiety had taken root.
No matter what I did or where I was, a part of my heart was always gripped by unease.
It was as if some formless entity was constantly whispering in my ear.
*-Do you think you deserve to live so happily?*
*-Be sad.*
*-So many people are living because they can’t die.*
*-Why are you the only one who’s so happy?*
*-Just die.*
Countless other negative words seemed to endlessly circle in my ears.
I didn’t even know the specific reason why.
Even when I confided in my trustworthy family, they had no real answers.
Calling upon renowned healers and priests of the church had no effect on me. They even acquired holy water, which was difficult to obtain, but it only offered a temporary reprieve. The inexplicable symptoms never completely vanished.
Before long, I started receiving strange looks from those around me.
*—What a strange child…*
*—She wasn’t always so odd…*
*—Could it be that Lady Karite... has some sort of mental problem?*
The moment I happened to overhear them talking behind my back.
I could no longer bring myself to tell anyone about my symptoms.
No matter how much I spoke and explained, it never reached them. No proper answer ever came.
Because no one else could understand me in the slightest.
How mentally taxing, painful, and agonizing it was... how even breathing felt heavy—they had no idea of my situation.
At some point, I felt as if I had been completely isolated from everyone.
“…….”
Through my hazy vision, I could see the gazes of a few students looking at me even now. I hated seeing them look at me with those unusual eyes, as if I were strange.
So, I naturally kept my gaze lowered.
I’d been in this internal state for years; if I had to endure those kinds of looks from the outside, it would be too much to bear.
*Tap.*
My pace naturally quickened.
‘Let’s just sleep.’
I’ll go back to the dormitory and sleep.
Because, for a moment, while sleeping, I can escape this anxiety. At least while I’m asleep, I don’t have to suffer.
Is that why my sleeping hours have increased so absurdly in recent years?
I sleep for over thirteen hours a day. I’m no longer awake for more than half the day.
…When my granted trait turned out to be a high rank, my family had expectations, but I didn’t feel any change in myself.
I didn’t even have the will to evolve my trait or move forward.
‘What good is a Unique Trait?’
When I can’t see a single step ahead.
In this state, I can’t look forward even if I want to…
“……rite! Karite Esildereun!”
A voice calling my name brought my steps to a halt.
I turned my head blankly and saw a male student. Black hair, rare black eyes beneath it, and features that clearly set him apart from others.
‘Who?’
He was a student I had never seen before.
“Do you have a moment?”
“…A moment?”
“Yeah. Just for a little while. I’d like to have a conversation.”
His powerful voice made me flinch. I couldn’t understand why this person had suddenly approached me.
Then, I heard strange whispers from the surrounding students.
*—Wow. What’s this?*
*—He’s so bold, isn’t he?*
*—Isn’t that Han Cheon-seong?*
And among those whispers was a name I had heard a few times myself.
“…Han Cheon-seong?”
I asked, looking at the man without thinking, and he gave a faint smile.
“That’s right. And it’ll only take a moment. There’s something I really want to talk to you about. This will definitely help you.”
His voice was filled with conviction, which I found difficult to comprehend.
Why on earth was this man talking to me? Why was he showing interest?
Han Cheon-seong. I had heard his name a few times.
‘Why would the man who sparred with this year’s top student, Leonhardt…’
There was no connection whatsoever between me and this Han Cheon-seong. Today was our first meeting, and we were even in different classes…
“Why?”
So, instead of accepting, I asked.
“‘Why’ is a bit of a strange question. Still, could we talk for just a moment? I think it would be better if we talked at a café or somewhere.”
The man, repeating his request, looked strangely desperate.
…Even though there was no reason for him to be. It seemed like he was trying to get along with me.
As I mulled it over, the man’s words stuck with me.
*—This will definitely help you.*
His confident tone, though it seemed impossible, made it feel as if he knew exactly what kind of situation I was in.
“Then just for thirty minutes.”
I found myself agreeing without realizing it.
The thought of ‘what if…’—the thought that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t know—suddenly welled up inside me.
“Thirty minutes is plenty. Let’s go right now.”
The man then smiled brightly and immediately led the way. As I matched his pace, I felt an incredibly strange sensation.
‘Does this man not see me as weird?’
I was well aware of how I appeared to others.
A dark, sunken complexion, no energy, looking weak… I must have an aura that made it difficult for people to approach me.
Glancing sideways at him, the height difference made me naturally look up.
‘Why did Han Cheon-seong approach me?’
I really couldn’t understand.
And yet, because he was someone who had approached me for the first time in a long while, rather than wanting to avoid him… I wanted to connect.
Because it’s not like I…
It’s not like I wanted… to be isolated like this, even at the academy.
***
*Clink.*
As I handed her the kiwi latte from the tray, Karite gave an awkward nod.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Replying, I felt a sense of relief.
‘I was worried she might refuse to talk.’
A moment ago, even though I knew the other students were watching us, I had no choice but to speak to Karite. If I missed her today, I didn’t know when I’d get another chance.
It would also look strange to others if I, from a different class, went searching for her.
Fortunately, Karite accepted my request. Looking at her now, I felt a glimmer of hope.
‘I can definitely change the future.’
I organized my thoughts as I picked up my own kiwi latte.
The first incident in the world of Groa, the first episode, was set to happen next week. I didn’t know the exact reason for the event.
But I knew what would happen.
—Condition of the Sacrifice.
An episode with an ominous name from the start.
The incident happens to take place in the ‘Yurea Forest,’ where all students from classes A through D are having an outdoor lecture. The total number of students sacrificed in the incident is around five. Among them, Karite’s name is mentioned most prominently in the story.
Because the negative energy she possessed was the most immense.
The names of the other sacrificed students aren’t mentioned, so I don’t know who they are. But at the very least, I can save Karite, who is right in front of me.
No, I *have* to save her.
“…”
I saw Karite, sipping her kiwi latte through a straw, steal a glance at me.
Seeing her this close, it was now obvious how different she felt from the other students.
It was written all over her face that she was experiencing emotional anxiety or some abnormal state.
I took a sip of my kiwi latte and immediately spoke.
“Karite.”
“Yes.”
“You might think I’m overstepping, but when I saw your expression in the lecture hall today, you looked so unwell that I just couldn’t walk away.”
I began cautiously, trying to close the distance between us little by little.
First, I needed to understand the negative emotions Karite was feeling. I had to find out the reason.
“…You couldn’t just walk away.”
Karite muttered my words back to me, her eyes suddenly narrowing.
When I nodded, her lips hesitated before she let out a sigh.
“It’s just… I’ve always been like this. It’s been this way for several years, so this state isn’t strange to me.”
She continued with a sudden, self-deprecating smile, but I couldn’t just let her words slide.
“Several years ago?”
“Yeah. Maybe four years ago? I’ve been like this ever since.”
Karite’s calm reply made her seem as if she had resigned herself to her fate.
As if it were an unavoidable, irresistible force, and her current state was only natural…
But I, on the other hand, couldn’t understand her words.
“If it started four years ago… that means you weren’t like this before, right?”
“That’s right. Before then, I was doing very well.”
Karite answered my question calmly, looking at me as if to ask what was so strange. But to me, she was the one who seemed strange.
“Karite, wasn’t there some event four years ago that triggered this?”
“…Not really, there was nothing.”
“Really? Are you sure there was nothing at all?”
I pressed on, thinking it was impossible.
How could a person change so drastically without anything happening? It didn’t make any sense.
Karite seemed to ponder my words for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
“Han Cheon-seong. Do you also think I’m under some kind of curse?”
Her tone suggested she had heard words like mine many times before.
And the resignation in her voice felt even deeper.
“It could certainly be a curse, but I think there could be other reasons too.”
Probably ninety-nine out of a hundred people would have assumed her condition was caused by a curse, but I didn’t limit the possibility to just that.
The various incidents and disasters that were to come were far from ordinary.
The author seemed intent on putting Leonhardt through the wringer, with a world full of unreasonable events. If so, I thought something similar might have happened to Karite.
“…Other reasons?”
“You never know, right? It might not be a curse, but something else that triggered it. Could you tell me in detail about four years ago, specifically when it started? Would that be difficult?”
I was careful as I spoke.
It could be a trauma or a memory she didn’t want to recall.
Still, I had to know.
That was the only way I could help her.
I couldn’t just stand by and watch when someone was facing death.
“……”
Karite remained silent at my words, seemingly lost in thought.
Hesitant to bring it up, reluctant to speak.
“I think it’s better to talk about things than to keep them bottled up inside. You’d be surprised how much lighter and more at ease you can feel after talking. Sometimes, the anxiety and restlessness disappear too…”
So I extended my hand to her a little further.
When a person is successful and doing well, many people will flock to their side, but I believe it’s when a person is struggling that they need others the most.
When they’re tired and weary, when their spirit is broken. It’s best if they can stand up on their own, but sometimes, a person needs help to get back on their feet properly.
Not everyone can live with an unbreakably strong will.
And right now, Karite, sitting in front of me, looked like she desperately needed that kind of help.
Someone to extend a hand to help her stand up easily, to erase even a little of the negative emotion that filled her heart.
“…….”
Karite, who had always kept her gaze lowered, suddenly met my eyes.
The gloomy, sunken, light-blue eyes I met were starkly different.
It was as if negative emotions had already consumed her entire being. Just by looking into her eyes, I could tell how weakened her heart was right now.
So I didn’t look away; I met her gaze head-on.
“Karite. Am I… not enough?”
I spoke again, wanting to extend a hand to make it easier for her to speak.
If extending a hand once wasn’t enough, I would extend it multiple times, making it easier for her to ask for help.
“…”
As I watched Karite’s eyes waver for a moment, my resolve hardened.
I can save her.
Even if we only met for the first time today, I couldn’t just let her die in a few days.